I Can Board... Pinterest inspired Post 2

Hey guys! This is the second post of my pinterest inspired classroom posts! I hope you enjoy!  Last year I created an I Can Board that I really liked. However over the summer we found out that we would no longer be departmentalizing and so I needed to reconfigure some of my boards. Here is the link to last years board. Click Here!

This is the new board I went with. I didn't change much except now I have 4 picture frames instead of 2, I changed the paper in the picture frame, and I gave the picture the illusion that they were being hung by the string. (The string is really just decoration, it was hung using command strips.)

The red background is fabric from Hobby Lobby. The teal and brown board I got from a local teacher supply store. The picture frames are from the Dollar Tree. The I Can Banner was adapted from a School Girl Style Banner that I edited.

I was really pleased with my results! Do you have an I Can board in your room? I'd love for you to leave pictures in the comments!

Idea for Pulling Sticks

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you something new I am going to try this year. In years past, I have used popsicle sticks to randomly call on students to answer questions. I use them a lot when I am doing review, specifically in Science and Social Studies. I love pulling sticks because the students never know who I'm going to call on, which causes them to pay closer attention. The only downfall I have is that I don't want to continually pull the same stick and have the same student answer multiple answer, or miss a stick and a student not have a turn. So I started laying the stick to the side once a student got an answer correct. This lead to another problem... Once the student answered a question correctly they quit paying attention because they knew I wouldn't be pulling their stick again. Sigh... This ruins the whole purpose of the review in the first place! However, I believe I have found the solution!

I have added colored dots on both ends of the popsicle stick using a sharpie: one blue, one red. (I choose these colors because it's the color scheme of my room. I'm a bit OCD about matchy matchy!) I'll begin by having all sticks having the same color sticking out. Once a student answers a question correctly I will turn their stick over so that the second color is showing. This way I know who has answered a question and who has not. It also causes students to continue paying attention after they have answered a question, since their stick is still in the cup and could still be pulled.

Here is my "sticks cup." I have two cups because I have two classes since we departmentalize. My homeroom has McDonald on the cup and the other class has their homeroom teacher's name on the cup. 

This is one of the sticks. I just used a blue and red sharpie for the dots. Easy and cheaper than buying actual dots to stick on it. 

I have seen an idea where a toilet paper role has been used hidden inside the cup. Once a student answers a question the stick goes into the toilet paper role, which keeps the pulled sticks and unpulled sticks separate.

If you use a different strategy for pulling sticks, I would love to hear about them in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed!

Whats the News?

Hey Guys! I have been MIA for a couple months and have FINALLY sat down to write a blog post! One of the biggest reasons I have been absent is because I found out I was pregnant! We are extremely excited for this new chapter in our lives! I did however spend the first trimester snoozing on the couch as soon as I got home from school everyday because I was SO tired! However, I am officially in my second trimester and it's summer break so I am starting to feel much more energized!

I have recently posted a new product on Teacherspayteachers.com that I hope you will check out!
                                                    Decimal Illustration Matching Game

I have also started a twitter account so follow me! https://twitter.com/mcdonaldgrade4

Here is my most recent "belly picture" because I know you really wanted to see! 

Teaching Moon Phases: Moon in My Room

Hey guys. Today I wanted to tell you about a new toy that I bought to help teach moon phases. It's called Moon in My Room. This has been one of the neatest things to help teach moon phases. I hung it over the classroom door and after teaching moon phases we turned out the light, turned on the moon, and each student had to identify the moon phase being shown. The moon comes with a remote and I would sit in the back of the room, cycle through the phases, and stop on one at random. My students loved it, and I really feel that it helped improve their moon phase identifying skills.

Need more Moon Phases Ideas?
Moon Phases Worksheets -TPT
FREE Moon Phases Matching Game




I hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

Teaching Complete Metamorphosis

Hey guys! Today I want to talk about one of the activities I did when I was teaching complete metamorphosis this year! In fourth grade, students need to know the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis. They also need to be able to visually identify which metamorphosis an insect goes through. For this activity I had students compare and contrast the life cycle of a butterfly and a ladybug. I have a real specimen of a butterfly life cycle and a plastic specimen of the ladybug.

First, I had the students draw the different stages of both insects.

Second, they had to answer question comparing and contrasting the butterfly life cycle with the lady bug life cycle. 

Here is a picture of my students examining the ladybug and butterfly life cycle specimen. 

Meet the Teacher Letter

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you a letter that I sent home to my students to introduce myself. In years past, students were able to meet their next year's teacher on the last day of school. This was the first year that the teacher assignment was not told until July. I thought writing a letter would be a cute way to have parents and students get to know me a little and hopefully get them excited about the upcoming school year!

Free IPad Apps for the 4th Grade Classroom

Hey guys! This week I was lucky enough to get an ipad to be able to use in my classroom. I knew I was getting one 2 weeks ago, and I could barely wait to get my hands on it! My kids are also super excited! One way that I plan on using the ipad is for sponge activities. You may be interested in reading this blogpost about sponges here. I wanted to share with you a few free apps that I will be using! I hope you enjoy!

Math- 
Meteor Math - Game that includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Oh No Fractions - Simple game to compare fractions. It also asks students to prove their answer by  using fraction models
Splash Math- There is a free version and a paid version of this app. I currently have the free version. Students can do practice problems in math that is aligned to 4th grade standards. Includes decimals, geometry, fractions, measurement, etc.
Pearl Diver- Practices number lines. Starts easy (0-10), but increases in difficulty.
Motion Math: Wings- Multiplication and estimation

Science- 
Planets - Students can explore our solar system with this app. Gives 3-D images of all the planets and information. Students can also look at constellations.
Science 360 - Science videos students can watch. You may want to view these videos, because some may be inappropriate for some age groups.

Social Studies- 
Stack the States - There is a paid and free version on this app. Trivia game for students to learn information about the states.

Christmas Snowman Ornament

Every year the 4th graders at Oak Grove make these super cute ornaments to take home. It usually only takes one day to make these. I work in small groups to get this done. While I am working in the small groups, I have a movie playing. We usually watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because I read the book to my class every December.  

Supplies Needed: 

Clear Craft Ornament 

White acrylic paint

Sharpies of assorted colors

Clear Glitter Paint Squeeze bottle 

String/Ribbon (optional) 

1) I call a small group of about 4 students to the back table. Each student gets an ornament that I have already written their name and the year on the back. I place the ornaments on a thin piece of construction paper that is stapled to itself. (Like in a construction paper chain, but only one.) 

2) The students put their index finger in the white paint and make 3 snowmen on their ornament. 

3) I send the students to wash their finger and call another group back. I repeat step 1 and 2 until all of the students have an ornament with 3 snowmen and the paint is dry. (This doesn't take long.)

4) I pull back small groups again and show them how to draw the face, scarf, hat, and arms onto the snow man. I emphasize that less is more. (My students always want to draw all kinds of craziness on one snowman.) 

5) Next, I let the students add clear glitter paint around the ornament to represent snowflakes. Again less is more. If they glob it on, it will never dry. 

6) Then, we let it dry again. The glitter glue takes a while to dry so you may want to keep it over night. 

7) I send these home in a Christmas themed chinese take out box. The kids think they are cute and it keeps the ornament safe until they get home. I get mine at Michael's.  

Tid Bits: 

When painting the snowman, you can use a baby wipe to clean up the edges, or wipe off any mistakes.

You can also use baby wipes to clean the finger used to paint.  

If you do these yearly, like I do, buy the chinese boxes at after Christmas sales, and store them for the next year. 

Introducing Equivalent Fractions

Hey guys! Last week I began introducing fractions to my 4th graders. I wanted to share with you how I introduce equivalent fractions to my students. When I first began teaching, I felt that I did not have enough time in the day to deal with using manipulatives in math. There were too many standards and it just took too long to deal with getting them out. I have come to realize that this was a grave mistake! Although using manipulatives does take extra time, it is worth it. Once the students can understand the concrete version of an idea, they tend to grasp the abstract version a little quicker. Saying that, I try to use manipulatives whenever I can.

Whenever I introduce equivalent fractions to my students I pull out the fraction bars. The fraction bar sets I have go from 1 whole to a denominator of 12. I have my fraction bars  in individual baggies, so that I can give each group a bag of fraction bars. (I try to pull these out the day before and have them sitting out ready to be used. This saves time during the lesson.) First, I pass out the bags of fraction bars and ask the students to sort them by color. Next, I  begin with the 1/2 fraction bar and model with the students how to find an equivalent fraction. I then let them use trial and error to find the remaining fractions. After this, I write all the fractions we found on the board. Next, I repeat this process with 1/3 & 1/4 bars. Many times the student will realize that there is a pattern happening. I will then talk about the pattern with the class and then announce that we are going to learn how to find equivalent fractions using math.

This process only takes about 15-25 minutes from passing out the bars to picking the bars back up. I hope that if you don't already use manipulatives in your classroom, that you will pull them out and try them. In my classroom, the reward outweighs the "trouble" of getting them out!

Sports Themed Accelerated Reader Bulletin Board

Hey guys! In my classroom I have one bulletin board that changes with the Accelerated Reader (A.R.) theme each year. It's the only board that is not matchy matchy with everything else in the room. Last year our theme was oceans/underwater and I did a bulletin board with fish. (Check it out here!) This year our theme is sports. As I set out looking for bulletin board sets I struggled to find something that would work for what I need. Until I came across this bulletin board set....Scholastic Teacher's Friend Our Home Run Hitters! Mini Bulletin Board (TF8055)

It was perfect! I bought two of this set because it was pretty cheap and I needed more gloves than only one set offered. Honestly I really just wanted the gloves and baseballs, but I decided to use the other things in the set as a boarder so I wouldn't have to spend any more money for this board. I think it turned out super cute! Each student gets a baseball with their name on it. When they earn the appropriate amount of points they get to move their baseball to the glove with that number on it. 

Make a Cell Model Project

Hey guys! Recently we learned about cells, cell parts, and the cell part's job. For extra credit I challenged my students to make cell models of either plant cells or animal cells. I cannot express how proud I am of my kiddos! They went above and beyond my expectations and I wanted to share their awesome creations with you!

                                                               These are my proud kiddos!

                                                 The following 3 pictures are made out of CAKE!                                        
                          

These are the other cell projects made our of everything from candle wax to clay to styrofoam.  

 

Place Value Roll the Dice Worksheet

Last week in 4th grade we were working on Place Value. As a review after teaching standard form, word form, and expanded form we used dice to create a number and then with a partner the students had to write those numbers in all 3 forms. Here is the worksheet I used with them! I hope you enjoy!

ABCya.com

Hey guys! Here is a really neat website I just discovered! It's abcya.com. I'm still browsing through the site to see what all it offers, but so far I have been really impressed. When you go to the website it looks like this...

You can choose the grade that you want to look at and it gives you language, numeral, extra, holiday, and fun games to play appropriate to that grade. I already have a website that my students use to play Math, Science, and S.S. games on if they finish an assignment early (learninginfourth.blogspot.com), but I am definitely adding this to the list! Another thing I use this site for is low students. I have some students who are still trying to master second grade skills and so I can have them practice a skill like place value on their level. I hope you enjoy! 

Sports Theme: Make Your Own Baseball Card

Hey Guys! This year at The Grove our school theme is sports/teamwork. I have decided to go with a baseball theme! I usually incorporate my theme into my Accelerated Reader Bulletin Board and then into the first couple of weeks with get to know you activities and such! I just found this super cute baseball card generator that I am planning on using! I'm not 100% sure how exactly I'm going to use it yet. I've come up with a couple ideas.

1) Make it into a writing activity where they tell all about themselves and hang them out in the hallway.
2) Use the cards to show who has what class job.
3) Pull a card: During a lesson sometimes I pull sticks with their names on them when we are doing review, maybe this year I will pull a card instead.
4) I could put the cards on the door with a cute banner that says "Mrs. McDonald's Team"
5) Could be used for a bulletin board.

I feel like the possibilities on endless! I can't wait to do this! Okay here is how you do it! Go to this site... http://www.mlbbaseballonline.com/cards. Upload a picture and feel in the information. The card can be made into football, basketball, or tennis cards with several color combos if you aren't doing baseball. You can then save it and print it out on paper or send it to be printed as a picture! Here is the picture I made as an example.

Newsletter #3

Did you miss getting the newsletter this month? No worries! Here is the link to view it! Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter so you won't miss it again! The newsletter always has a freebie and some classroom tips and tricks too! I hope you enjoy!