Great Minds Think Alike

     Sometimes I think I relate to my students a little too well.

     Today our lesson in Social Studies started with a discussion of the Greek roots of the word hemisphere, and ended with a loosely related debate over the merits of one Transformer over another.  Um . . . not something you find in the Common Core.

     I started by introducing hemisphere as a vocabulary word, and we discussed why it was  NOT, in fact, a compound word.  We then looked up sphere {ball or globe} and hemi {half}, and I posed the following question:  How many pieces to you get if you cut something in half? (response:  two!)  Then how can there be FOUR hemispheres, if the word literally means half of the globe? (lots of sharing followed...I live for these kinds of discussions!)

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      Anyway, we went on to take some notes and label the hemispheres in our notebooks, along with the continents found in each, and important lines of latitude and longitude.  As I mentioned the Prime Meridian, one of my munchkins jokingly asked if we were going to label Optimus Prime, too.  Imagine the looks of shock on the 8- and 9-year-old faces in my room as I responded with a knowing smile, "No, and we won't label Megatron, either."  

WHAT!!??!! Our teacher knows the Transformers BY NAME!!??!!

     And so began our discussion of the meaning of the word prime and why it's used to label that particular line of longitude and that particular Transformer {and what mega means, as well}.

     Am I the only one who LOVES these seemingly random connections students make to their lives?  I love knowing that more students will find it easier to remember Prime Meridian because of our seemingly "silly" discussion today.

     Since I had achieved my objective at that point and the class had their maps labeled and ready to go for tomorrow's lesson {and recess was going to start in 5 minutes}, we continued our discussion on to how I knew so much about Transformers {and Barbie, and G. I. Joe, and My Little Pony. . . }.  I think I went from "teacher-person" to just "person" today in some of my students' eyes.  

And that's only one of the reasons I love my job.

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And Now for a Guided Tour

     I have confessed my addiction to Pinterest on here before, but I don't think I explained exactly how much I use it in my classroom.  As I met fellow staff members in my new school, I was repeatedly asked what my "theme" was for my classroom.  I explained that I don't really have a theme, I just like neatness and color.

     Then I looked at my classroom the other day.

     I realized that I DID, in fact, have a theme.  Everything in my room was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  From the bedsheets backing my bulletin boards and the ribbon border, to the clothespins clipped to ribbon for how we go home and where we are in the writing process, it all came from my fellow teachers that I follow online.  I gotta say thanks!

     Here are some specific elements {so be prepared for a LONG blog post}:

Made from a Wal Mart magnetic calendar.  I made my own numbers and velcroed them in place.  It's hung with binder clips and push pins.

Gotta love numbered clothespins!  This jobs chart was made with labels stuck on circle accents.

"Show Me the Evidence," for helping with that transition to Common Core

How We Go Home, again numbered clothespins make everything easier!

Clock numbers

As you can see, I'm at recess right now     :^)

Behavior Bingo on the front of my desk.

I'm not sure I like the header.  I may end up changing it at some point.  You know, when I have time {because I have so much spare time once the school year starts.}

Morning routine sign, with a dull/sharp double pencil bucket, and 4 lunch choice buckets.  Under this shelf are the 3-drawer containers where students turn in their work.

I took all the versions of this sign that I could find and combined them into one long list.  I couldn't decide which ones I wanted to use, so I used them all.

     And now for the tour:

Standing by my desk. looking at the "front" door.

The cabinet doors have a pocket chart for the week's spelling words and a place to track our writing progress.

I love that at this school I can hang fun things from the ceiling!  I found these items in the party supply section of Wal Mart on clearance.  I'm still working on tissue paper poms to add to the corners.

The tables along the wall will be where all workstation supplies can be found.  I'm thinking of investing in some table skirts; that area under those tables is a great storage space.

Each student table has a basket with notebook paper and an envelope for table tickets {earned through cooperation and teamwork, and spent on coupons that the team must decide on and redeem together (bring a stuffed animal, lunch in the classroom, etc.)}, and a box with supplies {glue sticks, sticky notes, erasers, etc.}

classroom library, with a lot of wall space for displaying anchor charts and student work

My personal favorite area of the room:  our Wonder Wall, where students can use sticky notes to post questions and observations on things they wonder about.

more anchor chart displays, and my singing bird clock with the singing bird mechanism removed     :^)

    

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What Time is It?

     When is recess?

     How long until lunch?

     How many times have you gotten questions like these from your students?  Don't you wish your students would come to you already knowing how to read an analog clock and answer these questions for themselves?

     Using "Clock Numbers" around your classroom clock is a great way to scaffold that learning and allow students to use them in real-world situations.

Use numbers like these around your classroom clock.

      I have numbers around my clock, and students use them as a reference for telling time when they need to sign out to use the bathroom, when they sign up to go to the library, or when they need to fill out a behavior form.  As the year goes on, I will replace the 15, 30, and 45 with the following:

     This will allow students to see the relationships between the numbers and the words used in every day situations {quarter after 11, half past 3, etc.}.  Once these word cards go up and students begin using them accurately, the other numbers {05, 10, 20, 25, 35, 40, 50, and 55} will come down.  By the end of the school year, my goal is that students will have had practice telling time without any labels on the clock. 

     By using this knowledge in real-world situations throughout the year, our telling time lessons in math class can be mostly review, and we can focus on the dreaded elapsed time.

Find this pack in my TpT and TN stores!

     As a special treat, I'm having a sale just in time for school to start next week!  I'm joining Teachers Pay Teachers in their Back to School sale on August 12 and 13. 

     I'm offering 20% off all my products, and TpT is adding another 10% off, for a total of a 28% savings! {When you take 20% off my products, then 10% off the remaining cost, the total savings is 28%--I know, crazy math!}  All you have to do is put in the promo code (BTS12) when you check out for the extra 10% savings.  I will also be running a sale in my Teachers Notebook store those same days! 


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Slow, But Steady Work

     It's time for an update on my classroom-in-progress. . .

     I have to wait until Tuesday, when I'm back on contract, to laminate all my signs and labels, so I've only been able to work on some of the "background" of my room.  

     I used disposable hospital trays on my chairs.  They are really easy to drill through and attach to the "X" on the bottom of each chair with zip ties, and best of all, they were FREE!  Many hospitals would probably be willing to donate 25 or 30 trays for your class. . .all you have to do is call and ask!  Everyone at my old school used these trays in different ways, but I like to use them for unfinished work or for gluey things that need time to dry.  They are also where my munchkins put their snacks and water bottles in the mornings when they unpack.  The snacks stay handy so there's no getting up in the middle of math to get them, and the water bottles aren't taking up valuable desk space and sweating all over student work {they're also not rolling all over the floor}. 

     I've added cream colored flat sheets {super cheap-from Wal Mart!} and border to my bulletin boards.  I also put border on one of my dry erase boards.  I decided to go with some flat, wide border that is black with dark gray stripes on one side and dark gray dots on the other.  I like the way it mirrors the look of my ActivBoard.
 

My ActivBoard in the middle, with my calendar board on the left and my objectives board on the right

Dry erase board behind my reading table

More bulletin board shots

    

I have a random long, skinny bulletin board on one of my walls, so I've decided to use it as a "Wonder Wall," where students can put sticky notes with their questions and things that they wonder about.  These notes can be researched and/or discussed as time allows.  I'm hoping it will keep my munchkins interested and engaged in what we're learning in class.  It will also be a great place for students to put their random questions that have nothing to do with what we're studying {you know, the ones they interrupt/disrupt class with. . . the ones that always seem to interrupt a lesson when you're being observed. . .}

I used four different kinds of patterned cardstock to make a colorful background, and hot-glued black grosgrain ribbon to it for a border.  As soon as I can laminate, there will be white letters (backed by black) that say "I Wonder. . ." along the middle of the bulletin board.  {Pay no attention to the sticky note--it's just a reminder to myself of what I'm doing with the board.  I have them stuck all over the room because if I don't write it down, I'll never remember anything!}


I REALLY liked using the ribbon for the border {an idea I found on Pinterest}.  It makes a nice, clean line to frame the board, and it's nice and small.  Regular bulletin board border would take up the whole board.


I'll be back next week with more updates and {hopefully} more signs hung and workstations set up!

**UPDATE**

I got a few questions about my objectives board.  It's an idea I got from Pinterest.  

I used 8.5 x 11 document frames from the dollar store, and inserted the labeled backgrounds.  They're hanging on the board right now with pushpins, but I'll be attaching them more securely with velcro soon {THANK YOU for the idea, Amy!!}.  Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you the backgrounds.

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