Book Publishing Throwback

When I was a kid, it felt like we spent one to two ENTIRE school days just completing a writing assignment.  We'd be required to illustrate and revise/edit the entire story independently and there were a slew of materials available to complete your final book.  This definitely was in the 90s when our teachers were not being held as "accountable" as educators of today.  There were wallpaper swatches, construction paper galore, Elmer's glue bottles, beads, scissors, yarn, hole punchers and plenty of markers!

Anyway, over the years I've always tried to incorporate a cute art activity into the publishing stage of our writing assignment, but I always felt like the kids were being served an injustice if they didn't have a chance to PUBLISH a book like I used to as a kid.  Therefore, I met the demands of our state SCIENCE test, Common-Core research writing and speaking & listening standards, as well as my creative passion through the creation of the Animal Research Project!

Awww, do you know how happy I felt to see those brass brads make an appearance in my 4th grade classroom unrelated to calculating elapsed time?  It was quite the JOYFUL experience!!  All of the student books turned out absolutely darling because they took extreme ownership over this project.  Sadly, I didn't take as many pictures of the student books as I would have liked as they were quite eager to take their graded projects home!  Sneak a peek at 'em below.

Red Wolves

 Types of Wolves

All About Caribbean Flamingos

 Diagram of a Caribbean Flamingo

Since then, my students have become quite the curious lil' investigators in their abilities to research various topics online.  So, I developed this kid-friendly bibliography sheet for my kiddos to record their print and online resources as they research.  Thought I'd share it with the bloggy-sphere since it seems to be a new expectation with the Common Core standards across MANY grade levels!  Just click the image to be taken to the promised freebie!
Finally, I'd love to do a FLASH giveaway for my newest item: Animal Research Project.  Simply be the first commenter to correctly identify the black animal that my 4th grade teacher was obsessed with when I was in elementary school.  Don't forget to leave me your email address so I know where to send your winnings!

Que VIVA Los Presidentes!

Make a Class Jeopardy Board!

With the focus of our lit groups being on asking deeper questions and generating summaries to improve comprehension, I decided to build a Jeopardy board for my lit group meetings to encourage better participation and buy-in for students to ask more implicit vs. explicit questions. 

Materials Needed:
-Velcro squares (used on the number cards ONLY - whatever you want to remove)
-electrical tape (black lines)
-cardstock of choice
-paper cutter
-hot glue or permanent glue dots
-display board
-punch out letters
-H.O.T. question stems
-silver sparkly star stickers to differentiate the Teacher ? cards (from Lakeshore)

JEOPARDY! Board Directions:
1.  Find a colored display board and/or paint a white one you already have
2.  Position the JEOPARDY letters as desired (I hot glued mine)
3.  Print out these files below:
 -First, use 2x4 shipping labels print out 2 copies of the number cards
 -Next, using 8.5x11 paper, print out 2 copies of the question labels
 -Then, print out the question stems & use a paper cutter to trim edges
4. Assemble the pieces of the board as shown in the picture
5. Laminate the number cards after labels are affixed to cardstock so they last
6. Layout the number cards in center of board, then make electrical tape strips
7. Attach Velcro so the rough square is stuck to the board & the softie is on the card
8. Hot glue or glue-dot remaining display board signs (I liked the hot glue better)
9. Create MINI Jeopardy cards if you want the ability to reward one member of your group with a special privilege at the end (i.e. next scorekeeper, a clip-up, etc.)
10. Store MINI Jeopardy cards in a plastic bag and clip with a clothespin to board!

**Update - 02/17/2014** It has been about 3 weeks since I first implemented this lit group discussion strategy and I must say it has worked wonders!  The students look forward to this time of day and remain actively engaged throughout the entire activity.  Also, their questioning skills have definitely improved as well.  I have many students who come to our lit group with several questions prepared hoping to ask a 500-level question!

January Currently

Good Morning and Happy 2014!

As I'm not one to really make resolutions (besides most are given up by the end of the month anyway) I thought I'd just set attainable goals.

This year, I'd like to set a goal of posting a Currently blog by the 3rd day of every month. So here goes the first one:

Truly, I am a homebody by heart so being able to cuddle up in my sweats with my pups and catch up on missed episodes of Braxton Family Values and discover a new TV show, American Horror Story and the addictive nature of Candy Crush is how I spent the past couple of days.

However, nearing the true weekend I can find myself transitioning from using my time for things I want to do to things I need to do.  The pressure to pop out some grading is becoming more pressing!  Oh well, I'll see what progress I'm able to make by the end of the day and report back tomorrow!

:)