Thursday (Day 32)

     All I kept thinking of today was how much my door didn't look like a scarecrow! So, I decided to put a hat on him today! 

Wednesday (Day 31)

 Welcome back from the four day weekend!  I hope everyone had a wonderful break!

Monday~Student Holiday

Tuesday~Teacher Professional Learning Day

Today~ Junior Achievement Day!
     JROTC High School students from the surrounding area came to Gideons Elem. today to share their knowledge with our students.  Before they arrived, I worked with students on their Reconstruction dioramas and allowed them to present them in front of the class.  We also went over the morning Math warm-up for extra practice with adding and subtracting decimals.  When they arrived, we automatically had a fire drill!  Of all days!  I just couldn't believe it.....but I suppose it is always good for the students to be ready in any situation. 
     When we went back into the classroom, the JROTC students introduced STEM skills.  STEM=Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  They completed some game-like activities and held discussions with the students.  Check out their website and pictures from today at: http://carverhighschooljrotc.weebly.com/blog.html

At the end of the day, I had my students write Thank You cards for those who visited our classroom.

     Many of the students took a great deal of time on their cards while others were finished in a jiffy.  Since this happened, I instructed those early finishers to begin on our pre-test/review quiz on Cells, Genes, and Classification that was scheduled for tomorrow.  I also told those students who weren't finished that they needed to complete the science activity for homework.

*Update: Tutorial begins next week!  However, some of the students stayed today to work with me on Math and Science.  We reviewed Science and focused on addition and subtraction of decimals.  When my CT arrived, he began to work with them on multiplying decimals. (To give them a "leg up.")

I FINALLY put up the student work wall that I wanted in the classroom!  I put clothespins on the wall with double faced tape and separated them enough so that all of our student's work could be displayed. I am so happy with how it turned out! :)  Have a look:

   

Friday (Day 30)

Reading/ELA/Writng:
     -Spelling Test
     -3 worksheets (Quizes)
Math:
     Math Quiz
Counseling
Social Studies:
     -Quiz
     -Partner Work
FALL DANCE!!!!

Thursday (Day 29)

Today was a Wonderful Thursday!  I tried a new classroom management idea and it worked out perfectly!  Yesterday, I was on Pinterest and found an application called Bouncy Balls.  What is it?  It is an application that allows you to use the microphone on your computer so that it can monitor the noise level.  When the noise level begins to rise, the balls start to bounce!  I told my students that if it happens, then they would not be able to do group projects anymore.  (I used it to keep the noise level down while they completed their Social Studies projects.)  Here is the link to this wonderful resource:

Overview of the day:
  Specials
  Reading/ELA/Writng:
          Spelling Test, Washington Monument Worksheet, Save that Penny Worksheet.
  Math:
      Review and work Road Trip worksheet.
  Social Studies:
     Partner Work on Diorama
     Quiz
  Science:
     Work on Debate paper.

Wednesday (Day 28)

Grammar-Review of common, proper, plural, and singular nouns. 
     Review of sentence structure, verbs, and adverbs.

Reading- Continued to read The Terrarium

Writing-Students wrote an opinion piece that reflected their opinions about the events in The Terrarium.

Math- Review of adding decimals.
     Continuation of centers with the Road Trip Activity.

Social Studies- Vocabulary Review.
     Partner work with dioramas.

Science-
     Flip Chart on Genetics Vocabulary.
     Flip Chart on Genetics Reviewing terms with Venn Diagrams.
     Examples of opinions supporting learned behaviors and inherited traits.
     Students took time to begin writing on their Genetics Debate Essay.

Tuesday (Day 27)

*This morning was not a very positive one for me.  I did not realize that my class was out of control or that my CT was having to come in every few minutes and ask our students to be quiet.  I thought they were being alright but I did not realize they were bothering others who were in the hallway.  It has been really hard for my students because my CT and I are on two different classroom management levels and have two different styles.  But after I talked to him about the situation from this morning, I realized that I needed to work on morning class control and I needed to develop stronger classroom rules.*

     After specials, students were directed to work on verbs, nouns, and action words.  They also completed worksheets that made them practice on simple subjects, predicates, and irregular verbs.  For Math, students were split up into centers.  Three groups were review centers while one group focused on a road trip activity.  This particular group had to record the distance, in miles, from one destination to another. 
     For Social Studies, we read about the differences between the economies of the North and the South.  Then we began work on their dioramas.  Each group was directed to make 2 dioramas.  1 for the South after the Civil War ended and 1 for the South during Reconstruction.  Some groups were not happy to be paired together but I told them, "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit."  They seemed to understand (and some even giggled) so they didn't ask to be changed again :)

 *Faculty Meeting*

Meh Monday...(Day 26)

     It was raining all day today!  The mood it put me in was just terrible.  I was "blah" all day and my response to mainly everything seemed to be simply "meh."  And to top it off......the grade level supervisor came in and saw me make a fool of myself.  :(  I had a really hard time explaining the math material to the students today because I wasn't prepared for the students to not fully understand the concept I was teaching.  They usually pick up topics that I explain pretty easily but....not today!

But at least I finished two of my wonderful boards today!  My Reading board, that is focused on Science Fiction, and my Social Studies board, that is focused on The Era of Reconstruction.  Here are pictures of them:

(I created a board game with vocabulary words on it because I modeled it after our short story Zathura.  At the bottom of the board, the students used post-its to respond to two science fiction related questions.)

(The green ribbon is used for our class timeline.  At the bottom of the board, there are pockets with vocabulary cards in them.  I created four sets so students can grab the cards and use to study with if they finish their work early.)

Reading Instruction:
     The Terrarium Story

Grammar/Writing:
     Worksheets on Sentence Structure
      Pre-writing and rough draft on their story prompt:   You are going on a space adventure.  Write about how you would dodge meteors, aliens, and robots.

Math:
     Rounding & Estimation-Fill in box sheets for hallway interactive boards
   
Social Studies:
     Wok on projects

Science:
     Review of Genetics terms
     Create vocabulary cards