Little Critter Houses

So at the end of the book I had students create little homes however they would like for their little bugs. I gave the students fake little bugs and told them just like Mario in the story they need to take care of their bug and give him a home.

Each student created a very unique and creative home for their critters. They then presented to the class and explained why they created the home they did and related it back to Mario.  Mario our main character found a little home for his cricket but, the cricket did not like the elaborate home and instead preferred to sleep in a match box. My students made this connection and learned what home would be good for their critters/bugs.

Along with presenting their homes to the group and explaining why they home the homes the way they did my students also did a write up about the home they made.

This was a great project for students that can allow them to have fun and be creative. 

Teaching Cricket in Times Square

This week I begin working with my own small group doing lit circles! I am so SUPER EXCITED! I have never read the book but, I love Lit circles.

I read with my group meaning they each read a page and this gives me a chance to assess them. I created a little chart for myself to document the students as they read. I pay attention to fluency, mistakes when reading like stumbling over words and so on. This way I could document my students success.

After were doing reading I always ask my students question that are a mix of comprehension questions and higher level thinking questions. Depending on the chapter I will also have students do a journal prompt and give students a question and have them write about them. Again paying attention to students after they read is JUST AS IMPORTANT! I notice many students can read very well and can sound out words or have strategies for what to do when they come across a word they don’t recognize. But they have trouble with comprehending what they read.

I also created a character chart for students to fill out as we go along to help us keep track of characters and their traits and ideas. 

Daily 5

This idea is so new to me. I have never been at a school that using Daily 5 but, I’m quick to learn and really liking what I see!

In our classroom because, we do have older students we created a To-Do list for Daily 5. This is the BEST idea EVER! My concern with Daily 5 when I researched it and youtubed it is that it does give students a lot of freedom and a lot of choice! I love the idea of giving students choice because they are so much more willing to learn or do something. At the same time students could take advantage of that too and everyday do the same activity over and over again!

So in our classroom we have a To-Do list. Students can cross off each activity as they do them. They have to complete the To-Do list by the end of the week; this is a GREAT way to old students accountable and teach them time management.

I’m sure you’re thinking how do you really know if each student really completes the To-Do list or just crosses off each activity. Well for each activity students usually have some sort of writing to go along with it. Then at the end of the week they turn in a packet.

The To-Do list includes

4 RRJ- Reading Responses Journals

2 Journals

2 RWS- Read with someone and then after write up what you read together what you learned.

2 inquiry- this could be researching and taking notes and turning those notes in.

4 WW- Word Work- working on spelling words and spelling packets

Then when Friday comes at the end of the day students take all their work completed for their To-Do list and staple them together with their To-Do list sheet stapled to the front with everything crossed off.

I’m sure each school and classroom does something different for Daily 5 but, I love the way it works in our classroom and it teaches those skills being accountable for yourself and time management. 

Animal Classification with BEANIE BABIES

At my school we do inquiry units. In case you don’t know what an inquiry unit is it is a unit that covers either social studies or science ideas and is incorporated in our reading and math units as well. Our students are doing animals. This means students check out books from the library about animals or a specific animal. They study and learn about habitat, it’s environment/where animals lives, adaptations, physical features, if it is endangered and so on.

So studying our animals and learning everything about animals means that you still teach lessons but students will independently research on their own as well. So I created a lesson on classification and learning about what makes an animal an omnivore, carnivore and herbivore.

I started off by having students in their pods talk about classification and if they could classify one another or classify themselves into groups.

I got GREAT responses. Students classified themselves as boy and girls, brown hair and black hair, tall and short, letters of their name, birthdays. It was so awesome seeing how creative they could be.

Then I gave each pod 13 Beanie Babies. (The night before I sorted through all my beanie babies, I had lot of siblings so I had doubles even triples. I made sure each group had a lion, a dog, a cat and then I equally divided them out. You don’t have to do that but it was easier for myself and making sure they had discussion about animals I knew that would challenge them.) When I gave the students the 13 Beanie Babies I asked them to classify the Beanie Babies.

The students were once again VERY creative with their classification. They classified them by appearance, where they live, if they are small or large, then they went according to fur or hair. Again I was super impressed.

I then showed the students a short you-tube clip on classifying animals according to carnivore, omnivore and herbivore. After watching the video and taking notes using a graphic organizer I then asked students to go back to their desk and decide which Beanie

Babies/animals go into which of the three categories. Again I saw some amazing discussions and GREAT work!

The great debate for all my students were the cat and dog. Everyone saw on the video how they said cats and dogs are omnivores but, our pets are home only eat pet food/little pellets. This was such a great discussion at the tables when I walked around,  and each group appeared to be split down the middle. So I had a discussion as a whole group at the end about this. Explaining how they are omnivores and each both meat and plants. Any dog food or cat food includes these ingredients.

Our Learning Targets clearly stated and written on the board for all students to see and understand :)

This was such a fun lesson and very successful and memorable for my students. I had to share with everyone what a great lesson it was! :) 

Next Generation Learning Community and What it is

My school is a Next Generation Learning Community which means it does things a little different than the traditional school. 

Next Generation Schools specifically on, technology, learning goals, Inquiry, On-going assessment, flexible grouping, learning pods, community building, classroom environment, and parents, families and community members. 

Technology- provided a tool for personalization, collaboration, accessing information and communication. 

Learning goals- are collaboratively set between students and teachers to create personalized learning paths that guide a student's learning progression in academic areas. 

Inquiry- is used to engage learners as researchers on topics that are based on curriculum, student curiosity, questions, and interests. 

On-going assessment- provides data that is utilized to make individualized instructional decisions.  

Flexible grouping- provides opportunities for individual, small group, and whole group instruction that meets the needs of individual learners. 

Learning Pods- are comprised of a team of teachers and students of multiple ages that work and learn together over multiple school years. 
-pods always consist of a mix of students not based on race, academics, or age range. 

Community building- produces a safe environment where students can feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas while communicating effectively and working well with students of different age ranges. 

Classroom environment- are flexible, comfortable and designed to meet individualized learning styles. 

Parents, families and community members- are an integral part of the learning process and are encouraged to be active participants in the students' education. 

Hopefully for those of you not in a Next Generation Learning environment this helps paint a picture of our goals and ideas :) 

Co-Teaching Candy Math Fractions

So my first lesson I taught for my students was a math fraction lesson. This was a whole group lesson for both my 4^th and 5^th graders. This was an introduction into fractions.

Materials:

M&M’s (we used the pretzel ones)

Hersey’s chocolate candy bars

Paper plates

Little Dixie cups

Our students already sit in pods, which is great, for these types of lessons, students then can work as a group and collaborate.

First we gave each student pod a paper plate and a Hersey’s Chocolate bar. Hersey’s chocolate bars are split perfectly into 12 pieces so it works out great for teaching about something being a whole, half and so on.

*Also we did not use it for this less BUT there is a book out there it is called The Hersey’s Milk Chocolate Fraction Book, by Jerry Pallota and Rob Bolster. CHECK IT OUT! It’s a really great book!

Anyways…..

So then we asked students as a group to make fractions into 1/2 , then ¼, 1/8 and so on. Then we asked students on their own to create their own fractions. Some students got really creative with this and drew a line down the center of the plate showing what was a part of the numerator and what was a part of denominator.

After we did the fractions with the Hersey’s Chocolate Bars and had a discussion with the students we then gave students a Dixie cup full of M&Ms and asked students to create fractions. Some students divided them equally and then would say I have 5 red out of my 10 M&Ms.  Or as a ground compared the different colors and so on.

I personally liked giving the students this type of freedom because, it helped them better understand fractions and collaborate and build off of one another’s ideas!

This Candy Fraction Lesson is a great introduction lesson for anyone introducing fractions to their students and want to make it fun and memorable. 

Word Walls

Another week of student teaching and STILL loving my students and everything i do! :) Each week I do a little more with my students and a few more lessons each time. This week I worked on Words Walls with students. 

I created a a Word Wall for both Everyday words (both reading and writing words) and Math words. This word wall includes words I would like students to start using more and words that my students have difficulty with. These words are appropriate for students in 4th and 5th grade. 

Then I made a Jail Word Wall for Everyday and Math words. These are words that students need to start using less of or start eliminating from their vocabulary  For example: Instead of saying "plusing" students should use the words like "addition or adding."

Creating a word wall with students was so much fun! My students were very honest about what words they should be using more of and what words they should be using less of. So they helped me create the wall. Then students knew where it was and how to use it as a helpful resource :) 

Pinterest

Ladies and Gentlemen if you haven't heard about Pinterest, check it out! 
http://pinterest.com/

I have been using Pinterest for a year now but it is SO HELPFUL and so AWESOME!!! :) I have created boards for specific subjects or topics we cover in the class. It helps give me different ideas for anchor charts, activities and different assessments. 

If you would like to follow me and check out my boards it is under Molly Tietjen and my picture is of course a picture of Clay Matthews :) So PLEASE feel free to follow me on Pinterest :)