Like myself, many of you learn best when you actually see it (which is why, I suspect, you follow blogs ;) ) So I thought I would show you the very first week of our Calendar Math pages in pictures.  I wrote about the process of how I set up the first week of Calendar here , but I think that actually SHOWING you may be a bit more effective :)  If you aren't sure what Calendar Math is, read this first .  Then come back :) So here we go. The first day of school I had pre-printed the entire sheet, with only a few boxes left open for the students to complete.  You can see that these are fairly *easy* things for the kids to do.  They should have some background knowledge in them.  This first day is simply to lay the foundation of working independently and trying your hardest to complete the task. On Day 2, I crossed out a few less items.  These were things that I had showed them how to do when reviewing on Day 1.  I really didn't expect mastery, just their willingness...

As an introduction to our year in math this year, I wanted to get the kids looking at all the ways the math that they were going to encounter would actually be found in the real world.  So last week, our first week back, I sent the kids on a little scavenger hunt. I gave them each a little sheet of paper (which you can get here ) with some math terms and items that we would be studying this year.  Things like negative numbers, percents, and decimals all made an appearance on the sheet.  I then asked them to look through magazines, newspapers, and the internet for examples of each.  They could be creative in how they interpreted each of the categories (ie: a box of cereal from an ad could be considered a polygon), but each category had to have at least two things that were representative of the math.  If they couldn't find a suitable picture in the magazines, newspaper, or internet, I did allow them to draw a picture....though I discouraged it slightly.  I just wanted them to actu...

This week was our first week back and, boy am I tired!  My class is great though...very inquisitive and eager to learn.  They take their work seriously and are actively working most of the day.  Who could ask for more?? We did quite a few things this week, but I want to share with you one "get to know you" project we did that really came out great.  I seriously can't stop staring at it! I saw this pin on Pinterest .  I love how it looks and thought it would make a great welcome sign. Now, on the pin, the hands seemed to be just colored in.  I wanted something a bit more.  So we started with creating Circle Maps about ourselves.  What made us special?  What are some things that have shaped us?  Where did you go in your life?  etc....Most of the kids finished these Circle Maps in class on the first day of school. I then asked the students to trace their hands and arms on a piece of 11 x 17" piece of paper.  They then had to draw, write, decorate, etc...the tra...

Today was my first day back to school with students....and boy am I tired!   We had a good day though, and my kids seem to be super sweet so hopefully we will be off to a great year!  (it is the "honeymoon phase" right now, so time will tell...but I have a good feeling about this class.) Anyway, I know that the first day of school is always pretty nerve-wrecking and planning what to do can be hard, so I thought I would share my first day plans with you.  There is nothing here that is mind-blowing...just all regular first day stuff! 15 mins  5th Grade Survey    The students come in and begin filling out this survey that I place on the desks.  I let them sit wherever they wish on the first day of school.  This serves two purposes.  1) It lets me see who is friends the whom.  2) It gives me a chance to let them freely choose the seats and if it works, things are fine.  If not, I get a peek into how the class will work together.   Click here to get the survey for yourself. ...

You guys know me by now.  I am a huge spiral fan.  I love anything that constantly reviews those key standards that they kids need to know.  So I was super excited when Carson-Dellosa told me they were going to send me their new Common Core Language Arts 4 Today book!  I am trying to get my hands on anything that will help me understand and implement the Common Core a little bit better in my room, and this looks like it just might work. When I first opened the book, I noticed that there was a "problem a day" type feel to it.  The students are given a sheet that has four days worth of practice on it, where they read a teeny passage and answer some questions.  It starts off easier on Day 1 and progresses to be a bit more difficult by Day 4.  Day 5 is always an assessment of the skills that were practiced during that week. Some weeks are comprehension practice.  Some weeks are grammar skills.  Some weeks are spelling and word work.   Every other week is writing practice...

I shared these pictures with you on my last post, but I wanted to go into a bit more detail (since I was getting a lot of emails and questions about them!)  So here we go! Years ago (my second year of teaching actually), I was a rover in a year round school.  Now, for those of you unfamiliar with what a rover is, basically I was the teacher in the triad of teachers who moved from classroom to classroom when the other tracks were off. Since I moved back and forth (every month!), I didn't have a permanent home.  No permanent home means that I really didn't have the ability to do my own bulletin boards.  I was stuck using what the off track teacher had chosen to put up in her room. Now, if you know anything about me by now it is that I *need* to make my room look my "style".  It is part of my teaching DNA.  So not having control over the bulletin boards was HORRIBLE for me....and I simply couldn't take it.  To remedy this situation, I enlisted the help of my moth...

I can not believe that my summer is 12 days from being over.  I had SO many plans. I was going to make all of the new labels, binders, teaching resources that I had thought about at the end of the last school year.  I was going to get the nursery done.  I was going to unpack the garage.  I was going to do a lot of things. I didn't. I managed to take my children to the beach many times.  We went to the zoo.  We made pottery at Color Me Mine.  We read books.  We lazed around.  We spent time together.  And my daughter has proudly exclaimed that this has been "the best summer ever!" So I am cool with not getting everything done. But now that school is imminently approaching, I better start making some goals or I will be "up a creek", as my grandmother used to say.   Oh, Boy 4th Grade's Currently is the perfect way to get me going.  So here we go..... OK...so I realize I have spelled especially wrong.  UGH!  I guess spelling lessons will also be on m...