Grammar

I've found grammar to be a tricky subject to teach in my class. There are so many rules in the English language that are constantly broken, it's no wonder grammar is something so many people struggle with when writing. Luckily, I found an amazing interactive grammar notebook that I decided to add to my lesson plans for the year. I've become a little "Interactive Notebook" happy lately, but honestly, the students love it and I think they learn so much more this way.

For grammar this week, I decided to do a bit of a review in a collaborative way. I have four table groups, so I decided to have each group create a poster for a topic of grammar. I had each table choose from the topics of Capitalization, Commas, Plural Nouns, and Apostrophes. Their directions were to, as a table group, create a poster for the rules of their grammar concept, and then present it to the class. 

 Everyone set to work right away, and I heard some wonderful ideas being shared at each table. From almost every group I noticed a lot of wonderful collaboration, which I think is really challenging considering the age differences in my class. It would have been very easy for all the sixth graders to take control of their groups, but it looked like everyone was contributing equally. I even saw some fourth grade students take on leadership roles, which I really wasn't expecting. Overall, it was a great way to review some of our grammar and now we have some pretty awesome student created posters!

I really liked this poster.
The cloud has the rules for using an apostrophe,
and the raindrops have the examples!

I loved how color coordinated this one was.
The rules are colored on the top left,
and the examples are in the same color
on the bottom right!

This group decided to use bullet points for their
rules and examples. 

I really loved listening to this group work. When they
were discussing their poster organization,
they decided to use polygons for the rules.

Our trimester ended on Friday and we are now on Fall Break! That means one week of catching up on my grading and getting Report Cards done!

The Bad Day File

Have you ever driven to or from work and thought "Why am I doing this?" I think it is something that happens to everyone. We all have bad days sometimes, but as teachers there are so many contributing factors that make our bad days worse. Some of these things include being severely under paid, lack of respect and discipline in today's youth, and little to no support from parents.

I feel very fortunate to be at school where I am supported by both parents and staff.  A school where my students are respectful, and where I am genuinely happy to be. Yet, even I sometimes fall victim to those days where I question the choices I have made that led me here. Typically, I question it on days like today: Sunday.

I often come into my classroom on Sundays, like right now. I don't have to come in, and many people think I am crazy for doing it, but sometimes I just need that extra day to organize, grade, plan, or prep without any distractions. Sundays give me that, but the cost is less time at home and when I'm here alone in my classroom on Sundays, I start to question. If I sometimes wonder why I am here (and I love my school and job because of the staff, students, and parents), I can only imagine how others feel with less desirable teaching conditions. This brings me to what keeps me here: The Bad File.

When I was student teaching in 2010, I had a wonderful Master Teacher. She told me that there would be days in this profession where I would question myself and my choices to become a teacher. To prepare me, she had those students start my Bad Day File. They made little notes and pictures for me. My Master Teacher, Alisa, said throughout the school years, students always give you little things, and that I should keep them to help remind me why I am here. This was probably some of the best advice I have ever been given.

I have kept up my bad day file since I student taught with Alisa, and on days like today, I pull it out and look at some of the things students have given me over the years. This is what reminds me. They, my students, are the reasons I'm here. They are the reasons I do everything I do in this profession, and that makes it worth it to me.

So, if you have one of those days when you question what you are doing and why you are doing it, look back on some of those things students have left on your desk. Save them! I know we sometimes feel like all our hard work goes unnoticed, but if even one student thanks you...well, then you know at least one person has noticed.

I ended up putting some of the notes and pictures in a scrap book.

I love looking through this book. 

Everything in it always makes me smile.

I guess that makes my Bad Day File successful :)

When you are down and feeling blue, 

and questioning what it is you do, 

take out this file and look inside.

You'll be overjoyed by the love you find. 

-Morgan Stowers

Social Studies Field Trip

I rotate the social studies curriculum every year. Last year, I was on the sixth grade curriculum rotation. This year, I am on the Fourth Grade curriculum and in the state of California, that is when we learn California history. A big part of our state's history is the mission system. There are 21 missions in California, and I decided to take my students to the one in Santa Barbara.

We had a wonderful field trip. We did the Docent Guided Combination tour, which took us from the La Huerta Historic Gardens all the way through the church, to the cemetery, and ending in the museum.

 

 After touring the gardens, we were offered a sample of the freshly picked produce and some fresh guava jam (it was incredible!). My students were so enthralled by the entire place, and were very well behaved. They asked really great questions, and the Docents were happy to respond. Before leaving the museum, the Docents actually gave each of my students an abalone shell neckless as a souvenir. They were all very, very excited!

This is for Karana, the girl from The Island of The Blue Dolphins. She is actually buried in the cemetery. 

We ended our field trip by having a picnic on the lawn right in front of the church. Overall, it was a wonderful field trip and I will definitely be going back the next time I teach the Fourth Grade social studies. 

Common Core

Someone that reads my blog (Jenn AKA my only reader ha!) asked me what Common Core was. On the off chance that I have more than one person reading my posts, here is the meaning of Common Core, along with my thoughts. 

Basically, at the end of the school year in grades 3-12, students across the U.S. would take a test to show that they actually learned what was expected of them in their grade. All the states would then compare their results to each other, and then we'd compare ourselves to other countries. The United States typically does not do well compared to other countries, and there was a huge discrepancy between the states. For example, what one state set as a standard for fifth grade, another may have for second grade, which didn't exactly work well when trying to compare test results. Many universities and other colleges also commented that they felt incoming freshmen weren't really prepared for the rigor of their entry level courses, so changes needed to happen. 

To ensure all students were ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards were developed by experts and teachers from across the country. They are clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12th grade. Each standard has a basic ‘anchor standard’.  This anchor standard remains constant from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  Each year, the teacher builds on this anchor standard, creating the ‘foundation’ needed for learning.  

Common Core testing also eliminates the pencil and paper bubble letter tests and allows students to use technology. Students are tested on computers, or other electronic devices. The other neat thing about Common Core testing, is that the questions on the test are based on student answers. This means students get to provide their own answers, instead of just guessing "C". This test is also graded by real people, which gives students a better chance of scoring higher on the test. For example, if I am a grader for the test and I see that the answer the student typed in is wrong, but that their mathematical process was correct I could potentially give them one point out of two. 

Personally, I love Common Core. I get to see it in three grades instead of one and I've noticed that my students work at a much higher level now. Is Common Core more difficult? Not exactly. It's just different, and just like with anything that is new and different, it is going to take some time to get the hang of things but from what I can see so far, it is worth it. 

Outdoor School

October has been a very exciting month at my school. We had Red Ribbon week, Parent/Teacher Conferences, and ended with Outdoor School.

Outdoor School is a wonderful program where students in fifth and sixth grade get to go away for almost week to a science and social studies camp. It's an over night program, so it can be a little nerve racking for some students, especially if they have never been away from home before. Out of 16 students, 13 of mine were given permission to go and we had a BLAST!

Every day involved hiking and learning about the different plants and animals in the area. One night we did a nighttime hike and learned about some of the constellations. The students were also given choices in the afternoons between a bunch of different activities including archery, survival hiking, arts and crafts, and one day there was even a 9 mile hike! Three of my students and I decided to give the 9 mile hike a try, and it was incredible. It was very hard, and quite challenging but the reward of seeing the view at the top of the mountain was worth all that work! Here are some of the pictures from the 9 mile hike:

There was one student that was given permission to go at the last minute. He is a sixth grader and his parents felt at first that it wouldn't be fair to send him to Outdoor School since they never allowed his older brother to go. This student decided to try to convince his parents by writing them a letter. In the letter he explained why he wanted to go and why he felt his parents should let him go. He even brought up his parents' reservations because they never let his brother go, so he gave them a list of things they could so with him to make it fair. They ended up letting him go to Outdoor School and he had a blast and was one of the students on the 9 mile hike. He has a few younger siblings, and I'm hoping they will get to go once they are in the fifth and sixth grade too. 

Artist of The Month

At my school we also do an artist and composer of the month. We have a music and art teacher that come in every week. Our music teacher will play a piece of music from the composer of the month, and will teach a little bit about that composer. 

Our art teacher will start each lesson with some background information on the artist of the month, and will then give an art lesson on the style of that artist. I love it, and so do my students. Not only do they learn, but so do I :) 

Our artist this month is Rene Magritte. Since it's October, this week my students did Pumpkins and Jack-O'-Lanterns in his surrealist style. 

I think they came out pretty great and I can't wait for the next art piece we do in our class. 

 

Research Project

It's already close to the end of October, and I have no idea where the time has gone. This school year seems to be flying by much faster than any other year. They say time flies when you're having fun, and right now I can't help but agree with that. I've been having so much fun with my students, and the projects we have been doing in our class. Our first literature circle ended, and was great. The students absolutely loved it, and have been anxiously waiting for the next one.

I wanted to mix things up a little, so I decided to give my students a research project in language arts. Each student chose a historical figure to read about and research for the next few weeks.  Allowing my students to choose who they researched was great. The each received a "Who Was" book on their historical figure, as well as, a type of graphic organizer to help them collect the information they find. Each student will be writing a biography, and will be presenting to the class. I had a list of people they could research, and placed only three students per figure. When they present, they will be presenting as a group instead of as an individual. They seem much more excited and interested in this project since they were given a choice.

We get the entire week off for Thanksgiving, so after our research project I think we will do another round of literature circles, which will most likely take us to winter break.

Language Arts

This year for Language Arts my school has decided to pull our own resources in order to align ourselves closer to the Common Core Standards. One of the things that I really like about Common Core is that it is an advocate for cooperative learning. With this in mind, I decided to do chapter books throughout the entire year and take on Literature Circles.

I found a great Interactive Literature Circle on teacherspayteachers and my students are loving it. They love their reading groups and the books we are reading. I started the year off with three groups based on reading level. Group one is reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, Group two is reading The Witches, and Group three is reading The BFG. I meet with each group everyday to read and discuss things that are happening in the books so far. It's great! I have never seen my students so excited about reading before. On Fridays, they get into their Literature Circles groups, go over their jobs for the week, and present to each other what they did. My jobs are Discussion Director, Character Sketcher, Word Wizard, and Passage Picker. Here are some pictures of our first Friday meetings:

Each group also has a set of vocabulary words that they are supposed to learn every week. I am also doing grade level spelling and grammar as well, and on Thursdays we do Writer's Workshop. On top of our meetings on Fridays, I also give a grade level spelling test and comprehension quiz for each group.

Overall, language arts has been challenging and a lot of work so far but I actually really love it. I love seeing my students engaged and, mostly, I love seeing them excited about reading.

Quick Pencil Update!

I just wanted to mention that we are in Week 3 of school and ALL, thats right, all my pencils are accounted for! My students have been so excited for The Great Pencil Challenge! Keep your fingers crossed the excitement continues throughout the school year! I'll check in again later this week to discuss Language Arts this year.

Math

The second week of school was just as good as the first. We dove headfirst into our math curriculum on Monday, and things are going well.

My school uses the Math Expressions curriculum and I actually really like it. It has an adaptive technology piece, and I am fortunate to have a laptop cart in my room. Every student is assigned their own laptop in my class, and we went over internet safety and rules last week. The first few weeks of the school year I will continue to remind students of our safety and rules while on the internet, and they are also posted in my classroom.

This week fourth graders were learning about place value and brushing up on rounding large numbers. Fifth graders are reviewing fractions and will shortly be adding and subtracting them. In sixth grade, we have been working on Rate Tables.

With three grades, teaching math can be challenging since I have to teach based on the grade level Common Core Standards. I basically run three groups, one for each grade. When I am working with fourth graders, my fifth and sixth graders are reviewing the previous lesson, or are working on their computers with that adaptive math program. After the lesson with fourth grade, I send them to their seats to work independently and once they finish working on the day's lesson, they can work on their computers too. I rotate through each group, and usually have about 10 minutes left before lunch so I can work one-on-one with some students, or circulate and help where ever I am needed.

Here's a picture of the 6th grade math boards from Thursday's lesson:

For my next post, I will write about what we are doing in language arts. Until then, have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend! 

The First Week of School

The First week of school was GREAT! I have such wonderful students and I am really excited for this school year. We did a lot this week and I think I will have to keep the momentum going! We started the week off by doing Time Capsules. Since my students stay with me for three years, I thought this would be a fun activity. Every year, we will add to the time capsule and on the last day of school, when my students are 6th graders, they will get to look back on what they were like at the beginning of the school year in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. They also wrote a letter to themselves that they will open on the last day of school.

Everything they completed for the time capsule went inside a manilla envelope along with a picture of them on the first day of school, and a piece of string I cut to their height. It'll be interesting to see how much they change over the next three years!

We also did a partner activity this week called "Language Ladders". Partners had to take the word "TEACHER" and write it vertically on one side of the paper, and then vertically backwards on the other side. It looked something like this:

T               R

E               E

A               H

C               C

H               A

E                E

R                T

Then, using a dictionary, they had to look up words that started and ended with the letters. For example: a word that starts with T and ends with R is tractor. 

If they didn't know the meaning of the word, they had to write the definition. I set a timer, and the team with with most words won a prize. I also gave prizes for the team that had the longest words. 

Everyone really seemed to like this activity, and it was a great way to introduce working in pairs. Before we started, we went over what a good partnership looked like. We also used student dictionaries, so I didn't have to worry about students coming across inappropriate words. 

On Pintrest, I saw this great math activity called "Figure Me Out" where the students have to solve math problems in order to find the answer about their teacher, like how old she/he is or how many people are in her/his family. I thought this activity would be great reversed, and I had each table come up with their own math problems about themselves. 

It turned into "Figure Us Out" and they LOVED it! Some students got really creative with their math problems!

We also did these self-portraits!  

Over the summer I went to Japan for my honeymoon and my students last year knew about my trip, so this year they were really curious. I decided to use my trip in the classroom, and made our Social Studies and Art this week all Japan themed! I made a slide show with the pictures from my trip, gave every student one yen, and taught them one Japanese word a day. They loved seeing all the pictures, hearing about all the food I ate, and thought getting real Japanese money was pretty neat. Here's a little peek at what I showed them:

Continuing with my Japanese theme, we read "Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes" and I taught them about the tradition of origami in Japan.  Then, we made paper cranes, but I forgot to take pictures of them! I also showed them a kimono I have, and we read about kimonos and when people wear them.

I found a kimono book mark template online, and adjusted it to allow my students to create their own patterns.

 The template had a bun, so the boys in my class just decided to cut it off in the end.

For writing this week, we learned about and wrote our own Haikus! It was fun, and some of my students got really into it!

This was the Haiku we came up with together as a class. Why they wanted to write about spring I'll never know!

To end our week, we learned about the Cherry Blossom season in Japan. I wish I could have seen them in person, but they only bloom in spring and our break last year was only a week.  Still, I think our paintings came our pretty well.

Overall, I'd say it was a successful first week of school. I can only hope the rest of the school year is just as good!