Focus on Five: Daily Math Bulletin Board

I tried out my new interactive bulletin board today with my summer school class. I was impressed after I talked them through it, they seemed to "get it". Now, granted they were a little rusty on their measurement facts, but they did good. I drew how I wanted their paper to look on the board. I did create a template(check out on my TpT store: Focus on Five), but this morning we just used folded paper. I am going to give this a try when school starts and see if it helps with retention of these five focus topics. Stay tuned...

Top 50 Elementary Teacher Blogs

I am so excited to tell you that my blog has been listed on Top 50 Elementary Teacher Blogs!!

WOOHOO!!!!

I have looked over the list and I am a big fan of so many of the blogs listed on there. Head on over to

Top 50 Elementary Teacher Blogs and check out the awesome blogs listed!

Renaissance Lighthouse School of Excellence

I am so proud of our school! We are the fourth school in the nation to reach Renaissance Lighthouse School of Excellence. Since I have been here, I have been to Training of the Trainers in Dallas, had countless hours of onsite training from Renaissance Learning, and attended conferences to learn how to implement these programs more effectively in our school. I was trained as the "Accelerated Math Champion", but have had training on Accelerated Reader, Math Facts in a Flash, Neo2, AccelTest, STAR testing, and Keywords.
This could not have been accomplished without all the students hard work, teacher's dedication, our principal's belief in the products and our school, our district for funding the programs, and the Renaissance staff for helping us every step of the way.

Renaissance Lighthouse School of Excellence

 
This year my 5th grade class made AM Model Class, also Math Facts Model and Master class. My sixth grade class made AM Model and Master Class as well as Math Facts Model and Master class.

My Wall of Fame in my classroom

 We received a Renaissance Master School banner to display proudly in the foyer of our school. Almost every grade 1st-6th achieved Master class status in AM, AR, and Math Facts in a Flash.

If your school is not using Renaissance Learning products, I highly recommend using them. I have seen so much growth in my students and their confidence level and love of learning has increased!

 

http://www.renlearn.com//

Monday Made It!!

Well I'm teaching the summer enrichment program at my school for the month of June. I figured that while I was here I could prepare for next year, then I wouldn't spend a lot of time right before school starts decorating and organizing my room.

My Monday Made It is all thanks to my best friend, Mrs. Harrell at Dawn's Dazzlers in 3rd and 4th Grade. I am not sure what the craze with colored Duck Tape is, but my son LOVES it!! We have Rainbow, Spongebob, Spider man, Army camo, Hunting camo, Zebra print, etc. (you get the picture!) Well, my friend and co-teacher, Dawn, decided to use the colored Duck Tape to attach folders to our cabinets. We tend to overdecorate a little LOT!!! So for us to have several of these tall, plain brown cabinets in our room was aggravating. We attempted stapling things to them, but the doors are too hard. So here are some of my handy dandy folders to keep me organized and brighten the old brown cabinets!!

 

Ok this last picture (above) is what I'm calling Focus on Five. I picked several topics my students have had as a weakness in the past. I am going to use this as daily bell work when school starts. (I will have to blog on how my first week goes...)

*Vocabulary-using the Frayer Model to define math words. I am using words from the Math word wall above this board.

* Graphs- I guess I will have a question on the board for the students to graph. Pictured is a bar graph. I laminated everything on this board so I can write on them when we go over the work.

*Number and Operations- This is a folder which I can put a quick worksheet or actually write on the folder as a dry erase board.

* Fractions- Don't you just LOVE this zebra print number line. It goes from 0 to 1.  I cut up small cards, laminated them, then wrote different fractions on them.  I will let them put the fractions in order.

* Measurement- This is like the Number and Operations section. It is a folder where I can put a paper for the students to pick up or I can write on the folder with a dry erase marker.

iPads!!!!

Can anyone recommend apps to purchase or free that you use in your classroom?I am soooooo excited that today I got to set up our new iPads for the school!!! Our principal ordered us 18 iPad minis, Otterboxes, and a locking cart. I already downloaded a bunch of math and science free apps today. We will be getting Itunes cards to buy apps with soon. 

Happy Teacher's Appreciation Week!!! FREEBIE!!! 3 Minute Math!!!

This is one of my absolute favorite bellringers! It has been avaliable for download in my TpT store for $1.99, but this week it's yours FREE!!! I appreciate each of my wonderful readers and love reading comments!! I hope each of you have a fabulous summer break when it rolls around. I am at 13 days and counting...

3 Minute Math-My TpT store

Gimme a Break!!!!

Yes we are nearing the dreaded state tests... 
Countdown til test-16 days! 

I'm trying not to burn out the kids, but still get test prep in daily. They need a break since they have worked so hard this year. :) Today we played Jeopardy with my sixth graders. I had an old template that I downloaded several years ago that has test prep on it. I can't remember where I got it...but in searching the web for it, I came upon this site Math-Play and found excellent Jeopardy games already made for different topics.