Are you ready for the month of March? We are all geared up for some fun learning this month! Our March NO PREP packets are done and we are ready to go!
This week I tried something new with the vocabulary in the story. I got the idea at a First Grade Conference in December. The student writes the vocabulary word in the middle of the sheet and then there are four things to do with the word. We completed two of the boxes together as a class and they finished the last two boxes independently. The kiddos sure had a great grasp of the vocabulary after this. When we read the story they had fantastic comprehension.
36 weekly lists of 6th grade spelling words. Each week has its own theme. Themes like: geometry, Earth Day, sports, friendship, books, law, natural disasters, and food and nutrition.
Memory aids are often used to help students remember certain spelling rules. The FLoSS rule is one of the first spelling rules taught to our first and second grade students to help them understand when to double the final “f”, “l” and “s” consonants at the end of certain words. The word “floss” actually follows the FLoSS […]
In today's post, I'll share ideas for teaching inferring through a gradual release of responsibility. Make sure to read all the way through the post, because there are several different freebies you can download and use right away!
Our school has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards and one of my favorite units in 1st grade is our Sound Unit. NGSS asks that students conduct experiments to explain that vibrations make…
2nd Grade English Worksheets are such a fantastic way for kids to learn their grammar. Worksheets are fun and your kids can have fun while learning better communication. Adjectives, antonyms, compound words, verbs, nouns and pronouns can all be more fun with worksheets. When they’re done, they’ll make sentences like nobody’s business. Print them all […]
The ability to recognize high-frequency sight words is one of the most important indicators of reading success for young learners. Help your students develop
Teaching the doubling spelling rule can be fun! It is one of the first rules we teach our young readers and writers.They will love practicing this activity.
Boggle! I love this. This is so easy and fun for the kids. Boggle Upper and lower case letters match This is a simple activity that can be put together to create a center. You will need to print laminate and cut out the wheels. You will then create a set of clothes pins with each letter of the alphabet on them. One set upper case and one set lower. The students will match the pin to the correct spot on the wheel. Upper and Lower case letters Beginning and ending sounds This activity is the same concept as the upper and lower case letters. You can reuse your clothes pins!!!! This time students will find the clothes pin with the correct ending or beginning sound. Beginning and ending sounds Sight words are a very important part of grades k-2. A great way to use them in your ABC station is to have students build them with cookie sheets and magnetic letters. In your station you can have a variety of list so the students can pick the list that is just right for them. Then they begin to build. You can do this very easy to put together activity with sight words, math, science, or vocabulary from different books in class. The attachment I have on here is blank and an open file so you can save a blank document and then add the words you wish. In the Very Hungry Caterpillar unit there are vocab cards made and ready to use. Blank sight word cards At the start of the year another activity you can do in the ABC station is working with the students names. Each student will get an apple card ad write their name on it. Then you can take a picture of each student and put it on another apple. Picture taking is a great thing to come and let parents do and often they will even take the pictures and have them printed. Once the names and pictures are on the apples I would laminate them. Put the apples in center and have the students match the names to the pictures. If you are going to let students help pass out papers this is a great way for them to start learning each others names. Once they master this they can begin to put the apples in ABC order. Apples Here is a cute upper and lower case letter matching activity. I am working on a basketball match and it is coming soon! Upper and Lower case letter match Here's basketball! upper and lower case match
If you have followed the discussion over the past years about "21st Century Skills" or have been on this planet long enough, you know that the ability to work with others is just as important as any "content" knowledge that we, as teachers, can provide. That being said, working "cooperatively" is NOT natural for all people, especially young children, and we have to make sure we are thoughtful about how we help students learn this valuable skill. Today I thought I'd share three key things to keep in mind--and then offer a few suggestions to get your brain thinking about ways to incorporate more learning partnerships in YOUR classroom! Partnerships are the perfect "starting point" for cooperative work! Think about how difficult it is for us, as adults, to get 4 or 5 of us to agree and be productive! Young students simply haven't been around long enough to know how to do that "delicate dance" of sharing, contributing, listening, and more. Learning how to actively listen is easier with just one other person. Sharing with just one person is so much easier for student who are more shy--and it's easier to have a back and forth conversation than try to balance several people. As students become accustomed to working with pairs, then it becomes easier to add people to the group. When forming partnerships, be mindful of your students' feelings. Be careful about the "find a partner" direction--because that is SO difficult for so many students. Whether they be shy, slower thinkers, worried about other students' feelings--asking students to form partners on the fly is often a tricky situation. Think about those who struggle finding partners and make sure everything is safe for them. Ideas? Use a "people picker" like popsicle sticks or index cards. Premake partnerships whenever possible (in addition to avoiding popularity contests, this allows you to encourage students to work with MANY other students, not just best friends). If you DO have students pick partners at times, consider a disclaimer, "If you don't find a partner in 15 seconds, come to me." so you can quickly help pair off those last few students. My students get very used to working with EVERYONE in the class (males, females, tall, small, etc) and they actually REQUEST me to pick popsicle sticks to take the partnering process out of their hands. We need to explicitly TEACH partnering skills Before I ask my students to work in partners, we have a number of discussions where we talk about what partnering LOOKS like, SOUNDS like, and WHY working in partnerships is beneficial. Together we made a list that we continue to refer to as we refine our partnering skills. The students did a pretty good job, I thought! Consider making a similar list with your students to make sure they understand that partnering isn't always easy--but it's worth it! As students start to work in pairs, you may need to stop and review some of these...and your students may come up with different ideas as well. Students need to realize that partnering isn't easy--and they will have to work at it! For some students, understanding that "balanced power" means that BOTH people have to share and both people have to listen is key--they can all relate to times they have had someone try to take over a group...and trying to work with someone who is NOT engaged or on task. So when should I use partnerships? All day long! Think about all the different ways that "Two heads" might be better than one...try some of these! Creating a climate where students work peacefully together will help increase engagement, improve learning, and increase the amount of academic discourse in your classroom. Another added bonus? As students work well TOGETHER, you are free to circulate, coach, and get a better sense of what is happening with your students' learning. Buddy reading Whether your students read with younger students or with others in your class, learning to read so others can hear, taking turns, staying on task, and using an appropriate voice level are all easy to practice with buddy reading. Try making copies of a fun poem for students to experiment with--or have them partner read an article. If you really want to dig in, have students read a novel as partners where they have discussions and buddy reading over an extended period of time. They can even complete a culminating project together! Checking for accuracy One of the first "partner routines" my students learn as we start the school year is "check for accuracy". I start this with basic math problems, math homework, and other tasks--where students work alone, then compare answers with a partner. We then practice how to handle when answers are different...and learn how to re-solve the problem together to see who was wrong and how to "fix up" any mistakes together. This really helps create a climate for collaboration, not competition and is a great way for students to check homework, to check over practice work, or to test the spelling of a tricky word! "Turn and Talk" One of the classic partner activities...and a GREAT way to get all students involved in discussions--turn and talk is a way for students to participate more frequently. This DOES need to be explicitly taught as well. If you simply say, "Turn and talk to a partner", you can sit back and watch certain students immediately turning to a best friend, other students sitting back and waiting to be asked (often ending up sitting silent)--and this doesn't lead to productive talk. Teach students to turn and talk by first checking around them to "include" students (may mean creating a trio!) and to make sure that each partner has a chance to share their ideas. This is a great way to get everyone talking--especially when asking questions ALL students should have access to. Not all students will know the answer to all math problems...but everyone should be able to answer questions related to opinions...to read alouds ("What do you think Ally should do next?")...or other easily accessible ideas. Math games Math games are a fun and easy way to teach the give and take of partnering. When students struggle, you can sit with them and coach the fair play and sportsmanship...but with games, the turn taking part is more automatic and students can work on some of the other factors such as voice level, on task behavior, using supplies wisely and more. This is one of the games in one of my "Partner Play" resources! Partner journals One thing my students enjoy once in a while is what I call "partner journals". You can do a lot of different things with this--but essentially in involves "sharing a notebook" to reflect back and forth on a read aloud, an article, a math problem--anything. Check out THIS POST for more information. It is a great way for students to realize that they write so that others can understand--and if they don't, communication breaks down. Try it and see! Challenge problems Putting students in situations where they need to solve difficult problems can be a great way for partners to learn how to make suggestions, listen to ideas, and politely disagree. When the answer isn't immediately obvious, it becomes clear that "two heads can be better than one"...and students can take their learning to higher levels. What about when students WANT to work alone? This is when coaching might be important...students need to see that other students might have great ideas, might help them find errors in their own thinking--and can make the entire process more fun! My students did a great job partnering on this back to school shopping challenge! These algebra thinking cards were MUCH easier when partners started working together! The math discussions they had were fantastic--and they found lots of misconceptions and mistakes they were making as they worked! My favorite quote? "I knew I could never do math this hard by myself!" And so much more! These are just a few suggestions to get your students working in pairs--but there are so many more! Keep stressing how important collaboration is--and how it takes practice to get good at it...but when we ARE good at it, working together can be so much fun! Follow me on... Facebook Pinterest Instagram @Fourthgradestudio Twitter @FourthGrStudio Periscope @ FourthGrStudio Teachers Pay Teachers Store Blog
A 2nd grade winter early finishers social emotional worksheet that makes students think about things they can and cannot control.
Winter is just around the corner and I have been working hard on our Winter Math and Literacy Packet for Kindergarten! I am happy to say that it is
Celebrating Think-Pair-Share, the Little Strategy That Could, and sharing some best practices for making it work for you.
Add a bit of fun and creativity when teaching area and perimeter. Students get the chance to create their own robots using grid paper, solve for the body parts' areas and perimeters, and record them in the robot's speech bubble. Once your students complete the math work, let them get as creative a...
Guest post by Sarah Wiggins I first heard about reader’s theater in college and thought, “How fun! I will definitely do that when I have a class of my own.” When I did get my very own classroom, however, I was overwhelmed with everything that I was supposed to fit into my reading block. How
Download our classroom icebreakers printable and "go fishing" with your students as they ask and answer questions of one another.
From reading fun books to STEM projects, this Viking Unit gave us a vast insight to where exploration began and helped set the stage for the Age of Exploration.
You know those grammar errors your students make in 4th and 5th grade and are still making in high school? Yes, those.
When adopting workshop-style teaching and learning, you need a clear plan for how to keep students accountable without drowning in papers to grade. Many teachers ask how I manage grading the work my students complete during Math Workshop each day, and still find time to plan for workshop the following day. The three tools below help me build a clear picture of my students’ progress and needs, keep my students’ parents in the loop about what their child is working on in class, and help me maintain a light load when it comes to grading.
My favorite part about getting ready for back to school is getting all of the bulletin boards set up around my classroom. Here are some of my favorite ideas.
Are you ready for the month of March? We are all geared up for some fun learning this month! Our March NO PREP packets are done and we are ready to go!
This large poster will help your 5th, 6th, or 7th grade math class learn about converting metric units and will look beautiful on your bulletin board or word wall!
Happy Sunday friends! I'm sure you're not quite ready to hit the ground running tomorrow to start a new week - but that just means ...
Help them believe they can achieve.
After years of teaching using the principles of standards-based learning and grading, I encountered two findings that radically changed my perspective on assessment, grading, and reporting. The first…
The red pen is mighty, but are you maximizing its impact? Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed what work is graded and what work isn't, and how to hold students accountable for implementing feedback. Teachers also shared their experiences with standards based grading, thoughts on students grading themselves, and tips for making grading easier. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.
Blog Description Here
Students setting goals can be powerful, whether it be for a New Year's resolution activity, back-to-school activity, or anytime during t...
Getting to know your students in the first days of school is kind of like an investigation, and you are the detective assigned to the case. Are you ready?
It’s that time of year again…you’ve had a bit of a break and now your mind is going wild with ideas for the new school year. To keep your time and efforts focused (and your stre…
Just found out you're teaching second grade! Here's a quick start guide!
Guest Blog Post By Sam Bradford During my student teaching, I tried to observe as many different teachers as possible. All grade levels, all subjects--my goal was to find the teachers whose classes the students put a little extra pep in their step to get to. Then, with my own eyes and ears, I tried to figure out what made those classes successful. I’ll never forget the way one teacher used a quote wall, and how it single-handedly built community, created an engaging atmosphere, and solidified important concepts. I’ve spent the last thirteen years experimenting with the concept, and I’d like to share my findings with you. As with any powerful educational tool, the concept is simple and the technology is simpler. All you need is a whiteboard, a marker, and human beings. Here’s the idea: the teacher sets aside a portion of wall space for interesting quotes that students say in class over the course of the year. You get to determine what “interesting” means. When the moment happens, you allow the student to write the quote on the board and sign their name. As the year progresses, the space slowly fills with quotes. It seems like such a trifling concept, doesn’t it? I think it’s often the trifling concepts that make the difference between classes students tolerate versus classes that allow students to thrive. Let’s examine a sample of what’s at play with such a concept. First of all, not to get too Paulo Freire on you, but it democratizes the classroom by giving students a voice. It’s not the teacher’s words that go on the wall; it’s theirs. Their words have the power to adorn the classroom. Think about buildings with other people’s quotes on the walls. They are often important places, right? Places of worship, courthouses, state capitals. Shouldn’t classrooms be as important as those other spaces? And what if your words were that worthy to be immortalized in an important place? Furthermore, it encourages students to be clever. They now have an incentive to sound smart, to experiment with wordplay, to be original, to think, to get a laugh out of their peers and teacher. There is so much social cache, even with twelfth graders, to be the one who gets to go to the board and write their quote. There’s a subtle sub-point here as well: notice that I wrote “get a laugh out of their peers and teacher.” We’re always going to have students who act out for attention (I was that student), but a quote wall creates a structured environment for that acting out to happen in a productive way that’s on the teacher’s terms. The student who struggles with, as my fifth-grade report card stated, “attention-seeking antics,” is no longer saying funny things in spite of you. They’re saying things to get on the wall, and that will inevitably change what subjects and language they give their efforts to in order to get that attention. It also encourages spontaneity and being in the moment--that’s both for you and for them. You never know when that quote will come. You’ll never guess what question will receive the pithy answer. The effect is that it rouses both teacher and student from “going through the motions.” You will be shocked at how students will so eloquently capture a concept, and with the quote on the wall, it reinforces it for everybody. Most importantly, quote walls wake us up to celebrate little joys and remember that we’re in the presence of human beings, and human beings are marvelous, infinitely interesting things. If you’re sold on the concept, which I hope you are, here are some tips and tricks I’ve found over the years: At the end of the year or semester (or whenever you run out of space), type up the quotes and print them out, posting them off to the side as a time-stamped Wall of Fame. I have gotten traction with students over this--reading the things their peers said last semester. I have a “quote of the week,” which is usually something inspiring I get from what we’ve read or, frankly, from the internet. Daily would be too much--a weekly quote I can commit to. To me, teaching is kind of like troll fishing--you throw out as many lines of connection as possible, and wait and hope that something resonates with someone. I rarely, if ever, mention the quote, but I have had student feedback that said “I always looked forward to seeing what the new quote of the week would be.” You get to set the standard for a good quote. I teach in high school, where sarcasm works effectively for some of my colleagues. My style is more on the Mr. Rogers side of the spectrum, so the quotes I allow never involve putting another person down, no matter how artfully done. Once the year settles in, the students sometimes petition for other students, which, to me, further democratizes the classroom. I love it when I hear a student say, “Oh, Mr. Bradford, that quote should definitely go on the wall!” As long as it’s appropriate (see point above), I don’t have a problem with it. You can use the quote wall as an internal equity diagnostic: are you favoring one section over another? One gender over another? As you’re planning for the new year, set aside some space on your wall. See what happens! Related Blog Posts After 12 Years of Teaching, I've Found That Norms are Better Than Rules. This is Why. Hey, English Teachers, I Planned Your First Week Back To School
Read about grading tips, tricks, and tech tools to help you mark/grade more efficiently, and help students get the most out of your grading and assessment.
