4th of July: American Symbols

In honor of Independence Day I bring you a fun way to study or learn some of the American Symbols!

Also, I'll be on a road trip to Tennessee so I won't be back bloggin' until at least Wednesday. Enjoy your Holiday!

American Symbols

Linky Party: Transistions

With my older students, I find that I can keep them on task better when they see how much time they have left.  They seem to work harder on math if they keep looking up to see how much time they have left.  When they finish early, it helps them pick an activity to keep them busy that will fill the required time frame, instead of picking something that takes too long or is going to be too quick.  When the time is up they know that it is time to transition to the next thing, and little time gets wasted.

I like to post the timer large, and I like to have a little fun with it so along comes the online stopwatch! (Which works great on the interactive white boards...)  They like to pick which one we use (the clock is my favorite, and of course the bomb one is their favorite)!

Check it out:

Online Time Keepers

Smart Board Lessons Linky Party: Kerpoof

First, I'm going to say, for an almost daily supply of smart board resources I think you should look to the left of your screen and follow my blog :)  I just started it, and I'm going to do my best to keep you updated with the latest and greatest resources.....

Next, I'm going to introduce you to Kerpoof, which is seriously the coolest thing EVER!  For primary grades there is an activity where you can spell a picture, you spell a word and the picture pops up.  For upper grades my favorite is the story maker.  There are endless backgrounds, people, even little props you can add!  I can not wait to use this for one of my creative writing this year.

Below is one of my pages (kinda lame, but I did it super quick.)  I dragged the background on there, the troll, and the treasure chest.  All can be resized.  Like I said, it's the coolest thing EVER :)    You can save your story or print it off.

Kerpoof 

Math Monday Blog Hop!

Hello! Below is a super fun web site to supplement any ruler lesson plan.  My kids LOVED it!  During indoor recess this is the game they requested to have on the promethean board, which I was more than happy to do for them!  You can change the level of difficulty by switching what parts of the ruler you're working with. For primary grades you can have it be just whole inches or half inches, or for intermediate grades you can put it on sixteenth inches which are always super tricky to point out on rulers.

The Ruler Game

Virtual Manipulatives

I could scour the web and find thousands of awesome ways to use manipulatives in my classroom.  Using them makes math really hit home.  So what do you do when you don't have a certain manipulative, but you know if you could just put your hands on more geo boards or base ten blocks you'd have a more successful lesson.  Along comes the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives by the Utah State University.   I think that hands-on is of course better, but it never hurts to have some virtual manipulatives bookmarked---especially if your school is short on money for extra supplies.  

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives 

Forest Layers

I was looking for ideas to reinforce our study of Ecosystems (consumers, producers, decomposers), food chains, etc.  I stumbled upon this super cool website where students get to search the forest layers and look for what inhabits each layer.  I think you could use this for so many things!  How could you incorporate it into your classroom?  I'm always game for new ideas! Check it out and then share your ideas below!

Forest Layers

Solving Equations

The Common Core Standards---did anyone read through math and start to have a mini panic attack?  (Okay, an almost major panic attack?!?)  I think they are a fantastic idea, don't get me wrong, but the 5th grade standards are WAY challenging.  They really stress algebra in 5th grade so I've been on the look out for some interactive ways to practice.  How is everyone else dealing with the incorporation of the new standards?  Are they similar to what your state already has or way different like in ND?

Here's what I found---

Addition with Missing Numbers 

I like that it gives the students spots for the missing number instead of throwing an x or a y right away.  I think this would be a great starter activity...