Economics Fair

We had a blast with our economics fair! Students were placed into groups and told about the fair we would have in two weeks. We spent those two weeks learning about economics terms such as profit, supply, and demand. Students had to create a plan to create a product, price it, and then sell it together as a team. We even learned about Henry Ford's assembly line and how to use a budget. Since the students had a direct connection to the learning through their culminating project, I feel like they were more engaged and better attached to the material. Check out these images of the fair! Economics Fair 2014 on PhotoPeach

Fact Fluency Symbaloo

Phew!  I have been completely wrapped up in learning 3rd grade!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  I can't believe I was so afraid to leave the comfort of 1st grade!  Third graders are so much easier to manage all day long, haha.
I made this symbaloo to help some students improve on addition and subtraction fact fluency, and to allow other students to move on with multiplication and division.  Please feel free to USE it and SHARE it! 

Hello Third Grade!

After 9 amazing years of teaching first grade, I'm moving to third grade! I am so excited to take on a new set of challenges. ;)

My long-term goal is to get my masters degree and my admin. certification, so I need to experience other grades, and certainly tackle some standardized testing... ugh, the STAAR test. :/

Any advice or resource tips for third grade are appreciated!!! I look forward to sharing what I learn and what my third graders accomplish this coming year!

Integrating QR Codes Across Subjects

I've discovered what a valuable tool QR codes can be in the classroom, especially for ease of use for young learners. We have iPads and iPods in our school, so this facilitates our use of QR codes. Using QR codes for specific research projects, or content area stations can take a lot of prep work upfront. However, once the work has been done, students can quickly and easily access various resources on the internet in a safe and specific way. Below are examples of how I've integrated QR codes into different subjects and units.

 My students had a blast doing research about U.S. and Texas symbols! I printed the Texas symbols QR codes that you can find here and the U.S symbols packet that you can find here. I posted them in a student accessible location. ;) Then, my students used the free app, Scan, to scan the codes. They were so engaged! They worked in small groups to share the five iPads we have. They were able to watch videos, read facts, and identify our state and country symbols. They were also told to take notes about what they learned.

 
Integrating QR codes into Science and Social Studies for research went so well, that I wanted to branch out and find a use for this to benefit other subject areas. Our Kinder-2nd grade classes often do author studies, so I decided to make QR codes that lead to video read alouds of children's picture books by famous authors or on specific content topics. During our Literacy Block, if students chose "Listen to Reading" as their Daily 5 activity, they could use the iPads to scan the code, and then listen to the story read aloud to them. They could then do a follow-up response or simply journal in their reading response notebook about the story they listened to. This was a huge hit in my room and with my co-workers! Here are some of the read aloud QR codes packets I have created for this purpose.  Click on the images below to visit my store where you can find these packets, and MANY more!

        

      

 One last Science integration example for QR Codes and research... To learn more about QR code integration, please visit my blog post:  QR Code Binge! Happy integrating!

   

Changing Education Paradigms

I stumbled upon this video while working on another QR code packet… very interesting.  I love the "big picture" thinking.  It's hard to fit kids in the mold required by specific standards and especially standardized testing AND excite them and engage them at a high level.  That's the balance we walk as educators.  I'd be curious to hear what you think about this video and this speaker's opinions...

There are many more interesting videos about education by Sir Ken Robinson available on You Tube.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

   

Phew!  Busy, busy, busy!  The light is bright at the end of the tunnel though.  ;)  

For teacher appreciation week, I have many freebies I want to share with you!

Click on the image of each below, or click HERE to visit my store and see all of my products!  Feedback and requests are always welcome and appreciated.  I enjoy making new products and improving my skills.  ;)

Please check out my store for other products and freebies!

Mo Willems Read Aloud QR Codes

The kindergarten team at my school is starting a Mo Willems author study the week after Spring Break.  I am working on a QR code read aloud packet for them.  In my search for good quality read aloud videos, I found the most adorable read aloud yet!  The child reading the book does a fantastic job.  Their voice paired with this clever text is just hilarious!  I was laughing out loud in my class watching this video!
Enjoy!

Check out the Mo Willems read aloud QR code at my TpT store 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mo-Willems-Read-Aloud-QR-Codes-1151203

or my Teacher's Notebook shop.