Pin It Dr. Seuss is Back! And so is my favorite story... Daisy Head Mayzie.  I love this story because it tells the story of a little girl who is given a second chance. LOVE conquers all. Tomorrow I will dress as Daisy Head Mayzie again and we will work on these common core standards:
3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Corresponding College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standard

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

I have made some discussion cards and a letter writing activity:

select for activities

Fishy 100 Days of School

Pin It I had the BEST 100 Days of School with my kiddos!

I had a fish theme going on in the classroom. At the beginning of the week, the students brainstormed compliments and wrote them on this worksheet.  or 100 Compliments (1) or 100 Compliments (2)

On the 100th Day I posted them on the wall outside our classroom:

Fishing for Compliments Sign: 

Fishing For Compliments Sign

My Shirt:

My Door- I used bubble wrap for streamers.

They watched the small segment about Nemo's first day of school. I made this worksheet with a Nemo theme.  Nemo Movie Clip

1 to 100 Days in School Fish Bowls

They traced fish and put 100 dots or scales on their fish.  Then they popped 100 bubbles.  I thought I was going to pass out after blowing bubbles for 35 minutes straight!  It was well worth the smiles on their faces!

Some of the art work out to dry:

Michelle Nelson-Schmidt

Pin It of the What if Monster came to visit our school today.

She told us to never give up on our dreams and to do something that we love.  Time to start working on my books again.  I have her contact information and I can't wait to get some more great advice.

Finding Meaning in Your Job

Pin It After listening to Daniel Pink talk about finding meaning in the workplace, I couldn't help but link it to the classroom.  Daniel Pink states that it is important to get control over the tasks that you do, to have a sense that you are getting better at what you are doing, and having a sense of purpose.  Goals: Give students choices, give them charts and visuals of their progress, connect their learning to jobs they will do in the future and projects they will do now to make a difference in the world.

Watch the video for yourself:
Daniel Pink on CBS News

Math Motivation

Pin It I was searching around today looking at different models of schools and trying to find new ways to motivate students when I came across Dan Meyer.  He explains that students' brains are rewired when they watch television shows in which a problem is shown and solved within 30 minutes or less.  We all are becoming impatient with resolution.   This is why my math class just wants to give me the answer and not tell me why or how they reasoned it out.  So, what should a teacher do? Dan explains that we should build problems that foster math reasoning and patient problem solving. Use photos and videos and gradually add the numbers for computation.  Let the students find the information that they need to solve the problems.  Watch him on Good Morning America with a great math question! Perfect for your holiday returns. You will need to scroll down a bit to find the Good Morning America video.

select to watch the Good Morning America video

Pin It A look back at our classroom elf on the shelf and all the fun he had!

He found a boat that the students built in our lego bin and had some fun!

He thought that Mocha's dog treats were cookies!

We made snowflakes for Polar Express Day and he caught a tiny one on his tongue!

He was getting "fit" after the cookies with marshmallow bar bells!

He played dreidel!

He fished with a little pole made from a paper clip.

Kids Are Heros

Pin It This website is going to help my students start to think about the good they can do in the world!
http://www.kidsareheroes.org/index.html