Primary Sources: The Perfect Fit for Informational Texts in the Common Core

I've been focusing a lot lately on informational texts as we move towards the Common Core adoption that is pretty much going into full swing next month, and with good reason. The informational text / literature split is very important moving forward, and failure to give it its proper due and focus heavily on it might actually cost you your job a few years down the road, it IS essential.

At the beginning, I focused a lot on resources. Where can I find informational texts? Are there resources out there for how I can use them properly in my classroom? I've already done some posts about this (see: Informational Text Free Digital Resources and The Informational Text Revolution).

Now, I'm starting to think about the connection to other subject areas (another major key in the CCSS). I've always considered myself a social studies teacher. Yes, I'm an elementary school teacher who teaches, and does a pretty darn good job of teaching, all subject areas. BUT, social studies, especially history, has always been my primary passion, and as my instruction in social studies has evolved to the point of students doing multiple research based projects, presentations, and doing some deep, relevant, technology and personally driven learning about history, geography, sociology, and economics, I've thought about how this all fits the CCSS.

I'm going as far as to say that implementing the CCSS in social studies might be the most exciting part of the CCSS adoption for me personally... well, it's actually pretty close between that and the changes it demands of math instruction from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.

Social studies instruction is already built for informational text. Honestly, I think most of us in the elementary grades might not go deep enough with our instruction, or with student expectations when doing research, but that's not really the point here.

The point here is simple: Primary sources. The more I've been thinking on this subject and studying it, the more I am convinced that 5th grade students can read and analyze primary sources, and it's exciting. Some of the primary examples I've seen of implementing the CCSS in 5th grade involve reading and analyzing the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, and other great primary sources.

So with that in mind, I'm going to just throw some information and resources out there that I think can benefit all of us. I'll be listing a quick description of each of these multiple links:

These first links are to research articles, and other descriptions of the importance of primary sources within the CCSS:

• Common Core and ELLS: Key Shifts in Language Arts and Literacy : A quick article that lays out the shifts in moving to the Common Core. It very clearly shows how informational texts and primary sources fit within it all.
• Engaging Students With Primary Sources : A quick blog post from a social studies teacher that quotes the CCSS and clearly explains how primary sources fit in the standards and the classroom.
• Guidelines for Using Primary Sources in the Classroom : A pdf document from The National World War II Museum
• Primary Sources: At the Heart of the Common Core Standards : A great quick article on the Library of Congress website that makes it pretty clear how important primary sources are.
• Five Strategies to Infuse Common Core State Standards With Social Studies Instruction : A great little article that really got me thinking about how I'm going to use primary sources in my own classroom.
• Teaching With Primary Sources Journal : That's right, there's a whole journal on this topic. Check out this pdf, it's powerful stuff. 

Finally, I'm going to end with some resources that can be used with students, or can get you thinking more about using primary sources in your classroom:

• Teaching With Documents, Lesson Plans : From the National Archives website, there's some decent lessons here that really help when developing your own lessons. A good place to start.
• Using Primary Sources in the Classroom : A great pdf document from the Library of Congress that lists some great lesson ideas and some examples.
• Primary Sources for the Classroom : A pdf document from the state of Tennessee that might be my favorite of everything I've listed here. There's some stuff I want my students to read and take to heart as they start researching.
• Library of Congress Common Core Teacher Resource Center : If you don't know about this, wake up! This huge listing of resources can't be ignored. I've been referring to it often. It's growing daily, and there are tons upon tons of great things there, not just for primary sources, for ALL the Common Core.
• Evaluating Sources : Another pdf document, this one is helpful and I think your smarter 5th graders could handle without too many problems.

Class Dojo: An Interactive and Fun Way to Monitor and Reinforce Behavior

Ask almost any teacher what their primary growth area is, and in what area they primarily have issues in, and if they're being honest, they'll most likely say behavior. How do you handle 21-35 kids all at the same time? It's not easy. It's not easy to deal with negative behaviors in a constructive way,

and it's really not easy to notice those students who are doing the right thing, and reinforce the positives. I'll admit, I've struggled with it over the years, and have tried multiple approaches to behavior management.

I feel as if I've been successful, but there's always room for growth. For the last few years, my school has been using the clip chart system of behavior monitoring and reinforcement. It's a simple concept, students start everyday at the green "ready to learn" spot, and can be moved up for positive behavior, and down for negatives.

There are consequences plainly spelled out for moving down, and the teacher can have different rewards for moving up (the graphic shows what this looks like).

I am fully on board for using the clip chart, and have found success with it, even in the 5th grade. BUT, there's always room for growth. I've also noticed from observation that many teachers don't properly utilize (or utilize at all) the clip chart, and this lack of follow through can create issues in a school, where everyone should be using the same method.

OK, anyways, that's not really what I wanted to get in to today. I wanted to show you a great behavior management system that's online, is easy to use, and is just all around fun. And yes, you can use it on a computer or a tablet.

Class Dojo is a neat behavior management software that you can project in your classroom, using a computer, an iPad/iPod/iPod Touch, an Android smartphone, and any other tablet you can imagine (more or less).

Each student has their own avatar, and by clicking on it, you can assign points or remove points. All of this is tracked, and you can view data at the end of each day showing how students are doing. This is easily readable and can be shared with parents either by printing it, or by having parents sign up for their own parent account to view their child's behavior.

I find Class Dojo to be interesting in that it's so transparent. You simply project it, assign points, and students get immediate feedback. It's also a great way of staying accountable (I know that's hard sometimes).

I've used a behavior notebook in the past, logging times I've had to discipline children, just for administrative purposes. Class Dojo takes care of that by keeping all the data together for each child.

Now, I know what you're asking. Yes, it's completely free, at least for right now. So go ahead and sign up, and get to using it. It's very user friendly, and there are tutorials if you're ever confused.

Finally, I'm embedding a few videos to get you started if you're interested in seeing more before you sign up:

Class Dojo Tutorial Video (11 minutes)

Using Class Dojo (4 minutes)

History Webs: A Great Social Studies Project Idea

My 5th graders just finished Civil War History Webs. This little project only takes a few periods of work, and really involves creativity and writing.

I found the idea for History Webs in "Super Social Studies," a Scholastic teacher guide that has served me very well over the years (I HIGHLY recommend this little book, it's amazing).

I don't want to quote directly what they call a history web, to respect their copyright, but as I've changed it up quite a bit from what is discussed in this book, I'll let you know about my version of this great project. BUT, you should go buy this guide, it really is one of the most used resources in my possession.

To make a history web, I recommend the large construction paper (I use the 12" x 18" paper that my school keeps in stock). You want your students to draw a rectangle in the middle of the paper, and from there, divide the paper into however many sections you want them to (I've done 4, 6, and 8). I recommend 6, it's a good number for drawing pictures, they don't come out too small at that size.

However many sections you've divided the paper into is how many different topics you will assign. We just completed these for the Civil War, and their options to choose from included (but were not limited to): Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, the First Battle of Bull Run, General Lee, General Grant, General Stonewall Jackson, the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the war, the battle of the Ironclads, Lincoln's Assassination, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, the fall of Richmod, Sojourner Truth, and Nat Turner. You can obviously choose many other things for this.

The assignment for students is to research each of their six topics (or four, or eight, depending). Students will be asked to draw a color picture depicting the topic, and write a paragraph in their own words about that topic, either on the back of the paper or on index cards.

Here are a few examples of exemplary work. Some have the work on index cards, and some have it written on the back:

How to Make Groups for Texting on an Android Device

In my previous post, I outlined many of the reasons it's a great idea to send daily mass text messages to your parents. If you're tired of looking back one post, it's called Some Rules for Teachers Who Text Parents or Want to Text Parents.

It's a great thing, and when you pair your Android device with a great app called Handcent SMS, you will have the ability to write a single text and send it to as many as 60 people at once.

OK, this sounds great, but there are plenty of people out there who don't know how to make groups.

It's easy, you can do it on your computer (in fact, I recommend you do it on your computer, it's much faster that way). You see, your Gmail contacts are your Androids contacts, so we're going to go into Gmail.

1.

Once you're in Gmail, you'll want to click on the "Gmail" above the compose button. All of what I will show you happens in the left hand column of the Gmail layout.










2.

Now, a drop down menu will come up, click on "Contacts."










3.

On the page that comes up, look near the bottom for "New Group." Click it.










4.

You'll be prompted to name your group. Once you've done that, the page will refresh. Now, at the top of your list, you'll want to click "My Contacts" so it opens up. Your new group will be listed.








5.

Now, for this last step, I'm going to assume that you've already added all the parents to your contact list. If you don't know how to do that, let me know. That's a good idea for another "how to" post.

Now, when you open up the contact you want to add to your group, you'll be taken to the page shown to the left. Click the image of the three circles above the body (GROUPS), and click a check mark next to the group you are adding this contact to. That's it, you're done. Repeat this last step for everyone you want in your group.


Now, finally, on your Android phone, this will automatically sync. Depending upon which Droid operating system you use, you'll have a group listing in your phones address book. If you decide to use Handcent SMS, it automatically syncs the phones data to it, you don't have to do anything else.

I hope that's helpful!

Boosed Grader: An Android App EZ Grader

As a child, I was lucky enough to attend elementary school where my mom taught (for grades 3-5). At the time, I understood little about what teachers actually did, and often thought that she stayed an hour or two after school each day just to torture me.

My mom had a magical tool in her classroom, a mystical green rectangular wonder that somehow told her how to grade things. I did not understand this piece of cardboard, but thought it held some mystical power. 

As it turns out, I was almost right. I'm talking about the EZ Grader of course. 

I have an EZ Grader, and am led to believe that every teacher on the face of the planet does as well. This little sliding piece of cardboard really makes the job of grading easier. I bought mine at the local school store right after accepting my first job, and have used it timeless times since. I like to have students help grade papers (only the ones who want to), and even teach them to use this simple little device.

As great and timeless as the EZ Grader has become, sometimes you don't have it with you. A simple calculator always works well in a pinch, but for those teachers who like to have all the percentages right in front of them, you do have some options.

I've used a few different Android apps that are EZ Grader clones,

and the best one I've come across is called Boosed Grader. Boosed Grader is great because it's free, and has a very simple, minimal interface. If you use a Droid smartphone, I highly recommend this great app!

Boosed asks you simply to input the total amount of points in the assignment you are grading, and in turn gives you a list of the percentages given the number incorrect, just like EZ Grader. I like this tool because I always have my cell phone on me, while my EZ Grader is in my desk at work. Plus, I always love the price of free apps.

Polygon Practice Mega .pdf Document of Great Practice Pages for 5th Graders

I recently published 5th grade math unit 3: Area, Perimeter, Volume, Prisms, Pyramids, Polygons, and Circles. It's a huge unit that involves a lot of vocabulary and targeted skill practice. You can see that unit listed in my Math 9 Week Plans, in its own Unit Page, and in the more popular post titled 5th Grade Math Unit: Area, Perimeter, Volume of Prisms and Pyramids, Polygons and Circles.

I scoured the internet over the last couple of evenings, downloading pdf documents of practice pages that could meet my students needs. Currently, we're working on getting the vocabulary up for unit 3, and it's a huge task that involves over 30 definitions that are necessary for understanding and success in these skills.

I took the best of what I found in freely available online pdf documents and created a mega document that is 49 pages long and 1.4 megabytes in size. It's the practice pages that I'm intending on using during these upcoming weeks, and I believe that it could be of service to any teacher teaching these skills.

To download the document, which is available through my Google Drive, click:

POLYGONS MEGA DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD (pdf)

Famous Individual Project: A Great 5th Grade Research Project With Tons of Activities and Rubrics

Recently, our students in 5th grade completed their first oral project presentation of the year, presenting their individual state posters, the project they did in the 50 states unit,

in front of other students. We asked students to dress for the occasion, and graded them on everything from their posture, the volume of their voice, and the way they dressed. This ended up being a great experience, and we've decided to build on that during the school year.

Next up, we will be doing a Famous Individual project. In this project, students will be completing research on a famous individual of great character. They will be analyzing their individual according to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a program that my school began following this year. Below you will be shown the requirements for this project, including links to all necessary forms. To download everything in one packet, click here:

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE FAMOUS INDIVIDUAL PROJECT IN PDF FORMAT HERE

This project will ask students to:

• Choose a famous individual, either living or dead, who is not fictional. Once they have chosen their famous individual, they must complete the Justification Page to explain why they believe their individual showed good character and lived a life that benefited others. 
• Once the students has successfully justified why they have chosen an appropriate person for this project, they will begin research. Students will be taught how to properly cite sources and create a bibliography (this is a big step for 5th graders, but they can do it). First students will learn how to take notes and keep track of sources. I came across a great packet online to help with Note Taking that I will be utilizing. They will use the blank bibliography cards to cite sources, and then will be given the biography outline packet, which will guide their research. Students research papers will be scored based upon the 5th grade research paper rubric.
• Next, students will be creating a computer based presentation that will supplement the speech they will be giving. We will be doing these presentations in the computer lab with the assistance of our schools computer lab instructor. They will be scored on their computer presentation based on the computer presentation scoring rubric.
• Finally, in the final step of this project, students will create a short speech to go with their computer presentation, and they will be presenting these projects before other students, parents, and community members. The speeches will focus on the character of their person, their major accomplishments, and how they fit the 7 Habits. The speech will be scored based on the oral presentation scoring rubric. 

I am very excited to see our students continue to step up. They did a great job on the 50 state projects (as you can see HERE), and I expect great results on this project. 

I have all of these forms available in Microsoft Word format, if you would like any of them, please let me know and I'll get them to you. As always, this is available freely, I believe that teachers should share our resources with one another free of cost if at all possible, and will continue to share everything I make without cost to anyone.

Book Report Idea: Book Report Sandwiches

My students are learning to love to read. I say learning because like so many other students, they don't see the joy in reading when it's been reduced to worksheets, basal readers, and isolated skill work.

I focus on letting my students read silently every day for 20 minutes, and when I do this, I'm reminded of my all time favorite class, 7th grade Literature with Ms. Gossett. This class was very simple, she had hundreds and hundreds of books available. We were allowed to read anything we wanted as long as it was within a year of our level below or higher. That was the whole class, we read and read and read, and produced book reports in different formats when we were done. That was the class that I actually read a novel for the first time, and I was hooked.

It's just sad that I didn't have that experience until 7th grade, and this was an advanced level course. How many students never get this opportunity?

So, to make a long story short, I ask my students to read and find something they enjoy. Of course, it's important to tie this reading into something tangible, in our case, isolated skills taught within the literary experience.

When my students are done with a book, they must produce a book report of some sort. I recently come across a great format that my entire class is "eating up," and that is the book report sandwich. This gives you the different areas of the report as bread, lettuce, tomatoes, etc., and each different ingredient of the sandwich. As I said, I came across this and can take no credit for it. I found this idea on the website for Mystic Valley Regional Chart School, and you can access this great .pdf file, it is called Sandwich Book Report. The document contains the necessary papers you would copy to make the sandwich, in both color and black and white, a scoring rubric, and some rough draft pages with prompts. It's excellent stuff!

Writing Journal Prompts and Resources

Writing is one of those skills that must be practiced time and again, especially in elementary school, where students are learning to master both the mechanical and creative aspects of writing.

I have my students do a daily writing journal entry based on a prompt that I write on the board. We do this in the morning during breakfast and announcements, before instruction begins. It seems easy at first to come up with good prompts, but trust me, it can be difficult to keep it going. Here are a few great places to go find some prompts or ideas:

• Daily Writing Prompts: This site at teacherscorner.net is great, it gives prompts by month, and each prompt is attached to something of historical significance that happened that day in history or around that time. 
• Creative Writing Prompts: An easy to use page with 346 writing prompts. Just hover the cursor over a number and get a prompt, very quick.
• Always Write: A fantastic page with ideas about how to make writing more interesting and fun. I love the idea of "Mr. Stick," and am actually going to introduce my own version of this tomorrow and give it a trial run in class.
• 30 Good Prompts: It is what I said it is. There's a million sites similar, but there are some good prompts of note here.

Illustrative Mathematics: A Great Resource To Help in the Transition to Common Core Standards

In my most recent web surfing, on Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers blog, I came across a post  called Illustrative Mathematics. After looking into Illustrative Mathematics (this link goes to that site) a little more, I really like what I see. For each grade, K-12, you can see illustrations of what each common core standard is all about and how to utilize it. The image below shows the menu that comes up when you click on K-8 Standards at the main page, with a box around 5th grade. Any standard that lines up below fifth grade is clickable for more information. It's really a great resource if you're transitioning to the common core. In the state of New Mexico, we still have one more year in 4th and 5th grades before we move to the common core, but we're already hard at work aligning our content to make our work easier come this time next year.

A Final Day of Classroom Setup

Tomorrow I have a meeting, and on Friday, registration. It's always exciting to look at the room, set up and more clean and organized than it will ever look again this school year. The desks are ready, work for the first few days already run off, and now it's just a matter of time before the first day of school. My classroom set up was pretty straight forward this year. I didn't change anything really, other than getting a few computers out of the way (it was feeling a little cluttered).

My school district is using a new attendance and gradebook software called Synergy. I'm still not trained on it, but I got a good first impression. If you're out there looking for some gradebook software, there are a few options that I like.

First of all, there is the best in my opinion, TeacherEase. This great site offers full grade book software for something like $8 a month, but many schools will purchase a school license because it's great. If you want to make your life A LOT easier, I suggest this great teacher tool.

If you want grade book software, but you need something free, look at Engrade. It's not as intuitive or user friendly as TeacherEase, but it's a good free grade book.

Learnboost is another free grade book option. I like it, again, not as much as TeacherEase, but it works if you want to move to online grading.

If you haven't yet made the move to online grading, you should. It's great because you have complete control. In TeacherEase for example, you can set different categories within your subjects (e.g. tests, daily work, group work), and give each a weight as to how much of the final grade it is worth. The gradebook updates itself, you don't have to average grades. And, the best part is, parents get anytime access through a web browser. Many of these sites are putting out smartphone apps as well. TeacherEase doesn't have an app (although I hope they do), but their website still works great in my Android browser.

Real quickly, I wanted to add in some pictures of my classroom just to show off the hard work.

First is the back corner / sink area of the classroom. I have a science shelf there (my school is old and there isn't a lot of closet space, so we have to make do), along with the famous Aggie wall. GO AGGIES!

This photo is looking at my desk (behind the book cases), and what I refer to as "my office." 

Collecting Parent Information at Registration: Make It Easier On Yourself

At student registration, my school district has parents fill out many different forms. These forms include:

• Registration document with tons of information, including phone numbers, address, who is allowed to pick child up from school, etc.
• Title I learning agreement
• Technology participation form / photo release form
• School learning agreement
• Transportation information form (how the child gets to and goes home from school)

There are a lot of forms, and this can take the parent a long time to fill out, especially for those parents with multiple children enrolled in the school.

I have another form that I like to add to the list. I find it easier to get certain information on my own, without digging back through these forms to find them. My student information sheet is also how I collect information on birthdays (it's easier than digging through registration documents), and cell phone numbers. I get permission to add parents to my text messaging list as well on this form (I have done a post on how to send mass text messages using an Android smart phone HERE).

This form also includes a second page where I ask for permission to watch a number of PG movies that I have planned during the school year. In 5th grade in the state of New Mexico, we have to have parent permission to show PG movies (I say this because I'm not aware of the policy state by state).

If you would like to take the parent information sheet I have created, you can download it below (you'll probably want the .docx one so you can make changes to it, the .pdf is a little more permanent):

PARENT INFORMATION SHEET .DOCX FORMAT

PARENT INFORMATION SHEET .PDF FORMAT

Me Bags: A Great Ice Breaker / Getting To Know You Activity to Start the Year

Two days ago I posted some advice for the beginning of the school year.

It's obvious that we're almost there, tomorrow is my final day of vacation. One of my favorite "getting to know you" activities is called "Me Bags." This is a simple show and tell formatted activity where each student has the opportunity to share 5 items of personal significance.

The actual way I do this is, I share my "Me Bag" on the first day of school, then I hand out the homework assignment to them, and they have to present theirs the next day. I like doing this for a number of reasons. It's a good way for the students to get to know me right there on the first day. It's also a great opportunity for me to see who puts the effort into returning with their homework the following day, following all directions. The sooner I can find out who my apathetic homework students are, the better.

I set aside large chunks of time the second day of school so that each student can present their bags to the class.

I have written up the sheet that I will send home the first day. You can access it below.

"ME BAGS" HANDOUT (pdf format)

Animal Identification Card Game: A Good Science Inquiry Activity

This animal identification game is very simple, and very effective to have 5th graders play. The concept is very simple. Each student will be given a card, that they will paper clip (or tape, or whatever works best) on their back.

They must then ask other students questions about the animal on their back, questions that must be answered yes/no. It can be a 20 questions game, or just an "ask until you figure it out" game. The goal is for students to get enough information on their animal to be able to guess what it is.

I searched online for free animal information cards, and didn't come up with much. The easiest way to do this, for free, is to download the templates that I list below and use them. I prefer to give students the blanks, and have them find the information for the cards on their own using encyclopedias or the internet.

I utilize this activity at the beginning of the school year in a series of science inquiry games that we play to get in to "the science way of thinking." There are various activities that we do, and this one gets students using the right vocabulary, and gives me a quick picture of what they can already do in terms of questioning and inquiry. The vocabulary I want students to use during this activity includes: predator, prey, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, camouflage, nocturnal, toxic, and hibernation.

ANIMAL BASEBALL SIZED CARDS: This first pdf is a link to some animal cards, and the last page is blanks. I use this page and have students list the information on each animal on the back of the card. The information they must find is:

• Animal name
• Region of the world it lives in
• Diet
• Life expectancy
• Classification (basic level of classification)
• Their place on the food cycle (predator, prey, etc.)

LONG ANIMAL CARDS: These cards already have the information listed. 

LONG ANIMAL CARDS BLANK: These are the same cards as listed above, with the information removed. 

Teachers Pay Teachers: A Good Place To Find Resources Online?

I have a busy morning ahead, with school starting for me (six days of teacher inservice before the kids come back) in six more days, I'm trying to get some work done in my classroom.

What was on my mind this morning was the vast amount of teacher resources that are out there on the internet. Since I've begun running this blog, I've been posting many pages of links to resources, worksheets, and other documents. My focus has been on free resources, because as all of you know, things can start to add up quickly.

My thought is that if you find something that you like, but can't afford it (or, like me, are really frugal and would prefer to not spend anything), just tell yourself that you can find something similar on the internet, for free. This has served me pretty well. Yes, there are those rare occasions where you can't find a resource online, but if you're looking for worksheets, unit plans, videos, or games, there are millions online.

I have been browsing around Teacher Pay Teachers for some time. I like that you can buy things on there from teachers. If I'm going to spend money on a resource, I sure would prefer that money to end up in a teachers pocket as opposed to a publisher.

Not too many teachers have a positive view of the book publishers, and with good reason. $100 for a single social studies book? $400 per kid for the reading series? Yikes. School districts spend millions on these books and resources that ultimately just don't cut it, they're not good, and are just flash with no substance. Of course, sometimes these resources come in handy, and sometimes they are good, but millions of dollars worth of handy and good? I don't think so.

So back to Teachers Pay Teachers. I'm going to lay out some pros and cons of the site, but please, go find out for yourself:

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS:

THE PROS:

• There are tons of resources, and they're organized by grade, subject, price, and even standards.
• You can download thousands of things there for free.
• If you decide to spend, your money goes to the teacher who posted the item.

THE CONS:

• The vast majority of the free offerings are of very low quality.
• Some of the resources are VERY over priced.

Ultimately, my view on Teachers Pay Teachers is the same as anything else. See if you can find it for free by searching in Google. If you can, good for you, if you can't, go ahead and buy it. You'll have the peace of mind in knowing that your money is going to help other teachers, and not line the already deep pockets of those publishing companies that most of us don't like anyways.

5th Grade Math Unit 1: Factors, Multiples, 2x2 Multiplication, 3x2 Division

As I've evolved my thinking on this blog a little in the five weeks I've been at it, I've started to change my own purposes for doing it. As I planned out math Unit 1 (which will be starting up for us here in just a little over two weeks), I started to think about the resources that I use year after year. So, I decided to include the PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) files, as well as all the exams we utilize in the unit.

This units is housed in one of my subject specific static pages (the math 9-week plans page), in a page titled 5th Grade Factors, Multiples, Multiplication, and Division Unit, but I will include the text of that page verbatim below. Thanks for viewing, I hope this is of some help:




This is a big moment in the short history of this blog. I finally was able to get my computers set up in my classroom, and download all of my PDSA files and math tests that are already put together. As always, I will provide you with these for free. If you'd like more information on PDSA, see my page titled What is PDSA?

Math instruction for Unit 1 is divided into three portions, factors & multiples, multiplication, and division. Each section has a test, except for the final section (in this case, division). To save time, we always include the last section on the unit final exam. My goal here is to provide you with the necessary documents, and some resources as well. I work with my colleagues to make the exams, and plan our instruction backwards from there. The backwards design approach ensures that we are teaching what needs to be taught in the most efficient manner possible. Let's get started:

Factors & Multiples

The factors & multiples unit is set by the PDSA for that cycle, and was planned using backwards design, beginning with the Unit 1.1 Factors & Multiples Exam. It is set to take 10 days to teach, with one day at the end for testing and discussion. When viewing the exam, you will see that the main concepts to be taught are factors, multiples, prime numbers, composite numbers, square numbers, and prime factorization. What follows are resources and ideas for teaching each concept:

• My blog already includes a post and a static page about factors & multiples. I don't want to completely re-hash those here, but there are five different computer based resources available there.
• Factor Trees: I start right from the beginning of the year teaching with factor trees. Here are some great factor tree resources:
• A short and simple pdf document explaining what factor trees are. 
• Factor Tree Worksheet Builder: A good tool to make your own printable worksheets. You can customize the level of difficulty before making a pdf that you can save and/or print.
• Math Lines at Cool Math: I love played Zuma on Xbox Live (I'm kind of a video game nerd). This is Zuma with a twist. You can select a number, it defaults to 12. You have to shoot balls into other balls to make the product of the numbers 12. Very fun, good math practice.

Multiplication

Allow me to be a little more precise. This section of the unit on multiplication is 2x2 digit multiplication, as you can see in the PDSA file. Again, instruction was planned beginning with the Unit 1.2 Two by Two Digit Multiplication Exam. We have 7 days plus 1 day for testing to teach this portion of the unit. Here are resources for this section:

• Here are links to two sections on the great Worksheet Works worksheet building tool (see my post on this tool HERE). First there is a nice page with many options for teachers called Multi-Digit Multiplication Skills. I LOVE the variety of options available here. For your students who may be struggling with the standard algorithm, they also have Lattice and Grid worksheets. And before I forget, they have 2x2 digit multiplication word problems as well. 
• My school uses FASTT Math (a computer tool purchased from Scholastic, kids enjoy learning multiplication facts by playing the games and earning different things). It's not cheap, but fear not, there are free alternatives out there with free teacher tracking. At Math Facts Pro, you can create an account and track student progress as they play simple math games, at Math Trainer, kids can play a neat challenging game with annoying music (that you can turn off), and finally Multiplication.com has some really fun and visually cool games that kids are sure to love. 
• If you need more information on the lattice and grid methods, check out these videos:

LATTICE METHOD

GRID METHOD

Division

To be more specific, we're talking about 3 x 2 division problems. The PDSA will help guide instruction for this 8 days (with 1 day at the end for end of unit testing), as well as the End of Unit 1 Exam (I also have an English only copy), which includes the three by two division problems in it. For our data collection purposes, we collect data for this portion of the unit from the two division problems on the unit 1 exam for calculation in this PDSA cycle, and it also counts towards the end of unit 1 score. This "double dipping" serves us well, because we get the information we want, and do it in a timely, efficient manner. Here are the 5th grade division resources:

• Right back to Worksheet Works for their Multi-Digit Division Skills Worksheets. 
• Kids Numbers Long Division Practice Interactive: The sounds are probably the most annoying thing I've ever heard, but that's easily fixed. It does offer some good practice for kids struggling with their long division.
• Fun 4 the Brain has numerous division games, including Flying High, my favorite of the bunch.
• Finally, I'll let Khan Academy explain the process of long division, using the Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down method:

World at War (World War I and World War II) Classroom Project

When I teach my 5th grade unit on the World Wars, we discuss World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. As with each unit I teach in Social Studies, I always end with a project. In this case, it is a two part project. Students first complete a 3 dimensional display with research paper about an event from either World War I or the Great Depression, and then the entire class makes a hallway display World War II timeline. Each student is responsible for one event to place on that timeline.

I have completed and placed in my Google Drive the student information sheet for this entire project, with scoring rubrics.

Access the World at War project information sheet:

• docx format
• pdf format

My Latest Unit of Resources: World Wars (World War I, Great Depression, World War II)

My most recent update to my units is Social Studies Unit 6: World Wars. This unit includes World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II.

My resources for World War II are much more in depth. You can access that unit by clicking the link or the picture.

Normally, for convenience, I would post the entire text of the unit here so that you don't have to go clicking through my blog. My unit pages were organized the way they are for my own purposes more than anything else. However, in the case of this unit, there are many links, and a few Youtube clips embedded, so it's faster in terms of loading time to just click over to that page.

Worksheet Works: A Great Worksheet Maker For Teachers (and it's Free)

I am constantly on the lookout for good printables. As much as I like to use technology in my classroom, and as bad of a rap as worksheets seem to get these days, they are still the backbone of many a lesson, and, if done right and used right, are a valuable resource unlike any other. I definitely am an advocate of mixing traditional, tried and true teaching practices with the newer tools.

But where do you find these worksheets? Sometimes you get lucky and have awesome curriculum, and over the years, almost all teachers collect resource books, which are shared and passed around under they literally fall to pieces. If you're looking online, there are a few guidelines. First of all, you never should have to pay for anything. There are thousands upon thousands of worksheets and resources out there in any subject, for any grade you can imagine. The best place is Google, obviously. But it can be daunting. No matter what you search for, you're bound to get tens or even hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of search results.

I came across Worksheet Works this morning while writing up some resources for a math unit. I like this site because it gives the teacher many options before building a worksheet that comes in pdf format and can be printed. I have been making worksheets and saving them in my Google Drive for the past few minutes, and they're good. I like the options, and will be showing this tool to colleagues and using it during the school year. I hope you find it helpful.

Teaching About Anne Frank: Classroom Resources

I love to teach about Anne Frank every year during my unit on World War II. I just completed a list of teacher resources that I hand picked out of the many that are out there. This page is listed within my Social Studies Unit on World War II, and is titled Anne Frank Classroom Resources. To make it easier and save from all the link clicking, I will also make that unit available in this post. You can click the above link to be taken to that page, but here it is again:

When doing my unit on the World Wars, I like to discuss the Holocaust, but it's a touchy subject with elementary students. My opinion is that a 5th grader is old enough to begin learning about the Holocaust, and showing respect and concern over those events. At this age, one of the best ways to convey the gravity of the events while still making it relate able is by talking about Anne Frank. I don't have the time to read the Diary of Anne Frank in its entirety, so I have to approach it a little differently.

I begin with the reading of Who Was Anne Frank? by Ann Abramson. This book is available in my schools teacher library. I don't normally endorse things you have to pay for on this blog, but if you want to teach about Anne Frank, and don't have tons of time, this book is a good way to go.

• The definitive Anne Frank website comes courtesy of Anne Frank .org. The Secret Annex Online is a fantastic site with a great virtual tour of the secret annex. This is one of the highest quality virtual tours I've ever seen. (trust me, there's a ton of stuff there). The site even comes with a teachers guide with information for elementary, middle, and high school teachers as to how to incorporate the site into lessons.
• The next resource is a teacher guide that is meant to accompany the 2009 mini-series The Diary of Anne Frank. I selected this resource because of its high quality and the usefulness of many pages out of it (even without viewing the movie).
• Up next we have the Teacher Created Resources pdf document meant to supplement Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. These are a mainstay in many teachers classrooms, and can be found in teacher supply stores all over. This one includes activities, worksheets, vocabulary, and quizzes. Oh and it's free, you can't beat that price tag!
• This next pdf is a study guide provided by Park Square Theater. It contains a good timeline, some high quality activities, and good pictures, and it's print ready. 
• Here is a short reading with questions and an answer key in pdf format.
• Scholastic has a teachers guide website with links to some activities and photo snapshots as well.
• If you're looking for a quick webquest, Scholastic has this one.

Anne Frank is a very popular person for and students across the world learn about her. There are thousands of sites out there, so I could go on all day. I tried to limit this to some resources that will be helpful to me and anyone else looking to teach about Anne Frank. 

VIDEOS:

There are a number of very high quality mini-series, movies, and documentaries about Anne Frank. There obviously won't be time to watch them all, but here are some links to the ones you can view freely on Youtube (they're all big and come in multiple clips).

• Anne Frank: The Whole Story: This 2001 mini-series closely resembles the book I mentioned above, "Who Was Anne Frank?" It stars Ben Kingsley, and is definitely classroom friendly and hits hard. If you wish to view it on Youtube, it comes in 19 parts. I'll start by embedding part one here, the easiest way to continue is to find "Anne Frank: The Whole Story Part 2 on the right sidebar, and continue on from there:

• The Diary of Anne Frank is a 2009 mini-series, and is also very good. The approach is a little different than the above mentioned film. This one was created by the BBC, and is equally as good. I recommend watching them both, and deciding which is right for your class. It's in 8 parts, approach it the same as the one above, I have embedded part 1 here:

• This final clip is a personal favorite, and can hardly be called a clip. The below embedded video is the entire 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 20 seconds of the 1959 classic The Diary of Anne Frank. I show this one to my class every year, and they love it. The music and black and white presentation give it an older feel, but it's very effective for fifth graders. I LOVE this movie. It's also one clip, not a bunch of different parts: