Support the Moore Relief Efforts

It kills me to hear of what has happened in Moore, Oklahoma.  All those people who lost everything.  

It especially upsets me, as I'm sure it does other teachers, to hear of the children who were trapped in their own elementary school.  It makes DIBLES and MAP tests seem so unimportant when your little ones are frightened for their lives.  

My friend Ashley from The Teacher's Treasure Chest has organized a fundraiser with several other teacher-bloggers. All donations will go to the Red Cross Oklahoma City. 

 For just a $25 donation, you can have a fantastic package!  Click the image above for more information about Ashley's fundraiser.  Click the image below to see more about the Reading Celebration Game I've donated.

I've also donated the same product to Teachers Notebook for the cause.  

As of right now, there are over $1,800 worth of donated products.  You can choose to donate $20, $25, $50, or $100, all which will go to local relief efforts to help the tornado victims. 

Regardless the amount donated, you will have access to the full package.

Music for the Classroom

Brain research teaches us that music helps make connections in the brain.

I play music in my classroom all the time.  Sometimes I play slow, classical music to help the children focus.  Other times, I play upbeat music to get the children involved.  I also play seasonal music to help the children "feel the season".  Here are some of my favorites:  (All pictures have a link to Amazon for more information!)

 

Music for Concentration is one of my staples.  It's magical background music for when the children are a little too chatty and a little less focused.  I turn on this CD and they settle in and get going on their work!  This series has several titles, and my goal is to own them all.  I haven't tried one that didn't keep up with its promises!  Here are a few others in the series:

     

     

I have these except the Music for Thinking, which is on my wishlist.

Other great background music:

   

I also play a good deal of upbeat music, particularly when the children arrive in the morning.  It gives them the feel that the classroom is a happy place.  This is some of the music I play:

          

Of course, kids aren't limited to music designed for kids.  They get a kick out of some of this timeless music: 

     

Then of course, here are a couple of my personal favorites:
          

And to think I haven't even mentioned showtunes! (My very favorite music!)

Here are some previous posts with suggestions for certain holidays:

St. Patrick's Day
Cinco de Mayo
Any Patriotic Holiday

I'm always looking for new resources.  What music do you listen to in your classroom?

Fantastic Friday Five

I'm joining in with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday!

Here are 5 random things about my week:

1.  I Finished my DIBELS!  I dibbled every one of my little ones, and they are all showing fabulous growth in their reading skills!  I think my favorite part was their improvement on summarizing the stories they read.  Sometimes I feel like I'm actually getting someplace by what I do!  I do love looking at what they did a few months ago and seeing where they are now... it's amazing how much they grow!

2. Seeds and Plants! We started my very favorite science unit this week! We've had our first couple of lessons, and I absolutely love their interest!  I had them working in teams of 4, and they had some real breakthroughs on "teamwork" this week!  Here they are on planting day:

Planting seeds

Planting the seeds.

Labeling the seed cup.

Taping a seed to the cup.

Planting in the class garden.

Drawing the details of the seeds on the record sheet.

3.  Geometry!  We've been working on our Geometry unit in Math for the last couple of weeks.  After finishing an intense unit on 3 digit addition and subtraction with regrouping, this Geometry unit was a welcome relief!  The kids couldn't get over how much easier this unit has been!  There's a whole lot of vocabulary, but we've been keeping a handle on that.  The rest of what we've been learning is great fun!  

4. You're a Grand Old Flag!  We had a ceremony to honor the volunteers in our school this week, and my class performed the song, You're a Grand Old Flag! for the Volunteer Tea today... complete with soloists, duets, trios, choreography, and flags!  (I don't take this stuff lightly!)  We had a semi-crisis when one of our soloists was absent today, but we did some rearranging, and a couple of awesome kids stepped in to helpout!  I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures.  But we're in luck... the kids were so awesome, the Student Council wants them to perform the song again next Friday at the Memorial Day Assembly!  I'm so glad our absent soloist will get another chance!

5.  Red Sox Geography!  We've been having a blast with our daily Red Sox Geography!  The kids have been learning mapping skills and mapping vocabulary by answering daily questions in our morning letter simply based on the Red Sox schedule.  (See THIS blog post.)  Today, they had to name the states that border Minnesota.  The other day they had to name the country and continent of Toronto.  Earlier, they had to name the bodies of water that bordered Florida.  (Who is having more fun, the kids or me?  I think me!)

Addition and Subtraction Three Digit Card Draw

Click image for freebie.

Sometimes I just make up a game on the spot because it suits what my students need.  That happened last week when my students were finishing up a unit on three digit addition and subtraction.  I knew they had the basic steps, they just needed to practice the process.

So I grabbed a deck of cards and had them grab their individual white boards.  We started coming up with 3 digit numbers, and practiced away!

The game transformed as we played, growing from just addition, to just subtraction.  For a while we played by setting up the problem, then I'd call out "add" or "subtract".  Later, I'd let a child choose.  (They were pretty tricky... they'd figure out which would be easier or which would have less regrouping needed. I was pretty impressed they were figuring that out in their heads!)

The freebie to the right has the directions and a printable work paper for children to work on alone, with a partner, or small group.  The children can work on whiteboards, but the printable is handy to have a record of their  work.

If you're interested in more Math Game freebies, see THIS BLOG POST.