Teacher Tips Tuesday

I'm linking up with Mrs. Beattie's Classroom!

If I had to choose one thing that contributes to success on end of the year assessments, it would be the Post-It Board. This is not fancy, and I'm in desperate need of a new poster...but the information that goes back and forth on that board is priceless. And the best part...you don't need to print out a worksheet.

1. Ordering fractions with like denominators---2. Ordering fractions with like numerators.

After students prepare for the day, they complete 1 or 2 problems and "post" their answers on the board. It gives me a quick snapshot on how they are doing with a particular standard. I can quickly work with students who are struggling with a concept. If the majority of the class would benefit from a quick review, then I go over the problem as part of our morning meeting. I use post-it activities throughout the year, but it's a daily routine in third quarter.

Here is an example of our problems for the week...

In the afternoon the post-it helper puts a new post-it on every desk, and all I have to do is write the problems on the board. I use pink post-its on Valentine's Day, orange on Halloween, green on St. Patrick's Day, and mini post-its on April Fool's Day just to keeps things fun. In fourth quarter students will come up with the problems. 

Happy Posting!!!

Favorite Things Linky

I'm linking up with Teaching Trio...

And posting a few of the books I love sharing with my class...

Last week we read The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by  William Joyce. This is one of those rare cases where the movie came first. I showed the 15 minute academy award winning short film on day 1, and the class wrote a reflection. You can find the link here. I read the book on day 2 and we had a class discussion. You could do so much more with this book, but this year I used it as a break between quarterly tests.

Many of my book choices incorporate topics we are studying in Social Studies. During our study of the American Revolution, I always read Those Rebels, John and Tom by Barbara Kerley. This fun read aloud chronicles the lives and friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The text is perfect for using a venn diagram to compare/contrast the two famous presidents. It is also great for discussing friendship and teamwork.

We will be studying the Civil War this week. Unspoken by Henry Cole is a beautiful book where students use background knowledge about the underground railroad as they make inferences using a wordless picture book. You can find my lesson plan here. I have used this activity for years, and it always captures the imagination and enthusiasm of all students.

You can find some of my other favorites on my Pinterest Boards.

Have a great week!

April Currently

It's always fun to link up with Farley! 

I got up early to make sure my son was ready for his 3 hour bus ride to play a baseball game in the rain. And, what do you know...he was up and had made coffee! To be honest, he really didn't need me to get up with him. He will be graduating next month, and then off to college in the fall. That's where stopping the clock comes in! There will still be a lot going on with our family of seven, but it's going to be hard to let go of these two!

Be sure to visit Oh Boy It's Farley, and check out the other Currently posts.