Today in math we started to step up our problem solving and, especially, our EXPLAINING about our thinking...something I know I have not been modeling enough. I want to make sure we keep the climate open and honest, so today I introduced the self-assessment system we are going to use from this point forward. It is an easy system...kids can "flash" the correct number of fingers if you want to do a ... Read the Post
New on the Blog
“Just Right Books” and other independent reading tips
Some things just need repeating, and I am starting to see a few of my fourth graders slipping in their ability to make "just right" books choices. You know the students...reading Magic Tree House one day and then trying to pick up a copy of Percy Jackson the next? To start the year, we spent a great deal of time building a reading community, talking about how to select a book, what a "just ... Read the Post
Grading Writing…food for thought–and a freebie to help!
If you are like me, you are constantly stressing out about making sure your students are learning and growing. If you are like me, you never feel like you have enough of the right DATA to know for sure! After all, how do you REALLY measure reading comprehension? Writing skills? I think we are in a constant battle with ourselves to balance wanting to assign a "number" to things that aren't numeric ... Read the Post
5 Tips for Teaching Information Text and Text Structures
We are finishing our "Feature Article" unit today, and I thought I'd share FIVE things we learned while writing them. This was my first time teaching this unit, and it was as much a learning experience for ME as it was for my fourth graders! One of our key focus areas is "text structures", so that was the lens I used while planning and teaching. So...what did we learn? Five Strategies to ... Read the Post
Historical Fiction, Here We Come! Sarah, Plain and Tall
Well, my fourth graders and I are NEARLY finished with our feature articles unit...and, boy, have we had a blast! They have learned so much about different text structures, how to take a topic and "spin" it to make it more appealing--not to mention all the new tech skills they learned like inserting photos with citations, and so on. So...next on the list? Historical fiction! I LOVE historical ... Read the Post
Inventive Strategies in Math
Problem solving is a such a critical part of math instruction in elementary grades. Have you considered how much time you spend letting students work collaboratively and share their math strategies? Check out this easy math lesson idea! A different approach to word problems This is not a new concept for people who are interested in constructivist thinking, but today's "opening ... Read the Post
“This isn’t math!” Engaging Math Problem Solving
That quote came out of "math" last Friday as I presented my students with a chance to practice some of the decimal skills we have been refining. Decimals are tricky little buggers for lots of kids...hard to "grasp" the idea that there are numbers between those simple counting numbers they have used their entire lives! One way that students do tend to begin making sense (cents?) ... Read the Post