Flexible Seating Update No.1

FINALLY!   As September is coming to a close, I am able to take some time and jot down some thoughts about our venture in trying out flexible seating in the classroom.  First off, big hit from students AND parents alike.  I was actually quite surprised at the overwhelming response we received from parents.  For some reason, I thought for sure we'd be getting some complaints, but we received nothing but compliments.  The only grunts came from siblings that we jealous because they didn't have these options in their classrooms; go figure! 

As both experienced teachers, we knew kids and things that might need to be in order at first.  We knew that we needed rules set in place from the start.  We discussed this with our students day one.  We wanted to stress that this was a privilege; therefore, rules needed to be in place and stress particulars about certain seating options.  For example, stability balls are not to be bounced on or kicked around the classroom.  We also wanted students to know that we had the option to remove them from seating if they are not using it responsibility. We of course felt that students can learn best when they felt comfortable and with some movement; but others may need the structure of a desk so we left a few in our classroom! We offered a variety of options for the students to use, such as ottomans, yoga mats, a lounger, foldable seats, stability balls, and husbands. To ensure more flexibility with places to work , we provided a standing table (a table with bed risers) and a table with no legs, so that students can sit on the carpet! Clipboards also needed to be provided so that students not at tables can still write or complete activities.

As with anything new; this is a learning experience for myself and my co-teacher.  These are the things we learned.

1. Certain seating options need to be located in a certain area of the classroom.  For example, certain chairs like our chairs with wheels, need to stay in their location.  We found that certain students loved certain chairs yet wanted to move them around the room after EVERY subject, and too much time was used to get them settled are start of a new lesson! 

2. Often times as we were teaching, kids would be all over the classroom and we realized!they simply could not focus! We decided that for whole group instruction, they needed to be in certain spots in the classroom. Likewise, certain spots were off limits too during this instruction too! As an inclusion classroom, some students needed modifications that were more challenging for me to provide when they were all over the classroom. This allows me to work smarter, not harder. Therefore, larger tables needed to be used during testing. 

3. We realized that we needed more desks! Some students actually prefer an actual desk to call their own. This would have been me as a child! Quote simply, some had to have their own working spot, especially to help with the organization of their supplies. Even though we had certain spots in our classroom allocated for certain supplies, and students were given their own bin; this still posed to be a problem. Some also could not handle sitting with friends, but if they were moved to a desk, they clearly understood it was for their benefit! 

4. We realized that the variety of choices could be considered as a negative too! Some students became overstimulated and overly concerned if they were able to get certain seating, and it became a problem with bickering and the like. We tried to combat this problem, by allowing only our two helpers of the week to be allowed in sit in certain options like our lounger! Additionally, there was a need to clarify a need to switch seating after a certain lesson.

5.  We also had to clarify the need to respect our seating options. These cost of these options, came out of our pockets and there was a need to reiterate to respect any and all "furniture".  No placing feet on desks, chairs. No laying on options that were meant to sit on! No kicking ottomans! No tilting in chairs with four legs (we actually lost a couple of stools due to bent legs.)

6. Some students were using multiple seating options at a time; that too needed to be addressed! This proved to destroy some of our options and kept other students from using these options! 

7. Finally, some seating needed to be taken away to later be reintroduced back into our classroom. For example, students were not using the stability balls correctly. Since being a hot commodity, we felt the need to remove them from our classroom. This again, goes back to respecting our items! As students can demonstrate their respect for other seating options, we will slowly reintroduce the stability balls! 

As for now, with having worked out a few speed bumps, we are all smiles (for now).... More to come in the future! 

Grade 3 Math Interactive Notebook

Holy cow!  I think I need to go out into the world, because I have been glued to my computer ALL of Labor Day WEEKEND!  I have been working on my third grade math interactive notebook for what seems like forever.  Ok, not forever, but a really, really, really long time.  I had created notes and interactives for my students last school year because I felt it would be something they could go back to and use as a reference and even enjoy doing the activities.  Even though, I had it all saved I didn't have it all together organized.

It wasn't until recently that I had a parent of one of my students ask if I was going to sell my notes and foldables on Teachers Pay Teacher.  She happens to be a third grade teacher in another district.  Not only was I excited; I was flattered!  And this is where the last two weekends of my life have been.....in front of this computer. I'm even shocked I'm sitting here now, writing this post!  I just can't contain my excitement!  Who knows what I'm talking about?  


Literally, when this was officially uploaded (like 10 minutes ago); I SCREAMED!!!!!  What a relief! Picture me doing all of those happy dances from the 90's.  Seriously, I did that!

Check it out here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Grade-3-Mathematics-CCCS-Interactive-Notebook-2770146

Now, onto start my fourth grade interactive notebook!

O-Emoji?! Back to school already?

O-Emoji! I mean, OMG!  Back to School is upon us....Whomp, whomp!  New school year means a fresh start; although not if you follow your kids up to the next grade level.  I will be doing just that; moving from third to fourth grade.  I am NOT looping with my kids, but I will have some of the same students I had last year (I hope they aren't too disappointed.....some of them might be, as I know the tricks some of them like to pull).

Anyways, being that I will have some of the same students, I needed to up my Back to School activities game.  With being on trend, I wanted to do something fun with emojis.  Something simple, but would still include how they are feeling about their first day of school.  Will they be nervous, surprised, excited about etc?!  (P.S - Writing tasks using emojis will be coming at a later date.)

One of my favorite back to school activities that I love, Stump your Teacher!  It is similar to Two Truths and a Lie; I just have students list three truths.   This is such a fun activity to get to know your students.  Some of them can get very creative and I love trying to figure out what they are fibbing about.  It always gets a lot of laughs.  

Since back to school activities are often about the teachers getting to know the students, I find that the students also like to know a little about us too.  Due to that reason, I have created a teacher true and false.  I have kept it fairly generic; however, you can recreate it to make it more specific to you :) Again, this is another classroom favorite that tends to get a few laughs.  

These are just a few of the activities that I have in my Back to School bundle.  Other activities include #MySelfie, classmate scavenger hunt, classmate interview, goals for the school year, and math about me.  To see more details about each activity check out my link to the bundle here.  Or simply head on over to my store on TpT.  

Welcome back my friends!  

 

Do you Kahoot?

Talk about a Hoot?! This game was introduced to me by my good friend, Jill! It is a great way to review a skill or check students' understanding that gives immediate feedback.

My students love games and even more so when technology is incorporated! As a teacher I can sign up for FREE; create my own account; create a Kahoot game or check a ton of other Kahoots that fellow teachers have created and use with my class. 

I can easily create questions and provide four different responses. I check off which one is the correct answer. Instead of ABCD choices; shape/colors are the  responses. Each question can be given a time limit as well! I can create as many or as few questions as possible. It is extremely easy to do and very user friendly. 

Here's how it works.... Once I found a game or created one; I start the game. I project my game onto my class overhead projector. Students have to enter the game pin on their own device to get the exact game! This allows for connectivity and interaction! Students are asked to put in a nickname and once they join. As a class, we can see the names of those that have joined, as well as the number of participants that is displayed for all to see on the overhead. My classroom has ten iPads; so I either have students pair up or  borrow iPads from another class! Personally, I prefer the latter so that all students are engaged! 

What I love about the game is that the question and answer choices are only on the teachers version which is displayed for all students to see. The student devices only show the shape/color of the answer choices! 

As students answer, the number of participant responses pop up on the teacher version; therefore, I know how many answered quickly by either knowing it just trying to rush. I know this because after the time for each question is up; a bar graph shows up displaying the number of students that got the correct answer and the number of students that answered each of the other responses. If I am in the back of the room, I can easily see who got answers incorrect because their screen is red and will remain that way until I move into the next question. This provides me with quick feedback, and I know which students that I need to continue working in the particular skill with during guided reading/math groups or for intervention purposes. Since each child provided a nickname, each student is awarded points for how quickly they answered the correct response. On the screen, it will show the leaderboard after each question based on their point value. It even tells each student what place they are in on their individual devices. 

The students proclaimed this as their favorite classroom game all school year. I can understand why.... It is a must try classroom tool. It motivates and gets all students engaged especially as we wind down the year! I would love to hear your experiences with the game too, so please be sure to comment!!!

Motivation for Testing

I don't know about you, but my third graders start PARCC testing on Monday.  This is the first time that they are taking a state assessment; so their anxiety is at an all time high!  It's this time of year that I use my Motivational labels along with a small treat to let them know that they can do this and ROCK that assessment.  You can find them here at my store for FREE!  My students have loved the little motivators in years past; yours might too.  Check them out!

Flash Freebie

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start (and snow free...)  I am in the sharing mood; so I have a flash freebie for today!  I am sharing my Multiplication Word Problem: Winter Edition.  The word problems all relate to the winter theme; hot chocolate, ice skating, snowball fights, etc....  I truly made this for my students to use and practice their multiplication skills, but also working on their reading skills.  Numbers in the word problem are not always in standard form, but also word form and they must truly understand the question.

You can use this product for centers, practice with the skill, an early finisher, etc.... Let me know your thoughts!  I would love your FEEDBACK on the product on Teachers Pay Teachers too!  Below is the exact link to the product on Teachers Pay Teachers!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Multiplication-Word-Problem-Task-Cards-Winter-Edition-2275681


Have a great weekend!

Inside Snowball fights????

With the upcoming snow tomorrow, I figured it would be the perfect time to play one of my favorite review games! It's a favorite of the kids too! I have adapted it for all subject areas; so you can too. It's a SNOWBALL fight!!!! A perfect review game for the kids to get up and moving around the room; especially since we have had quite a few inside recess days lately! It has F-U-N written all over it!

Today's skill was math.... Adding and subtracting three digit numbers with regrouping! All you need is scrap paper (who doesn't have a ton of that around?!). For this Math review, I had students solve different regrouping problems. After they solve it on paper they rolled it up into a ball. They can do any number of problems you would like. The more problems solved; the higher the number of "snowballs". I have kids spread out to the corners of the room and start their "snowball fight". They love getting each other. They love "hiding" behind desks, sneaking up on people, and then some... After a few minutes of fun, students have to get the same number of snowballs they through in the snowball fight! Chances are; they will get different problems!

 Students will have to check one another's work and explain how they are correct or how to fix it and explain what they did wrong. The students don't know who it is from but it is a learning experience; since we review those problems as a class! They explain it to the class under our document camera. A lot of my students love playing teacher and this is the perfect opportunity for that!

There are so many ways to adapt this game... Vocabulary review, spelling practice, writer's notebook activity such as adding on to sentences to create a group story, etc.... Be creative! 

I would love to know what you do for review that your students love?! I know grudge ball is another favorite of ours. Please share what works for you or other indoor activities that are perfect for the dreaded cold weather inside recess. 

What Is Scoot?!

As a teacher author on Teachers Pay Teachers, I often see my fellow Teacherpreneurs sell things that they call scoot! I felt a little silly asking my TpT seller friends so that I didn't sound crazy; so I asked my third grade unit at work. All they did was rave about it!

So I decided to give it a try! My students were struggling with rounding to the nearest 10 and 100.

This was a great activity to get the students up and moving. Our curriculum is so fast paced... Yet I decided to slow it down a bit as this is a skill they will be using in math in future grades and even in life! 

The students loved it!  This is how I played.... Students were to get up out of their seats.  When I yelled to begin, they are to flip over the task card at their desk and write down their answer on the provided answer sheet.  After they have written their answer, they are to flip cards back over.  Once I yell "SCOOT" ( about every 30 seconds), they are move onto the next desk, flip over that card and solve.  I tried to make this as uniform as possible in my classroom, by having students go to all of the student desks' at their group and then as a group move onto the next set of desks.  But that is totally up to you.  I have even spread out the cards around the classroom for the students to find.  I love that the students have to think quickly, but I would adapt the time depending on the skill they are working on.  Since this skill was rounding, I only gave about 30 seconds for the students to complete each card; making it roughly about a 10 minute game for my students.   The pictured cards are ones I found on Super Teacher Worksheets; but I have since created my own scoot cards.....VALENTINE'S STYLE!  

You can find my version here: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rounding-to-the-Nearest-Hundred-Valentines-Scoot-2390772

FREEBIE ALERT: Printing on Sticky Notes

After seeing posts about printing on sticky notes over the years, I finally decided to try it out for myself. I was planning for an observation and was trying to think of ways for students to review the plot of a story they were familiar with. As I knew I was being observed, I wanted to spruce it up a little. So I thought.... This was just the thing I needed to do! For me it was super easy, all I did was set up a template in Power Point. With the template, I typed up information about a story to complete a story map I made with my class.  The students loved reading the sticky notes and allowing them to get them out of their seats and placing the notes on the story map.  It was actually great because the students had discussion about the story and even gave valid points when they disagreed on sections of the plot.

I printed out all of the templates first.  As it was my first time doing this, I wanted to make sure that everything lined up correctly.  From the printed page, I placed sticky notes over each box, and printed again.  That is it! Voila!  A total time saver!

For independent work, I had students continue to work on reading passages and highlighting the literary elements in different colors.  I was able to print these out on color and send with the students to their seats, so I could easily move onto working with my other guided reading group here!  

Find my FREE template here!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Printing-on-Sticky-Notes-Editable-Template-FREEBIE-2381657

Please let me know how you have used this in your own classroom!

Sun, Moon and Stars Unit: NO PREP

Science is one of my favorite subjects to teach! Without fail, every year, my students get so excited about Science; not sure if it's the subject matter or the fact that it is less pressure than Math and ELA.  Either way, this unit always makes my students want to learn more! They will read all of the space related books we have in our library, share any information they learned with excitement and

even research more at home! This just makes my heart smile! 

This 100+ page NO-PREP unit is FILLED with all of the information needed to teach students about parts of the solar system.  As the teacher, you are given lesson plans for 15 DAYS!  You can use the presentation to teach information regarding the sun, moon and stars with matching cloze-style notes.  Included are three quizzes and one unit test. Your students are going to love the activities and the ease of taking notes.  These notes can be used as study guides too!

This unit includes:

~Lesson Plans – 15 days of written plans!  Objectives, procedures, and materials needed are provided for each day.

~Presentation – All of the information needed to teach students this unit.  I teach the presentation and review it the next day.  Words in red font are the answers to the notes provided. NOTE: Not editable.

~Notes: Cloze-style notes for students to highlight important information that goes along with the presentation.  “Answers” to cloze-style notes also provided.

~Activities- Moon Calendar with moon phase pictures, Cardinal Direction Posters, Posters of the Moon Phases, Cut and paste activity, (2) different observation recording sheets, chalk drawings, and planet coloring pages.

~Review game- “Jeepardy” game to review information for the unit test.  Editable for your use!!

~Assessments – (3) Quizzes for the Sun, Moon and Stars.  (2) Modified Quizzes for the Sun and the Moon, (1) unit test.

Check it out here: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/NO-PREP-Sun-Moon-and-Stars-Unit-and-Planet-Facts-too-2067119

Here is my direct link to my Teachers Pay Teachers store:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Motivational-Ms-Mac

No Elf on the Shelf??

These days, it's not surprising that as teachers we can't celebrate just one hoilday this winter.  

Probably, like many of you, I work in a district that includes a variety of backgrounds. That being said, we can't just focus on one holiday, but we would have to focus on many!  In my classroom, my co-teacher and I try to incorporate different kinds of these holidays to be politically correct.  Everything now is labeled "holiday."  My school has a Holiday Show, Holiday Parties, Holiday Concerts, etc.... 

For our holiday party, we incorporate different holidays through stations.  We have Pin the Nose on Rudolph, the Dreidel Game, and an informational text Kwanzaa coloring book.  

Those of you that are elementary teachers know how crazy December can be.  The best way to describe it, is that it's like a month of full moons.  Often times, we need ideas to allow us teachers to survive through it all!

During this time of year, Elf on the Shelf for Christmas has been very popular, as well as Mensch on a Bench for Hanukkah with parents.  To play off of those successes on the home front, why not incorporate something similar into our classroom?!  Enter, Snowman is the PLAN!

Another one of my co-workers also loved the idea, so she went out on a search to find us a wintery character that we could use in our classrooms.  What she found were cute little snowmen; perfect for our winter holiday theme.  This worked so well in the classroom in terms of keeping the students on track with our daily routine.  Our third graders love it so much, that in past years they write letters to our snowman, have made him a home, have made him accessories; just to name a few!   

I have created a (colored/B&W) letter for the students that is generic, that students can read or have read to them.  The gist is that Old Man Winter has sent this snowman down to be on the lookout for good and some not so good behavior.  Our snowman will report back to the Arctic on a daily basis and the weather depends on on how well they behave.  Just like the other figures; if you touch him, he will melt and lose his magic.  Students must also name their Snowman to be unique to our classroom.  I'm rooting for Lee from Room 23.   I also created a goodbye letter to present to the students prior to the holiday break to let them know that the snowman must go back.  The best part is that the product if FREE!

Check it out here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Snowman-on-the-Shelf-2257157

Some of our hiding spots have been between the books.  One of my favorites is the snowman that  created an array for the students to solve.  Multiplication is a huge math topic for our third graders, so I definitely wanted to incorporate that.  We also wonder how many inches it will snow this winter (based on our behavior)?!  My co-teacher and I try to relate his activities to things we are doing in the classroom currently, or even earlier in the school year as a review.  

There is also a generic letter having the snowman saying goodbye to the class!  This is the perfect way to get your students stay behaved during all of the holiday madness!  I hope this can give you a bit of sanity to get through the month.

Study skill strategy.

I always try to make review fun and easy. Not only that, but something that the students can do independently! I've done this activity for sometime, and for all subject areas. It's so easy to do too!

First, all you need are strips of paper, index cards, or anything you can write on and cut up. If I am creating the review. I write a question on one side of the index card or strip of paper and the answer on the other side. After doing that, I cut zig zags, wavy lines,  a combo of both and so on separating the question and answer! I do this for all of the cards, but vary my cut for each. This way it creates a puzzle piece and the two fit together! If students are doubts this with me, I shuffle up cards and place questions on one side and answers of the other. Students read the questions first and try to find the answer! If it doesn't fit together like a puzzle piece , then the answer is incorrect and students will try again!

I particularly like this as a center activity. Students are able to check their answers and answer questions they struggle with. If you want to go the extra mile, you can even use the same color marker for the question and answers that match that will help students that struggle even more. 

Not only is it great for review, it's a great way for students to make and practice their fact families, study new vocabulary, and easy enough for them to create in their own at home!

My students loved it! They even wanted to create their own questions for their book review. I know it may not be anything new, but simple ideas work too! I am now on a mission to create templates of these puzzle strips for my TpT store...... Stay tuned! 

Math Treats: Blog Hop

I am so excited to partner up with Doc Running from Everything Education and other wonderful math teachers to share some Math Treats.  From the looks of it; I may be one of the only elementary level teachers that is participating in this blog hop.  Although this may be true, my experience as a sixth grade math teacher knows that a few of my "treats" are acceptable and have been used successfully in most if not all grade levels.

"Treat" #1: Task cards

All of my students love task cards.  I have utilized task cards in a variety of ways.  Most often, I use task cards as a scavenger hunt in my classroom.  Depending on their level; I hide my task cards very well; or in more conspicuous places.  Depending on the skill I am targeting, I either have students work individually or with a partner.  The latter tends to happen the most in my classroom. can be heterogenous or homogeneously grouped.  Not only are the students up and out of their seats, but they are having fun and completing/practicing math problems along the way.  The scavenger hunt idea is used mainly as a review of the skill or topic most recently addressed.  

I found that task cards were great for reluctant learners and for completing during after school activities to keep the students engaged.  During guided math; I also use task cards as a center activity.  This activity is done independently, so it is primarily a review of previously taught topics or a skill that needs continued practice throughout the school year.  I do this so that I know that students can work independently and quietly while I am working with a small group of students. Additionally, task cards have been used in my class for earlier finishers.

"Treat" #2: Choice boards    

For every topic or unit of study that is being completed; the students are given a choice board.  This choice board allows the students to pick activities they would like to complete when they are not meeting with me during our guided math time.  It is a great way to differentiate activities to meet the needs of all of your students.  The choice board is posted in the classroom but a copy is also given to each student to keep and reference back to if needed.  The board if actually a 3 box by 3 box grid, like a bingo board with the center box being a "free space".  This allows for eight different activities for the students to complete.  Each choice board is given by topic; so it may seem like coming up with eight different activities is a lot of work, but it's all relative because it is not changed weekly but rather every two or three weeks. 

There are certain assignments that I want students to complete throughout the topic, I label them MUST DO's.  Meaning that the students must do two (at maximum) of the activities listed on the board before the end of the topic assessment.  All of the other activities (six of them) are available for them to complete.  Depending on the activity, students may be given bonus points on that topic test if they complete the activity, or even given a homework pass.  I have used a choice board in both my sixth and third grade math classes and have had very little trouble having the students "buy in" to the idea.  They love having the option of the work they want to do.  Let me stress though, that the activities provided are not "busy work" but rather, meaningful activities. 

"Treat" #3: Grudgeball:

I have posted about this in the past; but it's so great that it is worth mentioning again.  I actually found the idea of Pinterest.  It's a game that I thought would be great to motivate my students.  With the Common Core Standards in place; the pacing of our Math curriculum has become insane. There is so much to cover within a given time period. This often makes it difficult for mastery of this skills because we are often have to go on to the next skill or topic. Being that this has been this way for a while, my awesome co-teacher and I decided that we needed to switch some things up and add some more fun to math.  Our students needed to be motivated in order for them to want to learn and enjoy math. Enter Grudgeball.



As the students were comparing answers, one of us divided the board into four groups and labeled. Each groups had five rows of four X's, for a total of 20 X's under each group. We also set up a "basket" and shooting lines. (Think of a two and three pointer in basketball.) we used an empty trash can and walked 10 feet away from the basket and placed a piece of tape on the floor for the first shoot line and a second piece of tape about another foot or two from the first taped line. 

At the start of the game, we explained the rules and stressed that we will go in group order to answer the questions. The group will answer their question, and the other groups need to agree or disagree. If they agree students one student in the group gets to shoot a ball (we like one that can't bounce and is fairly small; about the size of a baseball or softball). That student can decide if they want to shoot for two extra points or three extra points (based on taped lines on the floor). If a student misses the basket, but answers the question correctly they can erase two (2) X's from any group/team they want. They can split their points into different groups. If they get the basket from the first taped line on the floor, they can erase four  X's and if they get a basket from the second taped line, they can erase five X's. If the group gets the question wrong, they do not get to erase any X;s and we move onto the next group. The students are very competitive and it becomes a fun battle as to who will erase from which of the teams. Often times, they majority of the teams go against one, or teams align with one another. Once a team no longer has X's, they have to start adding X's back, following the same point value rules. This continues on until the end of the review questions.   Again, the team with the most X's wins.

The students absolutely LOVED this game.  I mean, really LOVED.  I hadn't seen my students so excited about math.  I think the competitive nature of the game gets the students hooked; and promotes students collaborating. This was a Pinterest tried and true success! I hope you can find a way to incorporate it into your classroom too!


These are just a few of the "treats" that I have used in my classroom with success.  They have not only been a treat for me, but for my students as well.  

An InLinkz Link-up