Brain and Body Breaks

With all of the test prep madness we survived last week, my students definitely needed to MOVE!  I decided to try some of the Just Dance videos on YouTube for a brain break.  They LOVED it!

Our favorite was Who Let The Dogs Out.  We are a little biased since this is our mascot's theme song whenever he comes out during assemblies.  The kids went crazy when I played it.







A Little Kung Fu Fighting
 

A Playlist for you:

1. I Like To Move It

2. Despicable Me

3. Shake It Up

4. I'm A Gummy Bear

5. We're All In This Together

6. What Does The Fox Say?

7. Gangnam Style

8. The Sid Shuffle

9. Hey Jessie

10. Footloose

I also have some more Brain Break Ideas Pinned to my Brain Breaks Pinterest Board.


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

Head over for some more great ideas!

Free Equivalent Fractions Dominoes

Today I am sharing a game that has become a big favorite in our classroom – Equivalent Fraction Dominoes!

My students are actually picking this game during Fun Friday – not just math time!

The object of the game is to match up equivalent fractions, but I feel the most beneficial part has been them talking about what pieces work.  For example, if the piece is 4/10, they might say, “I need 2/5 or 8/20”.  They really help each other out, and in the process cement their learning!

You can download this freebie here.

Before you go, make sure to enter our current giveaway if you haven't already!

Monthly Teachers Pay Teachers $25 Gift Card Giveaway - April 2014

I have been so blessed to have amazing followers on both my blog and Teachers Pay Teachers.  As a special thank you I try to give back a little each month with a $25 gift card from Teachers Pay Teachers.  The only mandatory entry is to follow my TpT store, but there are several other ways to increase your chances.  Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bundle of Love Fundraiser for Teacher with Stage 4 Cancer

A few weeks ago, Amna from Teach Two Reach mentioned that one of her former colleagues had been recently given the devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer.  I lost one of my closest friends to cancer almost 8 years ago to the day that she posted her news, and I knew I had to help donate to this cause.  We also lost both of my husband's parents to cancer, so I know exactly how devastating it can be both emotionally and financially.  I was not the only teacher to step forward - over 75 amazing generous teachers also donated to the cause.  Amna has painstakingly bundled all of these goodies into 6 bundles priced between $5 and $10.  All of the proceeds will benefit her friend and her family as they battle the biggest fight of their lives.

 TWO Math and Science Bundles for 
K-5

One ELA Bundle for grades 3-5

and THREE ELA Bundles for grades K-2. 

You can find all of these Bundles right here.  Please consider purchasing to not only save yourself some money, but to help a family in need!

5 For Friday - April 4, 2014

The first week of April is officially in the books!  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

I booked my hotel room for the TpT conference!  I guess that means it's real!  I can't wait to meet up with many of my blogging and Teachers Pay Teachers friends in real life. I am also excited to learn even more!

I got to enjoy lunch with a two of my students this week.  It is one of their favorite goals/rewards.  When they reach 25 AR points they get to have lunch with me.  I let them pick whatever they want.  This kiddo picked a cheeseburger from Jack in the Box that was almost as big as he is!

I covered for one of the teachers who usually runs our study hall/detention this week.  A few of the students that came in said they wanted to be in my classroom and did I think the principal would let them switch.  I told them of course they couldn't switch and why would they want to anyway?  Their reply threw me for a loop, "You have the best books in the whole school!"  Your students are LUCKY!"

Glad my investment in books has paid off! LOL!

We have been neck deep into test prep this week because our CRT's are next week.

I thought the kids (and I ) could use a little break, so we had some whole class origami lessons this week.  It was a great stress reliever!

We made pinwheels to "blow" the stress away! LOL!

I also managed to add two more products to my Teachers Pay Teachers store this week!  

The first one is a set of Base Ten Collaboration Cards that will get your students talking about numbers in the base ten system as they group up.  You can use them to form groups or teams, or simply by themselves as a collaboration activity or center.

The second product is a Roll the Die And Multiply which features print and play dice activities for your students to practice their multiplication facts.

I am giving away your choice of these two items to the first three people who comment below with your choice and your email address!

Making Test Prep More Interactive

Our state tests are 5 days away - and needless to say we are under pressure to get the students ready to pass those tests.  4th grade is the first year the students are asked to complete written responses, so that is an additional challenge to prepare them for.   I am linking up with I'm Lovin' Lit for Thursday Throw Down to share how I made our preparation a bit more interactive.



I started by giving them a copy of the rubric that came in the test prep materials for a constructed response.

We read it together and made sure they understood what it meant.  Then I put the students into groups and gave them sample pieces of student work that were included in the test prep material as well.

The original items had scores at the bottom along with rationale.  I cut those off before I handed them out.  Then I asked the students to work together to grade each of these items.

They voted as a group to rank each one, and wrote their scores and rationale on the paper.

We then discussed the rankings as a group, and I showed them the original scores.  They were much harsher than our state graders!  After this process, they wrote their own responses, and worked together to improve them.  I really think this will help them as they take their tests next week.

Currently - April

Happy first day of April!  That means it is time to link up with Farley for this month's Currently!

When he woke up this morning, Luke (my 8 year old) came into my room shouting, "Happy April Showers!"  I asked him if it was raining and he said, "No, but isn't today April Showers Day?"  Love it!  He thought today was a special day about April Showers.  As a teacher of 4th graders (who is dreading  looking forward to all of the April Fools jokes I will hear today) I really appreciated his take on today!

Our state tests are next week, so I am frantically planning ways to review that aren't too painful.  I have a few ideas up my sleeve, just hoping for enough time to pull them off.  I think that is a common teacher problem - we all need more time.  I'm thinking teachers should be blessed with an extra hour or two each day, don't you think?

Speaking of CRT's, our teachers put together a video for our students.  So embarrassing, but so fun.  It was nice being able to goof off with fellow staff members because we rarely have time to do that (see the time thing again???).

I have been seriously jealous of all of my blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram friends who have been enjoying their Spring Break already.  We still have 3 more weeks! This teacher 

is seriously NEEDING a break!  I am not looking forward to the week in between CRT's and Spring Break - at all!  The kids will be fried!

Farley asked as her last question what our hours are - We are in school from 8:30-3:15 Mon-Thurs and then 8:30-2:15 on Fridays.  On Fridays we have professional development in the morning so we have to be there at 7:00 (upside is we get to go home at 2:30). We get out of school May 30th this year which means we only have a month left of school after Spring Break.

HAPPY APRIL SHOWERS DAY!