This past winter, I was really lucky to attend an awesome conference session on the program Math & Movement. You can check out their website here. M&M is a math program focused around involving students with a "kinesthetic" approach to learning through movement in the form of jumping, skipping, dancing, and reaching while verbally participating in various math (and now literacy) centered activities. The target age groups for the program are grades Pre-K through 8. The moment I saw this program in action, I knew that it needed to be brought to our school. With the help of grants and Title I funding, our school was able to purchase several of the math and literacy mats as well as receive training in how to incorporate movements into every day classroom learning for our kiddos. There is just something about taking a learning concept, making it BIGGER and giving students a visual and movement to go with it that ignites a desire and a purpose to the learning ...
Blog Post
Build a Paragraph-Freebie
The school year is almost over for me. We only have a dozen or so days left until state testing, but I refuse to focus on that. YES we are doing some test prep things, but otherwise we are still moving right along with our normal classroom routines. One of those routines has been our Writer's Workshop. I have redone the whole process over 50 times this year, but I think we have finally got it down pat. And...just in time for the end of the year. :) I became obsessed about getting my students to be amazing writers after being impressed with how well another teammate of mine taught and incorporated writing into her curriculum. So, after watching my teammate(who is an AMAZING teacher) continuously guide her students towards being extremely successful writers- I knew I had to step up my game because I wanted my kiddos to be successful writers, too. There is a lot of research out there that shows the strong bond between reading and writing. After taking a complete 180 ...
Wordless Wednesday-Hamburger Learning
I am using a Target Dollar Spot find (from last summer!) to help my students put paragraphs in order as well as find the main idea and key details. How would YOU use these hamburger coasters in our classroom? (Blog post and a freebie on this tomorrow!) Leave a comment and share your ideas. I LOVE hearing from you! Head on over to Sugar and Spice to read about other Wordless Wednesday ideas. ...
