Saturday, December 22, 2012
Writer's Workshop!
The core curriculum circles around reading, math, and science because of the high-stakes testing in 5th grade. We do have 35-40 minutes a day for Writer's Workshop. So far this year, we did a Memoir Unit and an Interpretive Essay Unit. Below is our anchor chart for our memoir unit.
Math Time in Room 106
In fifth grade, we do flexible grouping. I teach the high math group. This is the first time I have EVER done this! Math was not my strong suit as a student and it is not my favorite thing, however I am really enjoying it this year! I finally feel like I have a grasp on the content and can take it deeper with the higher math group. Below are some of the visuals in my room.
For the unit we are working in, we have detailed notes on the white board. I then transfer the words to the bulletin boards shown above.
Word problems always seem to give kids a hard time. During one of my district trainings, we were introduced to this step-by-step system. I keep it magneted to my white board to move it around as needed. Anytime a student comes across a word problem, I expect the problem to be worked with this process.
We are in our major fraction unit right now. A math professional development introduced all of these ideas with fractions. The students' favorite is the Patty Paper. We use hamburger patty paper (in a box, not used!) and fold it to show fractions. It works great because it is square and can easily be colored with color pencil.
For every unit, we discuss vocabulary. The students do double-column notes and I "take notes" on the bulletin board. I color code each unit with the vocabulary word, definition, and example. Then after the unit is over, I move most of the terms to the back bulletin board.
Here is a close-up of a previous unit.
For the unit we are working in, we have detailed notes on the white board. I then transfer the words to the bulletin boards shown above.
Word problems always seem to give kids a hard time. During one of my district trainings, we were introduced to this step-by-step system. I keep it magneted to my white board to move it around as needed. Anytime a student comes across a word problem, I expect the problem to be worked with this process.
We are in our major fraction unit right now. A math professional development introduced all of these ideas with fractions. The students' favorite is the Patty Paper. We use hamburger patty paper (in a box, not used!) and fold it to show fractions. It works great because it is square and can easily be colored with color pencil.
Classroom Management Ideas
Another aspect of my classroom involves classroom management. We discuss and interactive model various routines and then have a poster or other visual to help us remember our expectations.
We discussed and wrote our rules together. Students worked in groups and then we brought all of their ideas to the whole group. We noticed which rules were similar and then we reworded any that needed to be stated positively. Lastly, students signed them.
We post the Common Core Reading standards and the MN math standards. Then we also do content and language objectives. We call them target goals. They are written in student-friendly terms.
We say "Show Five" to get their attention. They made this poster at the beginning of the year after we interactive modeled the routine. Other ways I get student attention is da-dada-da-da--they respond da-da. I also do yo-yo-yo-yo-yo--and they respond the same way. There are other cultural relevant attention getters as well.
We discussed and wrote our rules together. Students worked in groups and then we brought all of their ideas to the whole group. We noticed which rules were similar and then we reworded any that needed to be stated positively. Lastly, students signed them.
We post the Common Core Reading standards and the MN math standards. Then we also do content and language objectives. We call them target goals. They are written in student-friendly terms.
Reader's Workshop in Room 106
Wow! I knew that when I started this blog, that I probably wouldn't write in it often. However, I didn't think it would take this long! The school year is in full swing. We finished the first trimester at the beginning of December and we are in full swing! Below are some of the happenings in room 106 in Reader's Workshop.
Reader's Workshop works with expectations in place. We did what it sounds like, looks like, and feels like so that students have examples to refer back to. It is in the library so I can easily reference it for individuals or as a whole group.
Our first major comprehension skill was visualizing. We made a rubric and then had student examples.
Next, we focused on inferring in fiction texts. We also created a rubric and student models.
When I was absent at a professional development, I had to do a "think-aloud" on paper for an inference. We then added other inferences to the bottom to help create our theory. Students worked hard and gave text evidence to support their thinking.
Reader's Workshop works with expectations in place. We did what it sounds like, looks like, and feels like so that students have examples to refer back to. It is in the library so I can easily reference it for individuals or as a whole group.
Our first major comprehension skill was visualizing. We made a rubric and then had student examples.
Next, we focused on inferring in fiction texts. We also created a rubric and student models.
When I was absent at a professional development, I had to do a "think-aloud" on paper for an inference. We then added other inferences to the bottom to help create our theory. Students worked hard and gave text evidence to support their thinking.
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