Five for Friday: Rockets, Daily 5, Blendspace...

We are linking up with Doodle Bug Teaching for another Five for Friday...

One

The Library Can Save Me Money?!

(an age old concept, yet one I had not really learned yet)

I have been doing the summer reading program with my grandson, so we have been visiting our beautiful new library every Thursday.  Now, I am a person that has an addiction to BUYING books, as I think I need to have them for my very own in my hot little hands.  Well, what I decided to do is go to a section of interest in the library each week and investigate some books for use in my classroom (to check out next school year--NOT BUY).  This week I came upon the nonfiction section that housed what I call teaching texts.  I checked some out, took them home, read them with my grandson, and decided if I thought each would be something I would use this school year (as a mentor text, read & reflect text for use during guided math or guided reading rotations, or just one to check out and have in the classroom for student choice reading).  Since my grandson, Corbin, is starting second grade this year, he is a fabulous little book reviewer--if he likes it, I know some others will, too.  Here is a goodie I discovered this week!  Corbin is actually re-reading the book for the third time to great-grandma Rose as I type!

1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochell:  Clever!  Hilarious!  The laughs were abundant reading this one.  Here are a few of the silly, yet clever equations presented in the text.

Kids could create their own 1 + 1 equations with a sub-line, 'In other words, 4 + 3 = 7.' in an independent guided reading station. It would be great for money---1 + 1 = 15?, 1 nickel + 1 dime = 15 cents.  How about geometric art? 1 + 1 = 11?, 1 cube + 1 square pyramid = 11 faces. I am thinking the possibilities are many!  If you have used this text with your kids, please share your idea in a comment--it would be greatly appreciated...

Until next Friday! I will share some other library finds... :0)

Two

Rockets Away!

Rockets were launching this week at the library!  We went to a presentation about how rockets work and how things move--fun had by all.  The kids even got to make little rockets and launch them in the parking lot.  I will be doing a future post about how to make your own rocket and simple launcher (the launcher in the pic is not the basic one).  Needless to say, we made a trip to Home Depot for some PVC last night.  Inexpensive and fun!

Three

 Daily 5: The Second Edition

I remember the summer of 2006 when I read about this book that had just been published on a teacher's chatboard. The book was titled The Daily 5, Fostering Literacy and Independence in the Elementary Grades. It seems pretty interesting, so I ordered it. When I received the book, it took my 1 day to read it all. I was hooked and wanted to begin implementing The Daily 5 in my own classroom. I have been doing The Daily 5 in my classroom since then and it has taught me so much. When I discovered that The Sisters had come out with a 2nd edition, I knew I had to have it! Even though I have been doing The Daily 5 for 8 years, this book has taught me even more. I love how The Sisters recommend that students have to do Read to Self and Work on Writing everyday. They have also added a chapter just on Math Daily 3 which will flow nicely with the Guided Math I already do. I HIGHLY recommend reading this book!

Four

Blendspace

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and I were fortunate enough to attend a professional development event in which we learned a plethora of information on reading and writing. The presenter, Laura Beltchenko, showed us this wonderful website Blendspace.  What this site does is puts everything in one place for you. She had her PowerPoints, documents (both Word and pdfs), YouTube videos, and much more in this one spot that we now have access to.  

This past week, a co-teacher and I, were asked to go to a neighboring district and work with teachers on The Daily 5. I thought this was a great opportunity to use Blendspace. I put a PowerPoint we created, as well as many documents and videos all in this place. Those teachers now have access to those items whenever they want!

Five

Brand-New Guided Math Blog Kick Off Continues!

What an amazing week for our brand-new guided math blog! We hope you will take the time to check it out, become an adventurer (follower), and enter to win one of our fabulous prize packages! You may enter to win through Friday, July 4th!
 

Fly on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more Five for Fridays!

All the best for a wonderful weekend!