Five For Friday- October 18

It's the end of another week, which means I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday!

Here's what happened in Miss Woodward's Class this week:

5.  Shoe Greeting

Every morning, we do a Morning Meeting, following the Responsive Classroom model.  For the first time this year, we did the "shoe greeting".  Every student puts a shoe in the middle of the circle.  One student starts by choosing a shoe, and finding its owner.  When they find the owner, they both stand up and greet one another by shaking hands and saying, "Good morning, _________."  Then the owner of the shoe grabs another shoe from the middle and greets someone else.  This continues until everyone has been greeted.

It tends to take longer than most greetings, but the kids loved it!  There were many giggles while they found the owners of the stinky shoes.  :)

4.  A Special Visitor

Wednesday and Thursday were parent/teacher conference days.  During conferences, we had the Scholastic Book Fair going on in the Library.  To promote the Book Fair, a special visitor came to our classroom to say Hello!

It's Clifford, the Big Red Dog!

3.  New Title I Teacher

I am so excited that we now have a full-time Title I teacher at our school!  Ms. Mai, from Diary of a Grumpy Teacher, has joined the team at our school, and we are so excited to have her!  :)

4.  Education Minnesota Conference

Every fall in Minnesota, students around the state get a four-day weekend for something that we call "MEA Break".  Teachers have the opportunity to attend the Education Minnesota Conference, however, many use the time off for a mini-vacation.

One of my teaching partners and I decided to attend the Education Minnesota Conference this year.  It was at the River Center in St. Paul, and there were exhibitors and workshops we could attend.

We even ran into Goldy the Gopher!

The Science Museum of Minnesota had a booth at the conference, and they gave us free admission to the new Maya exhibit, only valid that day.  Since the Science Museum is right across the street from the conference, we decided to take a quick visit before returning to school for an evening of parent/teacher conferences. 

5.  Friends and Fun

It was an incredibly long week, but I mustered up some energy on Friday night to host some good friends for a Fondue Party.  YUM!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Love my job? Yes, yes I do!

We have moved on from World Geography to bigger and better things... SCIENCE!  Now, I am not usually too fond of teaching social studies OR science, but I have to say... this year I LOVE it!  I think it has something to do with teaching the Core Knowledge curriculum, rather than teaching straight to the standards.  Read about my new-found love with Core Knowledge in this post.  What I love about Core Knowledge is that we get to teach super-fun topics (like our latest- Classifying Animals), but our state standards are still embedded within the topics.

I had this "AH-HA!" moment today.  Kids keep coming up to me lately saying, "Miss Woodward, look!  I found the word equator in my book!"  Or, "Miss Woodward, I'm reading the Komodo Dragon book.  Yep, it's a reptile, so it must be cold-blooded."

OR.... this little guy, who chose to spend his free time making a venn diagram, instead of drawing flowers and zombies like the rest of his classmates.

Yep, that's a venn diagram comparing warm-blooded animals and cold-blooded animals.  ((Aside from the fact that octopus and fish are not reptiles, can we just take a moment to acknowledge that he did this totally on his own, without guidance from me?  Pretty neat, if you ask me.))

And then it hit me- How COOL is it that these kids are so interested in science and social studies?  How COOL is it that my ELLs are using content- specific vocabulary in their everyday language?  How COOL is it that they spend their few free minutes drawing venn diagrams?  How COOL is it that they read the animal books I brought and are able to tell me if the animal is warm- or cold- blooded, and a vertebrate or invertebrate?

I must be doing something right.  These kids are on their way to becoming lifelong learners.  They are making connections.  They are letting the knowledge stick in their brain.

And I LOVE it!

What moments have you had that totally reinforce why you became a teacher?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Monday Made-It - Word Work Organization

Today I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another edition of Monday Made-It!

I have been away from my blog for a few weeks.... I apologize to all those who follow!  I have been very busy, and very exhausted!  I actually went home early one day last week.  I was just not feeling well and ended up sleeping all day and night.  I think my body was worn out!

Here is what I've been working on the last few weeks!

One of my partners has been making awesome word work activities using our Social Studies vocabulary and spelling words.  The kids love word work!

Since we have been learning about Geography, one activity is to match each continent's name to its picture.  Then students have to label the continents on a laminated map using a dry-erase marker.

Another activity is to match vocabulary words with their picture.  Students say to themselves the definition and example of the word, and use the word in a sentence.

They love this one!  Using a dry erase marker and laminated cards, they have to write the vocabulary or spelling word that matches the picture on the card, or fills in the sentence correctly.

This is Ms. Meredith's vocabulary match game.  It uses the words she teaches during our weekly vocabulary lesson.  They have to match the vocabulary word, definition, picture, and sentence to make a match.

We do a few other word work activities as well, I just don't have pictures of them.  :)

For ALL of these activities, students are encouraged to use their vocabulary books.

ANYWAY...... All of these activities are stored in little baggies.  All of those baggies were in a big tub.  You can imagine how hard it was for anyone to find what they were looking for.  Hence my need for some organization... and my Monday Made-It!

I made envelopes to store each activity.  For each activity, I have four envelopes (sets).  I think altogether, I made about 25 envelopes.

I had quite the mess on my desk while I was doing this project!

Each envelope has the name of the activity, materials list, and directions (with pictures).  I created these to meet the needs of my class and word work activities, so I won't be posting this on TpT (sorry, friends!)  I wanted the kids to be able to grab an envelope and know exactly what they were grabbing and how to do the activity.  I have many struggling readers, so I created pictures for the directions, so they were easier to follow.

The envelope also has a sticker dot in the corner to tell whether the activity is low, medium, or high level.  After gluing directions and a dot on the envelopes, it was time to laminate each one.  

I kid you not, after all of my envelopes were laminated, the laminating must have stretched about 20 feet long!

Then it was time to slice open each envelope using a craft knife.  Super easy!

Now, all you veteran teachers have probably already figured out the trick of laminating envelopes, but I am now in love and want to store everything in laminated envelopes!

I still keep my word work in the same plastic bin, but now the envelopes are organized, and the kids know exactly what materials they need and how to do the activity.

The whole project was quite time-consuming, but totally worth it!

What activities do you do for word work?  How do you keep them organized?  I would love to hear about it!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Tried it Tuesday- Me Moves!

Today I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried it Tuesday (Wednesday)!

When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher used Me Moves with her class.  She used it after recess as a way to calm their little bodies and get their brains ready for more learning.  I loved it so much, I used it with my class last year, and felt that it was really successful.

Me Moves was created by a parent of an Autistic child, as a way to calm and focus the brain.  It combines simple, repetitive movement with calming music.  Students simply follow the movement patterns on the screen.  Although Me Moves is often used with Special Education students, it can be used with classes of any size and ability levels.

Here's my Tried it Tuesday:  I tried Me Moves for the first time with my class this year.

To introduce it, we talked about how we might use Me Moves to calm our bodies.  We might do it every day.  We might do it after Morning Meeting, or we might do it after recess.  Then, I projected it onto the screen, and I had them all watch a segment first.  After we watched, we talked about choosing a successful spot (just like for Daily 5).  I allow them to sit or stand, but they need to be an arm's span away from the next person.

Then we tried it!  They were a little bit giggly at first.  When that happened, I paused the video and we discussed again why we use Me Moves, before starting the sequence again.

Here is a video of my kiddos trying Me Moves.

The Me Moves package comes with three things:

-- A DVD (The part I use the most.)

-- a CD of the Me Moves music (I use this during quiet working time.)

-- Textured movement cards (I don't usually use these, but I might try putting them in my Take a Break area.  Students can trace the texture with their fingers as a way to calm down before returning to the group... What do you think of that?)

I really think my students this year can benefit from using Me Moves!

Me Moves ---  Tried it, LOVE it!

What did you try this week?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Lists, Lists, Lists...

Thanks to my dad, I was raised as a list-maker.  I make lists for everything!

As a teacher, my list is never-ending.  (Does anyone else feel that way?!)  Lately, I feel as though before I can cross one thing off my list, I am adding three more things.

Usually my lists are scribbled down on the closest sheet of paper.  I'd like to try and find something to keep me a little more organized.

  How do you manage your to-do lists?  I'd love to get some new ideas!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Student Vocabulary Books

Because my whole class is ELL students, it is incredibly important to expose them to vocabulary from all different domains.  Ms. Meredith, our ELL teacher, went to an ELL conference last year and informed us that ELLs should be learning 400 new words every year.  400!

We needed a way for students to record all of the content-specific and interesting words that they learn throughout the year.  Ms. Meredith was so WONDERFUL to create these vocabulary books for each student in 3rd grade!

Inside are three sets of colored pages.  The gold pages are for Social Studies words, the blue are for Science words, and the white pages are for Reading words.

Each page has room for two words.  For each word, students write a definition and sentence, draw a picture and write synonyms.  They also circle their understanding of the word on a scale of 1 to 4.

1- I have never heard the word.

2- I have heard the word, but don't know what it means.

3- I know what the word means, but don't know how to use it in a sentence.

4- I know what the word means, and I can use it in a sentence.  I can teach this word to somebody else.

Ms. Meredith comes in to our class every day for an hour during our literacy block.  But on Mondays, she comes and teaches new vocabulary for the week.  On those days, we do not do the Daily 5.  

To introduce the words, she uses a power point presentation with the word and picture.  They practice saying the word multiple times, and then she works with the students to come up with a definition and sentence that they will understand and remember.

Once we add the words to our vocabulary book, I use Ms. Meredith's power point to print out the word and picture to use on my word walls.  Occasionally, we will play a vocabulary game to review the words we learned thus far.

My goal this year is to try and get my students to regularly use these words, and retain their vocabulary knowledge.

What kind of vocabulary instruction do you do in your classroom?  I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Five For Friday!

I can't believe it's Friday already!  I look forward to Fridays, just so I can update you by linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

This week, I had a lot of exciting things going on, so I am going to switch it up a little bit by doing my Five for Friday in a "Top 5" style.

Here we go... my Top 5 for the week!

5. NWEA Testing

Each fall and spring, our students take the NWEA test in Reading and Math.  Our school's authorizer wants to see 125% growth from the fall test to the spring test.  I  have lots of feelings about standardized testing (as I'm sure many of you do, too), so I won't get into that in this post.  But, for two days, my classroom was transformed into a mobile computer lab "perfect" for testing.  Poor kiddos.

4. Fall Weather

Fall in Minnesota can go two ways:  We can either have an extended summer with relatively hot weather through September/ October, or we can fast forward to winter by way of a giant snowstorm, completely missing the comfortable fall weather.

This year, early September was miserably HOT, but now it has cooled down into the perfect fall weather.  The mornings and evenings are cool, and the daytime is warm and sunny.  After testing yesterday, I took my students outside for a little extra recess.  The weather has been beautiful, and I'm loving it!

3. Buddy Reading- Coaching

This week during Buddy Reading, we discussed "Coaching" our buddy if they get to a word they do not know.

When a buddy gets to a word they do not know, students need to do three things:

- Silently count to three in their head.

- Ask their buddy, "Do you need time, or help?"

- If their buddy says "time", they just have to wait.  If they say "help", they need to help their buddy chose a strategy that will help them figure the word out.

We talked about how coaching is not TELLING your buddy the word.  It is HELPING them decode it.  We also talked about how if our buddy says "time", we wait, but it would be a good idea to think of a strategy, in case our buddy changes their mind and does want help.

It was SO fun to watch!  Success!

These buddies hard at work Coaching.  Highlight of the week (#3.5), it was picture day, and the girl on the right INSISTED she wear that hot pink headband with the lovely fake hair... At least she smiled big for her picture!

2. LOVING My Team

Yep... I said it.  I love my team!  Last night, we went out for dinner and had a great time chatting (and NOT about school, are you as surprised as I am?!).

Me, Ms. Eichhorn, and Ms. Tarah-  3rd Grade ROCKS!  :)

1. Mr. Wolf's Birthday!

Today is Mr. Wolf's birthday!  We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.  Love this guy!  :)

What did you do in your classroom this week?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward