Apples, iPads and TV's, Oh My!

Our school purchased a handful of iPad's to see how we can start incorporating them into the classrooms.  There are only 3 so far,  and as of right now we are limited to using free apps, once they have been approved for download, so it's harder to come up with creative ideas for the students. 

Even better than iPads for the school, is the news that I have gotten approval to try a pilot program in my room using the Apple TV and a permanently mounted flat screen television.  No more checking to see if the projector is available during the lesson I want to use it for... no more dragging out the projector and hooking it up to the laptop... no more wires strewn across the room... no more panic attacks as a child skips over the power cords.  Can it really be THIS easy?  I certainly hope so.  I have all of the gadgets, now I just need to wait for the TV to be mounted so that I can start using it! 

Anyone else using an Apple TV or iPads in their classroom?  I'd love to hear any suggestions on using them with the class!

Digging in the Dictionary

Many of my students have been playing Boggle as part of their Word Work and with the incentive of a homework pass for anyone who can beat my Boggle score on a board, they have been working hard to find as many words as possible.  I've also been getting a lot of "Is this word spelled right?" at the end of every Daily 5 round.  Enter, the dictionary!  Some of the kids have been using it fairly well, although when they look up toward and try to start with 'tw', the frustration sets in quickly.  So, we are taking the week as a class to work on some dictionary skills.  I figure this worksheet will be a great filler activity for those students who are waiting for a teacher conference on their Personal Narratives!  I put it up on my TpT site in case it may be helpful to anyone else!  It is two pages and covers 4 a few different skills students use when looking up words.

Simple Machines

We have been working on a simple machines unit, and so far we have learned about all of the simple machines.  We looked at one simple machine each day, reading a short book and then doing some hands on exploration.  Lastly, the students filled in a graphic organizer to help them remember what each simple machine does.  We will be working on the Edheads website this week, and students will need to track their progress as they work through the games.

Mapping Skills

As part of our unit on mapping, the students had to work with a partner to create a map of the first floor of our school.  They were given a rubric to help them with remembering all of the parts they needed to include on their map.  Once the maps were complete, they had to write out a specific set of directions to tell someone how to get from one location on the map to another.  We then collected and redistributed all of the maps and students got to follow their new directions using their new map.  Once they arrived at what they thought was the final destination, they wrote it on a sticky note.  Then they wrote out "A Wish and a Star" (something they are familiar with from peer editing in Writer's Workshop)... something they wish the other group had done better, and a star for something they really liked.  The groups then got their original map back, along with the feedback.  Only about half of the groups were able to find the correct destination, which the kids were shocked about!  Here are a few of the maps and directions, along with the rubric they used.

 

 

Third Grade Tweets

My third graders were excited when I posted my Third Grade Tweets door for them to write on.  Each child has their own tweet board that I wrote their name on, and there is a card that tells them the "tweet topic of the day'.  I will probably change the topic once a week for the kids.  I have posted the different papers as a freebie on my TpT store, and also included a header for fourth and fifth grades.

Me On A Map

We have been doing a mini unit to review maps and map skills.  The students created their own poster to show where they are on a map, including themselves, their street, town, state, country, continent and planet.  They also created a world map labeling the continents.  We took each child's picture with them pretending to hold up the world and added that to their posters.  The final products turned out nicely, and were something the kids said they wanted their parents to look at during Back to School Night.  I put the templates up as a freebie on TpT.

Mad Libs

We are reviewing sentences and parts of speech this week, and what better way to do that than with some Mad Libs!  I always love seeing the silly outcomes, but it is so hard to be creative when the story is right there in front of you.  So, I created my own set of four, school-themed Mad Libs (Lunch Time, In the Library, Time for Recess, and Substitute Teacher) and made separate recording sheets for the kids to fill in before they write the answers into their stories.  I can check their understanding of the parts of speech that way, too.  I'm looking forward to their silly stories!  You can find all four stories with the recording sheets on my TpT store.

Dodecahedrons

It has been a busy first week of school.  After just 6 days, it already feels like we are well into the swing of things.  We spent some time doing 'get to know you' activities, including creating group dodecahedrons.  The kids had fun trying to figure out THAT word, especially when I wrote it in cursive for them!

Students worked together in groups of 4 to complete one dodecahedron.  First, each group worked together to complete the 4 sides with questions.  Then, each child in the group completed two sides independently (one with their name/picture, and one about what makes them unique).  Each group ended up with a total of 12 sides.

Once all of the sides were completed, students worked together to cut out the circles, and fold on the lines with the tabs being folded up.  Some students found that they were better cutters, and others were better at folding, so they had little production lines set up.  Once they had all of the sides folded, I went around and stapled the tabs together to create the 3 dimensional shape.

The day after I hung them up, two of my students were doing read to someone and reading a fact book about insects.  It was an interesting conversation to listen to as one of them realized that the compound eyes of the dragonfly looked similar to our dodecahedrons.

If you would like a copy of the dodecahedron, you can find it on my TpT store.

Writing Process

Monday we are introducing the writing process, so I created a poster outlining the steps of the writing process.  I also made a b&w version for the students to keep in their writing binder, and a tracking sheet where they can document what they are accomplishing each day.  I also created an I Pick poster since we are introducing that during Daily 5.  Both of these resources are available on my TpT store.

Classroom Tour

Whew.  The room is finally done!  Well, I suppose you're never really done, but it's close enough that I'm not going back in to school until our professional day on Tuesday.  I still have a few things to label for the students and I'm sure I missed a few things that I won't realize until the students arrive, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the room for now.  So here are a few photos of the room setup:

 

View of the classroom as you walk in the door by my desk.  The doors to the other 3rd grade classroom (with the F and E on them) are open.

 Starting to the right of the top photo and working counter clockwise around the room... the view of my desk and the CAFE board.

Computer table and a bulletin board which will be used to display student writing.  Right behind this center is an island of student cubbies which also serves as a divider between the computers and the classroom library area.

 Classroom library... I had a hard time deciding how to organize books.  It was much easier working by theme in Kindergarten!  The small baskets are all series books, large tubs are picture books (fiction and non-fiction) and reference books.  The middle shelf on the left favorite authors, and the middle shelf on the right is random chapter books alphabetically by author.  You can just see to the right of the shelves the two balance disks which children can use on the floor or at their seats, and there is also one of those sitting pillows.

 Still moving counter clockwise, there is a student table on the back wall, and then my kidney table area.  There are two student swivel chairs, and two balance balls which the kids can pull over.  I have them sitting on upside down frisbees so they don't roll away!  I put felt on the frisbees so they wouldn't scratch up the floors.

 This wall is all of the student supplies.  Mostly math supplies in the two rolling carts, my word work bin, bins of math games in folders to go with the Everyday Math program etc.  I love having everything labeled so that the kids know where it goes!  The two bulletin boards here will be for "Wonderous Words" and something else that we are working on in science or social studies.

 And, the Boggle Board!  I stapled magnets to the bulletin board and then put magnets on all of the letters.  I used the business card magnets since they are flat.  Those rolls of magnets drive me crazy when they curl up!  The little tub on the bottom is a thin plastic container I found at Target last spring.  It is flimsy enough that I could staple it to the board, but sturdy enough to hold all of the letters.  Perfect!

 Just to the left of the Boggle Board is my common core "I Can" posters.  I will put the standards we are working on to the front.

 This is a shot from the kidney table looking towards the front of the room.  There is a second classroom door next to the I Can posters.

 

Next is the classroom jobs and attendance chart.  Students put their daily folders and agendas in the basket each morning.

 

 The front wall and rug area.  My crates sort of blend in since they are so dark in the picture, but I really like the way they turned out!

 And a close up of my little owls.  I love them!  I can clip in new table names on the bottoms to match something we are doing in class.  If we are studying synonyms, I might choose 4 synonyms for the word great to name the tables (awesome table, super table etc.)  When we study explorers or countries, I might change them to reflect those topics.

 I love this storage "cube".  Each side is a different material... whiteboard, chalkboard, felt board and cork board.  The magnetic side faces the door and has magnets for the kids to sign out if they are leaving the room.  This side is my "Ambitious Aces" information (based on the Mastery Club that is making the rounds online).

And, that's the end.  I hope you enjoyed the tour!

CAFE Board

I put together a set of CAFE headers, with all of the strategies for my new classroom, which I have available on TpT. I've included the CAFE letters, the headers with their descriptions, and all of the strategies, some of which can be seen in the image below. Also included in the file, but not shown in the picture, are blank sheets where students can put their sticky notes to show which strategy they're working on. I was planning to use them, but I am doing daily five with the other third-grade teacher, and we are having all the students put their sticky notes on the board in her room. The signs that you can see on the bulletin board are available in my daily five download.

Daily 5 - Center Management

I needed a matching sign for my Daily 5 centers for a 6th choice - Work With Teacher, and of course I couldn't find anything... so, what was left to do but create my own new set!  So, here it is... my Daily 5 Center Management packet.  6 posters, small cards for students to keep track of their centers (see photo below), teacher check in sheets, and a sheet for conference an observation notes.  You can download the Daily 5 Center Management packet on my Teachers Notebook store.

Common Core "I Can" Posters

I finally got the entire set of my common core "I can" posters printed, put into plastic sleeves and hung on the wall.  I will be referencing them for the students as we cover the standards, and this way I can put what we are working on for each subject/strand in the front.  I'm not sure I like the way they hang at an angle (or the fact that my hooks aren't quite even), but there is too much left to do before the start of the year to go back and fix it now.  If you are looking for a set of I can posters, I have both the ELA standards and Math standards for sale on my TpT site.  The ELA standards include the New York state recommended additions, but if you don't need them you can take them out.

 

Here are a few sample pages from the posters, including the title page, the key to the icons assigned to the different strands, and samples of the posters.