Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Writing Biographies - How We Research and Write


One of the units we do in fourth grade in our district is research.  I have already shared some of our animal research projects, and today I am sharing the work we have been doing writing biographies.

One product that I used this unit was this Biography Sticky Note Reports from Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher.

Biography Sticky Note Report





I don't know what it is, but there is something motivating in 4th grade about writing on a post-it note.



They were able to organize their notes so much better, which made for easier report writing.  







Make sure you use the higher quality post-its so that you don't have sticky notes everywhere!



I am linking up with Jivey's Workshop Wednesday.  Be sure to check out other great ideas!


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Fish Bowl Review Game

Because this week is a crazy one (the week after state testing and the week before Spring Break) I knew I needed to find some ideas to keep my students engaged and motivated.  I had found this post  a few years ago and planned on using it with my 7th graders, but I never got the chance.  I thought it might be fun to try out this week with my 4th graders!

Remember those carnival games where you throw a ball into a box filled with cups hoping to win a giant stuffed animal?  This game is based on that.


I made my fish pond using soup cans my students had brought in for an earlier in the year science project.  You could also use red Solo cups (my original plan but I forgot the cups at home!).


Each student had a white board and a dry erase marker.  I gave them math problems to solve. They earned 1 point for a correct answer and the chance to earn extra points by getting their ball into the cup.


They had an absolute blast and I got to review multiplication and long division with them.  Win Win!

And speaking of winners... here are my winners with their hard earned prizes!



 I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.





Monday, April 14, 2014

5 Things To Do With $1 Scholastic Book Selections


I don't know about you, but I am always excited to see the $1 selections each month in the Scholastic Book orders.  They are so affordable, and there are so many ways to use them in your classroom.  Here are a few ideas:

1. Book Raffles
Reward your students with raffle tickets when you catch them being good.  They can place their tickets into a container for the book of their choice.  You could also just place out one book each month and raffle that off instead.

2. Whole Class/ Small Groups
I love the idea of reading the same novel to give a common ground for discussion, but it can be quite spendy to shell out money for entire class sets.  $1 books are a great way to keep it affordable.  You might even request that your parents order the book for their student to read that month.

3. Birthday or Christmas Presents
Do you give out small gifts to your students for their birthday?  Why not hand out a book as their present.  At just $1 it is affordable to gift every student in your class with a book.  I teach at a Title I school, and many of my students don't have books at home.  This is a great way to get more books into their hands.

4. Partner Reading
My students love Read to Partner during Daily 5.  Having each child have their own copy of a book makes it easier for older students to read together.

5. Incentives
Wondering what to give your students as an incentive or reward?  Why not use the $1 books in your class store, or just as a reward for reaching a goal of some sort?  I reward students who earn 25 AR points with lunch this year.  I am thinking about rewarding them with these $1 books next year instead.

What ways have you used Scholastic $1 Books in your classroom?






Saturday, April 12, 2014

Things I am Pinterested in This Week - April 12, 2014

Hi, my name is Kelly and I am a Pinterest addict.  It has been 11 seconds since my last pin.

Seriously, I could spend days and days on Pinterest.  Here are a few things I have pinned this week:

Fraction Easter Egg Hunt {Converting Improper and Mixed Fr


Math Station~  Write a problem on each egg and students place it in the correct section of the carton.

We will also be playing this game, but I will be adapting it to division and multiplication.

Students Monitoring Their Own Learning

We use Marzano scales at our school, and I think this anchor chart looks great!


35 easy DIY gift ideas that people actually want

I am thinking something like this would make a great end of year school present for the boys' teachers.
I am thinking these shoes will definitely be on my Fall purchase list for next school year!

If you would like to see more things I am pinning, be sure to follow me on Pinterest!

What are you pinning this week?  Leave me a link to your boards and I will follow you!


Friday, April 11, 2014

5 For Friday April 11 2014 Giveaways and Freebie!


One more week until Spring Break, one more week until Spring Break, one more week!  I can do this!  Not quite time for Spring Break yet, but it is time to link up with DoodleBugs Teaching for Five for Friday! I always love peeking into everyone else's week and sharing mine!


This week started with baseball opening day.

We had to arrive at the park at 7:15 AM to get ready for opening ceremonies.  It was absolutely freezing!  As you can see from Luke's expression and attire, it seemed more like football weather than baseball weather!

Luke is playing Farm this year and is doing great!  He has already been complimented as one of the best ball players on his team!  Woo hoo Luke!

Do you see that snack haul?  One of the moms handed out bags filled with kettle corn, Big League Chew, baseball cards, and Gatorade!  Setting the bar high for snacks!

Tyler was camera shy and I only got shots of his back - this one was the best I could get of him.
He is #34.  He is playing mostly first base this year and pitching a little.


This week was our state tests.  In Nevada they are called CRT's. I left a note for my kiddos as a word of encouragement.


I call them Smurfs because they wear blue uniforms :D  We may watch a lot just a little bit of Kid President!




After testing most of the morning, I tried to make afternoons a bit more entertaining with some fun math games.








In case you didn't notice... my blog has had a major face lift and I LOVE it!

In honor of the new look I am having a giveaway!  Be sure to enter if you haven't already!  Also, there is one more day left to enter my monthly $25 TpT gift card giveaway.  I give one away each month, so even if you don't win this time, be sure to follow so you can enter again!




Last but not least, I have a freebie for you!




Freebie Fridays



Thursday, April 10, 2014

Celebrating My New Blog Design With A Giveaway!

I am BEYOND excited to share with you my new blog design!! Isn't it amazing??  OK, I am a little bit biased since it is my own blog, but I think it is so much better than my old one and I have my hubby and the fabulous Megan from A Bird in Hand Designs.  Megan is the one who did all the ACTUAL work, but hubby is the one who bought the design for my birthday.  I don't know about you, but I am a great gift giver and a horrible gift receiver!  I never know what to ask for.  Right around my birthday I mentioned that I really would love to update my blog.  Hubby said, "How much would it cost?"  I started looking around and he said, "Let's do it as your birthday present."  BEST PRESENT EVER!!

If you are thinking of updating your blog, definitely visit Megan!  She was so easy to work with, and it was as if she could read my mind about what I wanted!  I also loved the fact that she was able to get it done even earlier than scheduled - I was scheduled to have my design process start the week of April 21st, and as you can see it was completed already by April 9th - an extra surprise!

In honor of my new look - I am having a giveaway with some of my favorite items.  Enter below to win:

a $10 Starbuck's Gift Card
$20 Worth of Items from My TpT store
$10 TpT Gift Card


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Easter Egg Showdown - Reviewing Division Game


This week I got a newsletter from Laura Candler which reminded me of an activity that I hadn't done in quite awhile.  Showdown!  I didn't even realize how long it had been until I pulled out my eggs...


Yep - that was from 7th grade math.  I haven't taught 7th grade in almost 2 years!
Well luckily Laura has division  problems in her Easter Egg Showdown which was a perfect review for my 4th graders.

When they came in from lunch, this is what they saw.



They were so excited to see Easter Eggs on their desks.  The best part?  They weren't even disappointed when they found out they were filled with math problems!

Each table had a team captain who opened the egg and pulled out the problem.  They read it out loud (a great way to practice since they like to reverse the divisor and the dividend when reading them) and placed them on the table for all to see.  Each team member answered the problem on their board and placed them face down when finished.  The captain called, "Showdown" and they shared their answers.  When they finished all of their eggs, they traded eggs with another team (which saved me copies!).



They had a blast!



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