Summer Time Learning Time

Wow! It has been a while since I posted.  Summer is almost over.  In fact I am back at work. My district has  three week summer reading program right before school starts. I am back at work teaching 1/2 day then I usually spend a few hours in my getting ready for the school year. 

This summer I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in the Mickelson Exxon Teachers Academy. It really opened my eyes to interrelationship between scientific inquiry and
 mathematical problem solving. I can't wait to empower my students all of the great force and motion,measurement, statistics and so much more that I learned at MEMTA.

The Final Count Down

Writing Writing Writing- I thought after Phase 1 of the LEAP writing would no longer be a focus in my science and social studies classes. Wow, was I ever wrong.  There is a writing task included in the social studies section of LEAP. Check out the new task in science and social studies on Louisiana Pass.
I created a lesson modeled after the Louisiana Pass task.

Explain why good citizenship is important in democracy. In your answer include examples of how citizens are contributing to restoring the wetlands. Support your answer with both examples from the documents and your own knowledge.

The documents in the lesson are a newspaper article,  interview, and a website. 

If you would like to try the lesson with your students click the link below.

Restoring the Wetlands

Learning Learning Learning

Our local union recently  held a workshop on the Common Core State Standards. The presenters were from the AFT. As we begin implementing the CCSS, as educators we need the latest information and resources to plan instruction.  It was a really good workshop and I felt as though I left there with knowledge I could bring back to my students.They are suppose to do more presentations on implementing CCSS in classroom this summer. If the AFT happens to present in your area it is definitely worth your time.  Readworks was one of the resources that was shared. If you haven't heard of ReadWorks.org, it is FREE and has over 1,000 non fiction passages. The passages are aligned to the CCSS and Lexile Leveled.

If you are not using this in your classroom, it is time to start. We are learning about rocks and minerals in science.  My partner teacher and I created a center activity based on the passage, Hard Rocks.

These are two of the questions  

The question cards are stacked in a deck. The reader pulls the card and reads the questions. The passages are in page protectors, so the students can underline the passage with dry erase markers.The job for this activity are question card reader, time keeper, materials manager, answer checker,substitute, group leader.

The borders are from Jen Jones Hello Literacy Crayon Doodle Border Set (Free). She has a lot of fabulous stuff in her store.  If you would like a set of the cards, follow me  and I'll them to you.

  

The Wolves Are Back --

Writing Writing Writing

Writing is on the mind of every fourth grade teacher in Louisiana. 

We are  days away from Phase 1 LEAP Testing  March 19, fourth grade students  will be tested on  writing and math constructed response items.  I don't teach ELA, but I sill want to help my students succeed in writing. We are studying the ecosystem system in science. I have the book The Wolves are Back, written by Jean Craighead George in my class library. It tells the story of how, over a century, wolves were persecuted in the United States and nearly became extinct. Gradually reintroduced, they are thriving again in the West, much to the benefit of the ecosystem. It has beautiful drawings and really captivated my students. I incorporated segments from a  documentary produced by National Wildlife Federation and Turner Original Productions  hosted by Matthew Fox and Discovery Education resources into my lesson really allowing my students to see the wolves of Yellowstone. My students used the Weekly Reader article to write informative text describing the impact of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park.  My students had become so interested in the wolves and their plight, the writing assignment was greeted with enthusiasm. Of course they used details and evidence to support their writing which  is so important for LEAP.   I have added this writing item  to my store on Teachers Pay Teachers

Free CCSS Lesson Resources

Read Works 

Read works has tons of non-fiction passages. The passages are Lexile Leveled and have research based question sets. Great for all grades.  The best part it is FREE!

readworks.org

has free CCSS aligned lessons in math and ELA for grades 3-HS

learnzillion.com

Teachers Pay Teachers

Well, I finally did it. I posted my first items to teacher pay teachers. I uploaded an exit ticket and a primary source flipchart. The flipchart is based on the story of little girl Grace Bedell and her letter to Abraham Lincoln. It really is a cute story. In the letter Grace basically told Lincoln he would get more votes for president if he grew a beard because he was so homely. Lincoln wrote her back and the rest is history. It is part of the lesson I was doing during my "informal" Compass evaluation. If you are a teacher in Louisiana- you know all about Compass. It is the new teacher evaluation tool based on the Danielson rubric. My students really enjoyed the lesson and are anxiously awaiting responses to their letters to President Obama.

Center Choices

Page from flipchart

Filling out an exit ticket

Which do you prefer? Whiskers it is!