ISM Spotlight – Amazing Art from Mismeasurement

T his year I am the luckiest teacher in the world. I get to teach at the best school ever – International School of Morocco, with some of the best, most creative, teachers ever. Each time I walk into someone else’s classroom, I get inspired and we just seem to spiral great teaching ideas off of each other. It’s a wonderful place to teach, and since we are all collaborating, it’s a wonderful place for our kids to learn – a teacher’s dream, right? I have tried and tried to convince the other teachers to create blogs of their own to spotlight and share some of their amazing ideas, but everyone is super busy. Instead, they have each agreed to let me spotlight some of their ideas right here on Raki’s Rad Resources. So, each Friday night, I will be posting an ISM Spotlight.

Today we are spotlighting our Nursery teacher, Jen Kadiri.  Jen teaches the three year old class and does the most amazing crafts ever!  (Check this post for all of her handprint art from last year.)  So, when I saw these amazing hearts hanging outside of her classroom, I just had to stop and take a picture so I could share it with you guys.  Little did I know that the hearts were actually a bi-product of a Valentine project gone awry. 

Ms. Kadiri cut out these hearts originally hoping to work on symmetrical painting with her class.  However, when she cut them, she realized they were a tad too big.  Leave it to Ms. Kadiri to turn in ooops into a Wow!  She continued with her painting project – letting students paint one half of the hearts any way they wanted and then folding the hearts in half so that the students had symmetrical art pieces.

After the paintings dried, she cut the center hearts out of the larger hearts and punched holes around the edges.  The students then laced all the way around their hearts and made Valentines for their parents.  Meanwhile the super cute too-big hearts got hung in the hallway!  Double duty Valentine hearts!

I told Ms. Kadiri that next year I might try the heart frames and put student created poetry on the inside!  I wish I was half as creative as Ms. Kadiri, but at least I have the amazing opportunity to work with her and “borrow” her ideas into my own!

 

 

Stop by next Friday to see what else is happening at the International School of Morocco.

Weather Channel App

Did you ever introduce your child to an app that you later wished you hadn’t?  I have multiple still in use in my house – minecraft, fruit ninja, etc.  However, the one I am most regretting these days is “The Weather Channel”.  How could that possibly be a bad app you’re asking?  Well, my oldest son is an information – addict.  Ever since I showed him this app, which I am using in my classroom, I get daily weather updates for not only Casablanca, Morocco (where we live) but also Buffalo, NY (where his grandfather lives) and Atlanta, GA (where he has lots of friends and family).  Fun, nice, yet annoying!

Anyways, the point of this blog post is to tell you the good things about this app, and there are plenty!  I have been using this app as a part of my Calendar Math Monthly Books for the last year and a half.  Part of my Calendar Math Monthly Books for all 7 levels is to check the temperature in some way.  My youngest group only has to find out today’s temperature and forecast, but my oldest group has to compare today’s temperature with yesterday’s temperature and mark the amount of increase or decrease. 

With this app, children can check the temperature and forecast in any city around the world.  Students in my room take turns checking and recording the weather on the board for their classmates.  Students then record and calculate in their calendar books. 

In past years, I have had students graph weather on bar and line graphs, and choose another city (or two) to check and record daily so that we could compare and contrast weather patterns.  The Weather Channel app would also be a great addition to a weather unit in Science or for finding climate information when doing a country study in Social Studies.

How could you use The Weather Channel App in your classroom?

For other apps to use in your classroom, click on the banner below:

Using Skype to Connect Students to Experts

 

For two years, I was the Technology Specialist at a school in Georgia. During that time, I amassed a large collection of websites that I use with my students. You can download my E-Book of Websites for the Elementary Classroom for free from Teachers Pay Teachers or Smashwords, or, you can check back here each week for the website suggestion.

Skype is a powerful website.  It allows me to see and hear my family in the United States while I am across the ocean in Morocco.  It allows me to have a Georgia phone number that rings to my computer.  However, Skype is even more powerful when you think of the possibilities for the classroom.  Skype allows teachers to bring a wide range of experts into your classroom.  It also allows you to connect your class with other classes around the world.  Here are some ways I have used Skype in the classroom.

Connect to Experts:  No matter what you are studying, there are all manner of experts out there to talk to in order to enhance what you are studying.  We invited food blogger, MarocMamma, to Skype with our class. She will be joining us in a few weeks to talk to them about the process of writing professionally, how she still needs to go through the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, editing and revising) and how she connects with others through her blog.

Last year, another teacher at my school was studying rocks and minerals.  Her class spoke with her sister who makes jewelry.  Find all of the details in this old post -   ISM Spotlight–Volcanoes, Rock Museums & Precious Stones. 

The great thing with connecting with “experts” is that we often know many experts on different topics and can use those connections to bring a new perspective to our classroom.  Great teachers have been bringing these experts into the classrooms for a long time.  However, with the use of Skype, you can draw from a much larger pool of experts.  Here are some possible experts you could bring into your class via Skype:

Literacy: authors, bloggers, librarians, reporters, speakers of other languages, advertising professionals etc.

Math:  chefs, carpenters, interior designers, architects, engineers, computer programmers etc.

Science:  doctors, college professors, scientists, amateur astronomers, environmental activists etc.

Social Studies: bankers, lawyers, politicians, police officers, historical enthusiasts, people who live in another state or country, etc.

Remember that anyone who has a strong interest or hobby can be deemed an “expert” if they are willing to talk to your class.  Also remember that it never hurts to ask – you’d be surprise who will be willing to help you out if you just ask!

View Collections:  Thanks to the video feature of Skype, we can also view the collections of others using this amazing website.  Last week, my class viewed the money collection of a friend of our director on a Skype call.  He spoke with them about different types of currency, but he also showed them money made out of animal hides, tea and metal. 

What collections could make a difference in your classroom?  A rock collection? A shell collection? A fossil collection?  A car collection?  What about a look at old auto parts during a machines unit?  Or a look at different kitchen gadgets during a tools unit?  How about a look at animal furs during an animal adaptations unit?  Or a look at a large book or record collection to enhance your literacy lessons?

Connect to Other Classes:  Adults are not the only people your class can connect with using Skype.  How about connecting with another class?  During my first year in Morocco, my class talked to another class in Maine, USA who was studying Morocco.  The students asked each other questions and even taught each other songs.  When I did this, I didn’t have a projector and did the Skype chat with just my one laptop and 20 kids.  Here is a link to a full blog post on this activity – Skype Pen Pals.

 

 

Who could you connect to?  Could you connect with a classroom of students on a Native American children during your Native American unit?  How about a real “look” at those students you have been penpals with?  Or how about pairing with another teacher who is reading the same book as your class and doing a shared reading or a series of book talks with that class?

 

How have you used Skype in your class?

Everything’s On Sale!!!! 28% Off + a Freebie For All

 

Did you know that there are over 3,000,000 teachers registered on Teachers Pay Teachers?  That is a gigantic network of teachers sharing their resources and an even more gigantic network of teachers who have realized that the people who make the best resources for the classroom are other teachers.  For those of you who don’t know, I have been sharing my resources on Teachers Pay Teachers since 2009.  This blog post has my TPT story.  I love being a part of this gigantic, supportive, network of teachers who are working hard to teach each other out. 

To celebrate this milestone, the teacher sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers are having a sale.  Most stores – including my store Raki’s Rad Resources – will be on sale for 20% off.  Then, TPT is offering an additional 10% off of that sale price with the Promo Code TPT3.  All of this will happen February 27th and February 28th.  Here are some of the deals you can get from my store on those two days:

 

Additionally, everyone who fills in this form BEFORE the sale begins will receive my top selling item – a 3 pack of Graphic Organizers that is great for any classroom, from 1st grade up, completely FREE.  So, please take 2 minutes to fill in this form and I’ll be sending those Graphic Organizers out to you Wednesday evening, before my family leaves for a two day mini-vacation to Ceuta (a Spanish colony in Morocco).

How Does Learning About Our Brains Help Us Teach?

Recently, I posted about how my school is using Facebook and Pinterest as part of our professional development.  (See the whole post HERE.) I’ve decided to pass on some of the best videos and articles I come across to you each Sunday evening.  Here is this week’s professional development post:

Brain based learning has been an important teaching strategy for a long time.  This video, by Daniel Wolpert, a neuroscientist, discusses how the brain works in a way that is easy to understand.  This video is a must watch for anyone contemplating utilizing brain based strategies in the classroom.

 

If you’re interested in more professional development videos – follow my Professional Development Pinterest board or click on the banner below for similar posts.

 

 

I Don’t Do Center Rotations – Here’s Why and How I Do It

For years, I have tried and tired to do “center rotations”.  However, no matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to make it work.  That’s not to say I don’t do center – type activities, I just don’t do rotations.  Here are my big issues with center rotations:

1.  It means that every group gets exactly the same amount of time for the same activities.  However, my kids NEVER finish the same activity in the same amount of time.  I always have early finishers and kids who require more time.  So, giving each of them exactly 20 minutes to complete the same task is not sensible.

2.  It takes a lot of effort to “watch the clock” and be sure that each group moves when it is supposed to.  Now, I still watch the clock a little in order to be sure I see all of my reading groups at the same time.  However, if I am not nailed to that “20 minute rotation”, then I can spend that 30 minutes with my struggling readers while only taking 10 minutes to check and make sure that my top group is on track with their novel studies. 

3.  When I rotate, I am stuck with finding a set amount of activities that fit into set time blocks, instead of thinking about what my students actually need to be doing. 

4.  Transitions!  I have spent my teaching career trying to get rid of “dead time” transitions.  Getting rid of center rotations got rid of the concept of having all of the students transition at the same time.

Now, don’t think that my students are sitting and listening to me lecture all day, or that they are all working on the same activity with my guidance all day – far from it.  Instead, I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year training my students on how to use a To Do List. 

I generally write my To Do List on the board, although for younger students I may type the list on a sheet where they can cross off each thing they do and I can check their progress at the end of the day.  My students are trained to start at the top of the list and work down to the last item, which is generally an unending or open ended item, such as working on puzzles or reading a book.  This prevents a teacher’s most dreaded words “I’m done, what do I do now?”

My Math To Do List generally looks like this:

1. Complete your Calendar Book

2.  Complete today’s Daily Math Review

3.  Finish this week’s Reflection in your Interactive Math Notebook

4.  Complete page xxx in your textbook

5.  Work on creating your Math Tutorial Videos

6.  Work on your Tiling Puzzles

7.  Work on Izzi (a critical thinking puzzle)

 

My Literacy To Do List generally looks like this:

1. Complete today’s poetry reflection

2.  Complete today’s vocabulary

3.  Read for 15 minutes

4.  Work on Reading Response Journals

5.  Work in your Writing Journal

6.  Make “quiz questions” for a book you’ve read recently

7.  Listen to stories on assigned websites

Now, all students do not get to number 5, 6 and 7 every day, but that’s okay.  They have spent time on the things that I feel are most important for that block of time.  I will often set apart separate chunks of time to work on the bottom items of a to-do list, so that students who haven’t reached that point will get extra time to complete their tasks.

I know at least some of you are going – Wait, Heidi, don’t you sell holiday oriented center packets?  Sure I do, but generally, students don’t rotate through these in my class.  Rather, they will work through each activity at their own pace and make an X over each activity as it is finished.  BTW – St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, and here is a link to my St. Patrick’s Day Center packet.

How do you run independent work time in your classroom?

 

Student Designed Insulating Devices

This year, I teach Math and Science to Year 3 – Year 6.  Because of our multi-age  classrooms, our science  standards are staggered among the 4 year groups so that students are not repeating the same science curriculum with me each year.  Last year, we studied simple and complex machines and built cars as part of our unit.  You can find all of the information in this old blog post or in my Designing Machines unit.

After all that fun last year, the kids started asking on the first day of school what we would be building this year.  My physical science unit this year is heating and cooling.  So, I asked my students to build an insulation device.  The challenge was to keep a frozen water bottle frozen for an entire school day.  We had already learned about conducting and insulating materials, as well as how color absorbs heat, so we took the principles we had learned and designed devices.  Students designed their devices at school, and then took their design home to execute it. Download the sheet from Google Docs if you would like to build these with your class.

 Finally, the students brought in their devices and we tested them out.  I supplied each student with a water bottle that had been frozen solid.  The students put their water bottles into their devices and set out to wait.

 

    

 

   

We also set an additional frozen water bottle on the counter as a “control”.

At the end of the day, we measured the water that had melted.  The device which allowed the least amount of water out won a prize – a lollipop and a certificate.  I also handed out a prize for most unique design and most attractive device.  This was our wining device, which include a box inside a box, and a Styrofoam plate and bubble wrap for extra insulation:

The next day, we had a whole class discussion on the different devices and why some devices worked better than others.  The students also reflected in their science journals about what they would do differently if they had this to do again.  I was proud to hear lots of good science vocabulary and all of the concepts we had learned about in both our discussion and the student reflections.

ISM Spotlight – Amazing Book Activities

T his year I am the luckiest teacher in the world. I get to teach at the best school ever – International School of Morocco, with some of the best, most creative, teachers ever. Each time I walk into someone else’s classroom, I get inspired and we just seem to spiral great teaching ideas off of each other. It’s a wonderful place to teach, and since we are all collaborating, it’s a wonderful place for our kids to learn – a teacher’s dream, right? I have tried and tried to convince the other teachers to create blogs of their own to spotlight and share some of their amazing ideas, but everyone is super busy. Instead, they have each agreed to let me spotlight some of their ideas right here on Raki’s Rad Resources. So, each Friday night, I will be posting an ISM Spotlight.

This week was Literacy Week at the International School of Morocco.  We spent the week learning about books, languages and how we use each.  Here are some of the things we did:

We started each day out with a whole school read aloud and story analysis poster.

On Monday, we read Green Eggs and Ham and analyzed the characters of Sam I Am and the narrator.  For lunch that day, we ate green eggs and ham!

  

On Tuesday, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and analyzed the poetic elements, like alliteration, assonance and personification.  For snack that day, we had coconut tress made out of coconut cream cookies and apples.

 

On Wednesday, we read The Giving Tree and analyzed the characters, setting, problem and solution.  For snack that day, we had a Mad Hatter’s tea party (from Alice and Wonderland) with scones and English tea.  

  

On Thursday, we read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and completed a story map with characters, setting, problem, solution, beginning, middle and end.  For lunch that day, we ate rice and meatballs.

 

On Friday, we read Stone Soup and completed a simple story map with characters, setting, problem and solution.  Each child brought in a vegetable and we made stone soup for lunch!

  

On Monday, we all came dressed as our favorite book characters.  These three teachers were: Ms. Frizzle, The Coconut Tree and Little Red Riding Hood.

 

Throughout the week, we had parents in to read to children in their native tongue.  Our students heard stories in French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Korean, Swedish, Russian and English.

   

During snack each day, the students created graphs about their name.  They graphed the letters in their first name, the letters in their last name, the number of letters in their first and last name and the number of syllables in their names.

Throughout the week, the older students (Year 3 – Year 6) explored a board of idioms in American English, British English, French and Arabic.  Throughout the week, we stopped to explore and discuss all of these idioms with our students.

       

    

Throughout the week, as we transitioned in from recess or lunch we replaced our normal nursery rhyme with reciting the alphabet in English, French and Arabic.  Additionally, the students created the letters of the Latin alphabet with their bodies.

 

What do you do during reading or literacy week at our school?