Students Return Monday

Teachers returned to school this week and after meetings I've been working some in my classroom. I decided I wanted a math focus wall and I also wanted to add a few things.

This Daily Data board is where I'm going to have my students answer a question and vote one way or the other. Then we are going to use this data to create graphs and generate questions about the data. I was first introduced to this idea from the book Guided Math and the new 4th grade teacher, Ms. Hawk, shared how she does this with her students.



I still need to make cards with student names (or numbers) on them so they can vote but I thought we might start the first note with sticky notes.







Then I used the back bulletin board to create this math focus. We have the calendar (which will have pattern pieces on it), a place for the array of the day, prime/composite numbers, fraction bars, and measurement. I also plan to add vocabulary word splashes as we learn them.

Then in the picture below you can see the Common Core Mathematical Practices Objectives. I love these posters because they explain them in a way the kids can understand. You can find these posters here.

I also added a small poster for our brain dumps. As we learn a new brain dump I'll add it to this wall.



When a student doesn't have his/her homework assignment they must stay in for recess detention during recess time. In the past I've had student write a note about why the assignment isn't complete. I found it difficult to manage without sorting through papers on the way out the door for recess. So, this year I plan to do things differently. I found this homework black book form. I will still have the excuse written by the student but they will stay in one binder. If the student has to write an excuse he/she must move their clip from the left to the right ribbon. That way I can see if anyone has to stay in recess detention. Once the assignment is completed and turned in I'll have the student highlight the assignment in the black book and move the clip back to the left side.



You can also see the brownie points I used last year. If the class gets a compliment from another adult in the building they earn a brownie point. After the pan is full I make brownies for them.



Since I added more math stuff this year I rearranged my CAFE (reading) stuff a little bit too. I'm ready and excited for the kids to start Monday! I'll start posting about what we're doing in the classroom next Friday.