Word Work Ideas

It's been a long time since I've posted. I started the summer extremely motivated to look into and work on some new things for the upcoming school year. Then July hit, I went on vacation, and even though I was only physically gone for 5 days, it took me a lot longer to come back mentally. The school year starts for me on Monday, and I'm excited to gradually start implementing some of the new ideas I gathered over the summer.

I think I'm going to stick to what I've done in the past and gradually start implementing some Daily 5 ideas along the way. One I know I'm going to start out with right away is word work. Below are things that will be debuting in my classroom right from the start!

Scrabble Spelling-


I saw this idea and many variations on lots of blogs. I purchased a set of Scrabble tiles from ebay, and contacted Protiles to get four sets of tiles at a discounted teacher rate. There were lots of worksheets out there, and I think the one that's best suited for my classroom came from 3rd Grade's a Hoot.

BOGGLE- Another great idea I saw on many blogs. There are lots of printables out there, but I'm going to use the letters and worksheet from Create Teach Share.

Word of the Week-
Another idea I'm taking from Create Teach Share!  

My Summer Reading Spot

Confession- I'm a full-time teacher, part-time gardening nerd.  I love planting flowers and watching them grow.  As a result, I love my new summer reading spot, my deck.  Some pictures of my summer reading spot...

As I open the door and step out onto our deck, this is what greets me-

The dinning/reading corner -
                                   The view from my chair, and my deck planters-

And what am I currently reading?  The Daily 5 and The CAFE Book getting for the Summer Book Study at We Read, We Blog, We Teach.  What are you reading this summer? Comment and let me know, and while you're at it, consider following my blog.  Someone's gotta be first :)

First Pinterest Project

 Like many others (I hope I'm not alone), I've "pinned" quite a few projects lately.  I am determined to complete some of these great ideas this summer.  I started with a vertical herb garden.

The Home Depot DIY Project                                                                      My Completed Project

When all is said and done, I spent about $45 on this project.

• Trellis- about $16
• Pots (8)-about $15
• "S" hooks (16)- about $6
• Potting Mix- about $3.50
• Herbs- started most of them from seed early this spring, purchased the dill and cinnamon basil- about $8 

I did have my wonderful hubby drill holes in the trellis and pots for the "S" hooks, otherwise it's a very simple and easy project.  Here's hoping any other Pinterest Summer Projects go just as smoothly!

Ways to Integrate Technology into Language Arts

One of my goals for the new school year is to integrate more technology into Language Arts.  In this post, I will list/link to websites I'm considering implementing next year.  In future posts I will include more details of the "how"...

As mentioned in my previous post, I'll be using SpellingCity for vocabulary and spelling activities next year.  (A "word work" option during Daily 5/CAFE???)



 


I'm also very seriously considering blogging in the classroom.  I know I'm not on the cutting-edge with this, but it's new to me, and would be new to my school.  I think it's a fantastic way to incorporate technology and writing.  The kids can share writing pieces, book reviews, etc.  I've spoken with my principal about this idea, and he's all for it, as long as I make sure the site we use is safe and private, and that I have full control over any posts or comments by the kids.  Initially I was thinking I would use edublogs.org, but that does cost money.  It seems like kidblog.org has most, if not all, of the same features and more, for free.  I began playing around with the site, and created a blog for each of the three classes I'll have next year.  It will require me to come up with usernames and passwords for each student.  I'm not creative enough to come up with approximately 80+ unique usernames and passwords (and I won't have class lists for a few more weeks) so I stumbled upon dinopass which will create unique and kid friendly passwords.  I'll have to keep this in mind when I finally get around to setting up my real list!




Tagxedo is another resource I've discovered this summer.  I was familiar with a similar site, Wordle, but Tagxedo seems to have more options that would be useful, such as shapes.  I made this one with words from my first blog post.  This seems like it would be great for poetry and maybe even vocabulary.

I began playing around with this today too.  Seems like something else the kids would really enjoy.

The last idea for today is Animoto.  I have not used this site yet, but know that our computer teacher has done some activities with some of the older kids at my school.  I would like to add it to the list to try out this year.







 

As I said, this is just my list of resources I'd like to look into and try to implement this year.  I will post more specific information about how I plan to implement later. 

If anyone has experience and insight with any of these resources, or any other ideas for integrating technology and Language Arts, please share!

New ideas for the new school year

Summer break is here, and rather surprisingly I've spent my first week off reading up on some new ideas for next year.  I think it's time to freshen up my teaching, both for the benefit of my students, and my own personal sanity.  I've decided to start this blog to document the ideas I've gathered and ultimately share what I find to work for me.

My findings so far-


This website seems like it will be a great resource for myself and my students.  I am working on importing my spelling lists for the year, and the students will be able to go on and find games and activities to play with the words each week.  I am hoping to get donations from parents (using Adopt-A-Classroom) to support a premium membership.  My students would then get usernames and passwords so I can monitor their activities, and the best part--- they can take their spelling test online and it will be AUTOMATICALLY GRADED!!!  If this works out and I don't have to grade 80+ spelling tests every week, I will be a very happy teacher.  I'm also extremely excited about the other features this website has to offer.

Foldables, a trademark of Dinah Zike, came next after an evening of "blog hopping" and discovering A Teachers Treasure.  I always struggle trying to find a way to make Language Arts more hands on, and these will be great.  I know the kids will love making these, and will hopefully improve their retention as well.  I was able to find links to several free foldables, but decided to purchase the book to have on-hand.  I'm excited for it to arrive and to start making my own!                                              

 

Daily 5/CAFE- I had a class of 35 4th graders this past year, and really struggled finding the time to work with kids one-on-one, or even in small groups as much as I would have liked.  I will have that large group of kids again as 5th graders next year, and really want to find a way to structure my class so I have the time to do the small group and one-on-one stuff.  Anything I've ever read about centers or anything similar has seemed too young for my 4th and 5th graders.  The Daily 5 and CAFE, by the2sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, seem like great programs.  I am so excited to have discovered We Read, We Blog, We Teach in time to join the summer book study, specifically directed towards upper elementary.  I purchased both books today, and am ready to start reading and joining the discussion.  I can't wait to gather some tips, tricks, and ideas to try out in my classroom in the fall!