Spring Into Reading

By fourth grade, most of my students have practiced reading a short passage and answering questions about it. Sometimes synthesizing multiple texts is still tough, though- especially when I ask students to take what they've learned from several texts and write about it!

If you've followed me for awhile, you know I love to use color-coding to get kids interacting with text. When I taught second and third grades, I used Text Detectives to force strongly encourage kids to go back and find text evidence. :)

Now that I teach fourth grade, I wanted to take this skill up a notch by adding multiple passages. In my Colorful Close Reads, students work with three related passages.

As students read Passage 1, they annotate in the "Brain Boxes" to the right.

Passage 2 asks them to answer basic comprehension questions by underlining the answers in the text, and then by inferring on the last question.

Finally, kids read Passage 3 and write.

I love using these in my own classroom because they focus on one specific skill- in this case, determining the main idea and important details- while also reviewing general comprehension. I also love how focusing on a skill throughout the week lets students use that skill both as readers and writers.

For this week, you can download my Colorful Close Reads- Eruption set HERE- for free!

If you've downloaded my other Colorful Close Reads, you might notice that I added a little extra to the writing part to help kids practice planning their writing first. (Hopefully, this helps with some authentic test prep!) I'd love to hear what you think and if this will be helpful for your kids.

And best of all? You can also pick up free reading resources from some of my most talented teacher friends, and you can enter to win over $600 in incredible prizes- including gift cards for you to choose what you and your students need most!

Enter below, and then head over to the next link to pick up another free resource!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Quick Tips for Back to School

All teachers are looking for ways to save time, especially when they head back-to-school! I just started my 8th year of teaching (already?!) and there are a few things I do every year that make the following weeks so much smoother.

One of the first things I do is to set up email shortcuts. We use Outlook for our school email, and I like to have a shortcut for emailing my 4th grade team, another for sending out plans, one for a committee, and one for emailing parents (if it’s not part of the gradebook or other software).

By choosing “Add Quick Step” at the top of the Outlook menu, you can set yourself up to send any of those emails in one click! Saves me SO much time.

Another favorite way to use this is to create automatic filters when emails are coming in. For example, I use Sign Up Genius for my parent-teacher conferences- so I set up a QuickStep to auto-forward those emails to a Conferences folder. I still have them, they're organized, and they don't clutter my inbox.



Look for ways to share the workload. Now is a great time to recruit volunteers and students to pitch in around the classroom! My students help me brainstorm jobs, and fill out job applications convincing me to “hire” them.

When our team is lucky enough to have a parent volunteer, we keep a bin of papers to copy or laminate. I love these free forms from Firstie Kidoodles to let the volunteer know how they can help! Getting a system set up early really pays off in a few weeks! I try to get my first few needed papers copied early, and I also use student or parent volunteers to help put up student work for open house.



One of the most important things to do is picking out a few really fabulous back-to-school books.  In my classroom, powerful books like One and The Junkyard Wonders really help to build our classroom community, while Your Fantastic Elastic Brain and Seymour Simon’s The Brain teach us about learning with a growth mindset, so we can set the stage for “making our brains stronger” every day! (Note: Book links are affiliate links.)



Help your students develop a homework plan. We read the book Frog Medicine and make a plan together. This little book has students answer questions like "How will you know if you have homework?" or "When will you do your homework?"

Taking the time to discuss this now really helps once our weekly homework starts- so students don't let it all pile up until Thursday night! We also share our homework plans with the students' parents at Curriculum Night.



Especially when I was self-contained and my schedule was a little different every day, a traditional plan book of squares just didn’t make sense for me. Instead, I was inspired by a colleague of mine who made a custom lesson plan template! Including weekly routines on the template sped up my planning and helped me remember important things.

You can pick up your own copy of my FREE customizable lesson plan page in my Luckeyfrog TpT store, and read more about personalizing lesson plans here.



Of course, once students arrive, it’s so important to get to know your students. One of my favorite ways is to read the book Exclamation Mark because I love the message- those things that make us feel “weird” are sometimes the things that let us do something completely unique and amazing! My students write about how they’re unique and create an exclamation mark all about themselves. Such a great back to school bulletin board!

You can check out this Exclamation Mark Mini-Unit in my TpT store.



All in all, remember that the first few days are always crazy- but anything you can do now that will save you time later is WORTH it!

As the year goes on, you can sneak a peek at what’s happening in my 4th grade science classroom by following me here on my blog, on Facebook, or on Instagram.



Another way I save time is by finding great resources created and tested by other teachers in their own classrooms. Could you use $25 in TeachersPayTeachers resources? Enter to win below- but hurry! The giveaway ends Sunday 8/21 at 11:59 EST.

Even better? TOMORROW, Monday 8/22/16, is a one-day sale where you can save 28% in my TpT store! Don't miss it :)

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For more quick back to school tips (and more chances to win!), check out the blogs below. Happy back-to-school season!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Hardest Thing About Teaching

Most people who aren’t teachers (or in teacher families) don’t acknowledge that this job is challenging- and it ABSOLUTELY is, in so many ways."

For me, the biggest challenge in teaching is that the work never ends.



Am I the only one?

I care so much about my students. And that is an AWESOME thing. And I love what I do! There’s something so satisfying about finding ways to teach each lesson better, and something so rewarding about finding ways to connect to each and every student I teach.

But that means that I am never, ever, ever DONE.

I could work on “school stuff” for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I would STILL think of something else I could be doing for my kids.
And while it’s wonderful to be so invested… it’s exhausting to go in before contract hours, work hard all day, stay another hour or two, and then bring a teacher bag home. It’s not fair to my husband when I’m grading while we watch a movie “together.” It’s not showing my family how much I love them when I spend our entire Sunday working on lesson plans instead of spending quality time with them.

And worse? I STILL beat myself up for feeling behind, and for not doing enough.
Surely that sounds familiar to some other teachers, too?

For so many people, New Year’s Day is a fresh start- but for me, the time for resolutions is back-to-school. And every year, I tell myself I’m going to finally be organized, not procrastinate, and not live at school.

Last year, I finally did a little better. I’ve still got a LONG way to go- but I cut back so much on the hours I spent on my classroom, and it’s all thanks to Angela Watson. She started a course called the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club.



Of course, 40 hours sounds nice- but the goal of the group isn’t about any specific number. It’s about streamlining and building efficiency as a teacher so you can spend less time working without being a less effective educator.

Here are some of the things I changed:

1. Always make a To Do list before the morning.
   If I come in with the list ready, I don’t have to waste one second thinking about where to start. Even better? I don’t forget as much. Sometimes, this is as simple as a Post-It- but it sets the pace for my day in such a powerful way.
   
   
   

Make a better To Do list.
I’ve always been a list-maker- but by thinking about the gaps of time I actually have in my day and how much I can fit into those specific times, I tend to schedule smarter and make myself more accountable for not wasting moments here and there. When I took the time to plan out my whole week, things ALWAYS went better for me!

Stop overestimating what I can get done.
When I look at the actual time available and I try to schedule within that, I am a lot more fair with myself- so I’m not so hard on myself when the list of 30 things doesn’t get done. And I  try to give myself credit for the multitude of things that come up unexpectedly. It’s not just about what I actually get done, but also how I feel about it.

Lower my standards.
This sounds like such a bad thing- but it’s all about finding a place where YOU put unnecessarily high standards on yourself in ways that don’t really affect the students that much. It’s about identifying those little things that only really bother YOU- and learning to let go, and cut yourself a break. Sometimes simple things work just as well.

Put other people to work.
It took some time to realize that I was putting way too much on myself. I started relinquishing some control and letting my students pitch in more. And by streamlining and making some of my routines more efficient, I was finally working ahead just enough to utilize parent volunteers for some tasks! (These work request forms are from Firstie Kidoodles- you can snag them for free here!)

Batch EVERYTHING.
One of Angela’s big tips is to “batch” big tasks- doing similar tasks all at one time so you can get in a groove and don’t waste a lot of transition time. Whether it’s doing most of my copies on one day instead of trekking back and forth each morning, or grading on one evening instead of a few minutes here or there, batching has made a big difference in me getting things done without feeling like I’m constantly working.

These are some of the BIG ideas, so maybe they don’t sound revolutionary- but they are much easier said than done. Angela’s club content goes into so much detail about specific strategies, and offers printable resources (like the To Do list above) to make implementing each change easier.

If you’re hearing about the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club and feeling too overwhelmed to start one more thing, I completely get it. As a VERY “Type B” teacher who already felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day, I was hesitant to join a course. But I had read Angela’s books and her blog, and I knew she had a lot of helpful tips.

More importantly- I thought if there was even a chance of getting more of my life back, it was worth investing in.

(And Angela offered a money-back guarantee too, which helped with my skepticism!)

Once I joined, I started getting weekly articles from Angela. She sends an audio version, too, so sometimes I save time by downloading it and then listening on my commute. Even when I wasn’t able to read or listen that week, it was no big deal- all of the content gets archived on the site to access whenever I do have time to get caught up.


Besides the e-book content, one of the best parts of joining is the exclusive Facebook group, full of hundreds of supportive teachers who give suggestions, ideas, and encouragement. You are not alone in being overwhelmed sometimes by this rewarding but difficult job.

The group isn’t about being perfect, or about completely changing everything that you do. It’s about small steps that add up to BIG changes- and for me, the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club has made a huge difference.

I can’t wait to make more changes this year and spend even more time with my family. As important as teaching is to me, I need to learn strategies for better balancing my priorities so I can give my family the time and energy they deserve from me- and so I don’t burn out!

If you’re thinking you might need this too, be sure to check out this post from Angela that will give you tips for making the most of your summer- and give you a better idea of what you can expect in the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club!
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P.S.- In full disclosure, I am an affiliate of the program, but I’m sharing this because I’ve been a member myself since October and I really believe in it. My husband commented on how much more he sees me, and I even convinced my mom to join!

P.P.S.- If you are interested, be sure to check it out SOON! The club only opens enrollment twice a year, and this will be your last chance to join until December.

Shark Week: Take a Bite Out of Learning

It's that time again! I am so excited to be hosting this year's Shark Week link-up with Matt from Digital: Divide and Conquer.

I'm a fourth grade science teacher who used to work as a reading specialist, so I am always looking for ways to incorporate a little reading into my science lessons. One of our standards asks kids to look at how fossils are used to tell us about the past, and I love to get kids comparing prehistoric creatures with similar ones alive today.

Of course, kids LOVE to read about a giant shark called the megalodons- so for Shark Week, I'm sharing this quick freebie with you! On this "Then vs. Now" passage, your kids will have a chance to compare and contrast great white sharks and megalodons using the color-coding strategy that's been so popular in my Text Detectives- Find the Text Evidence resources.

Better yet, this asks them to go beyond just color-coding and use text evidence to write an essay that compares and contrasts these two sharks. I hope your kids really enjoy learning about these amazing animals! Click on the photo above or click HERE to download.

Be sure to go on to Heather's blog at Learning with Mrs. Langley and check out her freebie. You can follow the hop around or look at the Inlinkz below to find some great resources for your classroom- but hurry! These JAWSOME freebies may only be free during Shark Week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cute and Content: Not So Impossible!

The first school where I taught was considered “failing.” If our test scores didn’t go up that very year, the school would be taken over by the state and we had a good chance of losing our jobs.

No pressure or anything, right?  : )

A big push from our administration was to consider the value of each and every activity we were doing. Was it cute, or was it content?

While I only taught there two years, the mantra stuck with me.

Now, I don’t mean that we can never do the cute stuff, or that my room is bare. I spend so much time there, and so do my students! But I’m a big fan of bringing in a little content with the cute whenever possible, especially now that I teach 4th grade.

    

This year I decorated with lots of classroom décor items from Creative Teaching Press. I have absolutely loved the layered look of the borders and the colors really brightened up my all-white room! (Check out my turquoise classroom décor here.)

So, Creative Teaching Press definitely brought the cute- but you may not know that they also bring the content, even for the upper grades.
                                
Close reading is one of the most vital ways we dig into text, and I love this close reading poster set for reminding students of the routines! It has a fresh, modern feel- but more importantly, it gives kids a practical reference to use during class. The specific examples for text-dependent questions would be SO helpful for my struggling students!

    
And for math, I love introducing my students to multiple strategies for solving. For my kids, it’s never been helpful to just put reference material on the wall without really using it together- so I love to laminate posters ! That way, I can write on them with a dry-erase marker during our mini-lesson.

Once we’ve introduced and practiced each strategy, we add it to the wall- and the kids can use these anytime they need a reference! Anchor charts, like these for Multiplication and Division Strategies and for Algebraic Thinking, can really  help our students be successful- especially if we make them an interactive part of our lessons.

And, while they’re a very visual way to help kids remember and use the content we learn, they also happen to fit in seamlessly with the classroom décor I already have. (See how well the posters all pair with the lime green mini hexagon border and ombre turquoise scallops border? LOVE!)

Just remember- no matter what your classroom theme or color scheme is, it’s ultimately a classroom. When your mind starts to drift to next year’s classroom theme or setup (I always start thinking about that this time of year!) don’t forget to think about the content as well as the cute!

And to help you out? Creative Teaching Press has offered to share all of the items in this post with one of YOU! If you’re looking for colorful, cute, and practical classroom décor- make sure you check them out.

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CTP is always adding new products, too- like a new Snow Much Fun! Bulletin Board to celebrate winter this year featuring a snowglobe, banners, mittens, and more.

To see more of what Creative Teaching Press has up their sleeves (and to enter for more free décor!) hop over to Ehle Kindergarten!

Digging for Fossils in the Classroom

When we started our fossil unit, I wanted to spark my kids’ excitement!
I asked my kids to come up to the carpet- a typical request- but then, I asked them to make two columns with some space in the middle. They were a little confused, but complied.

As they sat down, I started my monologue:
“Please ensure your seats are in the full upright position and all carry-on items have been stowed in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. The captain requires that you fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronic devices until we reach cruising altitude. In case of an emergency, exits are located at the front of the airplane and over the wings. Thank you for flying Garwoodington Air.”
Then, I showed this YouTube video of a plane taking off.

My kids LOVED this! (Yes, even in 4th grade.) They mimicked shutting off their cell phones, buckling their seatbelts, and even shouted out when their ears “popped!”
After the plane took off, I told them, “You may now get out your electronic devices, but this flight goes surprisingly  fast.”
I then turned away, and as I started the next video, covered my mouth with my fist to muffle it. “This is your captain speaking. As we begin our final approach, you can see the mountains in the distance, and the wide open skies that this state is so famous for. Please remain in your seats until the plane comes to a complete stop. We hope you enjoy your stay in beautiful Montana!”

As the plane “lands,” I move to the front of the seats and direct the students to move into the aisle and disembark. Then, they “drive” out to our dig site for the day (back to their tables) and I change the screen to show a photo of Montana and then of a paleontology dig site.
From there, we went through The Great Fossil Find, a mock paleontology dig from Indiana University. (Did I mention it’s free?)

I read from the script they provided to set the stage for each “day,” and my kids “dug” bones out of these envelopes a few at a time. As they found new bones, my little paleontologists had to change their configuration and predictions.

I loved this lesson for the excitement it brought- from sitting in a “plane,” to digging up bones, to the moment of discovery when my kids saw how the bones fit together! It was such an engaging way to kick off the unit!
Even better, I felt like the lesson not only taught some content, but also gave my kids a truer sense of what life as a scientist might really be like- needing to work as a team, revising your ideas as you find new evidence, not being able to check your work with an answer key, the need for patience, and the moment of frustration when they had to leave the rest of the bones inside the envelope!

I did type out a more 4th grade-friendly version of the Fossil Journal for my students, which you can download here: Mock Fossil Dig Handout

All other downloads are available from IU here: http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/gr.fs.fd.html
Even if you aren’t teaching fossils, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes at the start of class to “fly” to a destination. It really sets the stage for a fun and interactive virtual field trip that could take you anywhere- to learn about holidays around the world, to visit important landforms or historical landmarks, or even to visit the scene of a story.

Take the time to make learning come alive. It doesn’t always take costumes and elaborate props- sometimes it’s as simple as prompting kids to use their imaginations!

Why I’m Doing Genius Hour In My Classroom

Last school year, I’d read posts from a few blogging friends (especially Literacy for Big Kids and Runde’s Room) about Genius Hour or passion projects. So when I heard Nick Provenzano (The Nerdy Teacher) talk about his experiences with Genius Hour during our keynote at INeLearn, and I saw the things his students accomplished and learned… I was hooked.

Genius Hour is a time set aside for students to choose and complete an independent learning project that they will share with the class- and maybe the world.

I introduced Genius Hour to my students with this video:



As I introduced the concept to my students, I could see the disbelief in their eyes. Surely, their teacher was just going to TELL them what they’d be learning, stand in front of them and teach it, and then tell them how to show what they’d learned at the end- probably with a worksheet or test.

NOPE.

Genius Hour is all about student-driven learning and giving students the choice to do something they’ve always wanted to try, or learn about something they’ve always wanted to know more about. It gives them a chance to accomplish something that they’d normally NEVER get to do within school walls, and it gives them a chance to accomplish something that can go beyond their school walls, too.

The excitement my kids have had for Genius Hour since Day 1 has been incredible.

As they started to brainstorm and share, I realized this wasn’t just about learning. This was about validating my students’ dreams.

One student wants to create a fashion blog. And while that may not seem to have a lot of learning involved, when you think about creating a blog, finding out why some blogs are successful, writing content, changing a blog design, taking photos, etc… I think this kid’s going to get a lot out of this project. And even if someday she doesn’t end up making a living as a fashion blogger, the skills she learns may still be valuable to what she does do.

Another student wants to make the next Minecraft, so he’s set out to learn more about video game designers’ jobs and how to code. He’s pretty sure he’ll finish his game in the next few weeks… and I’m pretty sure he’s going to fail miserably at that goal. But I’m even more certain that he’s going to learn a lot in the process- and because Genius Hour doesn’t have grades and I’ve made it very clear that learning is the priority, he can feel disappointed but know that he’s in a safe place to fail.

One kid wants to write a book. Another kid wants to find out about how engines work. From making posters about an endangered animal to finding out why so many shelter pets die to raising money for kids with cancer, very few of my kids had a hard time deciding what to learn during Genius Hour.

Most of them had an idea from the very first day that I asked them, “What do you want to learn?” which really says something about education, doesn’t it?

The kids WANT to learn.

They know WHAT they want to learn… but no one ever asks them.

Genius Hour is one way we’re tapping into that.

It’s not to say the process has been easy… and that’ll be my next post. But when I have students working on projects at home without being asked, asking their parents if they can please go places in the community for their project, or disappointed that we’re not researching today, I know that there’s something powerful in giving students this kind of choice and independence.

The kids are excited. I’m excited. And I can’t wait to see the amazing things they do!

Turquoise, Lime, and Chalkboard Classroom Decor

Sometimes when I see classroom décor on Pinterest, I get a little overwhelmed. I LOVE bright colors so much, but sometimes a mix of a lot of colors and patterns can feel a little too ‘busy’ to me.

For my upper elementary kids (4th grade), I really wanted to make my room cute but still simple and clean… but sometimes that’s harder than it seems!

When I first saw the Creative Teaching Press Chalk It Up! line at the EdMarket EdExpo last year, I swooned a little. THIS. This was what I was looking for- sophisticated and cute, but not overwhelming and distracting!

Here are my 8 tips for keeping classroom décor simple:

1- Use one color for all bulletin boards to give the room a cohesive look.

I try to use similar borders, too, so everything looks like it matches. You won’t believe what a difference it makes when they all look similar! My mom has fabric sheets instead of bulletin board paper so she can use them year after year.

2- If you want to try layering borders, stick to simple shapes and patterns.

    

This was the first time I’d ever layered borders, and after hearing how complicated it was, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Using a rectangular border on the bottom made it EASY for the borders to look really good.

The Dotted Swirl border is my favorite. The long, sweeping pattern makes my boards look longer than they are. I put the Lime Hexagons border behind it- a “solid” color from far away, but with a little detail and texture up close! Putting a bold pattern with a solid (or at least something close to a solid) really holds back the sensory overload.

3- Don’t be afraid to try something new.

Hmm. I am kinda liking my bulletin board with borders on just the top and bottom. Is this crazy? #classroomrenegade #classroomdecor @creativeteachingpress

A photo posted by Jenny (@luckeyfrog) on Aug 5, 2015 at 10:40am PDT

As I started putting the borders up, I did the top and bottom and realized I kind of liked the look without borders on the sides… so with some confirmation from my friends on Instagram that I wasn’t crazy, I went with it!

4- Use what you have!

Why did I choose lime? Well, I like it- but more importantly, the lime color tied in well with the palm umbrella I’ve had for a few years (yay for “end-of-season” Big Lots finds!) and the dollar store baskets I picked up for my very first classroom. New teachers, pick a color or two that you love, and stick to them when you can!

It was funny to me that a couple of teachers at my school assumed I’d spent a lot of money redoing my room, but I had long been collecting containers in my favorite colors (turquoise and green), so when I used those colors and added just a few new details, it really didn’t cost much to give my room a fresh new look!

5- Don’t forget the text.

Little things go a long way in giving your room a little pizazz! For me, the Chalk It Up! letters were easier than making my own letters in the workroom, and added that extra element of cohesion when I used them around the room.

To make them stand out, I used green duct tape or green paper plates. LOVE how this Scientist board turned out! (I can’t wait to show you what else I’m going to add!)

6- Shop for deals- but be careful!

In the past, I’ve used a lot of borders I’d found for $1 at a dollar store or spot- thinking I was saving money. I finished my ENTIRE ROOM- well, minus the one tiny spot- with one pack of Dotted Swirl, one pack of Lime Hexagon, and one pack of the lightbulb pattern (with a lot to spare in this one!) Plus, the borders were a lot longer, so it didn’t take me as long to put them up. Pretty sure the “cheap” borders ended up costing me more in time and money, by the time I got enough for what I needed. Lesson learned.

Now, I did splurge on a few things- but I try to make those splurges something I will use for years to come, like my new sign from Tallahassee Sunday. (He’s so HAPPY!)

7- Don’t be afraid of white space.

Sometimes I look at a teacher’s wall and it’s as though they want everything a student will ever know to be plastered on the walls. I know that we need to have reference material for our students, but sometimes students don’t use the things we put up before they arrive- especially when it’s one little section of a COVERED wall.

There’s nothing wrong with a little blank space. Just ask Taylor Swift- and any kid in your class with ADHD.

It’s also okay if your room is not done on the first day, too. This is what my biggest board looked like when students arrived. Yes- with a stack of books, and a small piece of border missing because I ran out! Just a background and borders go a long way.

8- Function over fashion. Always.

As I said in my post about classroom design for new teachers, “You were hired as a teacher, NOT a classroom cutesifier.” Your class should be designed around the instructional spaces you need. I am big on using anchor charts, so one of my walls is almost completely blank- ready for me to hang the anchor charts we make together.

I teach 5 classes of science and 1 class of social studies and keeping track of make-up work for so many classes was a struggle- so this make-up work system is a necessity!

We are required to post our I Can statements, so these posters have already been worth it. (I laminated them and use a chalkboard marker to write on them. Easy peasy!)

Ultimately… what is most important is our teaching. But there’s also power in giving our students a space they are excited to walk into, and enjoy spending time in. Our students should feel comfortable and happy in our space- and so should we- because we spend so much of our time in our classrooms, and we learn and teach better when we feel content!

When you start thinking about a classroom makeover, please consider Creative Teaching Press. I did get a chance to work with them this fall, so I’m definitely a little biased, but I think the photos of my room speak for themselves. This company makes some beautiful, practical teacher décor- and it really is perfect for that simple, upper elementary look!

You can check out more cute classroom décor from Brenda at Primary Inspired!