I'm so happy that Stephanie from Forever in Fifth Grade hosts this monthly linky. It takes me back to my school days and wonderful Show and Tell times with my teachers and classmates... ah, warm fuzzies!
What a difference one week makes! Last week it was shiver, shiver while this week it is OH YEAH! Spring is finally in the air.
Two and a half years ago this little girl came to live with me and her fuzz sister. During that time she has wanted to sit up in this window but couldn't figure out how to get there. It is a bit high up and the angle to jump on the sill from surrounding objects is just not feline friendly. I finally hoisted her up on the sill earlier this week. Miss Lulabelle was in puddy heaven!
If you have followed me for a while then you know that I am a "The Walking Dead" junkie (as are a few of my sixth graders). Our last STEM activity was to design a compound machine that did work. The projects were wonderful and great learning took place. Miniature cars were made to move, marbles were hoisted in small buckets, and balloons were mechanically popped. One project stood out, the one in the picture above. Meet Mini-Lucille, folks! If you know TWD, then you know!
Finally, I'd like to share with you one of my all-time favorite projects: trioramas. I've been doing this fun creation for nearly thirty years and have blogged about it previously. I was so happy with how these miniature representations of favorite scenes from Literature Circle novels turned out!
The following pin contains a blog post that includes wonderful step-by-step instructions
for making this fun and engaging craftivity!
You've seen my choices for Show and Tell; now I'd like to hear about yours. What would you share during Show and Tell? Leave a message in the comments below, then hop on over to Forever in Fifth Grade for even more Show and Tell!
Over Christmas break I had plenty of time to just surf around blogging land and the TpT Forums. I stumbled upon a linky called Friday's News hosted by RclassroomsRus. I immediately began following the blog and looking forward to reading the weekly posts about classroom experiences and activities. This week I finally decided to join in.
This week was a bit chaotic for us. We had Monday off due to Presidents' Day and Tuesday off due to a snow day. Wednesday, however, dawned sunny, clear, yet very cold.
My students, although older elementary, do not perform well without a regular routine. Needless to say, they were energetic this week! To combat all the energy I planned several high energy, engaging lessons.
First was a culminating activity for my fifth grade Language Arts students. They have finished learning and practicing Literature Circles with the book "Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardner. Instead of a paper, pencil assessment I asked them to create a story wheel, a retelling in only eight sentences of the entire text they had just completed. Additionally, they must illustrate their sentences. When completed the story wheel will be a sequential record of the plot from beginning to end. They are nearly completed with their task and should finish by Tuesday of the coming week.
My sixth grade science students thrive on STEM activities. I actually did not have one originally planned for the week, but with the disruption to our routine, I sneaked in a quick one that I call Dicey Design.
Students, given one sheet of aluminum foil, must design a cargo ship in ten minutes that will carry the most cargo (dice) without floundering. During our testing phase, didn't the fire alarm sound! We will need to complete our testing come Monday morning, which is... you guessed it! More disruption to the routine! Ah well, such is life in a classroom.
Be sure to stop by RClassroomsRus to read more Friday's News from bloggers and TpT sellers.
It seems that during the last few days of school time just drags! Kids and teachers both can't wait to be finished with lessons and being DONE! Not so I or my kiddos! NOPE, we kept at it until the very last. In between packing the room and special events, we continued working on our very last project of the year: Writing a Cinderella Adaptation. It is perhaps the most engaging and fun of all the writing projects that we do all year! Kids get a kick outta returning to their childhood and revisiting familiar stories with their "mature" minds.
For years I've had my sixth grade Language Arts students read and analyze folk literature. It lends itself to teaching theme, characters, plot, etc. so well! So many of the traditional tales are available online and there is a plethora of folk literature novels nowadays as well; familiar stories that have been extended and adapted. Think Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Rump the True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff, or the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordin. We used several of these titles to do one final round of Literature Circles, but we also spent considerable time looking at the most famous folk tale of all: Cinderella.
Did you know that there are more than 1500 "Cinderella" tales found all over the world? Students are astounded by this and curious as well. I've managed to accrue a collection of about 65 Cinderella picture books over the years. My students and I spend time reading them and notating their similarities to discover what constitutes a Cinderella tale?
This is just ONE of many graphic organizers that we use as we are reading, comparing/contrasting, and analyzing this literature. It's yours for the taking by clicking HERE.
From there we examine some fun adaptations.
And then we begin creating our very own Cinderella adaptations via the writing process. The stories must readily be recognized as Cinderella tales, be thoroughly original, and be picture books. Here are a few of this year's masterpieces.
And who said that fairy tales are for little kids?
It's been quite a long time since I last joined Doodlebugs for...
FIRST... My sixers have finally selected their second grade buddies. The matches just seem to be perfect this year! We've met with our little friends several times already to work on a MONSTROUSLY fun project. Together the buddy pairs made monsters and are writing a story "My Monster and Me!" They have also written and sent cards to each other. SO CUTE!
SECOND... We have finished our first round of Literature Circles, using Lauren Tarshis's newest I Survived book about Pompeii. My kiddos LOVE these historical fiction books! I think it's because each book is so easy to read yet full of suspense and realistic adventure. They are compelled to research the actual historical event and compare the facts with the fiction. Can you say, "Common Core" with little headache? We can hardly wait for Tarshis's next book, due out in February, about the Great Chicago Fire.
THIRD... Here's a little FREEBIE to go along with our Literature Circles.
It's one of the foldables that we use in our Interactive Notebooks. You can download a copy HERE if you'd like!. You can also find it here, along with LOTS more freebies.
FOURTH... We are really into Science this year. I have a whole crop of budding scientists! I've tried hard to include at least one investigation each week. Here we are using Mixing It Up in the Middle's Candy Corn Challenge as an end of the week STEM challenge.
FIFTH... Speaking of Science! I have been blessed this year to partner with the chemistry professor at the local branch of Kent State University, Dr. Ann Abraham. She visited my classroom this week and morphed my sixers into chemists! They learned about mixing chemicals, how to determine the ph of a substance, and created their own soda pop and jammin' jelly.
This week for Anchors Away I'm sharing a tri-fold that is the number one "anchor" reference in my fifth grade Language Arts class. On the board are descriptions of the jobs we use in our Literature Circles as well as the behaviors we hope to engage in during circle time. Serving as a reminder, a support, a peacemaker (don't ask), et al., it has pride of place in the room. You may see students before, during, or even after a circle meeting gathering by the tri-fold to answer a question, prove a point, or look for a tip. This resource actually began as a tool for me to help my student teacher organize Literature Circles. I hadn't even planned on keeping it!
Literature Circles Info. Board
Be sure to stop by Crafting Connections the home of Anchors Away for more examples and ideas for Anchor Charts.
First... We've continued our study of famous artists and art movements with a look at Fauvism, AKA Colorism. In this art form pieces are marked by bright, unusual colors; wild brush strokes; pointillism; and abstract portrayals. Matisse and Derain were the two main artists that we studied.
Matisse "The Open Window"
Our first exercise was to create a Fauve flower...
Our next project will be to select a favorite photo and Fauve it! Can't wait to see what my sixers do with that!
Second... Poetry has spread from eighth grade to fifth and sixth. While my eighth graders are delving deeply into classics such as Poe's "Annabel Lee," my younger students are having fun learning about different forms of poetry. My sixers reviewed haiku and diamonte and were introduced to cinquain. My fivers are continuing to build their INB's by adding poetry foldables. This was their favorite foldable of the week. Click on the pic if you'd like a copy to use with your students.
Third... Speaking of poetry here are some finished projects where my kiddos created a SQUIGGLE masterpiece (from Thinking Outside of the Box: Exercising Creative Minds) then wrote either a cinquain or acrostic poem about it.
Fourth... We're sneaking in one more round of Literature Circles before the end of the school year.
Fifth... It's been a long while since I've shared anything fur baby related. This past weekend my grand niece spent the night with me. Little fur baby Lulie took a shining to Kamryn's Monster High dolls...soooo stinkin' cute!
I hope everyone's week was as good as mine!
14 days and counting!
Well, where did last week go? Thanks to the polar vortex I was without internet for several days and stuck home for three days. I was so looking forward to returning to school and celebrating my favorite part of the Christmas season with my kiddos (see this post). No internet + no school = unhappy teacher. All's well, however, now. I'm linking up with my bloggy friend, Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her weekly A Peek at My Week party.
This coming week is a full week of learning and fun. The fun part is really for me! You see, I have a student teacher working with me for the next 15 weeks who just happens to be one of our school graduates and a former student of mine. Her university suggested she just observe and do small jobs in the classroom like grade papers, work one-on-one with a student, etc. for the first four weeks. Bah humbug! I'll have several photos next week of Ms. Murphy in action! She's going to do a Language Arts lesson with my eighth graders at the end of the week. Here she is timing the Wise Men SCOOT activity for my eighth graders. She is grading their papers this weekend also, bless her heart!
Meanwhile I'll be finishing up this Citing Text Evidence lesson from Erin at I'm Lovin' Lit with my eighth graders on Monday and Tuesday. It comes from her Interactive Writing Notebook product. However, this Citing Text Evidence lesson is offered as a FREEBIE. She explains it well on her blog at this post.
My sixth graders will be finishing up My Side of the Mountain... hopefully! We have had so many interruptions what with Christmas programs and parties and snow/cold days (four already) that we got far behind. This was their first full-fledged novel done completely with Literature Circles so it was a tad slow going. I'm going to speed them through the last one-third of the book lickety split so Miss Murphy can take over afresh in two weeks.
My fifth graders will just be introduced to Literature Circles this week. On Monday, I'll teach them the six jobs as outlined by Harvey Daniels in his book, Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student Centered Classroom, a book I've used since 1998. We'll also watch a brief video of a small Literature Circle in action.
On Tuesday, the fifth graders will create this interactive notebook foldable to help them remember the six jobs they will be completing as they work in Literature Circle groups. If you would like a copy just click HERE or on the graphic below.
We'll practice these jobs on Wednesday through Friday with some winter/snow related picture books, and be all set to start our first novel the following week.
That's my school week in a nutshell. On the homefront... I have been on cat patrol for six weeks! You might recall that I brought a sweet, young feline (Lulie) into my home six weeks ago.
My incorrigible old queen, Daisy did NOT like her at all!!!!
After numerous chases, hissing and growling matches, calming treats and spray, and brandishings of the squirt bottle, progress is being made... I think... I hope! Where once the two could not bear to be in the same room, we now have the old queen coaxing the young feline to play, I think. Lulie does not trust Daisy and will not respond to the coaxing. Lulie knows that Daisy might just be coaxing her to come closer for a good thrashing! LOL!
Anyway... I will still be on cat patrol this week as well! Soon, I hope, this job will fade away. I hope everyone has a great week! Be sure to stop by Jennifer's blog to read more A Peek at My Week blog posts.
