Things I am trying with my fifth graders...

1. Teaching greek and latin roots to improve vocabulary. I get the roots from The Reading Teachers' Book of Lists, a VERY helpful resource. They are working on their word trees with the root on the bottom of the tree and words with that root up in the branches, etc. They use the dictionary and try adding affixes to come up with more words that use that root. So it is good practice with affixes as well.

2. One of my team members had a great idea to support the Wordly Wise vocabulary program. We have a chart up in our room with all the WW words for lessons 1-20. Whenever the kids find a vocabulary word in their reading, they put a tally next to the word. It is fun during read aloud especially. There are some students who are really getting into it and are coming in with lists of words that they found in their recreational reading books.

3. Spelling and word games with a rules based spelling curriculum. We are studying syllabication rules, rhyming to find spelling patterns, finding small units of meaning in a bigger word, etc. The students love bananagrams, scrabble slam and scrabble apple among a few of the games for word play. I also have a great book with syllabication scramble, rhyme time, timed games, etc. The students have learned many strategies from this instruction. There is a flow chart in the room and in their writing notebooks about what to do when you don't know how to spell a word. Kids are just starting to apply all the strategies. We'll see how it goes.

4. Small, student led writing groups for revision. The kids give ideas to each other.

Science Kit Happy!

I love the new Magnet kit that our district adopted. Kits are great because all the materials you need are right there. This kit also has an excellent nonfiction reader for the kids. Magnets are easy and fun to teach. The kids love playing with them and each day they are surprised by what they find. Nothing better!!

Great Blogpost on Langwitches!!

http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/01/09/its-not-about-the-tools-its-about-the-skills/

Worth Every Penny

I sent $74.00 in the mail today to renew my NSTA membership (National Science Teachers Association). The most important reason for me was to continue receiving their amazing magazine Science and Children. I have really enjoyed reading this magazine and using many of the lessons in it with my classes. Each issue has a different topic and the lessons are sent in by teachers. I aspire to one day send in one of my lessons to be shared with their readers.

Rule of Thirds

http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/rule-of-thirds-powerpoint/

Now that I am presenting more, I find myself trying to be creative with my Notebook/ Power Point presentations. This is a helpful article for design beginners like me!

Digital Storytelling: Great Blog and Great Idea!

http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/01/02/long-distance-storytelling/

Edutopia Top Picks for 2009

http://www.edutopia.org/content-edutopia-staff-picks-2009?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+(Edutopia)&utm_content=Google+Reader