Cereal Box Book Reports

Each month, my students complete a book report.  For the month of September, they were required to read a fiction book and then complete a Cereal Box Book Report.  I had never assigned this type of report but it turned out to be a hit!

 

Here are some of my students' boxes (names have been marked out):

 The students had to create a game on the back of the box that related to the story:

Each box needed to have a prize inside, or at least a picture of the prize on the front of the box.  The prize needed to be related to the book, of course.

Top of the box:

 Side of the box:

 The other side of the box:

The students had to present their book reports on Friday in a 1-2 minute commercial.  They all did a great job!

If you'd like to use this in your class, here are the instructions and templates:
Cereal Box Book Report Directions
Left/Right Side Templates  (Found this online because Google docs was giving me trouble.  Scroll down to pages 2 and 3 for the printouts)

One of the many things I love about my school...

At my Christian school, we have a group of moms, called Moms in Touch, who meet each week to pray for our faculty/staff, students, and the needs of our school.  Once every few weeks, I'll get a pink prayer slip in my school mailbox that has a scripture on one side and a handwritten prayer on the other side; it's always a pleasant surprise! 

The one I received this week was so specific, especially uplifting, and made me feel so blessed to be a teacher at this school.  I love working at a place where people encourage each other and pray for each other on a daily basis. 

Landform Projects

In geography, we are currently learning about planet earth and its landforms.  We just wrapped up our week-long landform project.  I paired the students up, but had to have one group of three.  I assigned each group a landform to research.  On day 1, we took notes using our textbook, encyclopedias, and various websites as resources.

The students had to define their landform, give a well-known example of this landform, explain how the landform was formed, find out what the weather was like on this particular landform, and discover facts about the flora and fauna.  They could also add any other interesting facts or trivia about their landform (In my classroom, we call these "Funky Facts"). 

On day 2, we finished our research and the students had to take the information they learned the day before and write a report with criteria according to a rubric.

On days 3 and 4, the groups constructed their landforms in class.  I provided the base for each group (extremely thick poster board) and they had to bring in basic materials such as clay, play-doh, paint, sand, etc.

Here's how they all turned out: 

Mountain:

Isthmus:

Canyon:

Delta: (I was a little surprised by all the trees)

Strait:

Peninsula: (Can you guess what their well-known example is?)

Valley: (Wow--a very colorful valley!)

I was unable to give any direction as the students created their landforms; I was out of town those days and had a sub!

On day 5, the students had to present their landform project to the class.  They were also required to point out the "famous example" on a map. 

Here, the students are using the Atlas app as it's displayed from my iPad to the Promethean board via AirServer: 

This pair is explaining the Mississippi River Delta to us.

This was our first major in-class project and the students were so excited about creating their own landforms.  I wonder if we could make this an edible project next year?  We love to eat in this class!  ;)

Wonderful Wonderopolis

Several weeks ago, I posted about creating a Wonder Jar for my class to use.  I shared the post with Wonderopolis via Twitter because I thought they might like to know how I use the website in my classroom.  Imagine my surprise when I received a handwritten note in my school mailbox from the wonderful folks at Wonderopolis!  They even included a sticker for my Wonder Jar!?!    

My students were thrilled and we all felt so special!

Thanks so much, Wonderopolis!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Teacher Tip #4--Use timers and music

I consider myself to be an effective classroom manager and one of the things that has helped me tremendously is using a timer to keep students on task.  I use a timer all day long.  I time the students as they transition from one subject to the next and we even create time goals to see if we can "beat" our record.  We try to do things in the shortest amount of time possible so that more time can be devoted to instruction.

I give students time limits for classroom work and I usually set the timer on the desk of a student who has trouble focusing.  I announce that he's the time-keeper, but in reality, the timer is on his desk to keep him on track.  I'll usually whisper a directive in his ear like, "I need you to make sure you've completed five of these problems within two minutes" or "When the timer gets to 5:00, you need to be finished with this side of your paper and moving on to the next."  This strategy has been quite effective with this young man.

In addition to using a timer, I also use music to set a time limit for an activity.  For example, when the students pack up at the end of the day, I'll occasionally play a two-and-a-half to three-minute song and they must be packed up with "nothing on top of the desks and nothing underneath" by the time the music stops.  I've seen my co-workers use music in this way as well.  A former 5th grade teacher at my school would play the "Mission Impossible" theme when all the students arrived.  The children had until the end of the tune to get everything ready for the day (e.g. notes for the teacher and homework turned in, books/paper/pencils out, etc.).  She would also play "Takin' Care of Business" at the end of the day during pack-up time.

Using timers as well as music to set a time limit has been helpful in making my classroom run more smoothly. 

Digital Substitute

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to the Ron Clark Academy in Altanta, GA for a workshop (more about that experience in another post!).  I knew that my students would be missing a lot of instruction over two days and I didn't want to have to review a great deal once I got back to school.  In addition, I wanted to emphasize certain things in my lessons and I knew that the sub would not know exactly what I wanted done.  So, I created a series of videos for my students to watch while I was gone.  I recorded myself teaching the lessons and the sub simply had the job of pressing "play" on my computer, then "pause" when she needed to, and finally, the "stop" button.  This is as close to "flipping the classroom" as I've ever gotten and the subs loved it! 

I asked for feedback from my students today, in the form of a "Substitute Survey."  I asked questions about the sub, how the two days went when I was absent, and I asked their opinions on the instruction videos.  Here were some of the responses:

"I liked the videos because I've never seen another teacher do that.  You are one-of-a-kind."  Aw!
"The videos were fun because we could see you when you were gone."  Aw, again!
"The videos were great!  It was fun to be taught by Video Bowman."  ha!
"Everytime a teacher has a substitute, all of the kids try to say, 'That's not the way our teacher does it.'  Even if there's a designated person to tell the sub what to do, it always becomes the whole class trying to talk at once.  The videos helped because the class wasn't trying to tell the sub all about how our class works and how our teacher teaches."  Glad to know it was helpful.

If I ever plan on being absent again, I'll definitely take the time to create the videos.  It actually didn't take as long as I thought it would.  At times in the lesson, I would say, "Press 'pause' and please discuss this as a group...or with a partner"...or..whatever. 

The students enjoyed it, the subs had an easy job, and I didn't have to spend any time reviewing today or wondering what was taught while I was gone. 

Have any other teachers tried this before?  If so, how did it work for you? 

Teacher Tip #3--Back-up Shoes

I'll admit--I've been known to wear uncomfortable shoes just 'cause they're cute instead of comfortable not-as-cute shoes to work.  And at the end of the day, especially if I wear heels, I'm in so much pain! 

 

So, a couple of years ago, I bought a pair of Fast Flats; I keep them tucked away in my classroom in case I ever need to slip them on.



They look like actual shoes but they don't provide much padding.  Even though they don't have the padding, they're much better than spiky heels!

My campus is spread out like a "mini" college campus.  It takes me 5 minutes just to walk my students to the playground for recess.  We have to hike up a huge hill and around a couple of buildings to get there.  Imagine doing this in heels!?  My Fast Flats have saved me from pain on sooo many occasions. 

New teachers: make sure you have some back-up shoes in your classroom.  I remember when I student-taught, my cooperating teacher kept a pair of slippers under her desk.  She would slip into them during her planning period or whenever she had a few minutes at her desk.  Trust me, you'll want some back-up shoes.