Field Trips

I'm linking up with Joy in the Journey and Compassionate Teacher for their Tricks on a Thursday  Linky.




Today's Topic: Field Trips!

Ironically, we went on a field trip today! :)

We went to a local fort to see what life was like in 'olden times'.

As a newbie in this school, I don't have anything to do with scheduling :) (although that may change!)

In our 4th grade, we take two trips-one to this fort (spring) and one to our State House and Capital  (Hello Gov'nr!) (fall)!

Since we (they) live in the middle of almost no-where, it takes us about 2 hours to get to either of these places.

Meaning the kids have to come to school early (before 8-we usually have them coming in at 8:30-8:45), so we can leave early.

Good thing? Field trips take all day :)

Bad thing? This year's 4th grade class is so small we all go on one bus (yippee skippee!) 46 kids plus 12ish adults.

To organize for a field trip, I collect their permission slips and stack them in alpha order (also their number order). They get papercliped together and put on my desk (I'm a piler....but I can find everything!)

Usually the field trips cost $5 to cover things. If the kids don't come in with the money, I write NO MONEY in pencil on the top of their field trip form. When they bring it it, I erase it.

All money goes into a large envelope. When I have everyone's (or most everyone's) I turn it into my teamie in charge of the field trip-who then turns it in to the office.

Since we get back so late-about 15 minutes before dismissal-I just bring the kids up to the room, and have them work on Thank You notes while I read a story.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy days!


Since we live in the middle of almost nowhere, we do some virtual field trips.

I highly recommend Scholastic's Webcasts! They have something for everyone, and their webcasts are about a 1/2 hour long.





They have an author talk with JK Rowling, a tour of the Smithsonian American History Museum and more!

What do you do for field trips?

Wednesday's Outfit

Dress: Target
Sweater: Maurices
Shoes: Payless

~My 1 year blogiversary is coming up! (hard to believe!) Does anyone want to help me with a giveaway? If you do, please email me (or leave a comment) by Friday, May 24th. Thanks in advance!


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Reader Responses

Happy Wednesday!

It's Workshop Wednesday time with Jivey!

Today's Workshop? Reader Responses!

A lot of times, I'll have my kids respond to reading using a graphic organizer. A good portion of the time, I make my own, and I make sure I put a place to explain their thinking.

I've also got these great ones from fellow teachers (Plus all the free ones out there!)










Once a week, we also do an 'open response' response, using questions from our Source Books to respond to.

The kids have a notebook for this (of course!), although next year I'm going to combine their Reader Response notebook with their Vocabulary notebook (and perhaps Mentor Sentences?) into a 3-Subject Notebook so their desks are a little less cluttered.

They have to have a table of contents in their notebook-labeled with the date, title and page number.

 We've talked a lot about what makes a good reader response and they've practice it using fun picture books, as well as reviewed the key ideas of writing a good response once a week.

But with everything, some are better

than others

Just so you don't think my kids are amazing in everything they do...although I think they come pretty close ;)

We'll continue working on this!

How do you do Reader Responses?

~My 1 year blogiversary is coming up! (hard to believe!) Does anyone want to help me with a giveaway? If you do, please email me (or leave a comment) by Friday, May 24th. Thanks in advance!

Tuesday's Outfit

Sweater: Maurice's (which came off very quickly!)
Shirt: Old Navy
Tank, Skirt, Shoes: Target





Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Point of View

Happy Monday! Only 3 Mondays (not including next week's Monday off) left. :)

The last two Fun Fridays, we have been working on Point of View. I felt their was so much for them to do that it needed two lessons :) (for a total of 3+ hours).

The first Friday, I introduced it using my SMART Board (love SMART Exchange...you can get sooo many lessons for free!)

Then we did a graphic organizer from this unit:



I also had this unit to pull from:



After I had made sure that they understood the difference between 1st and 3rd person, I spread out the task cards that came with both units.

 I made 4 copies of each task card, so I would have plenty of cards for everyone to have at least one.

They had a packet that I made from the combination of both units...and set to work!

Last Friday, we reviewed the difference between 1st and 3rd person.

The next step was for them take what they knew from using the task cards, and apply it to books!

I just grabbed a random stack of books for them to read through.

They had to identify the point of view in four books, and then pick one to compare and contrast the point of view of two different characters for the same event.

The kids shared that they loved it when they did lessons with this...able to choose what they read and practice on a multiple of books!

Today's Outfit

 Sweater, Skirt: Target
Shirt: Old Navy
Shoes: DSW

~My 1 year blogiversary is coming up! (hard to believe!) Does anyone want to help me with a giveaway? If you do, please email me (or leave a comment) by Friday, May 24th. Thanks in advance!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn


P.S. I forgot to tell you about:
Go check it out!

Starting the Revolution

In Social Studies, we have been studying the causes of the American Revolution, and what led up to the colonists finally throwing up their hands.

I've been going through the book, and various other resources, and taking notes on what I think the kids need to know- and what's appropriate for their age.

I started by doing a colonial tax simulation (more info found here). They were a little bummed about it at first, but most of them were okay with me taxing them (until earlier this week, but that's something different! ;)

I've been using my SMART Board to help teach about the causes, and things leading up to the revolution. They've been using their notebooks to take notes on the important information (which I emphasize greatly).

We started with the French and Indian War. Fortunately, most of the notes where on the SMART Board file, so the kids just had to copy from the board.

Next, we talked about some of the taxes that resulted from Britain needing money from fighting the French and Indian War.

This one was strictly a 'lecture' (although I did have some files to pull up).

 I had prewritten the notes and left some blanks. I copied my notes (and shrunk them a bit so they would fit in the notebook) for my LD kids. That way, they could focus on the important information without having to worry about coping down what I was saying.

Then, I was writing out my notes for the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Intolerable Acts and the 1st Continental Congress.

I took a look at the amount of information that I wanted them to have and got a little scared. My writing barely fit on one page...how was their's going to? What if they missed something?

Lightbulb!

I used my information and created fill-in the blank foldables!

This way, they get all the information I want them to, focusing on the important info to copy down, and it's nice and neat!

We did add some notes in between the foldables (random stuff they needed to know but didn't fit anywhere)

Closer Looks:

They were really excited about it!

Back to the taxation simulation-I've been slowly increasing the amount of taxes they get. Some of the kids became Patriots right away, while others were Loyalists (to Queen M-the ruler of all the land :).

Yesterday, I really increased their taxes-they had to pay every time they left and entered the room. (I called it Intolerable Acts ;)

Some of the kids who were on my side decided that what I was doing wasn't fair-and they switched sides!

We had some awesome discussions about how the colonists felt like this, and that is why they finally felt compelled to take action.

Next up: Paul Revere's Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord! I'm loving teaching about the Revolution...what's your favorite topic?

In other news-my 1 year blogiversary is coming up! (hard to believe!) Does anyone want to help me with a giveaway? If you do, please email me (or leave a comment) by Friday, May 24th. Thanks in advance!

Today's Outfit

Sweater & Tank: Target
Shirt: Maurices
Jeans: JCP
Shoes: Payless




Happy Friday!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

End of Year Gifts

I'm linking up with Joy in the Journey and Compassionate Teacher for their Tricks on a Thursday  Linky.




Today's Topic: End of Year Gifts!

Some end of year gifts for parents/volunteers:

Post-It Note holders!

Source: violetpaperwings.blogspot.com via Kaitlyn on Pinterest

 

Relaxation-Except having a summer/beach theme :)

 

Source: ourbestbites.com via Kaitlyn on Pinterest

 ~Giving a seedlings/plants
~Gift Card to favorite place

My all-time favorite gift that I received...$50 to a local spa! (I used it for a massage!)

Go link up your ideas!

Monday's Outfit

Sweater: NY & Co
Tank: Target
Pants: JCP
Shoes: DSW




Tuesday's Outfit

Sweater: Maurices
Shirt: Marshall's
Tank: Target
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Amazon





Today's Outfit

Sweater & Skirt: Fashion Bug
Tank: Target
Shoes: Endless

  Soooo glad that it finally warmed up-it was cold at the beginning of this week!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Wear To Work

Linking up with Mix and Match Fashion Wear to Work Linky.

We've been having a cold front in New England, so I dressed a little warmer than I wanted to!

Button Up: JCP
Vest: The Limited
Pants: NY & Co
Shoes: DSW




Here's hoping to a warmer end of the week!


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Math Manipulatives

Happy Wednesday!

Today's Topic: Math Manipulatives!

I don't use a lot of manipulatives in 4th grade-but there are some that I'll pull out.

My two favorites are:


Pattern Blocks!

The kids LOVE these! They will pull them out during inside recess to play with and build things with.

I love them as well-they are great for geometry, symmetry, tessellations, etc.

My other favorite is:

Fraction Strips!

These are WONDERFUL for introducing/teaching fractions. It really helps the kids see the sizes, to compare them, find equivalent fractions, etc.  (Fractions circles work well, too-but I prefer the strips).

As for my organization, well....

Not really : /

It's more organized than it was at the beginning of the year:

But I didn't spend a lot of time organization it this summer.

(Truth? I didn't want to put a lot of effort into something when there was a pretty good chance I would only be there a year---my history has shown that I move around each year...glad that this year proved me wrong! :)

I organized it a little-but will definitely organize it a TON more this summer (that whole side of the room is going to get a makeover!)

Right now, things are stuffed into my Really Good Stuff bins (love them!) and $1 shoeboxes with no lids (because I was planning on using them to hold books-not math manipulatives).

How do you manipulate? Link up with Jivey!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn