Keeping Track of How Students Get Home

One of the toughest things from day ONE for me is making sure students know how they are getting home and then making sure it happens.

A couple of years ago, I came up with this chart.

I print it and put it in clear page protectors.  You could also laminate it, but I find that several changes happen with bus numbers and student information that first week of school. 

As students come in the first day, I find out their bus numbers and group students that way on this chart.  Just write in the bus numbers and student names underneath.

I then use a dry-erase marker to mark off which busses and students have already been called and dismissed.

You can pick up a free copy by clicking here.

Do you have any methods for keeping this time of day going smoothly?  I'd love to hear them!

Social Studies Review and Practice Stations

A visitor to my blog recently asked if I had any methods for memorization of facts in Social Studies.  Even though I do, it got me thinking about how I can make it better. 

First, I want to share some websites that have everything from foldables to practice websites.  I want to point out that many of these sites are Virginia specific, but many of the activities will work with any state's standards.  I like to have the entire class complete the review activities on our computer lab day.  I also have two desktop computers on which students can practice.

The first site actually has ALL subjects available.  It. Is. AWESOME!  The main site can be accessed here.  The Virginia Studies site can be accessed here.

Another way I review and extend key concepts is through my Word of the Day.  Social Studies is full of higher-level vocabulary that students need to understand before they can get the big picture.  You can read more about it in my "Polka Dot Word of the Day" post.  For example, I used to think that the word "economic" was fairly simple because we used it to death in class, but it's not simple for students.  So, we might take a few days and complete the activities listed under Word of the Day.

At the end of each unit, we take the major events of that time period and create a timeline.  Our textbook does a fantastic job of listing the major events at the end of each chapter (see below).  I assign pairs of students different dates on the timeline.  They have to write the date and description as it's listed on the timeline and then draw their own picture of what it means.  After everyone is finished, we stand up as a class in order of date and explain what's happening in each of the pictures.

ReadWriteThink has a great timeline app that allows students to fill in labels of an online timeline.  This is great for an extension or review of this information later on.

Do you have any go-to review activities for Social Studies?  I'm always looking for more, so please share!

Author/Genre of the Month: Jacqueline Davies

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

September's author is Jacqueline Davies.  This is a continuation of the Realistic Fiction genre from August because I really want kids to sink their teeth into this genre.  Davies is still adding to "The Lemonade War" series, which is humorous and students can totally relate to it.  Also, I love to get kids hooked on series because if they like the first book, they will most likely read through the entire series.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Jacqueline Davies, I like to read aloud the first book of the series, The Lemonade War.  This is a book about the (sometimes unfriendly) competition between brother and sister over who will make more money at their lemonade stands that summer.

Other books in the Lemonade series:
The Lemonade Crime (second book)
The Bell Bandit (third book)
The Candy Smash (fourth book)

I also have websites available for students to research Jacqueline Davies and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Starting the Year Off with the Scientific Method

One of the first things I like to do with my little scientists is a mini unit on the Scientific Method.  As 4th graders, this may actually be their first experience with the formal steps that they will be expected to use from now on.

I like to use urban myths to introduce this concept.  After all, what's more fun than pretending to be the Mythbusters?  One of the best myths from my childhood was the Pop Rocks and Coke belief.

I find it funny how few students even know of it now, so I show them a couple of videos to get their minds working in that direction.

This one is my favorite.  I let them wonder about what happened and why.  We record our observations and hypotheses on the sheet below, created by another teacher (Time2Teach).  Here's the link to her Teacher's Notebook.

 

I really like this foldable because it's simple and there's plenty of room to write student observations in the middle.  Of course, I let them taste the Pop Rocks before adding the Coke and amend their hypothesis if need be.  Then the magic begins!

   

 

We also discuss variables and how the Coke is the variable in this experiment because it's the only thing that really gets added or changes.  A great website to let the kids practice variables is Blasto!  It's about a human cannonball.  It lets them adjust variables such as angle of the cannon and gun powder.  It's great for discussing not changing too many things (variables) at once!

 

Do you use the Scientific Method?  I'd love to hear your ideas on lessons, websites, foldables, and videos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's for Lunch?

My posts are almost always about student work or core subject-related material, but I found myself preparing for school in a different way this week.  I rarely buy lunch at school because I have to eat several mini-meals throughout the day to feel satisfied and well. 

So my post this week is about the new yummies I found to take for lunch thanks to Pinterest.  My focus was on DIY Starbucks boxes.  I love their protein boxes to keep me fueled up throughout the day, but I'm on a tight food budget.  So homemade it is!  These are perfect for the busy teacher on the go.

Mini whole wheat pitas, an apple, a hard boiled egg, 1 ounce of cheese, a handful of almonds, and a tablespoon or two of jam.  I will skip the tea and cherry because I'm not fond of those.

1 hard boiled egg, 1/2 whole wheat bagel, 1 ounce of cheese, 1 cup mixed fruit, 1 tablespoon nut butter.  I might want to add some almonds or other nuts to this one.

A handful of crackers (I like Special K or Triscuits), 1 hard boiled egg, 1/2 an apple (although I would probably use a whole apple), 1 tablespoon nut butter, 1 cup fruit, 1 ounce cheese.

A handful of crackers, 1 ounce cheese, salami (I like the deer bologna that my family gives me in the fall), 1 cup of mixed fruit, 1 cup dippable veggies.  The crackers, cheese and bologna are like mini pizzas!  You could also substitute lunch meat for the bologna if you don't like salami or bologna.  I would add a tablespoon of salad dressing for the veggies. 

Do you have any go-to ideas for a healthy and portable lunch?  I'd love to hear them!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Beverly Cleary

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

December's author is Beverly Cleary.  I like to keep things light in December, so this month's genre is humor and fantasy. 

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Cleary, I like to read aloud Beezus and Ramona.  The movie that came out a few years ago is super cute and that opens things up for some compare and contrast between the book and the movie.

If you don't think your class will go for this book, any of the "Ralph Mouse" books are always a hit.  There's also some older movies for this series as well.

I also have websites available for students to research Beverly Cleary  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Genre/Author of the Month: Andrew Clements

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

August's genre of the month is Realistic Fiction.  I like to start with this because most students can really relate to this genre.  It also allows me to start with one of my favorite authors:  Andrew Clements.

I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  To be honest, the read-aloud is ALWAYS Frindle.  This book is so much fun to read because everybody loves a book about student vs. teacher, especially when the student wins his share of the battles. 

 

 

If you would like to include Andrew Clements's books in your classroom, here are some more of my favorites:

No Talking

The Last Holiday Concert

We the Children: Keepers of the School (This one is more of a mystery)

Things Not Seen (supernatural-science fiction)

 

I also have websites available for students to research Andrew Clements and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!