Friday, March 22, 2013

Five for Friday


I don't think I can begin to express how glad I am that it's Friday... and I can sit on my couch blog-stalking while listening to Lilly give commands to the dogs and sing along to Gabba. Man, it's been a long week! A very good week--just exhausting. My husband is finishing up his training for Special Forces (Army) so he was/still is out in the field all week. That left me alone with 2 kids and 2 dogs, which equals to 4 kids, basically. Long days at school turn into long nights at home when you're the only one cooking/cleaning/tending to dogs. Again, hello FrIdAy! :)

[fiveforfriday%255B5%255D.jpg]
I'm linking up with the lovely Doodle Bugs Teaching for some Five for Friday. Click on the picture to link up, too! 

1. AR Success

If we're being honest, half of my class likes to read the other half... well... just doesn't I have to FORCE any kind of reading EVEN IF it's a topic that interests them. Crazy junk! These students are low (read: really really low), so I had to think of something to encourage these struggling readers. I then made a very simple clip chart so students could show off their progress towards their AR goals. Each Monday students begin at the bottom on, "I still need to take a test." With each test they take they get to move up one spot IF they scored an 85% or higher. The picture is of the first chart I made, but then went back and added 2 more spaces--I've taken 4 of more quizzes and I've made my AR goal. Today we counted 11 out of 17 students who have made their goal.. and 3 more trailing close behind! I haven't quite yet figured out how to upload documents that aren't on TpT.. but if you'd like a copy of the chart, just comment with your email address and I'd by happy to email it to ya! ;) 


2. Hollywood Star Points

"Stop. Talking. Just. Stop." How many times have I repeated that lately? I even slowed down the sentence for emphasis, to no avail! So, last Sunday I spent way too much time cutting out Hollywood Star Points. Every time a table is doing the right thing, they earn a point. At the end of each day we note how many points each table/island has, and today we tallied up all the points and the table with the most got a small prize. Now, typically I'm not one to give rewards for doing what I expect you to do, besides our school-wide PBIS tickets, but the week before Spring Break? Hecks yah I am. And I did.. and my island friends were almost at the top of the charts! 
My tables do have group names that correspond with my Holly theme,  such as Paramount and MGM, but I thought table #s worked just fine! :)

3. Science lab fun

This week in science lab we used stream tables to teach about erosion. Students created mountains and had it "rain" on them, made plateaus and saw how deltas are formed. Pretty cool stuff! They even had to decide where to build their "houses" and do a risk assessment based on what they know about erosion. They loved it!

4. Date night... with the kids!

Since Daddy is gone, the kids and I had a date night/Mom doesn't feel like cooking night at Chick-Fil-A. Love that joint!

5. On My Honor lap books

We are almost done reading On My Honor and so the creation of the lap books has started. We have been doing word studies all along, as well as character analysis and various other activities. In the pictures the students are in the beginning processes of creating their books, starting with their vocab folders, name poems and character sketches. Much more to do!
20130322_140404.jpg20130322_140315.jpg

Enjoy your weekends... you deserve it! And don't forget to link up!!









7 comments:

  1. You definitely deserve a Friday! The AR tracking chart is very cute! I will have to pass that on to some of the older grade teachers at my school. We do AR in 2nd grade but mostly as an introduction. There isn't "pressure" or a grade put on it.
    Jean
    Diving Into 2nd Grade

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your AR tracking chart! I just realized that our daughters both have the same name and I spell it Lilly too:) Neat!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

    ReplyDelete
  3. I swear we have the same class! Your AR chart is cute, so far we are having success with Reading Bingo. Just hope it works for the rest of the year.

    Jess

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a fun science experiment-I use to do a similar experiment with my kiddos before they had me switch curriculum topics. Have a great weekend!
    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such great ways to track student success! Your kids are precious!!!

    Thanks for stopping by our blog!!

    (You are a no-reply blogger- email me and I will explain!)
    Amanda
    cutesyclickables@gmail.com
    Collaboration Cuties

    ReplyDelete
  6. I LOVE your Science fun with deltas! I am definitely going to try that out next year :) I teach fifth and just found your blog through the Five for Friday linky :) New follower!

    Bridget
    Little Lovely Leaders

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Mandy! I love your AR chart. I teach third grade and use AR for so many things- just not grades! I have a bar graph chart that has a space for each student. Each little square on the graph counts as one AR point. Along the way I offer prizes- like nice bookmarks or books. This year I have a student that has topped out- so many points she's off the graph (264!)Pretty amazing! I found your blog through Five for Friday's linky and I'm your newest follower! Visit me when you have time!
    Carol at http://teachersareterrific.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete