Learning the levels of organization, that is! My students are working hard on our living systems unit. Our newest anchor chart is all about the organization of living things. I am a huge fan of anchor charts because it helps my students organize the content into bite sized pieces. In our living systems unit we discuss the levels of organization, plant and animal cells, classification and cell theory. I like to make an anchor chart for each of the different topics and hang them around the room as we complete them. Even more than that, I like the students to have their own copies of each anchor chart. So while I'm building a big one, they are making a smaller version at their desks. The levels of organization student version has all the boxes, but they're all mixed up. The students first figure out which boxes go together and then color those boxes to match. Once colored they are cut and pasted to the empty boxes on the final page. I love that my students end a unit with a set of anchor charts all their own. By the end of the year they have a nice science collection, highlighting the content they learned in a way that's easy to reference and, hopefully, easy to remember! The Let's Build: Levels of Organization Anchor Chart can be found here. The Let's Build: Levels of Organization student version can be found here.
Explaining the Feudal System can be difficult and, well, futile, if you don’t add some life to it, when teaching kids. I’ll be teaching the second half of Story of the World, Volume 2 …
Some people claim that 24 hours is not enough for them to finish all their tasks for the day. Indeed, most of us are running after time trying to befriend it.
I actually meant to upload this post awhile back, but then State Testing madness and prep hit... so I didn't get a chance to post this. My...
My Favorite Warm-ups for Children's Choir. Organized Chaos. So many amazing warmup exercises for elementary choral ensembles!
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Getting There is a series featuring interviews from Generation Y young people who are breaking stereotypes and not only working hard to achieve their own definition of success but working to improv…
Hello again! Today I am linking up with tons of great teacher bloggers for Five for Friday. I may be a day late, but hey, no judgements right? We just finished up week 5 and you know what that means- back to school germs are full swing. It amazes me every year how many gallons of hand sanitizer and cases of tissues we seem to go through in just a few short weeks. Now that my turn with with germs is done, I can finally see straight long enough to share about our week :) We began Monday with our school's annual Pinwheels for Peace event. Every student in the school creates and decorates a pinwheel in art class. The music teacher also teaches everyone a song about peace. Our entire school community gathered in a circle to watch the pinwheels and sing for peace. Something about all of the children dreaming about a peaceful world always brings a tear to my eye. It's such a powerful event and one I look forward to each year. Last week I got a little "Pinspired" and made a bunch of anchor charts for writing. Now like I tell my students, I went to teacher school, not art school, so they're not perfect. But, I do think they got the job done. I love using anchor charts with my students as a tool to help them recall important information. I usually end up creating basic charts with my students during my lessons, but occasionally I like to fancy them up a bit. Other times I start the basic frame (cute part) before the lesson and create the remaining part with my students. They love having ownership over the work hung in our room and tend to see more value in it compared to something like a store-bought poster simply hung on the wall. After using Pinterest as inspiration for my writing anchor charts, I decided to try my hand at creating my own. This week in science we continued our unit on Force and Motion. Our focus was on the difference between push and pull. We spent the week talking about real life examples while searching our classroom and playground. I introduced the concept of a hard and soft push/pull by having students pass a balloon, koosh ball, and kickball. They could see the amount of force needed to keep the ball off the ground differed.We also used an example of the amount of force it would take to push a baby on a swing compared to an adult. Their favorite example was when we pretended to be super heroes stopping the world from a meteor- they pretended to use a huge amount of force to push it away. The unit 1 theme for our literacy standards focuses on ABC books. We spent the last few weeks reading dozens of them. Who knew there were so many! My students are really enjoying the different books. The unit works well for reinforcing beginning letter sounds and brainstorming words for each page. I am also tying it into our writing standards by focusing on the concept of topic and details. This week we are using the ABC books as inspiration for our own class book. Students chose to create a class ABC book about animals. After brainstorming a list of animals for each letter, students each began creating their own page. I will add pictures next week once we get past the rough draft stage. They are also using informational texts to research additional details about their animal. Although I have enjoyed reading many of these books, I have to say one of my favorites is ABC of Jobs by Roger Priddy. Each page shares a different job description, the clothing required, and a fun fact. My students loved learning about the different career options and it tied in perfectly with preparing students to be college and career ready. I don't know about your class but my kiddos seem to go through pencils at an unbelievable speed. Keeping pencils sharpened seems to take up more time than it should each day. I set up a system where students put their broken pencils into a cup and take out a sharpened one. Now that I had a system in place it was time to find the perfect pencil sharpener. I heard about "the best classroom pencil sharpener" from Classroom Friendly Supplies. I placed an order for the cool blue one and it came in this week. I absolutely love how sharp it makes each pencil. The fabulous reviews are true and it was well worth the money. I am happy to officially welcome fall. In honor of the cool(er) weather, I created a new word problem set. My focus was on addition and subtraction word problems with numbers up to 10. What I love about this product is the ability to use a QR Code reader to self check work. My students are loving the integration of technology! I am having to read the problems out loud for now (lots of non-readers) but they still enjoy it. Thank you for following the randomness of my week. I hope you have a great Saturday!
Many kids and young adults struggle with executive functioning challenges. Some are easy to spot, such as when a student can't focus on a lesson or comes to class without their entire binder. Other EF challenges are less obvious, though. A learner might take two times as long on homework because th
Ideas for teaching proportional relationships (7.RP.2) - including activities and common misconceptions to avoid in your math classroom.
As a new year starts I am asked over and over how I keep things organized in my classroom while starting up interactive notebooks. I will tell you that creating my process took years to create and is
This week, every teacher is teaching Habit 1: Be Proactive. We have so many great things going on. Below are a few things that kindergarten is doing to help our kids learn what it means to be proactive. I will be posting pictures of what our first grade teachers are doing later. They are on my phone and I can't get them uploaded yet. I will edit and add them later tonight or tomorrow. I hope to post later in the week from other grades and give more freebies away for Habit 1. This is all new to us so if any of you have any suggestions, please comment!!!!! Our 3rd grade team is working on a podcast that will be posted soon (THANK YOU 3RD GRADE!) click on each picture to download yours for FREE!!!!!! The first 2 things were sent to me by a teacher friend from Whitesville Elementary, Jessica Doughty. Thank you Jessica! There is a second page with this if you download with pictures that kids cut out and glue on the inside or outside of the circle of control Kindergarten has a CD with this poem as a song. I'm not sure where we got it. I'll look tomorrow when I get to school and see if I can let you know. But you could still recite it or have it posted. We are going to use it to teach the "Can Do" attitude to our kids. We are going to make playdough with our kids to use in reading and math centers. This activity will be whole group and we will do it together. However you have to use very hot water so the teacher must actually do the mixing while talking to the kids about the process. We are using this as Habit 1 because we will talk about being proactive while using playdough in centers. In order to make it last all year, we much be sure to BE PROACTIVE and put the top on the playdough each time or it will dry out. This is taking responsibility for themselves when they clean up their center.
Goal Setting - This 4th grade teacher uses post it notes to remind children of their goals upon entering the classroom. I love that her method to this has
A team of 12 students studying architecture at China's Chongqing University has built a surprisingly spacious tiny house. Check this out and be amazed
Get inspired to spark joy with these KonMari Method Dollar Tree Organizing tips. Frugal and affordable ways to master the Japanese art of tidying up!
Learn how to make the most of your cabinet space with these handy tips.
Two years after its first kaizen workshop, Plumbers Supply Company has made significant progress toward a lean business conversion. Starting with daily management walkabouts and standardized work, the 84-year-old, family-owned distributor has laid the groundwork for steady gains for years to come.
My previous kitchen organization was lacking a few solutions; therefore, I decided to create a solution that could be easily sustained.
The truth is, I'm always trying new things because an idea will last for a bit and then stop working with my kids. It's just the nature of parenting...
Is your closet not big enough? Maybe you just need to be more organized! Here are 11 Genius Ways to Organize Your Closet on a Budget!
How to Get Organized:30 Ways to Organize Your Life Ready to learn about 30 ways to organize your life? If yes, then this post will be perfect for you! I personally love being organized in all areas of my life. Organizing, in general, is very therapeutic for me. I actually love having my things put
Want to get your life together and get organized? Here are 12 basic lists to make that will make you organize your life- organization lists
DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE READ MY AFFILIATE POLICY FOR MORE INFO. AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.Organizing your home can be so hard, and the absolute hardest part is keeping your home organized afterwards, especially if you have a family. I’ve been there. I went from mess to clutter in my home for years, failing at keeping the mess organized
Find out how you can organize your home quickly and efficiently with these organization ideas for the home! These Marie Kondo organizing tips are the perfect cleaning hacks for the home, bedroom, and bathroom. The best organization ideas to get rid of clutter and declutter even with large families. Find out how to organize your clothes, closet, and Marie Kondo folding pants, shirts, and clothes Konmari Method. These cleaning hacks are a must if you are overwhelmed by the mess and need a organizing checklist and plan!
Is your kitchen overwhelming? No problem! These kitchen organization ideas will help you get your kitchen in order in no time!
Want to get your life organized? These 9 action steps will help you start organizing your life if you don’t know where to start!
Small closets are the worst! If you have a small closet, you’re likely in need of all the closet organization hacks you can get!
DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. PLEASE READ MY AFFILIATE POLICY FOR MORE INFO. AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.Organizing your home can be so hard, and the absolute hardest part is keeping your home organized afterwards, especially if you have a family. I’ve been there. I went from mess to clutter in my home for years, failing at keeping the mess organized
Do you have a chronically disorganized drawer, cabinet, or closet? This step-by-step guide will help you create a foundation to keep small spaces organized.
Yep, it's organization time! Today I am sharing Organization Ideas for Every Room in your Home. Okay, it's the beginning of the year and Kon Marie has a hit show on Netflix. If you aren't
As I have mentioned a few times before, our family loves games. We have played a lot of games over the years. Check out our favorite card games to play...
It can be easy (and inexpensive) to organize your home, if you know these 16 smart home organization hacks! Use these to organize your home in a weekend!
Learn how to easily become more organized. Form life changing habits to always stay organized.
