How is that for a title?  If you have been following my blog the past few months, you know that I am quickly turning into a Google teacher.  I find myself thinking of the standards I want to teach and integrating them with technology tools to enhance the learning experience in an authentic way.  Such was the case as we entered our 13 colonies unit. In the past, I had the students make these fabulous colony "balloons" .  They enjoyed working together to research and create the project.  But this year, I wanted to do something different and with the availability of the chrome books in our school, I decided that we could use the Google Suite to make the research a bit easier for all. (however, ALL of this project can be done without computers.  Books and paper will work JUST as well...so don't stop reading if you don't have access to computers!!) First, I created one document in Google Sheets for each colony.  I had locked in the "question" area s......

As our colonial unit continues on, we begin to talk about life during the mid-1700s for the colonists.  One aspect we always settle on is that much of what the people living in the colonies needed for everyday life was created by them.  And each of those things had a basis in scientific principles....specifically physical and chemical changes.  It just so happens that one of our big units in science is based around the very same topic (funny how that happens ;)) So, to peak my students' interest in this idea that the colonists used science too, I began with this lesson about how butter was made .  Be sure to read it first, then come back here.  The kids LOVED this lesson (and named me best teacher EVER ;) ) The next day, I broke the students into 5 separate groups.   In the groups, they read informational articles similar to what they read for the butter.  Again, they were looking for evidence of physical and chemical changes.  Since ......

Well, it is official.  My kids think I am the best teacher on the planet. OK....that is a little exaggeration, BUT we did have a great time exploring colonial times and physical/chemical changes, while working on reading for evidence.  So, what did we do that put me on track to be voted into the hall of fame of teaching?  We made butter.  Yes, you heard me.  Making butter in class is the equivalent to winning the Super Bowl.  But I am ahead of myself.  Let me run you through the lessons so that you too can be the best thing since sliced bread. We are in crunch time before the big TEST, so reviewing all of our past science standards is a must.  Physical and Chemical changes is a big standard that is so hard for the kids to really grasp.  So we began our lesson by watching the StudyJams video on Physical and Chemical Changes.  We discussed and took notes, all the while jogging their memory to what they already knew.  Using the ......

We have been diving into nonfiction over the past few weeks with a unit on colonial America.  One of the key things we have been looking at are how various text structures contribute to the reader's overall understanding of the text. Each time we read a nonfiction text, whether it be in the social studies book or out of a trade book or periodical, we stopped for a second to acknowledge the text features and make note of what they were helping us, as a reader, understand. As a whole, the class decided that pictures with captions and headings were the most helpful in giving us information that we would make the text a bit clearer.  So, when the students were in the process of writing an informational article about one of the colonial regions, we decided to include those two text features. First, the students researched one of the three colonial regions found in the early days of English settlement.  They used multiple sources and created several prewriting organizer......

What a year this has been!  Can you believe it is MAY already???!!! Well, with May comes Open House at my school.  This is the time where we display the great projects and learning that the kids have been doing and invite the parents in to see it all. This year, since we were smack-dab in the middle of our 13 colonies unit, I thought it would be awesome to research what an actual early colonial village would look like and then turn the room into said colony.   This took a lot of research on the students' part, and a lot of butcher paper on mine, but I think the final product was amazing!  The kids did so much work, and it really showed.  So now, without further ado, I present to you the Colony of Moormania :) Here are two pictures of the entire room.  Both are views from the front of the room.Just click on any picture to enlarge. In this picture you can see the "Floating Colonies", the informational writing on the colonial regions, our ......

Here is the final product.  Read on for the how to!  :) We are knee deep in our Colonies unit and I thought I would share a teeny little project we did to up the rigor of a social studies worksheet. The worksheet (which came from this book, History Pockets: Colonial America, Grades 4-6+ , that I do like and recommend) asked the students to cut out the buildings that would be found in a typical Colonial village and place them on a sheet of paper.  They could then add the information cut out and, viola, a Colonial village with "research". Boring. Simple. Base-level learning. So to up the rigor a bit, we read the research section from the worksheet.  I gave them another informative essay about colonial villages.  We cross referenced the two materials and took note of the most important ideas (ie: what buildings were vital to a village, where were they placed, etc...) Then, using a coordinate plane that I made up for the kids, I had them plan out t......

One of my students' most favorite time during the school day is when we do The Walking Classroom .  That is one of the first things they ask me in line, before we enter the classroom.  "Are we going to do The Walking Classroom today??" Sample of my bulletin board I wanted to capitalize on this enthusiasm, as well as get a little bit of social studies in (since our unit, the Colonies, isn't actually covered in the lessons on the WalkKits.) So I thought and thought and came up with this little gem of an idea that is working super splendidly for me.... Walking the Colonies ! This is actually something you don't need The Walking Classroom for.   We just are outside walking, so I do the two programs in conjunction with each other. So what is this Walking the Colonies , you say? Basically, my kids walk laps around the track.  As they are walking, they are keeping a tally of the amount of laps that they complete.  When we come back into the classroom......