Monday Made it-September Edition

It is the second Monday of the month and that means it is time to link up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday-Made-It.

It has been a busy month of TPT creating for me. As I worked to align my math curriculum to the Common Core I found a lot of wonderful products on TPT, but I could not find an "end of study" assessment. There were a lot of single assessments, one for each standard, but I really wanted to have a final summative assessment on the entire category. Since I couldn't find them I have been creating them. I am still working on the final two assessments. Once I am finished I will bundle all of these assessments together. You can check them out at my TPT store by clicking on the pictures below.

I also created two dice simulations to go along with my socials studies units this year. I am currently working on a Gold Rush Simulation as well. (I'm hoping to have it finished soon, but it is amazing how tired teaching all day makes me!)

I've also created a Reading Counts Point Club to encourage my kiddos to read and take their quizzes. I was inspired by Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching and decided to make my own. It is the chart all the way on the right.

After I made my own signs she posted a set in her TPT store. If you are interested in them be sure to check them out her store here.

What have you created this month? Be sure to check out Tara's blog for lots of creative ideas. (This linky makes me wish I was more crafty!)

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (Math Mentor Text)

Happy Sunday! It's time for football! Glen and I are looking forward to being able to relax after church and watch a sport we both enjoy. But before we do any of that I need to link up with the two lovely ladies at Collaboration Cuties for their linky.

The book I want to share with you is one that I have used for years to introduce my students to angles. Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland by Cindy Neschwander.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this book, the main character Radius is training to become a knight. In order to receive his knighthood he must go on a quest. Along the way he sees the Mountains of Obtuse and the little town with steep roofs that are "cute." He also needs to take "Knightly Right Turns" to help him in his adventure. The only thing he has to help him on his journey is an only family medallion.

 

 The students enjoy the adventure in this book. Some of them understand the puns as we read, others need a little help along the way! After we read the book we normally make a four flap foldable to remember what the angles names are and what they mean. The kids enjoy the book and it gives us a reference point to go back to when they are first trying to learn and use the vocabulary.

What are your favorite math mentor texts?

Wait! It's Saturday? Time to Catch Up!

Where has this week gone? It totally flew by! I am so behind on reading blogs...and missed linking up with a few people this week so today I am going to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and Joanne at Head over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation.

This week was my second week with my kiddos and I still think they are adorable. They are such a sweet group of kids and I have got to admit that makes my life easier, and teaching so much more enjoyable. They are still learning the procedures and expectations of our classroom, but they are picking it up very quickly.

We started Math Workshop this week. It is my first time using Math Workshop in my classroom, but it is going well. The kids enjoy moving around to different centers, and I am enjoying working with a small group of kiddos. I only have 50 min for math, so I am still trying to get the timing down. I am thinking about adding a fourth rotation and having the kids do two rotations a day instead of three. That will give us more time at each station. My low/middle kids could really use the extra time. The only thing I don't like about that is the fact that I wouldn't see all my kids every day. Any suggestions for me?

We also started Writing Workshop this week. I had the students write down on the first page of their notebook things that make things that make them who they are. They jotted down lots of ideas. Then, because of this pin on Pinterest. I had the kids trace and decorate their hands with things about themselves.

It was a nice "easy" way to get them to generate ideas without needing to write paragraphs. Anyone else's kids still in summer mode when it comes to writing?

We also taught each other about the five areas of social studies to kick off our socials studies unit for the year. If you missed my post on Thursday, you can read more about this activity here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
My giveaway ended yesterday. Congratulations to Sara for winning my Back to School Giveaway. Be sure to check your e-mail!

 

On a fun, personal note, Glen and I got a new car. His car was slowly dying so we went out last night (after spending the week car shopping online) and purchased a Hyundai Elantra-GT. Glen travels 45 min. to and from work so we wanted to get him a car that was affordable and comfortable. He loves it, and I'm happy I don't have to worry about his '97 Saturn breaking down!

What have you been up to this week? How do you motivate your students?

Thursday Throw Down-Students Teaching Each Other

Happy Thursday! It has been a long and fun week with my kiddos. I survived Back to School Night! To celebrate I wanted to link up with Erin at I'm Lovin Lit for Thursday Throw Down!

 

After last week's graphing activity, I discovered that a lot of my students do not enjoy social studies. To introduce social studies I broke my class into five groups. Each group was assigned one section to learn and then teach their classmates. The students worked together to read 1-2 pages from their social studies book. They then decided together what was the most important information in their section that their classmates needed to know. Once they established that, I had them create a poster on their topic.

When all the groups were finished they shared the posters with their classmates. They did a wonderful job teaching each other about the major social studies areas.

I love doing this activity because it lets me see which kids take the lead when it comes to group projects, who sits back and attempts to let others do the work, who is comfortable talking in front of the entire class, and it gives me an overall feel of how they behave in groups. I'm pleased to say this group of kiddos did a spectacular job!

What do you do to make your classroom an interactive place?
Don't forget to enter my giveaway-just a few more hours left!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Tried it Tuesday-baking edition

The Tuesday after Labor Day-Happy first day of school to my friends who are just starting.
I am linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried it Tuesday.

 

Today's post has nothing to do with education, but rather with baking. If you aren't a baker you may want to skip today's post.

 

Yesterday I made Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread cookies. I've been on a quest the last few weeks to find a recipe for these cookies that sounded like the kind I had at a great Italian bakery in Rhode Island. The only problem is that I haven't been able to find unsalted pistachios....so I decided to make the cookies yesterday with salted ones. I just cut the amount of salt I was supposed to add to the cookies in half.

The cookies are good, but I do think they would be better with unsalted pistachios. They are more of a sweet/salty treat, than a sweet/savory shortbread. The only other thing I would do next time is I think I will sprinkle a little raw sugar on top...just a little for texture and flavor.

Any idea where I can pick up unsalted pistachios? What have you tried recently? Head over to Holly's blog to see what other people have been up to this week. 

Just incase you've mist it...don't forget to enter my giveaway this week.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Peek at My Week-September 2-6 and Currently

 Happy Monday! I hope those of you that have the day off are enjoying it as much as I am. I'm excited to link up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade again this month for Currently!

The last section is three things that you want to do that would make yourself happy. Exercising 3 days a week and tracking my food on Weight Watchers goes hand in hand with keeping me healthy. I've slacked a bit since I started setting up my classroom and working at school. I need to get back in the habit! Reading for pleasure is something that relaxes me and helps me manage stress. With blogging I've found I am reading less...I need to still carve out time to read for pleasure each day.

I am a little late, but I am excited to link up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings: A Peek at My Week.

Monday-Labor Day, a glorious day off at the start of the school year. I'm planing on doing some baking. Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread cookies are on the agenda.

Tuesday-Even though we have been in school for almost a week we are just starting math on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to introducing my kids to a Math Workshop approach to Math. It will be my first year doing it, but I am really looking forward to it. I'm also going to have my kids use these task cards from I {heart} Recess to evaluate what they remember from 3rd grade.

Wednesday-My student teacher starts on Wednesday. She will be with me until the middle of October. I will also be setting up our Interactive Language Notebooks with my kiddos.

Thursday-Back to School Night...the day that scares me the most of the entire school year. The night starts off with a whole school session in our gym...then we classroom teachers hold two 20 min. sessions with the parents where we try to communicate the important information to them and answer any major questions. Give me a classroom full of kids to teach, no problem...20 adults and I am shaking in my boots!

Friday-I'm going to begin to teach my kids the five domains on Writing (Focus, Content, Organization, Style, and Conventions.) We will look at Focus. To do this I love to use the book Zoom by Istvan Banyai. I actually "read" the book backwards to my kids (It's only pictures.) When you look at it backwards it zooms in and has you focus on one thing-which is what I want my kiddos to do.

 

My giveaway also ends on Friday-so be sure to enter while you have a chance!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What does your week look like?

Language Arts Mentor Text-Dirty Joe, the Pirate

I love the first Sunday of every month...it means I get to link up with Collaboration Cuties and share a favorite Language Arts Mentor Text. (I apologize now for my probable double post today...Currently will be out later today and I wouldn't want to miss it.)

The book I want to share with you today is one that I normally have my husband read on National Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19.) You see, my husband has a great pirate voice...so it makes it so much more exciting. Since he started a "real" job this summer the kids may be stuck with me reading the book to them this year.

 

Dirty Joe, the Pirate: A True Story by Bill Harley is a fun loving story about the pirate "Dirty Joe." He sails the seas in search of dirty socks! The kids get the biggest kick out of the story and find it absolutely hysterical when Stinky Annie comes on the scene looking for dirty underpants. The story has a bit of a surprise ending when you learn that Stinky Annie is Dirty Joe's older sister!

I love the language in this book. I use it to talk about word choice, alliteration, tongue twisters, and surprise endings. It is a book that the kids love to hear again and again. They laugh every time they hear it and enjoy "working" with the book because it is so fun.

Do you celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with your class? What are your favorite Pirate books to share with your students?
*Update-After talking with a few of you I am going to hold my first linky party on Sept. 19th. It will be open for the weekend following Talk Like a Pirate Day. It will be a place to show what you did with your classes. I hope you will join me.

Only a few more days to enter my Back to School Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway