A May Update

As you can see, I haven't been updating my blog lately. Fortunately the reason for this is I have been too busy teaching! About a month ago, I accepted a third grade leave replacement teacher. Having subbed in third grade many times I knew it would be a great fit and I was very excited to get started. Unfortunately I stepped in right before New Jersey state testing. But never fear! I used all that different experience I got from tutoring special education to subbing in every grade from preschool to fifth grade to get those kiddos ready for their first ever standardized test.

It was quite a whirlwind but I focused on reviewing concepts from math and language arts. I also briefly touched on concepts I thought might be on the test but I didn't have time to fully teach. I wanted to make sure the kids went into the test confidently and familiar with everything they saw. While I used the Buckle Down Series (which were a great guide for test review and I highly recommend them) I also integrated some fun hands-on experience. I am definitely not a teacher who can just sit and watch her students do desk work!

In the next few days, I'll show you some of those lessons that I used for test prep with my third graders but for now I will leave you with one of our fun "study break" lessons. To keep us from getting bored and "stale" in our seats, we took a quick break one day to talk about things we needed to remember to do the day of the test. We brainstormed as a class and came up with ideas like "get a good night's sleep", "stay focused", "read the directions carefully", and "check your answers." Then, in a nod to technology (as well as our lack of it), we took these reminders and turned them into "apps" on iPads, study iPads.

How cute did those turn out?! It was a great way to break up the monotony of review and talk about testing skills in a fun and friendly way for eight and nine year olds. I personally think we were app-solutely ready for our big test!

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April

April is National Poetry Month an one of my favorites. This is a great month to easily connect your reading and writing workshop lessons and immerse your students in a specific genre of writing. The other thing that makes poetry my favorite is that it is accessible to all ages. It's fun to read, fun to write and there are so many resources out there for you to bring into the classroom.

Packing the month with poetry reading and writing will build students' skills in so many different areas. I've seen younger elementary students benefit from using rhythm and rhyme where they're practicing identifying blends and digraphs and then transferring that knowledge into writing our own poems. Upper elementary students can discover ways that poets create vivid imagery and practice expressing their ideas in a new format. Poetry also has the benefit of energizing reluctant writers because it is such a different way of writing from the narratives and non-fiction writing emphasized through much of the year.


I have two favorite activities for Poetry month that I will definitely bring to my forever classroom. The first is the Great Poetry Race. I used this last Spring with second graders and you should have seen their enthusiasm for poetry...and the honor of having a plastic trophy on their desk! The goal is for students to practice reading fluency by reading a poem a week out loud to family and friends. To hold a "Great Poetry Race" in your classroom, all you need is simple, kid-friendly poems for each week of April. Print a poem on the front with lines for recording signatures on the back. Students take the poems around and read them out loud to anyone and everyone and the student who receives the most signatures by the end of the week will be the winner of the race for that week and get the honor of having a trophy on their desk. Such a simple idea and you won't believe how much they read!


Another wonderful way to celebrate National Poetry Month is by creating a "Poet-tree." While this is hardly a unique idea, sometimes the old ideas are the best. Create a bare branched tree to hang in the hallway or in the classroom and then encourage students to fill the tree with "leaves": leaf-shaped paper with poems of their own creation. Students love being able to add things to the classroom environment. It's great for self-expression and it allows students to show you what they learned after you teach different styles of poetry. Talk about a great assessment and student-centered learning!

Enjoy celebrating National Poetry Month with your students! Some of my favorite books for the month are: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Goodnight Moon, anything by Dr. Seuss or Bill Martin Jr. Whatever poetry resources you use, students can always benefit from having more poetry in their life.

Let's Share!

Good afternoon! For all of you who have Spring break this week, have a great week off and get some well deserved rest. For all of you who have already had it (like me), let's gear up and get some fresh ideas to get us through to Memorial Day weekend.

* For my Kindergarten and Firsty friends: still having some trouble with tricky B and D? I love Sprinkles to Kindergarten's b and d game for fun reinforcement

* Of course, March was Nutrition Month but you can discuss good nutrition with your students any time of the year. Check out Lesson Plan SOS's ideas for getting students to connect to the topic of nutrition. I especially love the sugar shock lesson; it'll scare the kids away from all that Easter candy!

* What are your favorite read aloud books? Here are some great ones for Kindergarten teachers (though they'll work for other elementary teachers too!)

* I find some many great tips from One Extra Degree and the latest is the idea of sticky note Jot Spots, a great way for your kids to keep track of their thinking during independent reading

* Move beyond KWL charts by giving scenarios to your students. I love this idea because it gives you a chance to assess students' thinking without boundaries. It gets them talking and sharing their thinking with one another, great skills to have in the classroom and beyond

Lesson idea: Be a Classroom Architect

Perimeter and area: two math terms that pop up at every grade level, in some way or another, on standardized tests across the country, and most importantly in the Common Core Standards. While it makes sense that students need to understand the basic concepts of space, how do you help students connect it to themselves and make it an important and relevant part of their lives? A connection and investment in one's learning is important for meaningful learning but area and perimeter seem like such foreign and unimportant concepts for five to ten year olds.

A fantastic activity that I have used to help students make a connection to the idea of perimeter and area and the concept of physical space is a lesson I like to call "Be a Classroom Architect." I have a background in architectural history from my undergrad studies and have always been fascinated by places and spaces. In the spirit of "use what you know", I combined my love of architecture with my love teaching by asking my students to consider themselves architects for 40 minutes in the afternoon.

After explaining the job of an architect, I asked my students to become architects who are commissioned with a project to build the best classroom they could think of, complete with measurements of area and perimeter. This lesson comes well within our study of area and perimeter so students are able to fluently work with both concepts with little frustration.

As students begin to sketch out their plans on graph paper, they are actively engaging their higher level thinking skills. We come up with several different questions we think are important to consider as we design: what will these students need? Where will the students read, write, and practice math facts? The job of calculating perimeter and area were completed pretty quickly (area was calculated by counting squares in the graph paper at the second grade level) and then they could get down to the fun stuff. I saw water slides that were going to be used to study science and a ball pit designed to be the perfect reading area. After plans were completed, several of our "architects" presented their plans and explained their design choices.

I can't think of any lesson I love more for teaching area and perimeter than the Classroom Architect. Besides allowing students for being extremely creative in their designs, it also allows for differentiation between your students. If a student is struggling with multi-digit addition, they might have a simpler design than a student who loves to challenge him or herself with lots of walls to add up in their perimeter calculations. It's also super simple to set up: model, give them graphing paper and watch them go wild! I wish I had taken pictures to show my students so actively engaged but take my word for it, they love it!

Tech Topics: My Story App

Last time I posted for "Tech Topics" I talked about Little Bird Stories, a website that I used and loved over the summer. Today I'm going to post about an app I found through a Twitter chat and have bookmarked for big plans in my future classroom. Unfortunately, I have not been in a district that uses iPads but I know that the days of iPad-less classrooms is slowly drawing to a close and I am seeking out some great resources. An app that generated a lot of buzz and is on my "Must Download" list is My Story.

The My Story App is a booking making app for iPads. It lets elementary students create a story through drawing, typing, voice recording, and photos. The easy-to-use interface allows students (and not-so-tech-savvy teachers) the ability to imagine, create, and publish their own story. The app allows you to both share with parents through e-mail and publish to the iPad's library so that students can share their self-published books with peers.

As I said, I have not had the chance to personally test this app as I do not have an iPad. I'm sharing it here because the idea behind this app excites me. As we move further and further into this digital age, teachers must find new ways to teach reading and writing alongside with how to manipulate digital tools. I feel like this app has the best of both worlds: it still requires students to be creative and participate in the creative process while allowing them to manipulate and experiment with a different and tech-savvy medium.

In my future classroom, I would use it to excite students about the writing process because what kid doesn't love the opportunity to swipe their finger around the iPad? It would be a fantastic tool to help struggling or reluctant learners. So many students get discouraged when they aren't able to communicate through regular writing. The app's ability for students to both voice record and type would help them get their ideas out first and worry about the writing later.

Has anybody used the My Story app in their classroom? I would love to hear about your experience!

Let's Share: Great Ideas from other Teacher Bloggers

Sharing is a big learning goal for our elementary classrooms and I can't tell you how many times a day I say, "Please show me how you can share" or "What does sharing look like?" Some will get it and some, well, they just don't want to do it and you'll get blue in the face trying to make them get it. But enough about the kids, it's time for a little sharing here in my "garden". I love sharing things I love on Twitter but I'd love to share some of my favorite teacher blog posts from around the internet. I'm hoping this will become a bi-weekly occurrence here and a great way for you to pick up a few new tips and tricks from some awesome teachers. Enjoy!

* I love Mrs. Durning-Leander's February ideas. A pizza shirt for the 100th day, so creative!

* Decorating bulletin boards can be so much fun but sometimes I look at them and think, what the heck is going to go up there?! But Sunny Days in Second Grade has some fantastic craftivity and bulletin board ideas for the spring season that I've pinned and bookmarked for the future!

* I always love some guided reading tips and I was excited to read through this post about a guided reading session in a kindergarten classroom

* Has state testing season started for anybody? We still have a little while in my area, though we've been working all year long. I love Lesson Plan SOS's adorable ideas for celebrating and encouraging our young test takers

* I am in awe of this amazing unit plan for studying biographies by answering the essential question: "What is it like to be the first at something?"

* As a teacher in the Philadelphia area, I want to incorporate this study of the Liberty Bell into my future classroom

* Yoga is an amazing practice for adults but it can also be great for our young learners, especially those with special needs

Avoid the Winter Blahs: New Winter Read Alouds are Here!

Despite the radio silence, I'm still here and busy learning, teaching, and just doing! Today I am finally able to carve out a little time to share with you some great resources for Reader's and Writer's Workshop that I've picked up in my substituting travels. With the (tiny) bit of extra time I have right now without a classroom to call my own, I've been searching out some great resources to add to my repertoire. In January, I was lucky enough to make it to a fantastic workshop held by the West Jersey Reading Council which introduced me to some great new winter books and I couldn't wait to share them here on my blog. 

A way to combat the classroom winter blahs is to inject some snazzy read alouds into your everyday routine. Some of my old favorites for winter read alouds are Snow Day by Jack Ezra Keats, a great one for demonstrating small moments, and The Mitten by Jan Brett, a no-brainer for tons of imaginative writing and craft projects or to kick off a primary classroom author study. Here are some new books that sound just perfect for incorporating into your winter read aloud library:

A Perfect Day by Carin Berger: A great way to get kids to start writing a personal narrative about their snow days (hey New England and Midwestern teachers!)

Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed: I can't count how many times I've taught a lesson on descriptive words, from getting my kindergartners to stop say "nice" and "good" and with my fourth graders to use more figurative language in their NJ ASK practice essays. I was so excited to hear about this book which gives very illustrative and imaginative descriptions of the different types of ice you encounter over the winter months. 

Cold Snap by Eileen Spinelli: Brrr, it's cold outside! This fun and engaging read aloud talks about the winter's bitter cold and a creative idea to beat the chill. This would be a fun way to discuss or review problem/solution in a story and might spark some great writing for "If it were very cold in my town, I would..."

Don't you just love new books and new lessons?