Friday Funnies Part 14

This funny comes from April 2009 during my second year of teaching. (I'm not the only one who writes this stuff down with a date and stuffs it into a folder for future use - right?!)


Anyway, I was teaching a math lesson to my third graders. I asked the class, "How do we figure out the volume of this cube?"


One little boy, without missing a beat, responds, "It doesn't have one to turn up."


I don't think I've ever seen as big of a smile on his face as I did at that moment. Totally priceless and cute! (Why can't I be that quick on my feet?)


Any funnies for me this week?
~HoJo~

Reading Thought Bubbles

Let me start by saying that I get no credit for this idea. Mor over at A Teacher's Treasure is totally the one to thank!


We have a thirty minute intervention reading block at my school each day. During that time nearly half of my class is gone to Title I and special education. That means I get to keep the rest of my little scholars and push them with other reading activities! :)


When school first started I knew I wanted to get them started on different novels, but we hadn't done the official testing yet so I didn't know exactly who were my Title I kiddos and who were not...


In a mild panic, I remembered that Mor had posted about these awhile ago. So I totally went over, printed out her freebie, and had my entire 30 minute block scheduled for six days! =)


Here are how our "thought bubble" posters turned out ---

 

I love these and now we are referencing them during our literature circles and reading workshop! LOVE! Make sure to head over and check out Mor's thought bubbles (which are even more adorable thanks to her student model!) and get your FREE list of what should be inside each bubble.


Thanks, Mor!
~HoJo~

Dictionary Fun and a Thank You Post-It Idea! Plus a Guest Post FREEBIE!

We have been busy as can be in 6th grade this year! We've started working on our CAFE menu (more posts about that and the other resources I'm implementing at a later date!), done a TON of writing, dove right into life science, and are finding out what life was like in the Stone Age. Add in a few specials, grammar, and spelling - and you know how our days look! Oh - we also had a special guest speaker come in. The bottom of this post shows the Post-It thank you we did for her!

 

 

The activity pictured below was one we did to practice dictionary use after learning the Expand Vocabulary strategy of "Use dictionaries, thesauruses and glossaries as tools". I knew my 6th graders understood dictionaries, but I wasn't sure how well. This activity sure gave me a great idea though!

 

 

The students had to complete a sheet finding the words with the most syllables (based on the prompts given). Often, they knew a really long word - but that meant that had to use the guidewords in the dictionary to find it. It also taught them to look for prefixes/suffixes because those words were often longer than the base words!

 

I only gave my 6th graders 15 minutes to complete the ten questions. At that point, they counted up how many syllables they had and we saw who our "winner" was (the person with the most syllables!).

 

 

Here's a closer look at one of the sheets that is included.  

 

You can pick up three different "Dictionary Fun" sheets here for just $2.00 in my TpT store. They work great for centers! I've successfully used them with 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders. The concept was a bit easy for my 6th graders, but it made a great review!

 

 

 

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Make sure to head over to Denise's blog Sunny Days in Second Grade to see my latest guest post. There's a 13 page math FREEBIE in it for you! But hurry - because the offer is only good for one week!

 

 

 

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Finally - I saw this idea from FlapJack's Education Resources last year, and I knew I wanted to try it! Each student's voice is heard and they are all expected to say thanks. Tabitha's example is WAY cuter, so make sure to check it out!

 

 

I think it turned out pretty well! What do you think?

~HoJo~

Friday Funnies Part 13

Thank you to my recent Friday Funnies guest bloggers! I really appreciate hearing what the little darlings say in other people's classrooms. ;)


This week, however, you are back to just little ol' me! =)

This week's Friday Funny is actually something I am saddened to say that I did...


Two years ago, while teaching Kindergarten, we were going through our morning meeting at the SMARTboard like any other morning. We were cruising right along, when one of my little Kinders calmly says, "Miss Whetham, there's a spider on the wall."


Now - I don't mind spiders, but I definitely don't like them. The best spider, in my opinion, is a dead one! I don't jump on a chair or anything - I just want them dead.


So I just did what I would do at home. I calmly took off my shoe, walked over to where the spider was, starting smashing it, and found myself yelling, "DIE, SPIDER! DIE! DIE! DIE!"


I didn't think anything of it, until I turned around. I had some horrified little faces looking up at me. No one cared that I had killed the spider, but I think they were in shock at what I had said! Needless to say, I didn't have any discipline problems that day! ;)



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Looking for older Friday Funnies? Go here!

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That was definitely not one of my classiest days! Do you have any funnies about yourself that you're not the most proud of?
~HoJo~

Matter Vocab Review and Word Search

Time for another short post and freebie!


This is an activity I did back during my first two years of teaching. I'm not a huge word search fan, but I thought this one had a little bit of meat since it also goes through key vocabulary.


While learning about matter, this printable has students review the following terms: gar, liquid, mass, matter, mixture, property, solid, soluation, and volume.

Click on the picture to get your free copy.

Thanks for looking!

~HoJo~

Math Centers! ~Guest Blog from One Class, One Sound~

Hello, blogging friends! My name is Patti and I am the author of One Class, One Sound. I teach 3rd grade in Louisiana. This is my first guest blog post and I could not be happier!!! Heather, aka HoJo, was nice enough to allow me to share on her blog. THANK YOU!!!
 

I hope you enjoy :)

How do you set-up math centers?

I have been teaching for 5 years and last year was the first year I had true success with math centers. They never seemed to work and I quickly gave up. However, I was determined last year to stay consistent and stick it out. This is how my math centers were set-up:

Math by Myself

Included in this center were activities I found online, in activity books, or on TpT. I also included activities to complete with manipulates. 

Partner Math

Again, I found games through the previous mentioned resources. Students found a partner from their predetermined group and worked on a game.

Writing in Math

Students solved Number of the Day and word problems. iPods are also available to watch tutorials and solve problems with the instructor.

Reading in Math

In this center, I included math literature connected to the weekly skill. The students read the story and answered questions. I was fortunate to get a listening center towards the end of the year and will record stories so students can read while listening to the story.

Math Technology

Students first create a word problem involving either addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division (I usually start the year with addition) and post to Kidblog. Then, they access my blog and watch math videos or play math games (through the math and videos tabs).

Math With Interactive White Board (IWB)

Each week I create a new board game to align with the skill. The students play the board game with their group on the Promethean board.

I don't have an assigned "teacher" group. This allows me to pull students from various groups depending on their needs. 

Since you all have been a great audience I have 2 freebies! 

This first one is similar to the board game I use in the Math With IWB center. This board game covers all but 3 of 3rd grade's math CCSS {didn't have room to add 3 more questions :( }

Remember...you must have ActivInspire or ActivStudio to open.

I didn't forget about those that don't have access to a Promethean board. I also created a Jeopardy Power Point with the same 3rd grade math CCSS. 

I would love to hear how you set-up your math centers. Leave a comment and share your ideas.

Stop by my blog to see what else is going on in my class. 

 

 

 

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Thanks so much to Patti for stopping by and sharing here on my blog. I love hearing how others use centers in the classroom! And since I've never done daily math rotations, this was great! Head on over to her blog, start following her, and leave a comment. Thanks, Patti!

 

~HoJo~

Friday Funnies Part 12

This week's Friday Funny comes from Christi at Ms. Fultz's Corner.

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While learning about immigrants in social studies last year, some of my third graders had a little trouble keeping the vocabulary straight. When we reviewed concepts, one student proudly raised her hand to tell me that immigrants are people who move to America from different worlds. Another student immediately chimed in that his ancestors came from Jupiter. I knew it was time to get the maps back out and discuss cities, states, countries, and continents again, but decided to tackle planets a little later in the year. =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~How often have your "kids say the darn-dest things" turned into a moment of reteaching??
~HoJo~

Multiplication Magic Squares with a FREEBIE

I already have my 6th grade students hooked on Magic Squares! You know - the fun puzzles where students get to play a game while actually learning. =) They have already done the multiplication ones. Here they are:

 

It did take us a little while to get the hang of it. Once the students realized the letters had to face the right way and that the square was 4x4 - we were all set!

 

 

I asked the kiddos for some honest feedback, and they said they would love doing Magic Squares again! So I'm going to be creating more of these throughout the year. =)

 

 

Click here or on any of the pictures above to purchase the entire Multiplication Magic Square set. Or - click here - to download the FREEBIE!

 

Want more Magic Squares? Click here to see all of the other ones I have available in my store! I have everything from multiplying decimals, to letter recognition, plural nouns, contractions, color recognition, and more!

 

What do you think of Magic Squares?

~HoJo~

FREE Picture Writing Prompts

 

Having students write daily is important! However, I get tired of having them go through the entire writing process each and every time they write in great detail (they do too!). We don't do extensively edit and review daily in real life, so it's not realistic to make every writing go through all of the steps in great detail. (However, they do the steps on their own in a more basic, simple manner still!)

 

 

With that being said, I wanted my 6th graders to have some fun writing prompts. This group is silly anyway, so I found some pictures that I think will work well for them.

 

 

Since I was compiling some pictures, why not share - right?!

 

 

You can click here or at the picture above to download your free copy of the picture prompts.

 

 

I do have to give credit to a couple of wonderful ladies for inspiring me on this project. Rachel Lynette created an inference Pinterest board this summer that originally sparked this idea. Emma Farrell created a Smile Break Pinterest board that I also fell in love with! Some of these pictures and many more (35 total) are included in this free download.

 

 

Please check out the blogs of the two talented ladies mentioned above!

 

 

How will you use these in your classroom? 
~HoJo~

Friday Funnies Part 11

Here is another awesome guest post from teacher-blogger Caroline from Educator Designs.

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While doing a picture walk in our basal reader, my firsties had identified all the "simple machines" except a bottle opener. I pointed out that "machine" and asked if anyone had seen something like it before. One little boy's hand shot UP and he has major attention issues, so I knew he was eager to share. When I called his name, he said, "Yeah, that's the beer opener!" My teacher instincts kicked in big-time and I just said "Well, yes, sometimes, but that's called a bottle opener."

I shared the story with the child's mother and she said it was all her husband's fault!

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Anyone else had any moments when their "teacher instincts" had to kick in?
~HoJo~

Remembering September 11th

I'm sure you remember exactly where you were when the twin towers were hit. I certainly know I do! However, today's students are often too young to remember what all went on during that day and the months after that. This year I want to do something to help students remember and understand why this day is so special and needs to be respected and honored.

On September 10, my students will receive a homework assignment - to ask their families where they were on 9/11 and their thoughts on that day. This will give me insight into what my students already know, and it will help students who have no/little knowledge get some information before we start our lesson in class.


On September 11, I am going to start by reading 14 Cows for America. Just recently I was introduced to this book by my school's librarian. It's the story of a man who was studying in New York City during the attacks. When he went home, he told his people all that had happened. They then decided to share 14 of their sacred cows with the American people. It shares the true character and kindness that so many people felt or gave during one of our country's most difficult times. I believe it would work well for students grades 2 and up.

I also plan to show a video showing some of what happened that day. Students do not need to see all of the gory details, but I do want them to get a feel for the sadness and loss that was felt. I feel this School Tube video does a good job capturing that.

 

 

 

We will also be showing our appreciation to our local police officers and firemen by writing them letters of appreciation. Events such as 9/11 can happen at any time and place, so I want students to understand how important these people are in our day to day lives.

 

 

If time permits, I want to take my students to this website - Heroes of Ground Zero. It has a wonderful timeline and interviews from several firefighters. I will also include a link on my classroom blog and wiki so parents can go through this event in more detail with their child.

 

 

Silly me waited until the last minute to order several September 11 books, but I'm hoping they arrive in time. If not - it'll be great to showcase them a few days later and remind the students that events like this are with us forever, not just one day a year.

 

 

 

 

While looking online for various activities to do with my students, I found a lot of great ideas! I don't have time to incorporate all of them, but maybe they will be helpful to you:

• Reader's Theatre (6.2 Readability)
• Remember Pencil Flag
• September 11 Through Children's Eyes
• Scholastic September 11 Articles

 

And if you still want more great ideas (particularly ideas for the K-3 crowd!), check out this awesome linky party that is going on over at Erica Bohrer's First Grade blog!

 

 

How will you help your students understand September 11?

~HoJo~

FREE Birthday Poster

Some people believe upper elementary classrooms don't need to have all of the same elements as the lower grades. And while that can be true, there are some things I'm not willing to give up! For example, I want to post my students' birthdays somewhere in the classroom. But - I don't need a huge poster or graph to do it.


That's what I've created this small, FREE birthday poster. Click on the picture below to get your copy! You can print it off and write in your birthdays each year or just laminate it the first time and you're set for years to come!

 

I hope you enjoy!

~HoJo~

Number 1-25 Fill In FREEBIE

Here's another short post and FREEBIE for you. This is a short assessment I used for my Kinders a couple years back. I've included four different sheets for you to assess whether or not your students can correctly write numbers 1-25 in order.


Click on the picture to get your free copy.

Enjoy!
~HoJo~

Magic Squares - Fun & Freebies!

I love Magic Squares! Have I said that before?! Any time kids can review skills in a fun, game-like way - it's a winner, right?


Magic Squares have been successfully used by four to twelve year olds that I've worked with. (Granted the 4-year-old needed more help than the rest.)


Here's a couple pictures of my niece enjoying Magic Squares during our last visit. She is going into 2nd grade and she absolutely loved them!

This first one had her practice matching the correct number of dots with the word representing that number.

In this Magic Square my little cutie is working on compound words.

 

Now for the fun, FREE part! I currently have 20 Magic Squares available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. They include a variety of topics and grade levels from PreK-6th grade. (Click on the links above and then use the left-hand tool bars to search by grade level and price.)


There are several free Magic Squares offered in my store, but I will also be giving away an exclusive freebie tomorrow over at Tales from Outside the Classroom! Tessa is celebrating 700 followers with a big giveaway! Check out her blog on Sunday, September 2nd to get the freebie below from me and probably a couple others! (Actually, go there today too! She is giving away freebies for a few days!)


Here's the exclusive freebie I am talking about! You have to go to Tales from Outside the Classroom on Sunday, September 2nd to get your copy! It will be there for roughly 24 hours only - so don't miss out!!

 

Thank you to all those who took the time to visit from Tessa's blog! I hope you'll start following me if you weren't already. =)

 

~HoJo~