Five For Friday August 22 A Peek into my Room!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Weekly Linky Party!

For this week I'm sharing some of my classroom decor since we have just started back to school! :)

First up! My new door decoration! I think it turned out cute!

                          This is my group behavior board!

This is my Words With Friends Bulletin Board! 

 

 You can find this in my TPT Store!  

 

 My Bulletin board for "S'more Smart Students" great papers!

  

 A fun Quote for the Week!

GIMME FIVE BLOG HOP!!!

 

 I'm linking up with ERICA from Heaven in Grade 7 for a HUGE Back to School Boost Blog Hop Giveaway!!   To enter head over to my TPT Store and  choose FIVE products from my store you would like to win. Leave a comment with your choices in the comment box of this blog post along with your email address. I will choose 1 winner to win all five of their wishlisted products from my store! Have fun! I will pick a winner at 6:30 a.m. on August 20, 2014 my time (Central Time) so you'll know BEFORE the sale ends if you are the winner!  IF you aren't the winner then don't forget to take advantage of Teachers Pay Teachers ONE DAY BOOST sale for a savings of up to 28% off! When you are finished click on the picture below to check out all of the other giveaways!!

Anchors Away Monday August 11

It MONDAY! You know what that means! Anchors Away! I'm linking up with Deb from Crafting Connections for her Weekly Anchors Away Linky Party!

With the common core focus on reading closely and providing evidence I've tried to find some good anchor charts which will help the students learn to read close and find proof.. I love this one with the detective theme!

This one was found on A Walk in My Shoes! 

 

Adorable isn't it?

High/Low Linky August 9

       Today I'm linking up with Julie from A First For Everything for her High/Low Linky Party!

 

 

 First up, my high for this week! Two weeks ago for Wordless Wednesday I posted a pic of my sad useless rack chairs which are horrible for grouping! Several of you responded with various answers as to the type of desk you have in your classroom. Many of you have tables (the best way to group) and several of you have flat desk (the next best way to group) which can form tables when placed together.  As happy as I was for you, I did have a twinge of jealousy since I've been begging for better desks for several years. Well, guess what was in my room yesterday! Yep! Some GREAT group forming desks! I'm so excited!!!

.... now, for my low for the week.... This is my last week of summer since we start school next week.. I had hoped to make it to the beach before school started, but that didn't work out...My dad had shoulder surgery and I needed to stay and help him so the beach trip wasn't going to happen.. We did, however, make it to Branson for vacation before the surgery so that is a high with my low.. LOL.. I'm still holding out hope for a chance at a cruise trip during December.. We shall see! :)

Wordless Wednesday "What is YOUR discipline policy?"

What day is it? HUMPDAY! It's Wordless Wednesday and I'm linking up with

 Miss Decarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice for her Weekly Linky Party!

 

We all wish for model classrooms where students are ready, willing and able to learn, but let's face it, some days are going to be less than stellar and some students will prove to be quite a challenge. What is your discipline policy? Does your school focus on PBIS and how is it implemented? What happens to the student who refuses to comply no matter how positive you try to be or how engaging your lessons are?

Drum Roll Please...

Anchors Away Monday Double Entry Journal

I love anchor charts! I've seen soooo many great ones on blogs, pinterest etc. that I can't wait to use in my classroom this year! Today, I'm linking up with Deb from Crafting Connections for Anchor's Away Monday to share one of those fabulous charts!

This is one of the anchor charts I plan to use during the first few weeks of school to teach the students about close reading and thinking about what you read. This double entry chart gives the students an area to write information found in the text as well as an area to reflect on the information they find. Disclaimer: This is NOT my creation. I found this on pinterest and loved the idea. This chart is found on All Things Upper Elementary if you'd like to read more about it!

Three Fun and Engaging Close Reading Strategies for Common Core Reading, Speaking and Listening Standards!

 This year I'm excited about incorporating some new strategies in my ELA classroom as well as using some of my old favorites with my new set of students!  Some of the strategies I plan to use with my fourth graders include:

                                  Strategy 1  The Fishbowl

A Fishbowl discussion in Mrs. Gross's 5th Grade Class (Detroit Future Schools)

 

 

     This first strategy was first introduced to me by my cousin who teaches high school. The picture above is NOT her class, but one that I found on a blog using the same technique with younger students. The Fishbowl Discussion Strategy uses two groups of learners seated or standing in two circles. The first group, the fishbowl group, are the students in the center of the circle.These students are the ones who are actually discussing the topic or answering the focus questions. The outer circle of students, the observers, are watching the the discussion group, taking notes about what they are seeing and hearing and will use those notes to add to the discussion after the "fishbowl"  group has finished. Both groups have an important task and are contributing to the lesson. This is an excellent way to teach the common core speaking and listening standards.Students are also encouraged to use Accountable Talk with phrases such as "I'm hearing you say...."  "I agree with ...."  "I disagree with..." etc. Students MUST cite evidence from the text to support or refute their or their classmate's contribution. The diagram below shows the seating arrangement for the "fishbowl" discussion.

                                

               Strategy 2 Keep It, Cloud It, Junk It

This is one of my favorite strategies. I've used this for the past couple of years and the students really enjoy it!  My students have always caught on  well to this one and the lesson is truly run by the students rather than led by the teacher.

            

                     Strategy 3 Jigsaw  Method 

This is a short video clip of how one teacher uses the Jigsaw method. I like the fact the students are give a specific part of the text to analyze in their group. Then after small group discussion they will move to whole group discussion where they teach their peers what they learned, observed, noticed etc. about their aspect of the text.

Freebie Friday! Hopping Homophones!

 

I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict  for Freebie Friday! 

This fun Freebie is great for grades 2-6! Hopping Homophones is part of my Language Games which are aligned to the Fourth Grade Common Core Standards.  

This game is designed to play with a partner to practice the Common Core State Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1g Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their)

It is great for centers, partner play or small group!

Click on the picture to get your free copy today!