September Pinterest Pick 3

September is such a beautiful month with summer's last splash and the prospect of fall's colorful palette. School is in full swing with routines firmly established and engaging lessons ocurring. The best part about September... a brand new Pinterest linky, YAY!

I have been busily setting up my Google Drive to house my seventh grade English students' assignments. It's a daunting task, at least for me. I still have some of last year's material there that I need to remove and I'm planning on creating individual folders for each student within the class folder. Did you know that you can color code folders in Google Drive? I just learned this! LOVE IT! 

And speaking of technology, if you haven't experienced this fun, oh so useful website yet, YOU HAVE TO TRY IT! Interactive, simple, and FUN, you can create digital assignments in a snap!

Take a peek at this seventh grade English assignment that we worked on the first full day of school. It was their first assignment on their school issued laptop as well their first "graded" English assignment. Every student was engaged, excited, and worked until completion! SCORE for the teacher, SCORE for Padlet! And it took me less than five minutes to set up.

Created with Padlet

Anchor charts are such a popular trend in education nowadays! I so want to make really cute, attractive, engaging anchor charts. Like this one, just perfect for one of the very first lessons that I teach!

There are sooooo many anchor charts that I would LOVE to be able to create; however, I lack the talent to make these big charts! Instead I collect pin after pin after of them!

And then I figured out a really fun way to use anchor charts in my class. You can learn more about these mini-beauties HERE! My students and I just love them, and I think you might, too!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Peek at My Week 9/1/13 and a FREEBIE

I'm joining in the fun with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for a Peek at My Week.

Monday is Labor Day so there is no school... ah! I can catch up with housework (I procrastinated all weekend) and get my lesson planning done. We are supposed to have a cook out at my niece's; however, the weather is threatening to be too soggy... boo hoo! I am looking forward to bbq'd chicken so I hope it doesn't rain (like it is right now, falling in sheets). AND I'm looking forward to watching my favorite TV show "Under the Dome." I am hopelessly addicted!

Today is the day all three of my classes will start their second set of mentor sentences. LOVIN' this! I still need to search through the eighth grade book to find one that is a compound sentence. My sixers have finally finished their hand projects and will now move on to describing themselves with words instead of just pictures as well as setting goals for the year. We'll be completing a pennant banner just in time for Meet the Teacher Night. I just need to get everything hung for display.

This is my long day since we have Meet the Teacher Night tonight... sigh! I love greeting and talking with my parents and I'm looking forward to meeting all the new parents; however, as I get older it is getting increasingly hard to put in all the regular teaching hours as well as the extra ones in the evening, then turn around and do a full day the next. To take the edge off today I'm going to do a fun learning activity with  my eighth graders for the first time. I've been preparing lessons based on Nick's Tunes Tuesday at Sweet Rhyme Pure Reason since summer. Today will be the first that I will actually do. Here's a copy of the worksheet I'll use with my kiddos and a link to the song the work is based on. This song,"Born to Be Somebody" matches nicely with the book we are reading, Underground by Jean Ferris.

The temperature is supposed to cool off by today and the humidity is supposed to disappear. Even though this is the day after a long evening at school, I am looking forward to the relief in weather. The kiddos have really been troupers for the first weeks of school because it has been HOT, HOT, HOT in my room. I'm hoping to introduce Padlet to my fifth graders today and Tagxedo to my sixers. My fifth graders will be answering some questions about our read aloud book "Apple Island" and my sixers will be creating word clouds about themselves. This is the first technology I'm integrating into our Language Arts lesson this year, but it definitely won't be the last.

I am soooo looking forward to this day, nothing about teaching, no! My niece is planning on making Red Soup, a family recipe and our favorite. This usually marks the beginning of fall for us. I realize the calendar still says summer, but we wait for this dish from April when we have it last. Red Soup or Italian Soup is a type of tomato/beef soup eaten with pasta that looks like melon seeds. I'm not even sure where the recipe came from since there is not a drop of Italian ancestry in our family (just lived and grew up in an Italian neighborhood). My mom used to make it, then my sis (since she was older than I). Now either my niece or I do the cooking and all of us get together. I can smell it cooking now! YUM!

So that's my week! What have you got planned?

Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teachersdesk 6

Tri-linky Tuesday, a FREEBIE... and the winner is!

Today, I'm linking up with Jessica from Literacy Spark for her It's Time! linky, with Tracey at The Teacher's Chair for her School Week Linky, and with Technology Tailgate for their Techie Tuesday linky... It's time for a technology supported favorite read aloud!

It's time... time to think about going back to school! Not that I've stopped thinking about it all summer. I've busily been working away at all kinds of new things for my classroom and preparing myself for teaching... GULP... eighth grade English again... like not since 1988... GULP! I still have some time left, however. I don't officially have to be in school until August 19th when we will have our first staff meeting and development, but I will enter the hallowed halls next week (I'm shooting for the eighth and ninth) to set up my classroom. I've all kinds of new and cute things to decorate my room this year and am anxious to get in there and get it done for the first day of school- August 22, 2013. It will be here before I know it!

One of the first things that I look forward to teaching is Fifth Grade Language Arts. I know this group of kids as I work a little bit with them in fourth grade doing some technology things with them: Padlet, StoryBird, and general internet skills. I start the year by reading aloud a great little novel called "Apple Island, or the Truth about Teachers" by Douglas Evans. With it I can introduce figurative language, humor, cause and effect, character development, predicting, and more! The best part is that fifth graders LOVE the story. Every year (I've used this for more than ten years) they beg for more, more, more!

Because this is a read aloud, I still need to have my students be accountable for their learning and listening. One way I've worked around this issue is to have them complete a brief comprehension check after I've read a chapter. I may have them complete what I call a Chapter Map (similar to a story map only on a smaller scale). You may download a copy HERE if you'd like or by clicking on the graphic below. I can use these for a quick assessment to gauge individual learning.

Or I may have the students respond to a specific prompt via Padlet, an online post-it note/bulletin board site. At Padlet users are able to set up an interactive board for individual use or by large numbers of people. Teachers can post a question and students can respond from any device that allows them to access the internet.

A board is easy to set up, simply visit Padlet, select "Build a Wall" and follow a few simple online prompts for choosing a background and typing in text. It works much like a word processing program only simpler. I've had fourth graders creating their own Padlet boards in a matter of few minutes. There is no need to register at the site; however, by doing so you can moderate (I moderate posts to control unwanted sentiments), update, and be kept informed of activity with your boards. I set up the following board in under five minutes and will use it with my fivers after reading Chapter 1 of "Apple Island." A little lesson planning already done!

Created with Padlet

I got a little thrill, a shiver, a moment of YEEHAW! when I visited Amazon to locate the link to "Apple Island." THE BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE!!!!!!! Be still my heart! I can use my Kindle Cloud Reader and computer to project the text while I am reading aloud. The Cloud Reader is an app installed on a pc, tablet, or phone that accesses your Kindle content allowing you to read on devices other than your Kindle. This means that my fivers can read along with "Apple Island" AND I can highlight and bookmark the text. I can return to the text to point out examples of figurative language, I can find specific text evidence to support my ideas... can you say Common Core? What's more with my Smart Board Smart Ink program I can add notes to a page and SAVE them to display again. OH YEAH! Lesson planning just made easier!

AND FINALLY.... drum roll, please! The announcement you've been waiting for... The winner of my 200 Follower Giveaway is...

None other than Rose from Rosie's Rambles. She left comment number 12 on the giveaway blog post. Rosie will receive my Poetry Task Cards and two more products of her choice from my TpT store. CONGRATULATIONS, Rosie and THANKS to all who helped me celebrate reaching 200 Followers! Now, onward to 300!!!!!!

Happy Tuesday,

Happy Teaching,

Angela

The Teacher's Desk 6

Tune into Technology and Throwback Thursday

I'm once again linking up for Tune into Technology and Throwback Thursday.

This week's theme for Tune into Technology is Management and Organization. Hmmm? Not such an expert here, but I'd like to share two simple tips that I've learned and MUST HAVE...

1. Set whatever website that you are requiring your students to utilize for a project or activity as your current "home page." This means each time your student opens the internet browser the project page appears in front of him/her without having to type a thing and if a student gets lost on the internet, clicking the "home" button on the tool bar brings them right back to where they started... a time saver for sure! Various browsers have different methods for setting a home page. Chrome, for example, requires users to click the options button in the upper right corner of the toolbar, then select Settings, and finally choose Appearance. From here a click, some typing (or copying and pasting) your chosen website, and saving your information sets the homepage. There are even tutorials on YouTube for performing the homepage setup. The following tutorial is completed without a word...

2. Sentence strips, those long narrow pieces of paper, are a technology tool... hunh? They are the perfect length on which to write an internet web address. Every website address that my students are required to use is written on a sentence strip in dark permanent marker and displayed on a wall near the classroom computers where they remain. They are great visual cues, cut down on student questions, and promote student independence. I teach several sections of Language Arts so my students come from several different homerooms. I make multiple copies of the strips to hang in the other rooms as well, in case they are permitted to do computer work during any free time they may have.

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For Throwback Thursday I'm following the theme of technology and reposting a blog entry from June 3, 2013, wherein I talk about one of my favorite websites to use with my students, Padlet (formerly known as Wall Wisher).

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I admit it: I am definitely a techie geek teacher. I could easily get rid of books, paper, and all things hardcopy (well, maybe not pens... I love pens.... that's another story). I dream of a completely electronic, in the cloud classroom. I would love to have my textbooks on e-readers that could sync with the laptops that every student would have (our junior high and high schoolers do have them)... ah, someday before I retire!

Because of my love for technology many of my must have's take the form of websites or software programs. Last week I shared four of them. This week I'm sharing two.

1. Animoto... I wrote a blog post about this a while back. You can access it HERE, so I won't expound upon it on this post... just to say that if you are unfamiliar with this web tool, get familiar. Your students and you can create awesome videos for presentation and teaching... AWESOME!

2. Padlet, formerly known as Wall Wisher, is defintely on my Monday Must Have list.

This website allows you to set up a virtual bulletin board upon which you can place post-it notes (see previous Must Have Monday posts about my addiction to these mini-marvels). I've set-up Padlet boards for assessing student comprehension, making connections, answering a particular science question... the possibilities are endless. One thing that is FUN about this web tool is that I can sit at my desk computer and see live the work that my students are doing. As they work I can comment and even jump in and correct if need be. This is a great feature for beginners and is a way to help students with homework. When I assign one of my Padlet boards as homework I also set a time that I will be online that evening.  As students work on the board I am there to help them as needed.

Some new features have just been added that make this web tool even more teacher friendly. Users now have the ability to save Padlet boards as a .pdf, Excel, or image file. The boards can be embedded in webpages or blog posts (see below), and they can be shared via the most popular social media sites. Visitors can even subscribe to a board. LOVIN' Padlet more and more!

I also teach my students how to create boards and require them to build boards that their classmates must visit and respond to. Padlet is a SIMPLE, easy peasy way to incorporate technology into your curriculum, and it can help meet Common Core ELA Standards.

Here is my latest Padlet board (it is still in process as of this post's date). This board is used as a quick final response to the novel Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardner. My fifth grade ELA students are just learning how to use this web tool. They are also learning to include specific textual details in their responses as well as including the question in their answer. They have struggled with these skills all year.

Created with Padlet

Happy Technology,
Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk

Tuning into Technology... Reading and Rosie's Giveaway

I Teach 1:1 and Learning to the Core are hosting a brand new weekly technology linky every Thursday for the remainder of the summer.

This week's topic is "Integrating Technology into Reading." This is an ABSOLUTE passion of mine. I love technology! I love reading! Combine the two and I am in heaven!

ANIMOTO: I've blogged about this wonderful website before so I won't expound its virtues here. Suffice to say, students love it, it's engaging, and it's a terrific tool to teach everything from following directions to comprehension. Please read this blog post for more information about this outstanding video editing tool.

KINDLE: I can not say enough about this particular e-reader! I've had my original for a little more than three years and a Kindle Fire for about 16 months. I began using my Kindle during Reading class as part of my daily read aloud, but I soon discovered something really cool about it. There is an app that can be installed on your computer that will sync your Kindle with  your PC. I quickly downloaded the app onto every computer with which I work, including my school computer. With this app I was able to project what I was reading aloud onto a white board or wide screen TV, allowing my students to follow along. Additionally, I could now highlight passages, point out clever text, indicate how punctuation aided comprehension, etc. LOVE IT! Kindle has upgraded this sync-ability to users no longer needing to download software. It is now available as the Kindle Cloud Reader and can be installed as a Google Chrome App. Simply visit Amazon for more information about Kindle and its products.

PADLET: Again, I won't expound the virtues of this awesome website since I have blogged about it before. I will say that if you haven't tried this one, please do. It's simple, easy peasy, quick, engaging, and interactive. You can post a comprehension question, students can respond, and you can assess their understanding in a matter of minutes. The plus... if you love post-it notes you will go WILD for Padlet! Check out this blog post for more details about Padlet.

STORYBIRD: This is a great website for not only reading stories but also writing stories. The premise behind Storybird is that students are able to select artwork for which they then can create an original story. Teachers have the ability to create individual SAFE student accounts and develop specific writing assignments, integrating writing with reading. Students can access their account from school or home making assignments convenient. There is even an app for iPad/iPod available.

HOT POTATOES:  I had used HotPotatoes for YEARS with my Mac machines, but when I moved to a Windows PC I completely forgot about it. Shame on me, but lucky me when I stumbled upon HotPotatoes the first day of summer break this year. I AM PSYCHED!!! This is a piece of freeware that you must download to your own PC. Once you do, you will be able to create crossword puzzles, cloze exercises, jumbled sentence passages, multiple choice quizzes, short answer questions, and matching assignments. Can you say USEFUL???? Once you create your activity you can upload it to Dropbox, share the link, and your students can complete it. HotPotatoes takes a bit of getting used to, but once you master it, you will be glad that you did!

And before you leave today... please hop on over to my friend Rosie's blog. She is celebrating 100 Followers with a terrific giveaway! There are some wonderful items being offered.

Happy Teaching,
Happy Technology,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

Another Monday Must

I admit it: I am definitely a techie geek teacher. I could easily get rid of books, paper, and all things hardcopy (well, maybe not pens... I love pens.... that's another story). I dream of a completely electronic, in the cloud classroom. I would love to have my textbooks on e-readers that could sync with the laptops that every student would have (our junior high and high schoolers do have them)... ah, someday before I retire!

Because of my love for technology many of my must have's take the form of websites or software programs. Last week I shared four of them. This week I'm sharing two.

1. Animoto... I wrote a blog post about this a while back. You can access it HERE, so I won't expound upon it on this post... just to say that if you are unfamiliar with this web tool, get familiar. Your students and you can create awesome videos for presentation and teaching... AWESOME!

2. Padlet, formerly known as Wall Wisher, is defintely on my Monday Must Have list.

This website allows you to set up a virtual bulletin board upon which you can place post-it notes (see previous Must Have Monday posts about my addiction to these mini-marvels). I've set-up Padlet boards for assessing student comprehension, making connections, answering a particular science question... the possibilities are endless. One thing that is FUN about this web tool is that I can sit at my desk computer and see live the work that my students are doing. As they work I can comment and even jump in and correct if need be. This is a great feature for beginners and is a way to help students with homework. When I assign one of my Padlet boards as homework I also set a time that I will be online that evening.  As students work on the board I am there to help them as needed.

Some new features have just been added that make this web tool even more teacher friendly. Users now have the ability to save Padlet boards as a .pdf, Excel, or image file. The boards can be embedded in webpages or blog posts (see below), and they can be shared via the most popular social media sites. Visitors can even subscribe to a board. LOVIN' Padlet more and more!

I also teach my students how to create boards and require them to build boards that their classmates must visit and respond to. Padlet is a SIMPLE, easy peasy way to incorporate technology into your curriculum, and it can help meet Common Core ELA Standards.

Here is my latest Padlet board (it is still in process as of this post's date). This board is used as a quick final response to the novel Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardner. My fifth grade ELA students are just learning how to use this web tool. They are also learning to include specific textual details in their responses as well as including the question in their answer. They have struggled with these skills all year.

Created with Padlet

Happy Monday,
Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk