Sweet

Today's great idea is sweet and simple. If you are having a planned absence, write a post-it note to each student with a nice, short message.

Basket Project (not for students)

1) Wrap raffia in news paper and creat frame.
2) Twist strips of news paper into cord weave back and forth for bottom.
3) Weave sides, use three strands of cord before counter weaving.
4) Wrap about 10 cords in a cris cross with the crosses weaving into the edges.
5) Coat with modge podge.

Skyline

Today I got a great idea for an art project. Sadly, only one girl need to put the finishing touches on her project, so I did not get to see the whole process, but a few students in the class talked me through what they did.

1) Cut out a skyline. Many students did city sky lines but some did country.
2) Tear up colorful tissue paper.
3) Glue tissue paper down to create a sunset or twilight sky. Teacher should mix water and glue ahead of time. Students brush glue onto tissue paper with a paint brush so the paper doesn't get bogged down with glue.
4) Allow background to dry.
5) Glue the sky line in place with a glue stick.

Here one last student needed to glue down her skyline.

Her finished work of art. Ooh, aah, lovely!

Reading Buddies

Today I am back in my favorite 5th grade classroom. They have 1st grade reading buddies. Each Friday (when there are no scheduling conflicts) they take turns going to each others rooms to read. This Thursday (they don't have school tomorrow for conferences) the first graders came to the fifth grade room. Before they arrived students picked two picture books to read to the students.  

When the first graders got to the classroom they quickly found their buddy and sat down. They have been doing this all year so they know who their buddies are, there was only a small shuffle for students who were absent.

The fifth graders where reminded to stop and ask their first grade buddy questions about the book. They were also reminded they were modeling what it was like to be a good reader for the younger students. 

Next Friday, the fifth grade will visit the first grade classroom and the younger students will read to the older kids. 

Bulletin Boards

To day I'm in a 5th grade classroom with some simple but effective bulletin boards.

Each new learning target it posted (all in the same style and sized font - very classy). 

A bulletin board behind the teacher's desk show's his former classes (even from different schools) and his college degrees are also posted. A nice quick way to show students and families how you got to where you are.  

This was on the door down the hall. I think its a great way for students to own the classroom and showoff something - school related or not - that they are proud of. The words behind each kid say "I'M REALLY GOOD AT..." and each student created a poster with one big word filling in the blank. 

The Daily Five

I got to guest teach in a second grade classroom with some beautifully designed reading stations. The class was split into 5 groups - The Daily Five. There were six stations and a 15 minute timer running. Each group goes to three stations each day. Part of what made this so exciting was that several of the stations used iPads. Although I have heard about using iPads to flip classrooms and I have looked into several iPad programs for early literacy, this is the first time I got to see this technology in practice.      

1) Well designed reading stations allow the classroom teacher to pull guided reading groups and have the rest of the class stay productive and on task.

2) "Listen to Reading" is a station that uses iPads. Each student in this group got onto Tumblebooks (oh yes, Tumblebooks again). They used a QR code on the back of the "Listen to Reading" sign to log on. 

Once in Tumblebooks students could listen to any book they liked. 

3) "Read to Self" is another station that has students work with iPads. Students use a program called iTalk, were they record themselves reading aloud.

Students label each record with their name and record themselves reading for 1 minute at a time. The students can listen to their own recording to hear how they read. Later the recordings can then be reviewed by the teacher and even emailed to students' families.    

4) "Read to Someone" is a fairly self explanatory station.

There are reminders of good ways for students to read to each other on the back of the "Read to Someone" sign.

Here two students are reading two different books. They each take a turn reading one page from their stories.

5) At the "Work on Writing" station students worked on a previously given assignment. 

6) The "Word Work" station is focused on vocabulary and spelling words. They are currently playing a game that helps them practice making contractions.   

Poinsettia Project

A fun holiday craft! This was done in a 5th grade classroom. Sadly, you will have to create your own black line. Each poinsettia has 6 green leaves, 8 large red or pink petals, 10 medium petals, 10 small petals and 1 large brad to hold it all together.
   

The final product.

Good luck re-creating the black line images.