Spring is in the air

Wow, I can tell it is getting close to summer! Everyone is getting all excited and restless. However, we still have state test around the corner and I was looking for a way to focus and review. I have always been a big believer of using both side of the brain, so it was no surprise when my grade level saw me painting last Friday.
We started the week off by reading a biography about Georges Seurat. Next, we sequenced the events of his life followed by writing a summary of the article. Finally, on Friday we painted a piece of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Everyone, including myself, found the week fulfilling. By ending the week with painting, the class took ownership in the lessons that preceded. Now we all now a little more about pointillism.

Firework

This week I was trying hard to get my class excited about Figurative Language. My fifth graders were still struggling recognizing metaphors.  I wanted to get them involved and excited.  After a bit of web browsing,  I stumbled upon a fabulous lesson created by Tracee Orman using Katy Perry's Firework lyrics. Immediately, I had their attention. Not only were they singing and having fun, but they were engaged and making connections. Great lesson for those who have to teach tweens about metaphors & similes!

Firework Lesson

Silhouette Cameo

I love my new Silhouette Cameo!

For months, my daughter and I looked at the Cricut Cutting Machines longing for one. Bringing myself to purchase one was hard, because there were to many cartridges I wanted. A student's mom told me about the Cameo and after a little research, and long discussion with my aunt, I ordered one. I will be honest, I never intended it to be used for school. Once it was shipped to me I could not resist taking it out and giving it a test. Quickly, the possibilities of classroom use filled my head. I was cutting out cute borders for my student's writing samples, making bookmarks, creating organisms for food chains.  I also have a cute idea for Mother's Day craft.

The best aspect of the Cameo is it is software based and no cartridges are needed. You can use any of the fonts you already have installed on your computer. Images can be downloaded from their website, or with a little practice you can make your own out of jpegs. They also offer an Educator's Discount.
Check back in May to see the cute Mother's Day Craft.

Postcards from Room 106

My grade level was getting ready to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday this week. By this time of the year, fifth graders are getting excited at the prospect of starting middle school and we read Oh, the Places You'll Go! We wanted to make a cute hall display and have each child write about a place they would visit. We lined the wall with black paper to resemble a road and made mile markers. When it was time to display the writing we needed something to make it snazzy. 

I had recently been introduced to Photoshop and thought it would be cute to make postcards. I took each student's picture in front of my white board and found an image of their destination. Next, I photoshopped each student onto their destination. Printed the postcards and hung them next to the writing samples in the hall. The kids loved them!