Sunday Scoop 9-27-15

Well, I have just managed to link up with the Teaching Trio this Sunday. We still have about three and a half more hours until Monday here.

So, as you can see, I have a lot of center work to do this week. Actually, I always have a lot of center work, but it is totally worth it. The kids look at the centers like games and enjoy working on them. This is helpful because I need the kids engaged and working, so I can meet with small groups.

I got the centers (and worksheets) for plural nouns from Teacher's Take-Out. Her Plural Pack is awesome! You can click on the link to see for yourself.

One thing that was missing was a sort. I am all about sorting words this year. It is a great way to introduce new ideas and differentiate for kids who need more support. So, I made a quick plural nouns sort today. I thought maybe other people would like the sort as well, so I put it on TpT as a freebie.

I am also working on a new way to store my centers. I had them in the rainbow drawers that everyone has, but I find that kids have trouble getting the centers out quickly. It makes it a bit of a mess when we are rotating.

I am going to try keeping them in the plastic shoe boxes with labels. I will post about them when I finish them, if they work :).

As you can see, I hope to work on TpT stuff this week. It is so hard to get everything done, but I need to find the time to get more done with TpT. I always enjoy being a part of the TpT community - it inspires me to be a better teacher.

Finally, I have been looking forward to the Once Upon a Time premiere for a ridiculously long time, and it is finally here! I won't be able to watch it until tomorrow, so no spoilers :).

I hope you all have a great week!

How to Sharpen Colored Pencils

There are few things in the classroom that drive me more crazy than colored pencils. Especially back when I used to teach middle school science. Kids go through the colored pencils like crazy. They are always breaking, and then, when you try to sharpen them, they ruin pencil sharpeners.

I bought three pencil sharpeners in one year because of colored pencils.

It got so bad that I stopped letting kids sharpen any pencils using the electric pencil sharpener. I bought some cheap handheld sharpeners and made the kids use those. Unfortunately, those get dull really fast when a bunch of kids are using them. They also take way too long to use.

I had basically given up on colored pencils. I had the kids color using crayons which did not need to be sharpened. The crayons had their own issues, most importantly it was hard to get the detail kids needed using bulky crayons.

If you are reading this post you most likely googled "how to sharpen colored pencils" or something like that. I have googled that myself - many times. I couldn't find a definitive answer for that one. I kept hoping to find a special pencil sharpener designed to sharpen color pencils, but I never found anything.

Just a few weeks ago, while just messing around on the internet, I found the answer I had been looking for regarding the colored pencil situation. Someone, an artist, I think, mentioned sharpening colored pencils in an article about drawing with colored pencils.

She said that it was okay to sharpen colored pencils in an electric sharpener as long as you sharpen a graphite pencil right afterwards to clean out the pencil sharpener. Colored pencils are made using a waxy substance. When the electric pencil sharpener sharpens the colored pencils the hear causes the waxy stuff to melt a little bit. That gums up the sharpener. However, graphite acts as a lubricant and cleans the pencil sharpener, so the waxy stuff can't build up and break the sharpener.

I have been sharpening colored pencils in my electric pencil sharpener for three weeks now with no problems. I have a mid-range sharpener, it was about $30 last year, and has continued to work well in the classroom. I am teaching third grade now, so we don't have as much whole class coloring as I did when I taught science, but I still get a couple of colored pencils a day to sharpen.

When a kid asks me to sharpen a colored pencil I just make sure that I grab a couple of pencils out of our "dull pencils" jar at the same time. I sharpen the colored pencil, then two graphite pencils. It seems to be working very well.

I hope you find this post helpful. I remember how frustrated I was when I was searching to a solution to the colored pencil problem.

Biomes Reading Passages and Notes Pages

I was looking through my Google Drive today, and I found a set of reading passages I had made this spring. They were awesome when I used them in the classroom, and I was so excited to put them up on Teachers pay Teachers, Teacher's Notebook, and Edmodo. Well, I guess I got busy because that never happened.

Thankfully, they are ready to go now!

In our third grade we spend the spring studying the structures of life which involves a lot of learning about animals and their environments. You may not know this, but I used to teach middle school science, and I especially love this topic! Actually, I love most of the science topics!

We went way beyond most of the other third grade classes at our school with our study of the parts of an environment. My third graders know abiotic, biotic, factors, and many other high level science vocabulary words.

One part of our study was reading about some of the different biomes. (The biomes include freshwater aquatic, desert, rainforest, grassland, and taiga.) I used this as a reading lesson, but it really helped build the students understanding of our science topics.

I did a jigsaw activity to use these passages in my classroom. I had the students work in groups to read one of the biome passages. They did all of the steps that we always do for close reading (highlighting, circling, etc...) Then, they worked together to answer the questions attached to the passage.

The next day, the groups met again to complete the notes page for each biome. This is where they organized what they had learned about the biomes according to what we had been learning about environments. It was really important to give them a chance to talk about this as a group because some of my students aren't able to synthesize this kind of information independently yet.

Finally, on the last day of the activity, students regrouped so that each group was made up of one representative from each biome. While each student shared about what they had learned, the rest of the group took notes on the final notes page.

Once students have the completed notes pages, they are ready to use the information in some way. I had students do an art project and paint one of the biomes. They had to include details in the painting that showed that they understood the important parts of the biome. They also had to write a paragraph to go along with the painting. (We were working on writing complete paragraphs at this time as well!)

You can purchase Biomes: Passages and Notes Pages at any of the store below:

Five for Friday (Fourth of July Style)

Well, it is time for another Five for Friday. Actually, yesterday it was time, but what are you going to do?

 This week was the first week I have been home all day with all four kids on my own. It was only a three day week because of our trip to the beach for the fourth, but I am still exhausted! You can't do anything while watching for kids. And I mean anything - there was a day that I couldn't brush my teeth all day. Gross, but true. Good thing they are all super cute, and they have also been very good listeners which makes the day doable. But I can't wait to go back to work. I need a break!

Here are the three oldest. So cute, right?!

 As I said above, we are at the beach this weekend! We spend every Fourth of July (with a couple exceptions) on the Oregon coast with my husband's family. They have been having a family golf tournament here for 42 years!

We have gone every year since I have dated my husband except the year my second daughter was born (July 2nd), and the year she turned five. We have created the tradition that on our babies' fifth birthdays we go to Disneyland on their birthday. (Even if it is one of the busiest times of the year!)

This year, she turned six, so off to the beach we went. However, we still had to celebrate my amazing girl's birthday. The only thing that would do was a My Little Pony Party. The best part of the party was the amazing cake her grandma made for her.

Are you kidding?! That cake is amazing! I hope my kids know how lucky they are to have family that loves them so much they will create a rainbow masterpiece!

We also have spent a lot of time at the beach. Here is a picture of me and my parents. (Dad and Stepmom)

So, it turns out I have been a member of Audible for about six months. I have no idea how that happened! But, I wasn't going to let those six book credits go to waste! I downloaded a few books for my classroom listening library, but then I got frustrated because it would have been cheaper to buy the books than pay for the credit. So, instead I downloaded some teaching books I had been wanting to read. 

I picked The End of Molasses Clasess just because it had a funny title. Well, I will tell you, it is probably one of the best teaching books I have read. It is so easy to listen to, and I am so inspired I wish I was going back to school tomorrow.

Ron Clark, it turns out, is pretty famous as a teacher. I read another of his books last summer, and I don't know why, but I didn't like it that much. I think I will go back and read it again after I finish this book.

I am also very excited because he started a school as a laboratory for best teaching practices. It is a regular school with teachers and students (fifth through eighth grade), but they also invite other teachers and administrators to come in and see how the school works. I cannot tell you how much I want to go! Here is one example of how awesome the school is: They have a slide in the middle of the school. A giant slide. Every person who visits the school must ride down the slide form the second to the first floor! I love it!

My classroom is going to be so much better next year because I read this book!

I have mentioned a few times in social media posts, that my brother-in-law is fighting cancer and could use prayers and good thoughts. Well, as soon as school was done I flew down to see them with my mom. I was really glad that we got to go and spend time with them.

He has been in the hospital for eight weeks fighting GVHD - a disease that can happen after a transplant. He had a stem cell transplant to fight the cancer. 

He had been very, very sick, but, thankfully, e was starting to turn a corner. He had some great days while we were there and I warned him that he better keep improving after we went home.

I am really sad that they live so far away because it means that I can't visit very often, but I am always thinking about them.

The picture above is pre-cancer. Aren't they adorable?! They look like models - not real people. At least no picture of me looks this good!

On a lighter note - I have finally published the last two modules in my Engage New York Interactive Notebook. It has been a long time coming, but this year was crazy! Anyway, finally they are done! You can get them on Teachers pay Teachers, Teacher's Notebook, and Edmodo Spotlight.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Engage New York Math: Interactive Notebooks

Last year my grade level decided to teach using Engage New York (also known as Eureka Math). Our school district does not provide a math curriculum, and we decided that we needed some help teaching the new Common Core standards for the first year.

I really liked the Engage New York curriculum. It is designed to get kids thinking, not just memorizing. Plus, it covers all of the Common Core standards, so I don't have to search through tons of resources to make sure I cover all of the standards.

However, the lessons can be a little dry and repetitive. One way that I found to help insert some creativity and fun into Engage New York was to build interactive notebooks to go along with the modules.

Every module has guide pages to help you see how I put the notebook together. I tried to focus on the most important take away ideas of the topics in the modules when building the notebooks, so they would help kids review.

You can buy one module at a time, or the entire set at Teachers pay Teachers, Teacher's Notebook, or Edmodo.

First Currently Ever!

I feel like a grownup blogger! This is my first time ever linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently, but I have been a reader for a long time.

So, here it is... my Currently for July.

I realize that this chart makes it seem like I hate staying home with my kids (and maybe that I am not doing that good of a job at it - hello, diapers). However, I would like to make it clear that I do like staying home with my kids, but they never leave. And they don't not need attention. Being a stay at home mom is a 24 hour job with no lunch breaks. It is exhausting!

My hat's off to any mom (or dad) that stays home with their kids. It is hard! This is one reason why I work - I need a break!

Anyway, I am feeling the crunch to get things finished before Vegas, so I would say that today I am a little more antsy than usual.

Plus, we are headed to the beach for the weekend tomorrow which means that I won't be getting a lot done over the weekend either.

On the positive side: My kids have been awesome. Yes, they take a lot of work, but they are kind, creative, and really fun. We even have the baby now, and she takes about 99% of my attention. The big kids could be sad about this and start acting out to get attention, but they aren't. They adore her. I am super lucky!

Okay, I better wrap it up because I was not kidding about the diaper thing. There is probably a stray diaper hanging out at the bottom of the diaper bag or in the back of the car, but we are down to zero that I can easily find. Yikes! Off to Costco!

Setting Up Classroom Routines for Third Grade

A major focus I have for next year is setting up classroom routines that encourage students to persevere and problem solve independently. I want them to have the structures in place to learn how to think through problems instead of memorizing what to do.

One way I intend to do this is by using Daily 5 for ELA and math. Although, I won't be doing five rotations of either of them.

I will have three rotations of math. I have created a graphic organizer for every day of math for the entire first trimester.

I got the basic plan: Teacher Time, Lesson Work, and Math Centers from 3rd Grade Thoughts. I also put a question above the graphic organizer, so students would know what to expect during Teacher Time. I did not put the learning target because I read that kids are less interested when they know what they are doing. It is like giving a child an open present - not nearly as fun as a wrapped present.

Then, for ELA I made four rotations.

I chose four rotations (and included Teacher Time and Lesson Work again) because we just don't have time for five stations. Lesson Work is like Read to Self, but sometimes the kids will have other assignments in addition to reading. For example, when they are learning how to use dictionaries they will do this work during Lesson Work time.

I will only have three groups of kids to move through the rotations. That way I will always have one rotation that I can meet with individual students. This was the only way I knew that I would definitely get to meet with individuals every day. This was always the hardest part for me in years past.

I built the graphic organizers for the students, and I will project them during our rotation time. This way kids will know exactly what to do at every rotation. I will write more on how that will work in my classroom soon.

I also built a plan for me as the teacher:

I am having so much fun working on this project, but it is very slow! I will share more later!