Winter Masterpieces & MORE BRRR! Oh--Five for Friday, too...

What is Five for Friday? Hugh? Oh, now we remember! It has been SO LONG...

 

Weighing in a bit EARLY because we are off today due to the sub-zero temps and wind chills here in Illinois. BRRR!  Some extra time to blog today--time that may not be available tomorrow... 

WINTER MASTERPIECES

Thought we would share some WONDERFUL winter art ideas in keeping with the cold...

We may have shared this fabulous website in the past, but Courtney and I cannot say enough how great this creative blog is---Art Projects for Kids by Kathy Barbo!! Love the kid artwork posted on her sight and the step-by-step directions she provides.  Here are a couple of Kathy's projects our kids have created--

Snowman on Skis

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!  I get warm fuzzies each time I pass Courtney's bulletin board with her kids' masterpieces. These snow friends have character!!  Materials list--black paper, glue, and pastels.  Click here to learn more!

Abstract Winter Trees

SIMPLE but striking is always nice!  Our classroom paparazzi took a few pics of our abstract masterpieces.  My kids love to use watercolors, and they have become experts at mixing just the right color for their needs--beautiful.  We followed the directions pretty much to the T, but triangle templates were not necessary after modeling how to draw a tree.  Click here to learn more!

SCHOLASTIC's STORIA APP

Courtney and I have latched on TIGHT to Scholastic Storia--using it almost daily! If you haven't checked Storia out lately, take a look! Scholastic now allows the app to be loaded on multiple devices and enables teachers to create bookshelves.  As you probably already know, Scholastic offers oodles of nonfiction/informational texts for purchase in book orders.  You will be surprised at the number of these texts that are also available as Storia eBooks--many interactive.  Courtney and I have been using texts during core reading as well as during intervention time.  

 

MENTAL MATH SNOW FRIENDS

Our kids' mental math snow friend craftivities turned out great! This is just one activity we did when exploring the POWER of mental math.  Our kids are becoming addition mental math wizards!

You can find this craftivity and other materials to use with your kids in my packet, Snow Friends Mental Math. Just visit my TpT store!

 
 GUIDED READING & GUIDED MATH ROTATIONS: TO DOs

I have effectively differentiated instruction for my students for 20 years now--but as the expression goes, "Things get better with age."  I am sure many teachers use "to dos" to help guide their students.  I have found this a powerful tool to help build student independence--and I just started doing it religiously this year!  I found some great picture fonts from kevinandamanda.com that help students know if tasks should be done alone or with a partner/s. To Dos are slipped in plastic sleeves and put in work areas.  Also, I adore Kimberly Geswein's font and The Enlightened Elephant's cloud page border. Here are some examples of to dos that I use with my kids.

MATH DISCUSSION FANS

Problem Solving discussion fans are something my students use during guided math rotations.  They provide an independent, yet guided opportunity for kids to talk about math. My students have become great users of this tool! Check it out in my TpT store!

BE A WORD BUILDER EXTRAORDINAIRE!

I created the following word building activity sheets to give my students extra practice with various letter/sound patterns.  The letter/sounds chosen were specific to my students’ needs throughout the year.  I wanted to provide my students with more meaningful word work practice than simply letting them choose from different ways to write their spelling words.  My students also needed extra practice with chunking word parts.  Be a Word Builder Extraordinaire! has fulfilled these needs.  This product is newly listed in my TpT store!

Please enjoy a free sample of Long e: ee - Set 1 to try with your students!

Don't forget to fly on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more Five for Fridays!

All the best for a warm & cozy weekend--even if you aren't freezing!

Monday Made Its--Math!

It's Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics...

Money Bags!

A couple of weeks ago I had an idea for an independent, differentiated money activity.  My idea was to put a bunch of coins in a money bag (selecting coins according to students' needs) and create a group of tasks that could be completed with any bag of money.  I decide to make cloth money bags and began to search for some fabric with dollar signs... While looking online, I stumbled across a Bank Robber Money Bag tutorial.  Well, it was a little more than I had planned on doing, but they were so darn cute that I had to make some (with black and bright colors, of course). I also adapted the size of the bag for my needs.  Here is how they turned out!

I had the tasks floating around in my head and finally got them put together. You can get these task sheets in my TpT store by clicking the cover below!

Be as creative or as simple as you want with your money bags...

Problem Solving Discussion Fans

I created some problem solving discussion fans to help guide my students' discussions with one another during independent work time.  Rich math discussions are an important way students learn, and these discussion do not always need to take place in a whole/small group, teacher directed setting.  Students can pair up and use discussion fans during guided math rotations, center/workstation time, at the end of a day's lesson, etc.  I am always amazed by my students' thoughtful discussion!  Teachers can also keep a fan handy during whole or small group time.

Get ahold of a copy of my Problem Solving Discussion Fan in my TpT store--includes suggestions for use and directions for assembly.

"READ" Back to School Bunting

I created a "READ" bunting with my new chalkboard bunting backgrounds...

Font by KG Fonts

Check out more Monday Made Its at 4th Grade Frolics!