Just sharing...

As an instructional specialist on my campus, I have the opportunity to write "creative" lesson plans for our teachers and students.  I don't do this for their classrooms; I do it for our Saturday Academy.  This is a special instructional time, where selected students get to learn skills they are struggling with in a "new" way.  I get to create games, and write unique plans.  Then, I have to gather the materials.  That's the hard part...I have to make foldables or game pieces for 7 classes of 10 students.  Time con-su-ming...and time is not what I have a lot of at the moment!!!

I wanted to share several foldables that our students have done.  Our 5th grade students are working on inferring (yikes!!) and our 4th grade students are working on revising and editing.  All are preparing for the first round of STAAR testing the first week in April.

Let's begin with a foldable and an anchor chart for FANBOYS.  These are the conjunctions students need to expand sentences.  They include For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So.

I did this activity with my small group first.  They looovvveeeddd it!! It's something they go back and tell their homeroom teachers!! Wow!

They have also worked on subject/verb agreement.  Here is a foldable we created:

Finally, here is the foldable we used for my 5th grade group to continue our work on inferring:

I truly believe that using creative ways to reach students, which includes creating fun foldables, reinforces learning and helps students gain ownership over what they need to know.  I love allowing students to use foldables to help them answer questions or create their own questions.

On a personal note, I am working on my Masters Degree in Teacher Leadership.  I am currently working on Student Motivation and Achievement.  Though I'm excellent at time management, I found myself, for the first time since I started in January, struggling to get motivated! HOW IRONIC! (Alanis Morrisette is playing in my head right now!)  However, I completed my assignment 5 hours before it was due.  So, at least I wasn't late. Hmph.

Here is a great quote from my the creator of my favorite cartoon characters, Calvin and Hobbes:


"You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet.  You have to be in the right mood.  What mood is that?  Last-minute panic"--Bill Watterson

My. Point. Exactly.

Always,

Just Gotta Share...

The  word "love" is over-used in the following post.  I did NOT use a thesaurus! Consider yourself warned! Ha Ha!

Ok...I have to admit...I am a staff development/workshop geek. Do they have a support group for that? Blasphemy, you say?  I know, I know...we all dread the development days at the beginning of the school year, especially if we've been in the same district for years.  I agree...things get really repetitive. But, I love the curriculum workshops.  Sorry.  I like getting a new scope and sequence; I like getting new ideas (that I sometimes forget the following day...but hey); and I absolutely love ordering books mentioned during a workshop from Amazon on my phone. Yes, I am indeed a geek. And since I'm blogging this year, I'm passing on some info to you!

As many of you know, my new position involves working with teachers and students in grades 3, 4, and 5.  So, for the first time ever, I went to a workshop to hear 3rd grade ideas. It was a two day event that dealt with bridging the gap some students show when they move from a non-testing grade to a testing grade. (In Texas, students take the state test for the first time in 3rd grade.)

Well...I loved this workshop primarily because we received two FREE professional books.  Yes. Too. Cool.  I love free anything or peppermints on the table! So imagine the JOY of getting an actual BOOK!!! Two of them!!!  My Geekdar was off the charts!  I just have to share the best one!

It is called Independent Reading:  Inside the Box by Lisa Donohue.  Here is a pic of the cover:

I love this book because it combines skills lessons with fiction and non-fiction ideas with higher level thinking with station ideas with the independent reading part of balanced literacy! Get. Out. Of. Town.  Awesomeness!!!!!  Here is just one picture of the many ideas shown in the book:

The really cool thing about this is that I can use the ideas to create my two favorite things...anchor charts and foldables!! (If there was an Olympic medal in those areas I would sooooo win  gold!)  Part of our "activity" during the workshop was to show other teachers our interpretation of different sections of the book.  I created examples of an anchor chart I might create based on visualization ideas from the book.  I created two.

Fiction

Non-fiction

In the first one, I love that students learn visualizing is not just a "picture" in their head...we use all five senses to understand characters and events! Great chart for shared reading! The second one encourages students to draw a picture of what is being studied and label it.  My sticky notes are ideas of different ways I could use this chart!  I would draw a diagram ahead of time and prompt students to help me label as we read!

Students can use these ideas to then respond to text during independent reading! I just love it!  This book can be ordered from www.qepbooks.com.  I don't know if it's available on any other site...this address is on a sticker on the back of the book.  I just know it's perfect for those looking for new ideas for anchor charts and text response.

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along! --Arthur C. Clarke

Always,

Passionista...

The last couple of days have been busy busy!!  We've been passionate about reviewing our reading skills within the context of our novel.  I love that several of my quarters made connections between vocabulary we have reviewed in Texas History and things that have happened within our text.  Fun! Fun! Fun!

We reviewed the vocabulary barter, diverse, discrimination, and Reconstruction.  In our flipbook shown below, quarters wrote the definition and drew a picture to represent their understanding.  One of my quarters drew a picture of a girl with arrows, holding a squirrel, and a man with bread for the term "barter".  It was a direct link to The Hunger Games.  I was thrilled, to say the least!!  And she wasn't the only one.  We also talked about the lack of diversity amongst the people of The Capitol as well as the discrimination that is evident against the Districts.  Fantastic!!

We also covered producers and consumers.  This was an easy connection, for me at least, because this is the first year that I have grown a vegetable garden.  I told my quarters all about growing vegetables and how much I enjoy it.  I told them about some of the problems I am having with my plants and a couple of funny stories about what has happened (crazy dog peeing on plants...EWWW...gross bugs...squirrels...).  You get the picture!!  I really believe that when we, as teachers, let our students know a little about our "real life", they feel more invested in us and in their learning.  We become real people who have successes and failures, just like them.

We also reviewed our great state!! One of many things that make Texas unique is that we are the only state bordered by four states, a country, and a large body of water that connects to the ocean.  I love having the quarters use colors to help them categorize things and items that are important.

I love our longitude/latitude foldables!!  I really think they were able to remember the "long" in longitude.  Here is what they looked like:

It's hard to see the parts written in pencil in these pictures!  Sorry about that! But our longitude foldable opened left/right.  Our latitude foldable opened top/bottom!  Pretty cool, hunh?

Finally, as part of our grammar/writing activities, we talked about antonyms.  While I disagree with our scope and sequence that has fourth graders learning this skill at the end of the year, I must say that my quarters caught on very quickly.  That tells me that they had a good foundation from third grade!  I must give my buddies a high five for that.  Fourth grade really should teach this skill earlier in the year.  It would greatly improve their writing because they would have an easier time thinking of good vocabulary instead of using the same words over and over.  Even though they may have learned it in third, a lesson to remind them might be prudent next year before state testing. 

They put this into their writing journals.  Ignore the paper...there is no educational reason I used it...it was extra paper that I've had for YEARS and I decided now was the time to use it!!  (We've all been there, right??)

My principal asked me what I was going to do this summer with my blog!  She stumped me because I really don't know!!  We had a good laugh about it and I told her "Oh, I'll think of something!" What?!?!  Since we won't be in school, I won't have ideas to teach "on the fly" and I won't have quarter examples to show you how my ideas work in the classroom!!   I have some things I plan to work on in preparation for next year, but definitely not enough to post about every day!!  I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers feel the same.  What do you plan to plan to post about during summer break?  I may just reflect on things, especially since, by then, I will have an idea about how my quarters did on the STAAR.  (Scary, scary thought, by the way...you have NO idea my fears about their results.)

My first year as a fourth grade ESL teacher has been very challenging!!  Last year was my first year in fourth grade, period, and I didn't teach ESL. I did not feel as worried about their scores as I do about this year's class!  While being a former primary (1st grade) teacher was definitely a great prep for ESL, I  did not expect the struggles my quarters would face.  Nothing is more heartbreaking than having a hard-working, committed, ideal student complete a test with a smile and I have to tell them that they didn't pass it.  This has happened on weekly assessments.  While I firmly believe the student I'm thinking of has a dyslexia issue, I don't think she is the only one.  AND she is not the only hard-worker that isn't always successful.  ::tear::

Off to stalk some Teacher Appreciation freebies at Teachers Pay Teachers!!  Adios, mis amigos!! (See...I learned something this year!)

I love this quote...and it fits the end of my post, I think...

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”--JK Rowling

You thought I was done with Harry Potter/JK Rowling quotes didn't you????? Well...SURPRISE!!!!

Always,

Having To Teach On The Fly...

So...today I actually had to live up to my blog subtitle!  Yes...one of my lessons went a teeny bit wrong!  I had grand ideas; I had a plan!  But ::bites nails::  I didn't actually practice it first!

C'mon...stop snickering!! We've all been there!

Here's the deal:  We need to catch up on our Texas history vocabulary.  I decided to do a foldable (I love foldables, by the way!).  Well, I had the quarters fold and cut their construction paper (oh...they're following me while I model on the ELMO).  I had them draw lines, etc., etc.  Then I realized...this is SO not what we should be doing!!

I had to think on the fly!! What to do...what to do???????  Actually, after much paper manipulation, this was our final product:

See?? Sometimes, teaching on the fly doesn't turn out too bad!! It makes no "foldable" sense but, hey, they learned and understood about the Spanish explorers, and vocabulary words foreign, expedition, colonization, and settlers.  Actually...it was pretty fun!  I felt like a gunslinger in a shoot out...so now I'm flipping my gun around (real fancy like), blowing on the barrel, and putting in the holster.

On another note, we reviewed (again) summary, plot, and main idea/details.  And, get this, I had ANOTHER on the fly moment!  We were reading a chapter from our novel, so I made another anchor chart of the the plot mountain.  Each night, students have to write a summary of what we read that day.  I've asked them to use Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.  But I wasn't getting the answers that I was looking for.  Many of them were giving me vague information or details/events.  So I had the bright idea of adding SWBST to my plot mountain. And all I heard was "OOOHHHHH...NOW I get it!!" WHAT?!?!?!  We've talked about this so many times!  And, ONE WEEK after the STAAR reading test, they GET IT??!?!?!?!?!?!  ::banging head on desk::  Why am I not surprised?? I can't help but laugh!

We took the plot mountain even further and added main idea above the mountain and details below the mountain.  Now they correlate main idea to summary and details to events!! YES!  At least they will know this going into 5th grade. 

I guarantee that I will use this kind of anchor chart from the beginning next year!

Well...I'm off to blog stalk!

“If you just go with the flow, no matter what weird things happen along the way, you always end up exactly where you belong.”--Tom Upton, Just Plain Weird

Always,

Getting Our Fun On...

I just wanted to follow up on the activities I am doing with my quarters to review skills for the STAAR Reading exam next week.  As I've noted in previous posts, I have strayed a little from the test-prep norm to hold student interest as the days to the "test" tick down.

Each day, we read a chapter from The Hunger Games.  I can honestly say, my quarters are totally engaged.  We are having awesome conversations (better than I ever expected) about the text.  A quarter even mentioned how the book tells us so much more than the movie!  Yay!!!

On Monday, we reviewed  character traits using the FAST paper found here  and here .  Quarters talked about Katniss Everdeen.  They wrote about her feelings, actions, sayings, and thoughts in the text so far.  I asked them several question stems and assigned them "thinking" questions for homework.  Their answers were in paragraph form and a few of them did really well.

On Tuesday, we reviewed summarization.  This time, in addition to our plot anchor chart (found here ), quarters used the "Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then" to write their summary of the what has been read so far.  Since they work in collaborative groups, I was able to notice who really "got" it and who needed a little more support.  Again, they were assigned questions for homework.  When I read the answers aloud this morning, they were REALLY good.  A lot of quarters thought about what was happening, how they felt, and what they could say about the story.

Today, we reviewed main idea and details.  This was FUN!  We read our chapter and quarters built a "table" to represent the main idea.  The legs were the details.  Now, this is not a unique idea.  I have seen it on a blog, or Pinterest, ...I'm not sure where!!! I thought it was wonderful!!  If you know where the idea came from, please let me know! 

My quarters were sooooo proud of their work!!  When we were done, we came back together to discuss/compare our tables to what we might actually see on the STAAR test.  We completed an anchor chart to remind us!

I hope that if they see a bubble map on the STAAR test, they will remember this chart and their tables and make the connection.  I think they just might!!!

On another note, we have worked on poetry and finishing up our portfolios for writing.  Our district uses Lucy Calkins (sp???) as a curriculum resource.  While I've found it difficult, throughout the year, to teach her way, I have tried.  I haven't been a big fan, unfortunately.  It's the one thing I feel I struggle through.  That being said, I have found her poetry unit VERY helpful.  As I work with it, my quarters have really began to embrace poetry, especially free verse, and some of them even do poems at home, on their own, without being assigned!!! WOW!! 

Here is an anchor chart we use to remind us that "looking with a poet's eyes" means using visual language!

I'm very excited to finish this week, make some "goodies" for them this weekend, play games and review with a passage or two on Monday.  I just know that I have enjoyed "teaching" this week!

Here is a quote that is spot on!!

"Teach me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."--Chinese Proverb

Yes!!

Always,

Back to School...

Yes!! I was able to go back to work today!  It was actually OK!  Some buds got a few good jokes in, of course. My team pal, V, was awesome!  She helped take my yucky brown poster paper that covered things for STAAR and she took the kids to lunch and brought them back so I wouldn't have to make the trip down!  My dyslexia pal helped with coffee!  I'm so lucky...

The kids were awfully wild today.  I get it...testing was done and it took a lot of their concentration!  But geez, Louise...I had to assign homework just to get them back in the learning mode.

We had a little fun today.  We talked about persuasive texts (not writing!!) and prepared our new lapbooks for our lesson tomorrow.  I love lapbooks!  They seem to be all the rage here in blog-land!  So, I decided to try it with my students. I couldn't afford to use a file folder for each student--it's the end of the year and I don't have that many left!  But...I do have a bunch of 11x20 manilla construction paper packets.  We used those!! They worked very well, I think!!

Instead of printing out material for students to glue into their lapbooks, we made foldables that we are going to complete tomorrow.  We are going to cut the tabs on the red foldable and fill out all of the information!  The blue and green foldables open up to reveal 8 sections!!! Awesomeness!!!  My kids are foldable experts, so they were pretty quick at getting these things together!

Tomorrow I will post the open foldables!  I'm really excited and my kids love the lapbook idea as well!

As we talked about persuasive texts today, I used the example of the abused animals commercial and how it appeals to your emotions.  I told the kids that using emotion helps the charity collect money or donations.  So, that leads me to this quote...

I have never met anyone who wanted to save the world without my financial support.  ~Robert Brault

Always,

Shutting Down the Weekend...

Well, the weekend is over!  I had a great one!  However, this entry has taken me much longer to get out.  I burned my hand severely while cooking.  The skin on my pinky finger is peeling off!  I can hear the kids now...EWWWWWW..."Mrs. M, that reminds me of this movie..." (A totally gross, inappropriate one, I'm sure!).  It took me two hours to do my lesson plans!! II have to type 20 words, put ice bag on hand, type 20 words, put ice on hand... You get the idea.  But Spring Break is only a week away, the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel"! Yay!

Fortunately, I had already completed my materials for tomorrow.  We will review characterization and I have made a poster for character traits.  My original idea was to laminate the poster and use Vis-A-Vis to write on it when we review.  However, I forgot our laminating machine at school is messed up! So the students will have to create their own copy of my poster.

Here is the poster we will use:

It is not your vision...this is definitely out of focus!

Here is how I will have the students make their own copies.  We use this format for our 6 Step Vocabulary in Texas History.  I learned this from a friend in another school, and she learned it from someone else, and so on, and so on, ...  Students begin with a sheet of notebook paper:

Fold the paper in half (like a hamburger).

Fold it in half again!

Fold up one corner.  Make sure it is on the folded side!

Open the paper up.

Have students trace the folds.  Fill in the character name and write away!

I had such trouble uploading these pics!! So I apologize if you saw bits and pieces!!  I felt like the lady in the old Mervyn's commercials..."Open, open, open..." except I was saying, "Upload, upload, upload!"  (Are there any Mervyn's anymore???) And my burning hand kept forcing me to hit enter, which, in turn, uploaded before I was ready!  Sorry!

Please be sure to check out my new pages for books and documents!! You will find them at the top of my page!

I'll end this post with a great quote my sweet cousin Enid had my mother forward to me.  It may just become my email tagline...

"You can teach children to dream of a bright new future or you can teach them to build it with their own two hands."--Unknown

As teachers, we should teach them to dream AND build!!

Always,
Tammy

P.S.  You can follow Confessions of a 4th Grade Teacher on Facebook!  Just scroll to the bottom of this page!  (It wouldn't fit on the sidebar!)

Thinking about Tuesday...

Today was Math Benchmark day.  All LA teachers know what that means...monitoring without a desire to even glance at a test!!! While they are my students and I want them to do well, it's one test that I truly know nothing about!  Don't misunderstand...I know how to teach math ...I mean, I can add and subtract.  Heck, I can even multiply and divide! But I am not familiar with the 4th grade curriculum.  And, quite honestly, I wouldn't be very good at teaching it!  One of my students asked me a question during the test.  I looked at her and said, "I cannot help you.  Just do the best you can."  And I meant it...because, even if I was allowed to help, I would not have had a clue how!!!

After the test, I had an opportunity to pull a few students out into the hallway to review the assessment they took on Friday.  The students were actually very open with me and told me what they found difficult.  Many of them felt rushed and did feel that a small break would help.  One student told me that he tries so hard but starts worrying about failing.  (Can anyone say another test anxiety prospect??)  Another told me that he feels in a hurry.  He also told me that he LIKES doing the strategies..."They help me a lot." Yay!!  I noticed that having a conversation with my students instead of giving a lecture just telling them what I think was extremely productive!

So I decided to make a recording page to keep notes on my students.  I wish I would have done this from the beginning.  After each failed reading or writing assessment, I will conference with individual students.  I will ask them what they found difficult and what they think would help.  I will give my suggestions.  I will then record whether or not there was improvement on the next assessment.  Not only can I use this to jog my memory, it would also help with intervention and RTI documentation.

Here is my recording document.

On a separate note, I was tricked asked to present at our district staff development on February 17.  I presented two workshops for elementary teachers on Social Studies foldables.  I really enjoyed it!  Many of the teachers from my campus came to my workshop.  Today, one of my teammates and a 3rd grade teacher told me that they have used foldables since then! Yay!  And one of my former first grade teammates was able to use a flip book with her little ones.  She said it went well!  She used it for math. Thanks for texting me your pictures of your students using foldables, Patty!

First grade foldable for shapes

I was so happy that teachers at my campus were able to use the ideas across the curriculum!  Thanks, ladies, for being so open-minded!


Well, I'm off to get things together for my writing lesson tomorrow!  I'm so excited to try something new.  I will try to take pictures of Hip-Hop Harriet, Gabby Grandma, and Perfect Patsy!  I will share what I did, my dialogue,  and how my students embraced my "act" to improve their writing tomorrow.  But here's a preview of Hip-Hop Harriet's "bling"!

Hahahahaha!!

I'm such a dork!!!! I thought I had glitter, but all I had were foam boards and glitter stickers.  Oh well!!!

Today I had to make a choice between two things.  All I could think of is a quote from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (Oh yes, I went there!!!!! Hahaha!!)

"Some day, we all have to make the choice between what is right and what is easy."--Albus Dumbledore

I think that I chose the right road, instead of the easy one.  And, of that, I am the most proud!

Always,
Tammy

Monday, Monday ... (la la lalala)

I stepped into the classroom this morning with high hopes and a head full of ideas!  It was actually a great day in as far as what I got accomplished with my kiddos!  Today we reviewed inferencing (again).  Before we began, I re-introduced non-fiction text features.  I created a stolen borrowed anchor chart and adjusted it to meet the needs of my students.

Not the neatest charts, but we did them together and helped me complete my lesson!

We then used "Paths to Discovery", a magazine type text from our adopted basal.  The students became absorbed in the text, so finding and identifying these features was a lot of fun.  This text is unique in that it has a non-fiction and fiction piece for each topic.  There are poems and drama pieces.  Really cool!

Excuse the light...my iPhone skills aren't the best!

I did have to pull in my own non-fiction texts and our Texas History book to illustrate a couple of features, but it was still a great lesson!

It was also a great segue into writing.  Our portfolio project this 6 weeks is research.  Now, with the writing STAAR right around the corner, it's hard to get off the "prompt" writing and do something different.  But it's also a fantastic way to continue expository writing and connect the text to writing.    Ooohhhhh...now I get the reading/writing connection! LOL! 

Students collected research last week in the tech lab, so they are using what they selected to complete a foldable.  The foldable will be their "sloppy copy", or planning page.

Students are writing about a person, animal, or place of their choice.  These were their foldable guidelines, based on their choice.

Here's what their product looks like.

I can't wait to take this foldable to the next level.  They are going to create their own magazines!  More details later.

We received a new student today...yes, the day before a Math benchmark.  Go figure.  She is also a NES (Non-English Speaker), so we have our work cut out for us.  Right. Before. STAAR.  Ugh!  I can compare it to teaching first grade AND fourth grade.  At the same time.

Well, I hope my kids give the Math benchmark their all.  Confidence is the key. 

Nothing is impossible.  Even the word itself says, "I'm possible." --Audrey Hepburn

Always,
Tammy