Wednesday Word Work: What's in a Name?

Their story that we need to unfold! I want to embrace my new students'name and honor their history. I am constantly shocked when I inquire: what do you know about your first and last name? There is silence in the classroom....

I notice unique names and take photos throughout the summer to share at the beginning of the school year. What a fun way for my students to learn about me and instantly they know that I embrace vocabulary. I found the image above on Twitter, and it grabbed me. I loved the idea of summer ABC photos and started thinking about a new visual "Get to Know You" activity. What if each student made an acrostic poem with their name but instead of writing they chose pictures that show about their life? Photos could include: a vacation, favorite activity, their family or even a pet. Or it could be as simple as the letter S for a soccer ball. Learners could choose their presentation tool which would open conversations and probably questions especially with technology. Let's face it by the time they get to fifth grade, do they really want to create another "All About ME" poster?

If you haven't ever read this book, rush out to your library. It's the perfect introduction for this activity.

Celebrating First 3 Days

Wednesday, August 17 9:05 AM

Welcome to my 29th year of teaching. First day. Envisioned my new classroom for at least 6 months prior to this date.  Several conversations with my principal, coaches, self-talk, colleagues. I had it perfect in my mind.  Open seating, no set desks, space for supplies, and tons of open floor space. Enter 27 students.  I felt like a rookie.  I had never taught a day in my life.  I looked up from the carpet and wondered what had I done.  So many things I never considered.  

Thursday morning, 1:00 AM

What had I done?  How do I learn their names when they don't have assigned seats?  Even though we spent all day building community - I've made a mistake. My husband reminds me, "You've got this."  I am reminded of the sweetest comment after I called MP the wrong name twice, "It's ok Mrs. Caplin, it's a lot easier for me I've known you since kindergarten and you didn't know it." 

Thursday, August 18 7:05 AM

Couldn't sleep,  Couldn't get to school soon enough. Turned on my Jimmy Buffet CD to remind me of summer.  Took a deep breath. Sat down on the couch and looked around.  Changes have to be made.  Moved one table out.  Moved three desks out.  Moved "typical" chairs out. Stacked the nesting table. 27 students arrived - more space.  Better job with names (two hours looking at their first day photos last night really helped).  Built bridges with pennies had a tremendous Thursday.

Friday, August 19

Starbucks Friday! Class meeting.  Students share about their week.  "Love open seating." "Couch is the best."  "Never had nesting tables."  "It's not so crowded."  "I've never had a class pet."  "Thanks Mrs. Caplin."  I guess I still got it.

Thanks to Ruth Ayres for encouraging me to Celebrate.  I sure couldn't have celebrated on Wednesday, but now I realize I had three days of growth. 

Building bridges #happyfaces

#happylearners choosing their own space

Traffic in Room 228

For those of you who know me well, I have a secret I have always wanted to stop time and move to a big city like Boston or New York for 2--3 months. Actually that is on my bucket list.  Every time I go to the city even when we went to San Diego, I am amazed at the way the transportation systems are organized and move people around usually with little or no problems. I think about this analogy as I set up my classroom for the new school year. 

Back of reading nook, notice the WONDER jar ?

Throughout the summer I was thinking about the "stops" in my room.  I want a reading nook that is comfortable and a little off the beaten path so students can read quietly and search for their next favorite book.  I have always wanted a special place for writing, and I finally found my coffee table. I know that I am more excited than the students will be but hopefully my enthusiasm will rub off on them. Next stop is a place for collaboration, so I have organized my room to include two tables this year: round and rectangle.  I am going to encourage my students to use their tech tools there along with working together for projects or just enjoy sharing a poem on Poetry Friday.  Our final stop will be our class meeting area where our community will join together everyday for learning, conversations, and sharing.

Along the trip, my students will have pit stops which are places to drop by and pick up some important items.  In the word study area, there are games (Boggle, Scrabble, Bannagrams, Pears in Pairs), soft foam letters, word jars, blank cut out squares to make their own mystery word, and dry erase boards w/ markers. 

Another quick stop will be the math area which includes dice, games (24, Zip Around, Bingo), unifix cubes, place value tub, and fun riddles for math. In addition, different sizes of graph paper and laminated cards that have the 4 operational vocabulary words for solving story problems.

My new coffee table can't wait to see it in use

As I travel around the room a week before the students arrive, I am excited about the journey we are about to take and most importantly once the students arrive they will have their opportunities to talk about the room and discuss any bottleneck areas. Hopefully there will not be too many.  Have a great start to your school year and don't forget to check your traffic patterns.  I want to thank Franki @ A Year of Reading for always posting pictures of her classroom and all other bloggers that do the same thing. For me the visual images are key in changing my classroom. 

Building Bridges-A New Start To the Year

My school year officially starts with students this Thursday and I have to admit I have done the same team building for the past 12 years.  Actually I am guilty of starting it because I used to do it when I taught in MO and brought the idea to my school.  But I am bored with it, and I know that so I started thinking about how to start my school year differently.  If I have learned anything about my teaching if I am bored then I teach a boring lesson which isn't great for anyone. 

As I was looking through my summer mail from school, I came across an article in Weekly Reader entitled "From Here to There" A new bridge across the Colorado River connects Arizona and Nevada. It took TEAMWORK to build it.  Light bulb moment -building bridges.

As I thought about the idea of building bridges and connecting it to TEAMWORK, I automatically thought of marshmallows and toothpicks and having the students work in cooperative groups and build a bridge.  I then went to Wonderopolis and found Wonder #236  How Long is the Longest Bridge? which is a perfect introduction to Wonderopolis.  After that I googled bridges and found numerous links that I think will be beneficial as well as interactive.  Finally I tweeted out to my friends about bridges and my friend Tony sent me this amazing link from TED entitled "Build a Tower, Build a Team."Although I am not starting with these materials, I definitely  will come back to this idea.

Then my word study mind kicked in, and I started thinking about the multiple meanings of "building bridges."

*connecting 4th grade to 5th grade
*connecting home learning and school learning (Wonderopolis is PERFECT for this)
*connecting teamwork with the different skills it takes to build their bridge (we will create a class chart)
*discussion of the design process which connects with science
*conversations about how the key to our success this year is TEAMWORK!

I am even going to assign homework the first night. The students are going to share about their building experience as well as share Wonder #236 and try the experiment at home with their families or even post their first comment of the school year.  For the students who don't have computers, I will print the Wonder off and send it home on paper and if they want to post, we will post at school.   I am excited about the new start to the school year!