Five For Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching this week for Five For Friday!

A few weeks ago, a fellow teacher filled me in on the sweet new idea, PLICKERS! (Check out THIS recent post to read all about how they work.)

Anyway, I tried this interesting idea out this week. The kids had their own barcode type answer cards (printed on cardstock). I programmed questions into my phone, asked the questions, and gave multiple choice answers. Kids held up their answer cards and I scanned them with my phone. (On my phone you could see their names POP up when I had scanned them.) Next, their responses popped up on my Smart Board through the Plicker website. I could see graphs of the responses or individuals. The kids loved it!

Problem: You can't store answer responses, only questions, so I had to write them down. Solution? I adjusted for the next Plicker experience and did true or false questions. Way easier. Still cool.

Cards!

Immediate results!

My class has been having a blast with Sheppard Software, a great educational website. We've been putting math games on the Smart Board at the end of the day, like Fruit Blasters, to continue our fluency work. It's a sweet website for lots of subjects!

Fruit Blasters

Multiplication or Division questions pop up and you shoot the answer on the fruit! Different difficulty levels and speeds are options.

I've been using a bunch of math games on this site for fun fluency practice. We've also been trying out some of the Social Studies games because it turns out that my fourth graders need review of geography! Does anyone else have major challenges helping kiddos realize that there is a huge difference between states, towns, continents, countries, etc? The kids who get it, get it. And the kids who don't...well, it's just tough.

I'm reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate to my class currently. I love it, and I'm eager to get into some awesome culminating activities (lap books, Tagxedo character traits word clouds, researching the real Ivan, etc.), but I'm also excited for our next read aloud, The Hope Chest.  I plan on reading this EngageNY ELA grade four module text with my summer school kiddos before they head off to fifth grade. Has anyone else used this text with their fourth graders?

I just received an email that my first Stitch Fix will arrive on Tuesday! I am super psyched and will update when it arrives!!! I just can't wait to see what the stylist chooses for me!

Emily, over at Style Closet to Classroom, introduced me to Stitch Fix through a blog post. Check it out here! Emily also blogged about SlantBox in the same post. Has anyone ever tried this? It seems neat-o!

Stitch Fix (referral link)

My new refrigerator is being delivered...TODAY!

...which means that I should go food shopping this weekend.

...since my freezer is literally empty right now. As always.

I'm not kidding...it will take 3 minutes, MAYBE, to clean out the old fridge.

Anyway, I'm psyched because the fridge has a touch screen! So I can listen to some Pandora jams while heating up my leftovers! 

A Peek at My (FOUR DAY) Week

Today I'm linking up with Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for "A Peek at my Week."

This week is going to FLY BY! 

Monday and Tuesday will be fairly normal. I plan on experimenting in my classroom with a sweet formative assessment tool that a colleague of mine discovered, Plicker.

PLICKERS!

So, here's how this free site works. Sign up FOR FREE using an email address. Create a class and add your students. Print the cards. (Each kids receives their own card, and the cards look kooky...but by turning the cards, they create A, B, C, or D answers) The teacher downloads the plicker app to a phone or iPad. When asking questions, the teacher scans the room as kids hold up their individual cards. Immediately, the responses are graphed on the iPad! You can display the data and discuss or use it to drive instruction!

Kiddos hold up their individual cards. Directionality determines their answer choice.

Cards!

Immediate results!

This seems like an awesome way to motivate students and act as a GREAT formative assessment tools for teachers! I'm trying it this week! Yay!

So, on Wednesday, my entire fourth grade is preparing the students for their NYS Science assessment. We have a performance piece of the test, so each teacher is teaching an experiment and the students are rotating from room to room. This will be an entire day of science! When I told my kiddos about it they were bummed that we wouldn't have math, but they were really okay about skipping writing. Hmmm....

Thursday is our big Memorial Day parade! Thank goodness all of the rain occurred last week! The entire school will march together on Thursday! Afterwards, the fourth graders hop on the bus and travel to local cemeteries to place American flags on the tombstones of veterans. I will have to come up with a relaxing activity for the afternoon, though! What to do the afternoon before a four day weekend?

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY! 

And my sister is coming to visit!! 

And I'm getting my new pretty kitchen appliances!!!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to ALL!

Spark Student Motivation Saturday: Plickers

I'm linking up on this relaxing Saturday with Joanne over at Head Over Heels For Teaching. You know what that means...Spark Student Motivation Saturday!

This is a sweet idea that one of my colleagues found online that I've been fiddling with all morning! A neat way to quickly assess students through the use of multiple choice questions...

PLICKERS!

So, here's how this free site works. Sign up FOR FREE using an email address. Create a class and add your students. Print the cards. (Each kids receives their own card, and the cards look kooky...but by turning the cards, they create A, B, C, or D answers) The teacher downloads the plicker app to a phone or iPad. When asking questions, the teacher scans the room as kids hold up their individual cards. Immediately, the responses are graphed on the iPad! You can display the data and discuss or use it to drive instruction!

Kiddos hold up their individual cards. Directionality determines their answer choice.

Cards!

Immediate results!

This seems like an awesome way to motivate students and act as a GREAT formative assessment tools for teachers! I'm trying it this week!