Classification Activity

At the beginning of our Living Organisms unit, we study Animal Classification. The students do very well with this unit (I have not met many 4th graders who don't love some sort of animals!!), but I like them to have a greater understanding of the process of classification. It also helps them to understand why some crazy creatures, like the platypus, are in certain groups even though they have characteristics of others. This year, we used a variety of beans and left it open to the students to determine how to classify each type of bean. The students had a blast, and it was great to hear them defending their classification groups!

Wild and Wacky Weather

I am currently finishing up plans for my science unit on weather. I always find that my students do really well with understanding the concepts of this unit, and I am sure it is because weather is all around us all the time! I am especially excited this year because I have seen such a huge spark of interest in meteorology since our assistant principal asked our class to monitor and record data from the rain gauge that is housed at our school. The students are in charge of checking the rain gauge every day. They then go online to record the data on the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) website. The students have LOVED looking at patterns of rain and comparing our rainfall to nearby (and far away) places. Without even realizing it, some have become mini-meteorologists making predictions about upcoming rain, analyzing and hypothesizing about why some areas didn't get as much rain as we did, etc.

For my unit, I will start out with review of the Water Cycle. My intern already spent some time on this, so I am planning to use a Smart Notebook activity I found on Smart Exchange as a review. Students will use their Science Notebooks throughout this unit, and I am working on some fun ways to incorporate notes/vocabulary and creative output ideas. We also have to study the three major types of clouds, so I usually have students make models of the clouds with cotton balls. It may seem a bit "young" for 4th graders, but it is a great way for them to really focus in on the characteristics of each of the clouds (cirrus, cumulus, and stratus). Any and all "art" activities are a hit with the majority of my class. We will also build our own weather instruments and hopefully use them to collect some data and make some predictions. To wrap things up, students will be researching hurricanes, tornadoes, or thunderstorms and creating a product to share their findings with the class. I am still not 100% certain what activities they will choose from, but I think they will do a detailed poster/infographic, a commercial, a brochure, or a web-based presentation (Prezi, PowerPoint).

I have the best intern in the world!!!

I feel so blessed to be working with someone who I think will probably be the BEST teacher in the world when she completes her education! My "teacher intern" has really motivated me. I think after 9 years of teaching, it is easy to get in a "rut" and to forget what good teaching is all about. However, introduce someone who has fresh and new ideas, and that "rut" is quickly a thing of the past. She is currently teaching my class full-time, but I am excited to get back into the swing of things in mid-April. I hope that I can continue the momentum she has created with my students. They are really LOVING to learn. I thought I was pretty good at motivating them to want to learn, but she has taken it to a whole new level.

The day she was observed for the first time, she set up 6 different astronomy-themed centers to help the students review our Astronomy Unit. The activities included "Moon Phases Twister", a crater creation center, an awesome Smartboard activity, a "calculate your weight on other planets" center....it was so engaging and really helped the students review. Her supervisor was in awe, as was I! I believe that great teaching is a gift, a talent, and she has that talent!

So...if you have worked with a teacher intern (aka student teacher) who was great...what did they teach you?? Do you have any ideas you still use?

UPDATE: I had to add some photos of her astronomy activties!

Adventures!

I have not been keeping up with my blog at all lately, and I am so sorry! I have some new adventures that I am embarking on....one of those is that I am working with a teacher intern this semester. She is WONDERFUL. It is nice to feel like I can sit back and relax (a little) as she begins to take over responsibilities in the classroom. I am learning so much from her, and I hope that I teaching her a thing or two :)

My second adventure is that I will be moving to Japan this summer! My husband is a Marine, and although we had planned on him retiring soon, we were offered the opportunity to be stationed in Iwakuni, Japan, and we jumped on it! We are so excited, but the move planning is extremely exhausting. My life outside of the school day has involved paperwork, appointments, more paperwork, and more appointments. The fun part is yet to come, as we will need to rent out our home here in NC, sell our car & truck, and organize all of our possessions into things we want to move with us, things we want to store, and things we want to sell/donate. Such fun!

My world travels so far have consisted of visiting Canada, so I am ecstatic that I will have the chance to see other places and meet people from different cultures. We will be about 30 minutes from Hiroshima and only 6 hours, by train, from Tokyo. There are many trips planned to places like South Korea, China, and Taiwan. I have a feeling that we are going to LOVE our time in Japan. I am so excited that my children will have experiences that many people never get to have! I am hoping to teach for the DOD school on our base, but that will all depend on if they have positions open. No matter what, I hope to keep up with my blog :)

100 Followers!!!

I am so excited! I have finally reached the 100 follower mark! I have not been keeping the blog updated, and I apologize! This has been a very busy, stressful year for some reason. I hope that everyone is having a WONDERFUL year!

Since it has been forever since I last posted anything, I guess today is a great day to start again! Yesterday, I attended a short training about guided reading. I was curious to find out what some of you do for guided reading. Do you have specific skills you are supposed to work on? Do you use "real" literature or materials provided by your school? How large are your groups? How often do you meet and for how long? What are the other students doing?

I have struggled with guided reading this year because my class is larger than in years past, and my students struggle with working independently. However, I continue to try to work out the kinks so that my students can get a great guided reading experience. Right now, I have been focusing in on the skills/strategies introduced in our basal (Reading Street). I have been focusing more on the leveled readers than the basal stories for guided reading. Honestly, I am not "feeling" either of these. I was blessed with really good readers this year, and I am just not sure that these materials are the best. I am hoping to use a "literature circle" or "book club" approach to guided reading in the near future. We don't have a set format for guided reading, so I am hopeful I can adapt my lessons to include some good books that the students will truly enjoy.

I am using a modified version of the Daily 5 for the students working independently. It has been somewhat successful, but like I said, my students have moments when working independently seems impossible for them.

Feel free to share how guided reading looks in your classroom! 

Back to School Whirlwind!

I went back to work a week ago for 3 days of meetings/room prep, then our students arrived on Thursday. I feel like I have been going non-stop since then :) I have a great group of 4th graders this year. Almost an equal mix of boys and girls, a nice variety of personalities, all different levels. So far, after 3 days, they all seem to get along pretty well too. I have started introducing the Daily 5. It is such a new concept for them, and I think it will take some time for them to really appreciate the independence it will build. I can tell that my students will need a lot of help learning to work on their own. Sadly, it always seems that they come from tiny classes in 3rd grade (last year was about 15-16) to larger classes in 4th and 5th (25-28). It really takes time for them to get used to things.

I had some bad news right before school started that sent my motivation and good vibes for this school year down the tubes. Our 4th grade team had four members. About 2 weeks before the first day, one teacher found out that she was moving to 3rd grade so that a 3rd grade teacher could move up to do a 4th/5th multiage class that is required due to our lower enrollment in the intermediate grades. Then, just a week before school started, another of our teammates found out that she was being moved to 1st grade. They found a sub to open that classroom. Then, after spending a week working with the sub (who was so great), they hired a teacher on Friday, and she started today. She seems wonderful and I think we will get along great. However, I cannot help but be angry that my teammates got moved. Our grade level had the best test scores in the school. We worked together so well, and 3 of us spent the summer planning, creating, and sharing ideas. I really think that my principal did the best she could with a really odd situation, but I still feel really sad about it all. Why, in education, does it seem that the hardest working folks are the ones who end up having to be extra flexible, extra responsible, and extra understanding? It is frustrating!

Ok, enough boo-hooing! It will be a great year, and I am excited for all of the awesome activities I have planned. I will be getting in touch with everyone who expressed interest in my Regions of the U.S. activity very soon!

Me, Crafty?!?!?

Well, since Pinterest has changed my life (it really has...LOL!), I decided to try to make some of the things I have pinned this year.

First up, my Teacher Toolbox! Thank you to Hedrich's Hive for the great labels! The only issue I am having is keeping the labels clued into the drawers. I tried hot glue, but they are popping right off. Oh well, it still looks great!

I love all of the "Welcome Banners" I have seen on Pinterest. I decided to create on of my own using Publisher. I think I could have jazzed it up with some contrasting colors or something, but it does look cute in the classroom. I am planning to add some bows to the sides where I have the ribbon tied to the hooks. 

Here is my Duct Tape Quilt. The little signs inside say "4th Grade Super Stars". 

My picture quality is horrible! I will replace these with better ones on Monday. This is my behavior clip chart. I am thinking that my green READY TO LEARN section needs to be a bit bigger :-)

 

School begins in one more week! I am excited about the year, but nervous too! Last year was the best year I have had in a LONG time, and I know it will be tough to top it. I need to stop worrying and just go with the flow!