I love RANDOM Posts.

Just wanted to share some pictures that I've been hoarding...

This is part of my current hall display.  Definitely nothing fancy, but I'm proud of all the work!  On the top row are posters that summarized events that we had been discussing in SS.  All the groups had different ideas for presenting the information and it worked out perfectly!  The second row are our chemical and physical change comic books that we created!  Again, I'm a proud teacher! :)

An example of of the groups poster. This was about the Watergate Scandal.  I loved how they decided to create a newspaper article!

Not much color on this poster, but this group illustrated the Camp David Accord!

Timeline of events that occurred during the 1950-1960's.  Students had to write a summary of the event and find the dates for the event then glue them on the timeline!

Another display that my students created were summaries of different decades.  They had the 1950's-2000's.  They had to tell us about the presidents, the government spending, the way America was dealing with foreign countries, and any other important events that may occurred.  Students also chose to include music and clothes because we listened to music from each decade we discussed!

And last, but not least... :)  

Motivational posters made from two different classes for my homeroom.  Yes, the green one has HEDGEHOGS on it!  If you don't know, I'm obsessed with hedgies!

A student gave this to me, she said it was a hedgehog that came from her kids meal. :) <3

Another teacher bought this for me, the same one that made the green poster! :) Love it!

Preparing for State Testing

We just finished our state testing on Friday of last week.  What do you do to prepare for state testing?  I use the typical Jeopardy and Are you Smarter than a fifth graders, but here are some other items that I've created, bought, and thought of over the years...

I made my own Government BINGO cards.  Each card is completely different and the students are mainly reviewing important documents we discussed, amendments, and the amendment process.

On the other side of the same card is an overview of SS for the ENTIRE year!  This is always fun to see kids trying to recall these important events that we've not talked about since the beginning of the school year.

I downloaded these Where Am I Cards and students had fun trying to guess where I was.  Next time, I think I will ask them to point it out on the MAP!!  Here is the link to get these for FREE!!

I started doing these when I taught third grade and I love them, plus the students do too!  Basically, you fold the paper at the bottom up about 2 inches.  You then write three clues about a person and have students guess the Who Am I?  I actually let my students draw names out of bag to get their assigned person.  They then read them to the class and have their classmates guess!  You could do this with Where am I? or even What am I? and do vocabulary words!

Here is the answer, which is written under the 2 inch flap.

In Science, I had created games already for each unit, so we pulled those games out and revisited them.  So what about you, what do you do to make reviewing fun and meaningful?

Slacker, I know...

I haven't posted since the beginning of the year, which seems like just the other day!  I don't know about you, but this school year has FLOWN by!  I keep telling my students that and they look at me like I'm crazy, but all my teacher friends seem to agree! :)

Anyways, we've been totally busy this year.  The group of kids that I have are great.  We have a few issues, but for the most part they are doing their best.  In my county students must take a test every 4 weeks.  In elementary school, this is for grades 3-5.  The PARS (as they are called) lets teachers know how the students understood the concept that was taught, plus gives us an idea as to how they will perform on our end of the year state testing, CRCT.

Over the course of the school year students will take 7 PARS, which is actually 28 tests (Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies).  I think the idea of the PARS is great, but for me in Science and Social Studies I have difficulty with going back and reteaching those concepts that were missed.  If I take time and go back and work with students who struggled on a particular standard then that will take time away from the next concept.  Yes, that is right EVERY four weeks the PARS is on different topic!

Overall my students have done well.  There are a handful of students who consistently are on the border of passing or failing, you know the "BUBBLE" kids.

Do you have something similar in your county?  Do you have suggestions for helping those students that need the reteaching, but will also need the new information?  How would you handle this situation?

Our state testing will be in the middle of April, so I've decided to start reviewing now.  We are actually learning NEW topics up until the CRCT.  In fact, last year I didn't finish my Science unit!  We looked at our Earth Science Standards, but I wouldn't say that my students were 100% ready on that topic.

So here is my plan of action...

1. Send home scores of all the current PARS.  We've taken 5 so far.  This will give the parents information as to what students struggled with.

2. Start having daily quizzes with old CRCT questions over the units we've already covered.  So starting with the older topics.  Hopefully, students will see the need for studying, plus will give me an idea what to spend more time on right before the test.

3. Extra homework.  Currently my homework isn't difficult at all.  Here is a video about my CURRENT homework.

You can also read more here, http://lazenbyclass.blogspot.com/2013/09/homework.html and here, http://lazenbyclass.blogspot.com/p/homework.html

The extra homework that I will assign will come from the CRCT Test Practice books for Social Studies.  If there is time, then we will utilize our Science one, too.  Students will be assigned so many questions a night. We will review them in class on Friday and students can keep the books to study with!

At the moment this is all I have.  Now once we are done with our lessons then we will utilize games that I've created for each unit and study.  What do you do to help students get ready for their big test?

Motivation...

If you are a teacher in Georgia, then you know all about the CRCT!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar, it is our state standardized testing. It is a lengthy and rather intimidating test.

Anywho, my students were tired of hearing about this test and were not motivated to take it next week. That is until I stumbled upon Mr. E The Motivator!!! (I had his information all over my Facebook, but definitely felt a blog should be written.)



This super talented man from Atlanta, Georgia has recorded motivational songs about taking the CRCT. The songs are all to the tune of popular r&b songs that my students are VERY familiar with. Another great thing is that all these songs are FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (insert Oprah voice here!)

My students enjoyed listening to Mr. E all last week, and will continue to listen to him throughout next week, too.

This man is a genius if you ask me.