Kid Bloggin' With Our Groups

Hey all! I hope you all are doing fabulous! Today was a beautiful day here and we were able to get outside for our recesses and enjoy some good ole sunshine! I don't think I complained about the cold once today ;)

To switch things up a little bit for our kid bloggin' session today, I had the students work in groups. This was the first time we've really amped up our groupwork. Table groups were tasked with agreeing on one topic to write about that they thought you all would be interested in. They then had to produce at least 5 sentences together. Afterwards they had to agree on who would take the picture and of what. There was a little frustration and hesitation at first but then they dove straight in. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them work and problem solve together. So, without further ramblings from me, here are their creations!

Green Group
We like math centers. We like computer it's fun We like hexigon center because ipads. We like oval center because we make puzzles. We like rectangle because we make towers.

Yellow Group
Our table likes p.e. we enjoy P-E- because we like to play. We play with balls in P.E. We play with jump ropes. We also play tag too! We also run to the lins. P.E. is fun.

Pink Group
We color in a minute on the clock for calender. We add a tree to the calender. We add a staw to a cup on calender. we add a penny to calender. We add a dot to a tens frame. Other people should know about it because we want them to know what we do in the morning after jornal.

Glue Group
We get to yos defrent tips of pant. We get too mec piurs. we get scetls. We gat too pat. We get to do dojo ponts. (We get to use different types of paint. We get to make pictures. We get Skittles. We get to paint. We get to do dojo points.)

Here's to #happyclassrooms and more group blogging days ahead!

Our In-School Snow Day

If your area is anything like ours then you've had a few encounters with snow already. I'm going to be completely honest, I am over the snow and winter already. Now, I realize we still have a good amount of winter left. I'm not crazy. I understand that. However, I would be completely happy with the cold weather if we could hold off on any more snow. We all know what happens when it snows....
- playgrounds get covered up
- we have inside recess for days (maybe even weeks)
- we may get a snow day
-we may not get a snow day....when we totally should have

The last scenario was our reality last week. The weather wasn't great but we still had school. I'll admit that it could have been much worse but the conditions weren't the best for continuing to require school to be in session. So what do you do when you should be having a snow day but are stuck in school? Well, you have an in-school snow day of course!

Since we couldn't be out in the snow all day we brought it in and made the whole day focused around snow! We started the day doing a little persuasive writing during our journal time.

Then we did a little expository writing. To connect with our previous unit on sequence we wrote the directions to making a snowman. Students were challenged with giving detailed directions to correctly sequence the building of a snowman. We then tried to follow these directions to see if they would result in a snowman.

We learned that when giving directions we need to be very specific. So we tried again as a class and found success!

During reading we worked through a ton of books that were snow related.

Then we had science. Student groups were tasked with forming a plan to melt a cup of snow. Their goal was to find the fastest method. Groups each came up with a different plan of attack.

After plans were made groups were given their cup of snow and began. It got intense extremely quickly!

Afterwards groups went around and observed how other tables' methods how worked. We then discussed what worked best and why.

When it came to math, we kept with the snow theme and had a snow ball fight! Now, don't worry. This was an indoor fight and no I didn't bring snow in for this. I don't think that would go over well with a lot of people. So I took an idea from a wonderful colleague Ashley Smith and we used paper to write our math facts. We then tossed our snow balls around. Students then found a snow ball, solved the equation and wrote their answer down. They then crumbled their snowball and threw it again. We will definitely be having more inside snowball fights!

So while I'm not a huge fan of school days when I consider the weather to warrant a snow day....I can say that we will be prepared if another one rolls around!

:)

Bulletin Boards - Borders, Placement, & Content....Oh My!

Hey all! We are getting closer to the beginning of the school year. What does that mean for teachers? That means we are in our classrooms moving stuff around and getting ready for a new group of kiddos. One of the first things I tackled this year were my bulletin boards. I found some great fabric for curtains and tied all my boards into it with colors and grey borders. Thanks to Ashley over at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Angie at Lucky Little Learners for creating this Link-Up. We are all blogging about our bulletin boards. Be sure to click on the banner below to find the post with all of the other bloggers who are joining in! Is there any better way to get a ton of bulletin board ideas, tips and pictures in one place? I dare you to check it out and find something better ;)

Before I show my bulletin boards let me give you a few tips I've come around to learning (some the hard way).
1. Make the content meaningful: Don't put things up just to cover space. Make the material count and be useful to students.

2. Use pushpins and don't staple material down if you plan on taking it off to utilize and demonstrate with students.

3.If you are going to be moving materials often invest in fabric! Paper or plastic table cloths work but will rip eventually. Fabric will last and can be washed and then reused.

4. It's okay to start the year with blank bulletin boards and add to them with your class as the year goes on.

5. If students are going to contribute to the bulletin boards or will use them for reference then make them accessible! Put materials where they can reach and see easily!

6. Don't over do it and clutter the space. Many times, less is more!

Now let's get onto my boards:

This is the first board you see when you walk into my room. This board is the focus of many class meetings. We start with this base and then add strategies as the year progresses. The 5 point scale is one of the first pieces we utilize in reference to our feelings. EMAW will be expanded as the year goes on to include E(everyone participates) M(minute to think) A(all agree on plan) W(work the plan).

Directly next to the Problem Solving Board you'll find this split board. We post our monthly Author Study materials above the book rack. We will include the author's name, pictures, book characters, and interesting facts. The writing materials remain up all year and are referenced almost daily.

At the front of the room we have an entire board dedicated to math! Students help build this wall as the year goes on. As we work on different math activities we post them and expectations on here for reference. The space in the middle is used for posting content vocabulary from our math series (Math in Focus). The math strategies are on pushpins so they can be taken down and referenced when needed. Above the board are school-wide strategy posters that are used in every grade. I connect the primary-looking strategy cards to the school strategy cards as we touch on them.

Lastly, here's my board! This board is behind my desk and is part of my central hub. I've got my curriculum map for the year to help keep me on pace and structured. I've also got some district tech policies I've written up. As the year goes on I'll add our class schedule once I can get it finalized. I'll also add any important docs that I'll need to constantly reference from my administration or colleagues. The upper corner is dedicated to student work. I can't wait to see the creations they gift me :)

So those are the boards in my room this year (and hopefully years to come). The material might change but I plan on keeping the themes the same for a while. Please be sure to click the picture below (or the banner at the beginning) to check out some other amazing blog posts about bulletin boards. Get excited ya'll! It's almost time to start school and things are getting real!

Here's to successful work days as we all get ready for school whether you be a teacher or a parent. There is work to be done and as always #2getherWeAreBetter !