Back to School First Week Fun!

Well friends, I made it!  I just got through my 23rd First Week of School!  I know, I know, you are saying, WWWHHHHHAAAT!! There is no way she is THAT old, LOL.. It's all in the Ponds Moisturizing creme my friends!  Take care of your skin!

But seriously, I'm so excited to be starting a new adventure in a new state, new school, and new grade level.  I've been teaching sixth grade for about 18 years, and in my new school, I'm teaching fourth.  I love that I know right where those middle school teachers want my Smarties to be, and I'm going to do my part to get them ready!!

We had a great first week of school, and I wanted to share a few activities that I did with my class this week that I love.  I hope you can use some of them too!

I have to admit, I don't start the year with one of those Pinterest perfect classrooms.  I LOVE to look at them. I pine over their beauty when I'm wasting time on my phone, but honestly, I can't do it.  My walls are my kids walls, and I want them to create their beauty.  One thing that I do like to put up is a Salutations greeting.  I used Powerpoint, a fun font, and colored paper to print this sign.

My purpose was to give students a word they may be familiar with if they have read Charlotte's Web (our second graders do), but may not know quite the meaning of the word.  I use it as a spring board to discuss 1) Not everyone knows every thing on the first day of school  2) Vocabulary has several deeper shades of meaning.   Vocabulary is a big push for our students this year.  You can go {HERE} and read a blog post I've written about strategies I'm going to implement in my classroom.
I plan to add words to this wall during the year to get my point across about the deeper shades of meaning.

On the first day of school I read a fabulous book called First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

(Affiliate Link)

 Have you read it?  I told my students there is a twist in the book, something unexpected happens, and good readers need to be on the look out for it.  They ate it up!  They were so excited to learn that Sarah Jane was the TEACHER and not the STUDENT!  After I read the book I introduced the bottle tree that I have in my reading corner.

 I plan to add a bottle to the tree every time we read and discuss a book in class.  On the back of the bottle we have to add three things:
1) Something important that happened in the book
2) A lesson that was learned or the theme of the book
3) A connection to the book.

At first I expect them to make a personal connection, but as the year progresses, I will be expecting text to text and text to world connections.  My Smarties did such a great job!  I was really impressed with the thoughtful answers they gave me on the first day of school!


Along with reading First Day Jitters, I also used the book to teach my grammar lessons in my writer's block.  I'm using my BBB, Jessica's, Mentor Sentences with my students.  Mentor texts are the way to go my friends, and Jivey made it easy to incorporate grammar skills right into good books.  Reading and discussing good books translates into good writers!  You can go {HERE} and see what Jivey has. If you haven't used mentor sentences before, she has several free lessons that you can download and check out.
Look at what my students accomplished with our mentor sentences this week! They could tell me parts of speech, diagram sentences, revise a sentence, and imitate it.  I chose several of the best sentences to hang on the wall for everyone to read.

We started science with a great idea from one of my teammates.  Since our first reading text is all about a scientist who studies tarantulas, we started our notebooks with drawings of what type of scientist we would like to be.

I had students put up privacy folders while they worked, so that each one would be unique.  They drew themselves in a labcoat, and then decorated the lab coat with what they would want to be a scientist of.  We discuss how scientists ask questions about the world around them, and then complete investigations and make observations to answer those questions.  Everyone was so excited to see all of the different types of scientist we have in our room.

A few other fun activities that you could use to start science or practice problem solving skills include Saving Fred.  You can read about this activity {HERE}.  I'm doing it with my class next week.  I also sometimes do the Index Card Challenge.  You can go {HERE} to find out about this activity (There is a link to a freebie where I wrote down the directions, and a youtube video if you need to see this in action). My class LOVED this once they figured it out.  I think I'll be saving it for a fun Friday activity a in a few weeks.

I am also planning to create a Back to School Dodecagon Ball with my students for Open House.  I don't normally start this project until the second week of school if I can help it.  We have to start to establish some routines first.  Basically my students will be getting 2-3 sections a day throughout the second week of school to complete.  Some I ask them to draw, others I ask for more of a writing component.  I'll use my writing time for this, as I'm still leveling students and trying to see where I have to start my basics at.  When we finish this project I'll have them up for Open House.  I know my parents are going to Love the way they look.  It is a great way to incorporate writing, math and art all in one area.  If you are interested, you can go {HERE} to check them out.

Of course, the first week wouldn't be complete without a guest coming in.. right?
Here is our little Nagini that decided she needed a little extra learning.  This racer snake was in the hallway one morning, and I just about had a heart attack.  I AM NOT A SNAKE PERSON!  Good thing one of my teammates is!  I hope the momma isn't lurking somewhere!

I'd love to know what you are doing for the First Week of School!  Let me know how it went for you! I'm all about gathering a community of teachers to support each other!

Have a great day!

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Sparking Student Motivation: Back to School Activities to Keep Students Engaged

Phew!  I MADE IT through the first week of school!  WOot WOot! I had a great opening week and I am already loving the intelligence of my new sixth graders.
Today I wanted to link up with my BBB Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching to share a few activities that kept my students motivated on the first week of school.

In science we spent the week learning about safety and the scientific method.  As exciting  boring as that sounds, I knew I had to end the week with an activity that would keep my students thinking about science, and sharing it with their parents.  Have you heard about Saving Fred?  I first heard about this activity from some of my BBBs.  My friend Jivey has a great post about it {HERE}
One of the things I loved about this activity was that it needed very little prep. Gummy worms, plastic cup, peach ring and paper clips.  All things easily picked up in a quick shopping trip.
The premise behind this experiment is that Fred (our faithful gummy worm) has been trapped in a storm and capsized his boat (the cup).  Our job is to get Fred, into a life preserver and back in the boat using only the paper clips provided.  No hands touching the cup, or any of the materials.

What I particularly loved about using this with my sixth graders was what I had them do BEFORE they made their attempts to save Fred.  I call it a THINK TANK.  I gave them two minutes to THINK about how they would solve the problem on their own.  They could not share, touch or make eye contact with any group members.  Then I gave them 2 minutes to SHARE their ideas with their partners.. again, no touching, but the sharing had to come from NO talking.  They had to communicate their movements with gestures.  It was a great way to watch where frustration levels occurred and who would want to try and take over the group.  Next, I allowed them 2 minutes to share their ideas verbally, again with no touching the materials. Finally, I gave them 10 minutes to get Fred in his life preserver and back in the boat.

All of my groups but one was successful in that 10 minutes.  They had a blast attempting this activity!  Look at those silly happy faces!

Here a few FREE resources I found and used with this activity:

PowerPoint to set up Saving Fred {HERE}

Scientific Method worksheets for our Notebooks {HERE}

I used the PowerPoint to explain the scenario behind FRED, and the printed the worksheets 2 per page, had the students cut them out and make a booklet.  When we finished the activity we wrote a summary using sequence words and put this in our notebooks, gluing only the bottom page.  (Sorry I forgot to take a picture of that).  This helped us save space in our notebooks.

The second activity that helped keep my students motivated this week was in math.  I taught them a quick game I call Sum of the Dice.  Students get a game board that is numbered 1-9.  They need a pair of dice, and bingo chips.  Students take turns rolling the dice and covering up the sum on their board.  

For example if Student A rolled a 9, they have the option of covering the 9, 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 6 and 3, 4 and 5.  Once a number is covered, they cannot remove it. Then Student B rolls the die and covers his/her sum.   If the student rolls and the/she cannot cover any more numbers his/her turn is over.  You count up the uncovered numbers to get your score.  The person with the lowest possible score wins the game.  You can see that the boy in the picture below has all of his numbers covered except the 3.  This is his final score for the game.  He was a happy winner! ;)

This is a VERY VERY basic game for sixth grade.  But it does get them using mental math right away on the very first day of school.  It is also a great way for students to get to know their peers, AND it is easy for an older sibling to play with a younger one!  I always tell my students it is a good way to earn brownie points with their parents when they have to play with a younger sibling.  Any child that is learning or knows their number families can play this game!

Thank you so Joanne for hosting this great linky.

  I'd love to hear how you motivated your students this week!

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Meet the Teacher Night in Sixth Grade

Yesterday we had Meet the Teacher Night at our School.  This was a new concept for me last year.  My students came in a few days before school started to bring in supplies, meet me, and get a feel for our classroom.  When I was teaching in a middle school our principal would do an orientation with our class for the afternoon, but we did not participate.  I wanted to share a few things that I did for Meet the Teacher in hopes that you can get an idea or two.

1)  Greet your families when they come through the door!  I stand near my door to greet families as they enter and start them off on a path around my room.  This also helps to prevent being cornered by a single family who feels they need to monopolize your time. On a table right near the door I have our sign-in list for Title One.  With our Title One list I have an email list to get parents emails, and a Remind101 sign up.  Of course, everyone needs a little something-something while they are signing all of those papers, so I had a bowl of mints with this sign:

You can grab it for FREE by going {HERE} if you need one 

I also had these "parent extras" hanging up on my dry erase board.  They are for supplies that I didn't ask for, or that we do not have enough of... extra items like ziplock bags, chlorox wipes, sharpie markers etc.  If parents are able to, they grab a hand (which I bought at the Dollar Store) and send the supply back to school with their child the following week.

2) My student desks are labeled with name tags.  After greeting my families I ask students to find their desks and then put away the supplies that they have brought.  Most of these go in their desks, but I keep a few things back.  I made signs that look like this:

These are placed around my room along with some empty milk crates.  When the night is over I put all of our extras away.

3) On my student desks I had a folder with items for students to take home with them.  These included our school calendar, permission forms for our quarterly field trip, school policies and a letter introducing myself.  Since I was new to the school last year, many of the parents don't know me.  I think it is really important for your families to see you as a person right away.  

This is really important if you are the first grade level in a middle school.  Parents and students alike are nervous about this big step. They may have heard gossip or other nonsense about teachers in the middle school not being as friendly or caring as an elementary teacher.  Prove them wrong!

My teammate and I would also post these types of pictures outside of our classroom doors when we were in the middle school.  It let the kids know a little about us, and showed our love of coffee!

4) This year I also created a Thinglink to display on my smartboard. Thinglink is an site that allows you to take a picture and make it interactive.  I read about my friend Sabra creating a Thinglink, and knew I have to give it a try.  

5) Lastly, I wanted my students to go home with a little something.  I used my Back to School Goody Pack to create labels for water bottles and microwave popcorn.  This way they could have a fun snack as they think about the great year they'll have in sixth grade!

What are some activities that you use to start your year?  I would love to hear about it.  Have a great day~ the weekend is almost here!

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Finally, It's Monday and I Made it!

Happy Monday friends!  I'm linking up with Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics to show off some of the things I made for Back to School.  As many of you know, I'm totally NOT a crafty girl, but I've seen a ton of great posts this summer from crafty people, and I had to through in my two cents.

For my first Made-It, I was a guinea pig for my BBB Joanne.  She is pure inspiration, and Head Over Heels for Teaching is full of amazing ideas.  I read Joanne's post a few weeks ago about "fancifying" your name calling sticks.  You can read her post {HERE}.  She was super crafty and created colored paper to cover her craft sticks.  Joanne printed out her student's names and is using them when she has to call on students in class.  We spent a few days talking about this crafty project, and I volunteered to be her guinea pig for reading and following directions.  Here is my project:

I didn't print names on mine because I'm going to use them as a chore chart.  

Basically you print out the sticks that are already sized for the jumbo craft sticks. and use your paper cutter and scissors to cut them out.  Then you modge podge them to keep the paper on the sticks.  Super easy, even for the non-crafty type like me!

Instead of printing student names on mine, I glued names and numbers to the tops so I can put them into library pockets for jobs.  I haven't quite got that set up yet.. so I'll blog with pictures when I do.

You can go to Joanne's TpT store {HERE} She is posting these bad boys early this week!

My second Monday Made-It project was inspired by the first.  I found super jumbo craft sticks at Hobby Lobby,  AND sparkly duct tape.  I covered the sticks with duct tape and again, used my class numbers on the end.  I am going to put these as book holders in my library.

My library is currently a COMPLETE MESS because I have no book shelves.  I was granted a Donor's Choose project for two books cases, and I'm currently waiting for them to come in.

Next I put together the goodies for my Meet the Teacher night.  I always like to have a little something when my students come in to meet me and drop off their supplies.  First I made signs so they would know where to put everything.

I also created a sign asking parents for a few extras.  Things like Ziploc bags, and extra paper.  I ask my parents to "Lend a Helping Hand" and take a hand if they can send something extra in.

Then I used my Back To School Goody Pack and printed labels for water and popcorn.  I'm going to put these on my student's desks.  It will be a great snack for them later at night.

Thanks for sticking by me through this LOONG post.  It's not often that I'm crafty. Thanks also to Tara for hosting! Make it a great week friends!

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Squared Away on a Sunday: Earth Science PD, Rocks, and Painting

Hello friends!  I think I've finally recovered from Vegas and I wanted to let you know a little of what I've managed to Square Away on this beautiful Sunday.

1)  After Vegas I spent last week at a Professional Development session for science.  This is how I am able to get the materials I need for my science labs.  The session was 4 days long, and it had ups and downs as every PD usually does.  One lab that I really loved was making magma and seeing how cool and hot lava affects the creation of a volcano.  When I actually do this with my class this year, I'll blog more about it, because I'm figuring out how to create the magma without the science kit I'm given, but in the mean time, check out these neat pictures of our lab:

2)  All this talk about science  has prompted me to finally finish my Earth Science Rocks Unit.  As great as our science kits can be, they don't cover everything, and I need to incorporate more reading informational text into my content areas.  This unit includes 4 passages on the three rock types as well as the rock cycle.  I do these using Close Reading strategies so we can really dig deep into the text.  I also use foldables for our interactive science notebooks, complete an easy lab-- this one shows the Rock Cycle with Starburst candy, incorporate a studyblocks review, and finally an assessment.  If rocks is something you teach, and you are looking for something complete, check this out.  

3)  Finally, after spending Monday through Thursday at the PD I mentioned above, I dragged my teenagers to my classroom and spent 12 hours painting.  Home Depot was kind enough to donate discontinued paint which I could have tinted.  I had to paint over this hideous blue wall.

I decided on a grey because my color scheme is white, red and black.  Plus grey goes with lots of other colors too and it won't show the dust that appears in my classroom.  We got SO CLOSE to making it on the 2 gallons of paint, but we were just a little short. I ran to HD to grab a quart for touch ups, and guess what happened! Yea.. this...

We had to repaint two of the walls.. can you hear me crying!  Luckily we got hit my a MONSOON rain storm, so we weren't going anywhere anyway, and we knocked out the nasty book cases too.

I have another week of PD and a softball tournament to take my "24" to this week, but then I'll be back in to clean up this disheveled mess.  

Hopefully, the paint will be dry by then! Enjoy your beautiful day!

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