Five For Friday

Linking up once again with the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching for this weeks five for Friday! What a week it has been, ups and downs everywhere you turn. However, I survived till Friday and am ready for the weekend.

My students participated in TeamQuest at the local college on Tuesday against 18 other teams from our area! We didn't qualify for regional, but the teams sure did work hard and put so much effort into the projects they were doing. 

We have really been working on writing this week as the PARCC test is approaching fast. It has blown me away just how hard some of my students are working in writing. They are pulling evidence from the story, adding their own opinion and putting so much hard work into what they are doing. This is just one example of the the effort that has me so excited!

Potluck day at school today!! Nothing makes teachers happier than getting free food and desserts on a Friday. The theme was soup and sandwiches and it was much appreciated with the cold weather we are having.

After a busy week my 4th graders got a nice little break Friday afternoon. They went and had an extra recess with the Pre-K students. They were exhausted when we got back to the room.

Was hired recently to be an Assistant softball coach at the local high school. Going to be nice to get back on the softball field even if I won't be playing.

Miss. B

The Sunday Scoop

Once again this week I am linking up with the lovely Teaching Trio for The Sunday Scoop! I love these link ups, it is so cool getting to connect with other teachers and read their Sunday Scoops.

Here is my weekly scoop!!

Hope you enjoy my scoop and head over to the Teaching Trio blog to link up with other amazing teachers!

Miss. B

A Martin Luther King Jr. kind of week!

This week my students and I really dug deep into the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr. We used the subject of Martin Luther King to cover both Language Arts, Social Studies and Art. For Language Arts I used a poem from the Panicked-Teacher TPT store. It was such a wonderful resource to find and use, because I was just telling a colleague earlier this week how we needed to have more interaction with poems. While my students didn't dig into the poem and break it apart as much as I would have liked them to, they did ask more questions than what I am accustom to with this group. They usually read through and then when I ask for comments and questions, I hear crickets in the background. However, with this poem they had questions about words they didn't understand and about Martin Luther King himself. It was extremely refreshing to see them really asking good questions and having a good dialogue with each other.

On Tuesday I introduced something in art that the students told me they had never done before. Although it took us a while to get going and really explain what I wanted them to do. Once they got the hang of it they loved it. I stole this idea from The Polka Dot Desk and it was truly a hit with my kids. Many of them kept going back to it throughout the week and adding things to it as they learned more about King. They asked at the end of the week if we could do more art projects just like this.

On Thursday we completed another fun Martin Luther King Jr. art project. I found this fold-able idea at Classroom-Creations-By-Melissa TPT store. This one was not quite as messy as the last one. I loved this one because it allowed the students to tell about what they thought about King, and if they had a dream what it would be. Some of my students really put a lot of work into theirs and it showed. While they completed this fold-able I walked around and asked them why they chose a certain quote from King and what they thought about King. The answers they gave showed me that what we had been talking about had stuck with them!

Finally on Friday we brought all our Martin Luther King knowledge together and worked on some compare and contrast with another civil rights activist Rosa Parks. I found this awesome item at Kalena-Baker TPT store. It was Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks trading cards and questions to go along with them. While my students didn't particular enjoy having to create a timeline, do the Venn Diagram or answer questions. They loved the last item in the packet, it was a two facts and a fib game. Basically you write down two facts about Martin Luther King and two about Rosa Parks. You then write down one fib for both of them, finally exchange with a partner and see if they can find the fib you created. Some of my students put a lot of thought into them and were able to stump or at least throw their classmates off a bit. Others were not as creative and their fibs were detected easily. Students again asked if this was something we could do with other stories. Makes this teachers heart feel good when you find not one but two projects that your students truly enjoy.


It was a busy and exciting week in fourth grade and I hope my students left with more knowledge on what was a truly amazing man in Martin Luther King Jr. I hope that I can continue to find activities and work in the classroom that my students truly enjoy and want to complete. Sometime we have to do things our students don't enjoy, but it makes teaching so much easier and more fun when your students are enjoying what you are asking them to do. I also feel you are going to get better work overall when your students want to complete that work, because they want to put their best work down.

Miss. B

Five For Friday!

Once again I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! I tell you for only teaching three days this week I am exhausted! I was sure the week was never going to end.

I never realized until this week just how hard it is to plan for a sub. I now understand why so many teachers always say it is easier to come to work sick than to mess with sub plans. I spent over 3 hours just planning for one day, and it was our early out day.

Went to a writing conference and we did a lot of work on PARCC. I can tell you that as a brand new teacher I truly feel that I am setting students up to fail this PARCC test. I know they say everyone is in the same boat, but I feel that I am not going to have them fully prepared to take on this test and that really bothers me. However, they did say at the conference that students will not be graded down on their lack of ability in building paragraphs and using correct spelling or punctuation. That is a weight off my shoulders. Are your students completing the PARCC test on computer or are they writing theirs out?

One of the Martin Luther King Jr. projects that I stole from Funky in Fourth and The Polka Dotted Desk, was this Martin Luther King Jr, silhouette collage. My students have never done a project like this before, and while it took them a bit to get going. Once they got going they LOVED IT. They have actually been adding things to them all week! Even asking me if we could do something like this again. 

I will was feeling very artsy this week and found this cute little fold-able on Classroom Creations-By-Melissa TPT store. I loved this, it was simple and the students loved it. It was defiantly my kind of art project. I have many in my class who love art and I am not an artsy person. So when I find something easy and the kids love it, it is defiantly a win-win!

Finally, on Thursday night I made some potato soup in the crock pot. It was the perfect end to what turned out to be a very chilly day. I finished up softball practice and was able to come home to a nice warm meal and all I had to do was clean the dishes. 

Miss. B

The Sunday Scoop

Preparing to do my first Sunday Scoop. I am linking up with The Teaching Trio for this Sunday Scoop. Very excited to get going and hopefully meet some new amazing fellow bloggers.

So without anymore delays here is my first Sunday Scoop! Enjoy!

Miss.B 

Did You Know???

Last week I introduced my ticket at the door idea! I'm still so blown away at how much my kids enjoy the ticket out the door and how much they're learning. While I have trouble reaching some, it is extremely worthwhile to me how much some of my students especially those who were struggling at the beginning of the year are it getting now.

This week I'm going to introduce you to the idea of my did you know questions. I have an app called DailyBrain that every day sends me weird, interesting, little facts. I myself love to get these and I thought over Christmas break man wouldn't it be cool if I could do this with my students? What I thought would be a small little thing where we would talk about it and move on,  slowly became a teachable moment. When a question arises or some thing  comes up that they don't understand they like to ask questions, they like to inject things they know about the topic. What I thought was going to be 2 to 3 minute discussion has turned into a 10-15 minute lesson where they're asking questions, answering each other, coming up with other great facts that they know about the topic. Some of them are silly facts that make the students laugh and its a nice little brain break for them, while other times the facts present moments that allow for discussions and teachable moments. We teachers love teachable moments. 

What may make me the happiest is when something comes up they don't understand they're not afraid to ask questions. Sometimes in class when we're doing math, language or social studies I have students who are afraid to ask questions. They don't want to say something that might be wrong and feel embarrassed. However, during this time it's almost like they're free to ask whatever they want. They are not afraid to say something that might be wrong, because nobody in the class really knows much about what we're talking about and it's okay. Getting some students to step out of their shell and share what they are thinking is tough. These moments where they feel safe is a great way to see just what they know and give them great feedback and encouragement, so maybe over time that fear of being wrong goes away.

What also makes this teacher smile is that they remember some of the did you facts through the whole week. They will even write them down on their what we learned this week. Some students even go home and bring me back more facts they learned or my favorite they go home and tell their parents about it. While this is something they won't be tested on, it is important to take time out during the day to do something that they don't see as work. They don't realize they are learning and they are having fun doing it. It Is a win-win. 

So did you know that Nike was named after the goodness of victory? Or did you know 49% of KFC's total revenue comes from China? If you didn't you do now.

Thank for stopping by!

Miss. B

Five For Friday

Today for my first ever five for Friday I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Nicole Shelby has an amazing Greek Mythology unit and I will tell you my students are it up! They loved reading all about King Midas and "The Midas Touch:". Check her out at Nicole-Shelby.   

So excited when students love something you introduce and that it just what happened with my daily Did You Know! Every day the kids are begging me to give them more facts!

Another item I introduced right after we returned from break is my ticket out the door question. This allows me a chance to assess what they have learned and they get to write on sticky notes. (Which they love to do). 

With PARCC testing right around the corner I am becoming more and more terrified with everything. Fear of not having my students prepared is starting to sink in!

I live in Southern Illinois and it has been down right cold the past weeks! I know I know it is worse up North, but I am a baby when it comes to the cold! However, check out the temps for this upcoming 3 day weekend! Might just have to dust off the running shoes.

Currently....

What we learned this week!!!

This week marked the first week we were back in school after our Christmas break. During Christmas break I found a very cool idea that was basically like a students ticket out the door. Every day right before my bus riders start to pack up I write a question on the board and my students use sticky notes to answer the question. Now I don't take a grade on this, its my way of assessing if they are getting what we are working on or if I need to review something again.

I thought this idea would be a great way for them to show me what they have learned and you know what?? They have loved it so far!!! At least twice a day this week a student has asked me if we are going to do the sticky note question at the end of the day. As a teacher it is so exciting and refreshing to find things that your students love and you actually want them to do.

For Fridays question I asked them to tell me one thing they learned during the week.The answers truly brought a smile to my face. A good majority of the answers told me that they learned how to use remainders and do division. This was what we learned and talked about all week in math. Some of them told me facts they learned from our daily Did you Know lessons
 that we do throughout the week. (We will discuss that in a later post). However, one that got me more than any was from a student in my class who I am never sure if they are actually paying attention or not. They said that this week in class they learned how to spell the word alligator, as it was one of our spelling words. Not only did it blow me a way that they remembered it was a spelling word, but they spelled it correctly!

Seeing the light bulb go off and seeing that they are actually absorbing the things I am saying is incredible. When I started the did you know question it was more of a fun way to talk about things they may never cover in school.This weeks facts varied from a Harvard study that said chocolate can make you live longer, to a sports fact about Magic Johnson, what the largest arthropod is and that the cat is the only mammal that can't taste sweets. I did this thinking they would enjoy it not even realizing that they as much as I would look forward to the daily fact every day. Many remembered it so well they included it in their what they learned for the week.

As a new teacher I am always testing new things out. Some things have flopped and I haven't tried again and something like this ticket out the door and did you know facts have been a hit. The students love the question because they get to write on sticky notes and stick it to the board. I love the question because it is a quick way for me to assess what they are getting and what I need to cover a little better. Seeing what a student truly knows and that they are learning is the greatest joy a teacher can feel. After reading their answers on Friday afternoon, this teacher left school extremely happy.

Until next time,

Miss. B