Celebrating Success & Saying Goodbye

Today was a bitter sweet day. I surprised my kiddos by showing up for the end of the year party. And my kids missed me!! I have missed them too and some of them have grown in the few weeks since I have left. One of my sweets told my mentor teacher that she could leave now as I could be there sub. Love her!

We sang a lot of songs this year. Why? It helps with increasing reading and vocabulary in a fun way. We also use the songs with the lyrics so that the kids can sing along (and dance!). These are a few of our favorites:

Each day the kids came in and got ready by singing a song. They ask for them at the beginning and end of class. I have seen the messages of these songs bring a smile to faces of kids who struggle. Which is why today was SO important!

Today we celebrated their academic success... success that is so hard for these kids to achieve as each of them has a disability that makes learning difficult. But the strength each of these students show is incredible!

So we had a pizza party and watched Space Jam! A little fun to relax before the awards. I think they enjoyed it!

Then... the awards! Each one grew so much this year. They earned this. They are amazing!

They made a lot of friends during the year. 

Then the 5th graders helped clean up the room and get it ready for summer. Only 6 days left of school but only one more day left of ESS (SPED).

The 5th graders are graduating and will be in middle school next year. One final group picture together. Some of these kids have been together since Kindergarten and now will go to separate schools for the next three years before meeting again in High School.

My mentor teacher was amazing. She made all of these awards and laminated them. Created a special graduation gift for the fifth graders. Made fruit kabobs and star shaped rice crispy treats on a stick. She is amazing and the kids truly love her!

I now understand why some teachers cry at the end of the year. It is hard to let go of MY students. I love their smiles and stories and antics. I love how their personalities have come out of their shell and shine through.I will miss them all.

Today made me want to say yes to having my own classroom next year.

Don't forget!

ABC Countdown

The end of the year is here! I know so many of you have already begun your countdowns but I wanted to share a few more ideas with all of you that I ran across in several classes during my last practicum.

Have you heard of the ABC End of the Year Count Down? It is such a great idea! I love this! =)

Each day you have a special end of the year activity to do beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet. One of the classes I was in used the book "Let Us Draw" by Frank Webb to turn the letter of the day into a picture.

This is one for the letter H. I removed the teacher's first and last name from the example. Can you see the H? The students copied each step of this and were so excited. They were "predicting" and using their "inference" skills to guess what it would be! They even had a chance to work on their handwriting!

Here is the finished product. Sorry about the flash!

I copied all the letters she had but she was missing I and J. =( And the book it out of print. I am searching for an alternative as this was so much fun, the kids loved it, it teaches them art (which many schools are no longer doing), and works on their fine motor skills (which even adults could use some practice with).

 A lot of these are fun but there is still more learning to do. In a different class I was in, they had a packet to complete that went with the letter/theme of the day. It was primarily review but it still provided proof of mastery over the concept.

I got to thinking, this count down could be used to fill in the wholes and to do one last "make sure you got it" before the end of the year. A could be for addition, S for subtraction, F for Fractions, N for Nets, S for the Scientific Method, T for Technology, B for balance, P for planets, plants, or photosynthesis. Whatever last minute concepts that need to be taught or reinforced.

What about using this idea at the beginning of the year? A quick review of things learned in previous grades, while introducing the procedures, expectations, and topics of the current year. A - Addition. B - Buddy system (homework buddies, reading buddies, finding a new buddy to play with at recess), C - Classroom Management, etc...

What about a backwards countdown starting from Z?

The ideas are endless! I created a freebie for all of you with some ideas for each letter to get you started. It is available at my TpT store. Enjoy!

Guest: 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules

So far, we have heard from some amazing teachers this month! I have learned so much and racked up so many freebies.Today, one of my guests is featured on Bagels and Blogs! Stop by to see who it was.

Plus yesterday I went to the Intermediate Expo which was FAB~U~LOUS! (said in the Grinch voice). I learned so many great things.... but that is a post for another day.

Today, my friend Mimi is here. She is amazing! She has so many great fun ideas. I never knew fifth grade could be so much fun but with Mimi around - it is. I am still drooling over her Peep Show. I did that as motivator awhile back when I was a project manager... amazing fun we had but never thought of it in in a classroom. Oh this is sooooo going on my annual list of fun!

Okay, enough of me talking, its time to here from Mimi!

3 M Olympics, Water/Beach Day, and a Little Bonus 

Hey Y'all!  It's Mimi from 5thGradeRocks, 5thGradeRules! 

I am so honored and excited to be a guest blogger today here at Think, Wonder, & Teach.  Thanks so much for this awesome opportunity, Misty!  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a first timer!  :)

I'm currently a fifth grade teacher in the good ol' Commonwealth of Virginia.  I've been teaching for a couple of years (13) and the fire is still burnin'.  :)  My kids refer to me as, "strict, but fun."  See, what they don't realize is that I was a kid too....who tried to get away with everything that they do....and talked as much as they do...and loved boys as much as they do....and wrote as many notes as they do.....and put gum under my tongue in hopes that my teacher wouldn't see, just as much as they do.  To me, this is an advantage.  To them, I'm pretty sure they see it as a disadvantage.  Muhaha! 

Anyway, I make funny faces, tell jokes, make noises, jump up and down....whatever it takes to get their attention!!!  Pretty much, if they are bored, so am I! So, how does Mimi keep from getting bored, you might ask?  (Just play along)

THE 3 M Olympics

I've recently had the most wonderful student teacher take over my class.  With her time coming to an end, I'm having to take back some responsibilities.  Having fifth graders, I knew my debut back into the class had to be a good one.  With the 2012 Summer Olympics coming up, what better way to make them happy than to take them outside and get that blood pumping...all the while, doing math! 

 Mean, median, mode, and range aren't really hard for kids to understand, they are just hard to differentiate. 

I teach my children that your MEAN (average) old teacher makes you add up ALL of the data and divide it by however many numbers were added. 

We refer to the MEDIAN as the middle of our data, just like the middle of the road (I always show a picture of a median or two for my visual learners).

The MOde is the number that shows up the MOst. 

My favorite of them all, the range.  I tell them to think of a park RANGEr.  If there is a bear in the park, the RANGEr would look HIGH and LOW for that bear so that it wouldn't hurt anyone.  Then once he found it, he would call Animal Control and TAKE AWAY the bear.  Poor bear. 

But, I digress...We had five stations:  laps, situps, stair stepper, ball toss, and jump rope.  I divided the class into five teams.  Within each of those teams, the students had to pair up with a partner.  Here is the rotation that I followed:

Each rotation was ten minutes total.   I let the laps station and ball station have all the team members go for ten straight minutes.  I split the other stations into to five minute sessions, switching partners. 

They completed each station and recorded the data for themselves and their partner.  After they had rotated through every station, we came inside and got the rest of the team's data.  I passed out calculators and they found the mean, median, mode, and range of each of the their team's stations. 

It was a huge success! Click here to download The 3M Olympics activity sheet.

  WATER/BEACH DAY

With Spring Break out of the way, the end of the year is just around the corner. After all the testing is done it's time to celebrate!  Every year, the last week of school, the fifth graders get to earn WATER/BEACH DAY!

This takes place the last hour and a half of the day.  The kids get to wear their bathing suits to school (under their uniform of course...and no, the uniform doesn't ever come off), flip flops, and sunglasses. We send home a permission slip the same way we would if it was a field trip. 

Oh, and the reason this is at the end of the day is so that we can stick them straight on the bus, soaking wet.  LOL  :)  Make sure you clear this with your principal!  

Beach Day consist of five stations:

1.  Dribble, Dribble, DRENCH- You need a large cup and a bucket of water.  Students sit in a big circle on the grass.  Fill a large cup with water.  Follow the rules of the traditional game Duck, Duck, Goose, BUT instead of tapping the student on the head when you say duck, you dribble a little water on their back. Instead of tapping the student on the head and saying goose, you empty out the remaining contents of the cup on their back and run for your life (not literally, they have to walk fast since they have on flip flops)!  lol  It is soooo much fun! 

2.  Beach Ball Hockey-You need hockey sticks, beach balls, and cones. (you of course can improvise with meter sticks, a chair, and a ball of any sort if need be)  Divide the class into relay teams.  Each team has to go from the starting point, hitting the beach ball with the hockey stick down and around the cone and then back to the starting point.  Easy?  No.  Funny?  YES!

3.  Over Under- You need one big sponge and two buckets filled with water per team.  Divide the class into two straight lines.  Have the student in the front dunk their sponge.  Explain that the first child will pass the sponge backwards over their head, the second child will take the sponge and pass it backwards through their legs, the third child will take the sponge and pass the it backwards over their head and so on.  The person at the end of the line dunks the sponge in their bucket and everyone turns around and faces the other way and repeats.  Whichever team gets the sponge all the way back first is the winner!  Hysterical.  (I'm laughing just thinking about last year!)

4.  Water Volleyball-You need two large sheets and some water balloons.  Divide into two teams of four and stand on opposite sides of the net. Each team holds one sheet (a person at each corner). Place a water balloon in the center of one team's sheet. The idea is to toss the balloon over the net, into the other team's sheet. This can be played with large beach towels and only two teams of two as well!  If you don't have a volleyball net, no worries, just do it without the net...it's still quite hard.

5. Beach Time Relay Race-You need 2 beach chairs and 2 beach bags filled with a towel, sunglasses, and a magazine.  Each team gets to go to the beach in a relay.  They carry the beach chair and bag down to the designated spot.  They put up the beach chair, lay down the towel, put on the sunglasses, and open up the magazine as if they are reading it.  Then pack everything back up and carry it back to the team.  Whichever team gets through everyone first wins!  :)  

Pinterest Inspired BONUS!

I am in love with Pinterest (I mean, who isn't???)!  I find so many cute and fun ideas there and I wanted to share one that I found that just warms my little heart. I made a couple of adjustments and have different fonts, but all you have to do is download, print, cut, glue, and tape it up! Click here. Score!

This is the picture I found on Pinterest.  Sadly it doesn't have a link to give credit where credit is due. 

Well, that's all folks!    If you aren't already a follower, come on over to 5thGradeRocks, 5thGradeRules and check out some other great games, ideas, and freebies.  I'm not always this long-winded, I promise.  LOL  

Play on.

Guest: 3rd Grade Thoughts

Our next featured teacher is Stephanie from 3rd Grade thoughts. Stephanie incorporates a lot of whole brain teaching techniques and strategies into her lesson plans. This is an area that I have been wanting to learn more about and plan to fit in a few books on this topic soon!






Hi there! I am Stephanie from 3^rd Grade Thoughts and I am so incredibly excited to be featured over here on Think, Wonder, & Teach!

I’m not sure about you, but it feels like the end of the year is going to be here before we know it! The end of each school year is bittersweet for me—although I love my summer break, I am always sad to say goodbye to my group of students who have been my little buddies for nine months straight and have grown up before my eyes in so many ways.

Today, I would like to share a wonderful activity that I have done with both fifth graders and my third graders for the past seven years. This was introduced to me by my mentor teacher and has stuck because it was so personal, thoughtful, and best of all, easy! It is the “Smile File”!

This works particularly well with older grades and only requires this freebie cover and some copy paper cut into fourths, like this:

I always like to use different colors of copy paper, just to make it fun and happy!

Each student makes an envelope from the cover by folding it back and stapling, gluing, or taping the sides. Have them (or you) write their name on the line. The only other supplies are a pencil or pen and the tiny pieces of copy paper. Each child will need as many pieces as there are students in class.

Set aside a nice chunk of time for your kids to work on this, or split it up over the last week of school. I usually do the last day of school and we are able to get it done in the morning with some relaxing music in the background.

You can split up the directions into as many parts as you need (my 3^rd graders need it spelled out a lot more explicitly than my 5^th graders did), but the gist of the activity is that everyone will write a sentence or two (a compliment, a memory, why it was nice having them in class) to each person in the class and sign their name. They will then slip the paper into the student’s Smile File and repeat the process around the room.

Before we begin, I make a chart about some nice notes we could write and leave that posted for those students who may have trouble thinking of specifics for each student. I will also write my Smile Files in advance and put them in the envelopes lickety-split so I can hang out near my kiddos who need a bit more support with writing.

After all of the notes have been written and stuffed into the envelopes, we head outside for recess, come back inside, find a comfy spot in the room and begin to read these notes in our own envelopes. It is always so wonderful to see the loads of smiles that fill our room and hear the occasional giggle or two.

It’s also special, as a teacher, to collect your own Smile File and keep these little mementos from your year. It does not take up any space or clutter and can be a little souvenir of your yearlong journey together.

Feel free to adjust this activity however you’d like and I would love to hear all about how you used it and other end-of-year traditions you have! Stop by my TpT store to grab this freebie and thanks so much for having me here on Think, Wonder, & Teach!

Guest: Stellar Students

I love visiting Krista's blog. First it is just so cute!! Ladybugs and polka dots... what could be better?

But I also learn so much from her. One of my favorite things is that she not only shares her ideas but provides a wide selection of ideas from Pinterest or the Internet. She allows me to see her thought process and to learn how she picks and chooses what to use for her classroom.

Hi everyone!  I am Krista from Stellar-Students.

I have taught 3rd grade for 15 years.  There is never a DULL moment teaching 3rd graders.  I teach in southwest Illinois.   I am so excited to be a guest blogger for Misty today..... She is absolutely amazing!! Thanks for stopping by to visit.  ( I'm TOTALLY soaking up this visit with Misty.... It can be a little crazy in my world... I have four  sweet ( most of the time) kiddos ,and let me tell you they keep my husband and I BUSY!)

I wanted to share with you a favorite (or two) end of school activities that I use in my classroom.  As we are wrapping things up for the year, I find myself looking for ideas to keep my kiddos engaged while having some fun.   The first idea I will share with you was Pinterest inspired.  What would we do without Pinterest?!!! Seriously!!  Take a peek at this picture.

Notice all the balloons suspended from our ceiling...  This is our Bursting the Balloons countdown.  There are slips of paper in each balloon that have a unique activity written on them.  At the end of each day I select one student to choose a balloon to POP.  Whatever unique activity is in that balloon, will be the activity we do the following day.  Many of the activities are things such as a walk outside, pick a subject to have outside, popcorn party, extra recess, and etc.  You can find my Bursting the Balloons countdown with activity slips in my packet listed at the end of this post....   The pin on Pinterest showed a 20 day countdown.  I decided to hang one balloon for each student instead so that each kiddo had a chance to pop a balloon.

My other FAVORITE thing I wanted to share with you is a Memory Book.  I LOVE having my students create a memory book of their year.  It's a great time for them to reflect upon the year, and I love to print out some of the pics I have taken throughout the year for the students to put in this booklet.  It's such a great keepsake!! ( It's my favorite Mom thing to tuck away for my own kiddos in their special keepsake box.)

Take a peek at my Memory Book and Bursting the Balloons FREEBIE.

You can find this freebie HERE at my TPT store.  Please let me know what you think.

Okay.. I HAVE to go, but I have had so much fun at Think, Wonder, Teach today.  Thanks Misty!!