Math Day

Recently our school had a math day.  Parents, families, or other selected individuals had the opportunity to work side by side with their child on math skills.  In the 3rd grade classroom students were learning key words in addition and subtraction.  I have found the most useful way for students to recall key words is by singing about them. 

To begin students brainstormed what words could be used in a subtraction story problem as a way to build a base of prior knowledge.  After listening to the song they then were able to add to their bank of words.  The next step students selected a subtraction word to include in their own story problem.  After creating the story problem they made an illustration to go along with the problem. (Just another way to integrate the content areas!) The final copies were then compiled into a classroom book.  Later, this book along with other books that previous students have made, will be used as an activity.  Students will select story problems within the book as a task on the work board (centers). 

The final actvity that actually was presented to the guests at math day was a music video of the students singing and acting out the song written by Amy Lowe (If you are not familiar with her she has some great CDs that target concepts 3rd graders learn.)  You can access the song by clicking on the video/link below:

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quLyi_37Q1k

The Shape of Me

So this is the portable 2-sided bulletin board outside of my classroom.  As I had explained earlier our building theme is Dr. Seuss so, thanks to an idea on pinterest with a little tweaking, this is the final outcome.  As creative as I could be, I did not draw this.  Instead, I used my projector and traced the outline on black paper. (Clever I know, lol, but this means anyone can do this :) On the first day of school I used this Dr. Seuss' book...The Shape of Me and Other Stuff... to introduce how different we all are and introduced the word "diversity" which they did an acrostic poem with (this was accompanied with a rock investigation to highlight the idea that no 2 things are made the same...which was an activity called "You Rock" (Maybe some other time I could share in detail.) So at recess, while on duty, I took pictures of my students, doing any pose..shape..they chose.  Then after printing out their pictures they were cut out and turned over to show just the outline without the picture.  On the back of their picture they had to create thumbnail sketches of anything that represented who they were, what they liked....etc.  Then They were displayed on the back of the 2-sided bulletin board.    

So as you can see many different shapes with different interests...looks like a quilt :) 

I also use these pictures for three other purposes....1. I try to become familiar with their interests in order to integrate/incorporate them into my activities.  My goal is to make sure I have a way to hook them and create activities that are of interest to them.  2.  These pictures will later be used as writing prompts for journals or during writer's workshop.  3.  Finally when these pictures have served its purpose they will be put into a class book along with a published copy of one of their writings that go along with the picture (I will take pictures of the originals...this way the students can keep their originals and I have just a copy...plus by doing this it is sooo much easier to bind into a book. ) 

Welcome to the 3rd Grade Classroom (with Dr. Seuss)




Welcome to my classroom.  I have found that my 3rd graders are more functional when desks are arranged in pods.  Whether it's 2 big pods or 4 pods, as shown in the picture.  Students are social learners therefore they should be arranged in a manner that promotes this approach to learning.

 



This is another view from another perspective.  I have 24 students this year so as the picture shows there 6 students in each pod.

 



My room includes a whiteboard with a remote mimio. 





Another find on Pinterest....This is my coat room door.  Soooo easy to make....basically it's alot of orange paper with eyes and mustache attached to it. 




Computer Center....I am down to 2 computers BUT this year my classroom went WiFi (in 3rd grade) so students are now allowed to bring their own devices (which many have)....The display behind the computers are many of Dr. Seuss' books.  When its time the little books will be used to create a timeline of books (based on publication dates)  This will be an ongoing display on another wall.




This bulletin board is my homework game (on the left side)that I created (similar to homeworkopoly) that if students have completed homework all week they get to play the game on Friday.  They can earn various things such ....choose where to sit, a homework pass, a song choice (for Just Dance...or one of our songs used for learning or even a background song), free pencil or bookmark, etc.  You can personalize this as much as you want.  The right side of the bulletin board is our Work Board, which was orginally created based on Gay Su Pinell's idea for guided reading and learning centers...but I have adapted this quite a bit since first using it many years ago.



 

This is my fictional shelf.  Each basket has been labeled based on different types of fiction.  Some baskets may be compiles based on a series or author if I have enough books to fill it.  I would highly encourage anyone with a library center to make it easy for students to use and return books to.  It really is less managment for you, the teacher, in the long run especially if one of the student's has the job of librarian.  Their job is to make sure books are returned to the correct bin BUT the goal is for each student to do this on their own!  The picture below is the nonfictional shelf.





This is my supply shelf.  Get Your "Things" Here...lol........So my students do not keep their crayon boxes in their desk...for several reasons....1st, there just isn't enough room and 2nd, if you are currently a teacher you may find this to be true....some students just can't help themselves and they look at their crayon box like it's a treasure box so staying out of the pencil box can be a challenge for some (especially when we aren't using the boxes)  3rd, when glue fails to be securely closed at least it will not spill throughout the inside of the desk all over textbooks and papers. 



So this is our classroom jobs display (with a Dr. Seuss theme)  There's a Wocket in my Pocket...(we also have been reading a chapter book about Dr. Seuss  and learned that he often created his own inventive animals because he could not recall the perfect detail for animals that he would visit at the zoo.  So he often would combine some attributes of one animal with another resulting in a new species.)  So for this display the students created their own version of a "Wocket".  Next, the class helped determine what jobs to have in the classroom (which I tie into the social studies curriculum.)  I believe that ALL students should have a responsibilty (job) and with them helping in the ownership of what those jobs are they will be more likely, to not only do the job, but do it well ......because....... they understand its importance to help the classroom function smoothly.  My goal for my students is to be able to NOT need me, as the teacher...I am just the guide on the side.  They need to learn how to be independent thinkers and not just wait for my command so this is just the first step to ensure that this process begins to happen.

 


These are the nametags that I created this year (made from Dr. Seuss characters)  If you notice I have stickers on them and with various colors tags....I will share more in depth the grouping management system that I use later as more stickers are added over the next month (after placement assessments are finished.)  With it just being the beginning of the year they have been grouped by name tag color (randomly)...there are 5 groups.  The other is based on gender and recently I have added another sticker for working in pairs, based on ability level......Eventually, I will already have groups predetermined ahead of time for various motives for grouping.  (but can easily be adapted as needed). 

 


Another idea from Pinterest....but since Dr. Seuss wrote One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish....I thought this would fit my theme.  I handed this out at open house.




This bulletin board is used for math meeting.  We do math meeting at least once a week sometimes more.  I often use this time to either introduce a new concept or just to have ongoing review.  I have a job for someone to be the math board leader.  By the 2nd half of the year math board will be an independent task on the Work Board with a group meeting to compare answers....usually at the end of each week.  Right now they are still learning the process.





If you are a Dr. Seuss fan you will probably recognize these trees (above) from The Lorax.  I wish I could claim this as my own original idea but I found it on Pinterest (which I am addicted to...thanks to my student teacher!)   Very simple and cheap way to decorate the classroom.  All I used were some swimming pool noodles ($1 at the Dollar Tree), some black electrical tape, and tissue paper.  To make the pompoms get about 10-12 sheets of tissue paper and fold it like a fan then tie a twisty at the middle.  Cut the edges by either rounding it or making it pointy.  Then seperate each tissue peice into the shape of the pompom.  Finally, hot glue pompom to the noodle.



Soul Writer

So school is just around the corner...well 1 week to be exact, at least for the kiddos....I am officially back on Monday (although I have been into my room many times already...they only give us one day..officially... to set up our rooms which is so NOT enough time to create the 'right' environment that promotes learning AND is fun!)  I have been busy getting my room set up for the new school year.  This year our building wide theme is Dr. Seuss.....so many fun ideas for decorating ....which I hope to upload pictures of my room by next week after open house.

Yesterday while at my daughter's dance class I was talking to one of the other moms there.  Within this conservation she made a comment that I just can't get out of my head.  She said 'we', (fill in the blank...teacher, friend, parent, etc.) are writing on the souls of these kids and even though I have always had a passion for teaching and inspiring my students.. this statement really made me reflect on myself, not just as a parent, but as a teacher.  WOW...what an important job we have!!!   Really....being a teacher is probably the most important job in the world...right next to being a parent.  Teachers spend sooo much time with their students...often more than the parents get to spend with their children..for whatever reason.....that we truly influence a child's thinking, not just in academics, but in just about everything that we model.  We are writing on their souls and will leave a stamp forever.  As I begin this new school year I feel that I have such an important job....yes......even more important than getting them to pass those standardized tests!!  Dr. Seuss made the statement..."Why fit in when you were born to stand out"...So if I am going to write on the souls of my students.... first, let it be feelings of acceptance, security and the confidence of who they are no matter where they are. Then let the learning begin...... :)

The Beginning.....

Hello fellow educators and all those third grade teachers!!  This is my first attempt of blogging!!  I must admit if it weren't for my student teacher, Sarah Witting, I may have never attempted to create a blog!  After student teaching with me she left for South Africa and she created a blog to stay connected with me and the students.  So....here I am, attempting to use a blog to keep not only my families updated about what is going on in the classroom, but also this is an attempt to network and share ideas with other fellow educators out there, especially those third grade teachers like myself.  I am always seeking new ideas so I hope that I am also able to share ideas with others as well!!! 
Anyhow....my name is Nicole Miles and I am a third grade teacher with Claymont City Schools, which is a small rural community, and I also teach early childhood courses to pre-service teachers at Kent State University at Tuscarawas.  My 3rd grade classroom is a self contained classroom, which I love because I can connect so many objectives to other content areas based on a theme, story, or learning objective, making learning more relevant to the students.  I am beginning my 7th year as a third grade teacher.  Prior to teaching at this level I taught preschool for 5 years, which is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I must admit, I love teaching third grade!!  Students can work independently, already have a strong understanding of the school rules and expectations, and participate in such great literature studies BUT they are still young enough to be silly, sing songs, and they are not yet judgemental when I am being silly or singing...haha.  I hope as I begin this blogging journey at the start of the school year I can bring new ideas to your classroom!!! Please feel free to share your ideas!  After all, teachers, beg, borrow, and steal :)