Make it Monday

I'm getting excited about next school year.  We are switching our reading program and will be reading only novels on our iPads.  As you can see, we've picked out some great books....biography, humor, adventure.

It's strange how the simplest things can bring such pleasure.  After hours of viewing YouTube and reading other blogs, I figured out the basics of Photoshop.  Mastery is months down the road, but at least I was able to make custom chevron binder covers for our novel studies. You can download them at TPT.

Classroom Library

When I "inherited" my classroom, I also "inherited" a classroom library that needed a lot of TLC.  eBay and yard sales helped me add quality books without breaking my budget.  The next order of business was to organize the books in a way that made the books easy to find and hold the students accountable when they borrowed them. 

I created a simple excel spreadsheet of every book title and author in our classroom library.  I printed out the master list so the students could easily peruse the titles.  (We keep this master list with our classroom library.) Then, I printed library cards to go in the back of each book.

When the students checkout a book, they fill out the library card and place it in the basket.  This holds the students accountable for the books they have borrowed.  It greatly reduces the number of books that are misplaced throughout the school year.  The students sign the book back in when they finish reading it.

The books are arranged on our bookshelf alphabetically by author's last last.  (This is also how the books are listed on our master list.)  The students try to put the books back where they belong, however they need a little help.  At the end of this year I made dividers to mark the beginning of each section

 I used cheap, white moulding from Home Depot.  My husband cut the moulding into 8 inch sections.  Each section was wrapped with zebra duck tape and labeled A, B, C, etc.  I'm pretty proud of the finished product!

Bitter Sweet

When you have a class like I did this year, you don't necessarily look forward to the last day of school.  (Now, don't get me wrong. I'm certainly looking forward to summer break.)  I will, however, miss the gentle ways of this year's class.  Our class was composed of leaders who respected the opinions of others.  They were risk takers willing to reach outside their comfort zone.  The students were compassionate, caring, and kindhearted. 

Instead of being "over the top" excited about the last day of school, our class remained focused.  I guess I should add self disciplined to their list of attributes. 

The girls elected to have a wordsearch competition on the last day of school.

The boys enjoyed a chess tournament before heading to summer break.

Farewell my fourth graders- you will be greatly missed!

Field Day Fun

Field Day is like the light at the end of the tunnel.  For the teachers, it signifies the end of grading papers, the end of copying, and the end of planning.  For the students, it signifies the end of homework, the end of school uniforms, and the end of the dreaded alarm clock.

Traditionally, our Field Day is scheduled for the last week of school.  Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Andrea had other plans.  Our quick thinking PE teacher and administration moved Field Day forward to get it in before the storm.  What a great decision! We were delighted to wake up to 70 degrees, sunshine, and a gentle breeze.

We are waiting to stand for the singing of our National Anthem.

Tug of War is the first event of the day.

The "big kids" (4th and 5th grades) compete in the 50 yard dash.  

The sack race is always a fun one with lots of laughter.

Great Day to be Outdoors

Ahhh, the best way to spend a spring school day is to go outside.  After our unit on natural resources and landforms, we headed to our State Park for a day of hiking and canoeing.  We are fortunate to live approximately 30 miles from a relatively unknown gem.  Our State Park offers camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing, and even more.

During our hike we spotted snakes, frogs, various species of ferns, and evidence of the yellow bellied sapsucker.  Our hike started in a hardwood forest and ended in a swamp.

We also went canoeing on our field trip.  Each canoe had two students and one parent.  We learned the person in the bow (front) of the canoe acts at the engine.  Their job is to use all their muscles to paddle the canoe.  The person in the stern (back) of the canoe is responsible for steering and keeping us on course.  It was a very windy day which made navigating quite difficult.  All in all, it was a great day!

Bike Rodeo

This week we had our annual Bike Rodeo.  Our fourth graders learned rules of the road, importance of safety, hand signals, traffic signs, and parts of the bike.  With bikes and helmets in hand, we headed over to the county recreation complex adjacent to our school and put our new knowledge to the test. The students worked their way through nine stations, spending ten minutes at each station.  Each station reinforced a different skill and/or tested the students' safety knowledge. 

Navigating a Narrow Passage

Ducking Under a Low Object

Using Left and Stop Hand Signals

Call a Doctor...Our Class has Spring Fever

That's right.  The "fever" has hit our classroom.  The symptoms thus far include: ants in our pants, talking while we work, crooked lines in the hallway, forgotten common sense, and general lack of self control.  I knew we were bound to catch the "fever" because it is quite contagious this time of year.

So, what is a teacher to do?  Let's add more craziness to the mix and introduce stability balls.  I've never had stability balls in my classroom, but I thought I should give it a try.  Off to Wal-Mart I ventured and picked up four balls (one for each group of desks).

Boy, was I impressed with my students.  Like I mentioned,  I bought one ball per group of desks.  The students decided on their own that they should take turns sitting on the stability ball.  They even asked for help dividing the remaining time in the day evenly so each student got the same amount of time.  I wrote the times on the board when the students should switch with a classmate who was waiting patiently for their turn with the ball.  The students rotated the ball around the group members without fuss.  I love my class!