Right now, we are learning about manipulating decimals in math.  We have pretty much mastered adding and subtracting and have moved on the multiplying them.  (although, truth be told, they are still having some issues with place value ;) )  After learning all of the standard algorithms for each operation, I wanted to give the students something to which they could apply their learning. I don't know about you, but my teacher mailbox is overflowing with Book Club order forms.  I LOVE that the students love to read, and that they want to order books for their own personal libraries, BUT the amount of magazines I receive can be ridiculous at times.  I usually end up throwing them away.  However, Scholastic recently went back to the un-round prices for their books (ie: it was $4, now it is $3.99)  Because of this, these magazines are PERFECT for a math project involving our decimal operations! To set it up, I told the students that they had $200 to shop for books.  They were quite e...

This year, I have brought Poem of the Week back into my room.  Because of this, we are learning about many different facets of poetry on a daily basis.  My students are fascinated by it.  They just love learning all of the little snippets we learn each day.  It really has brought a sense of fun back into the room. So, with the Poem of the Week, I thought I would start off with a writing unit on different types of poems that dealt with rhyme scheme.  We learned how to write couplets, triplets, and quatrains , as well as decipher just what the difference between them was. Now, with this being the Fall season and all, I decided that just writing poems wouldn't be super fun.  I wanted to incorporate some sort of Fall craft into it.  So I thought and thought and..... The Poet-Tree was born! After brainstorming a list of Fall related words and concepts (the kids came up with different holidays, foods, feelings, weather patterns, sights, and sounds that said "fall" to th...

Figuring out how to maneuver different schedules is a fact of life as a teacher.   Between my recess and lunch times, the aide I am lucky enough to have, and the RSP teacher who also needs to schedule into my room to work with students (not to mention any specials we have throughout the week...I know, we are lucky to have them!), I have quite a lot to juggle when it comes to my language arts block. I have been really struggling this year trying to accommodate everything I *want* to do with everything I *have* to do and I think I may have a solution.  It is still in it's infancy, and things in my world are constantly changing, BUT all of the elements of what I want are there.  So I am going to share this with you now. Basically, I have reworked my Independent Work Time.  I usually use this time as a "catch up" for my students but they weren't always catching up.  The students never really got to what I wanted them to do because they were so busy (or not so busily)...

We are now in full swing with our water and weather unit.   Evaporation, condensation, and the water cycle are key elements of our learning.  Since it is just a basic overview of the water cycle at this point (we get into more detail a bit later on in the unit), I wanted my students to have a bit of "fun" with it all. So we started with watching The Magic School Bus in the Water Works.  It really does a cute job at explaining the water cycle without overwhelming the students. As they were watching, I had them take notes on the cycle.  Afterwards, we created a class chart of the cycle.  The students noticed a lot of the vocabulary that we have discussed in science lab throughout the movie. Using the movie notes, the vocabulary, and previous knowledge from science lab, the students then created their own water cycle diagram.  On a piece of paper, folded into 8 sections, the students drew a picture and wrote  a few sentences about each part of the cycle. They th...

I love Target.  I go there far too much, and spend far too much money each time I go (I seriously think they put a $150 minimum on all orders there....)  Anyway, the last time I was in, I saw this clock: I thought it was so cool....and PERFECT for a classroom math project! Since I am still trying to assess the students' number sense, I decided that they too could create their own clocks, much in the style of my fabulous Target find.  So I had each of them create a graphic organizer for the numbers 1 to 12.  Since I wanted to see how they students manipulate numbers in all different ways, I asked them to  input all different number sentences, with all different operations, into their organizers.  This gave me a feel for those students who really "got" numbers (and were using all different interesting and unique ways to create the given number) as well as those who really didn't have much number sense at all (and were just putting 4 - 3 = 1   5 - 4 = 1 etc...) I...

I find that I am always tinkering with my classroom environment.  When one bulletin board set up or furniture arrangement has been there too long, I change it up.  So today, when looking at my powder blue cupboard (and contemplating where I was going to put up my new math board), I set in to cover them with black and create a board there.  HOWEVER, the thought of breaking out the butcher paper, cutting it all down to size, wrapping up the cupboards, stapling it all down...and then having to do it again a few times during the year because of the amount of staple/tape holes there would be was filling me with dread. But when I opened up my cupboard doors to get the staple gun and scissors out....it was like a light from Heaven shone upon them.  What, you ask, was so amazing???  The contact paper. I had many rolls left over from when I covered my pencil boxes, that were just stuffed away in the closet. Those rolls are just about the same size as the cupboards.  It is pure genius on my ...

I am finding that my students really like dice.  They love to use them in any way, shape, or form.  So when I broke them out again to do a little multiplication review....my students cheered. Literally. This is not really a game.  There were no winners or losers.  There was just some dice and a wipe off board.  When I brought those out, my students cheered. Again. Literally. So anyway, here is the super simple little "game" we did in class.  I had the students draw 6 spots out on their wipe off boards.  Three on top, and three on the bottom....forming a sort of multiplication problem.  It looked like this: ___   ____   ____ x___  ____  ____ Then, the students each took turns rolling one die.  Whichever number came up, both students put the number on their own wipe off board.  It was up to each individual to decide where to put it (ala THIS game).  When all spaces were filled in, the students solved their own problem. That is it. Literally. There was no ...

This is just a quick little note to let you know that Quarter TWO for the 5th grade Spiral Math Homework is now available!!  I know many of you have been patiently waiting....so here it is.  This one has a lot of geometry and fractions on it (which is what took so long.  Formatting that sucker was tricky!!) There is also multiplication and division of both whole numbers and decimals. And, in case you didn't know, Quarter ONE of 4th grade is also posted. I have been getting so many emails from those of you using the Calendar Math and the Math Homework and I am THRILLED that you are having so much success!  Thank you so much for your kind words and your enthusiasm for it.  I really love hearing how it is going in your room....and it makes me happy that *I* am not the only one who finds these things valuable.  Thank you again for joining me here on this blogging journey.  I am so grateful to you all for reading....

Sometimes, when one is teaching, all of the stars align and everything just seems to mesh really well.  All of the topics connect, the kids see the connection, and the day wraps up into a nice little package. Sometimes. Today, was one of those times.  (THANK GOODNESS!) After our lesson this morning about finding the main idea and all of the supporting details in a paragraph (we used our basal for the reading passage), I followed with a lesson on topic sentences in paragraphs.  We discussed over and over again how the topic sentence must tell the reader what the entire paragraph is about.  It must basically be the main idea of the paragraph.  After several samples, and trials on their own part, the students seemed to get it.  So this afternoon, while doing a general overview of Native American culture, I decided to use these cards that I had in one of my many Lakeshore purchases.  On them, there is a picture of an artifact, and some facts about said artifact.  We discussed how...

School is well underway now and things are going very well.  The kids are settling into a routine, learning the the procedures, and starting to really gel as "Room 6".   And with the rules in place and the structure set, I am not able to get more into the real "meat" of the content.  And when I say content, if you know me at all by now, you know I really mean social studies. I just can't help it.  I LOVE it!  It is so much fun for me, so interesting, that I really do spend a great deal of time teaching it.  (of course, I integrate because, let's get real, I couldn't teach everything I need to without combining subjects here and there) Our first unit is on the Pre-Columbian Native Americans here in the United States.  I like to have the unit focus on the environmental factors that made each cultural group different.  I mean, the Plains people are vastly different than the Desert Southwest because of the areas in which they lived.  So my in class s...

So we have been in school a few weeks now, and I thought I would share some photos of my room with you. Now, keep in mind that this is the beginning of the year.  There really isn't much up (if you remember my Open House pictures, you will look at this and think...WOW, she really has slacked on the work this year...but we are just getting started ;))  Here is the view from the back of my room.  There is seating for 32 students (you can see 24 seats here). This is my rug area.  I am utilizing it SO much this year.  I have started to do a language arts rotation, similar to what I do in math workshop .....so we are CONSTANTLY on the rug.  BEST.INVESTMENT.EVER! I have Poem of the Week back up and running, you can see my library, and here is the What Are You Reading Board .  Quite a busy corner here! We have done a bit of work so far. Click on the picture to go to the description of the lesson. I am super excited about my dedicated Calendar Math board !!!  I...

Do you ever teach a lesson, think it went awesomely, and then realize that not a single person in your room understands anything that was coming out of your mouth?  Yeah...that is how our first science lesson went this year. Science is one of those subjects that is so very hit or miss with me.  Sometimes, I think I do a spectacular job teaching and other times....not so much.  The latter was the case with the first experiment we did this year.  Apparently, teaching controlled, independent, and dependent variables in experiments is just NOT my thing.  (raise your hand if I just lost you there??  Yeah...my hand is up too) So, I went about my business, taught the lesson and gave the students a reflection sheet for their journals.  I was thinking, "This will be great!  They loved the experiment ( which you can find here ) and learned a lot, no doubt." Then I read the reflections. Apparently I was teaching them about soda cans.  I thought I was teaching variables.  Whomp, ...