Pumpkin Chunkin'

On Halloween, we did a really cute STEM activity in the classroom. My students are used to me just popping up and saying we are going to try something new. For our Science lesson today, we watched the preview for pumpkin chunkin' on youtube that I found from my high school alma mater. Love that my high school does a whole Mythbusters science class. How cool is that? Anyway, we also visited some websites about pumpkin chunkin and how to make catapults.


We reviewed some websites about Pumpkin Chunkin'

http://www.punkinchunkin.com/

http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_chunking


http://www.stormthecastle.com/catapult/popsiclestick-catapult.htm

http://teachingboys.net/2012/09/27/how-to-build-a-catapult-out-of-popsicle-sticks/


I then put the students in teams and gave them some materials and had them begin the process of making a popsicle stick catapult. They had to plan, draw, create, test, revise, and then be ready for pumpkin chunkin'

Materials:
Small popsicle sticks
Large popsicle sticks
Rubber bands
Water Bottles
Masking Tape
Duct Tape
Paperclips
Cardboard Boxes (I had been collecting my birchbox boxes for this activity)

Plan: They spent some time with their team talking about the catapults we had seen and how they could do that with the materials I provided.

Draw:
They had to draw the catapult and label it with the materials they would need. I gave them exactly what was listed as the materials they would need. If they needed different items they had to bring me an updated plan.


Create:
They had thirty minutes to create their catapult.

Test:
We went outside and did a test run with the catapults.

Rework:
The student then had 15 minutes to make adjustments to the catapults.

Pumpkin Chunkin':
We then went out and used our catapults to launch little candy pumpkins up the sidewalk. The students had a blast.

Writing:
The students came in and wrote about their pumpkin chunkin experience and what worked, what didn't work, and what they would do now. I think we might laugh easter eggs in the spring... so they will get to revist the catapult and put their revisions into action!


On a side note:
We aren't the only ones interested in pumpkin chunkin' apparently! This is a PTA video of a school doing some pumpkin chunkin'.

http://vimeo.com/78476466

Cupcake Wars: Day 4

Day 4: September 27^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Displays for the Cupcake Wars – Advertisement, Recipe, Paragraph

9:45 – 10:15 Chromatography Display

10:15 – 11:00 Writing Assignment: Narrative/Informational on Cupcake Experience

11:00-– 11:45  LEAP Time Activities: Math Games Bakery Style
Smart Exchange

11:45 – 12:15  Art Assignment: Cupcake Art – Manila Paper

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Simply Cupcakes  ~ Ms. June

2:00 – 2:15 Cupcake War Guest Judges: Dr. Brantley, Ms. Conner, Mrs. Kendrick, Mrs. Jan Jacobsen

2:15 – 2:30 Celebration Time: Sharing our cupcakes with the other third grade classes

2:30 – 3:30 Who sent the Cake? Science Mystery. Scientific Method & Experiment

Created by Science For Kids
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Who-Sent-the-Cake-Using-Science-to-Solve-a-Mystery-431770
 

Cupcake Wars: Day 3

Day 3: September 20^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Baking Cupcakes and Making Frosting – Preparing for the day

9:30– 10:15 Tour of School Cafeteria to experience a large kitchen and prep area. 

                    Interview with Ms. Ross the cafeteria manager.

                    Edmodo question posted to forum.

10:15 – 10:45 Have your Cake and Eat it to Inferring Activity (Partner Activity- Creativity Activity) 
Created by Christina Bainbridge 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Have-Your-Cake-and-Inference-Too-a-Crazy-Cake-Inference-Activity-714689

10:45 – 11:15 Recipes for Chocolates

http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/chocolate-decorations-for-desserts/
 

Exploring the Website for The Secret Chocolatier –
http://www.thesecretchocolatier.com/

Making Chocolates & Decorations for Desserts – Record in Folder

Preparing for Guest Speaker: Questions

11:15 – 12:15   Looking through Cupcake Books, Creating your Advertisement for Cupcakery – On Manila Paper http://goo.gl/04NAxF

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Cheryl ~ Smallcakes

2:00 – 3:00   Making Chocolate Designs & Decorations, Decorating Cupcakes

3:00 -3:30 Writing Assignment: Compare & Contrast Smallcakes & Wilson’s Bakery

Cupcake Wars: Day 2

The students were so excited to come to school and see that we were still doing the Cupcake Wars. They didn't want to go to specials. They wanted to get started with the day. So, that is exactly what we did. We got right to work! They pulled out their purple folders and we were off to the Selph'ish' Delights Bakery!

Day 2: September 13^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Literature: We started by reviewing the Bake Shop Ghost trailer on youtube.com
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OrSYgs7VQ

Then we actually read the book.  In the book, the main character says she will only go away and stop haunting the bakery if the new baker can bake her a cake like she would make. So the students and I stopped here and we did a Design  a Cake Activity. We shared our cakes and then we finished the book. It was a wonderful activity.

9:45 – 10:45 Animoto: Cupcakes Video: I made some animoto videos to go with each day of our cupcake experience. I showed one each of the four days as a kind of agenda of all the exciting things that we had to look forward to for the day. The kids loved them! We even sent the invitations to the cupcake wars through animoto.

                     Record: Making Frosting ~  Recipes into Notebooks
We looked at some simple frosting recipes on Wilton.com and added them to our purple folders.

         Introduction to Frosting Tips & Designs 

We then took a trip through all of the pictures I had collected of decorated cupcakes (there are millions out there). I choose pictures that would show how different cupcake tips were used and what our cupcakes might look like when we finish these activities.

10:45 – 11:45 Making & Baking Cupcakes & Frosting Tips Activity

We then got into our groups and made cupcake batter and frosting. We also prepped the decorating bags with the four main types of decorating tips. We baked the cupcakes super fast in the Babycakes cupcake maker. The students loved using it because it was so fast. On average, it was nine minutes to a perfect cupcake.  

BabyCakes Cupcake Maker 

11:45 – 12:15 Social Studies Lesson on Resources: Natural, Human, Capital, & Entrepreneurship

I did a quick lesson on the three types of resources every entrepreneur has to be aware of in order to run a successful business. The students created questions that had to do with the three resources and entrepreneurship. Each student came up with two questions and wrote them on index cards.

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Wendy Wilson from Wilson’s Bakery 

2:00 – 3:00 Decorating Practice & Cupcake Decorating

We practiced decorating our cupcakes while we watched an episode of Cupcake Wars on youtube. 

3:00 -3:30 Clean Up & Ticket out the door writing assignment – In Notebook

The students had to reflect in their purple folders about something they already knew about cupcakes, something new they had learned, and something they were still hoping to learn. They then wrote about something they loved about Wendy Wilson's visit and made her thank you cards. 

Cupcake Wars: Day 1

Cupcake Wars Day 1: September 6^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Introduction to Enrichment Days, 

                  Pass Out Purple Folders~ Decorate Folders with Cupcake Art & Names

9:45 – 10:45: Literature: Froggy Bakes a Cake ~ Froggy makes a cake by himself. He uses the basic ingredients that most cakes are made from. This lower level story is fun and engaging. It also helps students recognize the basic ingregients that are used to make cakes.

 

Books that help us bake cakes: Introduce the 10 Recipe Books about Cupcakes

 

Reading Skills: Read a Basic Recipe

Record: Chocolate Cake Recipe in Purple Folder (Wilton.com)

                        Record: Vanilla Cake Recipe in Purple Folder (Wilton.com)

                        T-Chart comparison Recipe Books and Froggy Bakes a Cake

 

10:45 – 11:45   Comparison Activity: Box Cupcakes (Chocolate with vanilla frosting) & Bakery Cupcakes (Simply Cupcakes): Double Bubble Map & Opinion Paper

11:15 – 12:15 Cooking Safety: Cooking Safety Rules Chart

 

 

                       Cooking Safety: Tools Bakers Use  

 

 

 

 

                       Video Trailer: The Bake Shop Ghost (youtube.com)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OrSYgs7VQ

 

1:00 – 2:00 Measurement Practice: How many tsps? tbsps? Cups? Activity

 

 



2:00 – 3:00 Science Experiment: (Conduction, Convection, Radiation) Cake Baking in an Easy Bake Oven/Toaster Oven/Baby Cakes Cupcake Maker

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easy-Bake-Oven-Lab-Convection-Conduction-Radiation-Insulators-464319

 



3:00 – 3:30 Video: Cupcake Wars

       Introduce Cupcake Wars Letter to Parents & Rubric for Cupcake Project

Cupcake Wars: Guest Speakers

Part of Renzulli's ideology is that students learn best from first hand experience with the experts in the field of study. I happen to agree with this idea that we learn best when we have access to all the resources possible. With this in mind I contacted the local bakeries and cupcakeries to see if they would mind coming into the classroom and talking with the students or demonstrating some of the the techniques they use in their business. 

The first Friday we didn't have a guest speaker. I concentrated on getting the students familiar with cupcakes, recipes, and tools for cooking. 

The second Friday we had Wendy Wilson, the owner, from Wilson's Bakery.
1719 Watson Blvd, Warner Robins, GA(478) 922-9300

"For over 60 years, Wilson's Bakery in the Miller Hills shopping center on Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins has provided generations of patrons with some of Middle Georgia's most renowned baked goods."

The third Friday we had Cheryl Kent, the owner, from Smallcakes.
206 Russell Parkway, Suite 200 Warner Robins, Georgia (478) 225-6418
https://www.facebook.com/Smallcakes.WR

The fourth Friday we had two of the staff members from Simply Cupcakes.
627 S Houston Lake Rd, Warner Robins, GA(478) 319-6891
http://www.wrcupcakes.com/index.html

The Questions that the students asked revolved around being entrepreneurship, skills, tools, and resources. 
They had a great time asking questions and learning more about these small businesses and certainly learned a lot 
about cupcakes. 

Cupcake Wars: Creating the Plan

I started with a basic plan for what do I want the students to learn. How will I know when they have learned it? What things can I do to enrich the activities? What things will my students be able to do when they are done with the enrichment days? What final product will they create to show they have acquired some basic skills during the unit? Once I had some answers to these questions, it all just started to come together. This is what the plan looked like when I had put all the pieces in place.  

Day 1: September 6^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Introduction to Enrichment Days, 

                  Pass Out Purple Folders~ Decorate Folders with Cupcake Art & Names

9:45 – 10:45: Literature: Froggy Bakes a Cake ~ Froggy makes a cake by himself. He uses the basic ingredients that most cakes are made from. This lower level story is fun and engaging. It also helps students recognize the basic ingregients that are used to make cakes. 

Books that help us bake cakes: Introduce the 10 Recipe Books about Cupcakes

Reading Skills: Read a Basic Recipe

Record: Chocolate Cake Recipe in Purple Folder

                        Record: Vanilla Cake Recipe in Purple Folder

                        Group Venn diagram comparison Recipe Book and Froggy Bakes a Cake

10:45 – 11:45   Comparison Activity: Box Cupcakes (Chocolate with vanilla frosting) & Bakery Cupcakes (Simply Cupcakes): Double Bubble Map & Opinion Paper

11:15 – 12:15 Cooking Safety: Cooking Safety Rules Chart

                       Cooking Safety: Tools Bakers Use  

                       Video Trailer: The Bake Shop Ghost

1:00 – 2:00 Measurement Practice: How many tsps? tbsps? Cups? Activity

2:00 – 3:00 Science Experiment: (Conduction, Convection, Radiation) Cake Baking in an Easy Bake Oven/Toaster Oven/Baby Cakes Cupcake Maker

3:00 – 3:30 Video: Cupcake Wars

       Introduce Cupcake Wars Letter to Parents & Rubric for Cupcake Project

Day 2: September 13^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Literature: Bake Shop Ghost Reading and Design  a Cake Activity/ Writing ~ Finish the Book

9:45 – 10:45 Animoto: Cupcakes Video

                     Record: Making Frosting ~  Recipes into Notebooks

         Introduction to Frosting Tips & Designs (Article Review) – Record in Notebook

10:45 – 11:45 Making & Baking Cupcakes & Frosting Tips Activity

11:45 – 12:15 Social Studies Lesson on Resources: Natural, Human, Capital, & Entrepreneurship

                      Create Questions to Ask the Guest Speaker that have to do with the three resources and entrepreneurship

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Wendy Wilson from Wilson’s Bakery 

2:00 – 3:00 Decorating Practice & Cupcake Decorating

3:00 -3:30 Clean Up & Ticket out the door writing assignment – In Notebook

Day 3: September 20^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Baking Cupcakes and Making Frosting – Preparing for the day

9:30– 10:15 Tour of School Cafeteria to experience a large kitchen and prep area. 

                    Interview with Ms. Ross the cafeteria manager.

                    Edmodo question posted to forum.

10:15 – 10:45 Have your Cake and Eat it to Inferring Activity (Partner Activity- Creativity Activity)

10:45 – 11:15 Recipes for Chocolates

Exploring the Website for The Secret Chocolatier –

Making Chocolates & Decorations for Desserts – Record in Folder

Preparing for Guest Speaker: Questions

11:15 – 12:15   Looking through Cupcake Books, Creating your Advertisement for Cupcakery – On Manila Paper

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Cheryl ~ Smallcakes

2:00 – 3:00   Making Chocolate Designs & Decorations, Decorating Cupcakes

3:00 -3:30 Writing Assignment: Compare & Contrast Smallcakes & Wilson’s Bakery

Day 4: September 27^th, 2013

8:45 – 9:45 Displays for the Cupcake Wars – Advertisement, Recipe, Paragraph

9:45 – 10:15 Chromatopography Display

10:15 – 11:00 Writing Assignment: Narrative/Informational on Cupcake Experience – Drafting Paper

11:00-– 11:45  LEAP Time Activities: Math Games Bakery Style

11:45 – 12:15  Art Assignment: Cupcake Art – Manila Paper

1:00 – 2:00 Guest Speaker: Bakery Owner ~ Simply Cupcakes  ~ Ms. June

2:00 – 2:15 Cupcake War Guest Judges: Dr. Brantley, Ms. Conner, Mrs. Kendrick, Mrs. Jan Jacobsen

2:15 – 2:30 Celebration Time: Sharing our cupcakes with the other third grade classes

2:30 – 3:30 Who sent the Cake? Science Mystery. Scientific Method & Experiment

Cupcake Wars: Planning Stages

I am currently doing a series of enrichment activities with my students. I have been learning a lot about Joe Renzulli and his School Wide Enrichment Model in my gifted classes. Since we only have one gifted classroom on each grade level this model isn't something that our school is picking up or developing. I have decided to try a few enrichment type classes with my students in order to see how it would work on a small scale. The drawback is that with the SEM the students get to choose based on their interests. This time we are doing one based on my interests. The only thing my principal asked me to do was to make sure that I could support my extension activity with the standards. It took some digging and some very thoughtful consideration to get all the pieces together in the manner that I wanted and still make it authentic and engaging for the students. 

These are the standards that I decided to use to support my unit.

English/Language Arts:

ELACC3RL3 Key Ideas and Details: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

ELACC3RL10 Range of Reading and Complexity of Text: 10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

ELACC3RI3 Key Ideas and Details: Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or

concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

ELACC3RI8 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

ELACC3W2 Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

ELACC3W4 Production and Distribution of Writing: With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

ELACC3W7 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

ELACC3L1 Conventions of

Standard English: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Mathematics

MCC3.NF.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

MCC3.NF.3 Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.

MCC3.MD.1 Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes.

Physical Science

S3P1. Students will investigate how heat is produced and the effects of heating and cooling, and will understand a change in temperature indicates a change in heat.

a. Categorize ways to produce heat energy such as burning, rubbing (friction), and mixing one thing with another.

b. Investigate how insulation affects heating and cooling.

c. Investigate the transfer of heat energy from the sun to various materials.

d. Use thermometers to measure the changes in temperatures of water samples (hot, warm, cold) over time.

Economic Understandings

SS3E1 The student will describe the four types of productive resources:

a. Natural (land)

b. Human (labor)

c. Capital (capital goods)

d. Entrepreneurship (used to create goods and services)

Websites:

http://www.fun-cupcake-ideas.com/cupcake-recipes.html

http://www.marthastewart.com/274888/kids-favorite-cupcakes/@center/276944/cupcakes

http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/birthday-cupcake-kids-recipes

Dates: September 6, 13, 20, 27 

Tic-Tac-Toe Boards, Menus, Choice Boards, and ILPs in the GTE Classroom

One of the hardest things about working with high achieving and gifted and talented students is making sure that you aren't giving them busy work just because they already know most, if not all, of the material. It can be a real catch-22 sometimes.

You have to know that they understand the material and the concepts. You also want to differentiate the material for their learning styles or even their interests. Many times I do this by offering the students a Tic-Tac-Toe choice board. Because whenever you offer your students choices, you are  differentiating the process of learning and the product that will be produced. The means the students are leading their own learning and you are just providing the tools. You still have to be very careful about the assignments that are on the Tic-Tac-Toe. You have to make sure the choices will help the students have a deeper understanding of the standards you are teaching. If they are just going to know what they already know, then you aren't helping them grow. You really are providing busy work.

The easiest place to work with Tic-Tac-Toe boards is in the Science and Social Studies units. You can match each of the choices directly to the standards. You can offer a bit of extension on those standards. You can even choose a variety of activities to match students interests.

I have already used a TTT for Paul Revere, Adaptations, & Habitats so far this year. I am trying to use them only in one subject at a time. If I use it in Social Studies, I am using a menu in Science. If I am using it in Science I might be using an Individual Learning Plan for Social Studies. It just depends on how much I need to teach. If there is a lot of teaching, I am using an ILP. If there is just a bit of teaching I am probably using a menu. If there is practically no teaching, I am using a choice board. But be aware that if you use just the TTT over and over they can be tedious to the students. They many not offer the same choices or even be on the same material but the students begin to not like the TTT boards. That just means you have to change it up a bit! That is why I try to rotate which items I am using and offer the students lots of choices. It means a bit more work on my side at the beginning and in the grading, however, it benefits my students the most.


Example of Spelling Choice Board: These are choice boards. The students can choose any of the squares on the board. It does not have to be a tic-tac-toe. I have these categories set up in a 3 by 3 grid.

1. Word Scramblers: Have mom or dad take your words and scramble them up. See if you can solve them.

2. Secret Codes: Take 10 of your words and create a secret code to put them in. Write the words in the secret code and provide the key to your secret code.

3. Poetry writing: Take at least 8 of your words and use them in a poem. Make sure you write down the rhyming pattern of your poem.

4. Hangman: Play hangman with your parents using your spelling words. Ask them 10 of your words and have them ask you ten of them.

5. Student Choice with Teacher Approval

6. Word Origin: Look up the origin of 6 of your words. Where did it come from?

7. Crossword Puzzle: Create a crossword puzzle with 10 of your words.

8. Word Search: Create a word search on the computer with your words. Print it. Solve it!

9. Word Cubes: Make a word cube for 3 of your hardest words. It should include word, definition, etymology, part of speech, drawing, and use of the word in a sentence.


Example of a Menu:

Social Studies Unit 2

SS3H1 The student will explain the political roots of our modern democracy in the U.S
a. Greek architecture, law, and Olympics      
b. Ancient Athenian idea that the society should choose its own leaders      
c. Compare and contrast Athens & US (direct and representative democracies)

Tier 1 (Choose 2) - Initial

1. Make a collage of famous American buildings that show the influence of Greek Architecture. Label the Greek features for each of the buildings. Your collage should contain at least ten different buildings.

2. Use a double bubble map to compare ancient Greek Olympics to the modern day Olympics. Make sure that your double bubble map has at least 3 defining characteristics in each area.    

3. Create a Social Studies mini-book that will help explain the differences between direct and representative democracies to your classmates. This book should be at least 8 pages and include illustrations, diagrams, pictures, and thoughtful descriptions.

                
Tier 2 (Choose 1) - Enrichment

1. Create a skit that illustrates the steps that the people in the United States use to nominate and elect its leaders. Explain how this process is similar and different than the processes.

2. Create a rap, a poem, or a song that describes what happens when societies are not allowed to choose their leaders.  (Research countries like N. Korea, China, and Cuba)

Tier 3 (Choose 1)- Extension

1. Create a Powerpoint that compares the strengths and weaknesses of the government in Ancient Greece and the strengths and weaknesses of the United States government. 

2. Write an informational blog that describes how the United States modeled our government after the Ancient Greek Government in Athens, Greece. Your paper must be at least one full page and include examples, details, and facts that support your thinking. Please no skipped lines.

 

Example Tic-Tac-Toe Board: This one was used for an end of the year review for the students. It helped them remember all the things that they had learned throughout the year. The activities were ones that were not offered during the units.

Tic –Tac – Toe

Select and complete activities from the choice board in a tic-tac-toe design. When you complete the activities in a row you may decide to be finished or you may decide to keep going and complete more activities.

Starburst Rocks-   Create all three types of rocks using starburst candies. Take a picture and record your observations in your science journal.	Habitats-   Using Powerpoint design a Georgia habitat and all of the animals that live there.	Magnets-   Select 25 classroom objects and investigate how they react with magnets.
Pollution-   Create a poster that advertises the three types of pollution and how we can help prevent each type.	Heating/Cooling-   Describe the three ways thermal energy moves. Draw a picture that illustrates each way.	Rocks & Fossils –   Illustrate how an animal becomes a fossil.
Habits of Mind –   Create a manual that explains the scientific method and tools scientist use.	Rock Cycle-   Diagram and Label the Rock Cycle. Write a paragraph that describes how rock can change from one type of rock to another.	Dependence-   Select 3 plants from each region of Georgia: identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.

 Individual Learning Plan: When I have a lot of material to teach, I most often use an ILP. These come from Carolyn Coil and Pieces of Learning.

Homework in the GTE Classroom

Homework... yes, that dreaded word. We hate it, the students hate it and the parents hate it too. It is made of two four letter words, so I guess it really should be considered a four letter word. :-)

I have done a couple of things to make this process easier for me this year.

#1 - I assign all homework on Monday. It is not due until Friday. This gives everyone time to get it done around all of the other activities that the students need to do during the week.

#2 - I don't grade math homework. I do check it to make the students are getting the concepts. It is for practice purposes. I pull strategy groups if I have a few struggling with the same concept.

#3- I do grade the spelling as a participation grade. Each spelling activity counts as  25 points for a possible 100 points.

#4- Science/ Social Studies is graded occasionally. It is usually end of lesson practice and we just go over it in class. Projects are sent home well in advance and guidelines and rubrics go with them.

Traditionally, students practice their spelling words in different fashions during the week and take a test on them on Friday. The work is repetitious and usually doesn't have them do anything exciting or interesting with the words. It is mainly just a time filler.

To make it a bit more interesting, I have created a tic-tac-toe choice board for the students to do with their spelling words. The students do one choice each day from Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday nights, they take a practice test.

1. Word Scramble with your words

2. Create Poetry with your words

3. Hangman with 10 of your words

4. Secret Codes with your words

5. Student Choice with teacher approval

6. Word Cube with 3 of your words

7. Etymology of 10 of your words

8. Crossword puzzle with 10 of your words

9. Word Search with all of your words

Homework is one of those things that can get away from you very easily. You spend time having to talk to parents about it more than anything else. You need to have a system that is easy for you to keep up with (grading) and easy for parents to understand.

Homework! Oh, Homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you away in the sink,
if only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're giving me fits.

I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework,
my teacher assigns.

Homework! Oh, homework!
you're last on my list,
I simply can't see
why you even exist,
if you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!

 Jack Prelutsky 

Boggle in the Classroom

As you may be aware of, my classroom has a 'game' theme this year. The behavior clip chart is one that I created using a UNO theme. I have the SET game and the Boggle game on another magnetic bulletin board. I have two chess boards out and we are learning to play 'pawn chess' right now. I also have backgammon available during the day for follow on. So, as you can see we are working on games that enhance our vocabulary skills, thinking skills, and problem-solving skills.







On my magnetic bulletin board I have Boggle. My plan is to switch the letters each week and have the kids do Boggle as one of their extension activities. This will help with some word building skills. I put it up two weeks ago and just casually mentioned it as a follow on activity. This past week, I moved the letters to the board and we worked through it together. I had the kids focus on making three letter words to start off. We talked about how the letters connect and how to make words on the board. The kids did a fabulous job making three letter words. They even managed to find quite a few four letter words. I had a few find five letter words even. Not bad for our very first time doing the activity.



Pretty soon the kids were monitoring each other and explaining why the words would work or why they wouldn't work. I love it when they take over and I can just step back and watch and listen.

Word Ladders

One my of goals this year is to increase vocabulary skills in my classroom. I have noticed as I watch game shows like Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy that if you have a good grasp of vocabulary you are better at solving the clues. I also noticed that some of the most popular word games like Words with Friends and Word Drop are also influenced by a strong background with vocabulary.

More and more people are watching these shows and downloading these apps. I was thinking these games could help me increase vocabulary skills in the classroom, which will help improve reading levels and writing proficiency. So, while I am going to be including some of those games into my classroom. I am also going to work on other activities that build vocabulary.

One of these activities is the Word Ladder. If you have ever been to http://www.sporcle.com you will notice an abundance of word ladder quizzes. I think that is very interesting that even as adults we like word ladders. It made me go back and pull out my word ladder books from a few years back. You may be asking what is a word ladder. If you are really interested, here is the history of the word ladder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_ladder

The word ladder basically starts with one word and that word changes by one letter at a time to become a completely new word.

CORD --- CARD ---CARE ---FARE---FATE---RATE


There are many variations of the word ladder. When we do it in class, we use the Word Ladders published by Scholastic and developed by Timothy Rasinski. I think this is the one I am currently using. It is the 4th - 6th grade book.

http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/subject/reading/fluency/daily-word-ladders-grades-4-6-mkt9765

You can get them in different grade level ranges. They are all excellent for building vocabulary skills.
 

 

 

You can also find some activities online for word ladders.

 

http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/word_ladders.htm

 

http://www.puzzlechoice.com/pc/Word_Play_Menx.html

 

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordladder/

 

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/word-ladders-for-kids/

 

I use these as part of my morning work at least twice a week. It is helping the students look at words more critically and it is exposing them to new words they have never seen. It also helps them work with synonyms, antonyms, and multiple meaning words. I think it is a great addition to my morning work. I can't wait to see them use some of the words we are learning in their writing!

 

TGT