Launching a Problem Solving Mindset with Marshmallows

The Marshmallow Task:

Separate the class into groups of 3 and explain to them to use the tools in front of them to build the tallest structure that holds the large marshmallow.

Each group will receive...

-1 yard of tape

-handful of mini marshmallows

-one large marshmallow

-18 spaghetti noodles

Set the timer for 18 minutes and watch!

During this time, I said nothing. I actually took notes of what students were saying to each other so that I could refer to it later. 

"It's ok if we don't win."

"We are not working together."

"Just use your imagination."

"This is getting really frustrating."

"Winning is just for fun."

"Never quit."

When the timer went off, I had a group that won and I also had some students who were frustrated and upset. We gathered on the carpet to talk about what went well, what didn't go well, were the tools helpful, did you have enough supplies, did you have enough time, etc. 

Then we ended with thinking about what we learned after doing this marshmallow challenge. THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM SOLVING MINDSET COMES IN! Check out what we came up with!

We used this activity along with the book called The Most Magnificent Thing. 

That's a WRAP!

There is something special about the first day of school.

Excitement. Nervousness. Anxiousness. 

I still get these feelings for my first day of school.

This is my second year being a full time teacher. Last year I remember being so overwhelmed on the first day. This year I felt relaxed and refreshed- ready to tackle another year.

Planning for the first three days of school can be difficult because your schedule isn't up and running yet, but today our first day of school went GREAT!

Students that I taught last year modeled how to complete the morning routine and then they decorated name plates. These will be used for the hallway. Check them out!

We then met on the carpet to start our morning. Giving students an opportunity to communicate with each other and have a quick morning meeting to share some news is something I strongly believe in. The purpose of our morning meeting on the first day of school was to get to know the names of students in the class and to greet each other. We launched our FIVE STAR GREETING!

We practiced all three different ways with someone new each time. Learning points that students came across were- one person should be talking at a time and to use a strong clear voice. I greet the students every morning with a handshake.

The rest of the day flew by! We unpacked our school supplies, took first day pictures, decorated our BEE (Bring Everything Everyday) folders, made star student frames, played on the playground, and of course...read the book First Day Jitters.

At one point, a student told me he could probably put his head down at his table and take a nap, but WE DID IT! We made it through our first day of second grade! I can't wait to share with you my journey as a second grade teacher!

It's Time to Get Back Into the Groove!

Hi friends! Do you believe it is almost the beginning of a NEW school year?!?! I can't!!! 

I spent the majority of my summer moving into a new house and decorating. Over the last two weeks, I went into my classroom and started to unpack and prepare for the school year in a different grade level.

This year I am teaching second grade! I am very excited about it because I have some familiar faces from 1st grade and most of my teaching experience has been in second grade. 

Launching a new year! 

Teaching procedures 

Creating self-directed learners

Establishing a strong sense of community

Here are some read alouds that I plan to use for the first few days of school to teach procedures and expectations for second grade and my classroom. 

I have more books on the way, but these books will drive to meet our Paw Pride expectations that we have in place at our building. I chose these read alouds so that students can refer back to the books when we talk about what it means to have Paw Pride (Be respectful, Be responsible, Be a problem solver, and Be safe). Stay tuned to see how the first few days of school rolls out! I am SO ready to be back into my routine!! 

Whoooooo we are as a reader!

We have been reading all different kinds of books this year! Books with funny characters, series books, non fiction books, how-to books, etc. Now that the end of the year is here, we have decided that we can have a preference into which books we are more likely to read. Students brought in their favorite book from home and shared what kinds of books they enjoy reading most of the time. When students know who they are as a reader, then they know what books to pick up. If they are interested in the book that they are reading, then it gets them to read more often.

"According to the National Education Association, having kids read a lot is one of the crucial components of becoming a good reader. Young readers need to become practiced at recognizing letters and sounds. The only way to get good at it is to practice."

Visit an article at http://www.nea.org/grants/facts-about-childrens-literacy.html to learn more about how important it is to have your child reading.

Check out who we are as a reader!

Summer Goals for Reading

Can you feel it? Can you taste it? Summer is in the air. That is why we are diving into summer by planning summer reading goals. We have discussed how important it is to continue reading in the summer so that when we begin the next school year, we will be right where we left off!

Students planned their summer reading spot (with a back up if needed) and then created a summer reading goal. Students focused on the type of books they want to read, the number of times they want to read each week, and how long they want to read. How do you plan to get your students excited about reading at home?

Students reflect and analyze their writing

At the end of the year, students are given a writing post assessment to show growth. This post assessment is a personal narrative and was the very first unit we taught. Therefore, we have chosen to do a mini review and have students practice writing in that genre one more time before they have to complete the assessment. 

After talking to my literacy coach and the other teachers on my team, we wanted our students to really own the process and the important components that make a personal narrative. Therefore, we used the rubric that their piece will be graded on and had students analyze their piece. This rubric was a kid friendly rubric with "I can" statements. 

The mini lessons for these three days didn't include anything new which made it extremely student directed. We used previously made anchor charts to pull the important parts into the rubric. At the beginning of the mini lesson, I introduced the rubric to the students. They then helped me craft examples of the components by using anchor charts. I then modeled how to use the rubric to analyze your piece by using a piece I had created. I used marker to underline each component so that I could prove and recognize that I actually had a lead, an ending, dialogue, etc. Students were extremely engaged and then couldn't wait to go analyze their own piece. Students also reflected on their writing by noticing what they do all of the time and what they need to add more of. As a class, we noticed that we were rockstars at having ellipses, but needed to work on having transition words in our pieces. 

After reflecting on this process, the best part was that students were actually naming the components of a personal narrative piece. Those who noticed the components that were missing were able to add them in by using marker. The marker stood out to prove that writers re-read and check their work and then add more to the words, if needed. I had one student realize that their piece was covered with marker. As I like to say, THAT WAS A PERFECT LEARNING MOMENT and a time for conversation! I mentioned that if you have included ALL parts of a personal narrative, then your piece should be full of color. The color would be your evidence as to how you included structure, development, and conventions within your piece. 

Here are the examples of our anchor charts that we created with the rubric. On Monday, we will reflect on the entire process and set a personal goal for writing narratives. 

 

Mother's Day Craft!

You light up my life!

Here is a cute Mother's Day magnet craft that I did with my students.

What you need:

• blue paper
• yellow paper
• yellow paint
• ribbon
• sharpie
• magnets

*Laminate for durability!

Please visit http://www.craftymorning.com/firefly-light-life-mothers-day-card-free-printable/ to receive a FREE print out of the mason jar. 

Becoming an Expert at a Book

All year, one the biggest habits that readers practice is to re-read their books to scoop up more words. This helps them make their voice smooth (fluent) and to also pick up new information from their book (comprehension).

We did just that and then MORE!

Our last two fiction reading units had similar concepts in them so we were able to dig deeper into the concepts that were being addressed. With my wonderful first graders ready to move up into second grade, we decided to take our oral conversations centered around our books and actually WRITE about it.

We all know that if you can say it, then you can write it.

Reader's workshop is where all of the work began. In every reader's workshop, it begins by having a mini lesson. The mini lesson was used to address the concept being taught and then students took out their expert book to practice the concept by talking about it to their learning partner. During this time, I was able to confer with students and teach in on any confusion they had. I also was able to push students to expand on their thinking by having them give support to why they were thinking that. They then took a few minutes to write down their thinking. For the remainder of reader's workshop, students read other fiction books and looked for the same concept that was addressed in the mini lesson.

Each child chose ONE expert book and zoomed in on...

• setting
• characters
• beginning, middle, end
• character's feeling
• character traits
• favorite part 

Why did I choose to do this?

• It gave me an opportunity to know the story that each child was reading from beginning to end so that I can help assess their thinking on skills being taught
• It allows students to talk about their books
• Students get to introduce their books to other friends which can encourage other students to read the book that they read
• Students become fluent with reading it and understand all parts of their book

When we were done, students all celebrated their hard work and put their expert book back into the leveled bins. Students couldn't wait to read a book that their friend read and talked about!

We added our hard work to the hallway!

A close up of what students did!

Central Message

After our work we did with finding the theme of the books we were reading, we found the central message of each book. 

Students took a closer look into each book by wondering...

• What does the author want me to know?
• What does the character learn?

I always remember having a really difficult time finding the central message of the books that I was reading as a child, but I truly believe the work we did all year has helped make it easier for my first graders to complete this work. 

Here is the work we did with our mentor texts...

Students then found the central message in the books that they were reading!

Theme

Our work we have done all year has been paying off! Our read alouds are purposeful, engaging books that are chosen so that we can use them as a reader AND a writer.

We have used all of our read alouds this year to help teach theme.

We studied theme for two days and encouraged students to continue to explore other books to see if the books they read would fall under the same theme.

We separated our books by thinking about what our books were about and what they want to teach children. Mentor texts were grouped accordingly to a specific theme topic -fairness, friendship, growing up, family, and other. At a first grade level, giving the theme choices helped students understand what theme was really about. The conversations while sorting the books allowed students to use text evidence to support what theme would best fit that book.

Check out the work we have done! 

Students then decided the theme of the book they were reading.

Friendship

Family

Growing up

Fairness

Other

Recess time!

We spent our last faculty meeting discussing the benefits of recess.

In the article "New Study: Does Better Recess Equal a Better School Day?", it listed the benefits of having recess part of your school day. One thing that stood out to me the most was that having recess "reduced bullying, enhanced feelings of safety at school, increased vigorous physical activity during recess, and provided more time for classroom teaching. The research raises the possibility that what happens at recess can affect a school's learning environment in important ways, and that improving recess and play may enable schools to address a number of pressing issues at the same time."

During the winter months, I am a strong supporter of GoNoodle. We get out our wiggles through dancing!

Today, we got to enjoy our recess outside on the playground! We had a blast!

Character Selfies

Students created character selfies-- thanks to The Pinspired Teacher for the freebie!

Students all chose a character in their book and wrote how their character was feeling and why they were feeling like that. Students LOVED it! Take a look!