Hot Air Balloon Bulletin Board for Accelerated Reader

Hey Guys! Today I want to share my new A.R. bulletin board with you. Every year I change out this board according to our A.R. theme. This year's theme is "On the Road to Reading". Each teacher had to choose a state to represent on this "road." I choose Kansas! I mainly chose Kansas because I wanted to do something with the Wizard of Oz. To go with my Kansas/Wizard of Oz theme I chose to do my A.R. board with a hot air balloons! I think it turned out pretty cute!

I bought the hot air balloon bulletin board set here. This is what the set looks like...

In the clouds it has the point clubs. When the student reaches a point club they get to choose one of the smaller air balloons, I'll write their name on it, and then place it by the correct point club cloud. I drew one cloud by hand and then traced it so that the clouds would have a similar look. 

Check out my past A.R. boards... 

Fish and Fish Bowls

Baseball

Top 10 - Getting to know your Teacher!

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you something I plan to do this year for my students to get to know me better on the first day. I got the idea for this at the end of this past school year. I was doing end of the year activities with my students and was thinking to myself how much I was going to miss them. By the end of the year, my students seem to be able to read my mind. After searching through pinterest for end of the year ideas, I came across several packets that have students fill out information for next year's class. Kind of a survival guide from a previous student. I thought it was a super cute idea, but wanted to make it more of a whole class project. I decided to have my students make a top 10 list of things new students need to know about being in my class. The kids loved it! I complied their answers into the most common responses and made a list. I plan on using this list on the first day of school, to better help my new students get to know me better.

Even though it is summer you can still use this idea for the beginning of the year. Just come up with 10 things that your students need to know. You can make them funny, silly, or serious. Then next year you can have your kiddos make one for you. 

Here is an example you can use to create your own top 10... 

          10. If you are nice to her, she will be nice to you. 

           9. Mrs. McDonald likes to sing. 

           8.  When she says "eyeballs", she means stop and look at her. 

           7. Mrs. McDonald loves hugs!

           6. Mrs. McDonald LOVES polka dots. 

           5. Mrs. McDonald does not like for you to talk in the hall, but she gives the best line walker a piece of candy. 

           4. Do not talk when Mrs. McDonald is talking.     

           3. She gives you another chance so that you can learn from your mistake. 

           2.  When Mrs. McDonald asks you to do something, do it the first time.

           1. She lets you play games when you are done with your work. -Educational Games :-)

Mathematical Practices Common Core Posters

Hey guys! This summer I have been doing lots of work to prepare for the upcoming Common Core implementation for our county. I found these cute mathematical practices posters that correlate with the 8 mathematical practices of common core. There are posters for K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 that are written in kid-friendly terms. I've included the links below so you can check them out! These would be great to help explain to the students what test graders are looking for on their constructed response assessments!

K-1 Posters Click Here

2-3 Posters Click Here

4-5 Posters Click Here

Bill of Rights: The Amendments

In fourth grade, one of the things we cover in Social Studies is the Bill of Rights. Specifically they need to know what the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 8th amendment say and what freedoms they protect. One of the activities my students do during this unit, is to make a poster to explain the amendments. What I do is split the class into groups and assign an amendment to each group. I split the first amendment into 3 different groups. Below are some of the poster my students came up with. After my students create the posters, they present the poster to the class. My students really like this activity and it really helps them remember the different amendments.

Instructions: Poster must include-
     What the amendment is.
     What right that amendment gives.
     An illustration.
     (Use all of the poster board, not just a small portion.)
   

Dr. Seuss Day- Book Character Costume Ideas

Friday we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by having an all day read day, dressing up as our favorite book characters, and having guest readers read Dr. Seuss books to our classes. My kids always surprise me with their creativeness on their costumes. I wanted to share some of the awesome costumes we had this year!

This is Nancy Ward, Hiccup (from How to Train Your Dragon), and Clark Kent/Superman. 

Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, and Sally 

Gandalf and Frodo 

My class!

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.

Comparing Fractions Video

Hey guys! I have just discovered this new free app called educreation. It is basically an interactive white board on your iPad. You can use the app to also record things you say and write. It is a really cool app and I have a lot of fun ideas I can't wait to try! Below is my first lesson on comparing fractions using cross multiplication! I hope you enjoy!
You can also click on this link.