My First Linky Party!

This is my first time posting in relation to a "Linky Party"...so I hope I get it right!

This one is being hosted by Cachey Mama's Classroom and the theme is "Book Search." More specifically, sites or blogs you go to for book recommendations.


Here are some of MY favorites...


1. A Year of Reading This has to be one of my favorite blogs to go to! It's how I got the idea to infuse more graphic novels into my classroom library. Another thing I love from this blog is "Poetry Fridays." I always find poems that provoke thought about teaching and life in general in these weekly treasures. This blog constantly updates with well-written book reviews for all age groups.


2. Donalyn Miller's blog on GoodReads is a great source, not only for book recommendations...but for ideas about teaching reading and writing in general. After reading her book (The Book Whisperer), I fully trust all recommendations from this inspirational teacher!


3. The Book Dragon is also another great blog to check out. This site offers a very wide range of book reviews. Sometimes a great idea for teaching is sparked as I red these posts. I also use this blog to learn more about some of the books in my classroom library that I haven't read yet.


4. The Nonfiction Detectives is the perfect blog for finding fantastic nonfiction books to use in the classroom. I like that this blog caters specifically to those in search of informational texts.


5. Scholastic Book Wizard is a great tool for not only getting to know the books in your library, but also for finding books that have similar themes and styles. I use the "Book Alike" feature to find books for my students that will help them branch out a bit. 


6. Harper Collins Children's Books has some really neat features. You can listen to excerpts of books and watch book trailers (similar to movie trailers) for some of their selections. This is also a fun idea for getting students interested in books...much more interesting that listening to your teacher talk a book up!


How about you? What are some of your go-to resources for finding great books?

Poems, anyone?

One of my new favorite things to do in my class is write poetry. The kids love writing poems, and it is a quick and easy go-to writing assignment. So far we have almost two poems under our belts. The first one we wrote was to piggy back off of a lesson we did on sensory language. My AMAZING teammate came up with the idea, and I loved it so much I am sharing it with you! It worked really well and I got some of the best writing I have seen from 5th graders since I started teaching!

The first thing we did was talk about how authors use sensory language to help readers feel immersed in their "world." A great book for teaching this is Smokey Night by Eve Bunting. This is the story of the Los Angeles riots told through the eyes of a child. We talked about what one would have seen, heard, smelled, and felt during this monumental event. 


After that, we talked about how colors can be described in a way that makes you see, hear, smell, feel and even taste them. We read part of the book I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse for this activity. Joosse creates wonderful imagery through her use of descriptive sensory language. I got goosebumps! 


Finally we got to the writing. To complete their activity, the students picked a crayon with an interesting name from my box of 64 Crayola crayons. (I imagine this could be much more interesting if you had the oh-so-epic 120 count box...but alas, I don't.) We discussed how some colors were "cool" and some "warm." We talked about the mood that could be created by different colors. 


Using their crayons as inspiration (who wouldn't be inspired by colors such as "Purple Mountains Majesty" or "Tickle Me Pink"???), the students began drafting their poems using this outline from http://www.writingfix.com/:

After going through the writing process, we finally published the poems in Microsoft Word. I thought it would be neat to use the "outline" text feature for the color names so that the students could use their crayons to shade in the words. I also had them illustrate their work with pictures of what they had described. Below are some of the poems the students created:

Shoot for Three!

Having trouble finding a way to get your students to put forth their best effort on written responses? (Let's be realistic, we have to do them and they aren't always the most fun for our little ones...no matter how hard we try.)

Here is how we motivate students at our school to do their best when completing "Brief Constructed Responses" (a.k.a. BCRs): 

We teach the students what every good BCR needs in order to earn all three points that they are worth. Then, whenever someone scores a three on their BCRs, they get to shoot a hoop. If a particular activity has more than one BCR and they score three points on each one, then the student gets to take that many shots. For example, if one of my kiddos get two threes on their test, they shoot twice. Whether they make the basket or not, they get to add a sticker to the sticker chart. If they make the basket, I give them an extra treat, like a piece of candy or a pencil...whatever I have on hand. 

The poster above the basket and sticker charts says:

"Shoot for Three

We shoot for 3 points when writing our BCRs!

What am I thinking? What have a read?

What's in the text? What's in my head?

Put them together and you will see...

Thoughtful readers earn a 3!"

I am not sure where the poem came from, so I can't take credit for it. However, I loved this idea when I came to my school, so I am sharing it with all of you! Enjoy!

Grammar Giggles

Today was a good day. I had one of those moments in teaching when you just stop, smile, and think to yourself: "This is what I am meant to do." It. Was. Awesome.


I recently decided to ditch my county grammar text books for another book I discovered in our professional library. It's called The Giggly Guide to Grammar, and my kids LOVE it! It takes the oh-so-boring topics of nouns, verbs, sentence structure, etc. and turns them into entertaining lessons that keep the kids engaged. And best of all...they actually look forward to our next lesson.


Today's activity was a wrap up of our study on nouns. We haven't covered all the information about nouns, but this addressed their ability to determine if a word was a noun. It also allowed them to show me that they know the difference between a common noun and a proper noun. It went like this:


The students were to create a list of 20 nouns. They could be ANY noun, as long as they did not use the name of a friend, teacher, or family member. I told them to mix it up between common and proper nouns, and person, place, thing, and idea nouns. When they were finished, they swapped papers with a friend and checked over the list to make sure each word was, in fact, a noun. 


Then (this was the fun part!) I gave the students a copy of a short Mad Libs type story with 20 blanks spaces. They were to fill in the blank spaces with the nouns from their friends' lists without looking at the sentences. After that, they read their completed stories to one another. My room was FILLED with the wonderful sound that is the laughter of children. They enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed listening to their crazy stories, too. The highlight was when of my students asked, "Can we do this kind of thing for our next unit?!?" Who could say no to that?

♥ My Classroom ♥

Here I am about halfway through the first quarter and I realized...


"I should share some pictures of my classroom before it's too late!" (You know, before the newness wears off)
Enjoy!

This is the front of my room. Excuse the fact that some of my teaching materials are still out..

Our Reading Focus Wall. I got this great idea from another blog called "Dots-n-Spots."  

Word wall pocket charts. I have a total of 5. We keep current words from stories we are working on in the charts, then they get moved to the permanent word wall above the board. The different categories are: W.O.W. Words, Character Traits, Relationship, Feelings, and Theme.

My writing corner. It could use some sprucing up to make it more exciting. I also use it for small groups and conferences during reading time.

I utilized the space on my closet doors to hang some great posters for writing.

On the left are my "Make Up Work" files for students to check when they return from an absence. Each child has their own folder. Work is collected in a file folder throughout the day and then transferred into their personal folder. This is also where students go if they need a pencil, tape, to staple something, or a 3-hole punch.

Student work board

Job Chart! The kids are still helping me think of one more job to add. The folders below say "Had a Job" and "Needs a Job" so I can make sure everyone gets a turn.

My always growing classroom library. I would like some matching bins, but right now I am just thankful that I had enough to house all my books!

Close up of the book bin labels I made

Reading strategies and genres bulletin board located in the libary area. As we discuss more genres I will add more posters. Click here to download these great genre posters for your classroom!

Book boxes! Since I have two classes, my desks and book boxes are labeled with numbers. Students  in both classes share book boxes, so I gave each child a Ziploc bag with his/her name on it to keep the books in each box separated. 

My desk area. I am sure some book somewhere would convince me that this is clutter and unnecessary, but I need my own bulletin board space to tack up reminders and important info. I separated it with ribbon and use the top half for displaying student work. We're still working on filling this one up :)

Another view of my desk area.

Our school's version of a clip chart system. This is school wide and pretty useful. Students receive a consequence befitting of their "crime" on red, and if they move up to silver, they get a stamp in their planner to let parents know. Other colors are recorded in planners as well.

This is by the door to my room. Just my calendar, important info, band folders and cones for whem my kids have band. Basically, they choose a "Band Buddy" to give a folder to. That person collects the work while the student is out, and then explains what was missed when they return. The cone goes on their desk as a reminder to me of where they are (in case of any emergency drills, and so on). I also have a bathroom sign-out sheet on this table, along with the famous Red Emergency Binder.

Baskets for handing in completed work

I used some of the leftover scrap paper from my magazine holder project to decorate my binders and help tie the room together a little more.

My curtains that I love! And our classroom's timer. 

This is one of the desk tags I made to go with my "Polka Dot Owl" theme. I made a lot that were in varying combinations of teal, lime, and brown to match my bulletin boards.

Well, that's it for now. I'll update as I add/change more...which is inevitable!