Life Cycles

I finally made the switch to second grade, and I am loving it!  I actually did a few weeks back, but I haven't been around to blog about it yet.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my special ed placement, but I have really enjoyed having my own classroom. 

In 2nd grade, they spend a lot of time learning about life cycles.  Each of the lessons comes from the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards units.  In the units, the students learn about life cycles of butterflies, chickens, plants, trees, and frogs.  Since I spent the first half of the semester in a special education setting, I was only there for two life cycles.  

The first life cycle we talked about was the life cycle of a plant.  The students each got their own lima bean and journal.  They were able to record the changes they saw.  It worked out perfectly because we were learning about measuring in math.  As part of their observations, the students were able to record the growth of their seed in their journal.  They loved this project!

The next life cycle we learned about was the life cycle of a tree.  We read the book A Log's Life by Wendy Pfeffer.  Not only was this book was a great way to introduce the life cycle, but it also taught the students about different animals that are a part of the stages.  After we discussed the life cycle of a tree, the students created a graphic organizer illustrating the different stages.  I saw the idea for the graphic organizer on Pinterest.  I changed a few things about it and was so pleased with how well they turned out.  

The following day, the students were put into groups, and each student was assigned one of the three stages.  They worked with their group to create a story about a day in the life of a tree.  In their story, they were to write about their particular stage and an animal that was involved in that stage.  After they wrote and illustrated their stories, the groups created a chart.  They were so proud of their work and did a great job with this project!

Time to Regroup

Subtraction with regrouping - such a difficult concept for students to learn.  When I first started student teaching my students were reviewing this skill.  Recently, it became obvious that we needed to review again.  Either they regrouped on every single subtraction problem or they didn't regroup on a single subtraction problem.

I had introduced a subtraction poem when I first started student teaching, but never was able to teach the students what it actually meant.  Once we started reviewing subtraction again, we took the time to learn what each part meant.

Together, we did a subtraction sort.  We compared the numbers in the ones place to determine which category the problem went in.

After we did the sort together, I had the students complete a different subtraction sort on their own.  Once they had the problems in the correct category, they solved them.  This helped them know when they needed to regroup and when they could subtract as normal.

Once the students had a better understanding of when to regroup, we played subtraction bingo!  I don't think I have ever seen my students work as quietly and diligently as they did this day.  This game was great because it provided the students with a lot of practice, but they also loved playing bingo after.

Anchor Chart

One of my absolute favorite things to make for my lessons are anchor charts.  They're so much fun, and a great reference for my students.  Whenever I have my own classroom I plan to keep them up so that students are able to refer to them.  So far, here are a few of my favorites!

Obviously, this one wasn't anything too special, but it was the first one I made.  I let the students help my fill in the circles to correctly represent the fraction.

This chart was obviously part of Dr. Seuss week.  My school did so many Dr. Seuss activities, and it was so fun!!  I made this chart one morning in about 10 minutes before school.  I was quite impressed by myself - I'm no artist!! The kids loved being able to contribute by putting their sticky notes on the chart.

I wish I could take all of the credit for this one, but of course, I found it on Pinterest.  My kids LOVED it!  They had so much fun explaining the cause and effect in Angry Birds.  Even my fourth grade students loved it when they came in to take a test.  They kept saying, "Oh I get it! Miss Nobles, did YOU make that?".  They were so impressed.  Cause and effect was a skill my students struggled with, so I loved being able to connect it to something that they are so familiar with.

I can't wait to have more to post - but for now, these are the only ones that are blog worthy.  I'm a little embarrassed to claim a few of the others! 

Inference Investigators

With my small group, we focus a lot on different reading comprehension skills.  My mentor teacher and I always try to give them some multiple choice questions, like what they will see on the CRCT, to help them prepare.  However, before we do that, I like to do different activities with the students so they are able to really understand these individual concepts.  One of my favorite activities we have done dealt with inferencing.  Inferencing can be such a hard skill for students to master because they have to read between the lines - the answer isn't in the text.  

To start off, we discussed inferencing and what that word meant.  We talked about how sometimes an author gives us clues, but not the answer.   As a reader, we have to be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together, somewhat like a detective or investigator. 

After this, I set the scene for my students.  I told them that over the weekend I went out of town.  Whenever I got home, there was a bag sitting by the door.  Obviously, my roommate had gone somewhere, but I wasn't sure where.  I asked them if they would help me use the clues in the bag to see if we could figure out where she had been.  They were so excited to solve this mystery!!

When they opened the bag, the students discovered that the bag was actually a cooler.  They could not wait to see what different items/clues the cooler contained.  Inside the bag I had: sunglasses, a coke can,  a bag of pretzels, a blanket, paper plates, silverware, and a napkin.  

It was so funny to see their expressions as they pulled different things out of the bag.  Whenever they pulled the sunglasses out, they all remarked that she must have been outside somewhere.  Most of them were able to use the clues to infer that she had gone on a picnic.  After they recorded clues, we discussed where she might have been and how they knew that.  

After doing this activity as a group, I paired the students up with a partner.  Each pair got a "Top Secret" envelope that contained clues.  The students worked with their partner to determine where these clues had been found. (I printed pictures from Google for the clues.)  

One envelope contained: sunglasses, a towel, a book, and sunscreen.  Using the clues, the students could infer that these clues came from the beach.  Another envelope contained gym shorts, tennis shoes, a stop watch, a jump rope, and an iPod.  Using the clues, the students inferred that they came from a gym.  Some envelopes were more obvious than others - a great, easy way to differentiate for students. 

This was one of my favorite lessons, and the students loved it.  It was so exciting to see their faces when they solved their "mystery"!

Third Time's a Charm

Out of my three practicum experiences before student teaching, they definitely saved the best for last!   For my third semester I was at a great school, with an even greater mentor teacher.  This placement was at Northside Primary School in Tifton, GA.  I was placed with a special education teacher, serving kindergarten and first grade.  I learned so much this semester, not only from my mentor teacher, but also from the teachers she co-taught with.  

I spent a lot of time in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, but there was also a small group of kindergarteners that we pulled out at the end of the day.  This is the group that I did most of my lessons with.

We spent a lot of time working on numbers with this group - lots and lots of numbers!  We worked on recognizing numbers, writing numbers, and different ways to represent numbers (tens frames, number lines, and pictures).  When first beginning with this group, they were introduced to TouchMath.  During one lesson, the students were able to make their own TouchMath number lines.  They glued pom-poms on the dots of each number, then glued the numbers on construction paper.  This was a great way for the students to review numbers and one-to-one correspondence. 

Since Halloween was right around the corner, I decided to incorporate some holiday activities.  During one of the lessons, we were focusing on the number nine.  The students made a piece of candy corn with different representations of the number.  They represented nine with its numeral, a picture, and on the number line.

While we didn't have a specific time set aside to pull-out our first graders, we did do guided reading with them throughout the week.  The special education teachers at this school used a scripted program, Leveled Literacy Intervention, designed by Fountas & Pinnell.  This was such a great program.  It incorporated word work, teaching points, discussion questions before and after the reading, plus so much more.   It was so amazing to be able to see how much the students progressed in just the short time that I was there.  

Fun Times in First

After my semester in Pre-K, I went to 1st grade.   My placement was at SL Mason, a Title I, Valdosta City School.

One of the lessons I taught to my class was about money.  For this lesson, we did a few different activities.  The first thing we did was review the "money chant".  This was a great way to help my students remember the different coins and their values.  I also made charts to place in the classroom for reference.

Next, we played a little game.  For this game, I glued a few plastic coins on a popsicle stick.  The students sat in a circle and would pass the cup with the popsicle sticks around.  As the cup was passed to the students, they would draw a popsicle stick.  In order to keep the stick, they had to say how much change was on it.  I gave each student a few seconds to respond; if they could not come up with the correct amount, they had to place the stick back in the cup.  After a few rounds, the students with the most sticks received some sort of small reward.  My students loved this game and it was a great way for them to practice counting change.

Once we finished the whole group activity, the students went back to their desks for independent practice.  Using a worksheet I found from Shenanigans in Second, the students used the popsicle sticks to compare change.  

 One of our other assignments for the semester was to teach a lesson on one step of the writing process.  Since my students were not currently working on a writing assignement, I chose pre-writing.  I wanted to show the students that graphic organizers can come in many different shapes and sizes.  When I found the idea on First Grade Parade, I knew it was something my students would enjoy and learn from.  To start off the lesson, we read Stellaluna.  

After we read and discussed the book, we talked about what we knew and had learned about bats.  Using this information, we created an "All About Bats" graphic organizer.  Students filled out their boxes, and then glued them onto their bat.  Here is a picture of the example that I used.

Lastly, I love art projects, and since Easter was right around the corner, we made these cute little bunnies.  The students really enjoyed this activity, plus they turned out to be very cute!

Loving our Letters in PreK

During my first semester in the education program, I was placed in a PreK classroom at Hand-in-Hand in Thomasville, GA.  The class I was in had 18 students, 6 of which had special needs.  I had a wonderful mentor teacher and special education teacher that semester; I learned so much from them both.

One of the assignments we were required to complete that semester was to create a literacy based learning center.  This was one of my favorite projects I have been assigned throughout my major.  I love being able to create cute and fun things to help my students learn or solidify a concept.

The learning center had to accommodate the different levels of learning in our classrooms.  My learning center had three different activities - sorting letters, forming letters, and capital and lower case letters.

My learning center wasn't quite completed when this picture was taken.  The middle eventually had magnetic tape added.  The students were able to sort the magnetic letters into one of three categories: letters with lines, letters with curves, and letters with lines and curves.  

The left column was a capital and lower case letter match.  The capital letters were in the purple cup, and lower case letters in the orange cup.  Students would take the notecards and match them together.  In order for them to be able to check themselves, the cards were cut like puzzle pieces.  

The last activity was a class favorite.  I added a copy of the alphabet to the right side for reference.  Using gel bags, the students would practice writing their letters in the bags.  The gels bags were so easy to create.  All I did was add a little hair gel and food coloring to a ziplock bag, then tape the top shut.  

Not only were they a class favorite, even my college roommates had fun writing in these bags!