Science?!

So in DC, our 5th graders take a Science state test.  They don't actually count towards our state goal, but it is still something our students need to learn.  In a chart school where making gains on ELA and Math are the sole focus- Science will sometimes get pushed off to the side.  Last year we never even put it in the schedule.  We've tried to hire science teachers as a specials, and have spent lots of money on kits to make life "easier" for the teacher.

Over the holiday break I really tried to figure out what I was supposed to use as a guide for 5th grade science, and what I needed to ensure my kids were ready to answer questions about.  In comes:  The Next Generation Science Standards.  These standards are supposed to become the Common Core of Science.  The one thing I love- THERE ARE STANDARDS! I was just pulling out of a hat what to teach.  

Right now they are just in the stages of producing the standards, but as always I go to my favorite teacher research site aka pinterest and I clearly see that there are lots of teachers already trying to create things to make the NGSS understandable for teachers like me (who have no idea how to teach science!).  

The first site I wanted to showcase was:  Jason's online classroom.  There I found some posters that I actually bought because they helped me break down with pictures the standards into some type of objective.  I wish that they came with some type of plan- but that is where I am trying to fill in the gaps!


So I am asking you- do you have any ideas on how I can easily integrate science?  I have about 45 minutes 3-4 times a week.  Any advice would be great!

Customary and Metric Units of Measure

Hey everyone!


So the past two weeks we have been talking about customary and metric units of measure.  We just did a basic understanding of how to convert and I am trying to think about ways I can extend my children's real world connection.  They are very familiar with the obvious "we measure things like a house, or our height, or our weight."  And they have always done model homes- what else can we do?!


Also, I wanted to attach a sheet I found about the metric system.  It really helped my children understand the metric system.  I do not know who this came from- so if it's yours please let me know so I can give you credit!!!!!!

Metric Conversions

Fun Friday

Hey all!

This school year my school has decided to implement a "Fun Friday".  Fun Friday is 30 minutes every Friday where students who demonstrated awesome behavior and completed their homework can have some fun.  In order to keep the Fun Friday's interesting we allow our students to vote at the beginning of the week for things they would like to do.

Here are some examples of Fun Friday's we have talked about/ actually had because they received the most votes!

Lapbooks-Just the beginning!

Hey all!

Happy Holidays!  So my co-teacher and I wanted to stop giving so many worksheets and multiple choice questions, so we decided (well she had this great idea and I jumped right on!) that after Christmas we would start trying to infuse lap books to help them learn the information and then try and have them apply what they learned through the lap books into grade level texts.

Cue:  Lapbook 101


Here we are today (we didn't have a snow day, but did have a 2 hour delay which is basically the same thing but I can at least be in my classroom)  trying to make 25 lap books to start our kids off with.

Please mind the tons of pictures but I wanted to ensure that you understood what we did!

First we started with a plain manilla folder.  This is the outer layer of our lap book.

We folded the one side so that the tab touched the middle fold.

Then we did the same to the other side.

We were left with a lap book that looked like this:

Now to make the inside of the lap book.

First, we started by cutting off the top parts of the folders (the tabbed area where you would write)

 Next, we cut the folders in Half.  We only did this so that we would have enough flaps for the actual lap books (1 per lap book- so we cut about 13 folders)

 We took a piece of paper and used little baby dots on the outside of the paper to glue it to the back of the lap book.  Baby dots are the key to ensuring that the paper does not get crinkly if you do not have glue sticks.

 Next we put tape on one side of the lap book.  This is so that I can punch holes in the lap book so they can store them in their binders, and i won't get destroyed.

 Almost there!

Now we took the half folder and taped the top to the inside of the folder so that it would flap upwards.

Last, we needed to hole punch the lap books so that they would fit inside the scholars binders.

 Viola!!!!!!

My next post will be about our very first lap book and what they created.  We are planning to make these during our week of testing so that the students can review Main Idea in a positive way.

Properties of Addition and Multiplication

This week I am going to be "unleashing" the properties of addition and multiplication.  I use a word like unleashing because it is a HUGE amount of information for very little to be done.  Since it involves a lot of information up front, I tried to make a foldable that was easy for my kids to make and would not take up too much time.  Cue Foldable!

Here is the final product of the foldable.  I used 11 x 17 paper because I did want it to be larger than some I have seen online that can fit into a notebook.  The template that I made does allow for you to make them smaller so they can fit into a notebook.

 I started by making all the labels, definitions, and examples for each property.

 Here they are cut out and placed in piles based on what they are (name, definition, or example)

I then cut them out and glued (really taped for my copy) the names on the outside.  The definitions are on the back of the flap, and the examples are on the inside back.

Sorry that you can not see at all the information inside- but I really just wanted you to see how I set it up using my template that you can have for free below!

Then I created a worksheet that has examples for each that students will identify which property they follow.  We are going to be placing emphasis on the distributive property because we are about to embark on a long unit all about division of whole numbers and decimals!


Here is the link for the foldable and the worksheet to practice locating the property type!

Let me know your thoughts and what you might have done to help your children understand the different properties!



Best,

We are M.I.N.I.O.N.S!

Hey everyone!

In my last post I shared how I was planning to have a minion classroom theme and I wanted to update you on the minions I was able to make.  First I decided to make MINION mean something- so each letter has a meaning.  M-Meaningful, I-Independent, N-Neighborly, I-Interesting, O-Opinionated N-eat S-Self-Confident.  This is going to help my kids see that minions are more than just cute little guys who have a funny language.

For my classroom I really wanted them to look hand made (not just a coloring page) But I am not crafty at all.  So as always I turned to my 2 favorite places: google search and pinterest!  I found after searing for a while, this website that had a make your own minion printable and I thought this was perfect as a template!

Minion PDF

Minion Arts and Crafts 

This really helped me figure out how to make my own minion. 

In order for me to make the minion I first cut out his whole body and traced that with yellow paper.  

Then I cut out just the pants and traced them with the blue paper.

After that I cut out the glasses and traced the whole thing onto black paper.  I cut out an eye and traced those onto the white paper! (I know this sounds like a lot but they look so much cuter than if I just colored these!)  I did the same for the arms using yellow paper and the legs using the blue paper.  I colored the hands and feet black with a sharpie.

I glued all the pieces onto each other and added the pocket.  I used a P instead of G (for Gru) and voila!  You have my minions!

My husband had a great time taking pictures of them like they were actually hanging out with me while I was working! haha.

Then I decided to make a larger one to put in the center of my room.  He is purely for decoration, but I would love to try and find a way to use him in the classroom!  I also printed out (at this point I was getting to crunch time) enough minions for my word wall.  You can see the big minion and the smaller minions below:

Last, but not least- I colored minions to match the colors of my word wall.  We are going to use different colors for different parts of speech and math, so I wanted them to have a key to remember.  I wanted it to be like in Despicable Me 2, when the villan is turning minions into purple "evil" minions.

I made a minon for my door as well.  You can even see the little minions hanging out on my bulletin board in the hallway.

Love,

What I did this Summer and Plans for Next Year

Hey everyone!

I really wish I could have posted more this summer but I actually got MARRIED in July!  It was such an amazing day.  They threatened rain, but it turned out to be beautiful and sunny all day long!  My friends and family are still talking about the wonderful day we had!  I wish that weddings could happen every year! (maybe not the money part though hahaha).

Such a great party!

Now on to my plans for this school year.  I am going to be teaching 5th grade this year, but not just math- I will be teaching all subjects.  Our 5th grade group this year has a lot of students with special needs, and they struggle with transitions, so to make it easier we are going to keep them in the same room all day.  I am excited for this because I actually taught them in 2nd grade and 3rd grade.  I can not wait to see them on the first day of school and pick up right where we left off.

This year I have decided to have a "minion" theme classroom.  I was SO excited for this theme because I thought since the 2nd movie came out there would be SO many different resources I could just buy (I am the kind of person that thinks spending money to have it done is better than spending HOURS trying to make a LARGE Minion lol).  I was wrong.  There are so many cute make your own ideas so it looks like I will be making millions of minions at home every night (good luck to my husband lol).

In order to be ready for this year, I wanted to share a power point I will show my students.  At the start of the year we love to show them all about our college experience because it shows them a different, fun side of college.

Power Point Slide Show

Also, I wanted to share my letter that I send home to parents on the first day of school.  The letter is lengthy and I wish it didn't have to be, but it sets the tone for me to show my parents ALL about my classroom.  I try to lay everything out there so that it becomes a reference sheet- parents can look at it all year long if they have a question about my class.

First Day Letter to Students

As I create more minion things I will be sure to show you everything I do!