Five for Fraturday!

How was your week? Besides the fact that my students didn't get outdoor recess for 3 days because of the rain (and there was a full moon), it was a pretty great week.

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs to share about it. Head on over and check out what everyone's week looked like!

Let's get it started!

I used to have a swimming pool, an above ground pool that was set two feet into the ground. I also had a deck pretty much all around the pool. I put it in 7 years ago. A couple of weeks ago, we took it out. The pool was becoming too much of a hassle instead of a joy. Things were starting to fall apart...the pool liner, the deck, etc. So I just decided to stop putting money into it and take it out.

We filled in the hole with dirt and just laid sod this week. This is what it looks like now. In the next couple of months, I plan to plant a couple of trees to block the neighbors behind me. Strange that they never put up curtains or anything in the upstairs windows. I used to be able to see their daughter run around without any clothes on when she was little. Talk about awkward.

I'll post some more pics when I have updated it more.

We learned about complete sentences this week. To help them understand it I taught them them to answer these two questions...Who? and Did what? and put them into a Who/Did What chart. Then the students looked in the books that they were reading for complete sentences, putting them in the correct spots in their chart.

Let's be real here. I don't know about you, but I am so tired of all the little tattling that my students do. We have implemented the Tattling Book. We have talked about the difference between a tattle and a report. But one thing I have discovered is that they just do not know how to handle it themselves. It's up to us, the adults, to teach them. So I taught them how to say this. I modeled it. They practiced saying it to their partners. I am pretty sure I learned about it years ago, but I don't remember where. Now when they tell me how another student is bothering them, I ask them if they tried this first. It has really been helping.

What do you use as behavior incentives in your classroom? We use STAR bucks in my classroom. They are "bucks" in different denominations, with each one having a different Star Wars character. Instead of printing them out in color (I don't want to use that much ink), I just print each denomination on a different color paper.

On Fridays, the bank is open for them to exchange their bucks. They can also buy prizes on Fridays. Most of my prizes don't involve me spending any money. You can check out our prize list on Google Drive HERE. Feel free to download it and use it in your classroom!

I just love to see them counting their bucks and figuring out how they can exchange it for bigger bucks. They are working on number sense, place value, counting money, and critical thinking skills, and they don't even know it!

My students are always telling me how many STAR bucks they have. They LOVE them! They can earn STAR bucks for of course their behavior, but they also receive them for doing great on summative assessments. If they make an 80 or above, they earn 50 bucks and come to the front of the classroom while everyone gives them a "10-finger woo". If they make a 100, they earn 100 bucks and come to the front of the classroom and get a "10-finger woo" from everyone. I think that's their favorite part...having their classmates congratulate them.

If you want to check out STAR bucks for your classroom, click HERE.

We started our multiplication unit this week. Some of my students are picking up on it so quickly! To help differentiate and challenge my higher learners, I am having them create their own multiplication problems. This is one of the problems that my students came up with. Guess we'll need to work on run-on sentences...

I have a student in my class that is not quite on third grade level, so I printed out a multiplication chart and put it in a sheet protector page for him. I taught him how to use his dry erase marker to multiply the two numbers together and find the product. He did so great that I was so excited. He was even thinking of his own problems to try. This actually came out of his mouth, "I'm going to multiply 12 times 12. Look, it's 144!" Made me a proud teacher.

I have more than 5 things to share. Hope you're OK with that!

For my students that finished their assignments early, I was just having them read silently at their desk. But I wanted to challenge them. So I used my Choice Boards to create a different kind of Choice Board for my classroom. Instead of having several reading activities to choose from or several math activities, I just chose one activity from each subject. Students can choose which activity they want to do. I told them that the best ones would be hung up. I was not getting quality work, so I modeled an example for them.

These are two of the anchor charts I got after I modeled my example. I think they did pretty well!

Here are my two little "helpers" this morning as I work on my laptop. I love it when they "help" me and keep me company.

Oh, and here's a little funny for ya this week! I just HAD to share it because it's so darn hysterical. One of my good friends shared it with me on Facebook.

Hope you had a fabulous week! Say "HOWDY" and leave a comment. I LOVE comments!