{Determining Importance ... and MY LIFE}

Moving along with our Reading Comprehension Work (shout out to Tammy McGregor's Book "Reading Comprehensions - see THIS POST for more information on this incredible book)

We have been focused on Determining Importance within the text through this semester. We have had a great time using non-reading activities to

help us develop an understanding of this strategy before and along with applying it in our reading. 

To introduce the subject I use Tammy's creative activity of having the kids look through my purse and determine the items that would be important if I were to go to the gym this afternoon. 

Then, I found THIS cute WS from iTeach 1:1 blog that we inserted into our reading notebooks and I had them go through THEIR backpacks to determine what was the VITALLY important to them coming to school today, what was NICE to have here at school, what was TOTALLY not needed in their backpack ... we found LOTS of "treasures" as we cleaned out looked through our bags. 

I use Tammy's "Noodle Metaphor" (along with a notebook insert idea from Life in 4B blog) to help them remember the entire process ... since we are currently looking at figurative language this worked out great in the discussion of what the noodles, water, container, and strainer represented. 

In our guided reading groups, I have been using a-z non-fiction books along with graphic organizers to help them practice finding the most important information for each section that helps them find the MAIN IDEA.
Gave THIS AMAZING MATH WORKSHEET (from iTeach 1:1 blog) to my partner teacher to help integrate "determining importance" into math.

MY LIFE Blending with SCHOOL (grin)

This week was my University Gymnastic Team's Home Show. As I was mournfully reminiscing watching, it got me thinking about another, unique way to help my kiddos remember "determining importance" ... I showed the kids a video of my old Collage Acro/Cheer Gymnastic team. It is a GREAT example of determining importance. The audience has to practice this strategy throughout the performance since there are many things happening, however, there are usually big center moves that you don't want to miss even thought there is a lot of other stuff going on. Another great example to show kids this strategy is by using a circus routine under the big top - LOTS of audience determining of importance going on there! 

Southern Adventist University Gym-Masters (2012) (not the video I showed, but one I found on Youtube)

Pictures from my University's Home Show 2013:

Hoop Routine 

Chairs Routine

Contortionist Routine

Pairs Silk Routine

Group Routine

All of this was such a HUGE part of my life throughout high school and collage (see Gymnastics POST). I had bittersweet feelings as I went back and watched the final home show! Always sad to not be still in it but great to still feel apart of such an awesome program - and reunite with old teammates! 

My Life: The Lake

spent a lovely spring afternoon walking The Lake shore by myself

there truly is something addicting about "The Lake" yes, here in Michigan, it is a proper noun :)

one can find many reasons why so many of us, here in the lovely state of Michigan, cherish The Lake

and while not having scary sea animals and salt water constitute for a large portion some of the reasoning, many reasons are so much deeper. .. .. .

at times, i think our fascination is paired with the connection the lake brings to memories. .   ..... .

friendships cultivated

swimming lessons learned

earliest memories of playing at the beach

family time
cookouts enjoyed
Church gatherings and potlucks

holidays celebrated

school tests studied for

date nights and watching the sunset

Sabbath walks on the pier

other times, the attachment transcends these moments and expresses itself through a connection with something greater than ourselves .. .. . .. .

awe at the majesty of God's creation

insignificance as one gazes at the never ending horizon

natural beauty encompassed in its topaz waters

emotional and stress release

respect for nature as one discovers natural ice sculptures encasing piers

serenity found on its stretches of endless sand

amazement and awe at its monstrous sand dunes towering above creation

yet still other times, different feelings evolve as one watches the waves crash upon lighthouses and cascade across sandy shores ... . ... .

pride in being a small part in the states uniqueness

passion for remaining in the lakes presence - forever.

personalizing the scent of its shores 

privilege at having it as an ever present option, any time of the year

identifying with seagulls 

embracing the quaint culture of Michigan coastal towns

no matter the reason, we always come back and remain just a little longer to enjoy whatever it is that

first drew us . .. .. .. .... .

it is truly difficult to express a Michiganders love of The Lake in words .. ... . perhaps it's because it simply satisfies the soul.

My Life: Charleston, NC

In the spirit of my husband's spontaneity {of which i fell in love with} he thought on Wednesday, of last week, that it would be a fab idea to visit our dear friends in South Carolina. The only kink was that we would need to be leaving Thursday night, of the same week, and we had already made plans with friends to see a Casting Crowns concert in Grand Rapids... however, things like this only seem to add to our enthusiasm!

and so, after a Spirit filled, uplifting concert, we began our 15 hour journey to South Carolina for a REAL vacation!
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No one invited him, but our dreary Michigan weather came along for the ride. it was rain, rain, RAIN! the only nice day was Saturday and we took advantage of this spending the afternoon walking the streets of Charleston...

...and boy did it DELIVER!

What a BEAUTIFUL city! I really have never seen anything like it. while parts of it hint of the Louisiana Bayou with its sprawling moss covered trees, marshy landscape, and magnolias, other parts scream old world Europe, and yet somehow all around it is still so uniquely "Charlestonian." 

Driving down age old cobble stone and brick streets, one gets glimpses of the unique "porch doors" and side alleys that lead to mini courtyard gardens.

The unique "Charlestonian" stacked, sideways porches grace most homes, modest and elegant. In days of old, homes would not have been air conditioned and during the hot summer months these worked as "breezeways" to cool the home.

Charleston is truly a city of history and art. Shops all seem to feature an "anthropogie" style while restaurants come in various eclectic decor. Facing the harbor is "Battery Row" lined with a smorgasbord of the most magnificent Charlestonian, Georgian, Federal, Adamesque, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victoria homes. In the distance lies the infamous Fort Sumter where the first battle of the Civil War began.

To quote Rhett Butler, in the second {less memorable} part of his most famous Gone With the Wind line, Charleston is quite literally a town of both "grace and civility."

a FAB cheese shop our friends took us to ... i just love hole-in-the wall shops and non-chain restaurants.

Only a few miles from Charleston, small towns such as Folly are just as charming in their "beach town" quaintness as Charleston is in it's historic elegance.

i just HAD to collect shells  - it's just what you do on a beach. i'm bringing some back to my kiddos ... 

Being a very woodsy, outdoorsy, rock climbing, camping, hiking type of gal, I did not particularly fall in love with South Carolina's overall marshy and flat environment, however, my time spent there was wonderful and I truly fell in love with it's Southern charm!
I always have a tendency to think about how different people in different regions/countries/places in life view things, how they live in connection to how I live, how our ideals/motives are similar/different.

Throughout this trip, I kept thinking about how different each region of the US of A truly is. Particularly my home versus this utterly different landscape in the South.

South Carolinians, Michiganders; Charlestonians, Detroiters; Plantations, Car factories; Atlantic Ocean, Lake Michigan; Southern charm, Northern rustic; Humidity, Snow; North, South.

and yet despite our differences, i am inspired by the ever present truth ... we are all the same.

people.

     beautiful.

            American.

                     great.

{Jamestown: A Horror}

We have been studying Jamestown recently and have been having great discussion about the trials and hardships that were faced by the men who made the treacherous journey toward the official, first English settlement. 

In order to analyze the different experiences the men went through, I took the kids through an activity called "Keep it OR Junk it!" I discovered this phenomenal lesson on the Teaching Channel (if you have never checked their videos out, you are missing a FABULOUS resource!). Here is the original video of a class performing this activity (the activity could be used with any content, but this particular lesson happens to be on Jamestown - SCORE!) The activity works like this: 

First, the students read the passage alone. Then they reread the passage, circling or underlining words or short phrases that help them answer the focus question. My focus question was different then the one in the video. Our focus question was: What was life like during the early years of the Jamestown settlement? 

After they have done that, I had them pick their top ten words or phrases and write them on a sticky note. 

They they worked together as groups, seeing who had similar words. If two or more people in the group had the word then it went on their group paper. 

Once groups had gone through all their words, they choose two people from their group to perform the Keep it OR Junk it activity. The students then proceed down their list asking the whole class whether the words they have on their paper should be #1 KEPT #2 JUNKED #3 CLOUDED

The students in the room communicate with they through hand motions:
1 finger means KEEP 

2 fingeres mean JUNK 

A fist means CLOUD (which means that they are not sure and that we will come back to it) 

This activity went really well, and it was a great way to get the kids narrowed down and focused on what life was actually like in the early years of Jamestown using their own facts that they had discovered by determining importance (another reading skill integrated!) 

We have all decided that if today, one were to make an accurate video portraying the trials and hardships endured, it would easily be a first class horror film (that I quickly reminded that kids I WOULD NOT SEE. I do not do horrors - and I am quick to remind them, in my motherly fashion, neither should they!) 

Unfarmable swamp land, drought, famine, dirty drinking water, mosquitoes, diseases, inter fighting, blistering summer heat followed by an severe, icy winter, unfriendly local natives, shiploads of "gentlemen" who had never really worked a day in their life, and then there was the "Starving Time" (with even a couple of cases of cannibalism!) ... the statistics show just how forsaken and terrible it really was. By June 1610, of the possibly six hundred men left by Smith, only sixty survived... 

To demonstrate the vast difference between what the English were dreaming of when they set off for the "New World" paralleled with the reality they faced upon arrival, the kids created Jamestown Metaphors using the word and phrases we had discovered. We had been looking at figurative speech in reading so it fit in perfectly (whoo hoo integration!). I found this great anchor chart on pinterest which many of you have seen, however, I was especially excited because it goes PERFECTLY with my Jamestown metaphor because it has to do with weather and nature ... and that is what I chose my Jamestown metaphor to be as an example. 

I cannot find the original post for this chart ... only the picture pops up if I click on it. If you know where the original came from please let me know so I can give them credit!

My Jamestown Metaphor example

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Here are some of the kids metaphors - they turned out super cute and I feel that the kids really understood the concept! Some of them were really creative! {proud teacher heart}

This was one of my personal favorites! This kid paralleled Jamestown DREAM vs. REALITY with Minecraft - I loved the added touches of sticking the items down in the boxes as the "building items" 

I really enjoy showing history from a different perspective - I think that often were are taught history through rose colored glasses and forget to truly do justice to the people who lived. Many times our history books glaze over tragic stories, embarrassing moments, or areas of history we, as a nation, are not proud of. However, this kind of teaching is wrong. Not only is it disrespectful to the multitudes of people it affected, it gives kids a utopia picture that does not allow for the opportunity to truly do what history is intended to do - remind us of mistakes in the past, so that they will not be made again in the future! I'll get down off of my soapbox ;) All that to say, I love showing my kids appropriate (some content is too deep for younger students) Horrible Histories. A British based series that blends fact, reality, and morbid humor, as only the Brits can do! The kids absolutely ADORE them.
I just had to share the one I use for Jamestown.

{SPRING BREAK IS HERE!}

Glory hallelujah! 

... and what a great last day we had to welcome the break!

We have specials classes right away everyday - literally minutes after the kids have walked in the door, inhaled their breakfast, and said the pledge with the school. This morning was their culminating P.E. class gymnastic routine performance that they have been working on all month. They were SO STINKIN CUTE! The kiddos had been put into groups of 4-5 and had had to come up with their own music, routine, and theme. Definitely brought me back to my gynmastic/cheerleading days!

Yesterday, we had our fabulous Career Day, so today I had the kids connect to it and write a paragraph about what they want to do when they grow up - good time to put to test their paragraph skills we have been working on thanks to Stephanie at Teaching in Room 6. More on that in a later post! Perhaps I'll get to that over the break! 
Anyhoo, (flashback phrase from my high school years) we also wrote thank you notes to the presenters and created these absolutely FAB flowers with them that I found over at Hillside School Library. I did not get a picture of ours but here is theirs to show you an example.

Aren't they just the cutest?!
We also wrapped up our persuasive advertisement technique discussion and I challenged the kiddos to find and tally as many techniques they find while watching TV over break. They were excited - which made my teacher heart happy! I will post the handout I created on TPT as soon as I find time since it's at school! After break we will be diving head first into our own persuasive writing! One of my most favorite writing genres!
Our school collects box tops pretty religiously, giving prizes and awards to different classrooms or to the whole school each month based on meeting a specific goal (example: our Dean of students had to dress up as a Leperachaun for March and our principal, a gentleman, had to dress up as a ballerina!). Well, our class won "MOST box tops as a class" for February and so we finally enjoyed our "prize"  which was an afternoon trip to a local kidszone in town. They had FREE arcade games, carnival games, foosball, air hockey, etc. along with a massive, monstrous, AWESOME BLOW UP SLIDE! It really was a great bonding opportunity for the class and me. Playing with kids is one of the greatest way to share with them - I know it isn't always the most "educational" but it gives you the ability to relate with them on a different level and if you get involved with their play - they will love you for it! I had a great time, especially with my boys, competing on the slide for "highest jump" "longest slide without falling down face planting" "most spins" "furthest jump" "most complicated move" and my favorite, "most awkward fall!"

So ... bouncy slide = lots of fun. HOWEVER, if you weren't wearing long sleeves, it gives pretty crazy carpet/rubber burns on your elbows! They were burning and stinging on the bus ride home. As soon as we got back, we all were holding wet paper towels on our elbows! ha!
To wrap up our "beginning of break day" I had created little Spring Break treats for the kids ...

All in all, today was a fun memory to make with the kids and send them off on break with fresh in their minds!
To all of you who are on break - enjoy! To all of you who rubbed it in my face were on it already ... HA! My time has come! ;)

UPDATE: The next day my elbows looked like THIS! Ugh. 

{Potato chips, fidget toys, and Career Day!}

Today, we held our first, annual (well at least we would like it to be after today!) parent led Career Day!  While thinking about ways to get parents more involved in the classroom, my partner teacher and I decided that since our school really doesn't do a Career Day, we would do one for fifth grade. We had a great parent response and turn out for the event. The kids were all given a sheet of paper with a chart on it that labeled the major subjects (reading, math, writing, social studies, and science) in school as well as personal management areas including staying on task, getting assignments turned in on time, respecting others, etc. Before hand, we had emailed this list to parents and encouraged them to include in their presentations ways that they utilize these classroom skills in the real world work experience.

The student sheet, as well the the student chart check list, is available in my TPT store. 

The kids were given a sheet with their four stations that they had chosen and a checklist of the items mentioned above for each station. As the presenter gave their speech, the students were to be checking off the different classroom skills they use. They also had to note whether the job required a college education or special training.
Here is a sneak peak at our different occupations: 
Cosmetologist/Hair Stylist:
A mother and two assistants came and gave a great demonstration of how to put in an extensions, how to curl hair, how they mix colors (science and math!) and how they color. They even put a fun little piece of tinsel type material in the girl's hair!



Postal Worker/Mail Man: 
Presented the different types of material that he delivers. Discussed his training that he had to do. Showed the kids how mail gets sorted within the post office.








Veterinarian Technician: 
Shows the kids lots of different REAL parasites that are found in animals! Even brought in an X-ray box and X-ray to show how they look at the animals they are working on.

Farmer:

He is actually a farmer who produces potatoes for Lay's Potato Chips! So he brought in snack bags of Lay's for the kids! Awesome. He discussed different types of potatoes, how farms work, and how the potatoes are turned into chips.

Psychologist: 
Discussed emotions with the kids and gave them all stickers. Discussed how she helps people and shared with they tips on controlling anger, sharing their emotions correctly, and how to handle stress - she even let the kids pick out a "fidget" toy that they could use in class to help them focus! So cool!


Nurse: 

She shared information about the body with the kids along with lots of different tools that she uses - the kids enjoyed the stethoscope! She also had pens for each of them to take from the hospital.

Corporate worker at our local factory:
He shared with the kids about his schooling (had them shouting GO STATE a couple of times - ha!) and really encouraged them to be already thinking about going to college. You GO DUDE! He discussed with them his job of looking at the history of product sales (social studies!) in different countries and states. He also shared with them the different packagings that his company creates including Capri Sun - which he generously brought for the kids!





Clothing Designer/Local Shop Owner: 
She shared with the kids the different inspirations she gets to make her clothes (she takes used clothes, tears them apart and sews them back together in funky designs with crazy stitching) and about running her own business. She even let each of the kids pick out one item from her "store" including headbands, earrings, keychains, and hair clips!

Thank goodness for such great parent support! I was so greatly impressed with the parent presentations and little "extras" they added to really make this not only an educational experience, but also a very fun and memorable afternoon!

Some of the fun items the kids recieved

On a side note: While down in Florida on Spring Break, good friends of ours "bumped into" DuJuan Harris, our new Packer running back, and got me this autographed picture! So do well for me Harris ... make me rich ;)