Whew-So, I guess not posting in a week means that I have a lot to post about now? School has been crazy busy-I am sure you all feel the same way! This week, I decided to try out a few new things! First of all, I decided that with my group this year, I needed to do MUCH MORE informal assessment to make sure that they were with me and listening! I decided to try using questions and having the students respond with hand signals. I like it! I can immediately tell who gets it, and who is sleeping with their eyes open! I am also continuing to use the whole brain teaching strategy of TEACH-OK. It is a wonderful way of giving the lower students reinforcement, and the higher students a chance to explain their thinking!
*By the way-does anyone else feel like they have to put on a circus act somedays?* Luckily though, while my job is a challenge, my kids are sweetie pies this year, and I love being around them!
On to another topic: Moon OREOS! I took this activity from the home grown leaners blog. It was so much fun and the kids ate it up-literally:) The activity asked for the kids to carve the phases of the moon into the creme of the oreo. They were definitely into it, and were using words like "waxing", "waning", "gibbous", and "crescent". Woo Hoo!
You can totally see the phases of the moon in this kids! He did a good job scraping!!
Had to post this-please notice the boy in the middle. I mean, I am so happy that he was that excited about learning!
In my last post, I included the moon journal that we will be using. It is a free download, so go get it HERE.
OK ALMOST DONE! I have made a Halloween Writing Unit that I am selling on TPT. It will be a week long writing unit, and will teach kids how to write a descriptive narrative. It is super fun, and I can't wait to use it! And-best of all, it is only $3.50! Check is out here-Halloween Writing Unit.
Here we go! We are about 3 weeks into the new school year, and I have quickly realized (again) that the learning strategies that make work really well with one class will not work at all with another. Rats! If only our job were that easy! This year, I am a really energetic, busy group of kids. Completely opposite from my quiet group last year! These little learners LOVE to talk. All the time. All day. Every day. So, it's time to change how I am teaching! They aren't going to take in the information like my kids last year, so I don't need to give them information that way.
Introducing: Whole Brain Teaching. I have used elements of whole brain teaching in my classroom management since last year, but I have not used the instructional elements to their full potential. I am most specifically focusing on the strategy of "Teach OK", where I teach the kids a concept, then they teach each other the concept. It incorporates so many levels of thinking! Here is an example of one way I have used the Teach OK strategy:
Me: Class!
Students: Yes!
Me: Gestures! (Students lift their hands to imitate my movements like a mirror image) Today we are going to learn to order numbers, putting them in order from least to greatest, or greatest to least, by stacking them. (Throughout this statement, I move my hands to show meaning of the words. Small for least, then spread my arms for greatest, and for stacking I may pretend to make a stack with my hands.)
Students: (Imitate teachers hand movements.)
Teacher: XXTeach!
Students: XX OK! (Students turn to their pre assigned partners and re-teach the concept to them, by using gestures that they just learned.)
Teacher: Classity Class!
Students: Yessity Yes!
Teacher: (Begins next lesson)
Since this is a little confusing, take a look that this 1st grade teacher using some of the whole brain teaching concepts:
All things whole brain teaching can be seen/found on Chris Biffle's website. Registration is free, so check it out!
