Question Mats

How do you make sure your students are asking and answering questions during your literacy lessons (as outlined in the Danielson Rubric for Teaching)? This is not an easy task. Of course I could get students to ask questions, but how to get them to ask GOOD questions is the hard part. Well, in order to do this - you have to start somewhere. So, my somewhere was with a question mat.

This worked great with the ReadyGEN program because after the first read of the lesson it asks students to answer "What Questions Do You Have?" I had students write their questions on a post-it note. When they came to the meeting area to have their Team Talk and Group Discussions they placed their post-its on the question mat. They discussed these questions after discussing the questions I had set forth for them. Next, I wrote out a "question stems" chart. This helped them to create their own questions. We also shared out some of our questions and discussed which questions were strong, and which ones needed further development. Next year I will embed this into our routines beginning in September.

Grab a FREE question mat HERE.

Having the question mats for each group made students feel accountable for participating in the discussions (because they came up with the question), it also made it evident to someone coming into the room - that all students were actively engaged and participating. My administrators were very impressed with the level of involvement and the types of questions students were asking.

Tear Art

A cute, easy project I did with my kiddies was a "Tear Art" project for Earth Day. We discussed Recycling and how we could reuse material. First I had students draw or trace a picture (I had to be specific in stating that the picture should be large...smaller images are harder to work with). Next, they tore scraps of paper to "fill-in" their drawings. Depending on the drawing, some students added buttons, bottle caps, and newspaper, to their artwork.

Here are just a few...

Random Displays

I've been reminiscing through some old pictures to get ideas for my classroom. I came across some pics that I just had to share! I love looking back at old pics to get ideas of how I can improve what I did in the past, as well as to remind me of what I did (I can be very forgetful!)

This one was a GRADE project. The entire 4th grade made buildings (NY Skyline) out of cardstock that we eventually pieced together and displayed in the main lobby.

One of my students loved the display so much that she created this out of clay on her own and brought it in to share with the class...

These next few were from a performance that we put on for the parents. We made these to decorate the auditorium...

Spinning Over "Wheel-y" Good Work!

I love seeing these pinwheels blowing on lawns...it even looks great blowing on my classroom windows! This year I used my pinwheel craftivty to display math work. However, there are so many ways you can use them...

Reading:
Character, Setting, Problem, Solution
Main Idea/Supporting Details
First, Then, Next, Finally

Click here for more ways to use pinwheels in your classroom: Pinwheel Reading and Math Fun

Pinwheel Reading and Math Fun - Center Activity - Bulletin Board Display

Sound Waves

My co-worker did a great unit on sound waves and I snapped up pictures to share =)

This makes a great visual display and her kiddos had so much fun creating their waves...

Anchor Charts

I love Anchor Charts!! I find the cutest charts on Pinterest and wish I could duplicate every single one!! Unfortunately, I never took pictures of my charts in the past, so I don't have much to share =(  

I've always taken it for granted that I'd "make a new chart next year" but sometimes I forget what I did and then regret not taking pictures! This year I'm camera happy! I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting them right here =)

A Twist on Twister

I can't take credit for this bulletin board. This one belongs to one of my coworkers, but it was so original that I had to share it!! The board was backed with an original twister mat and each spot has a colored construction paper cut-out. The outside circle reads the students name and the inside contains the work.

The spinner contains the Task, Rubric, and Standards addressed. 

The board reads "Don't Let Fractions Get You Twisted!"

This can work well with ANY subject.

Autumn Leaf Trees

Need an easy craft, but a beautiful visual display for the new school year? For this Autumn Leaf Tree all that you need are paper bags, colored tissue paper, and glue. The small lunch bags work best.

Students crumble up the bag in their hands to give it that "tree" look (they love doing this!) Then they cut branches by cutting downward on the opening of the paper bag (the bottom of the bag is the base that it stands on...later you can glue this side down to construction paper). Twist the branches in different directions and glue colored squared pieces of tissue paper to each branch.

For added effect, glue some tissue paper onto the construction paper to look like fallen leaves...

Science Fair Fun

I love the Science Fair! I think I enjoy it more than my kids (and when I say "kids" I mean my "kids" not my "students" =)  We've worked on so many great projects over the years, unfortunately, I don't know what I did with all of the pictures. I do have these pictures that I'm going to share with you.

My oldest made her very own record player (with just a little help from mommy)

It actually played music! We had so much fun making this...

My youngest made her very own solar powered oven. We made pizza bagels in it - and they were delicious!

First Place in the Science Fair...

And all we needed for this one was a few items that we had around the house...