Running Circles around Lit Circles.

 
Today is the exciting and long awaited day!
5th grade begins Blood on the River today! I've decided to take on the task of launching my group into self directed book clubs to work through this book. Coming off of our study of the establishment of Jamestown in Social Studies, I picked this book to dovetail what we've been studying.

I've spent the last 3 weeks preparing all of the materials, folders, comprehension questions, vocabulary, and projects that will accompany this book over the next 5-6 weeks. We got off to a delay with days off these past two weeks -- but we're off to a bang!
The kids like it... they're actually all participating and discussing what they read. I love peeking in and listening to them talk and work through the book on their own.

Each day begins with a task page that outlines what they need to accomplish in the circle for that day. The kids have already read, so they're ready to discuss --
I give them some possible discussion topics for the chapters assigned, and off they go.

Walking by hearing, "I think that word is an insult because in the book it says he whispered it."  or "How would you feel if you were stuck on a boat with people you barely knew?"
AMAZING.

I love literature and love watching students love literature. 

Wait... I'm a teacher?

It officially became winter here in the southwest corner of the mitten! That may be the understatement of the year, actually. We got hit with a LOT of snow and ice. Let's take it back a quick jog ... I was living life gloriously as a teacher with MLK Jr. day off. Spending the day just relaxing and mentally preparing to go back to work. Little did I know, Mother Nature had other plans.
    Tuesday morning I awoke with a jolt to the sound of my phone ringing, alerting me that "Coloma Community Schools would be closed" ... HALLELUJAH -- the first snow day of the season, in a district where I was assured, "we don't get snow days." Totally unexpected and totally awesome. I frolicked, yes frolicked in the snow that day  --- in the -20 degree weather -- I excitedly jaunted through the snow.

This is where I live -- and what it looked like on Wednesday by the lake. :)

Got myself all rested and prepared to go back on Wednesday --- psyche! Not happening -- Wednesday was called off too and then Thursday! It became sort of funny that we had all of these days off, but the snow kept coming and the wind chill kept dropping, so to keep the kiddos fingers and toes on their bodies - we gave them day after day off.

     It got to the point that we were joking about our jobs, "I think I'm a teacher... but I'm not sure anymore."
Friday was the day we, teachers, had all waited for -- back to school for a Monday sort of Friday. We reviewed, we played Math and Science games and we said farewell to our classes for the weekend (already). The weekend was odd, I felt like I was getting so much time off and that it was like Christmas break all over again!
       I spent the weekend, just as I had the past 4 days off of school -- lessons done, grading done... just enjoying time off. Monday came with a surprise -- 5:42am -- another day off. Sleeping in until 8 was becoming a bad habit -- but I was amazingly productive... cooked a delicious dinner and relaxed yet again.
Back to school today -- tough to get back into the grind, but I was SO ready. The kids love the days off .. but I know the consequences of too much time off and I was ready to see them again!

We spent today launching back into our units -- Dividing Decimals, Studying the Southern Colonies and Saturn. Oh, beautiful.. glorious .. ringed Saturn. We read from our textbooks as a class and then I showed this video:

I'm a BIG fan of Charlie -- but I had NO idea that he had a series on the Solar System! What a diamond to find -- the kids LOVE him because he's hilarious -- and he talks to them, just like I do. Like someone who is BEYOND fascinated by space and just oozes with excitement to share all of the crazy weird things that happen in space.

AMAZING.

Happy Happy Tuesday, teachers.

Welcome back.

Things Overheard: Holiday Edition

Today is a true day of organized chaos.
School is doing Santa's Workshop where the kids are working on gifts for their parents -- jewelry, frames, scarves, etc.

This has created a very open ended day of fun for me and for the class -- with a wealth of silly things being said.


After making lots of gifts for her friends and family, one student came by:O: I had to wrap the gifts for my family so they don't know what I got them.
Me: Well that's very nice of you to make things for them
O: Yeah, but they ran out of scarves so I had to improvise..
Me: Sometimes that happens...
O: (walking away)... I hate improvising


J: Miss Brown, what do we do with the gifts we made?
Me: You can put them on your desk or in your locker...
J: What if it's for your teacher? Do you give it to them now or wait until everyone gets back?
Me: umm, I guess that's you're decision..
J: Ok! Here ya go -- Merry Christmas, Miss Brown!



As I opened a card from one student -- I was given a gift card.
Me: Oh, thank you for the gift card!
Student: How much is it for?!
Me:... that's kind of rude...

A group of boys has decided to play Twister in the corner while we wait for the rest to finish making gifts --
M: "I need to take my scarf off -- I'm about to get worked up!"


Also, my amazing kids covered my desk in gifts today -- they're the best.

As one shouted as I opened them: "We must really love you to buy you so much stuff!"

True True -- Happy Holidays.

27 gifts of Christmas

Tis the season to begin receiving gifts from the young moldable minds that I interact with each day. I love them to pieces...and have really been enjoying the pleasant... surprises that are left on my desk. Sometimes prompted with a "Ms. Brown I got this for you... " or "My Grandma says I should give this to you.."

No matter the reason -- I find it all too funny not to share. 

Here are the 3 I've received thus far.  

One point for the funny gifts.

This one may have been accompanied by a proposal... I'm not sure.

Chocolate covered bacon -- they all know I HATE bacon. Hilarious.. >: (

They controlled the food network?

This week has been a whirlwind with Social Studies -- moving from explorers to discussing the Three Worlds and moving right along to the introduction of slavery by our good ol' pal Columbus. In studying the 3 worlds we dove right into learning about West African Empires -- Ghana, Mali and Songhay. Quite a fascinating little trip into history talking about salt for gold trade networks and taxation. I must say, I'm mostly posting this to boast the sweet map I drew of Africa so we could study together. As the unit progressed we added to it -- summarizing our information to make the map a study tool tracking the rise and fall of each empire as well as the region in which they grew to power. Pretty impressive I think.. :)
        (I suppose I should say things were going well        until I graded my assessments. The majority did well -- but one student made me laugh out loud with her response. When asked to "List two reasons that led to rise and growth of the empires." She wrote, "They controlled the food network."  I'm sorry I was unaware that Bobby Flay had anything to do with West Africa, but far be it from me to say he wasn't there in 1100. ) :)


In other news -- the long division hurricane has hit 5th grade and it's going surprisingly well. Estimation is still an area that needs improvement and with the Common Core Standards -- estimation and rounding are ALWAYS important in the lessons. We have introduced a multitude of strategies for solving division that allow the students options in solving -- however I notice they all like the standard algorithm. Cut and dry and easy to remember -- especially when you have a nifty little mnemonic device to remind you.


Let's see -- to scatter this update a bit more - I, along with my aide, have been trying to help the students better understand and remember the different parts of speech. As a class I've noticed that they often confuse them -- especially "The Big 3" -- which I feel shouldn't be happening. Verbs, Nouns and Adjectives are VERY different and definitely have different jobs in a sentence. In an effort to create a reference point for the kids to check into when they need assistance, we've been working on this anchor chart!

It's been a great time to just quote School House Rock songs when defining different parts of speech. They don't know that I'm being unoriginal -- they just think I'm clever. Oh the trickery. :)


And for your weekly dose of humor:

Student: "Ms. Brown I want to be a chiropractor when I grow up"
Me: "Well that sounds like a good choice!"
Student: "...and a substitute teacher because I like being in the classroom!"
Me: "You don't just want to be a regular teacher instead?"
Student: "No, because I have to be a chiropractor -- I'm going to take over Dr. Moss's office -- I started going there this year and I will take over after I go to school. I'm going to go to school -- but I can't remember how to say it."
Me: "College? Medical School?"
Student: "No... how do you say, I-O-W-A?"
Me: "Iowa..."
Student: "Yeah... I'm going there for 4 years."


Always a good time.

Stellar Solar System Study

 

Who would've thought that here I'd be teaching the unit I wrote for student teaching last spring? Well, if you asked me -- I did. 5th grade is my love and my "sweet spot." However, having it become an actual reality is another coin. I have a unit, that I wrote and I'm proud of --  that I get to teach AGAIN! I am finally understanding what it might be like to be a 2nd year teacher -- having taught something before and knowing what works/doesn't -- what the bugs are and how I can avoid issues. I still have the same excitement because this is an entirely NEW group of kids who haven't heard my stories, jokes, and songs.

We did our intro work (or the blah blah blah section as I call it ;) ) and introduced the planet line up today. I'm glad that My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nachos is still a useful tool. Memorizing the order of the planets has never sounded so delicious -- and asking "Why isn't Pluto a planet?" is a question on everyone's mind. -- They refuse to let go of it until I personally address each of their inquiries. I set up some hype for the day we study eclipses -- needless to say, I'm excited when they start each day asking, 'Do we get to watch the eclipse today?!"

Oh the joys of teaching young minds.


Here is the video we watched today -- if you teach Science of any kind, I recommend his videos!

Rockets Away...

Let's Go to Europe

We have been working hard here in 5th grade -- studying the causes and consequences of European Exploration. In an effort to switch up our day to day -- I created a web quest for the class to go on, in groups, to research different explorers. I split the class into groups of 4, each group was in charg of a different explorer -- from Vespucci to Cortes, and each student was given an important job. Our jobs were as follows:
                 Mapper (draw a map of the route taken)
                 Historian (write a biography of the explorer and create a timeline of their life)
                 Press Reporter (create a newspaper of the important events and discoveries of your voyage)
                 Personal Secretary (Write a daily log of the events happening on the ship -- write letters back to sponsors who are paying for your voyage.

 I was so proud of the work the class put into making these. Such a great way to study and present exploration!

We spent a week researching, drawing, and drafting the pieces of our presentations. At the end of the week, the groups had to present to the rest of the class what they'd found. It was so cool to see what they had done and what they'd found out. To have them be the experts is a lot more fun than having me spout information or just read it out of a book. The kids were awesome -- especially applying their knowledge when we played Jeopardy to review AND when they took their unit test today! :)

I beamed with pride when one of my students approached me today and said, "Ms. Brown -- I knew that number 3 was Amerigo Vespucci -- because he was my explorer."

I love these kids.