Back-To-School

Now that school is back in full swing I am going to try and get back to blogging. I am in my second week with the kids and love my classes. We have started off the year with lots off fun activities. Check out all that we have been up to.

Student Pennants

My fifth grade students made personal pennants that we hung. I love how this turned out! The only requirements was no more than two pictures. They were able to color and decorate any way they wanted.

What I Learned this Week....

I created this for Made It Monday! and now you can see it in action. My fourth grade students loved posting about their week. Everyone posted about what they learned in math. Their math teachers are to credit for that :)

Student Tweet Board

This was another Made It Monday! My fifth graders loved this. It was an easy way to see what made an impression on them the first week of school. Most of my students posted about meeting with their kindergarten buddies. 

Sunshine State Reader Board

This is my Sunshine State Reader board. After students pass the book AR test their picture is put on the board and the book is added above. As the year goes on this will become a bar graph.

Update: this is how our board looked by Christmas Break

                                    


Twelve (fill in the blank) Things

 I read Twelve Terrible Things by Marty Kelley to my fifth grade class, it is such a fun book!! We reviewed adjectives and students pair up to create a list of 'Twelve (adjective) Things'. The students decided on an adjective and then created a list for that word. Some of the list they created were 'Twelve Gross Things' and 'Twelve Fantastic Things'. The students loved creating the list and presenting it in creative ways.

I am looking forward to this year and all the possibilities with a new group of students.

5th Grade and Kindergartener Buddies

Today my 5th grade students met with their kindergarten buddies for the first time. We planned a scavenger hunt for the buddies to help the kindergarteners learn where everything was on campus. 

It was amazing! My fifth graders were wonderful with their buddies holding their hand and reminding them to walk on the yellow line. I saw how wonderful buddies were last year for my 5th graders and am still amazed how grown-up the 5th graders are when given a a little person to help.

The kindergarten teacher and I have planned out lots of fun activities for this summer. Our classes will meet every Wednesday for 30 minutes.Below is a list of our planned activities for this year.

Buddies meet on Wednesdays 1:10-1:50

Extended time activities will be from  12:45-1:50

Aug 15^th – GEMS scavenger hunt  *extended time*

Buddies will go to set places on campus and add stickers to their passport.   

This will help kindergarten students learn where things are around campus.

Aug 22^nd – interview and paper dolls

                      5^th grade will interview their buddy so they can write a story about their buddy.

                      Kindergarten will work on paper doll with help of buddy.

Aug 29^th – ‘If You Take a Mouse to School’

After reading ‘If You Take a Mouse to…’ students will write and illustrate a story for the prompt. ‘If You Take a Mouse to School….’

Sept 5^th - read with buddy

                     Kindergarten will go to 5^th grade classroom and read a book with a buddy.

Sept 12^th – make flag

                     Kindergarten will create a flag with partners help after reading book about
                     America. 

Sept 19^th – nursery rhyme play

5^th grade buddy will pick play before meeting with kindergarten. Groups will decide what style of play they will present (puppet or act out)

Sept 26^th – nursery rhyme (rehearsal)

Oct 3^rd – nursery rhyme *extended time*

Students will present plays to parents.  

Oct 10^th – read fall books in the garden (snack)

Oct 17^th – scarecrow glyph

Oct 24^th – fall book with writing activity

Oct 31^st – pumpkin activity *extended time*

We have not completed the calendar for the rest of the year. 

Made it Monday! #7

It is Monday and I had another busy week.  Pre-planning is only 2 weeks away. It will be nice to go back and use what I have created and learned from other bloggers but it would be so nice to have a few more weeks. I finally decided to pull out my teacher bag and box that I brought home the beginning of June and see what needs to be done. Before I share my teacher made it I want to show off my home made it.

#1 New Mirror

I am super excited to show off my amazing find from Hobby Lobby. I found the mirror below on the Clearance aisle for $18.00!!! Yes, $18.00!! As you can see the frame is broken but my mind started turning as soon as I saw it.

This is me standing in the store deciding if I am going to buy the mirror.

I bought Hydrangeas to cover the break and TADA!!  Isn't it pretty??

Very excited about this. I then used old canvases I had and covered them with fabric I bought at Wal-Mart. So easy and pretty. My wonderful husband hung the mirror for me and we now have a beautifully decorated wall. :)

#2 Fall Wreath 

My second project was a fall wreath for the front door. It was easy and I love how it turned out.

Supplies

I cut the burlap into strips and then wrapped them around the wreath. 

 I may add a pumpkin or bow at some point but for now I am happy with it.

Completed Wreath

#3 PKM treats

PKM is what I am calling the oh so good treat I made this week. PKM = pretzel, kiss, M&Ms. I found the idea on Pinterest, not sure what I did before Pinterest. LOL! 

When I made mine I made 6 different types, overachiever I know. Plain Kiss and peanut butter M&M,  plain Kiss and peanut M&M, caramel Kiss and peanut M&M, plain Kiss and plain M&M, caramel Kiss and plain M&M, Hugs and plain M&M. I can't do anything simple, but now I know figure out the best combination ;) 

My little girl helping me bake. Proud moment for me!

Recipe

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Line a pan with Parchment paper and lay out pretzels with Kisses on top. I used mini pretzels, I have seen people use circle and the square ones. Put the pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes, do not over heat! It only took 3 minutes in my oven. You want the Kisses to be shiny and soft but not so hot that they are melting and loosing their shape. When you take the pan out gently press the M&Ms onto the top. Put them in the refrigerator or freezer to set. **The Hugs do not need as much time! I over heated mine and they melted everywhere. The caramel Kisses do not melt well at all. I will not use them next time.

Now for my teacher made it.

#4 Facebook Status

I was searching for beginning of the year ideas and came across a Facebook status page for the first week of school. The one I found was for middle school math so I created one for my 4th grade students. I am excited to use this at the beginning and end of the year so they can compare their statuses. 

#5 "What Do You Stand For?" Lessons

This started in May when I saw an article about a girl who was abandoned by her parents and worked as a janitor at her school as she finished high school and was accepted at Harvard. Wow! That takes serious determination and focus. I want my students to understand that their actions can mean the difference between being homeless and going to Harvard. After reading her story my mind started turning. CNN Story: From Scrubbing Floors to Ivy League

I decided to work this year on developing a classroom environment that is more caring and considerate of others and aware of how their actions affect their life and others.  When I went to the Holocaust Museum the beginning of the summer I found the book called "Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change" and a poster that says "What Do You Stand For?". I love that it has positive characteristics listed. I plan to make this the theme for my classes this year. It can be a question that I can ask my students in almost any situation. 

My plan is to start the first week of school with a story each day from the book and news stories about kids making a difference. The book has stories about kids helping the environment, helping others, standing up for themselves, overcoming challenges, and using their talents. The stories are short and can be a great way to discuss kids in today's world standing up for something. I am planning to continue this all year with one story a week. This will be for individual and group reading assignments as well as a homework assignment some weeks.

HELP!!!

I need your help with next weeks Made it Monday! I have a ton of stress apples and fish from my husbands office. The fish come in the little can you see in the picture. I love how others are using light bulbs but I would rather use what I have. Does anyone have suggestions for how to label these for when students need a mental break? I have racked my brain and can't come up with a cute saying. The saying "an apple a day..." comes to mind but I can't tie it into taking a mental break. If anyone has a suggestion for sayings or any other way to use these items please let me know. Thank you! :)