Category Archives: Uncategorized

You Asked For It!

So while only 11 people responded to my poll about my next post, many of you wanted to read about what’s coming up in the curriculum for 4th quarter.  Well, then a couple of you also voted for Spring Break related topics.  Maybe I’ll just post about it all, then.   So here you go, friends–here’s what’s coming up in 5th grade this quarter!

WRITING:  This quarter starts with us finishing up our expository nonfiction pieces that we started last month.  We’re at the point of proofreading/editing, which we began today.  After we finish conferring with our partners and tweaking the mechanics to make sure our readers understand our message, we’ll publish!  I’m so excited to see what we end up with, as writers in our room will have a choice of presenting the final draft as a poster, feature article or essay, including the text features we studied and the bibliographies we learned about recently.  I am sure to post pictures of that amazingness when we’re finished!  Following this unit, we will also tackle persuasive nonfiction (probably based on either a colonization unit in Social Studies that’s coming up, or a science topic related to our Weather unit) as well as poetry.  As usual in our classroom, this quarter will also bring lots and lots of blogging and Writer’s Notebook writing, as well, since that’s just how we roll in Rm. 201!  I’m excited about what’s coming up with writing.  But then, I generally am excited about anything in writing. 🙂

MATH:  Since we figured out that math rotations work so well for us, we’ll continue with this structure as we finish out the year.  I have loved how I’ve gotten to know each and every mathematician so much better by meeting them in small groups, and also how much more confident so many kiddos are in math now; more specifically meeting needs and checking in more frequently has helped many to better understand concepts and feel more comfortable asking questions when they need to!  We have two units left to work on this quarter: one called Growth Patterns (about patterns, functions and change) and another called How Long Can You Stand on One Foot? ( about data analysis and probability).  We took the pretest on both of these today, as the plan is to combine them.   Another big idea we’ll tackle during the beginning of this quarter is math test prep, since we take our Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test in mid-April.  Right now I’m thinking the plan will be to combine some whole group lessons with our regular rotations.  There will be some paper/pencil test practice added into the skill practice station, and I will address needs in this area in our small groups, as well.  I’m excited about how this quarter will go, and the continued success we’ll see as we delve into some really active units with fun concepts.  I loved how interested most students were today when I mentioned the topics we would be covering.  Maybe my kiddos just love math now….:)

READ ALOUD:  We are in the middle of an amazing nonfiction book called Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson.  While it’s the first nonfiction chapter book I’ve chosen for read aloud, I am sure it will not be the last.  Well at least not the last time I read this book.  The story is so amazingly written, and the way that Swanson incorporates firsthand accounts of the action into his writing has kept us on the edge of our seat.  I am sure that this will be a favorite with many kids this year!  After this one, I have plans to read Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (one of my all-time favorite authors!), as well as I Am David by Anne Holm.  If there’s any time after that, I may throw in a couple of other shorter reads (again probably by Sharon Creech, like Pleasing the Ghost or Granny Torelli Makes Soup).  Do you have a favorite read aloud that you would suggest to us?

READING: Like in Writing, our first plan is to finish up the expository nonfiction unit we started in 3rd quarter. We’re already spent some time reading articles and using a variety of strategies to understand and discuss them, and we’ll move on now to reading and analyzing functional texts and textbooks.  What great timing, since this is just the kind of text we’ll encounter on our big test next month!  We will also have a unit on determining important ideas/summarizing, as well as synthesizing information as a strategy to comprehend.  This quarter everyone will also be involved in another round of literature circles, as well, with each group choosing their own text this time.  I’m excited about the groups that have formed: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, A Friendship for Today, and Closed For the Season.  There are still a few kiddos who have not joined a group yet, and I’m excited to see what books they end up choosing.  If you have a suggestion for a good read for some amazing 5th graders, please suggest it in a comment after this post!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:  This is one of our favorite times of the day, although I know that most kids in our class would tell you that they HATE that it’s at the very end of our schedule.  I’m excited about the units that we’ll be doing next, though: Earth Systems–Weather and Three Worlds Meet–Colonization.  The weather unit we’re going to do has just been revamped, and is taken from the work of Carol Ann Tomlinson in her book Differentiated Instruction in Practice: Grades 5-9.  It’s an amazing collection of activities, experiments, discussions and writing opportunities (which you know we’ll be blogging about!) that will give EVERY learner in our room a chance to engage at their level of understanding.  I like to think that everything we do is organized this way, but with science and social studies, it can be harder to achieve.  This unit brings exciting promise of making it happen.  Then in our colonies unit, we’ll see how what we’ve learned about Native Americans, Ancient West Africans and Europeans comes together when they all end up here and try to create a world together.  I’m excited to see the light bulb moments in that unit as connections are made to past learning.  Definitely exciting stuff on the horizon here!

There is sure to be much, much more happening in our room during this quarter, but here are the foundations on which all the rest will be built.  We have a service-learning project that we’ll be completing with Stray Rescue of St. Louis (more on that later!), fun with our learning buddies, dance routines that we’ll be performing for A.C.E.S. Day in May, a trip to Nipher Middle School to visit, our 5th Grade Celebration and many other still unknown projects or conversations that will develop based on somebody’s great idea or suggestion.  I know that whatever else we do, we’ll enjoy ourselves and learn a lot together!  Can’t wait to share the rest of this ride with you as we go along!

100! Can You Believe It?!

In honor of the 100th post on our blog (yahoo!), I’m going to ask you to celebrate some amazing work my 5th grade friends have been doing. Check our blogs to see what we’ve written lately! Today we posted about proud moments, math, Spring Break, getting braces and much, much more. Don’t forget to comment to let my friends know you visited. They usually ask really good questions, so answer a few! 🙂

Also, I feel like it’s an ok time to remind you of our class connections project. If you haven’t yet commented, or commented and didn’t tell us where you are from, please do so! We haven’t added a new pin in a while, and would love to see our map connections grow!

Thanks, readers, for all the time you spend here.  We appreciate you!!

We’re off to Spring Break after one more school day tomorrow.  Do you have any exciting Spring Break plans to share?

Call Me That Name Again

No, it’s not a challenge.  It’s a request: call me that name again. What name you ask?  I’ll tell you that part in a second.

First I have to apologize for the times I veer off the this-is-a-classroom-blog road and head down let-me-tell-you-a-story-about-myself lane for a bit.  I think it’s probably telling me that I need to start another blog.  But there’s time for that later.  Now back to that name…

I’ve been called many things in my life, starting with Jennifer–which makes sense since that’s my name.   For a long time when I was littler I was Jenny (sometimes spelled with an “i” and sometimes with a “y”), and some people (mainly family) still call me that today.  During junior high I apparently had an identity crisis, because I had a new name every week: Jen (with one “n”), Jenn (with two “n’s”), those two versions of Jenny, and then for a couple of days I had people calling me Jenna.  I know.  Weird.

Somewhere in college I started with Jen primarily, and now even introduce myself that way.  Only a few people call me Jennifer.

There are other things that they call me though, too.  Mrs. Bearden.  Wife.  Mom.  Sister.  Daughter.  Teacher.  Tweeter.  Reader.  Writer.  Crafter.  Blogger.  Then last summer I earned a new name–Runner–when I finally started my goal of losing weight and getting more active.  I was on a roll and loving every minute of my journey towards being able to run 5K without stopping.  This was a huge feat for someone who has never really exercised before, but I did it!  And then you know what I did?  I made that goal, along with my weight-loss goal, and then I stopped. Ugh!  November came and it was a little bit chilly outside, so I didn’t run one night.  And then I didn’t go out the next night.  And then by that time it was really cold outside and I wasnotmotivated to go outside and run.

So fast forward to today.  It was 80 and BEAUTIFUL today, and I went running again!  No, unfortunately, I couldn’t go out and instantly run my almost-4-miles I was up to a few months ago, but I was out there, getting back into it.  Walked a mile and ran one, too.  And I have a goal to run a 5k with my family in May.  So I’m out there again, and you can call me that name again: Runner.  And since I said it out loud to all the world to hear it, I will have all of you to hold me accountable, right?  🙂

What names do you call yourself?  What would you like to be called?  Maybe there’s a goal in there somewhere you can work towards…:)

A Few Math Nuggets

Hello again, friends!

Ok, so I’m open to any and all readers/comments, but this one is especially for my 5th grade (or any other student) readers!  Think about our Math Warm Up today, and answer these questions:

1.  Write the number 143, 674, 998 in expanded and word form.

2.  Round that number 143, 674, 998 to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000.

Comment with your answers!  🙂

 

Maskarade

 

Are you coming? 🙂

Don’t miss the Art Show tomorrow!  Your kiddos have been busy making African masks to display for our exhibit at the Robinson Maskarade Art Show.  Light refreshments will be served, and several groups from our 5th grade band and orchestra will serenade you!

**BONUS:  It’s also Robinson School night at McDonald’s on Kirkwood Rd.  It’s dinner and a show for your family!  Come out and join the fun!**

Is It Your Birthday?

Nope, it’s not mine, either.  But it was Nicky’s birthday today, and something about it today made me think about sharing with you what we do to celebrate birthdays in our room.  Maybe it was the double-decker cookie cake that was so, so yummy that made me think of it.  Who knows? 🙂

So birthdays are a big deal at school–even when you’re in 5th grade and you’re turning 11.  No matter what you’re too cool for when you’re an almost-middle-schooler, birthdays are not one of them.  So in our room, we celebrate.  It’s nothing extravagant, but I hope that it still makes each kiddo feel special.

Of course the celebration begins with a treat.  And of course, because of the rules there are these days in school about what you’re allowed to share, they are store-bought goodies.  Bummer for me when my little man is in school next year and I can’t share any of my yummy goodies like Oreo Balls and Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese icing with his class (oh, well, I can still share them with mine, right? 🙂 ).  Most kids lately have been bringing in cupcakes, today was a double-decker cookie cake ( they sell them at Sam’s if you’re interested in getting one of your own!), and sometimes it’s donuts.  We have a great bakery close by called McArthur’s that has blessed us with these really great smiley-face sugar cookies at a time or two.  Towards the warmer months of the year you might have popsicles or ice cream treats, and once several years ago, someone brought in pirouettes.  You know–those long straw-shaped cookie things with chocolate inside?  Yum.  (Man, did I just write a whole paragraph about food? )

The birthday person chooses two special friends to help him/her organize and pass out the goodies, as the rest of us wash our hands and sit in a circle.  We use this time to teach the simple manner of waiting until everyone is served to start eating, and letting the birthday person have the first bite.  After everyone has a snack, the B.P. calls on three friends to give a birthday compliment–we also have a conversation early on about how to give a meaningful compliment–and then we sing.  Well if they want us to.  B.P. has the choice of whether or not we will serenade them.  Most say yes.

Depending on the time of day it is, what happens next may be different.  When the celebration is at the end of the day, the we spend the next few minutes eating and chatting and sharing a fun time with each other.  If it’s right after lunch–which is a time we’ve found lately that works really well, too–then we read our chapter book while they munch.  I like this time a little better, because we can kill two birds with one stone.  Good food with good friends and a great book–what could be better?

So it’s nothing outrageous, but like I said before, I hope it’s at least a little bit of special in my kiddos’ lives.  I remember how special I felt when I was celebrated for my birthday.  Even as an adult it’s nice to be noticed, right?

How do you celebrate birthdays?  What are your birthday traditions?

The Cat’s Away

So I’m home with a sick baby again today.  I HATE to be gone, but sometimes I just have to be a mom, you know?

So today’s absence reminded me of an idea I learned about recently.  I was out a couple of weeks ago, and I used a great idea from a couple of teachers I met when I attended an EdCamp St. Louis conference earlier this month.  They both teach middle school, and are out of the classroom periodically for activities with their school, and so need to leave plans for a substitute.  Rather than just leaving written ones, they record videos to leave for their classes, often teaching the lesson from their couch and giving directions for what they want their students to do.

Last time I was out, I knew ahead of time, since her fever popped up in teh evening.  So with my MacBook, my plans and my couch, I set to work putting together what I hoped would be a great day of learning for my kiddos, even in my absence.  Here’s what I left as a welcome to the day, along with our normal morning routine screen on the ActivBoard:

After they went off to specials, it was time for Writer’s Workshop in our room:

That big blue button sent them here to this video:

Next in our day was Math Workshop.  This video was a little different, but hopefully just as helpful.

Off to lunch and recess they went, and then back into the room for Read Aloud and then Reader’s Workshop.  Again, a flipchart welcomed them with directions:

Ok, well at least it had a place to send them for directions.  Those were here:

And here:

Social Studies followed Reader’s Workshop, as it normally does, and the lesson that they worked on that day was about the Natural Features of Europe:

Unfortunately this was the last day of the week, since we had a Professional Development Day the following day on Friday. We were also going to be out on Monday, too, since it was President’s Day! That meant I wouldn’t see them for what seemed like FOREVER, so I sent them off to their long weekend with this Goodbye and Good Weekend video:

Ok, so if you’re a frequent visitor to our blog, you know that I can’t write anything without ending with my thoughts and reflections.  And of course the topic of this post means that those thoughts and reflections are definitely doosies! (Is that how you spell that?  There was no choice for it in the dictionary. 🙂 )

(Now would be a great time to take a break and grab a snack if you want one!  I know I didn’t warn you that last part would take so long.  Sorry.  It’s ok, I’ll wait for you.)

Thoughts and reflections from using video sub plans:

Ease: The only reason I tried this whole thing originally is because I knew at around 6:00 the night before that I would be gone.  Since that was the case, I had lots of prep time to get it all ready.  This would not have been possible had I woken up and been surprised with an absence (like today, for example!).  Also, this was for an absence for a sick kid, not a sick teacher.  Had I been the one that was ill, this would have been almost an impossibility.  I hope, though, that since I’ve done it once now, and figured out all the logistics, the next time it won’t take me quite so long to put it all together.  And no, I don’t really want to admit how long it took me.  Ask your kiddo if you want.  I told them. 🙂  The other idea I had just now, though, is to prepare a generic “sub plan video” that could be used at any time if I had to suddenly be out.  It could then be added to my normal sub folder or uploaded to the portal that we use online to secure our subs.  Who knows, maybe I’ll start working on that one.

Logistics: I know this is partly related to the “ease” subject I just mentioned, but what I mean with this one is that there are a lot of logistical things on the school end that have to happen in order for my video plans to work like I had hoped they would.  The substitute has to know how to use the ActivBoard flipcharts I made, they have to know how to log on to my YouTube channel so the videos all play, and they have to be willing to follow the directions I gave in my videos.   So, in a perfect world, this would have been a great way for me to be at school with my students even though I wasn’t able to be there in person.

Impact: While the original reason I decided to try it was because it sounded like a great idea, incorporated technology and was something I hadn’t done before (which is often very motivating for me), I decided as I went through my planning, that maybe just seeing my face would be a subconscious reminder to follow the rules.  You know, unfortunately some kiddos tend to move into a different state of mind when they see a substitute at the front of the room instead of their normal teacher. I was also hoping that having me “teach” the normal lesson they were going to have for that day would help as they tried to keep the learning day as predictable and productive as possible.  I wanted to get the most bang for my buck.  I know that the day is never the same without me as when I’m there, but this was my way of trying to do what I could to help make it as normal as possible.

What experience do you have with using video sub plans?  What suggestions do you have for me? If you’re a parent, what do you think?  If you’re a substitute, have you used video sub plans in a classroom you’ve been in?  I’d love to know your thoughts!  Leave a comment for me. 🙂

Guided Math

I thought I was going to share an update about what’s been going on with our math rotations, but when I went back to look for the posts to link to, I realized I haven’t actually done it yet.  So now I will.  🙂

I will remind you of how I’ve been learning and reading about math lately.  You can read about that here and here and here.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.  Hee hee….

One of the biggest changes that can be seen in our room during Math Workshop is the use of rotations and small groups.  I guess I have always done groups of some sort, but I’m not usually a follow-this-strict-time-frame-and-schedule kind of person.  They usually happen spontaneously.  After a mini-lesson when kids have questions, or when some need review of some part of a concept.  We might just meet once or twice to meet a specific need and then move on to the next one.  So the whole idea of planning strict, timed math rotations with a predictable schedule and routine was a big rigid for me.  Believe me, there is structure and routine in my room, but many would say it’s a more relaxed version.

Well, hearing how great it was working in some other classrooms around my school (and especially in my neighbor Pam’s 5th grade next door!), I decided to try it.  So now, at least during math, we have a schedule.  It’s built on a 4 day cycle of rotations, with days 1 & 3 and days 2 & 4 being the same (thanks again to Pam –this was not my idea.  She TOTALLY created it and shared with me.  Gotta give major credit where it’s due. 🙂 ) The schedule looks like this:

Now, I am lucky enough to have another teacher push-in to my room for math support during the second half hour of our math time, so she takes one group and meets with them, and I spend time with the others.  We get to do double duty and it works really well.

Every 15 minutes, kiddos rotate through stations and work on something math related (I know, duh, right?):

COMPUTER:

We have a laptop cart that is shared by my teammates and I, so we grab 5 and set them up in a mini-lab situation during math.  Most days we play games on www.sumdog.com, which my kids are absolutely in love with (again, a find by my ubersmart friend Pam).  I love that I can set up which skills they work on.  Each kid has their own username and password, and it keeps track of how they do.  I get periodic emails about what’s happening there, so I can keep up on what’s going on when they’re in that station.  Double nice for all of us.

ACTIV ACTIVITY:

  

I’m pretty sure that it’s meant to be called Active, like with an E on the end, but since our interactive whiteboards are ActivBoards, I thought that name was catchy.  I know, it’s weird, but that’s what I do.  So, at this station, students work on something I’ve got ready for them on the ActivBoard, and it usually related to the unit we’re studying.  The one they’re doing in these pictures is one I found from Promethean Planet, and has word problems about decimals.  I just made a flipchart for next week, however, that has sudoku puzzles.  I’m excited to share that one.  The take turns in their group working at the board–“sharing the pen”–and then work out the problems on their own when it’s not their turn.  Of all of our rotations, this is the one that seems the hardest for us for some reason.  We’re working on making it go more smoothly.

GAME:

  

This is a basic math game station.  When kiddos come here, they play a game with their partners that is about a concept we’ve already learned about.  Usually it’s from the last unit we just completed, or is related to basic facts or operations that most everyone needs practice with, like multiplication and division.  Usually I tell them which game to play, but everyone in a while they have a “free” day where they can play a game of their choice.

JOURNALS:

I don’t have a picture of this one–probably because it would just look like a bunch of kids writing in a notebook.  During this rotation, kids work on problems that might require writing, or that are an “extra” thing we’re not directly doing in our math unit.  They are usually higher level, and are meant to stretch them a bit.  One group was working on problems related to whether or not the Harry Potter franchise was successful at the box office (this one was a big treat for some MAJOR HP fans in my class!), one group solved problems about conversation hearts, and then there was one related to volume of chocolate Valentine’s candy. These were all found on yummymath.com.

MEET WITH TEACHER:

So since I was taking the pictures, you get a glimpse of my teaching partner, Ms. Rose.  She’s pretty great, and this is the group she works with on most days.  Whether they are meeting with her or with me, these times are used to meet the specific needs of the group, based on info from a pretest (in the beginning stages) and the work we do together (which I use to know where we should go and how fast).

SKILL PRACTICE:

Sorry.  Again a pretty boring picture, but it’s of kids practicing.  Makes sense, right?  This is a station they go to after we’ve learned something together.  The work they do here helps me know where to go the next time our group meets together.

We are in week 4 of this whole Guided Math math rotations thing and I think it’s going pretty well.  Check out what my kids had to say about it the other day by reading what they wrote about it on their blogs.  Their words speak volumes to how beneficial it seems to already be for them as learners.  Can’t wait to see where it goes!

***MAJOR SHOUT OUT:  I’ve mentioned all over this post that these ideas are not mine.  They are not original to me, and come from some really hard work shared with me by my colleague and teammate Pam LeSeure.  She found the whole Guided Math framework to begin with and then ran with it!  I have been lucky enough to benefit from her blood, sweat and tears as she figured it all out. She’s been an amazing support to me!  Thanks again, Pam.  🙂 ***