Book Project

Possible Common Core Standards:
RL.4.1
RL.4.4

I was given the opportunity to do a reading project with a class of fourth graders over the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.  I had four days to complete it.  I would recommend more time.

As this classroom was technology challenged the project had to be something other than technology based.  (If I did this in a classroom with access to Publisher, I would complete the project using that program and possible some clip art or allow the students to illustrate by hand the story, scan and place the pictures on the board/cards.)

We used a piece of construction paper and drew small lines three inches from the edge all around the perimeter of the paper.  Then drew straight lines connecting all of the dots to create a 'frame' around the paper.  In one corner we designated the START box.  Because I wanted the boards to be somewhat different, I allowed the students to choose the size of their boxes.  No bigger than 3 x 3 (inches) and preferably no smaller than 2 x 3.  This caused a bit of a dilemma as we progressed through the book as some students had seven extra boxes.  After chapter four I visited with each student about his/her board.  We designated two squares for each chapter with an extra box here and there.  The students with extra boxes were directed to choose something from the story not already on the board to draw in the extra box. On my 'map' below I have one 'anything from story' box.

This is my 'map' of the project.  

As the book has ten chapters we needed a minimum of 20 squares on the board.  The middle of the board had the title of book and a place to put the two sets of cards that were a part of the game.  One set of cards were called 'Connection' cards.  The cards had a question to help the student make connection to a part of the story.  (A picture of our connection cards are included.  Keep reading.) The other cards were vocabulary cards.  As we read each chapter we picked out two to four words (depending on how much time we had) from the chapter to put on cards.  We also looked up a definition or thought of a definition that fit the word for the story.  I kept a list of the vocabulary terms and definitions to make a master list.  Each game board was given a vocabulary master list to help with disputes when playing the game.

our vocabulary master list

Each box on the game board had a smaller C box, +V box, or -V box.  I gave the students specific instructions how the C, +V and -V boxes were to be colored as to create uniformity for that part of the game.  For example the C box had a yellow background with a red C in the middle.  Every C box on the game board was colored in this way.   The START box had a +V on it as each student starts the game with a vocabulary card.

start box example

examples of C, +V, -V

Students picked two events from each chapter to illustrate on their board.  Sometimes a sentence was added to the illustration.  Each chapter had two boxes.

I didn't have any method to deciding which boxes were given a C, +V or -V.  I tried to have more +V because the vocabulary cards are the key to 'winning' the game.   I used the C boxes the least.

Each game board needs two tokens and a number cube.  (1-6)  We kept the number of players per game board limited to three.  Two is best.

Each student put his/her token on start.  Determine who is going first.  The first person rolls and counts the number of spaces.  The little box (C, +V, -V) tells the player what to do.

C  The player takes the top Connection card and reads it to the other player(s).  He/she answers the questions.  I do not require students to answer the questions if they feel uncomfortable answering the question.  They are allowed to say 'I don't have an answer to that question.'  Questions like the playground safety rules for school, 'would you like to have a turtle for a pet' or 'would you like to live in NYC' are expected to be answered.  I tried to come up with at least one question per chapter with students help.

our connection questions

+V The player takes a vocabulary card.  It will either be a term or a definition.  If it matches a card taken previously the student will want to 'protect' it.  We turned matches face down to 'protect' them.

-V  The player must return a vocabulary card to the bottom of the pile.  If the player has no cards, his/her turn is over.  If the player has matched pairs of vocabulary cards and no others, one pair must be broken as a card must be placed on the bottom of the vocabulary card pile.

 (A 'steal' option for vocabulary cards would be fun in the game, I haven't time to explore how to incorporate that into the game.)

When the vocabulary cards are all gone from the game board, the game stops.  Count the number of
vocabulary card matches.  Whoever has the most, wins.

Classroom Management

I used excel to create a class list with the students' classroom number (the students were numbered in alphabetical order), first and last name.   I would copy and paste this list a couple of times on the worksheet and print. Then the lists were cut out and taped down by the phone, by the cubbies (my cubbies were numbered so I didn't have to redo names each year) and one by my desk.

I was lucky enough to have a class set of computers in my classroom and the computers were numbers.  I taped a list on the cart to help a student helper or guest teacher determine who had not put their computer up yet.

I called this my 'small' class list.  If you want to get fancy, you can set up a master class list and link the 'small' lists to it.  Then when you change a child on the master list, it changes all the lists.  Print, cut out and replace the other lists and you are ready to go.

Usually I would use a fine tip marker and white out to fix the lists until they were messy from too many students coming and going.  Then I would print a new list.  Word of warning:  Every time I printed a new list a new student would come and mess the new list up.  :)

Fluency/Repeated Reading

Each week as a part of my students' homework they were to read a passage at least three times each evening.  They could time themselves if they wanted to see how many words they could read in a minute, but they were expected to read the entire passage.  Their goal was to become smoother and faster readers.  We practiced the passage/page every day in class. We discussed words they didn't know and the pronunciation.  We talked about stopping at periods, pronouncing the endings on words, reading with expression...we emphasized this is NOT a race. They would read using their 'phones' and I would time them.  (Sometimes we used Audacity so they could listen to themselves when done.) They marked on their page where they stopped.   I used passages out of teacher books, passages related to what we were reading, passages related to social studies or science or math, but my favorite was a page from the basal.  I copied one page with a lot of text.  I counted the words and labeled each line.  The students were given a copy to practice with and I had a stack ready to mark miscues when they read the passage or page to me on Friday.  Earlier in the blog I talked about graphing their scores.  The score from Friday was the 'final' score and it was graphed.

http://kstrc387.blogspot.com/2011/02/fluency-graphs.html

http://kstrc387.blogspot.com/2011/02/fluency-graph-example.html

I saved the original passage with the words counted in a notebook in the order of the stories in the basal.  If I used something other than the basal, that passage was inserted when I used it.  This was very handy the following year as I didn't have to search for a passage/page and didn't have to count words again.  They were ready to be copied.

Vocabulary

I wish I knew where I found the vocabulary levels so I could give the author proper credit.

Each week when introducing the new vocabulary words the students would rate the words.  It can be done on paper (make a list of the words for the students and they each rate the words) or it can be done using the smartboard.  (Each student had a card with the levels and meanings and a clicker.)  


Personally I liked the smartboard (using clickers) because of the graph generated by the results.     We would spend a little time discussing the graph and how about half the class really knew the word or less than a fourth of the class knows the word.  The graph fascinated the students.

I had to remind students to be honest about their knowledge of the words.  At the beginning everyone put their knowledge level of all words at 3 or 4.  Once they were comfortable with the knowledge that no one would know who put the rating of 1 or 2 they were honest.

Once we rated and discussed the graphs we moved on to a powerpoint with the words.  The powerpoint was loaded with pictures, clip art and video clips that were intended to help the student understand the meaning of the word.  The powerpoint was set up so the word did not appear until clicked to appear.  The students spent some time thinking about what word was represented, then discussed with a shoulder partner and finally I would make the word appear.  They loved being right.  I showed them an example of the word in a sentence then they spent some time thinking of a sentence to share with their shoulder partner.

Here are the levels (if you know who created this, please let me know):

1.  I never saw it before.
2.  I've heard it, but I don't know what it means.
3.  I recognize it in context as having something to do with...
4.  I know it well.

IF YOU WERE AN EEL, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?

A new project I would like to try is fractions with the book IF YOU WERE AN EEL, WHAT WOULD YOU FEEL? by Mina and Howard Simon.   After reading and talking about the book I would explain to the students they are going to write a story using the pattern of this book about fractions.   A sample title would be If You Were One-Half, How Would You Feel?

If you were one-half, how would you feel?
Or one-fourth
or one-third
or one eighth
how would you feel?

(You could change these to two-thirds, three-fourths depending on the level of your students.)

Say I were one-half -

As one-half
I would feel
like half of a whole.
I would be like
half of a pizza
or half of a glass of milk
or half of a twin
or half of a dollar (50 cents!)
or the number two when thinking of four
or half of an inch.

Say I were one-third -
As one third
I would feel
like an apple with two cherries.
I would be like
a dime in 30 cents
or

I would let students illustrate their content.  To make the book a bit thicker, I wouldn't list all of the or statements on one page as the Simon's did in their book, I would put them on their own page.   Illustrations can be hand drawn after printing the book or use clip art.

My favorite program is Publisher for something like this. (Don't forget Publisher has a booklet feature you could use to save on paper and ink.)  Either print the file or save the file (don't use booklet feature and if you used clip art) as a pdf file and use studentpublishing.com to publish the books.

Make sure you credit the the authors (Mina and Howard Simon) for using their book.  It would be nice if you would include this website on your finished project, too.

I think you could also use this book as a springboard to a book on shapes and the attributes of shapes.

Just for fun:   website for thirds...http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/fractionflags/ffthirds.html

Beginning the School Year - Classroom Management

It's that time when I start thinking about the new school year.  Here are some of my thoughts and things I do for the beginning of the year.

When starting the school year, I used to have to think about my discipline plan.  Now I just think about how I might want to tweak it.   I think about how to lay out my room.  What worked for me last year, what needs changed, what other expectations are being thrown at me that might impact my room arrangement.  More on discipline plans later.

One management tool I like to use is making passes using lanyards.  I have a couple of bathroom passes, a couple of office passes, a couple of library passes, a couple of nurse passes (although we have a form to complete so these are only used if I need the child to go to the nurse's office for more band-aids or some other errand) and a couple of hallway passes in case I need a child to go somewhere other than the above mentioned places.  I use plastic hooks that are easily removed and reused to store the passes by the classroom door.  I used Publisher to create the passes.  I added clip art and labeled the passes appropriately.  The passes were laminated, cut out and attached to the lanyards.

Another management tool I use is a 'portfolio' of sorts for each child.  I do it two different ways and most of the time I use both.  One is a notebook with a tab section for each child.  The other is a container for hanging file folders (or you can use a file cabinet - I like the container because I can easily transport it and can keep it in the locked closet).  I always number my students.  They are required to put their name and number on their papers.  The numbering system makes it easy to keep track of assignments.  The notebook has tabs with numbers on them and the same for the file box.  This way I can reuse them year after year and not have to change names.  (It also isn't obvious to others that student information is in the notebook or file box.)  The notebook contains a parent information sheet on the child, an inventory the child completed, the signed permission slip from the parent/guardian for commenting/writing on the class blog and other technology pieces in our classroom, the child's results from any beginning of the year screenings/tests and any other pertinent information.  The file box contains work for conferences.

I have a box labeled 'absent folders' with a numbered file folders in it.  Back in worksheet days I would put the work a child missed in their folder.  I didn't use this box so much in the last few years as I didn't pass out many worksheets.  If someone was absent several days it was handy for putting the homework in, notes from the office and anything else that the child/parent might need when the child returned.  It was nice to have it in one spot and not jammed into a desk, scattered on top of a desk, or in a cubby with who knows what all else.

One of my favorite beginning of the year things to do with my 4th grade students is to make name tags for their desks.   I love using Publisher with my students and this is their introduction to it.  I take their pictures and load them in a file that is accessible to them.  They open the template I have for them, put their name in, and insert their picture in the spots provided.  They learn how to re-size the picture, save the document in their folder, and print it.  The template has the name tag and other picture/name boxes that are used for an attendance chart, their computer accessories bag, and the center chart.  They cut the documents out and add color to their name tag.  I laminate them and we tape them to their desks.  Substitutes love them.  I also use the pictures to create a seating chart for my sub folder.

Transformations

The students created a short video using PhotoStory3 (a free download), Word and PowerPoint.

Here is a link to student examples.  Directions below.  http://mrscooksfantasticfourthgrade.blogspot.com/2012/02/transformations.html

In Word we wrote a few sentences explaining translation.  After we wrote the sentences we used an animal figurine (we used a chicken or rooster) to demonstrate translation on a grid.  Then, using italics, we added the information about pictures we wanted to add to the paragraph. 

1.       Example Paragraph:

Translation is when something moves from place to place.  It means to slide.  I can remember slide and translation are the same by the sl in both words.

2.        

After the paragraph, the students figured out how to show slide with the animal and the grid.  They added this information to their paragraph in italics.

Translation is when something moves from place to place.  It means to slide.  (Picture one:  chicken on (4,4))  (Picture two:  chicken on (5,4))  I can remember slide and translation are the same by the sl in both words.

Now for the fun part!  Take the pictures of the chicken using the directions determined earlier

.

(When the pictures were inserted into PowerPoint, they were edited using picture tools.)

5.        

Repeat the process with reflection, then with rotation.

6.        

Open PowerPoint and create a title page.  Then type the transformation information on a slide or copy and paste from the Word document.  Leave a blank slide for each picture. Insert pictures in the correct places.  Draw a red line to show the movement.  Do this for rotation and reflection.

 Then save the powerpoint as jpeg files.

 After files are converted to jpeg files, open PhotoStory3 and import the pictures.  Once the pictures are imported you will want to change the motion (transitions) on the pictures.  We left the first two slides alone and allowed the defaulted transitions to happen, then we fixed the transitions on the rest of the slides. 

If you don't do this, your movie will look like this.  We think it is distracting.

This movie has the transitions fixed.

Text Feature Book

I wanted a fun way to get the students engaged and thinking about text features. I searched the internet and found a book someone created.  I cannot find out who created the book to give them credit.  If you are JJ, let me know so I can give you credit for the book.  I modified it for my classroom use.  I also found a text feature file of examples.    I don't know where I found it.  If this is your file, please let me know so I can give you credit.  I modified this file too as I added pictures to correspond with the additions I made to the book.  I made the template for students to use in Publisher. 

We went through the book adding comments about each text feature.  Then students opened the example file.  They copied an example and then pasted it on the appropriate page in the text feature book.  I thought we would add arrows to point out the text feature on the example but we ran out of time.

Using the booklet feature on Publisher

 

 

 

 

Text Feature Examples (I have five pages of examples.)

 

 

 

Click on Properties to print the project as a booklet.

Gallon Man Project

To help students understand the relationship between cups, pints, quarts and gallons each student made a gallon man.

 

I wanted students to show off their knowledge so they made a postcard using a template from Publisher.  They took a picture of their gallon man and pulled it into the postcard.  

page 1

page 2

The above pictures show the template we used and what page 1 and page 2 looked like.  Below shows the final project (page 1 only) and how to print on both sides.  We printed it so that two printed on a page.  Students cut the postcards out.  Each student took one home and the other one is hanging in the hallway.

Final Postcard Project

Three Branches of Government

(Student examples:  http://mrscooksfantasticfourthgrade.blogspot.com/2012/01/our-final-product.html)

First we briefly talked about when our country wasn't a country and who ruled the colonies.  I read Yertle, the Turtle to the class to get an idea of not having any rights.  Then we talked about why we needed a government.

Each team was given a piece of chart paper folded into thirds. Each team had four different colors of sticky notes.  Each child was assigned one color.

We read about the three branches of government in We the People.  After each branch we discussed the important details.  As a team they decided who was going to write which detail to put on their chart.  The colors let me know who was participating in the group.  I could slow someone down and work on someone else to work a little faster.

Once we finished the We the People book, I gave the students another kid friendly article about the three branches.  This time they were on their own gathering details although I only let them do one branch at a time to keep the activity from overwhelming some students.  Once again I monitored the color of the sticky notes going on the chart.

Teams were responsible for monitoring the details so that no detail appeared twice on their chart.

Now we were ready to start our computer project.  Students opened PowerPoint to access the following two slide template.

The students added word art making a title for the top slide.  Then they looked for clip art to illustrate the three branches of government.

Now they were ready to start adding the details they worked so hard to find earlier.  I had them start with the legislative branch. They had to put a title box and five detail boxes.  I make them use the font Tahoma so they don't spend all their time deciding on a font.  I also told them to make the title box size 18 while making the detail boxes size 14.  If they needed more room they made the detail box font smaller.

The boxes were moved to another section after all details were added.

Then rotated.

We did this again for the executive branch and slid the text boxes on the top left of the circle and rotated them facing out.  Finally the judicial branch was completed and left in the bottom third.

Students fine tuned the boxes making sure all text fit inside the circle part and faced the proper direction.


When everything was complete to their satisfaction they printed the two pages.  They cut the circle with the information on the branches and I had them wait on the title circle.  We did that one together so that I could demonstrate where to cut.  We could not cut a complete third out as there would not be a good place to put the brad connecting the two pieces of paper.  Therefore an extra line appeared in the "cut this part out" section.  Student cut across that line leaving a "lip" of paper to give support to the brad.  I also put a piece of scotch tape on each title page to add a little more support for the brad.

Students carefully poked a hole in the center of both papers and inserted the brad.

Their three branches of government wheel was complete.

 We the People. Calabasas CA: Center for Civic Education, 1996. Print. Student Text Level I.