Week 5 & 6- Hiccups & Math Fun

When I got home last weekend my internet was down and I wasn't able to do my weekly post. So this week I'll share a few things that happened over the last 2 weeks. 

Have you ever had a kid with the hiccups in your classroom? My students get them all the time and I have a great way to get rid of them. It works every time. Give the student a cup and have them fill it with water all the way to the top. 

Then turn upside down and drink that way from the wrong side of the cup. So your top lip goes on the outside edge and your bottom lip goes on the inside edge. Drink some water that way and then stand back up. Easy way to cure the hiccups every time!

Have you seen this book? I gave one of the activities a try during math. 

One of the pages has dice roll prompts. So I partnered my students up and had them work in pairs to solve word problems. They rolled a dice to discuss a question before the problem solving started. 

Then they each worked separately to solve the problem. Finally they would roll the dice to choose the final discussion question for that problem and compare answers. 

There was a lot of on task discussion about math! They decided this was a lot more fun than just sitting and solving the problems alone. Plus, everyone was engaged!

We used my favorite reading strategy again this week, Keep It or Junk It. I also hung my posters on the wall under the clock so everyone could see them. 

This is another great way to have students working together in groups. They work to find words to help answer a focus question and them write an answer to that question. 

Have you used Kahoot? I created a review quiz to help prepare for the social studies test this week. We did it Monday and when the kids came back to me Tuesday they were begging to play again. They didn't care that I hadn't made a new game yet. 

I grouped my students to work as teams and submit their answers with the iPads. It is like a game show and they earn points for each correctly answered question. It also shows the leader after each question. They were cheering so loud when the correct answer showed up that I told them they would have to have a silent celebration or Mrs. Reasner and Mrs. Smith (our neighbors on either side) would ban us from playing. 

I wanted to share a picture of me and my Kindergarten buddy. I talk to him every morning in the gym and he has been trying to learn to tie his shoes. He works so hard and almost has it down!

Finally, here is a picture of my wonderful 5th grade team! We all purchased matching shirts and wore them today. I have the best team! Our shirts say, "In 5th grade we... share, love, laugh, grow, show respect, apologize, sing and dance, do our best, encourage, make mistakes, create, play, word hard, have fun, learn   We Are Family

L to R: Mrs. White, Mrs. Reasner, Mr. Schmitt, and Mrs. Smith

STUDENTS: I'd love to hear from you! What is your favorite part about 5th grade so far?