Grandparents Day Project Ideas 2015

First up if missed this post last year - here is are some great/HILARIOUS ideas to start off Grandparents Day this year.  Pic below is linked to what I did last year.



I'm changing it up some this year because of how much time we get with grandparents and I want to use it wisely.

First up, I created this Kindercraze inspired tree.  I was really proud of it and it was the inspiration for other creations we came up with for celebrating this year.  I literally just cut random black strips of bulletin board paper and then up with glue dots it went.  Those leaves - just circles - even this completely unartistic gal got it together!

Here is a closeup of the frames hanging from the tree.  We put pictures in so far just drawing then adding real pictures once grandparent's day happens! 

Free frame from TPT (Creative Clips) and just added words

One of the activities will be completely the answers to these questions on Grandparent's day comparing then and now.  I'm excited to see the answers and the students already have some guesses, but we can't wait to get to them till next Friday. 

I love that this will tie in with our curriculum!

They will be attaching to our big hallway tree outside when complete (fingers crossed) 

FREE printable about "Thumb" body that comes with different numbers as well from Who Arted.  I love that I got to use stamp pads just something cutesy and I haven't done in awhile.  I plan to write letters and cover parts of a letter to grandparents on the back to give to them upon their arrival. 

 Can't forget this old favorite.  We used the Old Fart Booth (FREE) app again this year and made ourselves old! Which of course again was HILARIOUS! We stepped it up this year and I came up with showcasing them this way as a 50 year reunion for that class.

We also used the Grandparent Name Generator to give ourselves names as well - such a fun addition

There you have it!  Many activities to prepare yourselves for Grandparent's Day this year!  I hope you can use some of these in your classroom.  

How do you connect with grandparents and make them feel special?

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Shelfie Thinglink Project

I have seen the idea of a "shelfie" floating around and knew I really wanted to incorporate that this year in my reading classes.   I set some guidelines for this project and am SO HAPPY with how it turned out!   I have loved seeing my students as readers and how much they can tell me from day 1!

They had to come up with: 

1) favorite book from childhood

2) favorite books from last year 

3) book they didn't like - lets me know they try knew things

4) books they already want to read this year

5) Book that made me change or think

We used planning sheets to think about books and any we needed to gather - these could easily be taken in the library with easy access to lots of books

We only spent one day in the lab working on these that's how easy it was on Thinglink!  I love that ITS FREE! and so easy to use - even for day 1 fourth grade students!

I see so many benefits with these and how it starts off my relationship with them as readers-  I embedded ours on our website after finishing to share with parents.

You can grab this for just a couple bucks for the planning sheets, writing template, and rubric or just go for it yourself!


Here's my example - no laughs please :)

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Text Based Evidence - 4th grade

I wanted to get more into Text Based Evidence this year and really make it a focus. I know my students do it in a really basic way but this year I really wanted to dig deep from the beginning and  make it a priority! 

I found these awesome response sheets from Teaching in Flip Flops, and for my students this really works because they NEED this scaffolding to build that learning. 

We started with the question of "What makes a book?" and had a great discussion.  I had them read "Flotsam"  (book with no words) and write a summary on a Post - it.

Next we researched what Flotsam meant and used an extended response as a class to answer the question, "How does the title of Flotsam fit the book?" I think this was even more challenging because they had to really use picture clues and inference what was happening.  Doing it all together made them feel comfortable with the format.

I just LOVE that book - the illustrations and message etc...

We talked about our Prove It board and how they could use the colorful starters in their reading response to better prove to me how that exactly answered the question from the text.   

Next we read another David Wiesner book, "Art and Max" which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! It does have words and the illustrations are mind blowing!  

In groups they had to do an extended reading response on their own.  Turning the question around, using proof, then explaining and concluding.

We answered "How is the theme of friendship evident in Art and Max?"  

They did such a great job especially for the first time!  I can't wait to use these sheets more and extend them into our weekly stories or books they read on their own.  I think starting with pictures books and tough concepts like theme shows rigor but in a manageable way at first. 

This lesson was one that I think my students got a lot out of and I plan to use again.  It shows the level of responses straight from the first week and what I expect.  

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First Day Activities - Goal Setting With Post Its!

We recently went back to school!  One of my goals was to start learning right from the beginning or close.  I wanted to students to know why we were here, not many get the opportunity to focus on that.  I posed the question - why do we go to 4th grade?   - on our whiteboard.  I wanted them to specifically focus on our grade rather than school. 

Each student got a Post It and wrote down their answer.  They stuck their Post it on underneath the question up on the board.  

Then using the FREE Post IT app I took a picture of the Post Its. 

Ya'll it scans them in and puts checkmarks on them then arranges them in a board!! It is fantastic!!  Then I can group them, rename and even make them straight - all in about 15 seconds! 

We read each response then made groups with similar themes - as you can see below our themes were "moving on - to get to higher grades", "learning" and "responsible"

Then I challenged groups to come up with a sentence to answer the question using all three parts we came up with!  I WAS AMAZED!  We shared answers and came up with this answer as a class. We all signed the poster as well showing our dedication to our goal this year. 

I plan to refer to this throughout the year for many occasions.  If for instance, I get asked "Why are we doing this?" I'll point to this and explain.  or "I'm not smart enough".  We specifically said we were smart and that is why we are here in 4th grade!  (which I loved!) 

We have a reason to be here that we created together using everyone's answers.  I really loved how this gave us a focus for the year!  

Below is just another example of how the app works - I plan to use it quite a bit during the year...what could you use it for???

IT'S FREE AND EASY!  Click the picture + create a board + organize! 

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my FAVORITE hilarious Preposition Activity!

I love incorporating anything funny into my teaching!! Ugh prepositions - I still remember memorizing them in elementary school and it was so not fun.  With this being on the CCSS and therefore our state testing I knew I needed to hit it and make it stick. My students will tell you this was one of the most memorable activities we did in grammar the entire year!!  They loved this activity you can do with literally NO SUPPLIES!!

I introduce prepositions using Flocabulary and their preposition video is particularly catchy - Prep, prep, prep, preposition - tells about a thing and its position.  My kids could still quote it for you. I also gave them a small copy of common prepositions to refer to when we first started working with them because there are so many!

All you need are notecards or you could just do it on paper.  I have the students write a subject and a verb (animals work best) on one notecard and then turn in to me and then they write a prepositional phrase on another notecard.  I let them use the reference sheet if they need to.  After I have both sets I mix them up and flip over one sentence card and one prepositional phrase card at a time.

They glue them on a sheet of paper and draw the picture to match.  They love hearing the combinations because of how funny they sound. 

It was a really quick and easy reinforcement exercise that used some creatively as well.  A few of the sentences we had to add a word for it to make sense but they were still silly so it worked. 

The basset hound laid above the house. 

Do you have any tricks for teaching prepositions? I'd love to hear more. 

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