I'm Back

            Today I decided to pick up my pen and write a blog post.  Oh, I’ve written about ten this summer-all in my head!  You know how summer is, run around, do things, relax, try not to think of school, think of school CONSTANTLY, and avoid it like the plague, all at once!  I have thought and thought about what to write, have dozens of ideas, and get side tracked by family and fun.  This summer fun included something I’ve haven’t done in year, and something simply for me-sewing.  I have currently created 4 skirts, 1 shirt, 1pair of pants, and one dress.  Up on deck-1 jacket, 1 skirt, and 4 dresses!  Will I be finished before August 12^th-yes!  That’s my goal!  My first official day back is August 12^th, so I better get going on some blogging!  As you can see though, there is now some fun and beneficial competition for my time!  (And my wardrobe is going to be awesome!)

            First, I’d like to share that I am going to be moving to first grade.  Wow, there it is.  There has been a part of me who doesn’t want to share that yet, or make it official.  I didn’t ask for the move, but part of me is very grateful.  I have taught it for one year and I don’t feel like I’ve completed that cycle in my career.  I don’t think I’ve finished my fourth grade cycle either.  To be honest, I was just getting my grove on!  I have figured things out and had gotten a game plan together.  My test scores came in in a BIG positive, and I’m grateful for that.  And, at the same time, I’m very grateful not to have to have that pressure again this year.  It is a LOT of pressure.  I also wasn’t thrilled about teaching to the test. Yes, let’s just put that out there.  We, as a society, are definitely teaching children simply to take the test.  I swore I wouldn’t do it, that it mattered more for kids to learn simply to know and have knowledge.  To push them further than what was needed to pass a test.  I can now tell you that is an impossible feat in todays education game.  What matters to everyone is how they score, what that means for the school and the district and the state.  That is a sad reality of today.  So, to be honest, I’m not sad about stepping out of that.  What I am sad about is that I don’t get to test run great products that I have developed for next year.  I’ll share more on that in a moment.  What it does mean is that I get more opportunity to create great things that I’ll leave up to my now Book Buddy teaching partner, Lisa!  I’ll just get her to do the hard stuff, take some pics for me to post, and go from there!  Thanks Lisa!

            Now, let’s talk reality!  This year Florida will be getting on the bandwagon with Common Core writing activities and testing.  They recently released their Test Specification.  If you are from Florida and haven’t viewed them yet, you MUST!  You want to know the secret to knowing what to teach, you have to go there, get them, and study them!  Here’s the bad news-there is no rubric yet!  That’s right!  They have no idea how they are going to grade these.  I would suggest looking at Utah-click here-because we bought $5million dollars worth of their test data bank!  Anyways, back to Common Core and the writing tests that goes with them.  Here is what I noticed when I checked each one-Smart Balance, PARCC, and AIR (FL consortium).  They ALL have 3 reading parts to them.  Now this can vary.  What this means is that it can be two readings and a video or three straight out reading pieces.  This means that you can have informational pieces or narrative pieces that kids have to read.  They ALL require kids to take notes.  While they are reading, they have to gather information.  From what I’ve seen, this is done in the computer-based activity.  Read and type at the same time. (Holy Cow right!)  They ALL have write for information or opinion writing.  Notice there wasn’t any narrative.  I haven’t seen a testing sample of a narrative prompt yet.  This, I believe, is expected to be mastered and perfected before 4^th grade (GULP for me!) and they want the students from 4^th grade and up to be growing and mastering opinion and informational writing.  When we look at what is expected in the higher grades, this makes sense.   But, again, WOW!  They ALL are timed, yet not!  That seems weird, I know, but that’s what I’ve discovered.  The time expected on these seems to be around 70 minutes, but some say that kids can take more time than that.  This seems open ended.  (There is no indication on FL time amount yet.)  They ALL focus on content, organization, and grammar/spelling.  This is an all-encompassing assessment.  The rubrics I’ve looked at are heavier on the first two, but the convention piece is still a key component to the work! 

            So, where am I going with this?  Creating opportunities to practice this form of writing is key to generating successful writers!  And, how do we do that-by creating products that can help.  That’s the other part of my summer!  I’ve been busy writing in a different format, and I LOVE it!  I mean the writing is fun and informative to me as the writer.  Plus, I get to make them available to you as a buyer too!  Here is what I have currently available in my TPT store to help you out. 

Back-To-School Pretest:  This product is created to help you get a good handle on how the students perform in the area of writing to inform.  The reading is super easy-they range from a 2^nd grade reading level to the beginning of 4^th grade.  The idea is to see if they can take notes, synthesis the information, and create a writing piece-and it’s FREE!!! 

My Super Hero is Super:  This product is designed to practice the skills necessary to be successful in the area of opinion writing.  Plus, there is a fun craftivity to go with it!  They read a piece called What Makes a Hero, watch a video on the Hero’s Journey Myth, and hear a super hero story.  They are responsible for taking notes and then, here comes the fun part, make that super hero AND a comic to go with it!  They then write an opinion piece proving their super hero IS super!  (I will be doing a blog post to share the process with pics too!)

What is a Prairie?:  This product correlates to the Florida Standards Assessment and is a companion piece to A Land Remembered.  (If you don’t use this book to teach Florida History, you are missing out!)  Students need to understand the prairie that Tobias and Zec are traveling on.  This three-piece reading and writing activity will build background and allow for students to practice the important steps needed for the writing FSA in the spring! 

So, you can see, I’ve been busy!  I am working on two more right now-Interesting Animals-an opinion writing activity and Pioneer Women of Florida-a write to inform piece that goes with A Land Remembered as well.  Tons of ideas are floating around in my head, and I’d love to hear what you might need too!  So, leave a comment if you are interested in have a product created that might fit your, and other’s, needs!

The Project that I Love-2013/2014 Version!

     I have to admit, I LOVE my Native American Mall project!  It is so much fun for the kids and for me.  I am always amazed at what they produce. Here's what this year's kids made for the tribes found in Florida.

These are from my teaching partner's class.

And this is how it looks when I put it together in my hall!

Like I said, I just love this project!  We will be working on Explorers next.  I've cooked up a little Venn Diagram activity that includes a timeline along with it!  I can't wait to get the kids involved in it!  In the meantime, here is the link to the Native American Mall project! 

Florida Government Project

          

           I LOVE it!  The craziness of a moments thoughts coming to life in the form of the very project I imagined!  I have been working like crazy on the government project and finally got a chance to put it together and make it come alive!  Here we go!

            First, I printed everything.  When I print for the kids, there will be a few things to consider.  As you can see, I printed everything in black and white.  I will be printing the covers in color when we make them in class.  Another thing to consider is if you want the pages to be all white or if you want to add a little color.  I think I am going to add some color.  Blue and green will look great with the orange background.  I picked orange due to the fact that, well, if Florida were a color, it would be orange!  Oranges, orange juice, Tropicana-it’s what I think of when I think of Florida. So, orange it is.  One other thing to consider when printing is how many you will need for your class.  For instance, the local government foldable is one you can save copies on.  Students need 3 boxes, so the second page can be reproduced fewer times, as students would only need one box from that page.  Also, if you do any of the activities, such as the Venn diagram, cooperatively, that means fewer copies!

            Then, I cut like crazy.  I think I will have the kids do the same thing, cut out everything first.  I plan to have them place it in a zip lock with their names on it.  I also think I will collect everything each day to keep it safe.  I can see how they would be able to loose pieces in their desks if I don’t! 

Also, there’s gluing!  You will need two pieces of construction paper to glue together.  I crossed over about a ¼ of an inch.  Because I was in a hurry, I didn’t let everything dry thoroughly. 

Then I folded in one end to meet the middle of the paper.  For kids, point to the fact that this is where the crossover happens. 

Then you fold with the other end. 

This is where it gets fun. The front cover should be separated on the dotted line down the middle of the page.   Glue one side down, being sure that it is right on the edge of the opening.  Then glue the second page on, repeating the same process.  This allows the cover to look like one piece when closed, yet still allow it to open up for viewing.

Once you glue that together, you can glue together the other pieces.  Below are pictures of how to glue together the “How the Bill Becomes Law” and “What Citizens Can Do!” foldable. 

Put the glue on the tab for the “How a Bill Becomes Law” foldable.  Glue that behind the first piece of the foldable to make one long strip.  Then, when it is dry, fold the paper in a fan fashion on the dotted lines.  The tab that says glue down will hold the foldable in place. 

For the “What Citizens Can Do!” foldable, fold the “glue here” tab into the foldable.  Put glue on the tab and then connect it to the second piece.  This will allow the foldable to be one long piece.  Glue the last part to the folder.  Students can actually write on either side of the foldable. 

This is the vocabulary foldable.  Cut out the rectangle out and fold down the middle of the piece.  Once this is done, cut along the dotted lines to make the flaps that flip up.  This gets glued down on the side that is marked in the document. 

The 3 Branches of Government section is made in a similar fashion to a match book.  Cut out the rectangle boxes.  Fold the box on the line.  

This will create the catch part of the matchbox.  Then take the bottom of the rectangle and match it to the fold line UNDER the title and crease the area to make the rest of the matchbox shape.  You will glue the back of the matchbox to the folder. 

One tougher foldable to do is the “Local Government” foldable.  It is a four-corners foldable.  Cut out the squares.  Then take a corner and meet it to the middle.  Crease the fold.  Move on to each corner until all 4 are creased.  The idea was to have the dotted lines on the INSIDE so that they students had an area to write the 4 facts they need to report on in that portion of the activity.  

The Executive Branch Leaders is a multi-step activity.  First, students need to get one strip of the pictures of the leaders.  (Please note, the ? is because there is no lieutenant governor at this time.  I will update once one is appointed.)  They will cut out the pictures and glue them onto the correct title.  They also need to write the name of the leaders next to the picture.  Then they will cut out both circles.  On the second circle, they will cut out the dotted area.  Once the picture circle dries, students can use a brad to pop through the center and create a wheel.  Then they can view each picture of each leader. 

Both of the preambles are easy to create.  Cut out the boxes, fold, and glue down in the correct location. 

            One thing to also think about is how you want the kids to complete the work.  I think I will have them do each section BEFORE gluing.  I just think that it will be easier to manipulate the papers before they are glued in.  I’m actually really excited to try this out this year.  There are a number of additional resources packed inside this activity.  Below are some of them. 

There is also a lesson on primary and secondary sources and a rubric for grading! 

The Government of Florida 4th Grade Project!

Tell me what you think by leaving a comment below!

Social Studies Craziness!

     Thank goodness my technical difficulties are now completely finished!  I got my computer back from the repair shop and now it charges and I can type without my fingers messing up on the j and u!  Pure heaven!  But, then again, maybe I’m just going the other way too.  At least I feel that way at this point of the day!  It’s been Social Studies Craziness all day today!

     Here’s what I’ve been working on.  I know it is a rough sketch of a crazy idea, but it is totally coming together in the document I’m working on.  It is a Government Project made from foldables.  Homeschoolers know it as a lapbook.  The idea is that you create a folder and put all kinds of fun stuff inside while you are learning about a topic.  The foldables inside the folder make it fun to read and learn.  What a better way to learn about the not-so-hot topic of government!  I think the kids are going to just LOVE it!  They will get to use computers to research some of the information, do some drawing, and learn at the same time! Here are a few sneak-peaks of the pages!

     The craziest part was I decided to build in some formative assessments as I went. That was not in my original plans, but, when I looked at the road maps (that, my friends, is such a dreaded word to me), I decided they were a necessity!  I found this cool little website on some quick formative assessments:

http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/ExamplesofFormativeAssessment.html

I decided to try out the one called “As I see it…” for one of the quick assessments at the end of the lesson.  Here’s a sneak-peak of how it looks!

      Overall, I’m really excited about this project.  I haven’t been able to print it off and build it, so it won’t be up this week.  I would like to get it up as soon as possible, because this is our first unit of study for Florida!  I just have to make sure it all fits. The nicest thing about it, the kids do the work.  There is nothing better than facilitative teaching in my opinion.  And this will be one of those moments!

Hope you like it.  Leave me a comment to let me know what you think so far too! My next crazy Social Studies project-Explorers!

The Native American Mall Project

One of the most fun and learning worthy projects my teaching partner, Lisa, and I did this year with our kids was the Native American Mall Project.  For Social Studies, we must cover the Native Americans of Florida.  So I went about finding a way to cover the information in a research/project based fashion. 

One of my favorite jumpstart places is a book called 51 Wacky We-Search Reports by Barry Lane.  There are just some fun, silly ideas that get the mind working.  And that’s exactly what happened with mine!  I suddenly was struck with the idea that all of the things we wanted the kids to learn about-food, dress, house ware, hardware, and what they looked like, could all be found in STORES!  Yes, some strange thought lead to this, and that lead to the Native American Mall Project. 

First, I showed them how to do the research. Within the packet is a sample research page.  The kids research their Native American tribe for a week at school.  During that week, they worked on the research based on how the team itself, that consisted of 5 kids, decided!  Yes, I let them decide.  Some groups assigned each child a topic, others did all the research separate and then came together to discuss what they agreed on, and some worked all together.  It was very interesting to see what each group decided.  It was also more interesting to see the kids that sat back and didn’t do the work, only to find out the rest of the group wasn’t just going to give it to them!  Yes, this is 4^th grade, where they can make those kinds of decisions and teach others a lesson while still being fair and nice about it!  All of the research was completed in mini notebook that was collected with their final projects and scored on the rubric! 

Once this was completed, the teams also decided who would be doing what store for their wing of the mall.  I was waiting for complaints and concerns about not being able to do a particular task, but there where none!  The kids had, on their own, decided who was doing what even before this final meeting.  So, off went the notes and the booklet home to complete the second phase of work-the at home project! It is important to note that this phase can also be done in the classroom!  It is not necessary to send the projects home to be completed!  They had one week to complete the project end of the activity.

Now, this can be approached two ways.  My directions to the kids included that they had to be flat projects that could be attached to the wall of the hall.  Lisa, my teaching partner, directed the kids that it could be either a poster or a creative replication.  When you use this project, be sure you know what you want the kids to do.  She was ready to display their projects on flat tables. I was in a location in my hall that would have lead to some disasters occurring if I had done that.  I have lots of little hands going by my room.  Both types of projects were amazing, so either will work!

Once the projects came to school, then the students presented them orally.  We had worked a lot this year on how to present your information, both visually and orally, so I was really pleased with what they shared.  Some were very simple, and to the point. Others were elaborate and may have missed the point!  One thing I gleaned from this experience was that I REALLY have to stress that it needs to address the whole tribe.  What was important to that tribe and how do you prove it in your work.  That’s what seemed to happen to the few kids who missed the mark. They focused on one thing, or person, to represent the whole tribe and couldn’t tell about the whole tribes needs, ideas, etc. 

I did take lots of pictures and will eventually create and offer a power point that discusses these very things, including strong and weak presentations, how to improve simple presentations, and what a great presentation looks like!

In the meantime, here are some of the finished products!

This one is very fun and included a complete sales pitch by the student!  

This movie poster included information about the "Fierce People"!

This is a great example of how you can be very creative and still be "flat" to hang on the wall!

The way my room is, I can't take a direct picture.  Notice I had one student who did boxes.  He also was able to show me how I can hang them on the wall!  It just worked out that his tribe was at the bottom of Florida!

The other side of the project wall!

For the Native American Mall Packet, click here!  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope this project will inspire you to try Project Based Learning if you have never done it before!