Meet the Fairy Scientist

Every year, we begin our year in science by chatting about scientist stereotypes. Students illustrate a picture of the "scientist" they have envisioned in their head and we have great conversations about how we ALL are scientists.. we don't have to look like a mad man to be a scientist! Every year, I have structured the activity differently and each year yields different conversation. One year, I even dressed up like a mad scientist - now that was FUN! Read about it here.

Like year's past, students first illustrated a picture independently in their science notebook of the scientist they were imagining in their head. Then, we chatted about similarities in all of the pictures and common themes and characteriristics we noticed. 

For the most part, the illustrations looked something like this....

 

Then, I brought everyone to the carpet and showed them this video:

Lydia the Fairy Scientist

At the conclusion of the video I posed the following question to the class, "Why would I show you this video?"

The conversation was amazing! Students were breaking down stereotypes of scientists and talking about how scientists can be anyone and have a passion for ANYTHING. 

To wrap up the lesson, we wrote in our notebooks, "A scientist is someone who..." Then small groups filled in various characteristics based on our conversation. 

Fantastic way to kick off the year!

Breaking in our Reading Spirals - Genre Overview

Once school started, my mailbox seemed to fill up with Book Orders rather quickly. Now, I'll be the first to admit I love browsing the new selections from Scholastic, but do I need 2 bundles of the same book order... twice in one week? No... No I do not. 

Bouncing off an idea from colleagues and Pinterest, I decided to use those Book Orders to chat about genres. To start the school year, I felt it was important to have an overview of some "big" genres they will encounter as readers. 

We discussed the general characteristics of about six genres and created a chart in our spirals. Then, students searched through the Book Orders to find examples of each genre. 

While students were working, questions and conversations were centered around the books they were previewing in the Book Order. We even started talking about OTHER genres I hadn't intended on bringing up - talk about a teachable moment! For example, I was able to introduce the Dystopian genre for my class. Pretty awesome!

How do you teach genres to your students? Share with me!

Seeking Input for our Morning Procedure

There are two procedures that have caused me the most grief over the past five years (see! I have so much to learn) and those are: morning and afternoon procedures.  This year, I decided to shake things up a bit and make a change - for the better! Instead of creating a procedure for the kids to memorize and follow... we established a procedure as a class. Which, I must add, coincidentally was exactly what I wanted them to do anyway! 

Using another idea, and quality tool, presented in our district-wide kick off meetings, I asked students the following questions:

What is YOUR job in the mornings? Specifically from 7:50-8:12 AM...

What is MY (the teacher) job in the morning?

What is our job as a classroom in the morning?

Each student was given the opportunity to answer the questions on their own and stick their post-it note on the front board. 

As a class, we read through and grouped similar responses under the "Your Job, My Job, Our Job" categories. Some of the "Your Job" responses were: filling out planners, sharpening pencils, unpacking backpacks, using the restroom, etc. As for "My Job", students wanted to be greeted, wanted me to prepare for the school day, drink my coffee (hah!), give hugs, and talk to them. For "Our Job" students felt it was important to get prepared for the school day. 

Umm.. NAILED IT. 

We drafted our morning procedure and hung it proudly on the whiteboard for all to see. It would have been easier to iron out this procedure for me to write this on my own, but seeking input from my students was far more powerful. When students came in Friday morning, the morning ran like clockwork. It was ah-maze-ing. 

Now... let's hope they remember over the weekend! If not, we can always practice the procedure they created. :)

What tips do you have for establishing classroom procedures?

Creating a Classroom Mission Statement

Like most teachers, our first order of business in the classroom is to establish a solid foundation for the rest of the school year. This includes establishing a classroom community, getting to know one another, ironing out the procedures and routines of our room, figuring out our daily schedule... and learning on the fly. Let's just say, we had several "teachable moments" today on the second day of 5th grade. 

My district kicked off back to school meetings by introducing six different quality tools we could implement in our classrooms in the following days. Of course, I left our meetings and started rewriting my lesson plans to start adding in some of the tools introduced. If you're interested in quality tools (i.e. plus/deltas, consensograms, affinity diagrams, etc.) click on the link here.  

In previous years (four to be exact), I've used the story "The Kingdom With No Rules or Laws" to begin our conversation on classroom norms. After reading the story, students would suggest classroom norms and we would compile all of the results into a positive list, sign the document, and post it for all to see. 

This year, in place of "The Kingdom..." story, we created a classroom mission statement. I began the conversation by showing students our SOTO Mission Statement - which was a conversation in itself. I'm certain none of my students were aware this "phrase" existed. 

Disclaimer: This is how I chose to do this activity in my classroom, by no means am I saying this is the absolute way it has to happen. :)

Yes! We can!

 Next, I explained to the class how we could create a classroom mission statement to simply state who we are and our purpose for the year.  After handing out post-its to five different tables, I posed the following questions:

Who are we?

What will you need to do in order to be successful this year?

What can I, the teacher, do to help you be successful this year?

What should the students do in order for things to run smoothly?

How are we going to accomplish these tasks?

After about five minutes, groups shared out their responses from the post-it notes. As students were talking, I help form their thoughts into a cohesive paragraph. After a few minutes of collaborating, our classroom mission statement had been created!

Perhaps I'm biased, but my favorite part of the statement is where they asked for me to entertain them. Oh, my students! Ask and you shall receive. 

To polish things off, each student took turns signing our mission statement and vowed to hold one another accountable to our classroom expectations. 

It's going to be a great year!

Thinking Like Scientists

 If you've followed my blog for a few years, you may remember my post "Power of the Pod" where I shared an idea about naming your tables or pods after material you wish for students to remember. Read more on that blog here.  

To kick off the year, I decided to create new table names for each of my groups. This year, we're starting our year with units of measurement. In 5th grade, we hit the metric system in science and math and this is an area where my kids struggle. They can remember the various tools we use in science (balance scales, thermometers, meter sticks, etc.), but struggle to remember the unit they are measured with. I'm hoping the repetition of the terms will help students remember the units. 

If you wish to download a copy of the posters to hang in your classroom, click here! You can access the docs via Google Drive. If you do use these posters in your classroom, I would love to see photographs! Please email me a picture and I'll post them on my blog as well. 

SPOTLIGHT Bulletin Board Idea

During my first year of teaching, and Fellows year, I conducted an action research project on using nonfiction text during read alouds and how it affected students reading nonfiction on their own. During that year, with guidance from my mentor, we created a hanging bulletin board where I would "Spotlight" the nonfiction text we were reading for the week. It was a great resource and reminder for students of the books we had read and were available to them as readers. 

Fast forward to my current 5th grade classroom. I am fortunate to have a HUUUGE wall in the back of my room. The past few years, I've bounced back and forth between what to put on that wall and this year I decided to create another spotlight!

Because I teach three sections of science, the bulk of my material posted on the wall revolves around our science content. If you're like me, I am constantly swapping out posters and materials depending on what we are studying. One of our first "spotlights" will be on the scientific method, once we move onto weather, I will change out the posters and objectives for our next unit. 

What bulletin boards do you have around your room spotlight content areas? Share your ideas with me!

Since You've Been Gone

This year, I'm switching up my system for absent students. In previous years, I've had a file folder waiting for students when they return with worksheets and notes from the school day. This process really didn't work for my class, students, or organization system. In an attempt to help students become more self-motivated and responsible, I introduce to you....

Kelly Clarkson. 

First, I can't help but grin like a goober when I look at this hanging file. Who wouldn't want to look at Kelly Clarkson rocking out when searching for their absent work?

Want a copy? Click here to download the file from Google Drive!

Here's my game plan: 

• Hanging files will be labeled with the five days of the week. My Postal Clerk will add an extra copy in the absent file for students who are absent (even if we have perfect attendance, I will have an one extra copy just in case!) Say two or three students are absent? Then, my Postal Clerk will add that many copies to the basket. 
• When the child returns to school from being out, they will ask me what they missed and I will hop on my desk and start singing, "SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GOONNNEEEEE" Just kidding. 
• When the child returns to school from being out, I will remind them to check with Kelly (hehe) and get their work from the day they missed. 

What tricks do you have to manage absent work with multiple classes? Share with me!

Updated Post - The Job Market is Officially Open!

To date, the most popular post on my blog is from July 2012 where I shared with you fine folks about my classroom job system. You can read about it right ---> here. Over the past few years, I've received so many emails from teachers all over the world (seriously!!) asking to share my job application document. Nothing is more exciting than swapping emails with a teacher around the globe at 7:00 AM!

This year, I've updated my job application and you can access it through Google Docs ---> here. (click the blue link!) You'll only notice a few changes, but I've tweaked a few of the jobs to fit the needs of my classroom and I've added a "You're Hired" portion at the bottom. I needed something for my students to reference if they forgot/needed reminders on their job responsibilities. Once we have our "job training", I'll have my students stick their responsibilities slip in their binders for safe keeping. 

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In Room 52, the following jobs have been posted for hire:

Accountant: The accountant’s daily responsibility is to adjust the attendance cards to a horizontal setting at the end of the day.

Librarian: The Librarian checks the room for stray books, straightens the fiction and nonfiction shelves, and checks to make sure all books are in ABC order.

Computer Technician: The computer tech is responsible for turning on the laptops and logging them into the eMINTS network. At the conclusion of the day, the tech turns off the laptops. In addition, the Computer Tech is responsible for helping their peers with tech issues. The Computer Tech will help their peers troubleshoot and solve tech problems before consulting the teacher.

Assignment Sorter: Puts all collected assignments in student number order, paper clips together, and places them on Ms. Furnell’s desk. The assignment sorter marks off who brought their homework from a list and hands it into the teacher.

Postal Clerk: Delivers graded work and other items to student mailboxes daily.

Custodian: The Custodian is responsible for checking the floors and tabletops (desks and shared work areas) at the conclusion of the day for trash. The custodian uses the lint roller on the floor to get all scraps.

Recycling Chief: The Recycling Chief takes the blue recycling bin to the larger bins daily.

Board Cleaner: The Board Cleaner is in charge of wiping down the white board at the end of the day. Remember to check with Ms. Furnell on what to erase and what to keep!

Scheduler: The scheduler changes the calendar at the end of each day to reflect tomorrow’s events and date.

Caboose: The Caboose stands in the back of our short, straight, and silent line. Once leaving the room, the Caboose turns off the light and changes the sign to reflect where the class is located in the Upper Elementary.

Pencil Sharpener:  The Sharpener makes sure there are enough sharpened pencil in the “sharp” bucket. Reminds peers to return any borrowed pencils and replaces dull pencils.

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The first page of the document is a simple overview of the jobs available, the second page is the actual application, and the final pages are the detailed responsibilities of each job. Again, these are based on what works in my classroom but it may be helpful for you with planning!

Happy Wednesday!

Magnets for Families - Meet the Teacher Night Takeaway

As a little takeaway for parents at Meet the Teacher night last year, I gave each family a magnet with my contact information listed on it. I used a template (which you can download here) and I added in my room number, extension, email, and website.

 I'm having trouble locating the original blog it came from - but once I do, I'll update the link! 

This year, I reached out to an oh-so-extremely talented friend and asked her to recreate a new image for me. My request was to have an image (similar to the magnet from last year) with all of my contact information be made into a GIF file for my weebly site. 

She responded with, "umm sure best friend!" It went something like this:

Then I replied with great excitement...

Source

Because it has ALL of my contact information listed on it, you'll just have to use your imagination! :) 

Then, I asked for yet another favor of my oh-so-extremely talented friend and asked her to create a JPEG of that same image so I could create a magnet for my families this year. 

Of course, she responded with great enthusiasm. It went something like this, "JPEG for YOU, YOU, and YOUUU!"

Source

I printed the images on card stock, laminated each one, stuck a magnet on the back, and...

viola! 

Now families can stick my contact information next to their favorite Michael Scott magnet on their fridge, too. :)

Share with me teachers, what do you have planned for Meet the Teacher night? 

A Welcoming 'Treat' For My Students

In 17 days, I'll begin my 5th year of teaching! 

Here's to year 5!

The past few years, I've made it a habit to send a welcome postcard to my incoming fifth graders. I've received great feedback from parents and students in the past, so I see no reason not to continue this great tradition! 

Thanks to the greeting card site, Treat, my welcome postcards received a much deserved facelift! Using a template for a teacher appreciation card, I used Treat's customizing options and tailored it to my needs. Now, my students have a pretty schnazzy card headed their way through the U.S. Postal Service! 

Treat allows you to customize personalized greeting cards for any occasion. I kind of went a little wild on the site and made one for every wedding and birthday for the rest of the year. Expect posts about those... later. :)

On the inside, I typed a little note welcoming my new crew and important dates for families to jot down on their calendars. Most importantly, I invited families to our Meet the Teacher night before school begins. 

There ya have it, folks! One of many back to school preparations I can check off the list. 

17 more days!!