Adding Solids to Liquids

I found this experiment online where students add vinegar to different solids. I remember doing this as a child and finding it fascinating. Actually I used to enjoy anything involving mixing, combining and observing. I have fond memories of my sister and I using various bathroom products to make concoctions in our sink, similar to George in Georges's Magic Medicine, although we never fed it to our grandmother.

We did this experiment on Monday and I will have pictures to follow, but if you want to do this with your class, feel free to use the experiment template I created to go with it.

 

Assembly Reflection

After our assembly last Friday, I thought about how best to get my students to reflect on the experience. I created this reflection sheet to use with our conversation.

As a teacher tip, at the bottom of the document, where it says Peer feedback for me, I had the students leave their paper on their desks and everyone circulated and wrote positive feedback to their classmates. After about 5 minutes, the students returned to their desks and read the positive comments. It worked out really well and I will use this process for peer feedback in the future.

Feel free to click on the image to download it and use it in your classroom.

Business Plan: Advertising Elements

Only five more days until our IST Grade 3 Business Fair! Can you believe it? I have to admit that I am a little nervous, but everything will be fine, right? I created this  document for the kids to create and include in their booth. It shows the thinking behind the advertising and branding the students created for their businesses. Fellow teachers, feel free to use it.

 

What's In a Name?

Today was International Day and I am exhausted!!! I can't even tell that I only taught two periods today. (Yes you heard correctly, only two periods.) The morning was great. I loved participating in the parade. I was fully decked out in U.S.A. gear, with denim jeans, an I Heart U.S.A. t-shirt, ponytail, red white and blue nails, and jewelry too! Pictures from the day will come later.

Sitting and reflecting on the day (or finding anything I can do to avoid writing reports) made me realize that I had not posted the homework I adapted this week. I wanted to share it with everyone so that you can use it as you wish. It would not only be a great activity for International Day, but also for the start of the year too. The assignment was to discuss with their parents where their name came from. The kids were really excited to complete this assignment. Many students learned lots of new information this week.

I can remember way back when I was a child the first moment I heard about where I was named from. It was interesting because I was given such a unique name. My mom named me after a woman who was a second mother to her growing up. This neighbor died in child-birth and my mom wanted to honor her by naming her first born daughter in her memory. We are still very close to the family and her daughters are just like my real and true Aunties. I dedicate this post to anyone who has been lost by their families and friends at too early an age, including my wonderful Aunt Frannie.

P.S. I am so glad I was a girl because if I was a boy my parents were going to name me Jeb.... yikes. No offense, but Rorey fits much better.

 

PYP Econimics Unit: Business Fair

The PYP economics unit this year is new for us as a grade and a school.  Therefor, it has been a challenge to find age appropriate resources and books as well as think of ideas for teaching to the central idea and key concepts. 

When we began our planning of the unit, we knew we wanted the kids to start their own businesses for the summative assessment.  As we are about a month into the unit we are on a roll with the businesses and the students have some great ideas. To help with the business plan, I created this document. The idea is for them to plan their business, advertise, and participate in the "business fair" that grade 3 will hold before the December holiday to sell their product or service. At the end of the unit, each class from grade 3 will be collecting their profits and giving a micro-finance loan to a local entrepreneur.

One book that we have used to teach economics and the concept of micro-finance is One Hen. Not only have students learned about micro-finance, but since we live in Tanzania, students have been making really meaningful "text-to-self" connections. Many people within the IST community have provided micro-finance loans to local community members and the students can also relate to the characters. It is a wonderful book.

During the business planning stages, students used this document that I created to help them organize their plans. It has really helped. The final draft of this document will be on display during the business fair so that visitors can see the process that students went through to plan their business.

In addition, I also created this feedback interview document to assist them in the planning stages. Sharing business ideas within the classroom has allowed us to have some interesting discussions on a variety of concepts. For example, some students are realizing that they might have competition within the classroom and others are realizing that people might not want to pay as much for their product or service as they thought. Given the feedback that the students have gotten from their peers, business plans are being modified and adjusted.

 Please feel free to download these (just click on them) and look forward to photos and an update on the business fair in a few weeks!
 

Writing: Teaching Voice

At IST we use 6-Traits Writing. This year we have already covered concepts in 5 of the writing traits (the easier ones,) but grade 3 is the first time we teach and asses the concept of "voice" and I still had not introduced this skill. This is a difficult concept for children to understand and master in their writing so I wracked my brain to come up with a fun way to teach it.

During planning a few weeks ago, I thought of an exciting way to teach "voice" using character cards (cards with different story characters printed on them.) The focus concepts were:

• using describing words to tell about a character
•  using dialogue with proper use of quotation marks
• different words for the word said 
• adding "voice" to stories

I chose a character card and out it up on my Smartboard using my document camera. The students and I then put describing words around the character to give them an identity. After that, we wrote 3 sentences using dialogue for what this character would say in a story. After I modeled for them and we did the task together, the students got to draw a character of their own, create describing words for that character, write dialogue for them and then create a story about their character. We used the printable below to complete this task. It turned out to be a successful introduction to the concept of writing with "voice."

 

Spending Money

This past week we began our unit on Economics. We are learning how we organize ourselves with economics and started with the concept of goods vs. services. Next week, students will be thinking about and predicting what their family spends money on and then working with their parents to determine and discuss what their family actually spends their money on. Using the list we created, will then discuss whether each item is a good or service, and then later on in the unit, whether each item is a want or a need.

For all of you teachers out there, I created this printable to guide this activity. Please feel free to download it and use it!

 

Bodies PYP Unit

Can't...stop...working....
luckily I have my mom's warm comfy couch and some great T.V. on demand that I have missed this past year in Tanzania.

I have joined a few professional reading groups via my "blog sisters" and have been working away on my mac, mostly getting files organized and such.

But, gearing up for the next year, I have been creating some documents to use in the classroom, possibly with my new interactive whiteboard!!!! Can you tell I am a little excited?

So here is a health Can-Have-Are printable for you to download. I use Can-Have-Are charts a lot in my teaching, often as a formative assessment tool during teaching.

 Enjoy!
  
"Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com" 

Homework Checklist

A few weeks back, I made this homework checklist for a student who was having a hard time focusing on his homework and getting it completed. After about one week, the student was independently and successfully completing assignments and getting praised at home for appropriate homework routines and behaviors. The parent asked me if she could share it with others since she has been talking up how effective it is and I decided to share it with you.

Click on the picture below to download a copy for yourself.

Keep Your Brain Sharp! Summer Assignment Freebie!

This summer, when you are looking for things to do, grab these and enjoy getting some learning done in a fun and creative way. I made three documents for you to use to practice some skills and keep your brain sharp. Print them out, color in each box you complete and bring it to me at the beginning of the next year so that I can celebrate in your success. Keep up the good work, even over the summer!

 

Click on the images above to download from Google Docs

Earth Day Freebie!

For everyone who cares about the Earth, here is a printable for you. Click on the image to download. Enjoy!

 

Writing Corner: Fiction Book Reviews

For the past two weeks, 3R has been learning to write fictional book reviews. The students have been very excited and the reviews are turning out really well. In fact, I had quite a few parents ask if their child had written the book review themselves or had gotten help. Rest assured, all of the students wrote their reviews entirely on their own.

At our school, we use Write Source as a text to guide student writing. I love this resource! The text is wonderful for students because it is visually appealing, simply laid out and presents topics in a manner that is easy to understand. In the book, there is a specific formula to follow when creating a fictional book review and we used it for multiple stages in the writing process.

A fictional book review consists of three paragraphs:

1. The first paragraph tells what the book is about and includes the title, author, main characters. It includes what happens to the main characters without giving away the ending.
2. The second paragraph tells why the writer likes the book. The paragraph should tell why the writer is drawn to the book and what emotional connections the author makes to the book. For example: Is the book funny? Does it have a lot of action? Are the characters likeable? Do you have a favorite part? Tell why.
3. The closing paragraph tells about the main idea the author wanted share. The writer should include what they learned from the book and why they think the author wrote the book.

I created some pre-writing activities to go with this lesson. You can download them free here from google docs or click on the image below.