How Centers Transformed My Fourth Grade Classroom.

There was never a time when I didn't use centers.  Using centers in the classroom made sense to me from pre-k to kindergarten and then on to first and finally second grades.  There were so many benefits to using centers in the classroom!  One day, my principal then told me that she was moving me to fourth grade.  WH-A-A-A-A-T??????

I was very happy and content in the primary grades.  I had plenty of reasons to try and convince her that I didn't belong in upper elementary.  

• I rarely used worksheets.
• I taught whole lessons that were short and to the point.
• I taught to my students' needs in small groups.
• I used centers All. Day. Long!!

(I thought for sure that the last one would change her mind!!)

She just smiled at me and said, "That's EXACTLY why I am moving you!  I want the fourth graders to have just as much fun as your second grade students do!"

I spent the summer worrying. HOW could I replicate what I had always done in the lower grades for older students?

It turned out that it wasn't hard at all.

In fact, it was magical!

Grab FREE math and literacy centers by clicking HERE!

No Prep Centers

I don't enjoy spending tons of time planning and writing lesson plans for someone else.  Teachers know what we are doing, right?

I studied the standards for 4th grade in both math and literacy and created a curriculum map and planned out my year.  (YES!  I loosely planned the entire year, and it saved me SO. MUCH. TIME!)

After I had my lesson plan calendar for the entire year in hand, I created centers that I could just print and go.

The students loved them, and they were sooooooo easy for me!

I planned out five literacy stations and five math stations I would use each week ALL YEAR LONG!

Instead of constantly coming up with new centers, I only had to change the activities.

It was SO easy!!  

Daily Math Spirals

Each day before our daily focus in math, we completed five questions in a spiral.  These five questions covered the five big domains in Common Core.  By focusing on just these five, students were getting a review, present learning, and a preview of things to come.

By adding the preview component, I was able to do a mini lesson on the same standard/concept for 20 days.  By the time we actually reached that concept in our curriculum map, the students had been exposed to it so many times that it was a breeze to tighten down the learning!

I projected this math spiral on my big screen at the beginning of math class, and students completed the questions in a spiral notebook.  Again, there was no prep on my part with BIG results for the students.

We kept it fresh by sometimes working through the questions as a whole group, in small groups, with partners, or independently.

It was easy for me to print one page of questions and use in small groups when needed.

Using the daily math spirals allowed me to add a variety of activities to my math centers because I knew the students had already had exposure to the concepts.

You can find daily math spirals in my TpT store for second grade, third grade, and fourth grade.  

Centers, Centers, Centers

Instead of planning elaborate centers, I kept things very easy.  I used my NO PREP math centers and my NO PREP literacy centers and then filled in with things I already had in my classroom!

When the school became 1:1 in technology with Chromebooks, I added digital activities to the mix.

My classroom was mostly a full day of centers.

For early finishers, I had them go to a center activity.

For small groups,  I pulled a center activity that students had already used from my no prep activities or they played a game that was used during center time.

For whole group, I used a center activity for the entire class as a teaching tool.  Turn it into a game, and change the entire dynamics!

These center activities were an important part of our day.

The Magic of Centers

There are so many benefits to using math and literacy centers during center time and throughout the day in many different ways!

1)  I was able to quickly utilize planning and writing in lesson plans.

2)  I wasn't constantly searching for new material to use.  I used the same activities over and over in my classroom.

3)  The center activities could be used over and over throughout the year in many different ways!

4)  While students were enjoying and learning during center time, I was able to fill in the gaps by utilizing small group teaching. 

Do you want to try out a few NO PREP math and literacy centers?  Click here to grab a few samples for FREE!

If you aren't using centers and center activities, you are missing out on one of the most fun and effective ways to teach and learn in your classroom!

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My Kind of Teaching

How to Teach Beginning Research for Elementary Students

It's time for elementary students to begin learning how to research topics, but how do you teach them where to begin?

Learning how to research can be very tricky for students.  They don't know the basics, so breaking it down into small steps is best.

Beginning Research with a Simple Topic

Students as young as first and second grades can begin to research when given this step-by-step guide to follow.  

WEEK ONE:

Begin by spending a week teaching the skills as you research together.  Chose a topic that all students love or a timely topic for your classroom.  A great topic is any animal.

DAY ONE:

Students will break down the beginning research into four areas:

1)  the physical appearance of the animal (color, size, # of legs)

2)  what the animal eats

3)  the animal's habitat

4)  the animal's enemies

Divide a large piece of paper into those four areas.  Give your students books or a video about the animal.  Ask the students to write one fact that fits each of the areas onto sticky notes and place the sticky notes into the correct squares.

DAY TWO:

Read the sticky notes with the students, and discuss the information.  Is it clear?  Does it fit the topic heading?  What kind of information should be added?

Brainstorm together with students to make sure that you have enough information.

DAY THREE:

Use the information from the sticky notes to complete the sentences you have prepared on chart paper.

DAY FOUR:

Give students their own copies, and have them copy the information you wrote together yesterday on the chart paper.

DAY FIVE:

Each student can use the information gathered and completed yesterday to write a paragraph (or more) in his or her neatest handwriting on another piece of paper.

WEEK TWO:

Have students work together in small groups or with partners to repeat the steps from last week.  Assign groups different animals.  You can have the materials ready for them, or take a trip to the library for students to check out books. 

(For younger students and for the first time we did this in my classroom, I checked out all library books from the library ahead of time.)

As students spend the week working together, your job is to move around the room to check in to help with questions, guide students to find the information, and ensure that students are remaining on task and using their time wisely.

On the last day, you might wish to incorporate speaking and listening standards by having students stand up together and read their reports to the class.

WEEK THREE:

If you feel that students have a good grasp on beginning research, have them repeat the above independently.  Week two can be repeated with new topics and new groups if needed.

This unit has a list of topics, graphic forms, beginning (rough) draft, and completed drafts in differentiated levels to make beginning research easy for your elementary students if you are interested.

Click here to see it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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How to Use Small Groups as an Effective Teaching Strategy

The holidays are over, and the days are cold.

January seems to stretch out f-o-r-e-v-e-r unless you have a snow day or two.

However, it's also my favorite teaching month of the year!  I feel like there is such a sense of accomplishment this month!

It's a great time to focus on academics before all of the holiday excitement in February.

The only trouble is that the students have trouble coming down from all of the craziness of December.

Don't worry!

Utilizing small-group learning as an effective teaching strategy will bring calmness to it all.

It's the perfect opportunity to focus on centers, classroom games, small groups, and more.

In January, I especially love focusing on small groups.  I want to make sure that I have filled all of the gaps I possibly can.

Do you struggle with how to use small groups as an effective teaching strategy?

For me, much of my day is spent at my small-group table.  Behind me on my bookshelf, everything I need is prepared and at my fingertips so that I can be as efficient as possible.

To begin using small groups effectively, you first need to know the strengths and deficits of your students.  Read this blog post to learn five simple, quick, and creative ways to assess your students.

The rest of my classroom is a well-oiled machine.  The students work in centers during both my math and literacy blocks.  These no prep activities are so simple for me to prepare and change out within my centers.

Along with the no prep units, I have some other activities that are included for the entire month, making it super easy not to constantly be prepping and planning.

These January Early Finishers cards are printed, laminated, cut out, and placed in a small basket on my desk.  Students who finish their work early get one card and complete the activity.

I have January Morning Tubs ready for students as soon as they walk in the door.  They are so excited to delve into these every single morning.  A plus is that while students are working, I have time to complete those morning chores and get the first segment of small groups ready to go.

During science and social studies, students use virtual activities to learn about a topic and then include writing into the topic.

For a fun art activity, students love completing these Follow the Directions activities.

Again, what am I doing during this time?

I am working with small groups with these effective teaching strategies.

• I'm calling individual students over to read out loud to me and confer about the books they are reading.

• I'm working with 2-5 students in a small group over a math concept they didn't get yesterday during the math lesson.  How do I know they didn't get it?  I used one of these fun and easy assessments at the end of math yesterday.

• I usually do a mini lesson to reteach the concept.  Students have dry-erase boards and markers to work through the problems with me first, then with a partner, and finally independently.  This entire process only takes 10-15 minutes because I want to work with as many students as possible while the rest of the class completes math centers for 30 minutes.

• Students can also work together in small groups with or without your guidance using games.  Read this blog post to find out more.

I repeat the small-group process while students are working independently at any point during the day.

In case you are in need of another fun activity, join my email, and get this unit totally FREE!!

What does your January look like?

Filling in the gaps during January with small-group teaching is one of my favorites!  It's just...

My Kind of Teaching!

Five Creative Ways to Assess Students Without a Test

How do you know when your students are understanding the material you've taught?  

More importantly, how do you know when students are NOT understanding a concept?

Sometimes, you have to find creative ways to assess your students without using precious instructional time spent on a test.

These are five of my favorite ways to informally assess students without them realizing that they are being tested!

1) Ticket Out the Door

A quick and stress-free way to ensure that your students understand the subject matter is to take the last two minutes of class for students to answer a question about the day's lesson.  In my classroom, this looked like a sticky note for each student to write his or her answer.  Next to my door, I had these simple laminated pages on the wall.  

The students used the numbers they were assigned at the beginning of the year (if you don't use the number system in your classroom, you are missing out on an efficient system that helps in so many areas).  Read more and grab free numbers here.) Each student writes his or her number in the corner of the sticky note and the answer to the question and then sticks in on the numbered board on his or her number.

Grab your own FREE ticket out the door here.

Quick Tip - Have your students write on the sticky sides of the notes so that other students cannot see their answers when on the board.

2) Four Corners Game

Prepare 3-5 questions you want to ask your students about the material.  Type these out before class on a simple slide show to use with your overhead projector, or simply ask the questions.  Give your students four possible answers.  Designate each corner as "A", "B", "C", or "D".  Students will move to the corner they feel is the correct answer.

(For greater details on this game and using more games in your classroom for learning, click here to read the blog post.)

Quick Tip - Prepare your class by permanently posting "A", "B", "C", or "D" in each corner to use throughout the school year.

3) Google Forms

Type up a quick mini-assessment on Google Forms of 1-5 multiple-choice questions.  As students settle in for class, ask them to complete the "quick five" (or "quick three", etc.)  I like to give it a name so that students know what to expect.  The best part is that the data will be there waiting on you to check later!

Quick Tip - Prepare a template form.  Save this form to use all year.  This will save time since you simply change the questions and answers.

4) Write About It

Add more writing during the day for your students by having them write out the steps or processes to find their answers.  This is a great and creative way to assess your students in math.  If they can tell you the processes and the steps to solve problems, they have mastered the concepts.  If they cannot tell you, it will be very evident.  As a bonus, you will be able to see exactly which step/thought process a student is missing.  This will make it very easy for you to do a mini-lesson with those students to fill the gap.

Quick Tip - If you use Google Classroom, make an assignment for just this purpose.  Students can add slides as needed to complete the answers.  This saves you time by not having a stack of papers.  

5) Show Your Hand

This is a super quick and extremely easy way to assess your students.  Have your students face the front of the room and hold their hands in fists on their chests or stomachs.  Ask them to self-assess by showing the number of fingers to tell you how they feel about their knowledge of the subject matter.  (I kept this poster at the front of my classroom all year for this creative way to assess any subject.)  

1 = I do not understand at all!  Please help me.

2 = I only understand a little.  I am still lost and need help.

3 = I understand it, but I need more practice to improve.

4 = I am confident in the subject.

5 = I am a pro and can teach it to someone else.

Quick Tip - Prepare a list of your students' names.  As you look at your students' fingers, mark down the students who score themselves at a 1 or 2.  Alternately, if you have a student who scores himself or herself high and you know in your heart of hearts that he or she is at a 1 or 2, take note of that also.

There you have it...five quick, easy, and creative ways to assess your students daily to ensure that you are catching and filling in those gaps before they become too wide.

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Don't forget to save this blog post to your favorite Pinterest board to have it at the tip of your fingers when you need ideas!

Which of these ideas is your favorite?  Comment below and let's chat!

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MY KIND OF TEACHING

December Round Up

I've got you covered for the month of December!

The month of December is CRAZY busy!  It goes so quickly that it's hard to keep up.  I've got you covered with some fun and engaging activities that are still full of rigor.  Just click on the pictures to see several units for each topic.

Helping you enjoy the season without worry and extra time spent planning, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching

Using Digital Games in the Classroom for Effective Practice

Using digital games in the classroom will help boost students’ understanding and mastery of a subject.  The use of digital games is a win-win for both teachers and students.  

A benefit to teachers is that there is very little prep required.  Just assign them to your students via whichever platform you use, and watch the magic happen.

It helps to reinforce skills and concepts and is a powerful motivator for students to learn.

The benefits of playing learning-based games for students are numerous!

•        They are engaging.

•        Games are fun and exciting practice (rather than a boring worksheet).

•        Fit students' learning styles with hands-on digital games.

•        Students can complete these games at their own pace.

These activities can be used for:

•        small groups

•        early finishers

•        extensions for lessons

•        remediation

•        enrichment

•        practice

•        assessment

•        centers

Integrating technology with digital games is so beneficial in the classroom.  It allows all students to be successful, as video games are one of the most familiar activities for students.

Today’s students spend much of their days looking at screens.  Using digital games to practice concepts and skills of an academic subject is one of the best ways a teacher can meet students on their terms.

Using educational video games in the classroom is a good way to keep students interested in the subject matter.  Not only are students practicing the concept and skill, but they are also working on memory, problem-solving, and other cognitive aspects.

Implementing digital games in the classroom can transform a boring subject into an exciting lesson.

When choosing digital games for your classroom, they should:

•        engage students

•        motivate students

•        increase academic skills, thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and even social skills (if working with partners or groups)

•        be directly aligned to the standards

•        be both educational and fun

Try digital activities and games in your own classroom, and see how excited and engaged your students become!

Do you enjoy using digital games in your classroom?  Comment below and tell me!

Keeping the learning real, fun, exciting, and engaging, that's just...

MY KIND OF TEACHING