Sunday Scoop: 3.22.15

I decided to add my scoop to the Teaching Trio's Linky..

Hope that you all have a fabulous week ahead of you!!

Thanks for stopping by!

*Steph*

Five for Friday: March 20

I got a little more techy this week!

I have started using Reflector in my room a lot more. It has been an easier way (less prep than making flipcharts) to go over different worksheets/activities/homework with my kids. It also lets me be mobile in the room, unlike having to be standing at the Promethean board to annotate.  

I also let my kids use QR codes to check their work. 

This is a great setup by Katie May on TPT. 

I like that the answers are on a separate sheet. My kids had to do all the problems, check with me, and then receive the answer key.

We also did the Taxation w/out Representation role play by Young Teacher Love.

It was awesome!!!

This colonist is sad because she has no more jelly beans to pay.

My principal came in as the "Queen of England."

The little piggy in the blue in the front loudly asked "Can we start the war now?!" 

I also was close to getting pummeled by some plastic cups, since I was one of the Tax Collectors. 

Ha Ha! It was a great representation of the unfair taxes and definitely got their blood running.

My hubby was super sweet to me and made this DELICIOUS chicken for me since I was craving it yesterday. 

Check out the recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon-Butter Sauce

Instagram teaser:

I did a reveal with my students today! They were so excited to find out.

We took them outside, had them choose which side to stand based on their guess, and then I cut open the top to release the balloons!

Instagram Reveal:

Big sister holding a new dress for her little sister!!

We are pretty excited! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

*Steph*

Random Problem Check: Spark Student Motivation

I used an awesome freebie this week in teaching metric system conversion! Another plus was that it made our first day back from Spring Break a happy, non-stressful day!

I'm also linking up with Joanne! 

(Yea, yea. I know it's not Saturday, but oh well!)

My coworker, with the advanced  group, said that her kids had a hard time with it for some reason. Because of that and the difficulty they had with multiplying and dividing by 10 at the beginning of the year, I looked at what I could use to pre teach before our program lesson. I planned to start with the metric video from Brainpop.com. Then I found this measure conversion chart by Too Tired to Teach and it helped drive my lesson.

There are a couple of different mnemonics used to remember the most commonly used metric prefixes, but my favorite is

King Henry Died Unexpectedly Drinking Chocolate Milk

This freebie is slightly different using By instead of Unexpectedly, but the kids went with it.

If I had been really thinking about it, I would have dressed in black and treated the beginning of the lesson as a funeral, complete with chocolate milk as a refreshment. :)

We reviewed what each letter stood for and what each prefix means. Then we went right into how to use the mnemonic to help them convert. The chart has a great example that we walked through together. I had found a worksheet site that quickly created some conversion worksheets for me. (I already forgot which one it was. Oops.) 

I would write the problem on the board that we were going over. I was also very specific as to what they should be doing. We put our finger on the label we were starting at. We then decided if we had to move right or left to get to the label we needed. They showed me this by pointing either right or left. 

After we knew which direction we were headed, we counted how many "jumps" it took to get from our starting point to ending point. Students showed me on their fingers how many jumps it would take.

The next part was showing their work. They put their pencil wherever the decimal in the the starting number was. That meant that if the number didn't show a decimal, it was after the last digit. They then had to "jump" as many digits as they had to "jump" on their chart with their finger in the direction we had decided. If they didn't have enough digits, they had to add 0's so they could make their jump. I was very specific that I must see these jumps on their worksheet, even if they thought they could do it in their head. Lastly, they rewrote their new number next to their new label.

I was so excited that there were only a few students that seemed utterly confused by this. I took the last 5 minutes and had students work on finishing the worksheet independently. I told them that after the 5 minutes, I would call out some random problems that could be worth some treats. I figured that most off the students should be able to finish easily. While they were working, I worked with the few that were confused. What I noticed was that they seemed to be the only students who didn't go through the problems with us actually showing their work. Once I had them do that, the lightbulbs clicked!

At the end of the 5 minutes, I chose 3 problems. If a student got it correct, they lined up with their worksheet and received a couple of M&Ms. I'm not sure if it was giving them a specific amount of work time with a countdown clock or the chocolate, but I really liked that they didn't know which problems I was going to check. It also proved a point to a few of the students who dilly-dallied and didn't finished due to their choices. 

Spark Student Motivation: Foam Dice

Two days in a row! Wow! I'm impressed with myself :)

I'm linking up with 

I don't have a great picture of it but this is what I have...

We don't have a Dollar Store/Dollar Tree here in AK. We have a couple of wannabe dollar stores but they are not even close to what I grew up with. It makes me sad. :(

Fortunately, I hit it up when I visit family on the Outside (lower 48). This last summer, I found some awesome large foam dice. I bought quite a few pairs and brought them home with me. 

We don't use them a lot, but the kids love when we do! 

It makes the dice "special" and a privilege to use. It also makes me happy because they are not easy to lose on the floor and they don't make noise when being rolled. :) 

The large foam dice are a *win*win* in my room!

*Steph*

Back in the Groove…Hopefully (Five for Friday)

Time to get back in the groove!! I'm hoping to be able to post 1-2 times a week, we'll see how it goes! Spring fever is hitting here as we near Spring Break and we have had lovely weather while the rest of the country freezes. 

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs to help me get back in the habit to share random little bits about my life with you!

I was able to attend the ASTE 2015 (Alaska Society for Technology in Education) conference in Anchorage on Monday and Tuesday. It was pretty cool, yet overwhelming, to be surrounded by so much possibility! A lot of the sessions I ended up going to seemed to be geared more toward high school/middle school, but I can definitely see the possibility for my 5th graders. It makes me excited and hope that I can try a few new things just before Spring Break.

 Who wouldn't want to play an arctic fox?! There is a new video game out that has educational value! Never Alone was created to integrate information about the Native Alaskan Inupiaq culture into it. They are also in the process of creating games along the same line with other cultures around the world.

My first thought was Sheldon! Ha Ha. (Any Big Bang Theory fans?)

This is a real robot that students can use to "attend" school and still participate if they are homebound. Seriously cool! 

We used The Brown Bag Teacher's Main Idea Comprehension Passages: Animals & Habitats, which are meant for primary students today and I loved it! I have intervention 5th graders for reading, ranging from the really low to the just below grade level. This was great so that every could read the short passage on their own. We practiced highlighting and citing direct text evidence. 

Our state just switched over to new standards (not Common Core but only 7% off) and new state tests. We haven't had much, if any training on what to expect. Kind of scary! This was a great way to introduce/practice specific skills to meet their standard, but still not overload them with too much.

I love our lunch lady's door! 

She is super happy, which is a change from last year's lunch lady, and is always decorating for the season/holiday.

I love my little girl! 

Don't look at the background too close but this her first time completely dressing herself.

Her shirt is on backwards, it should have a bunch of strawberries.

She is wearing two skirts, a black one and a blue one.

:)

Enjoying the last of February with a moose. Kasila loved it! 

The next day she asked me where the moose was. 

I told her I didn't know.

Her response, "Go find moose."

Finally, the main reason I've been MIA…

Baby #2 is on it's way! 

Due Aug. 3

That is a Happy news! and news…for a teacher. 

It's going to be an interesting start to the year as I'm planning on taking off the 1st quarter and we've had a horrible time finding subs this year. Also, we are going to be having a new 5th grade team teacher as one is moving away a Tennessee. (If you have any connections, I'd love to share those with her!) 

I got a horrible cold and took a long time to recover and just the normal tired feeling. I've had to start staying away from dairy again. Also, because I started feeling nauseous more after 12 weeks, I have to be careful with sugars. Overall, it's totally worth it! We will hopefully be able to find out if this is a little boy or girl on March 13! 

Hope you all are having a fabulous start to your weekend!!

*Steph*

Piggy Valentines

I have been pretty M.I.A for the past couple of months. I will try to be back more often!

 Until I have time for a longer update, here are some pig valentines I made with some free clipart/graphics.

The clipart is from mycutegraphics.com and the background is from  Teresa Lewis @ TPT.

 I'm not pro at creating things but thought I'd try it out. I hope the link works!

(If there's a copyright infringement, let me know please! I'm not sure how that specifically works.)

Valentines…Piggy Edition

*Steph*

Wordless Wednesday: Independent Work

Do you let kids move around the room when working individually? 

I've let my students try it out "on probation." 

I think that I make color code my kids and then each day will be a certain color's day to move out of their seat.

*Steph*