Have you and your students had fun with the   PhotobombGenerator ?

  http://photobombgenerator.com/

Do you know what a photobomb is? According to Google.....

pho·to·bomb

ˈfōtōˌbäm/

verb

informal

1. 1.

   spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by suddenly appearing in the camera's field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke.

                          ...and it is fun!

  

Have you ever taken a photo and something is there that shouldn't be?Well now the kids can 

do this on purpose and write a story about it! We took our photo booth photos from

Valentine's Day and created surprise visitors in them. Next week the kids are going to be

writing about their 'new friend'!

                               Our Common Core Objectives

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.A
Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.B
Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.C
Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

Are you looking for ways for your students to practice skills to get ready for the MAP test? Here are some great sights.  

Thank you to all the people who put them together for the success of the students. We all know it takes a lot of work and time to do this! 


A wonderful sight for Communication Arts and Math. Thank you Sikeston District.

http://www.sikeston.k12.mo.us/skelso/Homepage/Default%20Page/writing_a_friendly_letter_review.htm


This is super! Each heading is broken down into sub headings 
Example: Literature is broken down into 33 skills-Wow  Thank you Sowasho District.

http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/reading.htm


This is awesome-just check it out! Thank you Lee Summit District.

http://www.leesummit.k12.mo.us/resources/commartsresources/camaphelp.htm

I have been using Daily 5 (The Sisters) for a while . I really like Daily 5™, CAFE™, and all the help that Gail and Joan have given us over the years. My struggle this past year has been the amount of students I have in the centers. 

Students spend most of their time READING to themselves, READING with others, and listening to fluent and expressive READING through the i-pads and CD's!  But with a large classroom of students, there can be 6 in a center! This can be a disaster. 

I am trying to decide if I should break the 5 into 7 centers, or will that be more of a disaster? This is what I am going to try after Spring Break:

I have always grouped my students by reading level, but I pull strategy groups as well as reading level groups. I use the Writing and Word Zone to brush up on some of the skills I see the students not proficient with (In Writing, that may be a friendly letter. In Word Zone, that may be similes) 

I'll let you all know how it goes! If you have experienced this e-mail me and let me know what you tried!

daily5daily5daily5dailydaily5daily5dailydaily5daily5daily5dailydaily5daily5dailydaily5daily5daily

I am crossing my fingers and hope I can go...!

St. Louis, MO - The 2 Sisters' Workshops

Saturday, May 17 to Sunday, May 18, 2014

daily5daily5daily5dailydaily5daily5dailydaily5daily5daily5dailydaily5daily5dailydaily5daily5daily

BIRTHDAY BOTTLES

Every year I want to do something special for my students on their birthday. A few years ago I saw an idea and revised it a little. I started saving water and sports bottles, at Easter time I bought LOTS of grass, and during the early summer I started making a weekly trip to the Dollar Store. I probably spent total $15.00 to make about 30 bottles!

In each birthday bottle I put in a glitter pencil, a highlighter, a little party toy of some sort, a couple of erasers, a Mardi Gras beaded necklace, a free homework pass (rolled up with a ribbon) and the Easter grass. I used packaging tape to attach the outside label on the bottle. I store them in a box at school so they are there for the kids birthday's!  I enjoy making them during the summer and it is one less thing I have to worry about during the year! (And the best thing is....the kids really like them!)

I have attached the bottle labels and the free homework pass below. Have fun making them!

 

      An Online Timer- The Swim Meet

If you like to use a timer, I have a fun one for you! Set the timer, let it count down, and when the time is up you have a winner!

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/world-games-swimming/

Spelling...........

                                                               

                                  

                        

Okay, okay...if you counted them, you are correct...

I only have 37!

                          Happy Spring!

I just heard that  tomorrrow in St. Louis is suppose to be 68 degrees and Friday 70! It is hard to think that 2 weeks ago we had a snow day!

Conversion Chart and Guided Reading

          and a bonus:  Benchmark Reading Levels and Marking Period Assessments 

                                                     for 5 months of the year.

I like this conversion chart because it overlaps reading levels with grade levels. 

How do I use it you ask? After I have done running records, fluency checks, STAR testing, DRA reading, and Acuity testing (wow) I pretty much know where each of my children belong on the conversion chart and also strategy groups for Guided Reading and Small Group Instruction.

The Eight Components of Guided Reading (2010) align with the key tenets of the Common Core State Standards:

1. Complex, high level reading comprehension is the goal of guided reading instruction.
2. Guided reading centers on a sequence of high quality texts that support individual progress on a scale of spiraling text difficulty.
3. Guided reading lessons increase the volume of independent reading that students do; the goal always is confident, capable independent readers.
4. Guided reading provides explicit instruction in accurate, fluent reading.
5. Guiding reading lessons provide daily opportunities to expand academic vocabulary through reading, writing, conversation, and explicit instruction.
6. Guided reading lessons include teaching that expands students' ability to apply the concepts of print, phonological awareness, access to rich vocabulary, and accurate, fluent reading to the processing of print.
7. Guided reading lessons invite students to write about reading.
8. Guided reading lessons create engagement in and motivation for reading.

                                                                                       --Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell 

This link goes to 

Teachers College Reading and Writing Project 

Benchmark Reading Levels and Marking Period Assessments 

This is a fantastic chart-

I can't post it here, you have to go there!! BUT...

it walks you through where every student should be in

SEPTEMBER, NOVEMBER ,JANUARY, MARCH ,and JUNE

so cool!

http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/benchmarks/Independent_Reading_Level_Benchmarks_2012.pdf

For example:  In September my 4th Grade students:

                                            

                                                                        1=M or below (avg. J)                       

                                                                        2=N/O (avg. N) 

                                                                        3=P/Q (avg. P) 

                                                                        4=R or above

                                                                       

              Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: 

                        An African Tale

Manyara and Nyasha are two beautiful daughters, but Manyara is cruel and vain while Nyasha is loving and selfless. One day they learn the king seeks a wife, and though Manyara is determined to be queen, she is revealed to be a selfish person, while Nyasha proves herself worthy of the throne.

I read Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters to my fourth graders not only as a comparison to Cinderella, but also as character studies. They really enjoyed the book; getting into the characters, voicing their opinions as I read, and  predicting different scenarios. We talked about kindness and relationships. This was a great lesson! 

I put the book into our classroom library and I brought out a puppet I had made of Nyasha. I really thought the kids would make comments that they were too old for puppets-but I noticed that they would lay on their tummy's with pillows and puppet near them, and read to each other! Just proves-you are never to old!

Glue Labels

Does this drive any other teacher crazy...at the end of the day you go over and see glue bottles on their sides with rivers of glue coming out? AHHHHHH! That's it! I made these and explained to the kids MY problem---wasted glue and neatness-and they have taken it seriously! Anytime of the day you will always see our glue bottles up and glue stick caps attached! I love my kids!

Assignment Notebooks

Our assignment notebook is a great organizational tool! In fourth grade, students are learning to become responsible for their own work to and from school. The notebook helps the parents help their child. We fill it out at the end of the day (most of my students fill it out as we go throughout the day) and when they get home a parent checks the notebook to see what homework needs to be done. I don't request the parents sign the notebook, but many do. 

The assignment notebook helps the students prepare for middle and high school. They are in the beginning stages of time management.  I have had many parents tell me they really like the notebooks. It also provides me with an area for 'conduct'. I put good notes here as well as concerns.

In the past, I ran off the pages and stapled them like a book. This quarter I am getting them bound! Awesome!!!!

Sensory Details

The use of the five senses is fundamental to children’s understanding of how write with details and serve as the simplest way to introduce kids to elaboration. We are on Spring Break right now, but when we return the students will be working on using sensory details. 

This is an example of a project they will be doing. After reading a leveled book, the students will write about what the main character would hear, touch, see, smell, and taste. We attached the details to the puppet with ribbon. The puppet slides into the     paper bag that has the setting of the story on the  front.                                                         
We did this last year and the kids had a blast!