Vocabulary Assessment Idea

Yep, I'm back. I think I'm on a roll....FINALLY! So I wanted to share an idea I thought of at the beginning of the year. I do the same thing every week! What is it you ask?! Well, let me tell you. It is...a crossword puzzle spelling and vocabulary assessment!!! This idea came to me with the help and inspiration of my students. Basically, I have 10 spelling words each week that I expect my students to learn how to spell AND what the word means. I put the words on quizlet.com for the students to study. On Fridays I give them the crossword puzzle, call out the words like a regular spelling test, and the students apply the words to the definition clues. A good and free crossword puzzle maker site is: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp
I hope you can use this idea as well! The pictures are below. Happy Tuesday Night!

~Amanda

Place Value

I'm back!  Yep, that's right!  I'm actually posting a few times this week.  It's my personal goal to get this blog out there in the teaching world and watch it grow! Thank you to all of my followers and people that have stopped by to check out this page. :-)  Now, on to place value....

A few posts ago I mentioned having things to share and this place value tree is one that was very successful for me in the fall.  In 5th grade there is a big focus on place value including word and expanded form.  I decided once again to get inspired from my K-2 crafts and apply what I've done before to the new content of 5th grade and VOILA!  The place value tree was born!!!  Basically, at the end of our place value study I had the children choose any number they wanted...the bigger the better!  On one leaf they wrote the number in standard form and underlined any one digit they wanted.  On the next leaf they wrote out the place value of the underlined digit.  A third leaf had the number in expanded notation.  Finally the fourth leaf had the number written in word form.  I did the tree and colored leaves because it was fall.  If you wanted to do this in the spring I recommend doing a flower and putting the information from the leaves on each petal of the flower.  I have tracers for both.  If you would like either one please leave a comment with your contact information.  I hope this helps!  

I would love to know what crafty things do you like to do in the upper grades?

Cheers!  
~Amanda

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  I hope each of you have had a fantastic start to the new year.  If you are still looking for a way to celebrate the new year or to have students set goals for the remainder of the school year, this post is for you!  As a new 5th grade teacher I've really struggled to put the crafting into the content of 5th grade.  I will say that's what I miss most about the K-2 world. :-)  On Friday of this past week during planning, I figured out a way to satisfy my crafting need.  We created happy new year self portraits.  The students then listed at least one learning goal they wanted to achieve before the end of the year.  Some even took it a step further and listed how they would achieve the goal.  I posted some pictures below.  If you would like the tracers just leave me a comment with your contact information and I will be more than happy to send it your way.  Thanks again for following my blog or at least checking it out.  Please come back and visit! ~Cheers :)))

I'm Back and ready to blog!

Completed book

Okie dokie!  I've been MIA for almost two months!  It wasn't on purpose, just a super busy time of year.  November is the month of birthdays in my family.  December was an all around busy month with a huge home tile project, our daughter's first birthday, and Christmas.  Now the craziness is over I'm able to catch up on blogging.  I have so many great things to share!  I hope you can use or tweak some of my ideas to help in your classroom.  The pictures below are of a leaf book we did for the fall.  We will do a snowman one for winter when we return from break.  Basically, I created a tracer for the children to trace on construction paper for the front/back covers.  They used the same tracer on white copy paper for the pages of the book.  The students created leaf books by writing poems about the fall.  I gave them a choice of poem templates to choose from and they took it from there.  When I was a K-2 teacher I did the same thing, but we brainstormed seasonal words.  The children illustrated pictures of the word in kindergarten.  In 1st and 2nd grades the children illustrated pictures of the words and then used them to write sentences.  Basically, the themed seasonal books are versatile for any grade level.  If you want the tracer template or poem templates just leave me a comment with your contact info and I will email it over to you.  Enjoy!  :-)

                                                 

 Page Examples Above and Below

                                         

Common Core Free Resources

I hope each of you had a wonderful Halloween yesterday!  It was the first for our little one and she did great helping us pass out candy to the trick or treaters.  :-)  The picture below is of her yesterday with her daddy before going to play school. It's so fantastic being a mom!

Now, back to Common Core.  I recently stumbled across an extremely helpful AND FREE common core site at LearnZillion.  They have Math and ELA 3-12 lessons.  If you click on the link, you will be able to switch between ELA and Math at the top right corner of the screen.  There are lesson plans, quick video tutorials, and interactive guided practice.  I use the math video links in my weekly newsletter for parents so they can better understand what I'm asking of their child.  The ELA portion is also helpful, especially if you need to see what exactly it is they are asking in the objective.  I'm a visual learner so this site has been super helpful for me as well as my students and parents.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I am. Any feedback from your experiences with the site is appreciated.  Happy Friday Eve! :-)

~Amanda  

The Perfect Place to Display Student Pictures and Notes

Ok, so I know I'm super behind on posting anything.  Teaching 5th grade is kicking my bum!  I guess I didn't realize the gigantic jump I was making from Kindergarten to 5th!  I do love my school and have good team members so I know I will get to know the 5th grade curriculum sooner or later.  Anyway, I wanted to share a fun way to display student notes and pictures that are given to us on a regular basis.  I created a wall space dedicated to student "gifts".  I hope you can use the idea.  The children really like to see their work displayed and it solves the age old question of 'What am I supposed to do with this?'.  Until next time...cheers! ~Amanda :)))

Behavior Planner Strips Dr. Seuss Inspired

So I haven't posted in a while, but can now explain why.  I've accepted a position as a 5th grade teacher in a local county school system.  My husband and I prayed about this decision and ultimately feel it's what's best for our family and Lillian's future public school education.  I was sad to leave Kindergarten, but am super excited about the new adventure in 5th grade.  That being said, my posts are going to now be geared towards 5th graders.  I think you will be able to adapt what I'm doing in the upper grades to what you do in the lower grades.  I've come to realize that a 5th grader is just a larger version of a kindergardener!  They love workstations, stickers, Dr. Seuss, and any other fun thing you can think of! :-)  I'm keeping my Dr. Seuss theme and am excited to post pictures of my classroom when it's finished (hopefully Thursday afternoon).  I did make some Dr. Seuss behavior strips for students to glue into planner.  At the end of the day the students color in the hat the color they finished their day on (i.e. green, yellow, orange, red, etc).  If you want the freebie click here and let me know what you think.  I'm excited to use them this year. Have a great rest of the week and I will be in touch again soon!
Cheers!
~Amanda