Techie Tuesday

Conquering the open number line and other math strategies

We have been busy using the open number line to solve our math problems.  The kids are getting the hang of it!  It's amazing to see the depth of their number sense when they apply different addition and subtraction strategies, but it can be tricky, and sometimes confusing for the parents.  

That's why I love Explain Everything!  This app lets your parents see what their kids are learning with one simple click.  In no time at all you can make a quick tutorial to help your students and their parents!

Teacher Nerd Bookshelf

What I'm Reading Right Now

Like any true teacher nerd, I have spent some time looking over Hattie's ranking, and my current obsession, formative assessment, is ranked number 4.  That means that on my nightstand next to my highlighter and my post-it flags, you will find these books.

Here's a highlight:

"Probably the most accurate marker of classrooms where learning targets and criteria are shared effectively is that students can explain, when asked, what it is that they are supposed to do, and why"

 

High-engagement classroom environments appear to have a significant impact on student achievement...so when teachers allow students to choose whether to participate or not - for example, by allowing them to raise their hands to show they have an answer - the are actually making the achievement gap worse, because those who are participating are getting smarter, while those avoiding the engagement are forgoing the opportunities to increase their ability.  That is why many teachers now employ a rule of 'no hands up except to ask a question' in their classrooms."

Another way the author suggests to increase engagement is using all-student response systems.  My school is a BYOT school, and when I was in 5th grade, we used 

 on our devices.  With my little guys, I don't have as many devices, so we go old school.  A few years ago I had a shower board cut into 5x6 mini whiteboards, and viola,

Instant feedback!

 

Let's just say the Home Depot guy may or may not have been super excited about my student response system for formative assessment...

  

A Flurry of STEM!

Things are really busy over here!  We have been having tons of fun with our matter unit.  

We observed all three states of matter when we watched the life cycle of our snowman. I saw this great idea over at The Frugal Teacher, and it was  a huge hit!  The kids were so excited when they met our special visitor.  

We made observations, measured, and collected our data all day.

You know how the story ends.  It is not a happy ending, until...my super scientist came to the conclusion that our new friend will always be floating among us - as a gas!  

After observing the three states of matter, we investigated how matter changes with a snow lab.  We talked about physical changes and chemical changes, and then we did some exploring with instasnow

Civil Rights Read Alouds

We have been digging into some great texts during our unit on Civil Rights.  Here are the highlights!

This text is great for focusing on RL3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

As we read we wrote down what we noticed about the main character's traits and supported our thinking with evidence from the text.

 We watched this video to build background knowledge and assess SL2. It's also a great text to teach point of view and character traits.  Click the pics below to download a formative assessment to go with this read aloud, or pull in a primary document by looking at a real Green Book!

 

This is a great text for RL7 acknowledging differences in the points of view of characters.  This great interactive is perfect for understanding different points of view

Techie Tuesday

Ten Marks Shout Out

This year I have been working really hard on guided math in my room.  I give quick weekly pre-assessments and make my small groups based on what the kids need.  I also have stations that include games, journals, fluency practice, and technology.  

I recently started using the site Ten Marks for my technology station, and I. Am. In. Love.  

Not only does it allow you to give your students assignments based on the CCSS, and track their progress.  It also has built in video lessons your students can use if they need help!  

I mean I'm just sayin', if there's a teacher that can pop up on the computer and help my kids if they have a question or are confused about a math problem, I'm in.  For sure.

If you haven't heard about his great online program that is free, that's right, F-R-E-E, then you need to check it out right now.

Going Batty over STEM

We have been road tripping it through Georgia, and our latest stop in the Piedmont region led us to investigate bats. 

Our STEM project for this unit was to design a bat house.  After we researched bats and read Lucy's story, we had some questions ya'll. You know, the I-know-my-teacher-is-talking-but-I-have-burning-questions-that-are-causing-me-to-scrunch-up-my-face-and-wave-my-hands-like-I'm-trying-to-help-a-plane-land type of questions. You know what I'm talkin' about.  We. Had. Questions.  And isn't that really what it's all about?  So we got busy with the design process.

And then we got to work!

We used cereal boxes, pipe cleaners, and graph paper (to represent chicken wire) to design our prototypes.  My kiddos worked in collaborative groups to come up with their design based on research we had done as a class.  It was a great way to put the engineering design process to work!

Rollin' Down the River

We are studying Georgia Rivers, so of course we are going to get wet...and dirty.  What fun would learning be if things didn't get a little messy?

We started our unit by drawing our own map using How to Draw Georgia's Sights and Symbols from the A Kid's Guide to Drawing America series.  This text was the perfect way to integrate some of the Reading Informational standards into our unit!  Click on the picture to find your state.

Today we added the rivers and then we talked about how a river is formed.  We read Follow that Water from the Brook to Ocean.

And then it was time to get down and dirty!

I assigned each person in the group a job, and they got busy 
creating,

observing,

hypothesizing,

thinking,

and don't forget the best part...getting messy!

Now - I'm off to find a broom.  If you like to make a mess click to grab the freebie below...but keep the broom handy!