Area! Area! We know what to do!

Unfortunately I have been quite unwell the past week! L I don’t usually get sick but as soon as I do it goes straight to my chest! L L L L

After fighting it for a week I finally went to see the doctor and he told me exactly what I had thought it is viral so there is nothing to be given and we just have to wait for it to run its course….to which he then told me he thinks I have another few days ahead of me!

 

To make things even harder this time - I lost my voice!

Which in the teaching word makes things pretty near impossible!!!!?

Try taking your kids on an excursion with no voice……

I did…. - it’s not a stroll in the park!

However I was and AM very fortunate to work alongside two amazing teachers who helped me out a lot! J I love those girls to the moon and back!

 

BUT on the bright side of all this blogging and TPTing does not require me to speak at all!!! J J however please excuse spelling mistakes as my pain medication does make me drowsy hee hee It has taken me two days to write this as I drop in and out of sleep!

The past week we have been looking at area in our class J

I love teaching area! It can be so much fun and it is a concept where 96% of the class are able to be extended to work at a year three level! It just boosts their confidence up so much to know what they are doing is year three work or for some year four!

I decided to create a unit about area and perimeter because I think there are so many fun things you can do with this!!!!  J

 

We began our unit by looking at what area was and the difference between area and perimeter. We created an anchor journal page that we could refer back to if needed. I think it is important kids try to put things down in words J

 

After this we brought out the cubes and had a go together find the area of shapes using cubes!

We did LOTS of practise with the cubes making sure everyone knew there needed to be no left over space, to start at the edge etc.

After this we moved on to counting squares on a grid to find the area of rectangles and squares!

We practised this understanding by making an area picture and we later created our own area robots! J

Some of my students have very quick math brains and so we had a look at finding the area when they cut through half of a grid.

 This is not included in the pack but I will upload it as a freebie when I go into school next :)

Below is a snapshot of everything in the pack ....You can grab it at my store :)

In case you can't tell I am getting quite drowsy and hitting a lot of random keys so I am going to head to bed quickly!!!

Speak soon!



Pirate Mapping

So we have just finished Week 8 which means there are 2 weeks left of this term.

This means there is only 12 weeks of school left!!!!

 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year has just come and gone so fast!!! 

One minute I was meeting my little fish and working out what they needed and now I am mentally preparing to let them go - which is not an easy thing for me to do!!!!

I am trying my hardest to make every day memorable and meaningful - in terms of our interactions not learning. Our learning is ALWAYS meaningful! ;)

This week we have been looking at our mapping skills in maths!!!

I love teaching mapping because there are so many fun things to do with it!  

Last year my class really loved Harry Potter so we went on a hunt for Voldemort’s horcruxes!!This year my little fish are not into Harry Potter as much so it was time for a change and nothing beats a good old pirate treasure hunt!!!

I found an only cardboard box with a flap lid to use for my treasure chest!

Using spray paint, glitter and a hair dryer I turned a plain brown packing box into a pirate treasure chest!

Inside the treasure chest I put in some pirate loot bags for my little pirates backed with some goodies! J

Big W has a new party section which is AMAZING it has party decorations according the theme! These are just SOME of the great things I found!!! 

I have linked the pictures to their online store. Click on the picture to buy them online! Although I do suggest you go in and have a look to see everything! :)

I also found an adult pirate costume so of course I bought it to make the lesson more exciting! 

The pirate masks above were my favourite buy because it meant the kids could be pirates with me!!! J

Check out my little pirates below!!

During the week we learnt about how to read a map, follow coordinates and interpret a key. I made a map about our school that included all of these skills. 

We began our hunt in our classroom where I read them the first clue and gave them their coordinates. They found the symbol on the map and read the key to find where to go next!

Off we went to our first destination!!!!

At each spot I had a little challenge or activity for students to do. At the first pit stop they needed to run a lap around the AstroTurf. 

 

Once they completed their challenge they received their next set of instructions and coordinates. 

We made our way to the quick sand pit where we walked along and plank and then tried to run through the quick sand without getting stuck!

We followed out next set of coordinates which led us to a walk through the nature play. We walked across a wobbling log and tiptoed across log circles.

The next clue told us to sail across the seven seas so we had to pretend to be a ship and sail over to our next destination!

These two were priceless that whole hunt!

One of them brought along his own map - which they used together to find the next stop!

At each stop they would run around looking for the treasure and call back to each other in a pirate voice!

They also checked around every corner to make sure no one was following them or sneaking up on them!

Got to love them J

At last we received our final clue that our journey would end where it began!

We quickly began to make our way back to class where they found the treasure placed under the palm tree!! J

It was a GREAT day!!!

Thanks for stopping by to read :) I have been working on a perimeter and area unit that will hopefully be ready by next weekend! 

For now I thought I would leave you with a sneak peek!

Have a great weekend or what is left of the weekend! :)

Fathers Day

It feels like FOREVER since I have had a moment to myself these past few weeks!  

I am so happy I have ……ahhh about 10 minutes to myself right now to get some blogging down and done! ;) So in light of this I am going to make this short BUT hopefully sweet!

This weekend is Father’s Day and in preparation for all the special dads out there we read a story about why dads are super heroes!!!

We then colour in a super hero outline and a small super dad sign!!!!! We cut the head off the super hero (which they enjoyed a little too much!!!) and replaced it with a drawing of their dad’s head!

Sorry it is upside down - my images sometimes play up!

Earlier in the week the year one teachers at our school help a Father’s day paraliturgy and breakfast! So many families came down for breakfast- it was honestly AMAZING!!!!!!

Then during the liturgy we got to watch a slide show that one of the incredible teachers had put together. IT showcased photos of children in the school and their fathers/grandfathers or significant male figure in their life!!!

It was so beautiful that I had to actively remind myself to not start crying and I am not even a highly emotional person!!!

I looked like such a goof!!!! I was grinning so much that my cheeks were throbbing!!

In light of Father's day and recognition of those special men (and people) both in or who have touched our lives I couldn't go past sending my love and thoughts to my incredible grandparents who I miss dearly!!

Have a lovely weekend! 

Hug and kiss those in your life and make sure you tell them you love them! :)

 

Book Week Paper Bag Princess

Term 3 is my favourite term during the school year!

Term 1 is all about finding out everything you can about your families and students - what they like, know, react and how they best learn.

Term 2 is reports - enough said

And Term 4 is just so busy between reports and getting organised for the end of the year. It is still a great term just not my favourite!

But Term 3 is wonderful

By this stage everyone knows each other REALLY WELL and there are so many fun events happening!

It is a busy term but a fun one!!! J

So in true Term 3 form the past two weeks have been HETIC!!!

I have been in and out of the classroom so much lately - which I actually hate!

By the time Friday rolled around all I wanted was to be alone with my kids because I just missed spending time with them!

I didn’t go to the staffroom, I didn’t go talk to fellow teachers, I didn’t leave my classroom unless ABSOLUTELY necessary for instance toilet breaks!!!

Tuesday was Book Week - my favourite day of the year!!!! J

This year I went with my peer teachers as the Paper Bag Princess!!!!

From bed hair to  the perfect tangled hair princess!!!!

If you have not read this book to your class I highly recommend it!!!!

After we have read the story we write letters to Ronald explaining why he is not a good and what he can do to be a better friend! :)

All you need is a brown lunch bag and a tempate for the princess head and hands!

I like to use the template you can find HERE at My Activity Maker

Hope you all have a super week  - make the most of this flying by term with your kids!!!! :)

Big Book Q&A

This term in Writing we have been learning all about Narratives!

We have been looking at the elements of a narrative using the Diana Rigg narrative structure. We have examined well known narratives looking at these elements in each book.

One element in particular is lots of fun but hard for little minds to get around sometimes. That element is characters thoughts and feelings. The feelings part is okay but the thoughts seem to be the area they struggle just a little. We always have so many questions!!!

I decided the best way to help my students understand a character’s thoughts would be to ask a character!!!

Now I know this in nice in theory but impossible when using fictional characters!!

So I went with the next best thing ….I dressed up as a character so my class could ask how I felt and what I thought throughout the story.

We had been reading Possum Magic (a personal favourite) in class that week so I put my best ‘nanna’ on and dressed up as Grandma Poss!

I am not going to lie it was a little concerning how much I could pass for a Grandma!!!! Hee hee

My students came in and were allowed to ask Grandma Poss any question that related to the story particularly about how she felt and what she was thinking about the story!

My little fish were bursting with excitement!!!!

They came up with many great questions! As expected one of the questions for Grandma Poss was to do some bush magic so she made a puppet owl appear ….from inside her sleeve ;)

After we finished our Q&A we shared some light morning tea.

Of course our snacks consisted of vegemite sandwiches and lamingtons . . . 

after all we didn’t want any of them to turn invisible! ;) hee hee

Making Maths Just A little More Fun

I am going to say a honest truth …

Maths is often the type of subject you love or hate.

In primary school I enjoyed Math because I understood it but when I got into high school I really struggled with Math and consequently had a really negative attitude towards it.

As we all know Maths come into our lives every day so it is SO IMPORTANT that kids enjoy math so they do not switch off!!!

In light of this - it is my life mission to have as many (if not ALL) students in my class loving math!!!

What I am about to say is not anything new but I cannot stress enough how important and rewarding it is to go through a topic using the: concrete to pictorial to abstract phases but it can be hard due to a number of factors including:

Resources - 3 classes makes resource availability not easy but I have two super star peer teachers so we manage!

Students - to be able to handle manipulatives students need to learn clear routines, how to share and how to look after resources.

Time - that’s a big one! I feel like the war will be won but I will keep fighting! ;)

Despite the challenges the process is well worth the benefits but it can be hard to fit it in within the teaching time of a lesson. 

There are many different ways to spice up a maths lessons these are my small tips to make maths as fun as possible. . .

Dance and Sing

Dance and sing at any and EVERY opportunity possible!

It is very easy to sing and dance during a lesson by warm up to some skip counting or place value videos but it can further than that!

You can sing your lesson objective or make up songs and chants to go with a particular topic!

When we looked at patterns we did the chicken dance!!

There are plenty of YouTube clips for many math concepts if you don’t want to make up your own ones!

One of my good teacher friends teachers Pre-Primary and she sings songs to teach sight words like ‘the’ and ‘because’!

ACTIONS ACTIONS ACTIONS

As far as I am concerned anything that gets people moving is a GREAT thing!

I am very big on kinaesthetic activities - as an adult I find it hard to sit still for longer than 5 mins so I try my best to keep my kids moving as much as possible!

Actions are great to go along with a verbal and/or visual message!

They just provide another way to receive and more importantly remember a message.

I usually team actions up with my WALT and WILF so it becomes easier to remember!! J

Bring the Magic

Some  people hate gimmicks but I LOVE them!

I love themes!!

I love puns!!!

I love FUN! J

It doesn’t need to be a big huzzah!!!  I honestly think it is the little things that make a lesson exciting!

Dress up!

Serving up some synonyms come as a chef!

Looking at a particular story book - dress up as a character!

Pick a theme!

Buy some plastic tongs, bowls and salad tossers for centres to create an instant picnic theme!

Pirate theme for mapping!

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs for a chance unit!

Use manipulatives!

Not just math manipulatives - use toy animals as counters or pasta as a base ten and ones! Food is a great one! Use cookies and cereal to represent multiplication arrays!

Get creative!!!! Think outside the square!!! Pinterest is your friend here people!

  Learning Can Be Fun!

Sometimes it is about the process over the product. Not every lesson requires a worksheet.  You can show what you know in multiple ways!

• Paint!
• Draw a picture!
• Use Playdough
• Take photos!
• Play games!
• Cook something!

How do you make maths more exciting?!?! I would love to hear your ideas! :)