Google Search Stories

The last few times I've gone to the movies I've been fascinated by the Google Search Stories that have played during the previews.  You know, the ones about dating, getting engaged, married, and then the baby.  Some have made me cry, others have made me laugh.  Well, I have discovered how to make them myself - and it is SO EASY!!! Here is my example.  

If you visit YouTube you will find lots of examples.  Click the "Create Your Own Story" button and you will be on your way.

How will I use this in my classroom:

1.  To introduce myself to my students and show how I spent my summer vacation.

2.  Have them create a search story about their own summer vacation.

2011-2012 Classroom

School doesn't start until Wednesday for us, but my room was ready for Meet the Teacher.  My school has a policy on our decor that has taken some getting used to, but I think I'm going to like it.  Only 10% of my decor can be store bought.  The focus is on student/teacher created displays.  So, everything you see, except for a few items, has been created over the summer.

View from the front door

Writing Board

Hall passes

Reading Nook - ignore the bins. They were there for supplies.

Writing Center

My promethean board has not been installed yet and there are a few things that I still need to do, but I am just about finished with the big things.

Doughboys and Doughnuts

I love teaching fifth grade for a variety of reasons, but I think the one I enjoy the most is the fact that I get to teach US History. Those of you that knew me in school may find this ironic because of all things that I had to study, US History was my least favorite. But, I've determined that is because I didn't have a dynamic teacher who made it interesting for me to learn. So, in my teaching career, I've vowed to become that teacher for my students.

This week we have been immersed in all things World War One. This topic is one that my students wait for all year because this is the war that saw torpedoes, tanks, and the Gaitlin Gun. Ships were sunk, trenches were dug, and the Red Baron made himself known to the entire world. Needless to say, my guys love it.

Yesterday we began discussing how the war affected different groups of people, primarily women and African Americans. To help my students understand how women were affected, I cooked. I spent a few days searching for an authentic World War One recipe. I stumbled across this one for doughnuts. The Salvation Army sent ladies to lift the morale of the troops and they became known as The Doughnut Girls because they made doughnuts for the troops. Read more about their story here. Not only did I choose this to reinforce how women responded, but to help my students remember the Doughboys (American troops).

The response was ovewhelmingly positive - even though we burned the first batch and had to wave the smoke away from the fire alarm sensors. Oops! But what was more important to me was what my students wrote afterwards. EVERY single person was able to effectively remember and communicate how women responded and who the Doughboys were. Hopefully, this will carry over to our state test!!!

'Cause Baby You're A Firework - Or Maybe a Metaphor!

Over the past few years of teaching I have had the privilege to participate in fantastic professional development that was culturally relevant. One particular course that I was enrolled in centered around the work of Ernest Morrell and focused on the integration of pop culture into the regular classroom. Essentially, his research found that if teachers spend time learning about their students' interests in music, television, movies, etc., and then find creative ways to use it for teaching, students' interest levels increase and so does their achievement level.

I've done this in various ways since taking the class, but one of my favorites was in my lesson plans for this week, so I thought I would share it with you.

In Language Arts we have been learning about how author's use figurative language to create interest and then how we as writers can use it in a similar fashion. Throughout the course of the week, we've read various books aloud, applied the lessons to a scavenger hunt in novels of our choice, listened for it in our own conversations and that of others, and a slew of other things. However, the most anticipated and best received happened on Wednesday when Katy Perry visited my room. Not her literally, but her music made an appearance. I'm sure that when she wrote or recorded her lyrics, she had no idea that a lowly 5th grade teacher in South Carolina would use it to teach Reading - little did she know - or any other performing artist for that matter.

I began the day with playing several "current" songs that play on the radio on a regular basis (and are clean lyrically) as my students entered that morning. Music is always a big portion of our day and my students know that I listen to "their" music and they are willing to listen to mine, but since our focus was figurative language this week, lightbulbs began going off and conversations began. This was the perfect segue into Reading for the day.

I chose to use Katy Perry's song, "Fireworks" as an example since we had focused on metaphor and simile the days prior. This song is full, and I mean CHOCK FULL of great examples of both. Not only that, but it's catchy and my students knew the lyrics. *Just a disclaimer, do not show the video unless you are willing to invite controversy into your classroom.

The lesson began with a simple listening. Students paid attention to the words and focused on what was being said and what was meant. Then, each student received a copy of the lyrics. After a few minutes of modeling, students gathered in small groups and took 3 different colored highlighters and set to work finding similes, metaphors, and personification. We then discussed what was found and what the author meant when they were used. After the small group work, individuals then went to their own novels and read to find examples of how authors used figurative language.

Overall, the lesson was a huge success. All 19 students were able to correctly identify examples of figurative language in published works and were able to successfully integrate it into their own writing. It was a proud mama moment for me! Congrats kiddos!!

Thankfulness...

I am sincerely thankful for the role that I have in the lives of the students and families that I teach. For just a brief moment, I'm able to help guide and mold my students and help them to become a part of a functioning society.

I have one student this year that takes all of my energy and my focus. And truth be told, there are moments where I struggle with how to handle him and I honestly think that if he just stayed at home for a few days, it would help the entire class out - me included. There are days where I go home utterly exhausted because I have spent 90% of my day correcting or dealing with inappropriate behavior. I haven't let up - nor do I plan on it - and I pray that one day soon he will determine that he has met his match in me.

However, I am thankful that I have this challenge. It is helping me to become a better disciplinarian and it is forcing me to document and reflect on my actions as an educator.

I am extremely thankful and blessed for my school. I've taught in many places, but I have yet to find a place like TES. I've written before about how this place is a breeding ground for collaboration and creativity. I don't think that I would be half the teacher I am today if not for the leadership of my administration.

I'm thankful for the unexpected joys throughout my day of students who finally "get it." The tiny fist pumps in the air when a math problem is worked correctly, the smiles when a partner finally understands what it is they are to do.

I'm thankful that I have a job to go to every day when many around me do not, but more importantly, I'm thankful for a job that I LOVE!

What I Am...

I stumbled across this fantastic video on another blog that I follow. I immediately thought about how I could use this in my classroom. The lyrics are powerful and I am thankful for shows like Sesame Street that get this message out to kids at an early age. Even though it is a show geared for younger audiences, my 5th graders need to hear this on a regular basis. They struggle with finding their identity before middle school.

My initial thoughts are about using this in writing. I do a lot of powerful writing in the beginning of the year to help me understand what type of families my students come from. We do this by writing "Where I'm From" poems based off of the work of George Ella Lyon. I didn't do that this year because I had a handful of students for the 2nd year in a row. This song got me to thinking that I could use this for students to write a form of a Bio poem or an "I Am" poem. I can't wait to flesh things around a bit and use it. I am more excited about how this type of music will influence the writing of my students.

The Power of One

For the past few years, I have had the privilege to partner with a dear friend for "Reading Buddies." The general idea for our pairing was for my 5th grade students to provide additional practice for the K5 students in reading.

The first year that we worked together, our students mainly read together. There was an occasional project that we worked on together. Many of these projects were things that were taught in the K5 class and then my students would help students complete the project assigned. Having each K5 student with a 5th grade mentor allowed each child to have their own teacher.

The 2nd year that we worked together, we took this one to one teaching scenario one step further. My 5th grade students worked with the K5 students to create a Power Point presentation. The K5 teacher gave her students the requirements and my 5th grade students were the technology mentors. Because my students were proficient in Power Point, they assisted the K5 students in a one to one setting in completing the Power Point. My students helped find clip art, change fonts, and helped proofread the final products.

This is our 3rd year as Reading Buddies and we have continued to grow as a reciprocal teaching team. Early this year, I met with the K5 teacher and we began to plan for technology projects throughout the year. This year we decided to start with an ABC book. Below you will see the progression of the project and how we implemented it into both of our individual classrooms.

Part 1:

In the K5 classroom, Mrs. B began teaching her students the Kindergarten Writing Process: Talk, Draw Write. Students practiced with their own writing within her classroom.

In the 5th grade classroom, I began reinforcing the writing process in 5th grade the very first week of school: Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing. After a few weeks at making sure my students had our writing process down, I introduced the idea of our ABC book project with our 5K buddies. I then taught a lesson that compared our writing process with the K5 process. Students were divided into partner groups to walk through the K5 process.

Reading Buddy Day: When we met with our buddies, both teachers had already introduced the project in the individual classroom. We were creating an ABC book with the them of friendship. Reading Buddy partners met together to begin the writing process. First, groups were assigned the letter they would be working with for the project. Students then sat knee to knee and thought about words that started with their letter. 5th grade students wrote down all of the words that K5 students listed. After the list was made, students worked together to create a sentence using several of the words that were listed.

Part 2:

In the K5 classroom, Mrs. B worked with her students on the drawing portion of the writing process. She made a point to make sure that students understood that their drawing should match their sentence.

In the 5th grade classroom, I taught a lesson on classroom management. My students learned techniques that could be used to redirect attention in the chance their K5 student had trouble focusing. We also worked on questioning techniques that would help the K5 students generate ideas. In my words block for the week, we worked on writing sentences and making them more descriptive. My students created a mini-lesson to teach to their K5 buddies on writing sentences in preparation for Reading Buddy day.

Reading Buddy Day: Students worked together to create descriptive sentences using many of the words that were listed on our previous visit. Once the sentences were created, Reading Buddy pairs worked together to create a drawing that illustrated their sentences.

Part 3:

Reading Buddy Day: Reading Buddy pairs worked with various media to create their drawings.

Part 4: Adding the Technology

Reading Buddies will scan their work using the copy machines and utilize PhotoStory to create a class book to be shared through our class blogs and Wikispaces.

We haven't completed part 3 and 4 as of today, but we will soon. Because this was our first project, as a team, the K5 teacher and I wanted to get students working together before putting them in front of technology. As a result of this project, we are now ready to to have partner groups work on the technology. Our next project will center around podcasting and Voice Thread.

This is the most effective way that I have seen to teach younger students how to navigate technology. In order for it to be effective though, the older students neeed to be proficient at the technology.