First to the Finish Line

I'm not sure about you, but as a teacher I get the frequent, "I'm all done with everything, what can I do?" I absolutely hate this statement and tell my students that I have another assignment and then they usually respond with "No, actually I have something else to do! because they know that something "boring" and school related is coming there way! 

So this year, I really wanted to try to limit this as much as possible and keep all students occupied with something to do.  Plus, give them a choice of what to do!

For those who finish there work well, I will sometimes give students 1 point extra credit if they complete a "fast finisher!"

Here is a list I came up with for those "fast finishers"....

1. Boggle

I found a freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers for a free Boggle Board with letters.  After printing off the letters I laminated them and then created a Boggle Board in my classroom! I try and changed the Boggle board every week and have a competition for this!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

2. Math Money Dollar/Hundreds Words - This actually came from another blog who has awesome ideas! She uses this in her 4th grade classroom and for her it seems to work very well. Here is the link to her freebie!

http://fourthgrademathnut.blogspot.com/2013/06/inflation.html

3. Big Kid Geometric Coloring Pages

This website, Geometrip, has free downloads to really cool geometric design coloring pages that would keep 5-8th graders busy for a while. 

http://geometrip.com/free/coloring/designs/

4. Word Searches

My students love word searches and there are several websites that provide free printable word searches.

5. Highlight Seek and Finds

At Barnes and Noble, I bought a Highlights for Kids Challenge Seek and Find book, and so I don't ruin the book, I put a transparency over the top of a page and use large binder clips to keep it in place.  Then, I give the students a dry erase marker to complete it!

6. Silent Reading

In the back of my classroom, I have a "library" that my kids love to pick out a book and just read!

7. Color

My 6th graders love to color! I try to keep crayons and scrap paper out at all times.

8. Puzzles

In the summer, I try to stock up on games/puzzles that I find at Target or at The Dollar Tree. If any one of my students finish, they love to go somewhere in the classroom and sit and complete a puzzle.

:) 

Animal Kingdom Classification Tree Project

Well, I have to admit that I am not a science teacher by any means. I am a teacher, but not a science teacher.  I  can plan lessons, stay organized (well 90% of the time), and provide something for students to do.

This year, I have been given the opportunity to teach math, science, and social studies to 6th grade.  Math is my concentration and obviously the easiest for me. However, I thought science wouldn't be too difficult since it has a lot of connection with math and it is very black and white...well I was wrong..science in 6th grade is very difficult if you have no idea what they are learning! Right now, I am teaching them about the biosphere, adaptation, and classification.  I remember doing all of this in 6th grade but to actually TEACH this material....it has been much more of a challenge than I thought.


Anyways, I have really been struggling finding assignments for them to do independently that go along with what we are learning. I don't have a teacher's manual so I have been working hard at creating my own lessons and Googling like crazy for ideas.

ANIMAL KINGDOM TREE 

 

Math is beginning to FALL all around us...Order of Operations Style

This week in math, my lovely 6th graders have been working hard on understanding Order of Operations.  One of the worksheets they completed was a "color by number" sort of activity but rather than numbers they had to solve mathematical expressions.  Here are the pictures of the worksheet. I also posted just the leaves picture because this could be used for several math lessons. :)

DIY Star/Sun Mirror

Star/Sun Mirrors are super cute and super simple to make. Normally, I am one that would go to Target or Anthropologie and just buy one, but I really wanted to do some sort of easy crafty project this week. So I decided to make one and it was all for $10.00!  Among JoAnn's, The Anderson's, and Michael's, I bought all the supplies.

Supply List:
- Paint Pallet Sticks x 40ish (The Andersons)
- Wooden Wreath  (Michael's)
- Gold or Silver Spray Paint (The Andersons)
- Elmer's Wood Glue (JoAnn's)
- Sand Paper (The Andersons) 
- Big Pot of Water

BEFORE GLUING anything to the wreath...I recommend sanding the paint sticks down to remove the clear coating that the manufactures put on the paint sticks to prevent paint absorption.  Don't spend a great deal of time on this because you could drive your self crazy doing this. (I spent about 10 seconds for each paint stick and the paint stuck just fine!)

After sanding all the paint sticks down, I  glued one layer of paint sticks down and then set a big pot of water on top (acts like a clamp) until the glue dried.  After this layer dried, I added another layer and then repeated this again for a third time. One you have this "crazy looking wooden glued paint stick star like thing"...say that three times fast...you are ready to paint!

 

I took my crazy paint stick star out to the backyard (do this the day you are planning on mowing the grass so your grass doesn't turn gold for too long).   I applied several THIN coats of paint to mine. Once the paint dried, I glued a smaller wood circle on to the middle with the wood glue so that the mirror would be level.

Once the wood smaller circle was in place and the mirror circle was glued in place, I hung my beautiful mirror! :)



 

Classroom Charm

This year, I am teaching 6th grade math, science, and social studies and am absolutely loving it! Over the summer, I have worked really hard to incorporate all three subjects in my classroom and make it noticeable to visitors that this is a place for 12 year old scientists, mathematicians, and historians! Plus, really trying to make it a homey place where everyone feels welcomed! :)

Flower Power Grading Pens

I am sure we all have seen silk flower pens before at either a friends house, a business, or even at home. Silk flower pens have literally changed my school year and my kids LOVE them!

One of my biggest challenges with the students last year was grading their paper with another color pen.  The students I had last year were very clever and tried every trick in the book with me and it came to a point where I was grading the majority of their papers and they didn't have the opportunity to check and review their work.  However, this year, I made a promise that my students were going to do the majority of the grading and have the opportunity to correct their mistakes.  Also, I have become a bit smarter, since this is my second year, and now my students don't have a choice but to use the "FLOWER PENS" when grading their papers! Lastly, these pens make a very cute decor addition to my desk! 

 So now when we grade papers, they all have the same red daisy pen and I can tell exactly who is grading their paper and who is not! The best part of this is seeing all these red daisies around the room!

The flower pens I made, were not as nice as the picture below...(I will post a picture when I get a chance), I ended up going to the DOLLAR TREE and picked up some red silk flowers. Then, at HOBBY LOBBY, I picked up some green duct tape, and lastly, at TARGET, I bought a huge box of red pens.

Within the hour, I had 18 or so beautiful red daisy pens that looked/look amazing! :)


After seeing my kids just love these pens, I actually went back to the DOLLAR TREE and picked up more of these flowers and taped them around several pencils. I leave a huge cup of flower SHARPENED pencils, so during class, if a student needs to sharpen their pencil they may just grab one of mine! Also, this has eliminated the noisy pencil sharpener during guided practice times! :)