Why I Teach Wednesdays: A "Beautiful" Story (And Catching Up on the Week)

Well I'm behind on my posts because I've had three LONG days in a row of professional development (yippee!).  So this is going to be a quick post to catch me up with Monday through today and then hopefully I'll be back on schedule.  

Musical Monday

I saw this on Pinterest and absolutely LOVE it!  It's not academic but it'd be a cute song to sing together for a brain break and/or to encourage a positive classroom environment.

Click here for the link to the YouTube video!

Teacher Tricks Tuesday

I love this vocabulary boosting activity.  Every day when I introduce a new vocabulary word from our read aloud, I put the word on a reward chart like this: 

Then every time a student says, hears, reads, or writes that word in the classroom we put a sticker next to the word.  Once the chart has a decided number of stickers (I usually put a star at 10 so it doesn't take too long), we do something to celebrate that word.  For example, one year we had the word "enormous." Once we filled up ten stickers next to the word, I had them come the next day ready to find all the enormous things I used throughout the day.  I wore enormous sunglasses to pick them up from recess in, I used an enormous dollar store pen to check attendance, I used an enormous eraser, etc.  They had a blast spotting all of the enormous things throughout the day, and it was a fun connection to the word so they hopefully won't forget it!  There's all kinds of things you can do with the different vocabulary words.  It's a great chance to be creative! If all else fails and you can't think of an activity to do, you can give them label stickers to wear that say "Ask me what _______ means today!"  I've really enjoyed this engaging method of teaching vocabulary, and I'd love to hear other fun ideas that you may have!

Why I Teach Wednesday
So I was working in my classroom last week, dusting the layers upon layers of filth that had built up, when I walked over to an area that used to be home to one of "those" students.  A student who required ALL of my energy and patience some days.  But those same students are usually the ones that hold the most special places of our hearts, aren't they!?  Ok, not all the time, but this was certainly true for this little fellow.  He drove me crazy, but he also had the sweetest heart and just needed love.  And I loved that boy as hard as it was sometimes.  Anyway, I was over in his "spot," which of course was in his own "special" area for behavior purposes.  Then I noticed some cut up sticky notes stuck to the wall in front of where his desk sat.  Three little pieces.  With three words.  "Mrs. Guillo......is......beautiful."  And that, folks, is why I teach.  No, not so children will call me beautiful (although I could certainly get used to that! ;).  But I choose to teach so that I can be there for a child, so broken and hard on the outside, yet God's child, craving love and acceptance on the inside.  I'll never forget the ups and downs I had with that particular student.  And in my 6 years of teaching there are so many that have touched my heart the same way.  Sometimes I wonder, as I'm sure you all do, if I ever make a difference in their lives.  Do they know I care?  Was I too hard on them?  Why did I get myself into this (and where's the Excedrin!?)  But then we get those little reminders that all those headaches and even tears are worth it.  Why do I choose to teach?  Because all children deserve a chance to know they're loved.  And I believe God has called me to show them that.

So, We Meet Again

Oops, I did it again.  I have been thinking about getting back to blogging for a few weeks now and I just couldn't resist any longer.  So, here we are.  For all two of you (hi, mom!) who are interested, I'm back and I hope to share my side of the teaching world with everyone.  Some (read: most) won't even be my original ideas, but I hope to share things that may be new to you because we teachers like to STEAL, save money, and spend more time with our families than doing unnecessary work!

So, we find ourselves at  "Musical Monday," a day where I share some of my favorite ways to incorporate songs and chants into the classroom! 

I teach first grade, and one of the common core (gasp, sigh, groan, grumble) standards for 1st is to write opinion pieces.  Even before this standard came along, I found that a commonly used word, yet a hard-to-spell word for firsties is the word "because."  Thus, one day I lied and told my students I had a song to help them with it so they'll never forget it again.   And as I spoke , the stars aligned just right, the clouds opened up, and little diddy popped up into my head:

The BECAUSE Song
(To the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

B-E-C-A-U-S-E
U-S-E
U-S-E
B-E-C-A-U-S-E
Because, Because Because!

I know.  You're thinking, "that's it!?"  Yep.  I never promised it'd be super brilliant or exciting.  But it works!  And now they're held accountable for spelling that all important, frequently used word to justify their opinion!  Cool!

I also want to include a song I whipped up for could/should/would, also frequently used and difficult words:

The COULD/SHOULD/WOULD Song
(To the tune of "BINGO")

There is a word that we should know
And this is how you spell it
C-O-U-L-D
C-O-U-L-D
C-O-U-L-D
And "could" is how you say it.

(Repeat with "would" and "should."  Say "S-H" quickly when you sing the "should" verse!)

There you go, folks.  It's good to be back.  As always, I'd love to hear your input and ideas, so comment with love or one of your own original songs.  Do you use songs or chants to help with spelling?

Shape Cha-Cha Slide

About a month ago, I was teaching my students about slides, flips, and turns with shapes.  I didn't want it to be all worksheets all the time.  So as a last-minute idea during my planning period (which is right before I teach math) I decided to introduce each concept (slide, flip, and turn), then do "Shape Ballet" where I played slow ballet-esque music and had them make their little shapes "dance" by sliding, then turning.  Later to do the reflection, I had them have a shape "dance partner," facing each other while they danced.  It was cute for an introduction to the concepts, but it gave me an idea to do "Shape Cha-Cha-Slide!"  (For my first graders, it was also good practice for reviewing left and right.)  I found the "cha-cha slide" song and played it for us to 'dance' to.  Only instead of our bodies doing the movements, our shapes did! I provided each student with a shape block and a piece of grid paper as a "dance floor" for their shape. Here's a simple breakdown of what we'd do:

-Whenever it said "slide to the left/right/take it back," we'd slide whichever way it specified and say "slide".
-We'd still stomp our right/left foot when it instructed us to do so.
-Whenever it said "turn it out" we'd turn our shape and say "turn"
-When it says "reverse," we would flip our shape once and say "flip!" on the off beat.
-On the extra stuff like "how low can you go/clap your hands/hands on your knees/cha-cha now," we'd take a dance break and do those motions with our bodies just for fun!

*So, all in all, this activity by itself does not TEACH the students everything they need to know.  But it was something that got them interested and kept them active.  After I used this to introduce the unit of study, they kept asking for it.  So each day during our shape study I told them if they worked hard in math for the day, we could end it with the shape cha-cha slide.  Whatever works!

Here are some other things on slides, flips and turns I have found:

-Here is a link to a simple on-line game to play on a SmartBoard or to have students play on student computer for review.
-Here is a good lesson plan with a slide/flip/turn game to play!