The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Engaging Discussion

I am diligent in providing my students with different activities: from muti-media such as virtual labs, power points, and online research, to reading nonfiction texts, interactive notebooks, and journaling.
There is always discussion in my classroom. After all, students learn from one another. We talk about what they have learned, and I try to answer their questions. I admit, sometimes they stump me! Many times I say to my students, "That's a really great question! Let's research that answer." Then we discuss how to find the answers. Students mostly want to look online! But I don't always allow this. They look in their science books and other scientific/ student-friendly books that I have in my class library. Even if they can't always find the answers, I truly hope that our discussions help them love the process of learning and researching, and digging deeper for answers.

PLEASE leave me a comment below and let me know what you do to engage all of your students! One reason I started this blog is to collaborate with teachers all over the world to gain insight so I can continue to learn and grow as an educator!

See you next week!
-Sandra @The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Surviving Halloween

It is that time of the year…Halloween! Your students are excited, even hyperactive and the days leading to and just after Halloween can be challenging. Here are some ways to enjoy the holiday while remaining sane amid the sugar rush.

Know School Protocol

Does your school celebrate Halloween or attempt to curtail it? Some schools go all out with a Halloween parade around the school and classroom parties. In my school, we have the Storybook Parade. This is where students come dressed in their favorite story book character and march around the school with their book for parents and classmates to see. Of course, we have our share of vampires and witches, but the parents and teachers are great about pairing the costume with a book.

In some schools, teachers plan special activities for a portion of the day but follow regular routines the rest of the day. In some schools, teachers and students dress up in costumes, in others they do not. Find out the expectations and then plan accordingly. You don’t want to be the only teacher to show up in a costume in a school that discourages holiday participation.

Have fun with it.

Students are going to be thinking about Halloween, you might as well try to enjoy it.

Play eerie music during transition time.
Paint ghosts on your windows!
Put fun drawings on handouts or on the white board.
Decorate your door with your students. The promise of time to decorate is often a great incentive to get students to focus on doing regular classwork the rest of the day.
Build fluency by having student practice and perform a Reader’s Theater show with Halloween themed poems.
Remind students of expectations.

You don’t have to be a wet blanket, but you will need to remind them and expect them to adhere to previously established routines and procedures. Sometimes a quick reminder is all you need.

Be sensitive.

Some families do not celebrate holidays or allow their children to participate in holiday themed activities. In most cases, parents will have discussed this with you ahead of time. If your school does allow Halloween activities, make sure that activities and costumes are developmentally appropriate. Some children are easily frightened by scary costumes.

I hope you have a great Halloween week!

Sandra @The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Math Test Prep & Review

Test Prep causes serious stress for teachers and students alike. You wonder what standards you have covered. You think about lessons students have missed due to absences and gaps in understanding. You worry that students won’t remember the concepts you taught early in the year. This is completely normal! A couple of years ago, I changed the way I approached test prep and test review. Today I would like to share my system, and maybe it will help you too!

1. Don’t wait until “testing season” to prepare. Spiral review is your friend. Take a few moments each day to go back to topics covered earlier in the year and do a quick review on the topic. I make one copy of my 5^th grade Math Test Prep for All Year Bundle (shameless plug!) and each morning before we start math, my students take out dry erase boards and work through the problems at their desks. You can use these packets or choose problems from your textbook. Don’t spend a ton of time doing this. Just 4-5 problems each day is perfect. I like to review the chapter we previously covered when working on a new chapter. This way the previous content stays fresh in their brains.

2. Task Card Scoot. You can use task cards you already have or even quickly write out your own problems on note cards. I do have over 50 sets of reading, math, and science task cards (another shameless plug!) in my Teachers Pay Teachers store if you need more. I place the cards onto student desks and they solve the problem on their the dry erase board. Next they put their answer on a lined sheet of paper. Then, move one space to the left to complete the next problem. I continue with this until all the questions have been completed. This is a fast and fun way to assess who has it and who needs a little more work. If you don’t have large enough dry erase boards, just have students use an extra piece of paper to work the problem out as they scoot around the room.

3. Keep it fun! Students don’t need to sense the added stress of testing. Try to keep the spiral review and test prep as fun as possible. Turn questions into games. Let students get up and move (play Scoot, 4 Corners- if they think the answer is A, they move to one corner, B, another corner, etc.) Students will appreciate you for making review easier and less stressful.

4. Track the data. Keep track of which students have mastered each standard as you move throughout the year. It doesn’t have to be a huge task. You can just make a pencil and paper list or create an excel sheet. I like to use the Checklists included in each Standards and Scales resource because it is quite simple in its approach.

I keep these in a binder; one sheet for each standard per student. It is easy to take a quick look and see which students need help with which standard. I have Fifth Grade Florida Standards and Scales for Reading and Math, as well as Common Core Standards and Scales forMath in my store. And to be honest, Common Core Standards and Florida Standards are basically the same.

While I do currently teach 5th grade, and make what I need in the classroom, I do make other resources for other grade levels that my colleagues request. Plus, I differentiate almost everything for my students based on what is needed, so I have multiple levels of test prep.

I have bundled everything for greater savings:

3rd grade Test Prep

4th Grade Test Prep

See you next week!

Sandra @ The Happy Learning Den