Saturday, June 8, 2013
New year...New Position
Although it is very hard to be as excited as I want to be, because of my teacher friends who do not have a position for next year yet, I am excited for my new position next year. I will be the new teacher of the gifted and talented! There will be all grade levels coming and going each week. So many plans...so many ideas...so much work to do! The Jamestown Blog needed to be revamped. I like the template that I have chosen for our Pathfinders' blog. Hopefully, this year more students will be posting. Please send me any ideas that you might have! I am truly blessed with wonderful teacher friends who are helping me get started on this new adventure! Have a wonderful summer! Next week, I am going to work in my classroom to ready it for its new inhabitants!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Before Spring Break...
Well, Spring Break is finally here!!! I am not sure, but I am probably looking forward to a week off even more than my kids!
Before the break, we had lots of testing to do. District Required Math and District Required Reading tests. We practiced math and we reviewed skills learned from Unit 5 in reading.
Before the break, we had lots of testing to do. District Required Math and District Required Reading tests. We practiced math and we reviewed skills learned from Unit 5 in reading.
This is our review chart to get us ready for the DRLA test.
For most of the week, we worked on projects that were fun and review:
Using tangrams after reading Grandfather Tang's Story
After reading about the moon, students did a Moon Fact Poster. Some students chose to do the ABCs of the moon. Great Job!
Caterpillar turns into butterfly:
Students wrote poems about butterflies.
To review test features, we used old Time for Kids magazines and made collages. I love the title in the middle made from the magazines!
We had two students go to District fairs!
Kayla went to the District Art Fair.
Her hummingbird is incredible! Congratulations!!!
Michael went to the District Science Fair...
He won second place in his division!!! Congratulations!!!
Mayor James...proud teacher!
Enjoy your break from school!!!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
February in Jamestown
Earlier this month, we went to Fort Christmas. We learned about life in Early Florida...
We learned about the History of Florida Flags
Buddies!
King of the Tomahawk Toss!
Our first camp was all about weaponry!
A real Sioux...his great grandmother was born into the Sioux tribe.
...Valentine's Day...
Graphing Candy Conversation Hearts
February 26th is National Pink Shirt Day. I learned this from Runde's Room. She has a fabulous activity for talking about bullying from different perspectives...the bully, the bullied, and the bystander. We followed her plan and had discussions in groups, wrote an "I am" poem, and designed our own pink shirt. Here is the link to the story behind National Pink Shirt Day and Ms. Runde's activity:
My students had wonderful conversations, and did a fabulous job with the poems and t-shirts. I am hoping this is a visual reminder of how we should treat each other.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Social Studies...Florida History
Students worked in teams to create a video explaining their part of Unit 3 Florida's Early History:
The Adams-Onis Treaty
The Florida Territory
2nd Seminole War
3rd Seminole War
Saturday, February 2, 2013
SUPER BOWL WEEKEND!!!
We began studying decimals this week in math. Thanks to Success Maker, a computer program used by our school, most students have already been introduced to decimals. I can't teach decimals without fractions! So to start off, we drew number lines on our desks that were labeled from 0 to 1. We marked off lines in between so that we could label 1/10, 2/10...10/10 on the top of the number line. On the bottom of the number line we labeled the same marks 0.1, 0.2....1.0. It's a good visual AND since students created their own number line, it sticks a little better than me just showing them. We then did the same thing between 0 and 0.1...of course we had to "magnify" that part to be able to label with 1/100 and 0.01...10/10. I got the idea from pinterest, of course.
http://homeschool-ninjas.blogspot.com/2012/06/teaching-decimals-with-cuisenaire-rods.html
This is a picture from the homeschool-ninjas blog! I didn't think to take a picture of my students doing this. We use dry erase markers on our desks and they work nicely. Students LOVE it! Just use black or blue...no fancy colors. I use a Clorox wipe to get them clean.
On Friday, we played a Fraction/Decimal SCOOT. I found this fabulous Task Card set on Teachers Notebook...
...and printed the cards out on card stock. As a whole class, we completed the first four cards together. Then, I had my kids get up and away from their desks. Cards were placed face down in order around the outside desks. Students worked in pairs. I gave them 1 minute to complete the task card together before calling time and allowing them to move on. 1 minute was too long! We had a "Half Time" snack, then I reduced the time to 30 seconds...which was perfect! My students loved it and said how much fun it was! I will use these in a center maybe later for practice, but it seemed that they really "GOT" the concept!
Continuing with the Super Bowl theme on Friday, we made our predictions based on what we had heard about both teams and what two of our students who follow the NFL closely could tell us about the players. The Super Bowl Buddy was also found on Pinterest. If you have not tried Pinterest, I highly recommend it!
We didn't use the whole body of the player...just the head and hands, but they still turned out cute. We also just made score predictions rather than writing a paragraph. These were only done if we finished our work for the week!
I don't really have a team in this game (GO BRONCOS!!! OK, really GO PEYTON!!!) but I'm pulling for Baltimore!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Update from Jamestown!
Lots going on in Jamestown since coming back from Winter Break. Facts about our fiftieth state in honor of my Hawaiian vacation!
Goals for 2013 (Saw this on pinterest!)
Yes, this is one of my goals...AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
In math, we have started learning about and reviewing geometry. On Fridays, students are completing a Math Challenge if it is not yet time for a chapter assessment.
Using spaghetti, students made an angle measuring 45, 90, or 180 degrees and then drew a picture around that angle to show how angles are all around us! They did a fabulous job and I love the "Endless Pastabilities"!
Rotations, Reflections, and Translations using their hands! Hands on Math!
For Literacy Week last week, our school had a poster challenge. Pilar recreated our Stranger activity from the fall. She did a great job!
In order to help with READING AT HOME, we are having a Spring Break Reading Raffle! Students who bring in their reading logs when due and filled out completely will receive a raffle ticket to place in a bucket to WIN A FABULOUS BOOK of their own!!!
REALLY hope this helps! I have never had such a time getting students to READ.
Until next time!
~ Mayor James
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Is it really almost the end of the semester???
Just last week, we had our Reading Coach, Mrs. Brewer read her favorite holiday book to us...Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo (her very favorite author!)!
Mrs. Blum has entertained us with several Science Labs. We went to, and enjoyed tremendously, the Indian River Lagoon. The Brevard Zoo does such a great job with that field trip.
As we get closer to the holidays, we are writing a Stuck Santa story...pictures will follow! And we were able to squeeze in my very favorite art activity for this time of the year: Poinsettia Collages made only with construction paper and glue. They always turn out beautifully.
Hopefully, there will be at least one more post before we take our well deserved break in two weeks! If not, we do wish you Happy Holidays!!!
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