Work on Writing

A HUGE focus in our classroom is writing. Writing allows me to assess grammar, spelling, and gives the kids  an outlet for self expression. So far we have really had to focus on the basics; capital letters, end marks, and complete sentences. We do about 2 published writings a week. One during their "Work on Writing" centers and one during our Writing lesson. The writinga below are not perfect but students are still learning and getting better with each writing! I am proud of their progress and know that will continue to improve!

Farm Day

As you can tell by the lack of posting...we have been super busy getting to know each other, learning school and classroom routines and procedures, and getting settled into a new year. It seems like this year is flying by already so I really wanted to start sharing about what is going on inside our classroom and at APS!

Farm Day:

The kids had a great time with hand-on learning at Farm Day. I wanted them to remember the fun they had so we immediately came inside and wrote about "A Day on the Farm".

Check back soon to stay up to date on the fun were are having in Room 211!

A New Crew

As much as I have enjoyed soaking up summer, reality set in when.....I got my class list last week. Summer flies by but I really do get excited about the new school year, new kiddos, and thinking about all the fun we are going to have. During the summer I try to reflect on the past year; the positives, the challenges, my growth, student growth, etc.....Then I move my focus to the upcoming year. I am a very "goal oriented" person so it would only make since to set goals for the upcoming school year as well.

Mrs. Busha's 2015-2016 Goals

1: LOVE them FIRST

 I know this seems like duh, of course I love my students but I find myself getting caught up in teaching, learning, tests, grading papers, staying organized, classroom management, etc. I don't want to end the day and think-I wonder if they new I loved them today

2: Lead by Example

I want to make sure that all of the words I say to my students are backed up by my actions. If I tell my students to, "keep up with your things" then I say "has anyone seem my red expo marker?" I am NOT leading by example.So, in other words.... I want to "Practice what I Preach" so to speak.

3:Listen and Learn

I have to take time to listen to my students. Whether it is a story they have written, a question about a topic, or something about their personal life. So many times teachers become consumed with the things that "have" to be done and we fail to listen. Along these line, I think we will learn a lot about our students and from our students when we take the time to listen.

No-none of these are "Academic" goals; however, I believe my students will be more motivated to learn when I am meeting their social and emotional needs first. So, with my goals set and the first day of school right around the corner,I guess the only thing left to do is  enjoy the remaining days of summer.

Step into Summer

Here at APS we have 4 days of school until SUMMER!!!!! We are all so excited to sleep late, play outside, vacation, and spend time with our families. To wrap up our class blog for this school year I wanted to share about our end of the year party plans.

End of the Year Party:

Our party is at 10:00...in between Breakfast and lunch so this year we will have "party food"

Menu:

Chips & Dip

Fruit

Capri Suns

Cupcakes

While students are eating I will show our "End of Year Video" I used the following songs: Just the way You Are by Justin Bieber , Do life Big by Jamie Grace, My Wish by Racal Flats, and Do You Remember from Kidz Bop.

Instead of burning each student a DVD I have decided to create a QR Code linked to our video. Check is out {Here}

The 3rd "phase" of our party is the awards. We will roll out the red carpet (butcher paper). I will be giving these {Candy Awards}.

Finally, I will give the student's their gift from me. They got a book for Christmas so I am going a different route. I am doing personalized bookmark found for free {Here} with "Bookworms"like the ones found {Here}. Then the boys are getting waterguns and the girls are getting hula hoops both found at the local Dollar Tree.

Then we will hug and take pictures......

We also had our last big "event" as a class which was Field Day. This is such a special day because the kids can just be kids and teachers can be....well....fun!!! It is a day that we laugh, play, dance, talk, and just spend time together. I am so proud of this group in so many ways! Sad to see them go but excited their futures.

Time for Plants

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year for teaching Science. We have now finished our Insect Unit and our Plant Unit. Check out what we did for our study of plants:

This read aloud is the perfect introduction to a plant unit. We also used our favorite online resource pebblego.com to further our learning about plants, seed, and their life cycle.

Plant Flipbooks (Amy Lemons)

 We ended our plant unit by making our on Greenhouses with lima beans. (I found this template on Pinterest)

 Telling Time Flipbook:

Several of the academic vocabulary terms used in our Time Chapter for Math have been very challenging for my students. I created this flipbook to reinforce these terms as well as to informally assess their understanding of time concepts.

Math Spiral Time Activities:

A.M. /P.M. Sort (found as a freebie online)

Students had to read the analog clock & write the digital time. Then, they had to decide if event from the sentence would happen at A.M. or P.M.

A teacher friend of mine shared this awesome ways to help students with A.M. & P.M.

A.M.: At Morning or Aw Man.....time to wake up

 P.M.: Past Morning or Pizza Man....time for dinner (they LOVED this one)

 These amazing clocks (free online), I have used for several years now. The really help students understand the hour & minutes concepts. Also, I had seen the "Time Check" idea on several blogs so we decided to try it out too. Anything and everything we could do to reinforce this concept was needed!

Insect Reports

We have just finished up or insect unit. This year we have completed many non-fiction writing/reports about people,holidays, and animals. For this project, students were grouped with their reading small groups. This allowed students to work with other students on their same instructional level. Students completed this project almost 100% on their own! They used available resources such as ebooks, books, pebblego, and other internet resources. This project was completed over the course of 5 days (6-7 days would work better)....here is the break down

Day 1: Introduction
I alway use Day 1 of our units to introduce our topic. We spend the day reading books, researching, and learning about the topic. Most of the time this is completed in a whole group setting. Lots of discussion takes place on this day as well build our knowledge and interest about our topic.

Day 2: Group Research

Students formed leveled groups. Each group spent the day reading books, ebooks, QR codes, and visiting pebblego.com to learn about different types of insects. At the end of this day group decided on the particular insect they would be researching.

Day 3: Targeted Research

Groups specifically researched their chosen insect. Each group made a list of the things they wanted to know about their insect such as; habitat, prey, food, life cycle, etc. They created an outline in their journal.

Day 4: Rough Draft
Students used the information they gathered to begin the rough draft or their reports. Groups had 3-4 students in them which allowed each student to contribute at least 1 sentence to the writing.

Day 5: Drawing and Presentation (this really should be 2 separate days)
I provided each group with various pictures of their insect. They used them as a guide as they drew and labeled their insect.

Then, each group practiced presenting their drawing and reading their report.

Next, Each group presented their project as I used the ipad to record a video of each group.

Finally, I create a QR code for each group and attached it to their drawings.

They are hanging in the hall for students, parents, or teachers to scan and watch!

I am so proud of my students for working so hard on this project!

Spring into Learning

March was a full month included a full week off for Spring Break. The three "short weeks" we were at school we full of learning and fun. I have also included a little bit of our April activities...Enjoy!

Read Across America Week 

Guest Reader: Our School Officer

 My Favorite Dr. Seuss Book Writing

 Fishy Math Problems after reading 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

 Book Character Day

Saint Patrick's Day

Spring Activities

Like I have said before we write about EVERYTHING! I feel that it is a way for students to show what they know or have learned about a topic. It also helps them with basic writing skills as well as handwriting. The picture allow them to show their creativity, which is also super important.

We also had a visit from "Lady Liberty". The student's at APS has raised $1,000 to donate to Liberty's Legacy to help them repair damages to their tour bus. This program has been excited and fun for our students as they learn the importance of being a SUPER CITIZEN!

Math Fun with Books

During our fraction chapter, we read quite a few books to help us learn and practice equal parts, equal shares, and fractions. Here are a few

Freezing February

February was a crazy cold month here in Albertville. We had over a week of snow days in the month a February but teachers know that doesn't mean we lose a week of instruction. The days we were at school were filled with anything and everything we could possibly squeeze in within our 7 hours. Here are a few pictures of what February looked like in our classroom.

A Few Valentine's Activities

Sorting & Graphing Conversation Hearts

Creating our cute bags to keep all of our sweet Valentine's cards in

President's Day:

Pebblego.com is one of our favorite online resources to use when learning about nonfiction topics. We also read many books about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. As always we did a activity to show or recap what we had learning about each. (I forgot to snap pictures of these)

Liberty's Legacy:

A awesome "pep rally" style program to get our student's excited about a new Social Studies resources we have available to used called Liberty's Legacy.

Jack Hartmann Concert

Lots of fun going on in the month of March for our classroom too, so stay tuned and check back soon.