I Won, I Won!!!

How cool is this?? When I got home from school today I found a package waiting for me containing an autographed I SPY book and a letter congratulating me for being one of five lucky winners! Both Walter Wick, the photographer, and Jean Marzollo, the author of the riddles signed it. And all I did was enter a contest on I SPY's Facebook Page. Thanks, Scholastic!!

Testing Time

Well, it's that time of year... Testing Time!

Each and every April/May our kids our tested, literally, to death. (Okay, so not literally, but almost!) And while I could go on and on about the pros and cons of testing, the reality is that it does not matter. The powers that be say we have to test our kids for x amount of hours and so that is what I do.

And although testing time is pretty high stress (especially for the teachers!), it doesn't have to be days and days of endless blah. I hope to blog about some of the things going on in my classroom and school to alleviate some of the symptoms of test-itis. But until then, check out this post from Scholastic's blog, Top Teaching -

Five Ways to Make Standardized Test Prep Engaging

Simple Machines - Great Website

One of my fourth grade cohorts, Mrs. K., found this great website for Simple Machines! You pick a room in the house and then find all of the Simple Machines. When you click on an item, it asks you a silly multiple choice question about how that item is used. Once you get that correct, it asks you to identify which simple machine it is. Finally, it shows you how that item works and why it is that type of machine. Great, right??

There is also a tool shed full of compound machines. Once you click on each, you must identify what other simple machines make up the compound machine. When you have correctly identified each Simple Machine, it shows you how they all work together to form the compound machine.  

We did this as a whole class on the ActivBoard, but it could also work great as an independent assignment as well. When you finish, there is even an option to enter your name and print out your score.

Be aware, though, that this site identifies the gear as a simple machine, and KY core content does not. Also, some of them are pretty tricky!!

March Madness Reading Competition

Mrs. S, our librarian, always comes up with the cutest reading competitions. This one is a contest between the sixth grade classes to see who can read the most books about a foreign country. Love the board! The basketball net is made out of a food sack! Love it!!

Coordinate Grid Game

Another fourth grade teacher, Mr. M, found this and I just had to share. It is a game to help kids practice using ordered pairs on the coordinate grid. Students have to click arrows to direct the cute little bug to the grub. He makes some pretty funny noises that absolutely cracked my kids up. There is a a timer on the site so it is pretty easy to turn it in to a competition. The game can be played individually or as a class with an ActivBoard.

Enjoy!