Testing's over...Now what?

Hi everyone! It's Meredith from Creativity to the Core. I'm in sunny South Florida, and let me tell you, it is definitely starting to feel like summer!

I've been teaching for two years and have experience in K, 1st, and 3rd. I am currently co-teaching reading in two different 3rd grade classrooms. You can read more about that here. I love the independence and discussions that my third graders can have. It is truly a blessing to this teacher! When I'm not teaching, I enjoy hanging out with my husband and shopping. The Target Dollar Spot has my heart. :)

So many of us are just finishing our state testing or end of the year assessments. My classes have taken oh so many assessments - our state, county, school, and promotion criteria exams. Whew! I know they are tired. I know I am tired! Weeks of planning and practicing and assessing have finally come to an end. What do we do now? That is the million dollar question.

My kiddos think that they do not have to work anymore...hence, some of our current antsy behavior. But we know they need to keep learning. Today, I am sharing a few ideas that my co-teachers and I have been working on. Enjoy!

Remediation

If your class looks anything like mine, you have some struggling kiddos. Whether the students just came to the school this year, are already receiving services, or just have gaps in certain places, we address it head-on. With these students I go back to the basics. We aren't forcing them to read grade level passages anymore. We aren't pushing them through difficult reading response questions. We are simply teaching short vowel sounds. 

This week in small group these kiddos folded five notecards in half to make a tiny tent (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of these!). Then we wrote a vowel on each one. Super simple. I would call out a sound, and the kids had to quickly lift the corresponding vowel into the air and repeat the sound. I then called out CVC words like "cat" or "pen" and students had to identify the medial sound. The kids LOVED it. They had quite a few problems with certain vowels, but they were truly enjoying it. They wanted to keep playing, so I had them play in partners. It sounds crazy for third grade, I know. However, we have to give the children what they need! And direct instruction of short vowels is what these friends need.

More Writing

We all teach writing throughout the year, but let's face the facts. State testing eliminates a TON of writing instruction just because we spend so much time on reading assessments. After our FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), we decided to begin incorporating writing more than we did before. Instead of just responding to reading questions, we want students to get used to responding to certain prompts. Depending on where you teach, you may have a writing test that is separate from the reading test, like we do in 4th grade. Prepping students ahead of time will make the 4th grade transition a bit easier.

Content Area Projects

We finally have an ample amount of time to dig deep into science, social studies, and math projects! Our kids LOVE these. This Zoo Design Project was a huge hit in the classroom. The kids literally beg to work on their projects. If you are interested in incorporating cross-curricular projects in your classroom, be sure to check out Digital Divide and Conquer.

Science Experiments

Science experiments are so exciting for students...especially in third grade when it seems that all we do is test. Today, I will share some photos from our Earth Day experiment that created a mini oil spill. My wonderful co-teacher found this idea online and planned it out all the way down to the gummy octopus! She found the idea from another teacher-blogger Lindsey Petlak. It was SO cool! I will definitely be doing this every year!

First, she built A TON of background knowledge. The class talked about natural resources, habitats, and oil spills. She showed them videos of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, and the class recorded notes. Much of this is included in Lindsey's Scholastic article.

Before we started the experiment, we walked around and put water, fish tank stones, Swedish Fish, a gummy octopus, and a gummy shark. We dropped about 3 drops of blue food coloring into the water to make it look like an ocean. Each group of four students had an "ocean habitat". We followed along with this oil spill activity handout which I love because it forces students to write a lot!

Students made observations and sketches about their ocean habitat.

Feathers were handed out to each student.
They recorded observations and made a sketch.

 Then, it was time to place the feather in the water and record more observations.

Mixtures of oil and cocoa powder were added with a spoon. 

The ocean habitat has been harmed by an oil spill!

Students mixed the water. You literally couldn't see through it! It was really neat. Then, they placed the feather inside again. This time, the "oil" stuck to the feather.

First, we tried cleaning the feather in regular water (left). The oil didn't come off at all.
Second, blue Dawn soap was added to the water. Look at how clean the end of that feather is now! 

The feathers were soapy and clean all because of a little soap!

The class discussed how the feathers of birds get so heavy with oil. The oil does not easily come off when animals try to just use the water. Students loved seeing the oil slide off into the soapy water! To end the experiment, the kids made notes about their findings. We even watched the Dawn soap commercial with the birds covered in oil. Guys, it was wonderful. SO fun and SO educational! I highly recommend it, even after Earth Day!

So, that's a little bit about our classrooms after testing. What do you do to pass time and engage students at the end of the year?

Monthly Math Stations

Hello Friends! I'm Kelly from Love to Teach A-Latte! I have been teaching for 10 years. The majority of my years have been in 2nd grade and this year I learned about the amazing world of 3rd grade! I teach in Ohio, which is where I live with my fabulous husband, adorable son, and lovable Labrador. In my free time like to read, create, inspire, and be outside. I look forward to interacting with all of you!

Today I'm sharing how I organize math stations in my classroom. It took some trial and error, but I finally found a routine that works for me. When I first started implementing Guided Math I tried to switch the math stations weekly and I felt like the minute my students understood how to complete the activity I was changing it! Yikes! I found that placing open-ended activities in the station boxes for one month helped me and the students! I placed better quality stations and they're practice was much more meaningful.  It was a win-win situation! I love it when that happens!

I choose and create my stations very carefully. The key is the stations must be open-ended. This means students can go to this station many times in a month and the practice is never quite the same. This can be accomplished by implementing tasks that have more than one correct answer. For example,"Use three magnet numbers and math symbols to create an equation that equals 20. Then let your partner check it."

In my classroom we use many task cards, magnetic numbers, dice activities, games, and other math manipulatives that help the students practice the math skills they've already learned. In the picture above you can see some of the math supply drawers so students can help themselves. This fosters independence and is one less supply they might have to ask about. They can also put away a supply that has been accidentally left out.

 Above you'll see my station boxes. I have 12 in all. The green ones are from Wal-Mart.  Later in the year I needed more boxes and of course they were all gone so I had to get a few blue ones. Luckily both of these colors go with the theme in my room so it still looks good! Whew! They're the perfect size to fit the materials, and they fit nicely on a book shelf for storage.

On the inside of each box is a sheet that explains how to complete the station. It also contains the supplies needed to complete the station.  Below is an example of how the station box looks before the kids use it. Ha! I'm kidding... mostly....

We worked very hard at the beginning of the year. We learned how to behave & organize the stations. We practiced taking them out, talking to our buddy in quiet voices, and putting the station away. However, they're kids so sometimes they need reminding. Overall they've done a great job keeping the stations orderly and using the station time properly this year.  At the beginning of the year we also talked a lot about not interrupting the teacher's math group and they learned to ask other students if they had questions during the rotation. It took practice, but they really understood the routine after all of the practice. I also have the expectations posted on our bulletin board in case they need a reminder OR a substitute is in our classroom. I got these expectation ideas from The Daily 3.

Here are some more supplies I couldn't live without in my math stations and guided math group lessons. The fraction tiles have helped immensely with teaching fractions on a number line. A good set of magnet numbers, and Judy clocks are totally worth the investment in my opinion. I also love using the rain stick for transitions. I got this idea from The Daily 5.

So here is what a math block would look like...
I would complete a short whole class lesson on a topic. After the lesson I call a math group to my table. Then half the class does seat work, while the other half meets with their assigned math buddies to complete a station. Students' names are on a small pocket chart next to their math  buddies. Half the chart is blue & half is green so they know if they're supposed to be completing seat work or a station. The students completing seat work are completing the activity independently, and then they must review the seat work with their math buddies. After checking they can move to stations.
Students in stations...
One member of the station group is the "Go-Getter". They choose the station for the group. The other members of the group pick their spot to practice. This helps avoid the big traffic jam at the station shelf. The Go-Getter brings the station to the group members. They read the directions and complete the station together.
During this time I'm working with a math group at their level. 1 rotation lasts about 15 minutes. I use the rain stick to alert the class we're switching and the students clean up their station.
At this point I'll either continue with another math group or have another short whole class lesson.
When we begin another rotation I'll call the group. Children completing seat work should be able to move into stations, and those students who were completing stations will complete seat work. I can get in 4 math groups on a smooth day and 3 math groups on a rocky day. I sure you know what I mean. :)

This is what works for me! I hope you learned a trick or two! What works for you?
Next year I want to implement more writing about math into our station time. What would you like to change about your math block? Let's brainstorm together!

Friday Funnies

Congratulations! You made it to Friday! Relax and laugh!

Before I can go home on Friday, I have to attend a staff meeting. I love my coworkers. I really do. But....these meetings....they are painful! They are long! More often than not, they are unnecessary. So of course, I laughed out loud when I first saw this picture.

Who else has a Friday meeting? I feel your pain! We are in this together.

Using Nearpod in a Digital 1:1 Classroom

Hey y’all!  Super excited to be sharing with you from the Rocket City in Alabama!  I’m Debbi from 3rdGrade Pad, and I’ll be sharing with you each month along with some awesome ladies!  I’m a little in awe with the company that I am keeping here! 

I’ve been teaching off and on for the last 20+ years.  GULP!  I've taught everything I'm certified to teach over the years.  I've been back in public schools for 9 years now with 8 of those in ThirdGrade.  I have certainly found my home in 3^rd grade and haven’t looked back!

I teach in a district with a 1:1 technology device for students in 1st grade and up.  Third graders are issued laptops.  Who’d a thunk 25 years ago I would be teaching with technology that we didn’t even HAVE at the time???

One thing that I’ve learned is that there are A LOT of programs out there.  I’ve signed up for many things to try out, but I can truly only use a few really well.  I try to be selective with what I use with my class.  I want to have consistent and predictable routines, if I can.  One of my new favorites is Nearpod.

What is Nearpod? 

Think … PowerPoint with benefits.  Whatever you put together on Nearpod is sent directly to your students’ screens by entering a code.  YOU control moving forward.  What’s even better, it provides options for interactive elements that you could NEVER do in PowerPoint!

There are quite a few pre-made Nearpod lessons that are FREE and some for a small fee.  Trying out some of the free ones will be great inspiration.  Give a search and see what you find!

Once you create your account and are ready to get crackin’, you’ll want to go to the Create section and delete the two useless slides.  Not quite sure why they are there, but I always get rid of them.

You will be left with the “Add Slide” section and you are ready to roll. 

Once you click that button, you are provided with three options.

By clicking “Add Content”, you can either create a basic slide and type in your content OR you can insert a saved file, image, etc.  Lots of options are there for places you might be saving your files.

Adding activities is what REALLY sets this tool apart.

I really love giving my kids the chance to answer Open-Ended Questions.  Here’s a sample of how this might look. 

I like to create the questions in PowerPoint.  I typed up a question and added a screenshot from my teacher’s manual and slipped it right in.

While the students are responding, the screen that is displayed on your Promethean board will show answers in real-time.  I like to click on “Freeze” so that no one can see each other’s answers until I am ready for them to share.

It is great to quickly read through the responses and find the good points.  The kids really excited when I share their responses—both those that are good models or common misconceptions –with the class.  They can see the answers up close!

Creating quizzes is another great tool to do a quick formative assessment!  Type up a few questions and answers, click the correct choice, and you have a self-graded quiz!  Once all the answers are submitted (again, I will freeze the screen), I will quickly look through the responses on my computer to see who needs remediation.

If you are like me, creating PowerPoint presentations for teaching is not new.  In fact, you might have so many already created that the THOUGHT of redoing them doesn’t seem like a great idea.  Well, I’ve had a blast reusing those old presentations. 

It is super-simple!

1. Pull up your old presentation
2. Go to File: then Save As Pictures
3. Name your New File!

Once you are in Nearpod, just reinsert each of the slides as a picture to create an interactive presentation!  Now all you have to do is add a few activities to take the learning ever further!

I hope you’ll give this Web 2.0 tool a try!  I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface with this tool, but it is now one of my “keepers”. 

Learn Tips and Tricks for Donors Choose

Hello from sunny Arizona! This is Jamie from Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher. I am over-the-moon excited to be a collaborator on this blog.

Let me start my telling you a little about myself. I have been teaching third grade for three years. I am not the person who knew since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a teacher. Nope! In fact, I have a degree in American Political Studies. I worked as a lobbyist for the Arizona State Supreme Court. It was my dream job. But all of my priorities and goals changed when I became a mom. In just two and a half years, my husband and I had four kids. No joke! (There was a set of twins in there!) I had the wonderful opportunity to stay home with our babies.

By the time all of my kids were in school, I was a completely changed person. I could not imagine a job that did not involve children. I got my secondary teaching license and student taught in a 12th grade American Government class. I liked it...but I hated that the young adults had lost their innocence. I knew I needed to spend my days with the little guys. I did all the necessary classes and tests and have been in third grade ever since. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Now let's talk about Donors Choose. I have been using Donors Choose to buy materials for my classroom since my first year teaching. I learned about it on an episode of Oprah! It is such an amazing organization and I just assumed that every teacher knew about it. And then I realized that only a handful of teachers at my school had ever used it! And every time that I mention it on my blog or FB page, I get tons of questions. So here are some tips and tricks that I have learned along the way...

Donors Choose is a nonprofit website that allows public school teachers to request donations for their classroom. Individuals and businesses come to the site looking for projects to donate money towards. The donations are tax deductible. In short, Donors Choose makes it possible for public school teachers to make requests for their classroom and perfect strangers can help make these dreams become a reality for students. Your classroom gets the materials that they need. Donors receive a tax write off and beautiful thank you notes from your students. It almost sounds too good to be true. But trust me, it is very true! In the past two years, I have had ten different projects funded through Donors Choose!

Seriously, if wishes were fishes, what resources would you want in your classroom? Chances are, you can make a Donors Choose project for it! Do you need more technology? You can ask for iPads, chrome books, printers, etc. Do you need math manipulatives? You can make a project by shopping the Lakeshore math maniulatives! Have you always wanted to have book clubs, but don't have the books? Book projects fund faster than most! Has your school cancelled field trips due to budget cuts? You can get a field trip funded through Donors Choose. They are even allowing projects for professional development! If you can dream it....Donors Choose can help make it happen. (Honestly, I don't work for them!)

Writing a Donors Choose project is fun for the online shopping enthusiast! Donors Choose has teamed up with a plethora of vendors, including Amazon, Best Buy and Lakeshore Learning. You just shop these vendors for the materials that you need for your classroom. Add them to your cart and write a description with the prompts that Donors Choose provides. Give the project a fun name and you are done! It took me about an hour to write my first project and now I can write them in about 30 minutes. The project is approved and added to the site within a day or two.

Did you know that their are tons of businesses that have already agreed to partner in the funding of projects that meet a set criteria? All you have to do is write the project that meets this criteria! I got an awesome color printer this way! I discovered that Epson had a partner offer last spring. I wrote a project for the printer and was certain to include the Epson name in the project title (per the instructions for their partner deal). Epson immediately funded half of my project. The other half was quickly funded by other private donors. Within a month of writing the project, I was printing beautiful color task cards with my new free-to-me printer!

A little research can go a long way in getting fantastic projects funded quickly. Here is how to find the partner deals:

• Log in to your Donors Choose account.
• Click on your name on the upper right-hand corner.
• Click on "Projects."
• On the left-hand side of the screen, you will see a blue hyperlink that says "Partner Funding Opportunities."
• Search for funding opportunities by clicking on your state.
• Carefully read the details to make sure that your project will meet the criteria.
• Create your project!

If you don't see a partner funding opportunity that you can use, check back again in a month. The opportunities are always changing! Write a reminder in your planner for each month, so that you don't miss out on a great opportunity.

So you want eight iPads? Yes, you can ask for that, but I am going to offer a suggestion. I recommend breaking up large projects into multiple small projects. Consider asking for just one iPad at a time. Projects that are under $500 are more likely to fund than projects that cost more. Donors want to give to a project that they feel is likely to fund. So keep the projects small. After you fund one project, you can always start another! It will take some time, but it is possible!

At the time of writing, Donors Choose has a match offer for the first week of a project. If donors use the promotional code SPARK, a private donor will match their donation. This is HUGE! It essentially cuts your need in half. It is so important to advertise and ask for donations during that first week. Make sure they know about the promotional code.

Each teacher is only allowed to have projects with SPARK match offers twice per school year. If you only do a couple of projects per year, then this will not be a problem. If you do more projects, you will want to use it on projects you need funded fast or projects that cost more than others.

I used the Spark donation to get a fun Lego project funded in just one week!

You don't HAVE to ask anyone you know to contribute to your project. You can wait for perfect strangers to find your project. But, I don't recommend that! It takes A LOT longer! Your friends and family are usually very happy to help your classroom. You don't have to be as pushy as a used car salesman! Just post a link to your project on Facebook and politely ask for support. Then do it again a few days later. Due to the way Facebook works, many of your friends and family probably never saw your first request.

How about asking your students' parents? Stick your project request in your classroom newsletter. Or make the link to the project part of your signature on your email. On my last project, two parents donated right away and helped me to get the project funded in just one week!

Please don't get discouraged if it takes a while to get your project funded! Some of mine took three months. But they all funded. Be patient and keep asking!

Donors Choose features several projects right on their home page. These projects will get funded quickly by perfect strangers. It is the first thing they see when they go to the site. So how can you get your project featured? The featured projects are projects that have the most donors. Not the most donations- but the most donors. Can you get everyone at your husband's office to donate $1? Can you get your own coworkers to donate $1? It might not seem like much, but if you get enough donors, you might see your project featured on the homepage! Plus, it all adds up! Especially if you are getting a Spark match! I always get my projects started by donating to them myself!

There have been several different Donors Choose giving pages that have popped up over the last couple of years. I highly recommend that you follow Laura Candler's Caring Classrooms Facebook page. This group is sensational! They helped me to get two different math manipulative projects funded super quick!

You need to go to her page to read all of the specifics, but here is the general gist: Caring Classrooms keeps 10 Donors Choose projects featured on their giving page. Each Sunday, they request donations to these pages in what they call Fund-Day Sunday. Throughout the day teachers will donate $1 or more to these featured projects. As the projects get completely funded, Caring Classrooms will add new projects. If you donated to a project during Fund-Day Sunday,  they will consider  your Donors Choose project as one of their featured projects. If you get picked, your project is guaranteed to fund quickly! Mine funded within 1-2 weeks after getting chosen! AND, I felt great knowing that I had donated a few dollars to help another teach get her project funded. WIN! WIN! Don't be discouraged if you don't get picked the first week or two that you try. They keep records of all donations and they do a great job of rewarding regular donors.

Good luck with your Donors Choose projects! What will you be asking for? We would love to know, just leave us a comment.

Have a fantastic week!

My kids are never at their desks and I LOVE it!

Hi I'm Mary from A Classroom Full of Smiles. I'm proud to be part of this wonderful group of 3rd grade teachers.

I'm going to talk to about the reasons why my kids are hardly ever at their desks. And I wouldn't have it any other way! Having an active classroom needs to not only be for the primary grades, but intermediate as well.

1st reason: 

I was intrigued by an article I read over the summer. It stated that Finland gives 15 minutes of recess for every 45 minutes of instruction. The results have been amazing. The students were engaged and more focused during lessons. I gave this idea a shot. And yes, I noticed a great difference in my room. Like, big time. The melt downs and tantrums I had last year were not happening this year. The overwhelmed help me looks I was given last year were not apparent this year. 

Kids are meant to move! They were not made to sit at a desk ALL day long.

2nd reason:

Aside from the recess that I give, I also have a "free range" classroom. My kids know that they can work anywhere in the room at any time they wish. Say what?!

I have about 5 large spare tables in my room and clipboards assigned to all students. This gives them the opportunity to work in many different places throughout the day. I want them to feel comfortable when they are working. This means, they have the choice to work where THEY feel the most comfortable. For many, it is NOT at their desks. 

3rd reason:

One last reason my kids are usually never at their desks is because they are working in pairs or teams that move around the room. We complete lots of "Scoot" activities, partner activities, and Kagan activities. This gets the kids up, moving, and talking as they complete work. (PS my classroom in never silent either.)

So if you have a bunch of wigglers and/or talkers, give one of the above ideas a try. I'm sure you will start to see a transformation happen.