Spark Student Motivation Saturday

Happy Saturday everyone!
I'm linking up with Joanne today for Spark Student Motivation!

One of the ongoing projects that we started in October is our 30 Book Challenge. This is a literacy-based project based off of the amazing (seriously, absolutely amazing) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Teachers, this is a MUST read for fabulous tips on motivating a passion for reading in your students.

To kick-off this project, we started by completing a Student Interest Survey on the first day. This helped me get a better feel of what students liked and disliked to read, as well as what outside interests might make great topics for reading. (For instance, several students might not like to read, or language arts might be their least favorite subject in school, but if I know that they love a certain sport, I will look for books about that topic to help stimulate their growth as readers.) I used a cute version of the survey, and looked at their responses to create the requirements for each genre.

Each student has their own Reading Response Notebook, where I gave them copies of documents to keep track of their reading, and helpful hints on each genre. In order to assess what my students are reading, I have five minute conferences with them during the week, and require that students write me a letter detailing their response to each book that they have read. 

Okay, okay; I know what you're thinking. Yes, thirty books is a TON for a fourth grader to read. Thirty books is a TON for anyone to read.  I'm reading thirty books alongside my students, and yes, it is a challenge. How do I keep my students motivated? Donalyn Miller says:

Since I started the project, I've added a daily 15 minutes (which turns into twenty or more) of pure reading time to our schedule. Let me tell you, even the students who are not necessarily avid readers, are asking me, "When will we get our 15 minute read today?" They have started to find good books that match their interests, and books that open new worlds for them. That in itself is an accomplishment in my mind.

Still, I have students who tell me that they want to read, but they just can't find the time. Admittedly, I fall into this scenario as well; I'm human and have other things on my to-do list. So I came up with a solution: This week I am presenting a Lunch Bunch Book Club!

I plan to introduce this to my class on Monday. One of my sweet girls is reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, and her enthusiasm that she shares with me every morning about the book made me realize that it would make a great book to read and discuss with other students, too! 

Instead of having my students purchase the book, or purchase multiple copies of the book on my own, I've contacted several libraries to borrow the books this week. I plan to do this as a first come first serve sort of group, that way it allows different students to participate for each book based on their level of interest. I'm going to come up with some questions for discussion for the first few meetings, and then I'll open it up for our meetings to be more student-led. I think this will be a wonderful way to motivate my students to read, and to explore other sorts of books. 

What ways do you motivate your students to read in your classroom? I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Monday Made It (A Little Late)

Happy Monday! (I started this post last night and fell asleep, oops!)

Today I'm linking up with Tara from Fourth Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It! I just am loving all these linky parties lately - such a great way to meet oh-so-many wonderful bloggers out there!

I'm pretty sure I could do this every Monday, since I'm always making something!

First on my list, is a little interactive grammar game. One of my fab professors in college taught me this game, and I've loved its simplicity ever since. All you really need for this game is a whiteboard (or SmartBoard if you're techy) and two flyswatters. Students split into two teams, and race to smack the correct word on the board with their flyswatter.

This works for literally any subject, and is one of those quick and easy games I have kept in my teacher toolbox. (It really comes in handy for subbing!) Truly, any age group (even adults) have fun with this easy game. Well, of course I had to take it to the next level and add some cuteness to it. Right now, we are learning about possessive nouns and how to correctly use apostrophes. Is it just me, or are these sorts of grammar concepts sometimes tricky to make an engaging lesson?  I decided that after I introduce how to use possessives, this would be an interactive way to check if students understand the concept.

All you do is cut out the little flies, laminate them, and tape to a whiteboard. I made two flies for each sentence - one with the correct use of the possessive and apostrophe, and one with the incorrect use. You could check it out at my TpT store (which is all freebies right now) and grab your copy! 

Second on my list is inspired from  Tara from Fourth Grade Frolics and the book Word Nerds. Once I saw her post, I did a little research and remembered I read that book, too! If you haven't read it yet, it provides so many creative ways of teaching vocabulary and getting students engaged in learning. If you don't have time to read (or buy) the book, you could check out this handy little summary from Mrs. Allen's Teaching Files or you could view the whole book here for free. 

One of the ways that they discuss getting students engaged in learning vocabulary is by using vocabulary lanyards. Each student wears a vocabulary word, synonym, or antonym on a lanyard. So to make my lanyards, I just took speech bubbles, printed on neon paper, cut them out, laminated them, and attached string. I plan on using dry erase markers for the vocabulary words each week. (This is my cheap alternative to lanyards!) Then, they can be used for many different activities! My three favorites: 

1. Counting Dude, Bragging Dude

Have students wear their vocabulary lanyards. Divide them into two groups - "Bragging" and "Counting." Then, have students meet in pairs with one of each and introduce themselves pretending that they are their word. The "Bragging Dude" must make a 7 word sentence using their word. The "Counting Dude" must determine if the sentence is long enough, and whether or not they used the word correctly. If they did, "Bragging Dude" gets to do a small quiet celebration, happy dance, etc. Then, they switch roles. 

2. Vocabulary Scramble

While students are wearing their lanyards, randomly call out "Scramble!" The kids have to get up and create a human concept mp with those wearing related words. So, all the synonyms and antonyms are grouped together with their main word. 

3. Chain Link Connection

While wearing their lanyards, choose one student to stand in front of the class, pronounce the vocabulary word, and say its meaning. The rest of the class thinks of a way to make a connection between their word and the first students's word. When some hands are raised, call on a student to explain their link. If it makes sense, they get to join the first student and link elbows. The next student can link their word with either the first word or the second word. Continue until all words are linked up! Challenge Bonus: Try to link up the first and last words!

What sort of interactive ways do you teach grammar and vocabulary?

First Snow Day of the Year

Happy Friday friends!

Today was our first snow day of the year! I am so thankful, especially since I caught a bug and have 100+ fever. (Yuck!) I'm thoroughly enjoying the time to be cozy and comfy while being productive.

To celebrate the snow day, I'm being (somewhat) productive and linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my very first Five for Friday!

I have been loving all the New Year's products out there, and it was hard to find the right resolution writing to do with my kiddos. I loved how focused they were on their resolutions, too. We talked about goal-setting and why it's important to set an attainable resolution (Although visiting Mars is a wonderful idea, is it really attainable this year?) They came up with some fabulous resolutions. Aren't these little party noise makers adorable? I got the idea from Linda Kamp - she has a wonderful New Year's pack on TpT!

I love how the resolutions roll up - it makes a perfect way for students to
write more personal resolutions without fear!

The Boxcar Children might be my favorite series ever! I'm still working on
completing my collection. Yes, you may call me a book worm!

Lots of books for science - we will be finishing our environmental unit in the next few weeks and starting our space unit. These nonfiction books were perfect for my book focus wall!

Half Price Books was having a SALE over the break, and I just couldn't pass up books! My kiddos are doing a 30 book challenge due in March, and I just love getting "new" books for them to read! I also found two boxes of books (each book under a dollar!!) from my local library book sale. Let me tell you, out of the one box that I brought to school yesterday, I only have about three books that are left. There is nothing more rewarding as a teacher than seeing students' faces light up about literacy. Both the students and I have the same reaction to new books: 

My favorite Christmas gift from my parents - indoor snowball fight material! Does this make me a kid at heart? I'm so excited to use these in my classroom. It's a container full of big pom-pom snowballs. What's more fun than having a snowball fight to review for a test? My mom found this glorious bucket at Hallmark.

In order to meet my own personal New Year's resolution, I started making a set of Figurative Language Posters as a FREEBIE for new followers of my blog! One of my goals this year is to be more tech savvy with the blog world, so I've been having fun making some projects that I will be using in my class over the next few weeks. Head on over to my new TpT store to check them out! 

Since we are still learning about our environmental unit, this is a supplemental activity that we did to go along with our biome boxes. In five groups, each group became an expert on their biome after doing research from various books, sites, and videos. In particular, each group watched the video from this fabulous site PBS Kids EEkoWorld, which discussed the climate, ecosystem, and environmental issues associated with each biome. After taking notes on the video, each group made a postcard to detail their biome. They designed the front cover, and then wrote about their "visit" to the biome on the back. Then, individually, students wrote a persuasive essay about the different ways that people can take action to save their biome. These are also available for FREE (for a limited time) in my TpT store - so head on to grab your copy!

Our major project in our last section was to make our biome-in-a-box. I remember making these in undergrad, and I had so much fun with it - and my kids loved this project this year, too!

Now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of this snow day with some R&R to knock out this little fever of mine! Have a wonderful weekend!

Currently January...Already?!

Doesn't it feel like December was only yesterday? It feels like 2013 went by in the blink of an eye! I couldn't have asked for a better year, though. I student taught with a wonderful fourth grade class, earned my undergrad degree, and got my permanent substitute position with my fourth grade kiddos.

I'm more than ready for a wonderful 2014! I have a good feeling about this year...

I had to start the year off right and link up with Farley for her January Currently! Head on over to check out some amazing blogs and link up with what you're currently up to!

I have to admit, I'm really loving getting to see other bloggers through these linky parties. Once you start looking at other blogs, it's hard to stop! I keep trying to tell myself that I'm lesson planning for the week as I search for ideas. There are some truly amazing blogs out there, and I just love learning from them. So far, I guess all the blog hopping I'm doing is helping me to hold true to this little resolution of mine...

I'm off to a good start by posting on the first day of January, right? Any suggestions for how I can become a better blogger? I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice!

A New Year!

In 2014, I resolve to be more involved with blogging! Starting this blog has been such a rewarding experience, and I look forward to being inspired by even more educators in the new year. To start, I'm linking up with Jennifer from Simply Kinder for a teaching blog linky party! Head on over to find some fabulous teaching blogs!

Another resolution I have is to start putting more of the resources I create and use on TpT. I've been using that site since student teaching to find ideas, and now I'm ready to give back some ideas! I'm starting my resolution today (a little early, I know). Enjoy this New Years freebie activity with your class! Students can brainstorm their resolutions, and write a letter to their future self stating what they resolve to do in 2014. 

To grab a copy, head over to my new TpT shop!

I've been looking everywhere for a great activity for the first day back, and found several ideas on Pinterest. Make sure to check out my New Year's board for ideas!

Elfcapades

Hi friends, how were your holidays? My Christmas was fantastic. I'll admit, I did a lot of last minute shopping, which is very unusual for me. But in the end, it all turned out wonderfully, and enjoyed the time with family and friends. After all, that's what the holidays are about, right?

Amidst all the holiday hoopla, I've been meaning to link up with Michelle from Apples and ABC's and Mel from Seusstastic to share what shenanigans our little classroom elf has been up to lately! Here are a few snapshots of Tinsel from this passed week...

On the third day, he R.A.C.K.'ed our class, leaving us little elf erasers, and left us a note asking that we pass on the kind gestures to others in our school.  He even left me a "How to RACK" note - what a little helper! The kiddos LOVED this! Right away, we brainstormed ideas for who and when we could deliver little acts of kindness. We started with a fourth grade class down the hall; each student wrote an inspirational post-it note and as soon as their class left for lunch, we tip-toed into their room, and left these little surprises on their desks! Each day we surprised another room, and spread the holiday cheer!

I'll admit, I was a LITTLE annoyed that Tinsel sprayed the window for this subtle hint. 

Isn't he so creative? The kids immediately tweeted about how they would spread cheer on our classroom Twitter. 

On Thursday he was feeling "On Top of the World" with our elf-tastic behavior! 

On Friday, he told us that he had "SNOW much fun" in our classroom and left each one of us a little treat to say thank you for his time with us. We were sad to see him go, but we loved having him!

Tinsel really was so much fun for our class - I couldn't have asked the North Pole to send a more well-suited elf for the job! It was so fun waiting for someone to spot Tinsel each morning, I'll definitely miss it when we go back in January. 

I'll leave you with a little motivation...

Only a few more days until 2014! I'll be back in a few days to share a recap of our last week before break, a freebie, and some planning ideas to celebrate the new year! Can't wait!