Celebrating 12-12-12

As I walked into school today, our amazing 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Christman and her math class created 12-12-12 posters.  As you walk around our school today, there are posters for students K-5 to read and help complete.  It's so exciting to see math connect to real life!

I decided to borrow the idea so our morning message included:  Celebrate 12-12-12!

Can you write your favorite 12 authors & your favorite book title?

Can you draw 12 polygons and label them?

Can you list 12 cities you have visited in Ohio?

Can you write 12 problems with 3 different operations in each problem?

Are you celebrating 12-12-12 with your class?

Touch Your Nose Polygons!

It's December and two more weeks until holiday break.  Trying to keep the students focused in math class has already been a challenge. On Monday without thinking  I said, "We are going to begin our new unit about shapes but in fifth grade we call them polygons." Student said:  "What if we forget to use that word?" I said, "Then we touch our nose as a secret signal to remind everyone."

Well,  does anyone want to guess how many times you say the word shape in Geometry?  Let's just say our whole class has really learned the word polygon including the teacher, but we're having fun.

I had noticed a decrease in HW quality along with students not getting the correct answers, so I got out my polygons and if students completed their HW at 80% they are rewarded with some time to play with polygons.  It has been a real incentive to keep them focused on HW.  We also had some fun discussing the attributes of polygons using their own polygons especially when we compared and contrasted them.

We also enjoyed exploring Wonderopolis:  Why Does Pasta Come in so Many Shapes?  It was one of those wonders that didn't directly connect to math, but the students enjoyed learning about pasta.  A few students told me that they would feel much smarter the next time they ate spaghetti. 

One of the areas that I have struggled this year in math:  Is what students can do when they understand the concepts, and I need to work with a small group for some reteaching.  I am frustrated with worksheets, so I have been searching, and I decided on tanagrams for this unit.  The students are super excited.  I gave each student their own set, and they had to build a square.  For some of them it happened the first day and for others it took 2-3 class times.  I then gave them a picture of a fox, but not the tanagram picture and they had to make the best fox possible.  We then hang all the foxes up and vote which one made the best fox - what a great challenge and so much better than a worksheet.  More later on their golf courses that they are designing..........

Finding the Right Track with Reading

I have written about my concerns about how there has been a shift in the focus for instruction in reading. I am not going down that path again, so I am going to take you on my journey on how I am trying to shift my thinking.  

Whenever I am confused, disgruntled, or just searching I typically find my answers on twitter or blogs.  For me the digital world is an amazing learning ground because there are so many different perspectives. I love that about connecting with others.  I read blogs and think how can I apply that?  I read a tweet and bookmark it for a future unit.  I participate in #5thchat on Tuesdays (the BEST) chat in my opinion and walk away after an hour feeling like I have been to a conference.  Back to my shift.....

Learning With Joy What's Important? An Annotation Intervention
Either 1. a whole lotta nothing underlined or 2. a whole lotta everything underlined.  When I mentioned my observation, I asked how people know what to underline or highlight in a text: "You underline what's important, Mrs. Taylor."  I was reminded the importance of slowing down and helping students remember what to highlight. In our class we call it (HH = highlighter happy).  

A Year of Reading Visuals in Non-Fiction Here are pictures of our hallway display and some of the students' work. They had a lot of fun with this. As you see, they could use their life and their interests. I'm hoping that when we do more nonfiction writing, they remember that they don't need to do research to write nonfiction!  I was reminded the importance of allowing students to create their own display to show understanding and most of all allow time for fun.

A Teaching Life Slice of Life: Thanksgiving Togetherness As we move from one period to the next, his mood does not lift.  Concerned, because he is usually a rambunctious sort of kid, I catch him on his way out the door to lunch.  Normally, he is the first bounding out of the door, but today he moves reluctantly.John, I ask, is everything alright?  He pauses, thinks, and, just as I prepare to hear of some terrible news, he says, I guess I just miss the Thanksgiving togetherness.  I was reminded the importance of taking time to read my students faces, notice when they are not so rambunctious and most of all ask, is everything alright?

Thinking Stems OLW: Listening When Planning Small Group Instruction Over and over again, you see "Behaviors to NOTICE, TEACH, AND SUPPORT" written on almost every page.  It took me to January of this year to make the connection to my recording tool.  It is simple.  I write NOTICE, TEACH, SUPPORT at the top.  Then, six boxes to record student information.  I do not plan out the week.  I plan out the day.  This form encourages me at the end of each reading group to reflect and reminds me that what I notice is important.  I was reminded to slow down and not plan the week ahead. To take time to notice my students, plan (teach) appropriate lessons and then support their learning.  

A Year of Reading  Classroom Charts  love the story our classroom charts tell at this time of year.  I looked around the room today and loved looking at the evidence of the conversations and learning that have started our year.   I was reminded even when the schedule gets too full and I need to save time don't lose the time to develop anchor charts.  The conversations and the time spent is crucial to introduce the new focus but also to learn about where my students are as learners.

There seems to be a pattern in the blogs that I look back and reflect on.  Remembering to slow down, observe my students as readers, and remember they are 10 years old.  

November: OLW (reflection)

 I didn't have to think long about my OLW (reflection).  November is  a month for thankfulness and reflection which is a  perfect time for my end of the month post.  

You might wonder why I chose to share a picture of clean dishes because at the time I washed the dishes I could not have been happier.  It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Our daughter was home for the first time from her new job in South Carolina, and our son was home from college.  The four of us spent the evening preparing for the next days feast.  Every year, we try to duplicate my husband's family recipe which is homemade Italian stuffing.  It consists of 2 1/2 loaves of day old bread, 2 lb. of Parmesan Romano, 18 eggs, parsley, and of course finally chopped garlic. and onions.  This year our son had the privilege of grating the bread and cheese.  This in not most loved job of the evening, but not once did he complain. Ok maybe once or twice but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the sharing of the grating. 

Stuffing ready for the 18 eggs

I am thankful for the conversations in our kitchen.  How Tom shares the history of the stuffing being made when he was growing up. How his mother made it alone for 40 people, and we only make it for 15 people.  How when we were dating, I used to ask her how she made it and one  Christmas she gave me the recipe in her handwriting which is a treasure now that she is longer with us. 

I share my families tradition of making stuffing including chopped apples, celery and onion.   How I learned from my mom, and I remember many times making stuffing with my cousin, Janet, who lived with us for several summers. Being an only child, those were the BEST of summers!   Janet is no longer with us but every Thanksgiving I know that she is with me as I chop all the apples. 

I am thankful for two wonderful children who want to spend time with their mom and dad and listen to our stories.  I am thankful for the memories of family members who are no longer with us, but with the smells of the kitchen I feel like they are right there with us. 

Thinking as a Scientist

We (Sarah and I)  just started our first  science unit:  "Thinking as a Scientist."   I love this first unit because we push the students to think beyond the scientific method.  We ask them to think above and beyond experiments.  We will give the students a list of supplies for an experiment and ask them what experiment can they do with these materials. They will make paper airplanes which they love, but then they must think of an experiment that supports flying an airplane.
We ask several "why" and "how do you know that" questions.  As we prepared for this unit, I searched Wonderopolis and found these wonders to include in our first unit. 

#779 Why Do Some People Chase Storms?  We will discuss scientific tools along with review of weather formations from fourth grade.

#213 What Does a Barometer Measure?  We will connect this with the wonder above and discuss the importance of accurate measurements. 

#458 What's So Special About Your Fingerprints?  This is a fun wonder to continue discussing the tools a scientist uses in addition to talk about the importance of observation.

In addition, we will show the students several videos from Dragonfly TV which is another free site that has excellent videos of scientists in their real jobs.  Milk Carton Boat Race is one that we will use to discuss the Design Process for the first time this year.  Another part of this site that I like is on the right hand side, Science Surprise, which gives several videos to choose from for your units.  Our science journey has just started.

Skyping with Kate Messner

Our class creating the original size of the American Flag.

I remember reading Capture the Flag in July and knowing immediately it would be our first read aloud of the school year.  I told my 5th grade colleagues about the fascinating story, and after I described all the twists and the turns all 3 of them decided to read it also.  In August on twitter, I realized that Kate Messner will skype with classes. and we were totally on board.  She offers a free 15 minutes to any school for a one time skype, but all four teachers decided we would pay for her longer skype visit and again we hit a home run.

The students discussed which of these visuals represented the setting.

When we were finished reading the story, we focused on the setting and character development.  Each student chose their favorite character and scene and developed their own comic strip.  As the students were working on their comic strip, they recorded questions that they had for Kate Messner. It was exciting to see them think as an author and even more exciting to know that they were going to be ask their questions to Kate.

Finally the day arrived and there was a buzz in fifth grade a few days before. You could hear them talking about it at lunch and during their writing time.  It really brought our fifth grade classes together as a community of authors and readers. As you can see below on the left was a slide show that Kate sent to us to support her talk and on the right is Kate talking to our students.

There were so many ideas I LOVED as she talked to the students.  I felt like I was at a workshop for teachers on how to actively engage your students as writers.  Some key focus points included:
*always have a writer's notebook with you because there is a story everywhere
*graphic organizers are a great way to organize your writing
*whenever possible, try to research your writing and take the time to ask questions
*write about what you know
*revision is not about editing (LOVE this message)
*as a writer ask yourself:  What if?
*BE a READER!!

Thank you Kate Messner for a wonderful conversation that encouraged both our students as well as the teachers.  PS.  Our students are sitting on pins and needles waiting for the next book:  Hide and Seek!!!

ALL Students will be Readers & Writers

As I entered my classroom last Friday, my goals were the same as they had been since the first day of school.  I want all my students to be readers and writers.  As I prepared for my student who had just arrived from Japan the previous Saturday, my thinking was all over the place and my stomach had a few butterflies in it.  I haven't felt that way in a very long time possibly not since my first year of teaching.  

H. entered the room, and I knew that she did not speak and did not understand any English.  I greeted her with a smile and our day started.  I was fortunate to have ELL support the first day, so together we started with math.  Focusing on the calendar & days of the week. Using a Japanese/English dictionary, I had made a xerox copy of the days of the week for this activity.  H. had success with: Today is, Tomorrow will be, Yesterday was.  Next we moved onto some basic calculations and quickly moved to 4 digit by 4 digit addition & subtraction problems. Numbers are the universal language in our classroom :)

Drawing pictures is a universal language. NF article in left corner.

I read a kindergarten picture book to her about school, and I showed her an alphabet chart. Honestly I believe that was the first time she saw 26 letters with a confused look on her face I just smiled even bigger. We started with matching the letters on the ABC chart with letters in the book. Thank goodness for highlighter tape and highlighters. Thanks goes to our wonderful preschool and kindergarten teachers who are letting me borrow so many materials.  Thanks also for who ever invented magnetic letters.  I am positive my thanks list will continue to grow as we grow on our journey.

When I was working with the rest of the class (which will need to be future blog posts once I figure out how to juggle my schedule) I gave her Non-Fiction animal book to look through. When I came back, she showed me the article "Rat Steals Leopard's Food"  I quickly xeroxed it, and she started highlighting all the "As" our letter of the day which I did not see coming, but wow did it make sense at that point in the day. Some of the best lesson plans come from the student, so we spent the rest of the day completing her page of her own book that she is going to write and illustrate:  Learning A-Z which brings me back to my goal: ALL students will be readers and writers. 

Sharing NF and searching for "A"

Amazing talent for being an author and illustrator!