Science and Social Studies Stars

Side note --- I really need to get better at posting more regularly, I have figured out so much in the past year - I figure if I can share anything I am doing, I definitely need to make it happen.

I am finally happy with Science and Social Studies in my classroom! It really helps that the curriculum that I have includes a 'mini' Science/Social Studies link at the end of each reading comprehension story. Always a one page story (or article) and 3 comprehension questions. While I would LOVE to have a hands on activity for SS and Science every week, I just don't have the resources at my current school and I can't spend any more extra money! So I decided to do the next best thing, I am fully integrating Language Arts into Social Studies and Science using Literary Circles. We have the same routine every week, the only thing that changes is the story! Best thing is, the kids are loving it!

Here is how it works:

I start with yet another collaborative group (we already have carpet buddies, desk groups, and reader's theater groups!)

Each group has 4 jobs:

Captain: Pick up the materials (a group folder and a stoplight) Keep the group on task, assign jobs if other group members can't agree, and keep an eye on the timer.
Writer: With input from all group members, writes down answers to the comprehension questions.
Illustrator: With input from all group members, illustrates the main ideas from the reading.
Speaker: Presents to the class at the end.

Each group makes a poster that must include: The name of the article or story, "Retold by:" and their names, an illustration and the comprehension questions. (I make sure to type up and print the comprehension questions before hand)

I give each group 10 minutes to WRITE ONLY, then 10 min to ILLUSTRATE ONLY, another 10 to catch up etc. It helps the captains keep them on task.

Another really nice thing about the SS/Science links is that they always include the CA Standard at the top of the page - last week I had an epiphany! Normally, the speaker just presents the poster to the class and I give the group (and individual students a grade based on a 1 to 4 rubric) but last week, I decided to ask them each the same question - relating to the standard - so now I have a standards based grade too! I just had my roster in hand and was able to give a very quick oral assessment.

Last week's project:

SCIENCE Link
"Smart Bears" by Maria Gonzo

Oral Assessment Question: How are bear cubs the same as their mothers?

Checking in for Daily 5

After scouring the internet and plenty of blog stalking I came full circle and decided the check in will go much more smoothly if I do it myself.... But.... What about Word Work? And Listen to Reading? And the pillows the kids can pick up and take wherever they want? These are all things there are only a certain number of. It has to be first come, first serve.... Fairness first. So I came up with this:

It's not the cutest thing you've ever seen but it works! The dashes keep track of who we start with for each new round, the L stands for library (only 2 friends at a time can trade their books out for new good fit books), the T stands for teacher - unless I pull aside a group or if I'm checking for fluency, there are 6 headphones so the first 6 to choose Listen get to do so, the same goes for word work.
Because we hardly ever have time to get to all 5 rounds in one day, I keep the same check in sheet until we do so, each round's choices are colored to match the round number - this way I can make sure that every student goes to every center even if it is not on the same day.

BUILDing Math Skills

I have been STRESSING myself out lately trying to implement BUILD in my classroom :( I think it is mostly because I am a little teensy bit OCD about things, sometimes.... In any case, I fell in love with the idea of BUILD - found it on a Google hunt one day - it is basically Daily 5 but for math and you know how I feel about Daily 5 <3

BUILD stands for Buddy games, Using manipulatives, Independent work (I do independent reading), Learning about numbers and Doing math. Now here is the problem, from what I gather from some blog stalking, BUILD is used for those early finishers, but I want ALL of my kiddos Learning about numbers and Using manipulatives. Also, it seemed to me that the Doing math center was kind of a 'whatever' filler center and I feel that it might just be the most important.
After implementing all of our procedures/routines for BUILD things were going very well, I was super happy with it the first day, only problem is we spend an HOUR and 15 minutes for math..... what?! o___o I can't cut work on writing out of the day because we are running out of time for D5 no no no. I had to sit down and figure this out.

Here is what I came up with:

15 min - whole class focus lesson and guided practice (on the carpet, the kids have whiteboards for a quick CFU)
15 min - Independent practice, BUILD for the early finishers

Small group intervention
***** I have identified a small group that is in dire need of some prerequisite skills for 2nd grade math, fortunately my school uses REAL MATH which has an awesome intervention guide/student work pages/assessments etc!

5 min - BUILD
Because I want my intervention group to participate in the centers too!

Each group will have a new center each day, rather than having 5 rotations per day - arrrgh! - pretty sure that is what was taking so darn long. - See the stars on each basket?! They match their team color - this way I am sure that they will all get to play with each part of BUILD.

Here is what I have in each basket:

B: Depending on the lesson, REAL MATH is great about including games so I usually take them from there. I will try to post about them individually in the future, everyone needs to know about these awesome games.

U: For now: even and odd practice
Unifix cubes, a TENS number dice, and ONES number dice
Kids roll both dice to create a 2 digit number, they take unifix cubes for the number they roll in the ONES place, then make pairs with the cubes. Pairs: even, 1 left over: odd

I: Independent Reading
All of a sudden I have at least 10 math books in this basket, love it! Some came to me via donations and some I bought on Amazon. I will post a list soon!

L: Learning about numbers
I actually made games for this center, trying to think of games that would cover a variety of skills - they are...... wait for it..... my very first item up for sale on TPT! Check them out HERE. It took me FOREVER to make them but has turned out to be well worth it! I plan on keeping the same games all year :)

D: I will be using this center as a quick assessment from now on. REAL MATH has Daily Quizes which makes my life so much easier :) These they will have to turn into the inbox for grading.

and that is BUILD <3 Oh, I love it, the kids love it, and it will be great..... once I get the timing all figured out.

Thank you for reading my very long post, HERE is a little freebie for your time. Sports themed BUILD labels, because I am obsessed with my sports themed classroom :)

Daily 5, all figured out and working its magic

I don't know what I would have done this year without the Daily 5, thank god for all that blog stalking I did over the summer. I bought the sisters book online and read the entire thing cover to cover in about 2 days, easy. It is now November and my class is in full Daily 5 mode, and I might add they absolutely love it!

So here is my routine: I teach a 15min (or so) focus lesson - in this order: Vocab, Comprehension, Grammar, Word Work (spelling/phonics) and Work on Writing. In between, I say it's time to check in, and the class rings in "for Daaaaily 5" it's so frieking cute, I love those kids!

After scouring blogs, sites, and teachers pay teachers for every type of check in imaginable - I'm talking pocket charts, clips, signs, etc etc etc - I ended up doing the simplest thing, pretty much what the book suggests, I use a simple check list I made (I WILL ADD A PICTURE AS SOON AS WE GET BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT MONDAY!) for each check-in I color the Round number with a crayon and then check student choices with the same color crayon. I hang the check list up on the wall during the round, sometimes little ones forget their choice 2 minutes in! haha or they just like to double check :)

After a few days of lessons/rounds that went juuuuust a little over 15 min, we never ever had enough time to get to all 5 rounds, so we brainstormed as a class and came up with a new idea! Instead of starting over with a new checklist everyday, I keep using them until they are all filled up - this way I can make sure all my students are practicing all 5 aspects.

 I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have my students in number order, so I start with number 1 - she or he gets to choose first, the next round I start with number 2 and so on. That way it is first come first serve when it comes to both Word Work and Listen to Reading, both of which have limited materials ( I make sure to keep track of how many choose these two options )

Next, I have a Daily 5 captain every day - this friend gets to pull sticks (Popsicle sticks with every student's number on them) to excuse the class from the carpet, that way it is in random order and there are no arguments about places to sit, word work materials, etc. We ALWAYS check in at the carpet and we ALWAYS come back to the carpet at the end of each round. I swear my class practically lives on that carpet!

One last thing, I project the week's sight words on the smart board during each and every round - students who are doing Word Work, HAVE to work on these words (I have found it keeps them on task) also, at the end of each round while we wait for every one to make clean up and make it back to the carpet, students are snap spelling and reading each word, keeps them busy busy and not talking or messing around. Just a little management tid bit that is also turning out to be a great quick assessment of sight word recognition, hooray!

Moral of the story....... Seriously...... buy this book best $14 I have EVER spent - I got mine used on Half.com but there are a ton of other sites, see HERE for shopping options