Five for Friday - February 24th

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  We actually had our winter recess this week... a whole week off!!  I've been busy getting things ready for the big push to the end of the year.  February break is always a good time to change things up a bit as we hit that last half of the school year and here are some of the things I've been working on.   

ONE: Flexible Seating
For the last year and a half I have been utilizing some form of flexible seating in my classroom although I admit I haven't fully taken the plunge.  That is until this week.  A teacher in my wing of the school was getting rid of a low to the ground circular table and I knew it was now or never in terms of going all in with flexible seating.  Right now the table has pillows but I'm hoping to ask the PTO to purchase some wobble cushions for the kiddos to use.  

In order to incorporate this round table I needed to get rid of the traditional table set up in my classroom.  I bought some bed risers for one of the tables to create a standing option in my classroom.  The table legs can be put higher but I wanted to see my kiddos at the table before I messed with the screws in each of the table legs.  I have a few kiddos that I'm sure this option will be beneficial for them.  

I took these four trapezoid tables and turned them into one large pod of tables.  I know this will be great for group work and even when students are working independently so they have a nice large space to spread out.  

I kept one of my tables in the front of the room the same and the mats and crates that my kiddos have been using will still be available.  I think because we've been doing some variation of flexible seating this transition to totally flexible seating will be successful... I can't wait to see their faces Monday morning!!

TWO: Word Wall

One of the walls in my classroom is actually a folding door into the classroom next door.  That being said it's a metal door which means the whole wall is magnetic!!!  Life changing I tell you!  I love that it's so easy to put up each of the words with a magnet placed on the back of the card.  This also makes it easy for my kiddos to take the card and then replace it when they are done. I use these two large panels on that wall for my word wall.  

I had been using a purple sheet that my hubby and I put up two summers ago but the sheet was starting to fall down.  So the hubby and I went into school on Tuesday to fix the falling sheet.  I decided to take down the sheet and put up a purple tablecloth.  I also changed out the zebra print border and put up a plain black border.  I think I like the black border better but we shall see when I return next week how I feel about it.  

THREE: Class Dojo

I took the plunge so to speak before our week long break and began using Class Dojo with my kiddos.  All I can say is WOW!  My kiddos love it... Prior to the break I got two emails from parents saying their son or daughter was so excited to come to school so they could see how many points they earned on Class Dojo.  That alone told me I was making the right decision switching from a clipchart to this program. 

I love how it allows me to highlight positive behaviors and more specifically specific positive behaviors that we are working on in my classroom.  If I'm being honest I also like how I can look to see who I've given points to and for what reasons I've awarded those points.  I've always felt that one or two kiddos sometimes fall through the cracks because they always behave in the classroom.  This is a great way to guard against that.  

FOUR: Each Kindness

We read this book during Valentine's Day week and I had my kiddos write about one way they could make the world a better place by being kind.  I finally got a chance to add these to the bulletin board outside our classroom this week.  I love reading this book and reading about how my kiddos plan to make the world just a bit better.

FIVE:  Writing Station Options

This past fall my mom was getting rid of this Ree Drummond Charlie the Ranch dog cookie jar from Walmart and I snatched it up to use in my writing station.  One of the options my kiddos always have is writing a letter when they visit the writing station.  To add some excitement to the station I added Charlie so the kids could write letters to him.  I just picked up this mailbox on clearance at Target so the kiddos could put their letters to Charlie in his own mailbox.  I try to remember to bring the letters home a few nights each week so I can respond to the letters as if I were Charlie... the kids love when they have mail from him!!  

Have a great weekend... Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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Five for Friday- February 17th

Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  We survived a five-day week now we are on winter break for a whole week!!   

ONE: Valentine's Day
As luck would have it Valentine's Day and the 100th day fell on the same day this year!  It's a catch 22... on the one hand, it's nice to get two big, exciting days over in one fell swoop.  However, on the other hand, it makes for one crazy fun day!!

This week we did a ton of Valentine and 100th day read alouds and we used various comprehension strategies including making predictions and retelling stories.  The best way to fit it all in is to overlap as many skills as possible.  We have been working hard on retelling and predicting during our reading workshop block and this week's read alouds were a great opportunity to review and use these skills.  

We graphed and discussed our favorite color candy heart... orange won this year!  We also used these candy hearts to build our sight words for the week.  During our literacy stations, we have been using play doh to build the words but we needed to spice up the task this week.  The candy hearts were a great way to add something to this task this week.  

Our Valentine monster bags came out so cute again this year! I love these Love Monster books and the kids do too!  I couldn't find any large white lunch bags but the brown worked just as well!  

With all the candy that came with the Valentines, I was happy that we only had some sparkling water and a small ice cream cup for our "party".  It was just enough to make the day special without the kiddos having too much sugar!!

TWO: 100th Day

To celebrate the 100th day I had my kiddos bring in 100 items to count during our math block.  Before sorting and counting, I had the kids share their items and explain why they picked their items.  This went perfectly with the opinion unit we are starting in writing workshop... another great way to fit it all in!  

After sharing their items and their reasons, we sorted by 10s, 5s, and 2s.  This took some time but I saw my kiddos helping their classmates if they were done early, and I loved seeing this!  After sorting we skip counted and the kiddos got a real world application for skip counting that I think they appreciated this!!  

THREE: Reading Strategies
I still have a few kiddos that need reminders to use strategies when reading.  I have these decoding strategies on the wall by our small group table and we also have them on sticks to grab when reading.  But I wanted another way to give my most reluctant readers a reminder of these important strategies.  

During our small group readings I give them this strategy "bookmark", we review the strategies, and then as they are reading independently they clip the clothespin onto the strategies they use.  This helps them recognize the strategies that they are using.  I have sent these "bookmarks" home to help the families and I have made sure to put them in reading book boxes as well!

FOUR: Swag Tags

I've been feeling like my swag tags needed a bit of a reset this week.  That being said I tried something a bit different.  I awarded a few swag tags in the morning and then I put it on those students that received the tags to hand out other tags to students that were caught doing something well or nice in the classroom.  

I modeled how this would work and then placed a sentence prompt by the swag tags to help the kids tell the student why they were awarding them a swag tag.  This worked so well as the kiddos recognized these great behaviors in others and were so happy to tell other students to get a tag.  In some cases if no tags were left, they gave up their tag to a friend caught doing something well in the classroom! So proud of my kiddos!!

FIVE:  Friday Instagram Feed

I'm in love with our weekly Instagram feed! It's a great way to wrap up the week and celebrate all the learning and hard work that took place throughout the week.  This week I had my kiddos select their favorite part of the week as this task goes along with our opinion writing unit!

Have a great weekend... Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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Five for Friday - February 10th

Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  We had a short four day week due to the large snowstorm that hit the Northeast.  We are buried under a foot of snow!  Winter is finally here!  

ONE: Nonfiction Book Publishing

This week and probably next week as well we will be publishing our nonfiction books for our classroom library.  I love having the kids work on a selected piece to add to our classroom library.  What I don't like is how long it takes to get the books published!  Some days it feels like the process will never end!

That being said I love how each kid edited a piece this week.  Instead of having the kids edit using a checklist, I buddied them up and had each buddy be an "editor" to help their partner.  Sometimes when I have the kids use a checklist I never really know if each student goes through each part of the checklist.  Having a buddy holds them accountable and helps them see issues in their writing.  

To help the kids stay focused on each aspect of editing we used these editing strips.  I was impressed by how each group worked together and helped their buddy edit their pieces.  Now it's on to publishing!

TWO: Kindness Matters

Every year this book gets to me.  I find myself reading it aloud and getting choked up. We read the book 3 times this week, each time focusing on different aspects of the story.  On Monday we read the book and focused on how Maya the new student in class felt.  This sparked some great discussions and awareness of how our actions impact those around us.  

On Tuesday we focused on Chloe and how her actions hurt Maya.  Our discussions centered on times that we acted like Chloe and perhaps hurt others feelings with our words, actions, or exclusion of others.  We had such a good conversation around this topic and the kids were honest about how they've acted at times and how they think these actions impacted those around them.  

On Friday we completed the same activity the kids in the book did.  I filled up a large bowl of water and we placed a rock in the bowl.  As I did this the kids and I focused on the ripples that went out.  Then I had each student come up, place the rock in the bowl, and name one thing they have done that was nice for someone else.  This proved to be a powerful visual for the kids.  After sharing, I had the kids write about the one kind action they shared with the class using a quote from the book.  

This is such a wonderful book and I would recommend it be used in every classroom!!

THREE: Solids and Liquids

Our investigation into solids this week focused on what solids sink and float in water as well as how solids react to magnets.  This week we did a few pages in our notebooks to record some observations but the focus of our week was spent talking about what we've observed.  Then we used these observations to make some statements about what solids sink and what solids float as well as what solids are attracted to magnets and what solids are not.  Once again this week I was floored by what my kiddos came up with... they're minds were working overtime and I couldn't be more proud!

FOUR: Snow Day Instagram
Thursday was a snow day and the northeast was slammed by a foot of snow.  This doesn't happen all the time here so I wanted to do something special with the kiddos.  We took a break from our usual Friday routine to create an "Instagram Post" of all the fun things my kiddos did on their snow day.  They loved getting a chance to share with their classmates what the did on the day off!

This was a big hit today and I can see many ways to use this in the coming weeks.  I'd love to use it every Friday to have my kiddos highlight what they learned during the week or what they liked most about the week... the possibilities are endless.

FIVE:  Valentine's and 100th Day

For the second year in a row, we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day and the 100th Day on the same day!  It's a catch 22... on the one hand, we get all the hoopla over on one day.  However, it's gonna be a crazy day!!  Kiddos have already started to bring in their 100 items and Valentines... since when did Valentines need candy and erasers and tiny games and gifts?  But really... who can resist the sweets!!

Have a great weekend... Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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Five for Friday - February 3rd

How is it February already... where did January go?  I'm not ready for it to be February!  Here's a peek of what we worked on this week!

ONE: Morning Tubs 

This week we had a new round of morning tubs to try out.  My kiddos love these options on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  I love that they get to use their imagination and problem solving skills to complete many of the morning tub tasks. 

TWO: Adding 3 Numbers

Last week we worked on adding three numbers when the kiddos could make a ten or a double.  This week I told my kiddos that this isn't always possible so they needed to think of a different way to add three numbers.  

To keep the kids engaged since we were working on adding three numbers for several days, I brought in some M and M cookies I baked this weekend so I could show the kids a real world application to adding three numbers.  I loved hearing their math thinking and how each kiddo used a different strategy to add three!

THREE: Solids and Liquids

Our investigation into solids this week focused on whether solids could be stacked or rolled, or in some cases, both.  We also had great discussions around what the difference between rolling and sliding is.  I was so proud of my kiddos as they came up with some characteristics that make a solid an object that is able to roll!  Such great discussions!!

FOUR: Making 10 to Add 9

Making ten to add 9... what a whirlwind.  We ended this week with the strategy and I have to say using counters and walking through it step by step with my kiddos in small groups showed me they can do it.  So proud... now we have to see if they can apply it on their own!

FIVE: February Prep

No sure how it's February already but I'm busy prepping some materials to use for Valentine's Day.  The Target dollar spot gets me every time... I have enough math counters to last a lifetime!  We have a week off at the end of February so I try to squeeze all this February stuff into the first two weeks... it's not always easy!

Have a great weekend.. Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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