Classroom Magic

Putting the Magic in Test Prep Part 2

2012-02-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

Click Cover to Purchase

I've been trying to get my students ready for the test writing prompt. I'm using Barry Lane's videos as writing exercises. These videos really focus on improving student's style and voice points. Everyday I show a video from his channel. Then I have the students complete the writing printable I created for the videos. I have used zamzar.com to convert the videos to wmv and save to my flash drive. (For those teachers without YouTube access at school.) Click HERE or the pictures for a free copy of the writing printables.

DAY 1 Who Grades the Test

DAY 2 Snapshot

Day 3 Come With Me!

Day 4 and 5 Find Your Own Truth

Barry Lane has a great book,Hooked on Meaning: Building Strong Writers, available at his website. As a matter of fact, all his books are amazing.

For more great test prep ideas, check out my blogging buddy, Teaching in Room 6! She has a ton of test prep freebies.
As always, I would love it if you followed my blog. Good luck as you continue to create magic in the classroom!

HearAll Recorder GIVEAWAY!

2012-02-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wished you could be cloned? I told a teacher friend the other day that I was going to look into it. Of course, on a teacher's salary I wouldn't be able to afford it even if it was an option. I could really use two of me in the classroom., so when Learning Resources asked me to review their hearAll Assessment Recorder I got really excited. This recorder allows you to be in two places at once.

The hearAll is ready to use straight out of the box. In fact, I started using it without even reading the instructions! Shhh...... Don't tell my engineer hubby, lol! I did spend a few minutes looking for the battery compartment, only to find it didn't have one. Wow, a teacher's dream: no batteries required! Just plug in the included USB cord to charge from any PC or Mac.

The hearAll can record up to 4 hours of audio, and with 4-omini-directional microphones, the sound quality is excellent! After recording, you can play back instantly or download for parents or specialist to listen to later. Even uploading to a student's portfolio is a cinch! The headphone jack certainly makes for quieter listening and a simple right click of the mouse lets you rename the file easily. (See Photo) (MP3 and WAV file compatible)
Another great feature of the hearAll is its simplicity of use. When I showed it to my mother, a first grade teacher, she was confident her youngsters would have it figured out faster than her!

There are so many ways a teacher could use this tech tool in the classroom. I created a Top Five list of classroom uses.

Top Five Reasons to Buy the hearAll Assessment Recorder
1 Fluency Assessment

At my school we have AR Reading. I use the student's fluency scores to help set the student's goal. I also require 20 minutes of AR reading a night. Of course, you will have students say they are reading each night but haven't even come close to meeting their goal. I've created a solution to this problem. First, I take a fluency test. Then I give every student and parent a copy of the word count and fluency calculator I created. Click HERE or on the image for a free copy. Now that I have the hearAll, I will record the fluency test and send it to the parents via email along with the homework requirements and word count chart.

2 Movie Maker MP3 clips
Every year my students create commercials for their business during our Economics Unit. Look and LISTEN to the commercial my student created using the hearAll to record the jingle for her commercial.

3 Podcasting
It is so easy for students to create a podcast with the hearAll. This could easily be a cooperative group project. Give the students the hearAll and let them create!
4 Readers Theater
Kids love to listen to a recording of themselves. Let students read a readers theater script and record it with the hearAll. Then let them play it back. Have them practice several times. This is a great method for improving fluency.
5 Student Portfolios
Whether you like it or not, everything is heading in the technology direction. All of my students have laptops for classroom use, so they complete a lot of work on the computer. I love keeping a digital portfolio of my students and the hearAll will make that even easier now.

Here's the most AWESOME thing about the hearAll: They are also giving one away to a lucky reader of Classroom Magic!

To enter you must like Learning Resources Fanpage, follow their YouTube channel, (the subscribe button is right beside their name) and fill in the simple entry form BELOW. ( Contest ends on Thursday, March 1st at 10:00 p.m. CT.) Good luck to everyone from Learning Resources and Classroom Magic!

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Transformation Fun

2012-02-24T16:23:00.000-08:00

I like to break my lessons into chunks. I think this chunking method helps students attend to the lesson better and is brain friendly. A typical lesson for me usually has three to four parts. I have an essential question, such as, what is a transformation? After that, I would engage with the Transformation Hustle. (See the video for the instructions.) I would further explain with the Transformation video. (Let me know if you need instructions on how to save YouTube videos to a flash drive.) Then the students would explore with the transformation craftivity. Click HERE or on the picture for a free copy. I apologize for having a zillion versions, but I was trying to cover a wide grade range. I teach my students the SLide and FLip trick for remembering what a reflection and translation are, so I made some with SL and FL capitalized in the middle. Finally, I would give my students examples of transformations and let them answer on their whiteboards. I jot down the names of students that are still struggling. Sometimes I have them answer the EQ in their math journals.

I would love to have you as a follower. Either way I wish you luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom.

Permission to Pin

2012-02-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

There was some fine print that I should have read before I signed up for my Pinterest account. Apparently, if you pin something to Pinterest you are agreeing that you have the right to pin it, and give them the right to use the images any way they see fit. For more information read the post by Laura Candler. If you didn’t already notice, I added a permission to pin button to my blog. You may pin my site to your heart’s content and many thanks for doing so! Thanks Laura Candler for bringing this to my attention. Click HERE if yo want to follow my Pinterest boards.

Picture Writing Prompts

2012-02-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

I normally don't care much for linky parties but I'm making an exception this week. The Diary of the Not So Wimpy Teacher, Kathie, and I have teamed up to bring you a collection of picture writing prompts. I've been using these for a couple of years and the students love them. We are planning a to create a free ebook at the end of the linky party. So click HERE or on the picture and start hopping to all the great picture prompts. Here are a few I created. I will be adding to these every day, so check back. If you click on the pictures it will take you to the link for the original picture. Credit for the photos is listed in the caption. Good luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!

Image source http://www.allweirdpics.com

Image source http://abcnews.go.com

Image source Nibbles of Tidbits A Food Blog


Image source Growabrain.com Image Source: Pics4Learning.com Image Source: Pics4Learning.com Image Source: Pics4Learning.com Image Source: Pics4Learning.com Image Source: Pics4Learning.com

Just In Time for Monday

2012-02-18T05:14:00.000-08:00

Just in case you didn't have enough activities for Presidents' Day, here's one more. Click HERE or the book cover for a free online version of the book, Arthur Meets the President. In the book Arthur visits several national landmarks. Teaching national landmarks is in our state standards, so I thought I would work that into Monday's lesson. Click HERE or the picture for a National Landmark Foldable Booklet. Arthur visits each of these places in the book. I've included two versions. One with the names and one without. You could have the kids find one fact about each or just write in the name of the landmark. The map on the last page can be used to trace Arthur's journey through Washington DC.

Here's a cute video,too.

Good luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!

A Book Review and 3 Day Lesson Plan for Common Core

2012-02-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite authors is Laura Candler. Her Power Reading Workshop book changed my teaching life. I recently had the privilege of reading an advance copy of her latest ebook, Graphic Organizers for Reading: Teaching Tools Aligned with the Common Core. Before I read it I was a little skeptical. I mean I have several graphic organizer books, and I can Google anything I might need, but this book is so much more than graphic organizers. Laura gives you a teaching model to use with the graphic organizers, and I love how well written the instructions for implementation are. As I read the book, I felt like I was sitting at the table with a seasoned teacher being mentored. The teaching techniques outlined in this book were the real treasure and the graphic organizers were a nice bonus. I used Laura's teaching model to teach a 3 day lesson on character traits. The following lesson outline is based on her method:
Day 1: Model how to use the Character Trait graphic organizer with the book Sophie's Masterpiece.
Day 2: Guide students through the process of filling in the Character Traits graphic organizer using the book Rainbow Fish.
Day 3: Let students practice independently completing the Character Traits graphic organizer with a copy of Recess Queen.

Resources:
Day 1:

Click HERE or on the picture for the link to the online video version of this book. You will need to click on "All Stories" to get to the book. It is read by CCH Pounder. I paused the book and switched to my document camera to demonstrate how to use the text to determine character traits, but you could show the entire video first if you wanted.
I also gave students a copy of Laura's Character Trait list to look at.
Click HERE for a copy.
Example of Character Trait:
Artistic- "She spun webs more wondrous than anyone had ever seen."
Day 2:

Click HERE or on the picture for the link to the online video version of this book. The words appear on the screen, so you can pause the video and let students determine character traits and write the text as proof. They will need a copy of the Character Traits List. This book is an easy book to determine character traits with.
Day 3:

I showed the students a book trailer of The Recess Queen. Then I gave students a copy of the story for them to independently use to fill in the graphic organizer. Click HERE for a copy of the words. I got this copy many years ago but couldn't find the link, so I uploaded to Googledocs. If anyone has the original link, I would love to share it.

My students loved this 3 day lesson! They begged for more, and were able to come up with character traits that weren't on the list. Currently this book is only available in ebook format. Click HERE or on the cover for a link to purchase this book. If you are still unsure, download the preview of the book. I also created some emergency sub plans with this book. It's so easy because they just need her instructions, the graphic organizer, and a mentor text. Good luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!

Black History Month Freebies

2012-02-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

I've created a couple of freebies for Black History month. The first is a map and graphic organizer for the book, The Hallelujah Flight. This is the story of James Banning and Thomas Allen. They must overcome many obstacles, including prejudice, as they journey across the US in a dilapidated OXX6 Eagle Rock plane. Click HERE or on the book for the link to this free online version. Have students plot the journey of the "Flying Hobos." Then have them complete the story map. Click HERE or the picture for your free copy.

The next freebie is for older students and goes great with the book, Who Was Rosa Parks. Click HERE or on the book cover for your free online version. After you read the book, have students write a biopoem about Rosa Parks. Click HERE for you free template.

For more Black History freebies, check out The Diary of the Not So Wimpy Teacher.

Incorporate technology with Scholastic's interactive Underground Railroad.

Good luck as continue to create magic in your classroom!

Presidents' Day

2012-02-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

I say Presidents' Day, you say Presidents Day...Let's call the whole thing off. Ok, we're not singing about tomatoes, but I'm not completely sure what the correct punctuation for this holiday is. I Googled it, and it's still not clear. I think Presidents' Day looks right. Once you get a look at all the goodies I created for you, I don't think you'll mind how I chose to punctuate. I put together a whole days worth of activities for this holiday. I've got Reading, Writing, Math, and Social Studies covered for you. I really appreciate all the kind words you guys have been sending my way and REALLY appreciate you following my blog. It's just like when you have students that are always saying thank you, it makes you want to do that much more for them. I hope you enjoy all the activities. You can click on any of the pictures or HERE to grab a complete and FREE copy of the entire unit. If you like what you see I would love it if you followed me, liked my fan page, and/or left me a comment. Either way, I wish you luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!

Social Studies
Have students research Abraham Lincoln. Using the information they gather, have them make a biopoem. Once they have created the poem, they can type it into Tagxedo. Have them choose the Abraham Lincoln shape and print. It is so cool. If you don't know about Tagxedo, check out my post from last week, HERE.

Writing
Click HERE or on the book cover to get a free online video version of the book, So You Want to Be President. You will have to watch a commercial, but you can download using Zamzar. If you download, it will eliminate the commercial for you and you can save it to your flashdrive. Let me know if you need help with this. After reading the book, let students write a descriptive paragraph about what they would do if they were president.

Math
Let students stack pennies and find the mean, median, mode, and range. Your students will LOVE this!

Reading
Let students read the passage and complete the graphic organizer.

Liz from Liz's Lesson created a great French and Spanish Presidents' Day packet. Click HERE or the picture to get this foreign language freebie.

For another great activity, check out Diary of The Not So Wimpy Teacher's freebie.

Word Art

2012-01-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

If you've used and enjoyed Wordle, then let me introduce you to my newest tech toy, Tagxedo. You type in words and then turn those words into shape art. This is perfect for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day.Actually, there are so many ways you can use this site to create classroom projects. Here's an outline of a two day lesson:
Day 1: Make a class poem together, and show students how to create and print a poem using Tagxedo. .
Day 2: Give students the Love My Poem template.( Click HERE for a free copy.) Let students write the poem on the template and then type the words into Tagxedo. Have them print.

I don't have a colored printer at school, so I'm using colored paper instead.

It is a pretty easy site to navigate. Watch the video tutorial I made if you need help.

If you want to make it a little fancier, you can have the kids finger paint fingerprint hearts inside the big heart.

This is part of the awesome Collaborative Heart Project Fundraiser organized by Jaime at hands on as we grow.

Valentine Goodies

2012-01-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

So most of the things I share with you I've tried out in my own classroom. This is a new idea I had, and it hasn't been classroom tested. This is a Valentine Day Math Mat. I had seen lots of these types of mats for primary students but never for intermediate students, so I decided to create some. A couple of weeks after I created this one I got a Really Good Stuff catalog, and they had several for intermediate grades. Oh well, this one is free. Please let me know what you think. I've created one for the 100th Day, and I'm working on ones for other holidays. Just cut it out and tape together. You will need a package of conversation hearts. Click HERE for your free copy. UPDATE: If you downloaded this, you need to download the revision. I did not have enough columns. The 1st grade Math Mat is at the END of this post.

Teaching Tip of the Week
Motivate writers with a song!

A couple of years ago, I picked up this singing elephant during the Valentine season. He/she sings, "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch." When I have a writing conference with my students, I have students read a writing selection of their choice to me. If I find a really great piece to highlight, I push the button on the elephant and serenade the students. I change the words to, "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, you know I LOVE your WRITING!" The student beams with pride. I don't over do it and I'm pretty picky. In other words it has to be showcase worthy. I try to showcase one or two writers a week. I do look extra hard for those struggling writers. Sometimes I just highlight one sentence. I can't begin to tell you how successful this has been. Most of the students desperately want their writing to be worthy. I do think they put more into it. After I started this, I found these elephant writing pins on Ebay. I had to have them. I bought all the seller had. I give one every 9 weeks to the top writer. Keep in mind I teach 4th grade, but I have one student who wears it EVERY day.

I have no idea if you can get either of these items anymore, and couldn't begin to tell you where to look. Before you throw something at me, I came up with something you CAN get right now during Valentine season. I found a giraffe that sings, "Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher." I plan to change the words to, "Your WRITING has lifted me higher." I made a heart that says, "Your Writing." and taped it over the last heart. I also created a giraffe printable. I plan to print it on sticker paper, but you could just print and laminate. I got this at Wal-Mart and I cringe to tell you the price, $16.95. I KNOW! If you want to risk them running out, you could get it after Valentine's for half off. Click HERE for your free giraffe sticker printable.

Just Because I Love You
I decided to give you a little extra this week and created another freebie for you. Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch is such a great Valentine book. The theme is easy for kids to pick out, too. If you click on the cover of the book, it will take you to a FREE online video version of the book. It does have a commercial. If you click HERE it will take you to Storyline and you can click All Stories and choose it from the list. It it straight from the site without commercials. You can also choose download file size. It also has some free activities and more great free books. I think this one is really well done. I also created a story map to accompany the book. Click HERE for your free copy.

If you have enjoyed anything I've created, I would love for you to follow my blog. Either way, I wish you luck as you create magic in your classroom. Have a magical Valentines!

Breaking The Rules:

This blog is primarily for grade 3-6 teachers, but if you've followed my blog closely, you know my mother is a 1st grade teacher. She needs a couple of activities for her firsties on Tuesday, so I created them for her. It just seemed a waste to only share it with my mom. I hope my target audience, 36 teachers, will forgive me. Click HERE or the picture for the 1st grade math mat.
The second thing I created was a sequencing activity for the picture book Arthur's Valentine. Click HERE or on the picture for the printable. This book is also available free online. Click on the cover of the book for the link.

QR Valentine

2012-01-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a much shorter post than usual. The stomach virus has been slowly making its way through my household. Anyway, I try to incorporate as much technology into my lesson plans as possible. I thought I would let students make a QR voice Valentine card. Most students know someone who has a Smartphone. I don't have one, but my teaching buddy does. I will borrow hers to show students how cool it is. This is really simple. Visit the QR Voice website and have students type in a message; such as, "I love you, Mom," (It can't be more than 100 characters.) They will need to use the scroll bar to re-size. I re-sized mine to 136X136 but larger or smaller sizes will work, too. Then print and paste on Valentine printable. Click HERE or on the picture for the free GoogleDocs Valentine printable. If you still need help, I've made a little video tutorial on how to generate a QR voice image.

Teacher Tip of the Week
Check out a great blog post on MLK Day from The Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher.

And here's a free video version of the book, Martin's Big Words. I know I've said this before but if you go to zamzar.com you can convert to wmv and save to your flashdrive. Click on the YouTube icon in the lower right hand of the screen and it will take you to the YouTube channel with the address bar. If you have problems, let me know.

Puttting the Magic in Test Prep Part 1

2012-01-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Have you ever put your foot in your mouth? Well, I did this the other day. I posted the picture above on my fan page and then went to read a friend's new blog post. She had just posted about getting ready for the "Big Test" She totally busted me and commented on my fan page, too. I felt compelled to elaborate on this statement. I do test prep! Don't we all do test prep? These are high stakes tests, and I feel the pressure just like everyone else. What I don't do is skill and drill, or should I say skill and kill. I would like to do a series of posts about how I put the magic in test prep.
This week we worked on informational texts. There is ALWAYS informational passages on the test. Yes, I could have copied a released item, had them read and answer the questions, but instead I gave them a real recipe and instructions on how to make a six point snowflake. Students had to READ both and make the items. If I had wanted to take a grade, I could have graded the finished product. I would love to tell you everyone of my little darlings did perfectly, but they most certainly did not. Several did not read carefully and thus made some major mistakes. They learned how important it is to read carefully and follow ALL the instructions. I had one student put their whole cookie with icing in the microwave along with the marshmallow. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what a hot mess that was. She argued passionately that she had followed the directions. I gave her the opportunity to reread the directions and try again. When she did this she quickly discovered her mistake. I could have done a hundred worksheets with this child, and it might never have hit home how important it is to follow all the steps. The difference in worksheets and real world is they CARE when it makes a difference in their life. I also flat out refused to help them in any way. Yes, I knew she was sticking her whole cookie in the microwave, but I knew she would learn from her mistake. By the way, you are probably wondering about the cost. It was minimal. The following were enough supplies for my class of 21 students:
Copy paper for snowflakes- Free
Craft sticks-Free (If you don't have these in your closet already, I bet the art teacher would donate some for your classroom.)
1 package of cookies- $1.00
1 tub of white icing- Free (this was left over from our Christmas craft but would be $1.00)
1 giant tub of sprinkles (this will last me for many years, too)- $1.00
1 package of large marshmallows- $1.00
Life Lesson- Priceless

Click on the pictures for your free Googledoc copies.

Teaching Tip of the Week
Teach to a theme.

Click on the cover for a free online version of this book.

I really like themes, and this week it was all about SNOW. I read the FREE online book, Snowmen at Night. Then we brainstormed and filled in our graphic organizer. Finally, I gave the students the prompt: What do snowmen do at night?

Click on the picture for your free copy.

If you enjoyed any of these activities, I would appreciate you following me. Either way I wish luck as you continue to create magic in your classroom!

Happy New Year

2011-12-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a New Year's Bulletin Board freebie. Have the students come up with a resolution and write it in the party hat. I've included a colored AND black and white version because let's face it colored ink isn't cheap. I don't know many teachers that print in color. When I make activities like this, I just tell everyone to pretend their watching 1950's television:) After they write their resolution, give them time to decorate their glasses. A little glitter would really make these stand out. I've also included the dates through 2019, so I've got you covered for the next eight years.
Click HERE for your free copy.

Teaching Tip of the Week
I like to use my students' pictures several times throughout the year. There are lots of cute bulletin board ideas out there that use students' pictures. I take a head shot of my students at the beginning of the year and then just reprint every time I need them. You might even be able to laminate them and reuse.

Anchor Chart of the Week
Explaining what resolution means can be difficult even for older students. I like to use a graphic organizer when I teach vocabulary words. Click HERE for an anchor chart and graphic organizer freebie.

UPDATE:
Although this is a blog for 3-6 teachers, I'm adding something for 1st or 2nd grade. My mom is a first grade teacher and wants to do a little vocab lesson on Monday. It is basically the same form but a little more geared toward 1st grade. So here you go Mama because I love you so much! Click HERE for the new form.

My First Linky Party

2011-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm posting my first linky party for a friend of mine. Tammy over at Live, Love, Laugh is linking up, and the topic is New Year's Resolutions. Tammy is amazing, so check her blog out at the link below.

Here are my resolutions:
PERSONAL-
1. Stick to my low carb diet.

2. Be more patient with those around me.

3. Walk with my friends at least 3 days a week.

TEACHING-
1. Create my math curriculum for Common Core Standards.

2. Spend less time at school on the weekends.

3. Be the best teacher I can be.

BLOGGING-

1. Get more followers:)

2. Add more of my personality to my posts.

3. Create great freebies for teachers.

Snowflake Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

2011-12-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Click HERE for free copy

Here's a winter freebie for all you math teachers. I use a lot of music in my classroom, especially on hard concepts like mean, median, mode, and range. Be sure to check out the anchor chart for the songs I use to teach mean and range. Even after I feel like they have a grasp of the concept, I feel it's important to review periodically. At my school we go back on January the 5th and that will mean a 2 day week. (I KNOW, don't get me started!) I'm going to use the printable to practice this concept. Hopefully the snowflake theme will make it seem not so much like work. I'm keeping this post short, as it is Christmas Eve, and I still have some shopping to do. Ahhh!!! Just wanted to give you something you could use in the classroom after the break. Enjoy! If you are not a follower, I would love for you to become one. Either way, I'm glad you stopped by and Happy Holidays! Click HERE for snowflake printable.

Teacher Tip of the Week:
Why not have a little cross curricular activity to go with the snowflake math? This is a great book to use for art, reading, science, or writing. If you click on the cover you will find a video version of this book.

Click on book cover for a free online video version of this book.

Anchor Chart of the Week:
Here's a copy of the songs I put on an anchor chart to teach mean and range. Click HERE for a printable version of the song lyrics.

Merry Christmas to Me!

2011-12-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

I've met some amazing people since I started blogging. My blog is only two months old, and I've received another award. To be recognized by fellow bloggers is a great feeling. This award comes from an amazing blogger. Thank you Mary, at Sharing Kindergarten! Check out her blog by clicking on her button. Don't teach kindergarten? Don't worry she has ideas for every teacher.

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to them.

3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
I get to name 5 other New blogs!

Teaching in Room 6

A Modern Teacher

Mrs. Huff's Stuff: Writers' Workshop

Teaching Tales

connect-a-blog

4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers!!

To celebrate I'm giving you a freebie. This is an inquiry science lesson I incorporated with my Human Body Unit. This lesson was inspired by my mentor, Madelon Cheatham. She's been pushing me (lovingly) toward more inquiry based lessons. I still used an organizer for this experiment. (Sorry Madelon!) If you tried the mitten experiment I posted about a couple of weeks ago, you will recognize the layout. I like to remind my students to always follow the steps in the scientific process.
To get students thinking about taste buds, I played a YouTube clip on babies first bite. Then I asked students the question, "Can we map the tongue?" We brainstormed the different types of tastes such as; sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Finally, and this is the scarey part, I let them design their own experiments. I provided them with possible testing materials: salt, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, Q-Tips, water, etc. Just click on the picture for your free copy and enjoy a little Classroom Magic!

If you're not already a follower I would love for you to become one!

Here's a YouTube video of babies tasting lemons.

Technology and Poetry

2011-12-16T15:59:00.001-08:00

My students had a blast writing poetry and then making a slideshow with Animoto. First, we brainstormed some winter words. Then I had them help me write a class poem. Next they used the template to write their own poems. Finally, they used Animoto to make a slideshow of their poem. You can set up a free teacher account at Animoto. I suggest you set a kid friendly password so your students can type it in themselves. It is a very easy site to navigate your way around. My 4th grades didn't have any problems. My teaching buddy had a problem with the program logging her students out before they started a project but creating a login that students can type in should eliminate that problem. If you want them to add photos, you will need to teach them how to save pictures to their computer. They can just add text if you prefer. Be sure to grab a free copy of the templates HERE or by clicking on the picture.

Check out the slideshow poem.

Brainstorm Template

Teaching Tip of the Week
If you want to incorporate even more technology or if you think your students need some more help with writing a diamante, check out this link for ReadWriteThink. They have a program that helps students generate poems.
Anchor Chart of the Week

This week's anchor chart comes from F is For First. Click on the picture and it will take you to Melissa's fabulous blog. I know I'm still teaching what an equation is in 4th grade.

Chuckle of the Week

Are Mittens Warm?

2011-12-09T15:15:00.001-08:00

CLICK ON THE BOOK FOR A FREE ONLINE COPY

I love to combine science and picture books! Here is an inquiry science experiment you can try with your intermediate students. First, read the book The Mitten by Jan Brett. Ask the students why all the animals wanted in the mitten. Then let your students hypothesis about whether or not mittens are warm. This really makes them think. They will need to find the room, plain mitten, and hand in mitten temperatures. When they begin to look at and analyze the data be prepared for lots of questions because mittens are NOT warm. The body temperature creates the heat, and the mitten traps the heat. This will come as a surprise to most students. You should be able to find mittens at most Dollar Stores. Be sure to click on the book cover for a free online copy of The Mitten.

Click HERE for your free copy of this lesson and graphic organizer, and enjoy a little Classroom Magic! If you are not a follower I would love for you to become one. Either way I hope this post helps you create a little magic in your classroom.
YOU MUST CHECK OUT: Laura Candler's Corkboard Connections Blog! She has taken this activity and elevated it to a much higher level. It really is amazing, and she has generously included a freebie to accompany it. I can't wait to try out her ideas in my classroom!

Teaching Tip of the Week
Rachel Reyna of Fisher Reyna Education lead me to this amazing website, We Give Books. You must check it out. This website has high quality picture books available online. They even have The Hat by Jan Brett, so you could read it and compare it to The Mitten.

Anchor Chart of the Week

This anchor chart comes from Mrs. Carroll at The First Grade Parade. Hop on over an take a look at all the outstanding ideas she has for The Mitten. You could easily adapt some of them for older students.

Chuckle of the Week

Christmas Edition

2011-12-02T19:11:00.001-08:00

What kid doesn't like cookies? Here is a graphing activity I plan to try with my 4th graders next week. This activity is a simple one with little preparation time. Don't tell the students what they will be graphing. Simply pass out a gingerbread man cookie and allow students to take ONE bite. Then pass out the graphing packet for students to complete. It's fun to talk about which gingerbread body part was the most popular. Pick up a package of cookies, and create a little Christmas Classroom Magic!

Click HERE for your free copy of my Gingerbread Man Graphing Packet.

Teaching Tip of the Week
Pick up your free copy of this Holiday e-book. It has over 50 free Christmas activities created by some to the top sellers at Teachers Pay Teachers. Click HERE for your free copy.

Anchor Chart of the Week

I found this great chart from Babbling Abby on Pinterest. Visit her blog for more fantastic gingerbread man ideas. After graphing the cookies have the students create adjectives to describe them.

Chuckle of the Week

Get Happy with Division

2011-11-25T15:17:00.001-08:00

Oh, the joy of teaching division! My 4th graders always struggle when learning this concept. I've learned a few tricks over the years that have made the journey a little smoother. I wrote a song to the tune of YMCA. The students really enjoy dancing and singing along to this catchy tune. You can download just the instrumental version of the song from several internet sources for free or cheap. I've made up some movements to accompany the song. We sing it throughout our division unit. To help the steps stick I let the students play Division Relay. I make two teams of students, and each team must race to finish the division problem. A student may only do one step in the division process, and then must pass off the marker to the next student. In addition to this, I also give the students a step by step reference sheet to keep in their folder. Learning and making division fun is Classroom Magic!

Click Here for the Google Docs Version

Click HERE to get it in Google Docs.

Teaching Tip of the Week
If you aren't familiar with the website Pete's Power Point Station, you need to be. It's a great website to get free Power Point presentations. Click HERE for some great division Power Points and other resources.

Anchor Chart of the Week

Chuckle of the Week

Question of the Week
What is your FAVORITE Pinterest find? I know so hard to choose just one. Try!

What Could Be Hotter Than Fire and Sunshine?

2011-11-25T11:58:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited to have received the Sunshine and Blog on Fire Awards. Sally from Elementary Matters presented me with the Blog on Fire Award, and Mandy from Cooperative Learning 365 presented with the Sunshine Award. It is such an compliment to have these two amazing bloggers deem me worthy of these awards. I'm truly thankful for this honor.

Here are the rules for accepting this award:
1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. And pass the award to fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded it to them.

Here are my answers:

Favorite color? Green
Favorite animal? Monkey
Favorite number? 2
Favorite drink? Coke Zero
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook
Your passion? Being a mom and wife, teaching, blogging, and making lesson plans
Giving or getting presents? Giving
Favorite day? I have two days my sweet girls were born.

These bloggers are awarded the Sunshine Award:

Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies
4th Grade Wonders
4th Grade Frolics
Fourth Grade Fanatic
Dots-n-Spots

These bloggers are awarded the Blog on Fire Award:
Go Fourth! With Mrs. Owens
The Creative Apple
Ladybug's Teacher Files
4 the Love of Teaching

Oh' Boy 4th Grade

Grammar Mascots

2011-11-18T15:18:00.001-08:00

In my classroom I choose a mascot for each of the parts of speech.Most of these mascots come from a picture book, and I use the book to teach thepart of speech. For adjectives I use the Big Green Monster from the book GoAway Big Green Monster. First, I read the picture book, and then we make our ownadjective monsters. I give the studentsindex cards, mini containers of play dough, pipe cleaners, and goggle eyes. They have to give their monster a name and useadjectives to describe it. I hang a the picture of the mascot on the wall and refer to it all year long to help themget each part of speech anchored in their mind. I blow up the picture from the book, trace, and color it. I have some former students,now eighth graders, that tell me they remember the parts of speech because ofthe mascots. Learning that sticks equalsClassroomMagic!

Teaching Tip of the Week

Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am? Well then let me introduce you to my little friend Jing. Jing is a free download that will allow you take take pictures of your computer screen. I like to take pictures of the really great stuff and save them on my flash-drive in the appropriate subject folder. Next week's tip will be all about flash-drive organization. I adore Jing and it saves me so much hunting and searching.

Anchor Chart of the Week

Let's face it, teaching students their multiplication facts is hard work. I like to teach my students the 9's trick and make an anchor chart with it. Tip: Have them trace the same hand twice and flip one because they have trouble tracing with anything besides their dominate hand. I also like to show them a video clip to introduce the trick.

Question of the Week

What is your favorite blog style? What would you like to see me add or take away from this blog?

Questioning with Chris Van Allsburg

2011-11-12T15:07:00.001-08:00

We all know good readers ask questions. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is the perfect book to elicit students' questions. This book is equally great for inferring. This activity takes two days, and the students really enjoy it. To prepare for this lesson you need to photo copy at least eight different pictures and captions from the book, and glue them onto chart paper or poster board. I numbered 6 post-it notes and added them to the chart, as well, so only six questions could be asked per picture. Laminate so you can reuse. This is a carousel activity; which means you will place the pictures around the room, and have the children walk around to each of them. First, I read the synopsis at the beginning of the book. Then I give the students a few minutes to observe the pictures and read the captions. After that, give each student four sticky notes. Have them choose four of the pictures they want to write a question for. I tell them they must read any and all questions already posted, and they may not duplicate a question already posted. They should post it on the correct numbered post-it.

The next day I teach a lesson on "thick" and "thin" questions. We use the questions generated from the carousel activity to categorize. I make a T-chart, and stick them onto to the correct category. I tell them "thick" questions make you think and "thin" questions are usually right there. This activity is very eye opening for the kids.We talk about how the students with the "thick" questions used the picture and the caption to generate a question. I like to get this activity back out when I start inferring. It helps students see that good readers use questioning and inferring in combination, and that is Classroom Magic!

Teaching Tip of the Week

If you have to lesson plan and most of us do, you should check out Planbookedu. It is my new best friend. I have been using it for over a year now and couldn't get along without it now. It is an online lesson planner that makes it easy for teachers of all grade levels to create, share and print their lesson plans. They even have common core standards you can embed with just a click of the mouse.

Anchor Chart of the Week

OK, so it's not on chart paper, but it still anchors student's thinking. I like to use this when teaching students to not use worn out words. I let them use their thesauruses to look up synonyms for the over used words. I have them fill in a graphic organizer and keep it in their writing notebooks for future use. If you'd like a free copy you can get it from my Teacher Pay Teacher store or click HERE for it in Google-docs.

Click HERE for a free copy of my graphic organizer

Question of the Week

This is a burning question that has been driving me crazy. Does Chris Van Allsburg's book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, have a spelling error in it? I think the caption should read "Just Dessert" and NOT "Just Desert." I just have a hard time believing it was a mistake. I mean it IS Chris Van Alsburg. Check for yourself. What do you think?

Blog On Fire

2011-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to have received the Blog on Fire Award! Thank you Denise from Sunny Days in Second Grade. I have to tell you seven interesting things about myself because of this honor. I have decided my blog will only be about teaching ideas and not a blog about my personal life. I am making an exception for this award, but this will not take the place of my weekly teaching idea. So her goes:

1. I'm terrified of cats. I think it's because I watched the movie "Strays" when I was a kid. 2. I love to make lesson plans. I would rather plan for lessons than watch TV. 3. I’m obsessed with finding every education board on Pinterest. I have found almost 500 so far. 4. I once taught reading in prison. 5. I ride a motorcycle with my hubby. 6. My most embarrassing moment was when I was a teenager and had a wardrobe malfunction on stage. 7. Washington and Oregon are the only two states in the

U.S.

that I haven’t visited.

Here is a bonus teaching idea for you. This is an anchor chart I made with my students to teach transition words for writing. You will find a free graphic organizer and overview

Here at my Teacher Pay Teacher store (this is a black and white version). Or click on the picture of the printable for the Google Docs colored version.

Taxation Without Representation

2011-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

The crown is a freebie from Burger King

We are studying the American Revolution in my classroom. I wanted to show my students how the colonist felt over paying taxes to a distant king, so I staged a reenactment. First, I gave all the students some M&Ms in a cup. Then I appointed a student to be king and two to be tax collectors. I told all the students wearing red to raise their hand and asked the "king" if he wanted to collect taxes, M&Ms, from the students wearing red or not wearing red. The fun really began when the "king" made up more new taxes. He imposed a Girl Tax, Glasses Tax, Sibling Tax, and so on until their cups were almost empty. I will admit it got rather noisy with all the protests from the tax payers. The students were outraged! This set the stage for a lesson on the real taxes imposed on the colonist.

After the reenactment we watched a short School House Rock video, "No More King." Finally, we made a taxes foldable. At this point the students were really interested in finding out about the real taxes the colonists were expected to pay. We even learned about the Sons of Liberty, and they decided they supported them. I made the tax collectors wear gloves so I could redistribute the M&Ms at the end of the lesson. They were so relieved to find out their candy was being returned to them. I don't think this is a history lesson they will soon forget, and that truly is Classroom Magic!

For a free copy of this lesson and template click HERE. It will take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. The stars are offset on purpose to TRY to keep the students from cutting too far.

Teaching Tip of the Week:
Can't get YouTube at school? Don't worry you can download the video for free and save it to your flash-drive with Zamzar. It's simple, just copy the video address from the address bar at YouTube, click URL on step 1 on Zamzar, paste the address in, Step 2 choose to convert to wmv, Step 3 insert your e-mail, and Step 4 convert. In just a few minutes they will send you the video download to your email address. You only have 24 hours to save it to a flash-drive or your computer. I use this ALL the time and have acquired a large resource of videos for teaching.

Anchor Chart of the Week


(Opps! I left the d off of thousandths. Rrr..)

This is a helpful poem to help students read decimals. If they follow the instructions in the poem they will say it and write it correctly every time!

Question of the Week:

What's your favorite history lesson to teach?

Don't Forget to "Squarea" the Area

2011-10-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

When teaching my students area, I sing a little chant: "Don't forget to 'squarea' the area, or your teacher will pull out all her hair-ea!" After that we find the hAREA, I mean area of some large squares. I hit my local salon up for some old hairstyle magazines, cut some 1 inch squares out of card-stock, and put kids into teams of two. If you don't have hairstyle magazines, no sweat, any magazine will do. Animal magazines work very well, too. I tell the kids they may use pictures of fur or hair. Then students scour the magazines, and when they find some hair they use their template to trace and cut out. Finally they glue their hair squares to the large square until it is completely cover. All that's left is for them to find the area or hArea of their large square. I can't take all the credit for this idea. My sister and best friend,Victoria Jones, came up with this idea for her students in Virgina. This lesson is one that really sticks and helps them remember the difference between area and perimeter. It also helps them remember that you have to label square units when finding area and that is truly Classroom Magic!

Teaching Idea of the Week:

If you have tile floors use masking tape to outline some irregular shapes. Have students find the perimeter and area of each one. I put a number label in the corner of each and have them fill in a worksheet for all the floor shapes. I make them physically walk the perimeter. I deliberately make the perimeter the same on all the shapes. It's a real eye opener for them to discover that shapes can have the same perimeter but be a different shape and have different areas. The pictured irregular shape has a perimeter of 16 feet and area of 8 square feet. I always include one regular rectangle, too.

Anchor Chart of the Week:
This weeks anchor chart is from the above activity. I attached some of the student's work and added the chant.

Question of the Week:
I would love to hear about your ideas. What activities do you use to teach area?

Spooktacular Science

2011-10-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite classroom celebrations is Halloween. I usually plan a full day of educational fun around the Halloween theme. I don't care how old you are Dry Ice is just plain cool to play with, and it is relatively inexpensive. I help the kids make mini smoke ring launchers. It's pretty simple just a plastic cup with a hole, large baggie, rubber band, WARM water, and a small piece of Dry Ice. Just make sure you are the one to add the Dry Ice. It's totally safe as long as they don't come into contact with the Dry Ice. Then just have the kids gently tap on the end and let the fun begin!

While I've got the Dry Ice out I put on a little science show for the kids. Add warm water and Dry Ice to a few graduated cylinders and you've got yourself a production. Put in some color tabs to change the color of water or just drop in a light stick and wait for the oohs and aahs. If you really want to get them excited just add a smidgen of dish washing soap. I like to pour it on the kids hands. I'm a Steve Spangler wanna be so for the grand finale I bring out the Boo Bubbles. You can purchase the equipment from his website for under $30. It makes gas filled bubbles. Drop a few of these in the kids hands and you've got Classroom Magic!