The Dot.....

Have you heard of or read the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds?  It's a very simple story, yet, there are SO many ways it can impact a classroom and connect to curriculum.

For my class this year, I found the book in a backward sort of way.  See, I found this really neat app called colAR via my twitter network.  Yes, it's supposed to be spelled that way, cause the AR stands for augmented reality.  Now, I'm not an expert by any means on augmented reality, but I am pretty good at finding ways to make things fit into the curriculum and justify spending precious instructional time on said activities.

So when I found this app, and saw how you can totally bring to life your dot drawing, I had to dive in.  Really.  It was a must.

How did I connect it to curriculum so that I could spare time in our overly scheduled day?  Good question.

First, we read the book and took it at face value - absorbing and exploring the basic lessons of believing in yourself, trying your best, perspective, perseverance- you know, the good stuff.  From there, the Thinkers illustrated their own dots, drawing pictures that represent them- what they're good at, what they enjoy doing, what they're proud of, etc.

Then came the fun part.

Using the (free) colAR app on our four classroom iPads each table got to play with their dot - which became a three dimensional toy on the screen.  Even better, it was curriculum night, so the dots were proudly displayed on desks so that parents could download and play themselves that evening.

It was a big hit all around, but how, you might be wondering, does it tie in to curriculum?  I mean, this is 4th grade, we don't usually have time for celebrations like International Dot Day (9/15) and things like that.

But this was different.  See, we study a bit of government in 4th grade.  And we always start the year off with a constitutional exploration, including the preamble (we write our own!) and symbols of the United States.

Symbols.  Yep.  Now you're thinking.

So day one was the fun day where we read the book and created our dots, complete with symbols that represent us, what we like, what we're good at, and so forth.

Day two is where the connections connected and the lightbulbs lit.

Cause it was time for us to design a class flag.  With symbols that represent our classroom.  Which is how the Thinkers spent a good part of their afternoon (after, of course, we reviewed the dot story, played a little more with our dots, and discussed symbols that represent us, the United States, and our classroom.)

I can't wait to see what the Thinkers come up with when the flags are revealed later this week!

Math Workshop!

Last week was all about getting to know each other and well, I didn't really hit much curriculum.

This week, though, kicks off with my favorite - Math Workshop!

I based my math workshop model off of the one that Beth Newingham uses - if you haven't seen her site, you've GOT to check it out here!

It's a simple model that has worked really well for me, with, of course, a few tweaks each year to best suit the needs of my current students.

The general system is this:
Three groups.
Mini-lesson, whole class, starts the instruction
Meet with the teacher
Practice (math journal pages or something of the like, sometimes project activities)
Project/Play (fact games, or the like)
Wrap-up, whole class, ends the instruction

I have previews (also known as a pre-test, in parental language) for each unit.  (Everyday Math, third and fourth grade previews and reviews available HERE on my TPT $tore.)
The kids take this a day or two before the unit starts, with the reminder:
"You haven't been taught any of this yet!  Remember that!  I want to see what you might already know - but I don't expect you to know this stuff yet!"

From the preview, kids are split into three groups.  The groups are generally determined by preview scores.  It's usually pretty clear, too.  You've got the handful of kids that really get it (for example, on the unit one preview that my class just took, about 4 kids got about65%+ correct.)  Then there's the handful of kids that have never seen it (same preview, about 8 kids got about 6% correct)  Finally, there's the group that kinda get it, but kinda don't (they got about 40% correct.)

Learning targets are posted for each subject area.

Group one usually consists of the kids that got the lowest score on the preview.  In my mind they are my "support group" but on paper, they're the green group, the yellow group, or the blue group.  They start with me for the lesson, then head directly to the journal page or "practice" activity (often started with me) before they scamper off to play the assigned games.  When group one is with me, I take the learning target and drill it in however I need to, to ensure they are getting the basic concepts needed to be successful.

Group two starts with the games.  From there, they work with me for the lesson.  Finally, they head to their seats to work on the journal pages.  This group is called my "target" group, as they are pretty much right on grade level.  (Though, again, they're either green, yellow, or blue!)  When group two is with me, we're usually following along the general lesson as if it were being taught whole class, keeping the learning target in mind as our guide.

Group three starts with the practice/journal pages.  They are my "enrichment" group.  (Though they are referred to as either blue, green, or yellow, too!)  The goal is that they problem solve to figure out the lesson together.  The learning target helps guide their practice.  Then they head to the games before coming to me.  When they're with me, we clear up any confusion about the practice activity, and I add the next layer - either a more challenging task utilizing the same skills, or extending the activity.  Sometimes, it's pre-teaching for what's coming ahead, too!

The length of each rotation is determined by the group in which I am working with at the moment.  It usually ends up that rotation one is about 20-25 minutes, when I'm directly teaching the support group  Rotation two, when I'm teaching the target group, is usually 15-20 minutes.  The final rotation when I'm working with the enrichment group, is usually 10 minutes.  Yes, this means that the support group only gets 10 minutes for games, but that's about all they can handle by then.  If any group finishes their practice pages early, they then go directly into games.

Ignore project, it should say play!

So where do these tasks come from?  Whatever math curriculum you use!  Of course, I supplement the practice activities and the games from all over the place - Marilyn Burns, MEBA, Exemplars, web resources, you name it.

Review:
Mini-lesson - whole class - 5 minutes (math message, review learning target, whatev!)
Rotation 1 - 25 minutes
Rotation 2 - 20 minutes
Rotation 3 - 10 minutes
Wrap up - whole class - 5-10 minutes (correct practice page, review learning target, etc)
Total time on math instruction: 70-75 minutes a day

DISCLAIMER: Sometimes math lessons do NOT lend themselves to math workshop!  In cases like this where whole class instruction is better, go for it!  For example, we have a few lessons where kids are doing surveys of the whole class, or completing probability activities, or geometry building tasks.  I teach whole class as needed.

DISCLAIMER 2:  Once you get to know your kids, groupings may be modified slightly.  For example, especially when I get to a lesson that isn't necessarily clear-cut for the three groups, I will often divide the class into two groups - the group that picks things up rather quickly, and the group that needs a little more time to figure things out.

DISCLAIMER 3:  Practice/Play rotations often include fact practice (using a variety of resources, including xtramath) differentiated to the individual students' needs.

DISCLAIMER 4:  Flexibility is key!  Previews are given before each unit, and therefore groups are mixed up each unit.  While one unit the blue group may have been my enrichment group, to keep the kids on their toes (and clueless to my grouping methods!) the next time around, blue might be my support group!  The process begins over each unit, so that I can best differentiate for the content at hand.

More pictures coming soon!

Happy First Day!

I love the first day of school!  New faces, new smiles, new energy....  That said, though this was my 12th first day as a teacher, I still get nervous!  When you count up all the "first days" I've had, you'd think I'd be old hat by now.  Not the case.  I'm up way too early, can't eat breakfast (so I drink it, thank you protein shakes!) and my energy comes from a mix of giddiness, delirium, and excitement.

This was a big first day, with 24 smiling 4th graders making their way into the classroom that is now their home away from home for the next almost ten months.  When they came in, a short writing activity and word search was waiting on their desks.  The kids were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.  A few of the parents looked rather surprised, likely because it was the quietest they've seen their kid all summer!

Alas, the quiet never lasts long enough, and within 40 minutes, the class was eagerly (and quite loudly, I might add) exploring the classroom and getting to know each other, and their teacher!

Learning the new bus loop.

My favorite getting to know you activity for the first week of school is usually a big hit, and this year was no different.  It's a simple activity, really, requiring nothing but a plain piece of paper (scrap paper works, as long as they're all the same size scraps!) and a writing utensil.

Unpacking supplies!

The kids write down two or three things about themselves.  Then, while they wait for their peers to finish, they get to doodle on their paper.  This is the one time of year I tell them to NOT put their names on their papers, which is puzzling, considering this activity usually comes after I teach them the name song:

"The first thing I do is always the same, I get my paper and write my name!"

What do we do with those scraps of paper, you might be wondering?  Well, we crumple them up into balls.  Considering I tend to use white paper..... and we live in Michigan, where an over abundance of white fluffy stuff usually descends from the skies for a few months every year....

Yep.  It's a snowball fight.  Indoors.  In a classroom.  Complete with throwing paper snowballs!

Anyway, the balls get tossed around for about a minute, then at my signal, everyone scrambles to find a snowball, un-crumples it, and tries to find who it belongs to.  We have three or four of these snowball fights each day the first week, which makes for a memorable way of getting to know each other!

And hey, you know the saying about snow in July?  Might not be July, but I love making it snow in September!

Reading Garden

I love my classroom.  I've been in this exact room for 12 years.  Yep, 12 years.  A half of a year spent student teaching.  One third of a year spent in a long term placement.  And ten years calling the room my very own.  (Reader's Digest Version: Student taught in what is now my room, followed by a year and a half of being the building sub, before I got hired into my same room!)

Anyway.  The room used to be windowless.

The Original Reading Garden

Well, that's not entirely true.  It had one tiny window, about two feet by three feet, that I dubbed "the drive thru" as you couldn't leave it open for any amount of time or it would create a wind tunnel.  Because of the lack of natural views, I turned my reading corner into a garden, alas, the reading garden.    I built a white picket fence, lined it with fabric that looked like grass, and mounted it on a wall where there were beautiful blue clouds covering the ugly brick.

Wait.  It gets even better.

I was gifted a beautiful wooden park bench (thank you Original Thinkers!) which only added to the park like setting already blooming.  Then, I bought a tree.  (Not a real one, mind you, cause my black thumbs would have killed it in a month!)  And after weeks of searching, I finally found a stone rug.  Or, more like, I made a stone rug.

It was a beautiful, relaxing, peaceful setting that everyone who visited absolutely loved.

Then, things changed.

Step 2: add the grays

Step 1: purple stones

Last summer, I got REAL windows.  Ones that open.  Like, with screens and everything!  They're awesome!  I love the natural light!  Finally!

Except..... it meant a MAJOR room re-arrangement.  Potentially eliminating the garden.....

Step 3: accent grays

Thankfully, with a bit of creative thinking, garden removal didn't have to happen!  Instead, it underwent a mega overhaul, complete with two brand new bookshelves!  With all the changes, I had to create a new stone rug that would fit the modified space.  Back to Home Depot for a four foot by five foot canvas drop cloth I went!  Here's the outcome:

The new Reading Garden! (Park bench relocated by the math corner)

There's still lots to organize, as with the two new bookshelves (tall ones!) I was able to add about 400 more books to an already overcrowded library..... but hey, that'll be part of the fun, having the kids organize the new and improved Reading Garden!