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!
2 comments:
I teach fifth grade. We use Words Their Way in our district, so I had four different spelling lists each week. I used spellingcity.com for review and to give the final tests. You don't need the premium membership to do that, but it is nice. I told my students that I would upgrade to get the better games the first time that everyone got at least a B on their spelling test. They were pretty motivated!
I am also reading the Daily 5 and CAFE books this summer, so I look forward to reading about your experiences!
It seems to be that foldables/interactive notebooks and CAFE/Daily 5 are the new fads of teaching lately! But with good reason! =)
I purchased the Daily 5 & CAFE books and am going to integrate *aspects* of the program in my 6th grade class. I'm curious how you're liking the program and how you're going to integrate it.
Also...please let me know if you consider the foldables book worth the purchase or if most of it is something I could just make on my own. Thank you! BTW, I'm your newest follower. =)
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