Thursday Throwdown: Kid Rounding

Happy Thursday!

Time for Thursday Throwdown!

We did this activity today-because my kids were just not getting rounding.

So I thought, why not use them to demonstrate?

Every student got a number (from 0-9) with 0 on the back.

I picked six students to come up to the front of the room and be the big number.

One student was lucky enough to be 'leid' which was the place value we were rounding to.

Every student after (to the right of the 'leid' student, turned around and turned their card to 0.

Then we had to decided if we were going to stay with the 'leid' student, or trade up.

I brought up the student who had the next number up, and moved them in front of the 'leid' student.

We talked about how we had to look one student to the right to decide if we were going to stay or trade up.

They had fun with it!

Every student got to be the big number twice, with some students getting more 'turns' if they had a trade number.

Then we went back and worked in our workbooks. Most students went back and corrected previous problems-they seemed to have a much better understanding of it! (and after 3 days, I hope so!)

Today's Outfit

Sweater: Old Navy
Skirt: Target
Shoes: DSW (which were changed after the picture-My toes needed to breathe!)

Tonight was Open House...which I'll talk about tomorrow! Open House night is definitely a looong day at school-especially when you have an early morning PLC!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Word Work

Happy Wednesday!

Time for another Workshop Wednesday with Jivey!

Today's topic is Word Work.

We do word work almost every day. A lot of the activities we do are in our Literacy series books-so I write the task cards to reflect that.

The kids read the selection on the left, and then do one of the activities on the right-according to the task card

The kids write their responses in their Word Work books-some very simple books I made in the beginning of the year.

I took a huge piece of construction paper (I think it was 12 by 18), folded it in half and stuffed some lined paper in it. I choose regular '4th Grade' paper, as well as some paper with mid-lines for the friends that need them.

Then I stapled it in 4 places, took out my trusty paper cutter, and sliced that baby in half!

Voila! a cute, mini book to record their answers.

Another part of our work word is Vocabulary.

I use the vocab foldables from Laura Candler, and they are a perfect fit because we have 5 words a 'week'. After the kids fill them out, they glue them into their Reader's Notebook in the vocab section.

And once in a great while (on test days!) we play Boggle for word work.

Boggle Board underneath my jobs-it has monster letters now!

The kids love this! They keep asking me if they can play (almost every day!), but I like to save it for a special 'easier' treat on those theme test days!

I keep the Boggle sheets in a file folder-with the sides taped with duct tape (Thanks Tara! She has a huge amount of great word work ideas and storage-go check it out!)

I have some other files set up-but our spelling book pretty much covers everything, so I haven't used them...maybe someday!

What are some things you use for word work?

Today's Outfit

Sweater: Kohls
Skirt: TJ Maxx
Shoes: Endless/Amazon

Perfect for a nice (warm) fall day! Especially since we had a fire drill this morning (and our yearly fire inspection!)

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

300/Currently

Ack! Can you believe it? This is my 300th post!  It's certainly been a fun journey so far!

Notice anything different?

I did a little update for 'fall'!  I feel very fall-inspired now :)

Speaking of Fall, it's time for October's Currently!

Monday's Outfit:

Sweater/Top: Maurices
Pants: JCP
Shoes: Zappos









Tuesday's Outfit

Sweater: JCP

Shirt: Old Navy
Tank: Target
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Target


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

A Peek At My Week

This week in 4th Grade...

We'll be making a map of our state and the features of it-major rivers, mountains, cities, etc. We'll also be making a map of the different regions and economic features associated with each area. I'll give you a hint..

It's one of these!

;)

We'll be learning about ordering and comparing numbers in Math-hopefully this lesson will go quicker than the previous two...it's taken me at least three days to get through a 'one-day' lesson...

We'll continue to work on Determining Importance in Literacy, as well as learning about theme.

A very full week ahead! What are in your plans?

Friday's Outfit (Picture Day!)

Dress: Target
Shoes: DSW


Somehow, I again wound up in the first row for the all staff picture...I wonder how that happened? ;)

I also wound up looking a bit like a ghost when they took the picture for my badge-I wonder if they'll color correct that!!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Determine Importance

We've been working on Determining Importance this week-a tricky thing when your series doesn't tell you to tell the kids to figure out the main idea first. a little tricky for kids this early in the year.

So I started by talking about main idea and how to find it.

I figured it would be easier to explain if the information was important or interesting if they could relate it to the main idea.

We did a lot of practicing with nonfiction text! I thought it would be easier to start with nonfiction text before their literacy book goes into the 'stories'.

I deliberately chose very easy (as in, I broke into my K-3 stuff!) books to make it easier for them to figure out the main idea-and then determine the importance of random pieces of information.

We also talked about that when we use picture books that, for the most part, it because they are a little bit easier to read-so we can focus on practicing the strategy we supposed to be thinking about instead of struggling with the words.

I, of course, had to make a cute organizer to go with it!

I modeled the first one, and then we worked together on the last two (after I picked the information). We had a discussion why the information was either important or interesting-and why we thought so. There were some interesting explanations!

My kids now think that all the organizers that come with the series are 'boring' (and I agree! but we have to use them at least once so I can say that we did use them!) and have no fear telling other teachers that! :)

What are some of your strategies for determining importance?

Monday:

Sweater: JCP
Cords: Kohls
Shoes: Target







Tuesday:

Shirt: Old Navy

Vest: The Limited
Khakis: Kohls
Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory







Wednesday:

Top/Pants: JCP

Shoes: DSW









Thursday:

Top: Kohls

Tank: Old Navy
Pants: LOFT Outlet
Shoes: DSW


Happy Friday!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

A Peek at My Week

Happy Sunday!

First off, the most important thing.


LOOK WHAT CAME!!!!

My Student Workbooks! I'm so excited they are finally here!

We did start working in the program earlier last week, with me making copies from the one book that I had-but I don't need to worry about that anymore!

This week we'll be working on reading and writing numbers-all in our beautiful, colorful (and heavy!) workbooks. I'm excited to get started! :)

We'll continue learning about our state government and their roles and responsibilities this week-using this foldable.

We are also going to be practicing our Determining Importance skills-always a tricky one I think!

Last year's chart-I'll make a few improvements :)

I'm going to use non-fiction books first to help them-I think if they figure out what the main idea is, then determining the importance of the information will easier to determine instead of just looking at information willy-nilly.


We'll also be finishing with 2 days of MAP testing.

A peek at my plans so far...

I like to plan a little in advance, see how much we get done, and then plan the rest of the days. I'm not constantly adding arrows or erasing this way :)

What are you doing this week?

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Cinquains

One of my most very favorite things to teach kids is poetry. I love teaching it because it is so fun and creative.

AND, everyone can do it!

You don't need to worry about sentence structure or being Edit COPS or where you are going to split the paragraph.

Plus, students who struggle with 'traditional' writing often find themselves enjoying and being good at poetry because there are not a lot of rules-and you can pretty much make up your own rules.

So on Friday, I introduced my friends to poetry!

First, we reviewed the Acrostic Poem. I told them that they learned this is 1st or 2nd grade (they all agreed), and while it was a good form of poetry, we were going to learn much cooler and more interesting ways to be poets.

We were going to learn about Cinquains!

I told them that these were interesting poems, but fairly easy because there were only five lines :)

I first demonstrated what a cinquain would look like. I explained the format, and had them help me think of some words to fill it it in.

We voted on some of the choices, and then I read it through.

After I demonstrated, I told them that they would write one (with me writing :)

First, we brainstormed a bunch of ideas about our topic, one of the favorite things...Summer!

They had so many ideas! I was writing so fast-so it is sloppier than usual.

We took our ideas and put them into our cinquain format!

Then, I set them loose to do their own!

They had to do rough drafts and get them approved before I gave them a final draft.

They came out so well!

We did an Author Share, and they  did a wonderful job!

Here are some of my favorites!

This friend...oh my word! This friend has not yet been able to start any independent work without an adult and doesn't like writing. Yet today, the friend got right to work and did the whole thing alone! I was only asked how to spell 'ocean' and away it went! (This friend is also the behavior challenge, and did such a great job today and with this!!!!)

Very original and unique!

This was the only friend that shook their head when I said everyone loves summer...this is a winter lover!

A friend after my own heart :)

I think my fun writing on charts and font love is rubbing off ;)

I literally whipped up this organizer in the 7 minutes before recess was over-I wanted something simple, but had lines to show what the separate word, and small so it can be easily displayed. Thanks to Lovin Lit for the frame!


Monday's Outfit

Shirt: Maurices

Pants: JCP
Shoes: Target







Tuesday's Outfit

Top/Pants: LOFT Outlet
Sweater: Maurices
Shoes: DSW








Wednesday's Outfit:

Sweater/Top: NY & Co

Tank: Old Navy
Pants: JCP
Shoes: DSW







I'm sparking student motivation in writing! How do you motivate? What's your favorite type of writing to teach?

Have a great Saturday!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn