Envisioning Goals

 I've used these glasses before for "Visions of Summer Break".  They came in handy again with goal setting for the New Year.   Students thought about what they would like see themselves accomplish at home and at school in 2018. 


What the Teacher Learned:  If you can see it, you can be it!

California Missions Project



 I love my team at school.  We work well together and in doing so are able to trust each other.  Because of that, I got to teach Social Studies to all of our 4th graders this year. 


One thing the kids really enjoyed doing was "directed draws".  Here the students got to research a mission and then do their own directed draw from Patty Fernandez.


Students used...gasp!...books to research their mission.  When they completed their research they got a chance to draw it too! 


What The Teacher Learned:  Art!

California Regions Foldable

This California Regions Foldable was a favorite activity for my Social Studies group.  After we learned about California's regional diversity, we set about creating this foldable.  Students worked in groups to find details about each major region.  Then, I did a directed draw for each region.  To do that, I directed the student to divide each space into a quadrant.  Bonus points for using the word "quadrant".  Next I gave basic instructions to create each picture.  For example, for the valley region I had the students draw a three by five grid in the lower two quadrants.  After the directed draw, students were given time to color in their creations.  I think they turned out beautifully and my students really enjoyed the experience.  Thank you to Lesson with Laughter for the great idea.

The students enjoyed the experience so much that we will be repeating the experience as we study about the California Missions.  I located this series on You Tube by Patty Fernandez that has a directed draw for each mission.  I plan to have students pair up and research a mission.  Their final project will include facts about their mission and their finished drawing.  Can't wait to see how that turns out.

What the Teacher Learned:  Integrate art into activities to help bolster interest and connections.

Fraction Sundaes

My class made these darling Fraction Sundaes at the start of our fraction unit.  Of course they had a blast putting them together and inventing new flavors.  Watch out Ben & Jerry's!  The students were then required to write about their sundae using fractional terms.  It was a great way to fit writing into math and a great way to practice fraction skills such as finding equivalent fractions. 

What the Teacher Learned:  Art and math go together like ice cream and chocolate syrup!

Haunted Multiplication Houses

 

The inspiration for these Haunted Multiplication Houses came from the book MathART Projects and Activities.  The students were able to work on them during math rotations. 

 

We just began our division adventure, so this was a review of relating multiplication to division.  The students chose a fact to review.  This student chose his eights so on the door he wrote "House of 8's".  On the outside of each window students were to write a factor, and on the inside the product.  This student also wrote a related division fact on the inside of the "shutter".

 

Since Halloween is almost here, I purchased some seasonal foam pieces for students decorate their houses with. 

 

What the Teacher Learned:  Art and Math do mix!