iPads to record weathering erosion and deposition

We used our iPads this week to record weathering, erosion, and deposition. The kids had a blast putting together their projects an printing the end results to post in their Science Journals.






What was very interesting was having the kiddos go back and discover some of their data was incorrect. They were able to use online resources to research some more and then return to the battle field for some better data.

Here is one sample....

-Mrs. Cardiel. :)

ELA Ticket

I'm sorry I took forever to get this posted. I've been trying to figure out how to upload this document.
This is how I handle part of my daily 3. My students have been given a ticket on Monday. Throughout the week, they are pacing themselves to get certain tasks completed. I've told them they must complete one assignment at least in each section. As they finish the #ed selections, they turn them into the finished work box in number order and they must check their names off on the list. Then, I know who has incomplete assigments and who owes me study hall. :)
For students who cannot pace themselves, I x out the days I want the tasks completed. I hope you can use this. :)


ELA Ticket

Guided Reading and Math

I thought that this week I would devote my posts to guided reading and guided math groups. Because so much of what I do is individualized to student need, I could share a few ideas.

The first is how I organize myself for the week. I use these tubs which I purchased at Target last year. One side is for math and the other ela. I have the small books in here as well as re folder with their weekly ela packets. They are all different and come with. Weekly menu. I will share those this week.

The other side holds my small group work and independent group work. This is also a great place to hold anecdotal records, supplies, and games (many which I get from fcrr.org for ela games).




I was in the middle of planning and left out my math stuff forgive me.

In order for students and I to keep track of groups, I place their student number (which they are alphabetically assigned on day 1) on a chart.





If I have test corrections or work that I want to review with my kids, I put it in the file so they do not get misplaced. Then I can pull it out in small group.



Tomorrow I will show you my daily 5/ ela ticket and idea for turning in daily work.

Happy Sunday!

-Mrs. Cardiel. :)

Differentiating and grouping

We are very big on differentiating in the classroom. One way to group my kids either homogeneously or heterogeneously is by using stickers and numbers. The happy face stickers are homogeneously grouped. I have four different stickers around the room. They are placed on their name tags.



Another way to group is by colors and numbers. We also use Power Teaching, so when students are asked to teach each other what they just learned, I may say 1s turn to a 2 or odds find an even. I can also ask for all my ones to group together or all my greens to group together. This is just a way of getting them out of their desks and learning to work with other students they may not generally flock to.



-Mrs. Cardiel. :)

Sentence lifting

I've taken an idea from pinterest and brought it to life. We are working on sentence lifting - aka: adding details to a boring sentence to make it spicy! Here is a sample:




Students started with a bland sentence and added detail to the who what when where why and maybe how (if it applied).

I love this activity. As an extension, they made a sentence doe their friends to expand. ;)

-Mrs. Cardiel. :)

What a long break!

Okay, my apologies!!
I haven't posted in nearly a month! Needless to say, things have been busy at work. I feel like the first part of the year was filled with beginning of the year assessments and getting kiddos in tune with routines.

I'm working on putting together some posts from my classroom routines in regards to Daily Five and Writing.

I hope you are all having a wonderful year thus far!

Rounding

Here are two cards I'm putting on our vocabulary board for rounding. I decided to put up the steps we discuss so they can refer to them during independent work time.







-Priscilla :)

Week one down!

I finished my first week back at school - yay! My boys are both attending my school, and I LOVE IT! It is so crazy to see my little guy walking in line with his hands behind his back. His older brother loves telling him how to do things. He was there last year, so he THINKS he knows it all. ha ha....

Friday night was Midnight Madness. Our school was open until midnight so we could all work hard and get things done. It was fun, I have to say - filled with door prizes and pot luck dinner and desserts. My banana pudding was a hit! ;)

I worked on my progress monitoring binder. I will post a few of those documents here in case anyone wants them. I've also got student information sheets that I'm sending home for meet the teacher tomorrow. I'm so glad we don't start until Tuesday. There's just something about having that first Monday off! ;)

I hope all of you are enjoying your time back!!! :)

Last day of summer

Today I made my library sign out of scrapbook paper and butcher paper :)







Our writing scores are on a 1-4 scale, so I made this sign located by the editing pencil.






Along with my editing marks







I only put in about an hour at school though. It was nap time. I couldn't spend a moment away from my lil one today. It's his 3rd bday, so I took him and his brother to safari champ to play with friends. It was a nice end to our summer vacation.

-Priscilla :)

Tweet Tweet

My bb for student work outside our room. I got this great idea from Leslie Ann at Life in First Grade!!! I love all of her ideas. Check out her post about it here
.
I love it. I made all of these with scrapbook paper while watching Grey's :D You can tell I still need to add their lil legs. lol




And my door (in progress). I did all of this with the hall lights down and no ac. I went up after hours. You'll have to forgive the progress and blurry pictures. ;)





Here's how they started.




I also put up my rewards for earning tickets. Thank you, Judy!!!




I also made my editing marks poster and placed it next to my editing pencil. I'm so excited about all of the new anchor charts I'm finding. I'm having way to much fun on pinterest!!!

I think my birds will be great accents to my black and white border and color a scheme. ;)

I'll be taking off tomorrow. It's my last day of summer and just so happens to be my lil one's bday!

Have a great day!!!

-Priscilla :)

Just a few minutes, I promise...

I seem to tell myself that a lot this week. I was in trainings this week so during lunch I'd run around the corner to school and get a little done here and a little done there. I did break my promise. I was never really only a few minutes. Lol. Go figure.

I did accomplish my math center storage boxes by objective.



Bad pic but... I also out up my spelling chart. We start week 2.



A lil decor ;)





The beginnings of my cafe menu




Up close



And sine storage along the way




All this while my car got nice and toasty...with a shade and parked in shade, might I add! Bad pic but it was dropping quick. It actually said 108 when I got in the car.



Tonight I'm working on my planning binder complete with standards and ideas from trainings. :)




I cut apart this $1 planner from target and put it in. I'll have more on what's inside soon. I'm also working on splitting this into two binders. The other will be for grades and progress monitoring. This will just have plans, standards, and ideas from summer and TAP trainings.




-Priscilla :)

Curriculum

As a fourth grade teacher in Texas, Writing is a MAJOR subject area. Not only do we administer a Reading and Math standardized test, we also administer Writing. I love writing, though. I must, right - journals, blogs, lists...they surround my every move!

Yesterday, I went to a great Writing training. We will be implementing some material from Ralph Fletcher. I'm very excited. Last year was my first year in Fourth Grade. This year, I'm ready to get into the nitty gritty of it all. I'll be posting a lot of writing stuff throughout the year, I'm sure.

Last night, I started my binder with all of our standards, my grade book, lesson plans, etc. I need to keep it all in one place. We've also decorated composition notebooks for meetings. They are super cute! I'll have to post pictures soon.

Yesterday, I also organized all of my Math stations according to objectives. I put them in the tall plastic Rubbermaid boxes with the blue lids. I also decided to organize my library by interest, but I also put the levels on the books for the kids. I'll be going into Renaissance Place to add the stickers with the AR levels on them as well. So much to do...so little time!

I hope you are getting a lot accomplished before the start of school! Good luck!

Getting a lil more finished!

I spent more time up at school this weekend. Here is what I accomplished...


Put up my curtains. I made them from material I got at ikea. :)


Finished my 6 traits board with objs.


My cafe storage boxes with games. Many are from fcrr.org



My objectives


Daily five I charts


And a close up of my pencil



-Priscilla :)

Classroom Set Up

Well, I'm getting closer, however it always seems like the light is at the end of a very LONG tunnel ;)

Here are some updates pics.
Here is my new border. My lil man, Max, picked it out.






My calendar






My small groups bb. You can see my file organizer for small group plans, my pensieve, and my progress monitoring binders.






Here's my wreck of a guided reading corner. I'm using the rubbermaid boxes to file games. Each will hold one of the following: comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary






These are my math station boxes purchased at wal-mart






I use this must do/can do chart to let students know where to go. Then they choose a free center when they complete their must do. I organized the clips in small buckets.







My editing pencil






My behavior clip system






My filing tote for grading papers






My promethean board (yay!!!)






Organizing supplies







-Priscilla :)

Well, I finally got into my room this week (without being kicked out). I moved rooms again, so I'm sorting through what I want, what I can toss or donate and what I don't know what to do with. It's a disaster to say the least. My big project is the library. I've decided to sort by baskets by interest but have their levels on them for the kids. Here is what I have so far.



Once I have them leveled and sorted, I'll work on labels. I've already discovered I have some miscellaneous books which will need a home. I need to find out where they belong.
Here is the rest of the room so far.

My small group table and white board. The cafe board will go in these cabinets.


My teacher desk/student working area. The kids always love sitting at my desk during daily five or stations time. I will use the chalkboard as another vocabulary bag n tag board. Most likely math.



This will more than likely be my Science bag n tag vocabulary board.


I hope I have more progress by week's end!

-Priscilla :)

Blog Press App

I don't know about you, but during the school year, I'm constantly on the run. It's hard for me to keep up with my blogs. Fortunately, I found a wonderful app. It's only $2.99. If you don't have one yet, I would encourage you to get one. I use Blogpress.

I actually find it easier to organize pictures and upload them. This is one time saver for me indefinitely!