Comprehension Skill Posters Continued

I posted earlier a comprehension skill poster for sequence of events related to solitaire. Now that I have returned from maternity leave I have created more fun posters!!

This was the poster that I saw online that started the whole idea!

Students truly understand fun games, so I thought, take old/new games they understand and compare them to reading skills they need to learn. Many games really do support comprehension and reading skills!

I let the students play the games during UA time, and I find that it does help their language skills, and helps them remember the skill better!

100%

I love to celebrate learning. One of the things I do to celebrate the best, is to display the best! I always hang 100% papers. I have found that once a student (who may think a 100% is impossible) becomes so proud!! It really is overwhelming to see how amazing they feel!

Making Accelerated Reader Fun!

Every year I have posted and made AR fun! I find that the best thing to do is to post it fun first. This year I cut out mickey heads and laminated them, so I could change the students points each week with a whiteboard marker. I find that the students compete against each other, and keep each other reading.

I also give prizes for word count. At 200,000 words, the students receive a prize from my prize box. At 500,000 words they receive a Homework pass, at 1,000,000 words I give them a free book, and at 2,000,000 words I take them to a movie. Usually, only 1 or 2 kids get to the top prize. It is fun to see the students reach even the prize box, and they are excited!

Finally, once the students reach ten 100%'s on quizzes they get a trip to the star jar, which is all free to me! They have stars like "sit in the teachers chair for 15 minutes," "15 minutes of drawing them," or "15 minutes of computer time." These are highly sought after stars!

Double Waterfall Braid

Over Thanksgiving, I was able to braid my sister-in-laws hair. Oh man, do I love to braid.

I started with a simple waterfall braid.

1) Break a small part of the hair on one side into three pieces.
2) When you begin the braid start with grabbing another piece from the top of the head.
3) Drop the bottom piece and pick up a new section of hair to keep the third piece of the braid

Then I looped the braid around and the pieces that was dropped, were picked up as the top part of the braid. And new pieces were dropped to create a double waterfall effect.

It was fun to braid again!

Revolutionary War Unit Basics

My favorite unit in 5th grade is studying about the Revolutionary War. I find that my students love it because it is interactive and interesting. I have an entire unit based on the war. Of course, I have help because Houghton-Mifflin has an entire theme based on the Revolutionary War. I use their stories and work on their comprehension skills, and begin to teach the unit. However, I have an interactive unit that my friend and I created the first year I taught 5th grade. She is amazing, and has updated it, so that I could use it since I was busy having a baby earlier this year!

The students are assigned a character in history, and a colony. I always play King George III/Historian. The students then research the colonies and their characters.

This was the first year I had iPads to research, and it was a bit too much fun! The students had specific questions to ask, so they could truly participate in the continental congresses knowing how their colonies thought. They also researched their person, so they knew when to participate in the interact.

For example, Patrick Henry gave his famous speech, John Adams led the Boston Tea Party, and Paul Revere read the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.

1.     King George

Revolutionary War

1.     Patrick Henry

2.     John Adams

3.     Abigail Adams

4.     Benjamin Franklin

5.     Joseph Galloway

6.     John Hancock

7.     Nathanael Greene

8.     Ethan Allen

9.     Thomas Paine

10. Thomas Jefferson

11. Crispus Attucks

12. Paul Revere

13. George Washington

14. Phyllis Wheatley

15. James Wilson

16. James Madison

17. John Jay

18. Benedict Arnold

19. Nathan Hale

20. George Rogers Clark

21. John Penn

22. General Charles Cornwallis

23. Sybil Ludington

24. Mary Ludwig Hayes

25. Richard Henry Lee

26. John Paul Jones

27. Henry Knox

28. Samuel Adams

29. William Prescott

30. John Dickinson

31. James Wilson

32. Thomas McKean

The students were also in charge of doing a research report based on their person, and during computer time, they would research and fill out basic questions from their early life, revolutionary war, and after the revolutionary war. They also wrote a report on the person during writing time.

After researching the colony, the first interactive thing we did was discuss the 7 Years War, which began the taxes. We did a small section of reading based on the war from our social studies book. 

Then, letting the students sit by colonies, "King George III" came in and proclaimed the different taxes from the Revolutionary War. The students of course went into an uproar. Also, we re-inacted the Boston Massacre. For the Boston Tea Party, I found a small play to do with the kids, and they re-inacted the Boston Tea Party. Then we would begin the 1st Continental Congress, and would vote on the three things the actual congress voted for.

Patrick Henry gave his speech, and Paul Revere talked about his Midnight ride. While the students read their parts the rest of the students drew parts they heard on the "Draw Free" app on the iPad. I found that this kept the students interactive.

Finally, we read about Lexington and Concord in our Social Studies book, and break into colonies to vote for in the Second Continental Congress. We form an army and petition King George, and discuss the Olive Branch Petition. After we discuss the Petition, we declare independence, and the war begins.

The last thing we do is discuss propaganda and the role it played in the war. This is my favorite part! We look at Benjamin Franklin's "Join or Die" art work, as well as the Boston Massacre propaganda that occurred in a newspaper. Then I let the kids create their own artwork, pretending they are artists during that time.

After the students have finished their research report (which they are working on the whole time), they do a presentation based on their person. I will talk more about that during my presentation blog!


Here are the final posters:

5 Minute Review

In 5th grade, one of the many jobs I have before sending kids to middle school is to teach them how to study. The day before a test we fill out a review sheet based on whatever we have learned. I usually give them 5-7 different ways to study at home, and we practice them while we fill out the sheet. The most popular ways to study:

1) Write it, Read it, Say it
     *Simple yet effective
2) Make a chant/song
3) Make hand movements
4) Test each other
     *What I will focus on!
5) Assign colors to things we have to memorize
6) Draw a picture of what we need to memorize
7) Think of examples

The day of the test, after the students have reviewed at home, I like to start the day off with a quick review.

1) I assign a part of the review guide to each student to "test" the other students on.
2) They have 5 minutes to walk around and "test" as many people as possible.
3) During the 5 minutes, they walk up to a person, they ask their question, and have it answered, then the other partner asks their question, and they answer it.
4) Then, they give the person a high five. They check off how many people to ask.
5) The winner receives a clip move/class dojo points/whatever a fitting reward for your classroom would be!

The students really get into it, and they are studying! It is quite fun!