Service Projects

There is always something going on at our school.

We have one student who decided to shave her head for cancer. She raised money and plans to donate it to the children's hospital. Her goal was $500. She beat it and raised 5 times that!!

We are also collecting coats. They will be given to the Stampeders who will give them to people who can use them.

Now the grade fours are collecting socks to give to homeless. They are calling it Socktober.

These kids are amazing!!!

Cupcake Fairy

I was in Study Hall today when one of my favorite grade two students came along. I had a cupcake that I had scooped from the staff room. I didn't have time to eat it at lunch so I was carrying it. My favorite grade two student asked me where I got the cupcake. There was a bakery box at the back of theroom with more cupcakes (likely the birthday boy or girl had taken a couple to the staff room to share with teachers and the rest were in the  classroom). My guess is my favorite grade two student wanted one as well.

FGTS: Where'd you get that cupcake?
Me: I got it from the Cupcake Fairy.
FGTS: The Cupcake Fairy? What's that?
Various other children tell her: Don't believe her! She always teases.
Me: (whisper voice) It's actually true. Don't listen to those jaded Grade 3 students. You know how Santa visits all the good boys and girls?
FGTS: Yes
Me: Well, the Cupcake Fairy visits all the good teachers.
FGTS: Really?
Me: Absolutely

FGTS pauses and thinks.

FGTS: But Mrs. Brown (names are changed to protect the innocent) doesn't have one.
Me: (with an assuring nod) I know. I don't think we should talk about that.
FGTS: (wide-eyed) Oooohhh. I see.
Me: Mhm!

I'll have to be sure to carry cupcakes around more often so she is reminded that I'm a good teacher :)

Revealing Comprehension

I came across a great tweet this morning. Jennifer Britton said: Help students reveal their comprehension, not test it.

It sounds like she is at a conference (#TCRWP) and the keynote speaker is David Booth. I googled him and found all sorts of interesting resources. Time to go hunting for some of his jewels!

These little words were just what I needed as I read over my students Reading Response entries this morning. I got thinking about some of things we do as well as things we could be doing better in our classroom.  It is definitely a work in progress.

Ways to reveal comprehension:

1. Improve Listening Comprehension

Children learn by listening and listening is a skill that can be improved. It would be interesting to research to see the advantages children who are read to a lot have over those who have not been read to.

I am working on reading aloud to my students. I wonder if we write down the main events of what we read as we go, if that would help. Perhaps some children would benefit from having the main ideas from reading ahead of time. Perhaps we will work on this by doing some blogging. I don't want it to be too cumbersome. Reading should be enjoyable - but if a student isn't absorbing anything we are reading, then perhaps these kinds of activities will help.

2. Talk about Texts

There are so many ways we can share understanding from reading. Book talks, storytelling, writing, creating art from stories, blogging, etc. We need to do this more! My students will compose an entry once a week to share something about what they've been reading this week. We read Open Court stories daily and discuss them. We also have a chapter book going all the time that is being read aloud.

3. Encourage parents to read WITH their children at home.

Many think that once their children can read independently they don't need to read with them. I argue that children continue to benefit from reading with parents. Please read with your child every day! Great discussions will come out of the books you read. It will strengthen your relationship as well. I promise.

4. Increase Vocabulary

If students don't understand common words or juicier words, they get lost in the story. We will start working on this by working on the thesaurus that the students have in their writing binders.

On Writing

Wisdom from Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan:

When you write something, your pencil is a magic wand.
Listen to your teacher, who will help you craft your spells.
Then listen to your magic heart, which will help you find your own special magic.

I need to put that on the wall in my classroom!

Classroom Goals

One of my professional development goals this year is to increase my classroom management skills. I am studying a book called CHAMPs to help me with that. One of the exercises it asks for is to identify major goals that summarize why being in my classroom will be a worthwhile experience for my students. So far, I have come up with four:

1. Develop independence. Around grade 3 children are starting to learn to look after some of their own responsibilities. I want to help them develop the skills they need to allow for independence. Learning to ensure you have all the things you need for a day at school or all the supplies you need for your homework is something children this age are learning to handle. I also want to help them develop the skills they need to problem solve when they run into issues, problems with friends. I also want them to learn to make a plan for a project and follow the intermediate steps they have established so they can complete a project on time.

2. Love learning. I try to be a role model in this area. I want to demonstrate an attitude that learning is fun and exciting.  I do this by continually evaluating the activities and lessons we focus on as well as ensure that I am always learning myself. We also focus in learning to use technology and social media to make learning efficient and interesting as well as to connect with the outside world. 

3. Foster positive relationships. Our class is a group of people that I plan to have a long term relationship with and I conduct myself in a way that will encourage that. I teach my students how to develop strong relationships.

4. Develop a love of reading. We focus on structures to support reading that they can continue long after grade three. During grade three I will challenge my students to take on the task of reading 40 chapter books (approximately one chapter book a week) and keep track of what they have read in their reading notebook.

5. Know how to be successful in school. We have guidelines for success we follow that help students succeed. We learn to prioritize and to accomplish tasks. If we do what is most important first we will have time to do the fun and frivolous too. 

Our guidelines for success are:                                   Our classroom rules are:

 

1. Always try.                                                              1. Arrive on time with all your materials.
2. Do your best                                                            2. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself.
3. Be responsible                                                         3. Follow all directions immediately.
4. Treat everyone with respect.                                   4. Work during work times.
5. Cooperate with others

I would love to discuss this with other teachers. What are your goals for your class?

Thinking Moustache

Some people put on thinking caps. Others put on thinking moustaches.

Such a funny boy. Every time is said his name, he would respond in a deep raspy voice, "I'm Mr. BB today."

Best Homework Sentence of the Day!

I was madly going around the room correcting homework this morning, when I had to stop and smile because I was reminded of how wonderful these kids are.

Best sentence of the day:

A New Book Buzz is About!

We have ran a grade three book club at ou school for a number of years. We usually have around 40 kids who attend. It is loads of fun! When they move on to grade four they often mention that they really miss book club. It kills me! I would run a grade four club, except that I feel pretty maxed out.

This summer I ran into a fun idea called Battle of the Books. I brought it up with the grade four teachers and they decided to go for it. We have a group if teachers that met and we picked five books. The kids are to get into groups of four or five and read the books. Then in March we will have a Battle of the Books evening where we will be tested on our knowledge of the books. The kid are very excited about it. They have to find their own teacher sponsor so as they ran around today talking to teachers it was quite entertaining. 

I have a group already. We are going to get an Edmodo group going and get to work very soon. Let the reading begin!!!