First Week of School (Back to School Post #2)

I always like having a couple of activities on hand that give my new fourth graders time to interact...and me a few minutes to prepare for what's next or handle those little hiccups typical of the first few days of school. We always begin with a geography review so I use United States map puzzles from Dollar Tree. Students can work on the puzzles in pairs or on their own. The conversations always flow as they are busy putting together their puzzles. I review geography as part of our first Social Studies unit...always great when you can incorporate the curriculum into beginning of the year fun!

This Name Glyph is a great way for students to get to know each other. They color their names according to the directions, and the finished product brightens up my cabinets. I always point out how different our name glyphs are...and that's what will make us a good team. Directions for this Name Glyph Back to School Activity can be projected to help students with the steps. I use this as a way to go over routines and following directions.

We play games throughout the week so we can work on routines for math stations. One game that I go back to again and again is "war". We can use the same cards to compare, order, and round. I have a set of money cards that my fourth graders will have an easy time comparing. We can also practice using task card recording sheets by using the cards for addition and subtraction. Since my focus is on routines, I want something that the whole class can do together. In a few weeks, I will pull the cards out to introduce rounding. There is an answer sheet included for rounding to the nearest dollar.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Why is my blog named Treetop Creations? (Back to School Post #1)

The short answer is that this is what I see first thing every morning as I head to my kitchen.

I love the view in all seasons, but winter is my favorite.  I was probably staring at this view when I was trying to think of a name for my blog.

Now, if you look down the hill, you will see trees brought down by recent storms and a yard in need of some major work. It all depends on what you focus on. I always focus on the treetops.

But there's more to the name...

One of my earliest school memories...other than getting sick on the bus in kindergarten...is from first grade. We were making trees to decorate a bulletin board. I remember the teacher looking at my tree and saying, "This tree is really too big!" I can't believe those words are still with me after all these years. From what I recall, the teacher eventually stuck my "big" tree on the side of the bulletin board. 

Every year I put a tree outside my door to welcome my class. The names of my new students are on the small circles. This is my latest version...

To most, this is just a beginning of the school year decoration, but for me it's a reminder...that my sweet class will remember things that I say...and a tree can never be too big!

Check back tomorrow for another Back to School blog post.

Last Day Before Winter Break...Survival Tips

Many of you have a few more days of school before break so I wanted to share a couple of things that helped me get through the last few days. I'll be honest there have been years when I have been up late putting things together during the holidays, but I kept things simple this year.

I had several choices posted for the morning all centered around a gingerbread house theme including a detailed coloring sheet, and a graphing activity. There were a few computer options but most wanted to chat with their table group as they worked on the gingerbread activities. This gave me an opportunity to sit with each table group for a few minutes.

If you have not tried Watch, Think, Color by the Primary Techie...you have to give it a try. When things began to get a little crazy yesterday, I pulled up one of the activities...pure magic.

One of my favorite holiday books is The Silver Package by Cynthia Rylant. 

I found this freebie from Beach, Sand, and Lesson Plans. I used her cute stationary and ordered silver envelopes from Amazon to create the silver package. Completing the letters next to a projected roaring fire was all it took to make things special. Oh my gosh some of the letters were so touching, and I know will warm the hearts of the recipients.

My best friend from college is a high school English teacher and shared the next idea with me. At the first sight of snow, stop and make a snowflake...nothing fancy...just scissors and white paper. Wouldn't you know as we were drinking hot cocoa and watching a movie someone caught a glimpse of snow outside the window. It was more rain than snow...maybe a little ice, but we went with it! The room was so peaceful as they made their snowflakes. I have the sweetest class and littlest things make them happy. These will be taped on the windows to welcome them back in January.

At the end of the day, I sent them off with a wrapped book and a candy cane. Scholastic has some great dollar deals! 

If you are interested in other holiday math activities, please check out my store.

 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and I hope you have a great week!

Fettuccine and Geometry

I love teaching geometry! It comes as a welcome break after months of computation...multiplication, division, adding and subtracting fractions, multistep word problems, etc.  I always incorporate a morning meeting chant and "fettuccine" geometry. First of all, passing out pasta gets everyone's attention! I think spaghetti was used on a BrainPop video, but the fettuccine is more durable. Everyone gets a large piece of paper, and two pieces of fettuccine. I cover parallel, intersecting, and perpendicular lines...then the angles (right, acute, and obtuse). I mix it up by calling out the terms or holding up signs. Sometimes students are the leaders. This can be done with the whole class, table groups, or partners. It's quick practice, and a break from paper and pencil.

Symmetry...give everyone a piece of paper...squirt some mustard on a folded piece of paper...smoosh...and you have symmetry. Of course you could use paint, but why use paint when you can use mustard! Trust me, you will have their attention.

This game of SCOOT is a great review of polygons, lines, and angles...

A word bank is also included...

I also use the cards sorting activities. Every student has a set of the cards (1-18) with the matching vocabulary words. Just like with the fettuccine, the sorting cards provide opportunities for a quick review. 

 For extra practice, I use these sheets for exit tickets, morning work, and homework.

Well, that's a peak at what we will be doing after spring break!

FLASH FREEBIE

FIVE days until Spring Break! I'm sharing a new product that will help my class review equivalent fractions this week and hopefully make a cute display. It is FREE today just for you...

The first version requires kiddos to show equivalent fractions...

 Then add the fractions to the flower template and color according to the key each student creates.

Here is an example of how a finished product might look.

 I've included a second version that already has equivalent fractions added to the flower template.

We will be doing this tomorrow so check back to see how it turns out. I'm hoping for a colorful display of colorful spring flowers.

Remember to grab this freebie today...and feedback is appreciated.

Have a great week!

Five for Friday

Yesterday a friend announced that there are 59 days of school...and we have so much to do!

We are working on fractions...first with a review of comparing and ordering. The kiddos played a quick game of fraction war, then sorted the cards by color and ordered each group from least to greatest.

Then on to adding and subtracting...

This product includes 3 sets of color coded cards for easy differentiation. I can mix and match...or assign a certain color group for students to solve. I put the cards all around the room, and students can solve at their own pace for a modified SCOOT.

Thursday was National Puppy Day, so here is our beloved Polka Dot...

Have a great week and thanks so much for visiting my blog. Be sure link back to Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Five for Friday

It's SATURDAY...so time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

We had our first snow day of the year and a couple of delays this week! 

It's a shock to actually be keeping up with our planning calendar...a big positive for a mild winter.

Friday was a reminder that keeping it simple still works to create some fun. The class walked in to find a Rolo (gold nugget) on their desks with a St. Patrick's Day themed fraction packet. 

The review activities brought out some good discussions about comparing, ordering, and equivalent fractions. Coloring was involved and that always brings a magical calm to the room.
We also did a scoot activity to practice balancing equations...another review! Then it was off to specials.

When the class returned they found another gold nugget on their desks along with a copy of this free writing activity from the Teacher Wife. We reviewed writing a good paragraph with three details, and the responses to Who is worth more to you than gold...were absolutely precious. 

After lunch...you guessed it (and so did they) there was another gold nugget on each desk! 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog...and be sure to check out all the posts at Doodle Bugs Teaching.