As Earth Day approaches, I thought I'd share some exciting and educational activities that I plan use to celebrate this day with my students. The BEST part is that they are all PRINT AND GO! We are all so busy this time of year that I was so thrilled to open up my "April" binder and pull out these activities and add them to the copy bin! I am an outdoors person and I spend a LOT of time talking about my gardens and I used my love of gardening and hiking in a … [Read more...]
Classroom Fish Tank Project
For the past 15 years, I have been doing a project in my classroom that tops all of the other projects I do. It is the type of project that comes up in any conversations I have with past students who are back for a visit. Years ago, my brain conceived this project and it has only gotten better with time! When I do it, we create an ACTUAL FISH TANK in our classroom. Other teachers have used the project as more of a Project Based Learning project where students … [Read more...]
Opinion Writing: Unleash Student Voice
Happy Sunday! I hope you're enjoying a long weekend. Our district has done away with February vacation, but we do get Presidents' Day off and Tuesday as well. Today I wanted to share an activity that I do with my students when it comes to opinion and persuasive writing. I thought it might be something you could put in your lesson plans too. I read my class The Three Little Pigs, while exploring the idea that different perspectives lead to … [Read more...]
Revising Writing
We are nearing the end of our Personal Narrative unit. Ending the unit means that we are deep into the abyss of revising and editing. I don't know about you, but I struggle with revision for third graders. For some reason, it seems that my students are willing to change things and try strategies if they are presented with them WHILE they are writing. Once they are DONE writing, they seem so much more relucatant to change … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Day
It's almost that time again! Halloween week! At our school we are not allowed to dress up for Halloween, but we can do something fun and exciting in the classroom if we choose to. This year I am thinking about doing one of the really fun looking Frankenstein craftivities I have seen floating around out there, but in the meantime, I am getting ready to do one of my favorite things. Pumpkins! Each year I bring in a few pumpkins for … [Read more...]
Narrative Writing: Gooney Bird Greene
At the start of the school year, we focus on narrative writing. We were fortunate enough a few years ago to attend a PD workshop hosted by Nancy Boyles. She was very passionate about writing and she showed us some very simple ways to help our students improve their narrative writing. She introduced us to her writing icons. This week I have been focusing on "Snapshots" and "Gestures" as my students are working on adding details and … [Read more...]
