Common Core Freebie!!!!!!

I had my 2nd day of Common Core Training today, and my head is FULL of new info that is just swimming around!  I was trying to find out how I would use this new knowledge with my new job as an instructional facilitator.  Well, tonight it came to me!  Our district is using new I Can statements that match the Common Core standards.  Have any of you done these before?  I think they are a great way to clarify the learning targets to the kiddos.  I decided to start making the I Can statements to share with my teachers at my new school.

The plus is, I will share with you too!!!!  Click on the pic below to pick up your set at my TpT.  You can also pick it up at my TN here.

Please leave me some feedback on these if you pick them up.

Also, don't forget to sign up for the Carolina Blogger Meet Up with Amber and I!

Tomorrow's hump day, from there it's all down hill!!!!!

UGH....Testing, Round 2

So we got our testing results in on Friday and let's just say I had some highs and some lows. Math rocked, but reading left some to be desired.  My kids worked so hard and they did out perform last year's results, but I guess I set my own reading bar high and unattainable.   Can I just say I HATE THESE FREAKING TESTS  there has to be a better way to assess kids.  The reading comprehension test consists of reading 8 passages and answering questions during a 2-3 hour testing session.  How many of us would be able to do that??????  I know I don't switch between 6 different genres in a 2 hr period of reading.

So this week we have to remediate those that didn't quite make proficiency and then retest EACH AND EVERY TEST again...UGH!!!!!

The worst part of this whole cycle, is that I have a couple kids who were 1 point from making the score they needed and they were devestated to know that even though they busted their butts, they have to do the whole thing over again.  My heart breaks for them!

So excited to get this done and over with so my kids can enjoy their last two weeks of 3rd grade.  Oh yea, in other news, I have applied for a literacy teaching position and have an interview tomorrow.  Still not completely sure if I'm ready to leave the classroom, but couldn't pass up the opportunity.  We shall see what happens :)

Hold on tight, Monday's coming fast!!!!!!

Fraction Bootcamp

TEN HUT!!!!!! 

Yesterday we started our Fraction boot camp and it was great.  Fractions have been a huge struggle for my lil' third graders this year.  My awesome teammate Erica found different hands on activities that the kids could complete each day.  Our state standards have 5 different elements for fractions.  Each day the kiddos rotate through an activity that goes with each of the 5 standards.  

I created a Boot Camp itinerary to helped the kids keep up with what stations they had done.  They also had to answer an EOG (our state testing) question that went with each standard.

Click on the pic if you want to see the actual document.  

Fraction Flip-a war-like game

 Number line sort

Fraction Sort

My awesome principal helping out at the Fraction Pizza station.  She is such an asset to our school, and I couldn't have done this station without her!!!!

Completed Pizzas

 My recruits had the best time today and couldn't wait for boot camp time.  What fun things are you guys doing for review before the BIG test?????

Ohhhh, and check out David Bowie and Joe Dirt below!  You can guess which is which!

I'm Back in Action!!!!!!

Just to calm any of your fears, I'm still alive!  With my National Boards deadline looming, I've been preoccupied with that, but only 2 more weeks and it will be sent off!  I feel horrible that I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks!!!!!  And not to mention I've had no time to read up on all the awesome things ya'll have been up to either :(

I have been super busy with some awesome lessons at school that I have to share with you.  We finished up our Social Studies series on the Titanic and had a local expert come in and share her artifacts with our third graders.  I was so excited when Dr. Ratchford agreed to come and talk to our kiddos.  She is a professor at one of our local colleges and I know how busy she must be!  She had them eating out of the palm of her hand!  What was really cool was the fact that she told stories about 3 real people from the Titanic and we had studied 2 of them and the kids that 'became' them for the 2 weeks were beside themselves with excitement!

Check out this awesome life jacket from that her husband purchased for her from the movie Titanic!  

Actual piece of coal from the Titanic!  I am actually touching a piece of history!!!!!  How cool is that?!???!?!?!? Dr. Ratchford visited the crash sight several years ago and go this while on the trip.

This is a copy of a newspaper that was found folded up in a suitcase and brought to the surface 85 years later.  You can't see it from this picture, but besides a few water spots, it is in excellent condition.  I could even read several of the articles!!!!!

Replica third class silverware.  Sorry for the glare, darn flash!

Our next SS adventure took us to the Biltmore House!  I told ya'll about this awesome trip I'd been planning since October and I can't believe that it was finally time to actually go!!  I have been a few times myself and once as a child in elem school, but never get over the grandeur of the house.  And to think that this super rich guy decided to build it right here in NC!  Crazy!  When we talked about how the largest house in America was located in our state my kids were blown away.  

It was so foggy the morning we arrived it reminded me of a scary movie!

Getting ready to go inside

Private Promenade.  I told the kids I would wait here while they toured the house! 

I loved how all the down spouts had dragons on them.  We learned an interested fact that Gargoyle means gargle in french some other language and that is why people put Gargoyles on their houses back then and used them as rain spouts.  They shoot water away from the house from the roof.  However, the Biltmore House had gutters, so the Gargoyles were simply decoration.

In front of one of the impressive Lion statues.  One of my kiddos tried to get on the lion.  

View from the Courtyard

It was a gorgeous day to tour!

My little lovelies in front of my future home the Biltmore

Inside the Winter Garden.  Boy was it HOT in there!

Backside view coming from the gardens

Check out the awesome spiral staircase.  There is also a staircase along the outside that follows that on the inside.

Saw this on the way home!  Couldn't believe it was a complete rainbow, perfect end for a perfect day!

The next unit I am working on and supposed to be starting tomorrow is government.  I got nothing for this one and am asking all you out there in blog world to steer me near any good ideas you have seen!  Need lots of help because my boards are driving me bananas and have no time for anything else!  

I did however go to Jesus Camp AKA Emmaus this weekend and have some much needed time with God.  It is amazing how he works, isn't it?  He always knows just what I need.  I spent a great weekend fellowshipping with some wonderful ladies and a handful of guys.  I didn't realize how hard my heart had become.  I hope to begin each day reading about how much God loves me so I don't soon forget!  

Extra bonus, it was Monday Night Taco Night tonight!!!!!!  Always love a good Taco Night.  We had mexican last night too!  Wonder how many times we will have it this week?????

My Heart Will Go On!!!!!

We ended our study of the Titanic yesterday with an awesome celebration.  As you know, each student was given an actual passenger that was aboard Titanic.  I had 6 kids in each of the three classes.  Our grade level put all the kids together for our Day Aboard Titanic celebration.  Our kiddos were told they could dress according to their class for the day.  Boy did they take that to heart!  We had some fancy, fancy dresses and sharp suits!

Lady Duff Gordon and Ida Straus 

First Class Passengers

Second Class Passengers

Third Class Passengers

John Jacob Astor IV and Wife, Madeline
Are you surprised I was married to the richest guy on the ship??

Lady Duff Gordon and Margaret Brown
Single Ladies having fun!

Isador and Ida Straus -Co-owners of Macy's Department Store
Ida was played by my principal!  Isn't she great?????

The fun started with lunch.  We decided to have 3 tables set, one for each class.  The first class table had a nice dark blue sheet of bulletin board paper  tablecloth, candles, and they each had their fork and napkin placed for them.  Of course my table was the first class table!!!  The talk during lunch consisted of some of the following, "Oh, I am so rich." "I tried one bite of this dish, and I want something else.  Waiter, take it away!" "I love being rich" "I really want to try out the Turkish Bath" "Let's go for a swim in OUR swimming pool"  It was so much fun!

John Jacob Astor IV, the richest man on the Titanic

The second class table was covered with a white sheet of bulletin board paper tablecloth and they had a folded napkin with their fork.  Their table conversation was more light and less about themselves! Hot topics of conversation included, "Look at those snotty first class people!" "I'm glad we don't just talk about money." There was lots of laughing at first class talking about themselves.

Passengers Eva Hart and Ruth Becker

The third class table didn't have anything set on it.  Several students commented that it wasn't fair they couldn't sit at a fancy table.  We explained that the third class passengers wouldn't have had as nice of things.  Their table conversation consisted of some of the following, "I really don't like those first class people!" "Our food is great!" "First class think they are better than everyone else." "We have the most fun of all the people!"

Third Class didn't mind their modest accommodations

We gave our kids some sorbet  ice cream to cleanse their palette.  Then it was up to prepare to board for the Titanic's maiden voyage.  We began our trip by having our classes rotate through 3 stations.  We had a Kidblog activity where they created a fact card for their person predicting whether they lived or died.

Checking out their passengers info for the blog post

The second station was creating a newspaper article for the South Hampton Gazette that would have run the day after Titanic sank.  My kids got really creative when coming up with headlines and articles to fill up their papers.

The third station idea was courtesy of Beth Newingham.  She had listed in her Titanic unit that she had used a Palm Pilot program to figure out how prices would have inflated and had a worksheet to go with it.  I found an app for my iPods that I was able to use and the kids LOVED it!  Here was my favorite from the list: 2nd class room cost in 1912: $60 2012: $1,200!!!!  I thought that the price of the first class suite would be sky high, but to go from $60, which doesn't seem much to me, to $1,200, WOW!

We couldn't have a day on Titanic without dancing.  First we introduced the kids to the waltz and told them that was how first class passengers would have danced.  At first we had very few boy/girl pairs, but as the music continued we had more join in.  Third class dancing was much more fun for all included!  The kids commented that they were free to dance however they wanted to and didn't have to dance with a boy/girl!

Third Class Dance Time

Finally it was time for the passengers to find out their fate.  I had posted their passengers pic on the SMART Board with either survived or perished.  I had the kids predict the fate of each passenger.  It was so fun to watch each group of students to find out if they made it off the Titanic or not.  Some students crossed their fingers and said things like, "Please live, Please live!"  Others cheered when they lived or let out sighs when they went down with the ship.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown learned she had survived!

The last thing we did before docking was to show kids some clips of the Titanic today.  They really got into how the Titanic was a real event and over 1,500 people lost their lives.  Before, I think that most who had heard of the Titanic simply thought it was a fictional event.  Showing them those clips, made it real for them.   We had some great conversations during our class debate.  I told each of my kids I wanted them to convince others to join their class.  Remarkably, one group of 6 all reverted to 3rd class!  They stated they wanted to be free to do what they wanted and not wear tight, stuffy clothes.

Everyone had a great time and learned a lot about the Titanic (which is most important, right?) The funniest thing that happened during this whole unit was when my teammate and I were looking for clips on Youtube we came across a preview of Titanic 2, which we HAD to watch!  Didn't you know, Jack is Back?  See for yourself!

Even though the Titanic is gone, my heart will go on and keep beating for her!  I hope to finish up my Titanic pack this weekend to have it up in my store. Hope everyone has a great weekend.