Tracking Summer Reading

Ask any teacher, and they will tell you that the best thing a child can do over the summer is to read, read, read.  Students who read over the summer not only practice all of the good decoding and comprehension strategies they have learned all school year long, they also build their vocabularies and background knowledge. 

I always remind my students of the “portability” of books during the last few weeks of school.  Books can be read on the beach, in the forest, in a tent, in a resort, in the car on the way to summer camp, on an airplane or train, or anywhere else they are going during summer vacation.  I encourage my students to explore all these places during the summer with our summer internet scavenger hunt which you can find explained HERE. Also, if students for some reason can’t bring books with them, I give them this list of online books that they can read anywhere that they have internet.

 This year, I am also going to recommend the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.  Scholastic has a wonderful site set up where students can log the number of minutes that they read each day from May 5th – September 5th.  There is a weekly goal for them to build up to and badges to download if they have met that goal.  There are also extra challenges to allow them to download free chapters from books and enter sweepstakes to win free books.  For parents, Scholastic provides suggested book lists for different age ranges.  Overall, the entire site for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is easy to use and provides a good motivation to keep kids reading all summer.

In addition to charting their reading, I also provide my students with an Online Book Report project that they create using their favorite book from their summer reading.  This project gives students the freedom to pick books they like and present information about it in lots of different wasy.  Last year, I had one student create an iMovie trailer for his book report while another created a Prezi with all the important information about the book.

How do you encourage your students to read over the summer?

Desert Day

This 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.

For the last science unit of the year, all of the students at the International School of Morocco study a biome – on a four year rotation.  Last year we studied the forest (to align with our study of Ancient Rome).  This year we are studying the desert (to align with our study of Ancient Egypt.)  Next year, we will study the rainforest (to align with our study of the Mayas and Incas).

Since we live on the edge of the Sahara desert, it would be very easy to make this unit about only the Sahara desert.  However, in the spirit of international mindedness, we all felt that it was very important for students to learn about the different kinds of deserts that appear around the world.  The older students (Year 3 – Year 6 or 2nd – 5th grade) are each researching the plants, animals and peoples of one of the deserts around the world – from the Mojave desert to the Attacama desert to Antarctica and will be creating a “Virtual Field Trip Experience” with their data.  The Year 1 & Year 2 students have compared animals and plants from different deserts while looking into food chains.  The whole school has been learning about how all life in the desert has adapted to these harsh biomes.  The Reception students even learned about how camel caravans used the stars to find their way through the desert.

To give our students even more exposure, we turned our half day into a “Desert  Day” where students rotated through 4 different deserts – each from a different continent.  The students worked together in their multiage “house” groups (from 3 years old to 11 years old).  In each room, students learned about the plants and animals of the desert, but they also spent time learning about the people of the area and the cultures that developed in these tough climates.  Here is a bit of what we did:

The Sahara Desert in Africa

In the Saharan Desert room, the students learned about Dromedary camels, cactus, and the Berber peoples of the Saharan with Mrs. Kadiri and Ms. Tolentino.  They learned how to wrap their head and face to protect themselves from sand storms.  They also learned about the tea ceremonies of the Berber people, and the tea ceremonies where people pour tea from a “camel”.  Students simulated this by sitting on top of the table and attempting to pour water into a cup below.

The Gobi Desert in Asia

In the Gobi Desert room, the students learned about Bactrian camels, wild onions and the people of Mongolia with Ms. Johnson.  They also learned about the yurts they live in, the music they make and about the Olzii symbol, also called the never-ending knot, which symbolizes the infinite universe and cycle of life and death to the people of Mongolia.  The Olzii symbol is said to keep away evil spirits and bring prosperity.  Students then created their own versions of the Olzii symbol with paint.

The “Outback” Deserts in Australia

In the Australian Desert room, the students learned about kangaroos, dingoes, Eucalyptus trees, and the aboriginal people of Australia with Ms. Nassar.  They learned about the oldest instrument – the Didgeridoo, about ancient rock painting and about body painting.  Then, students had a chance to create their own rock paintings, body paintings and even their own Didgeridoos.

 

The Chihuahuan Desert in North America

In the Chihuahuan Desert room, the students learned about bats, buffalos, javalenias, mesquite plants and the Apache Native Americas of the Southwester United States and Mexico with me.  We learned about how the Apache made clothes of animal hides and beadwork, and made baskets with willow shoots.  Then, we tried our hand at weaving – mats for the younger students and baskets for the older students.  The baskets turned out to be a lot of work, and many students got frustrated, but all left with a sense of appreciation for the work that goes into making those beautiful tools.

 

Throughout the day, students carried with them their Desert Day Book, so that they could record facts about each desert and reflect on their learning.  If you are interested in doing a Desert Day at your school, feel free to download the book for free from Google Docs.

What collaborative days has your school done?

  

Experimenting with the Needs of a Plant

My students have (FINALLY) finished their plant projects.  What I thought would be a quick little project rolled into a really BIG project, but has also allowed for some really BIG learning, so we rolled with it!  That’s the name of the game in Education, right – be flexible and allow for student created learning!

First, my students broke into 4 (mainly student selected) groups.  Each group chose one of the needs of the plant: light, air, water and soil.  This would be the variable in their experiment.  All of the other needs would be their control.
Next, students decided what their variations would be.  They had 6 plants, so they came up with 6 variables.  For example,  my light group’s variables looked like this:

For each variation, they hypothesized what they thought would happen.  The light groups hypotheses looked like this:

Once students had their variations and hypotheses determined, we labeled each pot in order to be very clear on how this plant was to be affected by the experiment.  I also discussed with each group the exact logistics of how they would put their variations in place.  For example:  How would they prevent light from getting to the plants that were not supposed to be receiving light?
 
 
As soon as everything was set up, we gave the students 10 minutes each day to water their plants and make their observations.  Students wrote down their observations in their science journal and also took photographs using our iPad cameras.  We kept up the experiment for 3 weeks (and probably could have used 1 more week – but Spring Break interrupted us!)

 

Once we were done with our experiment, the students put all of their observations together, compiling their “data” and preparing their presentations.  Students had the choice of creating a movie, a Prezi, a poster, a slideshow, an essay or a set of graphs to present their data.  Posters are very popular in my classroom right now, so we ended up with 3 posters and the light group made an iMovie.



  



My students took more ownership over this project than they have ever taken over anything before.  Many groups had variations that required them to move plants throughout the day, or even take a part of their recess to do something, like the air group spending 2 minutes every day blowing on one of their plants to provide it with additional Carbon Dioxide.  This was also a great experiment into team work and how to use each student’s strengths to the best use of the group.  The kids worked in multiage groups, and learned how to accommodate and help out their peers.The results of the project showed that they had learned a significant amount about the Scientific Method and about plants.
 If you are interested in using this project with your students, you can download the directions and sheets for the Great Plant Experiment at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Scavenger Hunts on the Internet

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.

One of the most popular items in my Teachers Pay Teachers store lately has been my internet scavenger hunts.  Some people like them so much that they have been asking to make requests for certain topics.  I am hoping to be open to making internet scavenger hunts on demand by August 2014, but right now I’m just a wee bit busy (end of school year, international move etc.)  So, instead of a Website Suggestion this week, I thought I would go through the steps I use to make an internet scavenger hunt, in case you wanted to make one yourself.

An internet scavenger hunt is similar to a Web Quest, in that students will use the internet to find information. However, internet scavenger hunts are designed for students to search for specific answers, rather than creating an open ended project. Internet scavenger hunts can be done as a whole class, in small groups, individually and even at home.  This versatility makes them so useful for so many different topics.  Currently I have only science and social studies topics like Ecology and Economics, but I hope to add some math and literacy scavenger hunts next school year.

1.)  Decide what information you want students to know.  Internet scavenger hunts are specific, not open ended, so they are great for getting kids to review key facts, dates and concepts.  Make a list of exactly what you want them to know and then use those to create a “quiz” of sorts.  My internet scavenger hunts generally include a balance of about half open ended short answer questions and half fill in the blank or matching questions. 

 

2.)  Next, you need to find websites that students will use to find the answers to the questions you made up in step 1.  For this, you should use a variety of very specific sites where students will be guaranteed to find the answers without clicking off of the site and sites that are more general and simply on the correct topic.  This gives students the opportunity to truly search while guaranteeing that they will find the correct answers.  If you need a starting point for websites, check out my free E-Book called Websites for the Elementary Classroom.  I generally start in these “old faithfuls” and then fill in with new sites that I find through Google Searches as needed.

 

3.)  Decide on your format.  When I first started making internet scavenger hunts, I only made “Type on Versions”, which meant that I would post the scavenger hunt on Edmodo or another password protected site.  Students would then download a copy and save it to their own drives.  Students would click on each link and then type in their answers.  When I started having downloading issues on Mac etc., I made “PDF Versions” where students would print off their copy and write in the answers while clicking on the links in the actual scavenger hunt.  Then, last year, I started teaching with the iPad, so I started creating “QR Code Versions” which allow students to have a printed paper that they write on, but use QR codes to scan and find their websites.   (On a side note, I am currently working on updating all of my Internet Scavenger Hunts that are only “Type on Versions” to have all 3 versions available, but it takes a minute.  So if there is one you NEED the QR code or PDF code version for, leave me a message in the Q & A on TPT.)

Once you have decided on a format, each format is quite simple.  For Type on and PDF versions, you can make the hyperlinks by simply doing INSERT – Hyperlink and copying and pasting the link.  For QR Code versions, you can create QR Codes using a QR Code generator like Kaywa.

 

4.)  Share the internet scavenger hunt with your students on Edmodo or print a QR Code version and distribute to the class.

 

Hope this list will help you create engaging internet scavenger hunts for your own class.  If you’re not interested in making your own, please feel free to peruse the 30+ internet scavenger hunts that are available at my TPT store.  Also, please feel free to follow my store and receive e-mail updates as I add new internet scavenger hunts to the collection.

 

 

Keeping them Moving while Learning Geometry

It’s hot out, the sun is shining, school is almost over and everyone in the classroom is starting to tune out.  I know some of my friends in the southern USA have only a week or so left of school, but here in Morocco, we have 5 1/2 weeks.  So, how are we staying motivated to learn?  Last week, we took math outside and had the best time learning about angles.

First, we were all points on a grid, with each child standing on one of the intersecting lines formed by the grout between the floor tiles.  While we stood on our points, we practiced rotating clockwise and anticlockwise (counterclockwise), doing 90 degree turns and 45 degree turns, and reflecting over a mirror line.  Next, we pretended we were on a map and computed the degrees we would turn if we went from pointing in one cardinal directions to another.  Finally, we pretended we were on a clock and computed the degrees we would turn as time passed on the clock.

 

Once students had a really good understanding of right angles, we discussed the other types of angles, including acute, obtuse and reflex.  We created these angles with our arms, and then broke into groups to hunt for angles that we could find outside.  My Year 3 students (2nd grade) looked for right angles.  My Year 4 students (3rd grade) looked for acute angles.  My Year 5 students (4th grade) looked for obtuse angles – and estimated the number of degrees in the angle.  My Year 6 students (5th grade) looked for reflex angles – and estimated the number of degrees in the angle.  *Easiest differentiation of the year!

 The students found some angles in very interesting places, including tree branches, my co-teacher’s shoes and shadows created on the wall.

 

 

 

After all of our activity, the students were able to focus very well as we added the Types of Angles sheet to our Interactive Math Notebooks and began our reflections.

 

What are you doing to keep your students motivated at this time of year?

FarFaria Giveaway Winners

And the winners are…..

I was recently given two 3-month subscriptions to the amazing reading app FarFaria to give away.  The app is a wonderful teaching tool – find all the details here.

 

The winners of the giveaway are:  Markisha Herring and Rochelle Garfinkel!!!!!  If this is you, expect an e-mail from FarFaria with your subscription code within the next few days.

 

Don’t forget tomorrow starts the 2-Day Teacher Appreciation Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers, and all of Raki’s Rad Resources will be on sale for 28% off.

 

Happy Teacher Day!

Teacher Appreciation Sale & Giveaway

Happy, happy Teacher Day!  Happy, happy, Teacher Day!  Happy Teacher Day!  May 6th is National Teacher Day in the United States.  To celebrate National Teacher Day, Raki’s Rad Resources wants you to save some money and stock up on quality teaching resources, for this year OR next year!  On May 6th and May 7th, stop by the Raki’s Rad Resources Teachers Pay Teachers store, which will be on sale for 20% off.  Then, use the coupon code TPTXO and receive an additional 10% off.  Here are just a few of the deals you can score:

 

 

 

 

What is on your wishlist for the Teacher Appreciation sale?  If you leave me a comment here before May 8th telling me what you plan to buy (or wish you could buy) from Raki’s Rad Resources during the sale, I’ll send you one of my new vocabulary packets – Greek Roots 2 (bio, ology & micro) or ESL Vocab – Prepositions completely free.  Be sure to leave me: 1.)  What is on your wishlist  2.)  What vocab packet you want for free  3.)  Your e-mail address (so I can send it to you).

Also, if you haven’t already entered, you still have about 24 hours to enter to win a free 3-month subscription to FarFaria!

 

Far Faria Giveaway

If you read my recent post about Online Books, you know how important virtual books are for my school.  So, when I was offered a chance to review the iPad app FarFaria, which has a library of 600 books, I leapt at the chance.  The books in the FarFaria app are geared for students from age 2 – age 9, which is slightly young for the grades I teach.  To give the app the best possible review, I turned to my friend and colleague, Courtney Nassar who teachers Year 1 and Year 2 (Kindergarten and First Grade).  We downloaded the app and reviewed it together.  She used it with all of her students and I used it with my younger kiddos (Year 3 & Year 4 or Second and Third Grade). 

When you first open the app, there is an absolutely amazing layout, set up like a map of FarFaria.  The map has different regions, like Mount Make Believe.  Each region is based on the genre of book you are interested in and each region has corresponding graphics so it looks to the kids like they are off on a magic journey.

Once students choose a genre, they receive a selection of books to choose from.  All of the books are leveled and the levels are marked clearly on the front cover of each book to help students choose books that are at the appropriate level for them – great built in differentiation tool for teachers.  Teachers can also sort the books based on topic, difficulty and age range.

After students choose a book, the book must download to the device.  This takes a minute (especially with our slow Moroccan internet) but once you download it, you can add it to your Favorites and forever have that book available OFFLINE.  This is one of our favorite features, because our internet can be in and out sometimes, so the possibility of having online books available without the internet feels like a godsend!

Once you have the books, students have the option to listen to them or read the books by themselves.  Ms. Nassar used one for read aloud and was able to project the book from her iPad for the students.  She also made the app available to the students in an independent reading center and has a few books picked out that she would like to do for Guided Reading.

FarFaria is normally $3.99 a month, with the ability to cancel at any time.  They also allow you to read one book a day completely for free WITHOUT a subscription.  In exchange for this review, I received a 6 month free subscription.  However, we liked the app so much, we have already requested funding for the app for next school year.

I have also been offered two 3 month subscriptions of FarFaria to give away to you!  This leads me to our new giveaway!!!!  In order to enter for a free 3 month subscription, simply subscribe to our monthly newsletter (which comes ones a month to let you know what is new at the blog and store, and to give you links to FREE teaching resources) and then sign up below by giving us your name and e-mail address.  The giveaway will be open until I return from work on Monday afternoon (May 5, 2014)  4:30 p.m. GMT (12:30 p.m. EST).