Today students re-visted voki, but with a partner. They explored the site, avatars, backgrounds and voices. They need lots of time to explore! I say this because I gave students an objective at the beginning of the lesson to create an avatar and then to either record their voice or type in their text. Their final product was to choose one of our vocabulary words we have discussed or a word from our Word Wall. Well, some students were so enthralled with creating an avatar they didn't have a chance to complete the project. Although, I did have a few who completed the assignment. Tomorrow after our first Interval assessment. Students will continue to explore and create an Avatar tomorrow. They will use the avatar to post on one of their vocabulary words and an "All About Me" post. Here are the completed avatars from today.
Sequence you say Order! Sequence, Order! Sequence, Order! My students love to chant our skills of the day and of course I love to lead and chant in class being a former cheerleader.
Today we reviewed Sequence in a variety of ways using Chapter 8 of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. \When we concluded the chapter students turned and talked to their partner to sequence the events in Chapter 8 and then shared out. Finally, they applied the skill by working collaboratively with a partner to read a short passage and put the events in order.
Thanks to Fourth Grade Fanatic's wonderful idea my students participated in an exciting and engaging activity to culminate Character Traits.
Character Traits on PhotoPeach
Character Traits on PhotoPeach
Some of my students received a very special message from me today! More to come.
How exciting is it for a teacher when students are actively engaged in a lesson, ready to learn and all eyes focused on what is next. Well that is the reaction I received when I showed a short clip Of "Oktapodi"
The focus of the lesson was I can analyze the setting and the character's emotions by asking myself Does the character's emotion change as a result of the setting? 
Students begin by watching the short clip of the movie. Then, they watched it again, but I stopped periodically throughout for students to turn and talk to their partner to discuss the setting and a word they would use to describe the character's emotions. Finally, as a review students were distributed graphic organizers to fill in on the Main Idea, Character Traits or Sequencing. All previous skills taught. They worked with a partner to complete. Here are a few pictures of students deep in thought and working collaboratively.
Students begin by watching the short clip of the movie. Then, they watched it again, but I stopped periodically throughout for students to turn and talk to their partner to discuss the setting and a word they would use to describe the character's emotions. Finally, as a review students were distributed graphic organizers to fill in on the Main Idea, Character Traits or Sequencing. All previous skills taught. They worked with a partner to complete. Here are a few pictures of students deep in thought and working collaboratively.
My Shining Stars have been busy! During the first two weeks of school students worked collaborativley on classroom rules. The picture below, which was inspired from a post on Pinterest showcases our Classroom Promise comprised of our class rules.
Above you will see our CAFE board. I conferred with students during the first few weeks of school,assessed their fluency, and discussed their interests and goals. We then agreed on a goal for the current nine weeks.
I have been making tons of Anchor Chart to address skills, but this is anchor chart is my favorite. A co-teacher of mine went to a workshop through our Special Education department two years ago and shared this Test Taking Strategy. I wish I knew who the originator was to give credit too. My students love this strategy and I love teaching it. I call it the UNERD strategy and student write this at the top of their test. They are to Underline the title, Number the paragraphs, Evaluate the questions, and Determine the answers. This test taking strategy really activates students schema before diving into the test. Love it!
Above you will see our CAFE board. I conferred with students during the first few weeks of school,assessed their fluency, and discussed their interests and goals. We then agreed on a goal for the current nine weeks.
I have been making tons of Anchor Chart to address skills, but this is anchor chart is my favorite. A co-teacher of mine went to a workshop through our Special Education department two years ago and shared this Test Taking Strategy. I wish I knew who the originator was to give credit too. My students love this strategy and I love teaching it. I call it the UNERD strategy and student write this at the top of their test. They are to Underline the title, Number the paragraphs, Evaluate the questions, and Determine the answers. This test taking strategy really activates students schema before diving into the test. Love it!
My students and I are currently reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. This Thursday one of our mini-lessons was focused on vocabulary. Students were put into groups of five and worked collaboratively on one vocabulary word . Students in each group were numbered off and given a specific job such as:
1- Write the word and find the part of speech
2- Find and write the definition
3- Find the word in our chapter book and write the page number
4- Find the sentence the word was used in and write the sentence
5- Use a Thesaurus to find a synonym and an antonym for the word
Students compiled their results into a bubble map on a sheet of computer paper.
Then today I introduced students to Voki.
Students came to the front of the room in their groups and used our class mic to record their vocabulary word.
Here are the avatars the students created:
1. pollution
2. mugged
3. demonstrate
4. managed
5. accident
This is a year for a lot of firsts for me and one of them is Morning Meeting. I began Morning Meeting 4 weeks ago now on the first day of school. Students and I discussed the rules and procedures, the agenda for the day, shared our summer stories, and shared our passions. Within the next few weeks, during morning meeting, I introduced a few ways to tell our classmates good morning using different handshakes, and on Fridays students watch the "Week in Rap" on Flocabulary.
However, Morning Meeting is going to take a different approach for the next 36 weeks. Students will be introduced to a Character Trait from Character Education. Character Education is a resource that incorporates vital character principles into academic activities. These lessons fit perfectly into my 15 minute Morning Meeting Session. Each lesson will challenge students to think about good character and encourage them to practice it daily. The best part about the program is that it incorporates the following academic skills: brainstorming, organizing, communication, problem-solving, high order thinking, analyzing information, summarization and evaluation, compare and contrast, mathematical applications and listening and speaking.
So, beginning next week students will learn about Acceptance. Acceptance means respecting the differences among people. I am going to begin the lesson by showing this video I found on SchoolTube. Then students will turn and talk with a partner discussing the actions of the characters in the short clip. Then students and I will brainstorm using a Circle Map the many nationalities we have in our room and ones we know of. I also am going to search for a Welcome mat to put by my door to show that everyone is accepted into our room. Room 3 Shines!
My students have begun blogging! Last week I introduced students to Kidblog. Students blog during Daily 5 at the Listen to Reading Center, which I changed to the Technology Center just this week.
Students will be introduced to a new Web 2.0 tool every two weeks or so and will have the opportunity to explore that tool three days a week during Daily 5.
This week I discussed how to make a new post, give it a title, use spell check and how to send it to me to be approved. Students were excited to begin and quickly went to work on their first blog. Their first blog was an "All About Me" post. They were instructed to write as much as they could about their self.
This week I posted a Video Writing Prompt on September 11, that was taken from TeachHub. Students were given choice to either post their thoughts on the event that took place on September 11, 2001 or they could write about the Saints vs. Packers game. Of course they all chose to write about the Saints, WHO DAT!
You can check out my students posts here.
I also discovered that you can Tweet your Blog link to #comments4kids and have other educators and students comment on your blogs. How cool is that!
My plans for next week are to teach students how to insert an image into their post and help them with some basic editing. Once we get that accomplished, students will learn how to comment on each others' blogs and then I will begin sending out Tweets looking for students and teachers to comment. I would also love to teach parents how to comment on blogs.
More Information on Kidblog:
According to Kidblog's website, kidblog.org "is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own, unique blog. Kidblog's simple, yet powerful tools allow students to publish posts and participate in discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs." Kidblog has several advantages over other blogging sites:
Teachers can create a class blog, and add student accounts without needing student email accounts.
Students have their own unique blogging space. They can create posts and comment on other students' posts.
Teachers have control over approving students' posts and comments before they are published to the blog.
The site is secure. Students must login to read posts and write comments.
Teachers can post private comments, so that only the child who wrote the post may see the teacher's comment. This is a great way to leave feedback for the student.
Students can navigate easily between their blog space, their teacher's blog space (optional), and their classmates' blog spaces.
There are no ads on this site.
My students took a Spelling pre-assessment today on computers. I had 8 computers that students rotated through and I was able to get all 30 students assessed within a 30 minute period. I created the Spelling test using Google Form. The test consisted of 20 multiple choice questions where students were to choose the word spelled correctly out of the set. After students completed the assessment I installed Flubaroo to grade the test and then I analyzed the results. Based on their results students will get a leveled Spelling list tomorrow to study from for the remainder of the week. On Friday students will again take the test on the computer and results will be analyzed.
Thanks Tara from Fourth Grade Frolics for posting my blog as one of you Top Ten!!!!
Here are the Top Ten Blogs I follow:
Mrs. Eiken is a 4th grade teacher like me!
"/>
Another wonderful 4th grade teacher's blog I follow.
Total Inspiration! So creative and full of ideas.
Life in 4B
Great Ideas and again a 4th grade teacher.
Great Daily 5 Ideas!
"/>
This is one of the first blogs I started following!
Wonderful ideas for the classroom and a 4th grade teacher!!!
Ms. Naugle's Classroom Blog
My Inpsiration for the Tech projects I have attempted and completed. Also, a colleague of mine.
The Scoop in Room 1
My Partner Teacher! We Rock!
Lots of Daily 5 ideas and thoughts! And yes another 4th grade teacher!!!
So, these are a few of my favorite blogs that I love! I don't know how I did it the last 8 years without blogging and blog stalking!
Any blogger can give this award to those that make you smile!
1. Just write a blog post proudly displaying your Top 10. Make sure that they do not already have an award.
2. Contact these bloggers by leaving them a comment with 2 links- a link to your blog's Top 10 post AND this post's link-http://bit.ly/rtHPbL so they can grab the fantastic award button below.
If you have been nominated by a fellow blogger, please grab your award below and enjoy posting it proudly on your fantastic, award-winning blog!
1. Remember to thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Award 10 favorite or recently discovered great teaching blogs and mention why you've chosen them! Make sure they do not already have an award.
3. Contact these bloggers by leaving them a comment with a link to your blog's Top 10 post link AND don't forget to tell them about this fantastic award button in this TBA post link - http://bit.ly/rtHPbL - Have fun affirming one another!
Here are the Top Ten Blogs I follow:
Mrs. Eiken is a 4th grade teacher like me!
"/>Another wonderful 4th grade teacher's blog I follow.
Total Inspiration! So creative and full of ideas.
Life in 4B
Great Ideas and again a 4th grade teacher.
Great Daily 5 Ideas!
"/>This is one of the first blogs I started following!
Ms. Naugle's Classroom Blog
My Inpsiration for the Tech projects I have attempted and completed. Also, a colleague of mine.
The Scoop in Room 1
My Partner Teacher! We Rock!
Lots of Daily 5 ideas and thoughts! And yes another 4th grade teacher!!!
So, these are a few of my favorite blogs that I love! I don't know how I did it the last 8 years without blogging and blog stalking!
Any blogger can give this award to those that make you smile!
1. Just write a blog post proudly displaying your Top 10. Make sure that they do not already have an award.
2. Contact these bloggers by leaving them a comment with 2 links- a link to your blog's Top 10 post AND this post's link-http://bit.ly/rtHPbL so they can grab the fantastic award button below.
If you have been nominated by a fellow blogger, please grab your award below and enjoy posting it proudly on your fantastic, award-winning blog!
1. Remember to thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Award 10 favorite or recently discovered great teaching blogs and mention why you've chosen them! Make sure they do not already have an award.
3. Contact these bloggers by leaving them a comment with a link to your blog's Top 10 post link AND don't forget to tell them about this fantastic award button in this TBA post link - http://bit.ly/rtHPbL - Have fun affirming one another!
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