My Gift to YOU!

Happy Holidays from 3L + 1T!  My gift to you all for being great followers, a Teachers Pay Teachers sale! On December 1st and 2nd, enjoy 20% off of ALL (yes, that is correct) ALL of my products in my store. With the gift TPT is giving you, you can save up to 28% on products.  What a great way to start the New Year!

Click the banner above to go directly to my store!

Check out my other blog posts for great ideas and direct links to products.

Literacy During the Holidays

Thanksgiving Ideas

Parent Teacher Conferences

Writing Ideas

Back to School Night

First Day of School

Centers/Stations

Student Data Tracking: Math Facts

Birthdays

Organization

Common Core Checklists

Summer Success

Genre Study

Classroom Rewards
Writing as Homework
Student Data Tracking: Reading Levels
Review Cards: ELA
Spring Activities
Multiplication Bulletin Board

Making Your Math Block Full of Holiday Cheer

I love teaching around the holidays, as it adds something new and exciting in terms of themes. It is a fun way to keep them engaged, as we know they are all thinking about holiday treats, presents, and snow days! So why not include those items they want to discuss with you into something educational? This post is all about including holiday cheer into your math block, but if you're looking for literacy based activities, visit my holiday literacy post.

Perimeter and Area

In my math block, we were studying perimeter and area (now that we are finally learning our multiplication facts!) in December.  I decided that I didn't have time to do something too extreme, like wrap multiple shaped packages to them to find the actual perimeter and area. I love activities, but I did not have time for that!

I created an interactive worksheet where students can work with presents of all shapes and sizes to find the perimeter and area.  Now, we haven't worked too much with measurement this year, so I didn't have them use their own measurement tools, but you could do this (outside of my TPT product).

Find my "Wrappin' Up Perimeter and Area product...HERE!

Roll a Holiday Tree 

I also think it is fun for my students to have some holiday fun during centers/stations. Although the rest of my centers may include current skills, I like to include one engaging one where they can work in partners/small groups with dice to complete a task.  I also don't add a lot of coloring, drawing, unless it has a complete educational purpose...but this time, I don't mind!

Roll a Holiday Tree is where students take turns rolling the dice.  When it lands on a certain number they draw the item associated with the number.  For example, if 4 says to draw the ornaments, that's what they have to draw first. The pictures end up coming out great as they have to really think about the placement if they are not able to draw the tree first.  The product works on teamwork, following directions, number skills, and fine motor skills.

Go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store for other holiday activities or view the product here!

*Holiday Literacy Activities

If you are also wanting some literacy activities to complete around the holidays, I have a post on this as well.

Happy Holidays from 3L + 1T!!

 

 

Adding Literacy During the Holidays

Book Clubs

Winter Break is right around the corner which means students will start getting a little antsy as they are getting ready to be on an extended beak and well for the most of us around the States they are stuck inside because of cold and snowy weather outside. I really try to make the 3 weeks in December really engaging, although I want them to still have lots of academics before break as well.  Chances are many students won't read a single word over their 2-week break. Scary, Scary, Scary!

I LOVE book clubs, or many call them, literature circles. I enjoy these because they are highly engaging, group oriented, bring a lot of discussion amount equivalent readers, and all have the reading/writing connection.  I have created 4 different holiday book clubs for my third grade classroom. The book selection was based on the needs of my classroom, so these may not translate  to every third grade class around the world.

1. Judy B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake (GR: Level M)
2. Judy Moody & Stink, The Holly Joliday (GR: ~Level M)
3. Miss Holly is Too Jolly (GR: Level O)
4. Who is Stealing the 12 Days of Christmas? (GR: Level Q)

Each book contains a breakdown of what chapter(s) to read during a 7-day period, except for Who is Stealing the 12 Days of Christmas? as this was my highest reading group and I was able to work with them a little differently since the book was at a higher level.  The group was independent enough to work on their own and together to complete the task.

Each group met with the teacher 2-3 times during their 7-day book club project.  I know 7 days does not match up with a normal school week, so it was technically a two week project (10 days).  Seven days they were reading, 1-2 days to catch up if we were behind, and/or 1-2 days to complete the final project.

The final projects were group oriented and we spent 1.5 Literacy Blocks completed them.  Because I wanted everyone to learn about the books other groups read, we created large movie posters (No pictures...bummer, I know!) to try to entice classmates to read this book over break.  Each student had a job (writer, artist, leader, supply manager, time manager, question master, presenter).  I hope to have a blog post soon on how these group activities work in my classroom.

After they completed their movie poster, they presented to the class what the book was about (without giving too much away).  It was a great informal assessment as you could truly tell which group members understood the book well and could answer the questions their classmates asked with confidence.  I added this as a grade as well.

A little more about the books/questions:

 Judy B. Jones group is asked to complete summaries of each chapter they complete using Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then and then completed a final summary in paragraph form of the book. Judy Moody's group is asked to complete a variety of questions about the text. They are comparing/contrasting, describing, identifying, and summarizing.

 Miss. Holly is Too Jolly asks group members to complete a variety of questions including grammar based, comparing, identifying, giving details, and summarizing.  Who is Stealing the 12 Days of Christmas? is all summaries of the chapter(s) read in paragraph form.

*Each group has the "Rate this Book" at the end of

Adjective Passage

If you are not looking to create a huge project around the holidays, as there is too many assessments, projects, papers, etc. due I also love included reading into grammar skills. No matter the grammar subject, my students are always reading and identifying it in text.  I think students retain the information more when they practice in text rather than the skill in isolation.

I have created a passage that has LOADS of adjectives in it.  Students are asked to read the passage and find the adjectives within it.  Where does the holiday part come in you may ask? Well, the passage is about a snow day! Many of us can already relate to a snowy filled day already this year!

Students will circle all the adjective they find in the text, but then they are also asked to draw a line to the noun it is describing, as that is just as important as the adjective itself.

Get this product...here!

 

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Thanksgiving is a fun time for students as they are learning important parts of our nation's history (for those reading this blog from the States).  But it is also a time to have a little fun by incorporating some of the great foods, traditions, and crafts into our lessons...when we all have time! I have some sneaky ways to include fun into your classroom, while students are still learning and highly engaged!

Graphing

Thanksgiving Graphing:

I try to make my graphing unit (2nd grade) around the time Thanksgiving rolls around.  This is a great time period to have student survey family, friends, etc. and graph their results. In the past, with my 2nd grade team, we would have students survey family/friends about their favorite type of pie and show results on a Bar Graph.  You can also have fun with Pie Graphs given the name of the game!

I have created a simple document for you to model how to create data from surveying all the way to the analysis part.  I have a teacher example for all three stages.  The students have a "Take Home" document that tells them the steps to take and send the student copies home. Students are to complete a survey to at least 10 family/friends that they know, asking them their favorite Thanksgiving pie flavor.  You can obviously pick your own prompt, but the questioning will not go with it.  I have provided 25 survey ideas for you to use, to assign students, or to give students some ideas to survey friends/family members about. 

 

Get your own copy...HERE!

Graphing: Quick Assessment/Activity

After finishing the "Take-Home" assignment, you can test student's knowledge by having them complete a pre-made survey to create the bar graph and analysis portion. I have used this as a quick assessment to check my students' understanding of basic graphic.  Although, this activity does not make them do the surveying due to time.  It is also a fun activity to have students do the day before Thanksgiving as an educated math lesson, but still involves crayons and food!

 

Click HERE to get your own copy 

Another cookie version is available HERE

Numbers

Roll a Thanksgiving Dinner:

I love the "Roll a..." activity, and I have a few in my TPT store for you to get during all of the holidays throughout the school year. If you haven't heard of this type of activity, here is the breakdown:

1. Students usually work in partners or small groups.
2. They take turns rolling dice.
3. Once they roll the dice, they read the number.  The number correlates with an item to draw to create their holiday picture. For example, if they roll a 1, they must draw the plate.  The fun comes in when they are looking for a specific number to roll to complete their picture and they can't get it.  
4. Students should finish with, in this case, a Thanksgiving dinner drawn on the paper you provide them. 

It is a fun, silly, and teamwork game to play during the holiday week.  I usually use it during my centers, as they can have a couple "fun" activities, and a couple academically driven activities.

Here's the product...you know you want it!

For more "Roll a..." activities:

Roll an [Easter] Egg

Roll a Holiday Tree

 

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I found this awesome photo on Pinterest, and couldn't help but lead this post with this picture. Enjoy!

Cited: http://heygirlteacher.tumblr.com/

Anyone else feel this way? Worrying about scheduling siblings in other grades back-to-back with your students, parents can't make certain times, and the list goes on with the stress of scheduling Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Before I even get into my organization during conferences, don't forget to add something special up on the walls outside of your classroom so parents/guardians can see what their child has been completing in class.  I am lucky enough to have a couple large spaces outside of my classroom.  One of my bulletin boards was filled with student writing.  We did a creative writing piece to teach descriptive writing.  After reading the story I Need My Monster, students spent a day creating 3 of their own monsters and using many new and exciting words to describe them.  They then selected one monster to write a fun-filled narrative about them.  I put the writing as well as their monster picture up on the bulletin board.

The other side of the wall was filled with our personal character traits posters we made at the beginning of the school year. Parents loved seeing what traits their child used to describe themselves.  It was a great "ice breaker" for the parents and I to discuss their child's work and/or character traits before we got into the academics. 

(See that post here)

I try to stay really organized with a folder per student during this time as I know I only have 15-20 minutes with each parent. Things I include in the folder to be shared with the parent are:

• Progress Report
• Writing Sample
• Student Personal Progress Reports
• Math Fact Data (See blog post or buy on TPT)
• Any official forms from school
• Student skills evaluation report (Coming Soon!)
• Student Data of Common Core Standards Checklist (Get your grade level..here)
• Student Reading Level Goal via personal thermometer growth

Having all of these items completed, put into the folder, and ready to go makes me feel prepared.  Once all of the folders are packed, I make sure to put them in order of appointment.  That way, when one parent exits, I put that folder aside and the next one is up & ready to go.

A few more helpful hints: Always start with a positive about the child (or a few) so parents/guardians know you are on the side of helping their child.  This will help parents stay more relaxed and willing to hear the hard stuff if you start with something positive.  It is hard for many parents to see issues or problems when it comes to their child and their education.  Go at this issues carefully, and make sure you have data to back up your thoughts. If you know there will be a difficult conferences, ask one of your administrators to sit in on the conference with you. There is no shame in making sure you have "back up".

Good luck, and I know holding 25+ conferences in a short amount of time is difficult.  So continue being rock star teachers!

Writing! Writing! Writing!

I have to be honest, when I first became a classroom teacher I was petrified of teaching writing.  I remember looking at the standards and thinking "Where do I even start?"  With enough practice, and guidance from quarter-long units I was able to understand the breakdown to get to the "big picture".  Now, I absolutely LOVE teaching writing, and I have had some really proud moments of pushing my students to go above and beyond.  My students even understand my expectations, and know they are working above grade level or pushing themselves to work to that level. My third graders were writing 5-paragraphs by December.  So can you tell I really love to teach writing? 

The Writing Process

First ask yourself (or the standard), where you want your students to be by the end of the quarter.  Do you want them to be able to write 3-paragraphs on an opinion piece, biography, or even a research paper? From there I break it down into mini-lessons (Fact vs. Opinion, topic sentences, adjectives, etc).  I decide what will get my students to create great writing...what skills do they need to be successful?

My first year of classroom teaching, I had these Writing Process posters.  Click here for my own version! Make sure you laminate for a lifelong tool! I hung them underneath my black board, and gave each student a clothespin with their class number on it.  Everyone started on the "Writing as a Process" poster.  As we worked our way through the writing process, students would move their clothespin to the stage they were currently working at.  This helped me know where students were and who needed some extra help because they were a few stages behind.

Get your own set! 

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Editing (Independently, then with a partner.  Partners must sign their name on the drafts)
4. Revising (Independently, then with me)
5. Publishing

If you look closely, you can see the majority of the class is on the 2nd stage: Drafting, but there are still a few students who are Prewriting.  

Especially at third grade, I don't like holding their hands on each stage. I want them to become independent writers, as that is what is expected of them during standardized testing and the real world.  Now, with that being said, I don't just say "write".  I will be creating a similar project alongside them and modeling at the beginning of the lesson. I pace it out depending on how students are performing, and I may move onto showing them how to revise, and students may still be drafting.  

Speaking of editing & revising...I add another round of clothespin into the mix.  Students each have their own clothespin they keep in their art box (different use than the Writing Process one).  I have students edit independently and then with partners first (Step #3).  When they get to Step #4: Revising, they are allowed to come see me.  Instead of having a long line that lasts from my desk to the door, they come put their clothespin on this sheet at my desk and I call them up when I am ready to edit with them.  After much instruction and practice they know not to come put their clip up on the sheet until they have looked it over, read it aloud, and edited it until the couldn't anymore.  

Get the product...HERE!

Writing Binders

So...interesting story on how I created the foundation for my handwriting and writing organization in my classroom.  I didn't help create the supply list for 3rd grade, as I was still teaching 2nd grade at the time.  I had not thought that far in advance anyway.  I looked over the list, and realized every single one of my students was bringing a black 1-inch binder. I went into a small panic, and began asking the other teachers what they used them for.  They all used them for a variety of ways, but I decided I wanted an organized binder for handwriting and writing.

After much thought, I decided to create 4 tabs to help students stay organized.

• Resources- handouts, rubrics, helpful hints, etc.  For example, after our lesson on character traits, students put a variety list of traits in their binders to use as a resource later in their writing. 
• Projects- This is where all of their prewriting, rough drafts, and short stories were kept.
• Handwriting- They would keep all of their handwriting practice pages and assignments in this section to have as a resource.
• Vocabulary- Students would keep their Vocabulary Matrix from each week's vocabulary words in this section. 

Students were pretty good at keeping this binder organized after much explanation and practice.  I would always do the hole punching ahead of time, or call students up by tables so we could put things in the binder as we created them.  

For more information on other ways I incorporate writing into my classroom visit my post about: Writing Homework. 

Back to School Night

Welcome to Our Class! 

Whether you have a Meet the Teacher, Back-to-School Night, or something similar it is best to come prepared and that is what this post will help you do! I do most of these preparations before the school year begins, although putting together folders might be a weekend job or something that a family member might be willing to help out with.  I really believe in these items below, as it keeps parents/guardians on the same page from Day #1.  They know my expectations, and they realize they have their own set of expectations as well.  Look through the post, and feel free to comment with other suggestions and/or questions. 

Parent Folders

Parents receive "Parent Folders" that is filled with many helpful resources and information.   It is located on their child's desk, and I explain the folder during my presentation.  I put together a bright yellow folder with the following pieces of literature (most of which I found through Pinterest). Thank you to my fellow bloggers for providing these wonderful resources! 

- Helpful "At Home" tips for spelling
- Helpful "At Home" tips for math
- Why Read at home?
- Questions to ask child during reading: Fiction & Nonfiction
- Parent School: Reading Skills #1 (give these out monthly)
- Magnet with my contact information
- Brochure (below)
- Any school forms
- Classroom volunteer form
- Classroom Dojo Forms (Classroom Management)
- Common Core for Parents (If your state has made the switch)

Parents are told to keep these folders, as I will send helpful resources home throughout the year, so they are able to help with skills and standards at home as well.  I know it seems like a lot, and not every parent will take advantage of those items.  But if you can just help one parent make learning at home easier...the folders have done their job! The folders are a must in my classroom now, and I now that I have all the documentation organized, it makes it a lot easier from year to year!

Brochure

This year I decided to do something different.  I wanted to create a brochure for a different "look" rather than the letter format.  I wanted it to look different as I knew I was already giving them a lot of paper within their folders.  I put information that parents need to know and have a resource to check periodically.  I go into detail during my presentation (see below), but I do not offer handouts of my PPT just to save paper. In the brochure I highlighted main subject areas, technology use, grading, standardized testing expectations, transportation, special class schedule, and a quick read about myself.  I felt these were the most important pieces of information, but obviously you may have other needs within your own classroom.

Student Work

Our Back-to-School Night is a few weeks into school, so students have completed a decent amount of writing activities/projects. Students are asked at the end of the day to open their Writing Binder to their favorite writing assignment they have completed.  This is great for parents to go in the classroom, find their child's seat, & start reading.  It allows me to be able to greet parents at the door, rather than having a back log of parents waiting to get in the classroom or speak with me.

Parent Sign In

On our back table, I have a sign in sheet, any documentation from the school (technology permission forms) and any additional notes I'd like the parents to see or have their own copy.  You can also make these nice for parents with some decor back there. Check out Pinterest if this is something that interests you! I know there are some other amazing set-ups.

Presentation

I give about a 15 - 20 minute PowerPoint presentation for a quick run-down on my expectations and items I want parents to know from the beginning.  I include things like:

• Daily Schedule (Breakdown of how much ELA, Math, etc)
• Detailed Schedule for morning & afternoon
• Reading expectations
• Spelling expectations
• Math expectations
• Expectations for the end of the year (Reading level, passing of tests, etc)
• Daily communication (Daily Red Folder, Planner)
• Homework (I talk about Writing Homework, as I feel parents need to know my high standards with this weekly assignment)
• Parent Recommendations
• Class Rules
• School Rules
• Classroom management (Class Dojo)
• Pop Tab Program (Year-long philanthropy project)
• Technology
• Parent Involvement (& yellow folder discussion)
• General Information
• End with contact information (leave screen so they can program it in their phones if needed)