On The Fence

Just a quick post to share a great activity we did today during our history lesson. I used this idea (that I "borrowed" from an EdCamp Birmingham class) as an introduction to our lesson on women's suffrage. I wanted to get my kids moving and discussing before we ever got into the specifics of how women got the right to vote.

On the Fence: The teacher poses an idea (some hot-topic item), and the children decide what their opinions are about the idea. Everyone stands in the middle of the room as they listen to the idea. Next, they can move to the "yes" side, the "no" side, or stay on the fence if unsure of their opinions. Each group talks about reasons to support their choice, then they have a chance to convince the children in the other groups to move to their side. 

My four statements were:

• Pizza should be one of the choices at lunch every day (my class was about 1/2 yes and 1/2 no).
• It should be illegal for small children to play games rated "M" (I had more no's on this one).
• Our school should have a uniform policy (3/4-no, 1/4 yes)
• Children should be allowed to vote (1/2-yes, 1/2-no)

What was really interesting was listening to the reasons presented by each side. Some of them came up with really great reasons that I hadn't even thought about. This activity also provided the opportunity to discuss the phrase "On the fence" and exactly what that means. It was a great lead in to our lesson, because I was able to talk to the children about how everyone was able to express their opinions and cast a vote, but women weren't always allowed that opportunity. 

This strategy was a HUGE hit with my kiddos...and an eye-opener to me. I need to teach them more about speaking and listening skills, as well as what types of reasons actually support an opinion. I'll definitely be doing this more often!

Science AND History? A Necessary Decision...

Call me "old school" if you want, but I've always felt strongly about trying to teach both content areas each day. I just feel like 1). By 4th grade, the kiddos need to be exposed to both, especially since they'll have them both in 5th grade. 2). For some kids science or social studies is the highlight of their day. Back and forth I've gone, trying to decide if its best to teach both subjects each day or simply rotate every few weeks. I've even blogged about it before here.

However...

Our new math program takes about an hour and a half. I have to find another time to do my own reading and math intervention groups. We have 45 minutes of PE and 30 minutes of computer lab everyday (for which I'm very grateful). Language arts encompasses so many skills and strategies that we could literally spend all day doing it. Something had to give!

So, I decided to try swinging to the side of some colleagues and teaching only science OR social studies each day. My coworker and I decided to do a chapter of one, then do a chapter of another, and flip-flop. Although I've agonized over this, after only two days I've found that there are some really great advantages to this set up:

• Focus: This one is for me and the kiddos! I can do a much better job planning and teaching for just one, and I think the kiddos can absorb more this way. 
• Quality: This sort of goes with focus, but now I have more time to plan more engaging lessons.
• Less Pressure: Teaching one subject at a time frees the students and myself from yet another "thing" to cover each day. 

I think I'm really going to like this new set-up, but I'd love to hear what's working for you and your class. Have you been in my position? What do you do in your room? 

Objective Display for Monday Made It!

How many of you are required to display your daily/weekly objectives in your classroom? I'm not really required, but it has been suggested. My problem...I'm not so great at keeping things like that up to date. I worry that I'll get so busy I won't update the objectives. And then I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest:

That is so stinking cute! Surely I'd be motivated to keep these up to date! Enter this week's Monday Made It project: Dollar Tree frames + cardstock + awesome pages I made = Tadaa!

They're laying on the concrete around my pool, which I should be in, but...there's so much to blog about! Anyway, I'm sharing the file with you! If you're addicted to polka dots and love owls, just click the text below the picture, and you'll be taken to the Google Doc. I did make a page that says Social Studies since I realize many of you may not teach Alabama History. :) Enjoy!

Click here for your copy!

Thanks again, Tara for doing the Monday Made It Linky! I've loved all the great ideas!

BeeClip: Digital Scrapbooks for Students

Have you seen this free tool yet? I came across it while reading a post over at CristinaSkyBox. Beeclip is a free digital scrapbook for students. You don't even have to log in! Similar to Glogster, students can upload images, add text, audio, or video, and change the backgrounds. You can even download and print when finished. Something else impressive--I tweeted my find, and almost immediately received a reply from @BeeClipEDU saying thank you and offering assistance. I had a few questions, which they answered almost immediately. They're on top of things!

Here's the one I made in NO time: I used some pictures and a video my kiddos made at the end of the year.

More than one student can edit the same project at the same time on different computers. You can enable or disable the ability to use Google Images, Flickr, and YouTube. And even after you embed, if you make edits to the project, the embedded project changes right along with it!

I can think of so many uses for this that would definitely take a whole different post. Stay tuned...

What Worked...A Look Back

The end of the school year is a time that we tend to look back and think about what seemed to work for us and what to do differently next year. Here are a few of the things I want to remember for next year:

What Worked:

Daily Facts Practice: I know, I know, I should've been doing it all along, but let's get real--school days are PACKED full of curriculum. In previous years, I've skipped fact practice during math occasionally because of time restraints. Not this year. I made it a point to spend 5-10 minutes every single day reviewing facts (usually multiplication), and boy did I see a difference! No matter what math program we use, I will definitely continue to do that short, daily practice. 

Separate Time for Read to Self: Every year I try to some how fit in Read to Self as one of the students' choices while I meet with groups, but I always go back to scheduling it all by itself. It just works better for my students and me. There are no distractions because everyone is reading to themselves at the same time. It also gives me a set time to do reading conferences, which quite honestly get pushed to the side if I don't set this time aside. 

Science and Alabama History First Thing in the Morning: Please don't get me wrong. I know we've been told that reading should be first thing, but...in my class we have one hour between arrival and PE. Having the content subjects first ensured that I would actually teach them each day. We've all done it, right? Skipped one of them because of any one of numerous reasons time constraints? This is probably the first year since ARI (Alabama Reading Initiative) implementation that I feel like a did an awesome job in science in social studies.

Went Back to a Four Blocks Literacy Format: I've struggled for four years with trying to implement the Scott Foresman reading series as it is written (and still have students pass the tests). I've used the Daily 5 Framework to structure my LA block, but I worried that my students weren't getting enough practice with specific skills and strategies. After Christmas I started gradually re-implementing the Four Blocks framework, and it really worked for us (more about that in an up-coming post). 

Well, that's all for now. Within the next few days I'll dig in to the scary part--the stuff that didn't work! How about you? What will you plan to do again next year?

Museum Box Update

Last week for Digital Learning Day, I introduced Museum Box to my students (More here). They were so excited! All in all it was a good experience. There were pros and cons with this tool, just as with many others out there, and there was a definite learning curve for me and the kids! 

The original plan was for groups of 3 to make one cube that would be included in one class box. However, when we got started, I didn't know that I would have to have each group load the same box. They all wound up working on their own box instead of one cube.

Want to try it with your kids? Here are some things you might want to know first:

Pros:

• Bright and colorful
• Icons are kid-friendly
• Print is large
• Easy to learn and navigate
• Allows you to add links, pictures, videos, and text
• Searchable database of images and sounds
• Very easy for teacher to approve, reject, or edit boxes once they're submitted
• FREE

Cons:

• Sometimes the colors that students used within the text boxes and saved didn't show up on the cube the way they were designed. 
• If the text that students created needed to be edited and was already placed on a side of the cube, you could re-save the text, but not add it immediately. There would be an error message on that side of the cube and you'd have to go back in and add it again.
• The "Clear All Sides" button is too close to the "Clear This Side" button, causing many mistakes and complete do-overs.
• Found pictures, videos, and files must be uploaded. They can't simply be linked. 
• When adding a link, say to a video, the image of the website didn't necessarily look like the website's linked page. 

With all of that said, I will definitely use it again. There were a few issues, but it was still a fun learning experience for both my students and for me. Here are a few samples my kiddos created:

Hope you enjoy!

Nathan's, Jon's, and Michael's MuseumBox

Mikayla's, Brayden's, and Jaelyn's MuseumBox

Matthew's, Jacie's, and RJ's MuseumBox

Karson's, Reece's, and Mason's MuseumBox

Happy creating!

Museum Box

What's a Museum Box? This FREE virtual display box is a presentation tool that allows students to incorporate text, images, videos, links, and pictures. Each of the 8 sections of the box are cubes that unfold to have 6 faces:

To each face you can add text, pictures, links, videos, sounds, or even files:

There are 3 layers to each box, which means a total of 24 cubes:

So, how can you use it? I plan on introducing it to my class on Digital Learning Day, which is Wednesday, February 1. As a class, we'll make 1 museum box, filling the first 8 cubes. (We'll just do one level this time). I have 24 students, so I'll divide them into groups of 3 and each group will have one cube from our box to work on. Our topic will be Chapter 8 in our state history book, which covers The Great Depression, New Deal, and World War 2. (I know...quite a lot for one chapter). Each of the 8 groups will have a topic from our chapter to research and fill their "cube" with information to share. I haven't decided yet if I'll assign the topic or subtopic or let them choose for themselves. I tend to let them choose for themselves because it is highly motivating, but I suspect they'll be motivated regardless because of this awesome new tool.

Once we're finished, I'll post it here as an example. This is a really great tool for students and I think it will be easy for them to use. The layout and large graphics will make it very kid-friendly.

Have you used it? Are you planning to? If so, drop me a line and share! I'd love to see how others are using Museum Box!

The Content Conundrum

Just as education at large seems to be on a pendulum swinging back and forth, I am on my own personal pendulum when it comes to teaching science and social studies. Back and forth I swing, wondering all the while, "Will I ever find the perfect balance?" Time constraints, daily demands, delays and time killers, mixed with the continued push to spend more time teaching reading and math (which I DO love to do), all put the squeeze on content area teaching and learning.

And so I swing...teach them both in one day or alternate between the two every so often? I can't figure out what the right answer is! Or even IF there is a right answer. Back and forth I argue with myself. It goes something like this:

On teaching them both:

I should do them both every day because students need to be exposed to the content area at this age. For many of them, science or social studies is the most exciting part of the day. When they get to fifth grade they will have them both, so I am helping to prepare the students. If I leave one out, what about the History Buffs? What about the emerging Scientists? Is it really fair to NOT cover them every day?

On alternating:

You know, if I only teach one or the other, we can really 'dig in' to the content and go deeper. We'll have more time to spend on the content and be able to do more hands-on activities. I can prepare for lessons and teach better when only preparing for one content area because my focus and time will not be divided. Students are used to this format. It's what they've done in the primary grades. I can always try to integrate the "other" subject into reading or writing. 

So it goes--back and forth---one or the other. I'm currently on the "Alternating" side of the issue. I like that I don't have to rush through one subject to get to the other one, and that students can dig deeper into the content.

Perhaps one day I'll find the balance, or maybe I'll simply chose the side that works best for me and my class.