First week of school...

My first day back with students was the 5th and we have been going full blast since we started.

My school is pretty small. We only have one 5th grade class and one 6th grade class (although with 39 5th graders right now we are hoping for another teacher!!). We are semi-departmentalized and I teach all the math, science and social studies.

I didn't have any new students to the building in my 6th grade homeroom so I didn't need to go through all those get to know you activities or learning procedures. It had been a short 6 weeks since I had seen my kiddos and they knew what I expected. We started right in on the curriculum which included a walk outside to find a list of all the biotic and abiotic things we could find. This was the jump start to our life science unit.

The students recorded the things that they saw in their science journals and then cam in and drew a picture that included 5 biotic and 5 abiotic items.

When I got the 5th graders in the afternoon, I had them complete this get to know you activity. I honestly don't remember where I got the idea from, but I think it was in one of the monthly Mailbox Magazines. 

 I give them large pieces of paper to compete it. I gave them an example by answering all the statements about myself so that they could get to know me a little better.

Day two had my six graders researching biomes.  They paired off and had to find certain information. Once they found it, they had to put it on a poster.

They then had to present their information to the class as those at their seat took notes in their interactive graphic organizer. The students really enjoyed being the "teacher."

The fifth graders started their life science unit by examining different types of dirt and then building a terrarium for their lizard that will be coming soon.

One thing I am doing that is new this year is adding a grade sheet to all the journals that we keep. I got the idea from Jessie at Mrs Hester's Classroom. I think it will keep both the students and parents more informed.

If you have started school already, what are some things that you did the first week of school? If you are still on break, what do you plan to do the first week? We'd loved to hear what you did or what you have planned for the first week of school!

Visit my Blog!

Check out my TpT Store

Check out my TN Store

Check out my TN- Digi Store

Like me on Facebook

Follow me on Pinterest

Read More

Summer Classroom Finds

I don't know about you, but every summer I'm always on the look out for new things for my classroom. Most of the time it is things to organize the stuff that I accumulated over the previous year.  The following are just some of the things that I have found this summer.

I got these at Michaels for 44% off and then an additional 15% off. I'm going to be honest and tell you I have no idea what I am going to use them for, but they were too cute and such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up!

I got 2 of these next two containers (also at Michaels) for $11.99 - 44% off - 15% off = $5.70.

I'm going to hold my task cards in them.  I've seen many different ways that people store their task cards on Pinterest and the idea of putting them in pocket accordion files seemed to be the best way for me. I had originally wanted to use different colors for different subjects, but I couldn't find enough in each color.  Most of these are from Target's Dollar Spot. The ones with the black elastic are from Dollar Tree. The base of these are just a tad bigger than the Target files. I'm going to print out labels on the little address labels (the ones that fit about 80 to a sheet) and put the topic on the files.

I got some of the large accordion files to hold the answer sheets for the task cards.

Target had a good assortment of stickers in their Dollar Spot. The smilies and star stickers will go on the behavior clips and the larger stickers are for graded papers.

There is a pin floating around Pinterest about using creates to sort your colored paper. I got 3 of these to hold my colored copy paper and cardstock. ($3.99 at Target)

I can't decide if these are going in the prize drawer (the kiddos LOVE Post-It notes) or maybe using these for our interactive notebooks. They were a $1 at The Dollar Tree.

The kiddos are ALWAYS bring back erasers from the Scholastic Book Fairs, so when I saw these I knew they would be perfect for our prize drawer.  I think I got these at Target's Dollar Spot.

 
The next three pictures are cute little notebooks, erasers and stickers for the prize drawer. They were all in the clearance section at Walmart for $0.50 a piece.

I saw these tubs at Big Lots and went back and forth about getting them.  But I decided to get them because they are the perfect size for storing our interactive notebooks. I have milk crates that I use now, but these will take up less space and the notebooks will be neater because they will be standing up instead of going every which way laying down in the crate.

Half price flip chart markers at Staples.  If you check out their coupon section, you can usually get a good deal.  

These tabs that I got at Staples will be used in our interactive notebooks to divide the sections. The top row I got for $2 a piece (1/2 price with coupon) and the botton row were on clearance for $1 each.  

What goodies have you found over your summer break? Please share in the comments so we can all check them out!

Visit my Blog!

Check out my TpT Store

Check out my TN Store

Check out my TN- Digi Store

Like me on Facebook

Follow me on Pinterest

Read More

Problem Solving

We usually spend the last week of school doing nothing but problem solving activities during our math time. One of my favorite activities to do with my 6th graders is called Paper Pool which can be found on the Illuminations website. The students would spend a whole week on this project if I let them. 

I start by going through THIS worksheet, which explains the activity.

We go through both examples so that they understand exactly what the rules are.  Usually about half of the students have trouble understanding how to draw the lines (they have to be corner to corner), so I usually have to spend time working with them. If I'm lucky, the partner they have chosen understands and can show them how to do it. Once everyone understands how the "ball" moves on the board, they try different size rectangles.

When the students see a pattern, they write the "rule" on the board (they have to have found at least 3 rectangles that fit their rule to write it on the board).  

The next day, we test the "rules".  Every group takes a different rectangle that fits the rule to test it.  If it passes the test for all rectangles tested, it goes on the proven rules list. We had approximately 25 rules when we started and it went down to only 7 after testing each one.  I then wrote down whether each number was odd or even and we narrowed our rules down even further.

I do the "Crossing the River" problem with my 5th graders which came from Fostering Algebraic Thinking by Mark Driscoll (new on Amazon for $19.99 or used for $12.78). I did find the activity on-line HERE. The book is geared for 6-10 grade, but we used it in a class I took that was filled with elementary teachers.  We were able to easily adapt most of the problems.

The goal of the activity is to get 2 children and 8 adults across the river with only one boat. The rules for crossing are the following: one adult, one child or 2 children in a boat. You can NOT have one child and one adult in the boat at the same time. The students have to figure out the least amount to trips it takes to get across the river. Eventually they figure out an equation to figure out how many trips for any number of children and adults.

What are some of your favorite problem solving activities to do with your students?  I'm always looking for new activities and would love for you to share you favorites with us.

Visit my Blog!

Check out my TpT Store

Check out my TN Store

Check out my TN- Digi Store

Like me on Facebook

Follow me on Pinterest

Read More

Engineering Design: Water Wheels

The last quarter of science in Indiana is Science, Technology and Engineering. We start this quarter with a pretty simple engineering project:  creating a water wheel (we did the linked project in summer engineering camp but we modified it for the school year).  I begin the project by showing the students videos of water wheels (mill wheels) so that they have an idea of what they will be creating.

Next we start to go through the Engineering Design Plan.

Step one is stating the problem.  The students have to describe the problem that we want to solve.

Step two is the design criteria. What must the product be able to do? What limits do we have to wok within? (materials, size, time, etc) You can have some fun with this. You can give the students a budget and "charge" them for the materials. Budget = $1,000; 1 inch of tape = $50; 1 paper plate= $100

Step three is the brainstorming area.  What ideas do we have about ways to get the product to meet the Design Criteria?

This student had an unfair advantage with this project as she was in my 5/6 split last year and had already done the project once.....no one else's brainstorming ideas were as specific as these.

Step four is the designing. The students must draw their design and plan for building the prototype to scale.

Here are some pictures of the early stages of design.

Step five is testing, evaluating, and redesigning.  The students must test their design. What was tried? What was the result? Next the student evaluate their design. Does it meet one or more of the design criteria? Lastly, they need to redesign.  What changes could we make for a design that meets more of the criteria?

Step six is the design solution for the problem.

I don't have access to water outside, so we used rice instead. We also used sand when I did our training session with the other 6th grade teachers.  Here are some pictures of us testing the water wheels.

Visit my Blog!

Check out my TpT Store

Check out my TN Store

Check out my TN- Digi Store

Like me on Facebook

Follow me on Pinterest

Read More