Writing

Writing tends to be one of the subjects that my student like the least! I personally love writing and I try to instill that love in my kiddos! One idea that I found on Pintrest that I made my own was having a personal "writing office" for each student. The ideas I found online for most offices were very basic. Because my student's needs vary so much I took some ideas I had found and added my own as well.

Each student has their own office with their name written on it! To make the offices, I glued together two Manila folders, attached all of the items and then I laminated them. In each student's office there is information about: the writing process, commonly used words, writing checklist, transition words, letter formation (both print and cursive) number formation, writing super sentences, the structure of a paragraph, story words, wh- questions and punctuation.

This is what the inside of the folder looks like. There is also some information on the back. My students are forever loosing their work, so one of the things I was looking for in my writing office was a place to store the papers they were working on. On the back I created a pocket for them to place their working on papers in. To make this, I attached a half sheet by gluing only the very bottom of the page. I did not glue the top or sides. Then, after I laminated, I used a seam ripper (If you do not have a seam ripper, I'm sure an exacto knife would work as well) and I sliced a seam in the laminating to create a pocket. On the back I also left a blank space titled Things to Write About. The students will be soon revising their "heart maps" which list things that important to them which we will tape to that space. Their current hearts are a little too big!

 

You can see this student's hamburger graphic organizer inside of his pocket!

This is what they look like when they are set up! Not only do they work wonderfully for providing reminders about important writing things, they also serve as dividers which help the kids focus on their own work!

So after creating these wonderful offices and introducing them to the kids, I quickly discovered the only problem I have found with them .... where to store them! As we know their desks tend to be black holes! So I thought for a while of what to do, when one day at Micheals (craft store) I stumbled across an artist portfolio! After some measuring I discovered that they would fit perfectly. I now have them stored nicely inside the portfolio which I have hanging from my chalkboard!!



You can find a link to my template on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here.

Enjoy and happy writing!

American Revolution!

My third graders are currently studying the American Revolution in Social Studies. This topic is so immense and complicated to understand so when I sat down to plan out my unit I tried to incorporate as many "fun" and "hands on" activities as I could. Google was my first stop! I found a lot of ideas on there and adapted many to fit my classroom.

One of the best ideas I found was to explain taxes to students. This is a very complicated topic so I was glad to find there were some ideas to make it a bit simpler for my students! I passed out 12 jelly beans to each student. I told them that this was their "money" for working hard during the week, but I told them that they were not allowed to use/eat it yet. I then pretended to be a king and imposed many taxes on my students! They each had a card that listed some of the things their character/colonist would need to buy. When their item matched one of my taxes I took some of the jelly beans. In the end they each ended with none or one jelly bean and I ended up with all of the extra! We talked about how they felt and how the king felt! We also talked about how this related to taxes! This activity worked perfectly and my students now have a decent understanding of taxes!!

  

We have also been creating a timeline together. At the end of the unit the students will be creating their own personal mini-timeline.

It is a bit hard to see, the picture came out dark and there are a lot of things behind it, but I created a road and glued mini-clothes pins to the dates listed. Every time we talk about a new event, we add it to our timeline. Here are a few close-ups!

One of the activities that the kids loved was holding a mock Sons of Liberty meeting. Using a brown paper bag I created secret messages for the kids. I wrote them each a letter (in my best revolutionary war phrasing) and then using juice from a lemon I wrote a secret message (Sons of Liberty Meeting, Benches at 10:30) Using a wet paper towel I revealed the secret message to each student. They loved looking over their shoulders to make sure the soldiers didn't see us meeting. At our meeting I lead them to creating a plan for the Boston Tea Party! The kids loved this and it really helped them to understand!



The Chill Zone

Of all the things I have made and added to my classroom this year, one of my favorites has to be my Chill Zone. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a while and I was glad to have it come to reality. As you know, many students have difficulty controlling thier bodies when they are upset. This seemed to be a difficulty in my classroom and after talking with my school adjustment counselor at lengh she suggested a safe place for them to go, to calm thier bodies and minds. Because of the needs of my students I needed this to be inside my classroom. I realized that this would be the perfect time to create the Chill Zone!



As you can see my Chill Zone is a large igloo the comes out of my desk. The location is purely based on space, not necessacarily proximity to my desk! To make I taped together white poster board, drew on "bricks" and an entrance with a sharpie and then I taped it to the sides of a desk. I also covered the top of the desk with white contact paper to get the full effect. On the back of the desk is another poster that names the space and quickly explains its use!



When speaking to my adjustment counselor she suggested two activites for the students to pick from while calming themselves in the Chill Zone. There are two books in the chill zone and the children can also choose the option to draw a picture.
When I notice a student getting upset I will ask them to move to the Chill Zone. This is helpful for a lot of reasons: it gets them away from the other students, it gives them a direct place to go to, it has become a comforting place for many of my students and it lets me observe their actions easily. Depending on the child's reaction I set a timer for 2-5 minutes. This usually gives them enough time to calm their minds and bodies. When the timer goes off I ask if they are ready to rejoin the group and they can rejoin or ask for additional time. I have found this to be VERY useful! I even have kids who are asking to go to the Chill Zone when they feel themselves getting upset!