Sharing Sunday - March 20

Ahh, April. The beautiful flowers in bloom, birds singing, shorts weather, and sun is back.

Working in April can be a bit of a push. The kids really (and I do mean REALLY) want to be outside instead of cramming their heads full of Westward Expansion. So close to the ending yet so far away. Plus there's testing to get through this month.

If that is already about to make you crazy then I've got an idea to help you through your struggles.

The last read aloud I like to share with my students is Dan Gutman's The Homework Machine. It's a fun read. The Homework Machine is a unique book because it is written in 'perspective' from varying characters. The tale of four children who band together to keep a secret of a machine that does their homework. It is rife with turmoil as things get out of hand. They end up giving their statements in the Grand Canyon Police Office.
My students always get a kick out of it and want to build their own machines.

Click on the Image below to see the links provided.

Here is a little freebie of a novel study I put together to  help you out.

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During our Social Studies lessons in April we always dig into the fun that was the Oregon Trail. Last summer I  put together a packet that you could use to really immerse them into understanding what it was like during that time.

One of my favorite parts of that packet is the Choose Your Own Adventure tale that takes the kids on a journey where they are the main character. Along the way they have to make critical choices that could cause some of their travel companions to lose their life!

I also used a resource my grade level put together as a daily writing exercise that results in each student having a travel journal. I start off giving them some brown construction paper for 'leather' cover and white computer paper to put inside. Each day we do something different to our journal to make them more authentic. We might step on it, throw some water on it, tear it, or even crumple it a bit to make it look like it's gone through the very same trials and tribulations as those on the Oregon Trail.

Click on the Image below to see the links that will take you to that packet.

Head back to the Primary Peach for MORE April fun and freebies.

Sharing Sunday January 31, 2016

Thought I'd help you out with a few ideas to fill in your February. If you're school is like mine we have parent conferences this month. Eeek!  So I could use all the help I can get.

My school is also doing something a bit unique in 2016. In hopes of increasing our Social Studies and Science scores for the upcoming GMAS testing, we are dedicating our entire Friday schedules to those subjects. So my grade level got together and designed a  45 min content lesson for both subjects, and a 45 minute technology lesson for social studies, and a 45 minute science experiment. That way we only had to plan for one lesson. Great collabo!

I thought I would share my Economics idea with y'all this month. I am using this as a great way to review material we haven't discussed since the beginning of the year since most of the Fourth Grade standards revolve around those earlier topics. I created an interactive ppt with four slides for the students to manipulate and reveal answers as they go. There is a worksheet involved as well for them to write down their thoughts for each slide.

You can click on this image to be able to click on all of the links:

 

Here's the worksheet that goes with the Economics Understanding slideshow.

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Who can forget Valentine's Day? Here's some more fun for y'all

Just click on the image to see all the links

Head back to the Primary Peach for MORE February fun and freebies.

Sharing Sunday

Do you realize that I've been in school a total of 8 weeks already? EIGHT! That's two whole months of back to school. This also means there's only one more before the end of the first marking period. Whoa! So fast. It often feels like time is slogging through the quicksand as you go day to day. Before you know it though, you look up and the first marking period is over.

Life is definitely in fast forward and it's hard to find time to just breathe. The fine folks over at Primary Peach have come up with a solution to the Merry-Go-Round this month. I am linking up with their Sharing Sunday to help you plan out the month ahead. Give you a little time to do those things you love - eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, read a book.

I've got some fun ideas for your ELA and Math blocks below.

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*Click on the image below to get to the file where you can click each link.

 One of my favorite books to read to the class in Frindle from Andrew Clements. It shows them that there are possibilities to change the world if they have a little ingenuity. I am so sad that third grade taught it last year and I can't use it with my students this year since they know all the answers. Gah! Maybe you can squeeze some fun out of this one!

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*Scroll down to the second file to see the links for this page

 

We are currently knee-deep in our intro to multiplication. But we aren't to teach the basic algorithm. School rules. Instead, we look at the relationship between addition and look at strategies to solve these problems. Area model, commutative properties, and arrays are just some of the methods we use. Good thing I've got my Factors, Multiples, Arrays Oh MY! packet ready to go in my TpT store.

Hope these help you out this month as the holidays start approaching. Maybe  you'll have time to carve a pumpkin, or start that early Christmas shopping. Who knows!

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