Hosting "Technology Showcase"

Hey everyone! It's Meredith from Creativity to the Core. Can you believe it is the end of the school year already?!? I'm sure some of you are already out of school, others have about 6 days left (me too!), and a few of you still have a few more weeks (praying for ya'll!). As the school year comes to a close, our school seems to host every. single. event. possible. in about three weeks. I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that I have survived the rush with only one more award ceremony this afternoon. Whew!

Technology Showcase

I work at a school that has only been open for about six years. We are *blessed* to be a technology school equipped with Promethean boards, classroom computers, laptop carts, iPad carts, and Chrome books. Usually, each grade level shares a cart. With 8-9 classes per grade level, it turns out to be about 3-4 computers/iPads per classroom. It is our school tradition to host Technology Showcase once a year, usually in May. 

Here's the basics of Tech Showcase:

-Each class comes up with a unique project showcasing the use of technology

-Teachers display projects in their individual classrooms

-Guests (parents, students, friends) travel around the school to visit various projects

-Live tweets and hashtags are used throughout the event by staff and families
-Hallways are decorated with "technology artwork" and augmented reality opportunities

Teachers pretty much have free reign for this event. Some people played parent vs. student Kahoot games, others had research projects, some made iMovies. This year, a few of the third grade teachers decided to focus on augmented reality. We used the app ColAR Mix which was recently renamed Quiver - 3D Coloring App. The app is seriously the MOST fun I've had with augmented reality. The black lines on the coloring sheets become the trigger image  that brings a child's coloring sheet to life! 

As a teacher, you will need to print the coloring pages and have students color them. Some coloring sheets are free, and some are available to purchase. We decided to pay for a few because they were SO much more interactive than the free ones. ***Tip: Color lightly with crayon. Coloring dark or with marker will make the black lines hard to pick up, and therefore the image will not scan.

After students color them, you can use an iPad or iPhone and the Quiver app to scan the image. All of a sudden, the airplane is flying across your screen! The penguins were waddling and sliding on their bellies! The dragon that I am testing below was flapping his wings and blowing fire balls. Sound effects and all! The kids ADORE these.

 

Our Technology Showcase projects become our curriculum for a few weeks before the BIG event. Therefore, we cannot just color. We decided to have students practice writing narratives to match their images. (I KNOW! We actually let them color BEFORE writing. Shocker!) :)

After writing their narratives, we edited for content to ensure that the content matched the augmented reality image. Many discussions were held about remaining on topic and adding specific details. I mean, you can't write about two boys eating ice cream if your image is a grasshopper eating a bug. #truestory #idontlie 

The kiddos rewrote their stories with more detail, and then it was off to Google Drive! This was a S.L.O.W. process at first, but they got the hang of it. Soon the Google Doc experts were showing their friends how to create a new file online and how to type an exclamation mark. These moments make my teacher heart just explode!

If you haven't used Google Docs, I HIGHLY recommend implementing it as soon as possible. There are SO many benefits. Umm....hello automatic save!!! This was a lifesaver while I was editing at my small group table, keeping an eye on center groups, and checking each augmented reality trigger picture. I didn't have time to keep saying, "Don't forget to save!" Google Docs is also helpful with editing because it works just like Microsoft Word, so students are familiar with the setup and there is Spell Check (Hallelujah!). From a teacher's point of view it is brilliant for late night editing. My co-teacher and I would both log on, and read/edit/reread the papers together from our cozy beds rather than sitting for hours at school. 

Below, is a screen shot of our files. I literally just logged onto my personal account (Although it may be helpful to create a separate one for your classroom!) and showed students how to create a document and name it with their name. I have covered their names for privacy, but you can see what I mean below. If it was time for lunch, students just stopped typing and closed the computer. After lunch, they could return to any computer in the classroom, open Google Drive, and find their name. 

Naming each document with student names also helps teachers to quickly see who is ready to go and who needs more time.

The day of the Technology Showcase, we printed each story and each child's augmented reality photograph (like the one of me and the dragon above). They were then stapled to a file folder which sat up on the table. Parents and friends traveled around the table with our iPads scanning the images and reading the stories. It was a HUGE hit! 

Technology Showcase would be a wonderful addition to any classroom or school culture. Try it out and see your students purposefully integrate technology in fun new ways!

You can kinda sorta see the final projects in the background of this picture. Sorry for the poor quality...we have 6 days left. Can you believe we forgot to take pictures of the actual night?! My two lovely co-teachers and I were a bit too busy with parents, technological tweaks, and slurpees to remember to get some action shots. So, as the school year winds down I will leave you with this crazy picture of two tired but excited teachers, at 6:00 PM before our Technology Showcase began, after teaching all day.  

Of course, slurpees are necessary. ;)

A Little Classroom Library Makeover!

Hello friends! It's Kelly from Love  to Teach A-Latte!
Do you have one of those projects you never got around to this year!? You know the project I'm talking about... the one you wanted to get done but just weren't sure how you wanted to take care of it? Then all of the sudden it's May and that project still isn't done! No!? Just me!? Well friends I finally got mine done! After a LOT of thinking, and talking with my students the actual project was pretty quick. I took care of it in a productive early morning! Whew!

All year I've been thinking about how to organize my classroom library. This was my first year in 3rd grade and I was really unsure how to change it up. I didn't think there would be a huge difference between a 2nd & 3rd grade classroom library, but I was wrong! Third graders grow so much as readers. They aren't as interested in those picture books that the second graders treasure. They want the newest and best chapter books. I had to make some big investments in books this year. Thank goodness for the Scholastic Warehouse sales! With my new books came a space problem and the kids were struggling to find what they wanted to read. Also many students didn't know what was available.

So here's where I started...

I had the picture books in color coded boxes. See the labels!?  However the deep baskets made it so hard to look through the books, and I was having an overflow problem as you can see...

Is this color orange, red, brown? Who knows!? What I do know is it needs an update!

The first step for me was to clean the shelves and then make the shelves more inviting. 

Solution: chevron contact paper! I LOVE this stuff!

You know that saying, "Measure twice, cut once"? Be sure to do that! The first shelf I finished had contact paper that was an inch short. Womp! Womp! So learn from me, measure twice & cut once!

The next big step is to peel back a small amount of the back corner and line it up well. Get the end of the contact paper lined up with the back & side of the shelf so as you peel it continues to spread out in a straight line. 

I peeled it SLOWLY as I went along, and I recommend you try it that way too. You can smooth it out as you go more easily and you're not dealing with a huge sticky piece of contact paper. Smoothing it out in small sections helped me because it created less of those air bubbles too. 

I covered 4 shelves that were about 48 inches long and used 2 rolls of contact paper. 

I know the color isn't completely gone, but this update has made a huge difference! It's MUCH easier than painting (I've tried that) and it's chevron! Who doesn't love chevron!?

I was a little bit excited about it! The kids came in just after I finished, and I was beaming!

"Look guys! Look at the library!"

#onlyteachersunderstand
The kids love the update too! They were excited to see the new set up later during book shopping.

 In order to accomplish this I had to pack away MANY picture books that I know the kids don't read often. I added many new chapter books from series that I know the kids enjoy, and I organized the shelves.
Here's what it looks like now...

The top shelf is in alphabetical order by series. The bottom shelf is random chapter books in order by title, and all the mystery books are in the blue box. I want to add some separation to each series with maybe a laminated strip of thick card stock & a label. That will be my summer project.

These boxes are from Lakeshore. The books are separated by category. Some of my categories are, animals, space & weather, poetry, and then a couple with our favorite characters. The bottom shelf has our dictionaries, and some supplies for Working With Words.
I'll have some fun making these labels too. 

This spindle, which I rescued from the recycle bin, has all my Magic Tree House, Ready Freddy, Who Would Win, and other non-fiction readers that the kids just love. This sits on top of the shelf.

It's amazing what a little contact paper & a lot of thought can do.
I hope you get one of your projects done before a well deserved break friends!!!

Ashley's {NEW} Blog!!

Hey iTeachThird readers!!! Ashley here!! I have an exciting announcement to make! I am launching a brand... new... {BLOG}!!! Head over to www.teachcreatemotivate.com to learn my story and enter to win some AMAZING prizes!!! See you there!! :)

Packing Up with Back-to-School in Mind

Hi y’all!

My school year is now OVER!  Woo Hoo! Well….except for that pesky teacher planning day on Tuesday.  But then, I’m home free!

Whether you are new to teaching or just looking for some great ways to pack up with a plan, I wanted to share a few things I do that make my life so much easier when we head back to school in late summer (never Fall, huh?).

Recover your bulletin boards.

Imagine your packed up room: stacks of boxes off of the floor, items hidden in nooks and crannies, etc.  And all you REALLY want to do is make your room cute.

So, when we pack up for the year, the very first thing I do is strip my bulletin boards and put up fresh paper.  Sometimes I spring for the fadeless paper at the local school supply store, but I mostly use fabric!.  Whatever you choose, recover your boards & add your favorite border.  If you KNOW how you are dedicating the space-go ahead and add your headers and such.

THEN, I put a layer of cheap plastic table coverings over the wall.  It protects the color, keeps out the dust, and it is ready to roll when you walk in. Peel off the layers and you immediately have a fresh looking room.

Prep for Orientation

Do you have one of your days of planning dedicated to a Parent Orientation?  We sure do-usually the last day of our pre-planning days.  And usually all of those days beforehand were spent in meetings and training.  AAAH! Don’t let panic set in during those days. Make those copies NOW!  I usually wait for the welcome letter to be copied: you never know who on your team might move over the summer.  You CAN copy the generic things that are important for your parents: a parent questionnaire, classroom policies, etc.

I also like to use the last few days of school to have my kids fill out a fun booklet for NEXT year’s students!  It keeps my kids busy in a fun way on the last few days of school AND it is a nice welcome for mu future kidlets.  A bag of goldfish saying "You are O-Fish-ally a 3rd Grader" and the booklet is a homerun!  And school hasn’t even started yet!

Copy for the first few days & weeks

The beginning of school is the perfect time to start with your classroom routines.  If your curriculum isn’t being updated…make those copies now!

Morning Work

First Reading Test

First Math Test

Spelling Inventory Checks

3^rd Day of 3^rd Grade Booklet

Any Open House crafty things you like to display-do these on the first few days when you have down time

Put them all together in one place and you won’t be waiting in line at the copier or frustrated when it jams and you’re waiting for the copier dude to come fix it!

Bring your “To-Go” bag

Have any summer projects that you want to work on?  Laminated task cards? Rework your basal with a different approach? Folders to prep for your students?

As I pack things away, I have my biggest Thirty-One tote waiting nearby.  As I put away my manuals and such, I will put anything I want to take home in the tote.  Sheet protectors and binders to organize units, labels to print over the summer, pocket folders that I’ve already laminated, etc.  There is nothing worse than wanting something that is packed away!  Even if you can get back into your room—where the heck did I put it?  Will I get to everything? Probably not.  But at least I know where my supplies are and I have a place to put the things that I complete over the course of the summer, too.

Pack that ONE special box

Think ahead-what will you need first? Stapler? Pens? Mahvelous Tape? Screwdriver?

Put all of those essential supplies together in one place:  a certain shelf, a labeled box, a dedicated cabinet.  When you walk in that first day, it will be great to grab those essential elements right off the bat.  No matter where you start in recreating your classroom-you will have whatever you might need.  I learned THAT one the hard way…lots of opened boxes.  CHAOS!!

I hope that helps you a bit as your school year winds down.  I know my neck of the woods ends a bit early and hoping this will ease that transition from school year-to summer-to back-to-school!

Fun with Fractions

Good morning and happy HUMP DAY, my friend!  It's Melissa from More Time 2 Teach here and I've decided to focus this post on a topic that is extremely difficult for our 3rd grade babies to understand... FRACTIONS! Besides elapsed time, fractions seems to be a topic that I find year after year, my students tend to struggle with. It is also one of the most important topics taught in elementary school.

Today I'm going to share with you a few tips that I've learned throughout the years as well as a few ways that you can have FUN WITH FRACTIONS. Ultimately, we want our students to understand that fractions are more than just "a number written on top of another number".

Tip #1:

When teaching students about fractions it is important that we try to stay away from simply presenting them with a set of rules to follow. Try to stay away from teaching them "tricks" such as "if the denominator gets bigger, the pieces get smaller". 

I know how hard this can be at times, trust me I'm guilty of it as well. Especially, when pressured to keep up with pacing guides or feeling rushed to cover a certain amount of material before testing time rolls around.

However, if we truly want our students to understand, we MUST NOT rush instruction.

Tip #2:

Before practicing with paper and pencil, students need to practice manipulating objects, shapes, and amounts. They need to explore a whole as being more than one. They need to use all kinds of manipulatives to explore fractions.

Tip #3:

It is also important for students to understand that NOT all fractions are created equal! This is actually one of the concepts that makes this topic complex. Not all 1/2's represent the same quantity. 

Take a look at the picture below where I had my students cut three different Tupperware lids in half using an Expo marker. This example clearly demonstrates that the size of a half changes depending on the whole.

Tip #4:

Students need to be exposed to solving various problems with fraction bars/strips. 

One of the activities I like to do with my class is to have students pick two dominoes that they will then convert into fractions. For example, in the picture below the domino on the left is used to represent 3/5 and the domino on the right shows 1/4. Students then line up the fractions bars and compare the two. 

Allow students plenty of time to explore with fractions bars. Remember they need this time in order to gain a better understanding of fractions.

Rather than teaching your students rules, allow them to come up with their own set of rules. Sometimes they might surprise you with they are able to discover on their own.

Tip #5:
When exploring fractions of a group, give students a group of something. In this case, I have a bunch of Little Pets that my daughter no longer uses. I like to use them to have my students solve real world problems such as...

 Raquelle has to share her 15 pets with 3 friends. If each of her friends will get 1/3 of the pets, how many pets will each friend get? 

If you don't have Little Pets no worries... counters, cubes, and even lima beans will work. I've used them all at one point or another. But I will tell you that these adorable little animals making learning about fractions so much more exciting for the kiddos!

Tip #6:
Don't forget to show your students various forms of the same fraction. Expose them to fraction bars that show fractions as rectangles... show them fractions of a circle...

show them fractions of a group such as the yellow dinosaurs below. You can even give your students a fraction and have THEM come up with as many different ways as possible to represent that fraction.

Tip #7:

Take your time when explaining fractions on a number line. This is one area where my students either seem to get it easily or tend to struggle .

Because of this confusion, I decided to create a visual model that would allow my students to manipulate segments on a number line. 

I used the following materials...

Using scissors, I had my students cut each colored straw in half. I then had them cut each half, in half again. This resulted in 4 red pieces and 4 blue pieces. Hence we had cut each straw into fourths.

Next, I had my students thread the blue straw through the black pipe cleaner. We then practiced counting each segment... 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 1 whole straw. This activity can also be used to practice fractions greater than one... 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 8/4 or 2 wholes.

After seeing each straw broken up into segments, I found that my students were able to make the connections between the fractions and the number line.

We continued practicing and used our white boards to recreate each number line. We then practiced labeling them correctly.

If you see that your students continue to struggle... don't give up! Continue to practice. Remind them that fractions is something that they are going to need in the real world whenever they want to cook, when they need to measure something, or when they need to share something with their friends. This is certainly a topic that they will continue to see over and over again!

I hope you've found this post helpful and have learned a few new ways to help make fractions fun in your classroom. How do you make learning about fractions fun? Do you have any great tips that you've learned along the way?

The Perfect End of Year Gift ... For ANY grade

 The end of the year is just days away. Are you still in search of the perfect end of year gift to give your kiddos? Do you need something that is meaningful yet cost effective? I have the perfect idea for you. 

This gift is quick, easy, thoughtful, and totally adorable.

Here is how I made this. 

1. Snap a picture of each of your students in front of a chalkboard. It doesn't have to be a chalkboard, but I found that works best. 

2. Upload your photo to your computer. 

3. Go to https://tagul.com/  . This is where you can create the apple or any other shape you'd like. Follow the website's instructions. You can add as many words as you'd like. You can customize the font, color, size, and direction of the words. Save your work to your computer. 

4. Open up PowerPoint on your computer. Select a BLANK slide. Insert the picture of your little one. Size it anyway you would like. If you are going to be placing in a frame, then size it to the size of the frame.

5. Insert the shape picture you created. Again, size it and place it wherever you'd like. 

6. Type in the little one's name. And include your class name, grade, and year. To make the colors of the text stand out like I did, I right clicked on the text. Then, selected format text effects. Next, I went to glow and soft edges. I picked the color I wanted and Wa-La! 

7. Now it is time to save your work. Click on the picture. Then click select. Then select all (top right side of PowerPoint). Right click and click save as picture. Name your picture and then you are all done!

I'm going to print mine out on photo paper. I will most likely head to the dollar store and buy some frames to place them in. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous last few days!

Inspiring Life-Long Readers

I love to read. I am a book nerd. I always have been. I was THAT kid who sat on the wall and read during recess. In high school, I had a job at the local library. In college, I shelved books for Barnes and Noble. Now, I have an Amazon Prime membership just so I can get books delivered within two days. When I finish a book, I get sad because I feel like I am saying goodbye to good friends. Yup, I'm a book nerd!

As a teacher, I strive to inspire life-long readers! I want to have a room full of book nerds. At the end of the year I will judge my effectiveness as a reading teacher, not on standardized test scores, but on the desire and excitement that my students show towards reading. I will chant this to myself repeatedly as I analyze the test data.

Here are some ways that I inspire kids to LOVE reading!

If you want your students to love reading, it is imperative that you have a fantastic library. You need to fill your class library with current books, popular authors and series and books from all genres. It is important that you understand what books the kids want to read. I know that my kids love the Wimpy Kid series. I don't LOVE it. But I love kids reading. So my library includes an ample supply of Wimpy Kid books. During the year I will get them interested in lots of better series. But until then, I will put up with their choices!

If you look in this picture of my library, you will see that the Wimpy Kid bucket is empty. That is because every one of those books is being read by a student at the time the photo was taken. If I were to take this picture today, the Humphrey book bucket would be empty!

Teachers are not rolling in the extra dough so we need to be creative about how we fill our classroom libraries. Here are some ways that I add new books to my library on a regular basis:

• Write a Donors Choose project. See my post HERE for some tips and tricks.
• Send home monthly Scholastic book orders. I attach a letter to my orders, email parents, include a blurb in my newsletter and text with the Remind app. I always have a handful of kids place an order. Then I can use my bonus points to get books for FREE for the classroom! 
• Purchase books from a used bookstore such as Half Price Books. Once or twice a year, I head to the used book store to splurge on new-to-us books for the class library. These stores often have extra teacher discounts so don't be shy about asking.
• Purchase books from retiring teachers. Every year, there is a teacher or two who is retiring or leaving the profession. I ask about their classroom library! I have had the opportunity buy (for a super reasonable price) a ton of books this way! 

I read aloud to my kids. I almost never skip a day. I read chapter books that challenge and entertain my third graders. I choose books that introduce them to series and authors that they might not be familiar with. The books serve as mini lessons at the start of my reading block. However, I am careful to not stop and ask too many questions of my kids. After all, when you are invested in a book, interruptions are a big bummer. And my goal is to inspire life-long readers. They need to love books to become life-long readers.

Some of my favorite read alouds for the third grade include:

• How to Be Cool in the Third Grade
• Third Grade Angels
• Gooney Bird Greene
• The World According to Humphrey
• Rules
• The Penderwicks
• The One and Only Ivan
• Fish in a Tree

Book auctions are such an easy way to get your kids excited about books. I do two different types of book auctions. After I finish a class read aloud, I hold an auction for the rights to read the next book in the series or another book by the same author. The students are always excited to be the first to read a similar book! They all get a ticket (purchased at Wal-Mart), and I draw one name. That person gets two weeks to read the next book. Then, I draw a new name. The excitement continues for weeks! After a few rounds, I quietly add the book to the class library.

I also do two book auctions per year where all students get a new book to keep! During the year, my students earn raffle tickets for behavior and turning in homework. They use these tickets in the book auction at the end of the semester. I get the books for this auction using Scholastic bonus points and through Donor's Choose projects. Sometimes I buy Scholastic $1 books for the auctions, but I never have to spend much. These auctions are so exciting! Kids are cheering, jumping and applauding. All that is excitement over books!!! You can read all about how I organize this auction by clicking HERE.

I love to use book clubs during my guided reading groups! Book clubs, or literature circles, inspire life-long readers because they allow the teacher to carefully choose interesting and on-level books for a small group of students. Book clubs are another way that I am introducing my students to series and authors that they may not be familiar with. Book clubs are not the one-size-fits-all text that basal readers are.

After we finish a book in book club, the entire group is excited to read another book in the series! Kids who weren't in that group are always asking me if they can read the book too! Kids that beg to read books in my classroom will continue reading long after they leave my classroom. I use my Book Club Graphic Organizers for Fiction and Nonfiction to practice all of our reading standards during book clubs.

It is your turn! How do you inspire life-long readers? What do you want to change or add next year so that you have a classroom that is book centered?