I'm back!

I seem to have dropped off the face of the planet these past two weeks.  Life at home has been crazy, plus stuff at work really picked up steam.  My student teacher is in full takeover, and yet I still find every day filled to the brim!  I am currently in rehearsals for a show called "1959 Pink Thunderbird" in which I play a character, as the script describes her, "A big-haired Southern gossip, Baptist to her teeth."  Needless to say, I am having a lot of fun perfecting my Southern Belle twang with a touch of sass!  In addition to that I am prepping for an audition for a summer internship in cabaret performance.  I have to put together a 3-5 song demo CD showcasing my range...crazy!

So, with that being said...what's been going on in my classroom?  We've been working on combining our knowledge of historical fiction as readers with our work writing our own historical fiction short story pieces.  This is always so hard for the students since their knowledge of history is limited and this is our first narrative piece all year.  My student teacher has been doing a great job helping them make connections between their work in Reading and Writing Workshops!

We just finished up our work on the rock cycle and took our quiz on the chapter.  I created a pretty cool Rock Cycle project where my students had to create their own version of the cycle using titles and arrows I provided.  (I really enjoyed that I was able to use my love of fonts for this activity!)  The students really had to plan to figure out how all the pieces worked together and it was fascinating to see what they came up with.  Here's a picture of one of my student's Rock Cycles - I was pretty impressed with her planning.

After we all struggled through this project, I made some changes to it and am posting it in my Teachers Notebook Store.  Be sure to check it out, just click on the store button on my blog!  I am also putting up pictures of the three pages of the project on here.  Once this is done it is off to SPRING BREAK!  WOO HOO!

Hope you all have enjoyed your spring break, or that you have some great plans for this coming week!

Currently...

More blogging to come later...plus pics of our Hunger Games extravaganza...but for now, just a little update!

By the way...I love Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade...and her monthly linky!  Hop on over to check in with some other bloggers!

Happy Monday!

Blog Makeover

Well...what do you think?  I love my new blog makeover! Thank you, Erika and Misty from The Honey Bunch Blog Design!  Misty and Erika worked crazy hours to find just the right design for my blog.  I asked for whimsical, but not cutesy, polka dots and banners and I got it!  Even better than I could have imagined.  Aren't the buttons adorable, the flowers sweet...and the BANNERS!  PERFECT!

I'm a total font snob and they were great about my picky attitudes.  Everyone at school makes fun of me because I will re-type something just to get it in the perfect font...but I think it is worth it, and I think my students notice.  Right?!

If you are looking to get a great blog design, for a really reasonable price, contact Misty and Erika...you won't be disappointed! 

On a different note, Friday night my student teacher and I took our students to see Hunger Games in the theatres.  Anyone who wanted could attend, as long as their parents were chaperoning them.  My dad even drove an hour to see the movie with us...I made him read the book this fall!  We had about 60 people show up.  (WOW!)  We offered to make t-shirts for our students and they were super excited.  We downloaded the Hunger Games Font (dafont.com) for free and made t-shirts with last names on them, District 12, the Mockingjay pin, and the quote..."May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!" using iron-on transfers.  My iron got more work on Friday doing the t-shirts than it has in the whole last year!  The kids were so excited, very well behaved, and the theatre gave us all free posters!  My student teacher is working with the students to re-do our hallway bulletin board comparing and contrasting the book and movie...so keep your eyes out for pictures as soon as she is done.

Did you like the movie or the book better?

Remember: If you like my blog design, check out Misty's blog and Erika's blog or order your own blog makeover!  You won't be sorry!

PS - I am thinking about having a giveaway for my first 25 followers...any suggestions?

Survey Says Linky

I am linking up with my friend at 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules to share a little more about myself and to learn about all of you all out there in blog world.  Join us and share some fun info about yourself.  All you do is copy the questions off of my post, paste them onto your blog and then add a new question for your blog.  Don't forget to link up at 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules to share your post with everyone else!  

Here goes...

1.  Are you married, do you have a bf, or are you flying free as a single lady/man?
Flying free...do you know any cute, red-haired, male teachers who also happen to play the guitar, live in CT, love musical theatre and want to take me out on the town?  No?  Didn't think so!
2.  Where did you grow up?

Ames, Iowa till 8th grade and then East Lyme, CT for high school...both a mid-western girl and a beach bum!

3.  Do you have any pets?  If so, what kind and what is his/her name?

One cat named Bella (not after Twilight) who I got from a former student.  She is a total brat and a goofball...but I love her.  She is obsessed with any type of bags and with feathers.  She also loves to chase her tail, but only in the bathtub...weird right!?  Here's a picture from last Christmas...yes, I dressed her up, No, she did not enjoy it!

4. What is a favorite tv show you are embarrassed to admit to watching?

Toddlers and Tiaras and Dance Moms... I know!  I think because I grew up singing, dancing and performing and since I now run a drama club, I am intrigued by all of those stage moms.  Right?  Can I claim it as research?

5.  Are you a saver or a spender?
I'm a spender...cue music "Hey, Big Spender" ( I have a song for everything!)  In fact, my resolution this year is to live on my budget!  I feel so much more peace knowing that I am making smart choices!

6.  What is your favorite children's book?
AHHHH!  This is the worst question - because, do we mean picture books, chapter books, as a read aloud, my favorite to suggest to my students, my favorite from childhood...Grrrr!  Ok - I guess if I had to pick a book for all of these categories it would be Frindle by Andrew Clements - I love a good teacher/student story!  

 

7.  Were you the class clown, teacher's pet, or neither?
Totally a teacher's pet...I still am!

8.  Who is your favorite athletic team?
Iowa Hawkeyes!  Go Hawkeyes!  

 

9.  Where did you go on your last REALLY fun vacation?
Williamsbury, VA with my best friend and parents after college graduation.  This summer I am heading to Disney World!  WOO HOO!

10.  Who is your favorite actor?  Actress?
Actor - Ryan Reynolds         Actress - hmmm...Sandra Bullock 

11.  Tell about the last time you cried because you were happy.
I was so happy when we went to see Les Mis a few weeks ago...I cried during it, I was sad about the plot, but SO HAPPY to be there!  

12.  What is your favorite season?
Even though I love fall for football, spring is my favorite.  I love flowers and seeing everything come back to life.

13.  What is your biggest regret?

Probably getting a credit card in college, it sounds like a small thing, but it really has haunted me for years!

14.  What food do you just NOT like at all?
Blue Cheese and Blueberries - YUCKY!

15. Who was your most memorable teacher, and why?
My first grade teacher, Mrs. Knox.  She told us on day one that we could always come back to her for a hug and someone to listen.  When I went to college, I did just that and it was magical.  She was magical!  

And for my blog:

16.  What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Chocolate with a peanut butter swirl...PERFECTION!

I can't wait to see all of your blog posts!  Happy linking!

Linking Up to Share Some Anchor Charts!

I am so excited to be linking up with Ladybug's Teacher Files to share some of my anchor charts.  I had a student help me out with the photos, so they aren't perfect - but hopefully you can still get the ideas from the charts.  I use Sharpie's Chart Paper markers for my charts because they don't fade and I love the bullet point tips.  I also get them laminated to protect them while they are hanging up.  (Which explains the shine in the pictures)  I hope you enjoy them and find them useful in your classroom!  And - it you want to pin them...feel free!  It would really make my day!

http://ladybugsteacherfiles.blogspot.com/ 

The most important anchor chart in my classroom is my Class Constitution.  We just re-wrote our constitution to get us back on track and this anchor chart features writing and art work by my lovely student teacher.  I try to limit our expectations to under 5 - since any more than that gets complicated.  We refer to this one on a daily basis, so it is hanging in a very prominent spot in our classroom.

In addition to our class constitution I have other anchor charts that have the expectations for various parts of our day posted.  I write these with the students and then post them to be referred to during those time periods.  These posters are based off of Fountas and Pinell's Guiding Readers and Writers, which provides the backbone to my reading and writing workshop.

Since I have a SMARTboard, I don't write up and anchor chart for each lesson - that information is usually on the board.  However, I wanted to keep everything we have covered visible to my students.  Thus I created the following board.  At the top it says "Active Readers..." and below are sentence strips with the teaching points from our lessons throughout the year.  My students are always amazed to see this board come to life over the course of the year.  Right now it is pretty unorganized...just a listing of the skills and strategies we've worked on.  However, thanks to Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher I think I might be switching it up to her CRAFT board next year!

 I love laminating my anchor charts and writing on them with dry erase markers...this is especially useful for small group instruction (or when my SMARTboard is broken...always a sad, sad day!)  I made this plot diagram to use with a small group.  We read a short text and outlined the elements of the plot.  Then they did it as a group without my help.  For some reason...using dry erase markers always makes an activity more fun!  

As for test prep, I tend to make a LOT of anchor charts during those times.  My principal believes that if you have anchor charts posted for awhile they will get burned into students memories.  Then, during the test they will look to see where they anchor charts used to be (we take them down during the test) and remember key information.  I don't know if that is really true - but it can't hurt, right?  So here are a few of my favorites from test prep...the beautiful handwriting is done by my student teacher.

The final anchor charts I am sharing are from my unit on figurative language.  This is a tie in unit between reading and writing.  We both read and write historical fiction, so students are identifying and analyzing figurative language as they read, while also incorporating this into their writing.  

 For my flashback poster I always put the key work (flashback) in orange to focus my students.  I like to include vocab hints to help them remember the meaning and the key phrases are essential in helping students identify and include this in their work.  

 In working with students on symbolism, always a hard topic, I start with a definition and some examples that are universal to all of us...hearts, a red cross, and of course Harry Potter.  Then students went back into their book groups and found examples from each historical fiction book they were reading.  During independent reading each group added their example on to the anchor chart and we shared these out during the close of the lesson.  Having all of these examples from their classmates really helped the students see symbolism in many different texts.

 Foreshadowing, Hyperbole and Irony are all great elements of figurative language.  Here are my anchor charts for these! 

 My final anchor charts are for Theme...duh, duh, duh!  This is always a challenging topic to tackle.  I have one anchor chart that defines Theme and gives students prompts to think about.  The final anchor chart is a brainstorm of all sorts of possible themes to consider.  This really helps students, because sometimes the hardest part is naming the theme.  Once you put a name to it, it is easy to describe and support it.

I hope you like these!  I was super excited to share my charts and to link up to this great event.  All the other teachers have shared so many excellent ideas...I am proud to add mine to the mix.

Happy Reading!

~ Jenny

The Power of August(us)

Yep, I finally caved and bought/read both Wonder by RJ Palacio and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Ironically (?) both the main characters in these books share a common name...August and Augustus.  Is there something in this name that makes the characters so powerful?  I tend to resist reading highly recommended new books.  This is why I put of reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn until a long, sleepless night in college.  If only I had listened to my mother all those years ago!  (She doesn't read my blog, so I am safe saying that she was right all along!)  

So after reading all of the blog post commending these two books, I decided to purposefully not read them.  I mean, I don't want to be like everyone else...right?  WRONG!  What is wrong with me!  I finally caved on Sunday night and ordered them on my IPad.

 

I started off with Wonder and was immediately transfixed.  I loved how Palacio keep switching narrators and bringing multiple points of view into Auggie's story.  It wasn't too simple, too sweet, too anything!  It was honest, fair and uplifting.  In many ways it reminded me of Melody's story from Out of My Mind.  I can't wait to share it with my students and I know it would move many of them.  Plus, I love any story with a strong teacher-student relationship!  Between the precepts and the graduation speech, I almost cried.  I started the book Sunday night and finished it by the next evening.  READ THIS BOOK!  Don't be like me and resist it!  Give in to the temptation!  (only you should by a real copy for your classroom library...not the Kindle version, which I now cannot share with my students!  grrrr!)

 

After finishing Wonder, I couldn't sleep...so I started The Fault in Our Stars, thinking that would help me get ready for bed.  Boy, was that a mistake!  Every time I finished a chapter, I would think about putting down the IPad, and say to myself...just one more chapter!  Yup...needless to say, it was late at night early this morning by the time I finished the book.  It was worth it!  I laughed and I cried...I mean I really cried.  I'm not ready to post a literary analysis of this book, its themes...whatever!  Here's what I know:  I will re-read this book.  I will share this book.  I will laugh and cry with this book again.  This book made my life better, this world is a better place because of The Fault in Our Stars.  READ IT!

 

So...the moral of this story?  When amazing bloggers recommend books, I need to listen!  You all were right!  It's okay with me if you say, "I told you so" because...you did!

Happy Reading!

Jenny

I did it!

Yup - I'm back again!  And this time I am so excited!  Why, you ask?

Maybe I solved the behavior problems in my classroom, magically and perfectly?  No!
Maybe I know my students aced the TEST and I celebrated with them...Nope again!
Maybe I won the lottery?  I wish!

Actually...I set up my own store on teachersnotebook.com!  WOO HOO!

Now, it isn't pretty yet, it isn't final, and I have so many more ideas to post and share...but I did it!  And really, when we are as stressed as we are, it is important to celebrate the small victories in life!

So, what will you find in my store?

Well I posted a great Book Clubs packet I created that guides my students (and me) through the process.  There is a place in there to store your thinking for each meeting, to record your thoughts after the meetings and to reflect on what you did well and what you need to work on.  There are also places for reader response questions...ALL IN ONE PLACE!  This way, it is hard for anyone (teacher or student)  to lose their work.  (Not that I ever lose anything!)  :)

What else is there you might ask?  Well I posted a SMARTboard lesson I use to guide students through the process of writing reader response letters.  It is all encompassing and really breaks down and models the process for students.  There is an exemplar response, a rubric, an outline and a suggestion sheet for response topics.

Best of All...THEY ARE FREE!  

Yup, that's right...FREE!   

(No, I am not crazy...I am just not ready to charge anyone for my stuff...not till I get some feedback and see how ya'll like it)  

So...be a pal and head over to my store and tell me how it is!  I really need some feedback, since I am just flying by the seat of my pants with this whole thing!  

In other news...my class is slowly coming back together as a team.  The weather was so beautiful today that we went outside and did some team building activities.  It was a great afternoon!  My student teacher starts full take-over in two weeks and then I will have tons of time to figure out this blogging thing, my store and...well...life in general!  (AS IF!)  

Until then...I appreciate all the support!

Happy Reading,

Jenny

PS - I re-read Huger Games this weekend and am going to see the movie Friday night with a bunch of teachers from school!  WOO HOO!  I also started reading Wonder and am so absorbed in it!  Finally this weekend I finished Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver and am once again frustrated that I will have to wait a year for the sequel!  GRRR...  That was my week in reading!