What's Up in Room 16?

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Passions Ignited!

The self directed learning projects seem to be making a difference in how my class views their world. It is fun to watch them get inspired from everything around them.

We had a class get together after school at a place that has an amazing waterworks show. As the kids watched it in amazement, one student said to me, "Mrs. Milner, this would be a cool topic for an SDL project."

Earlier in October, we went to an overnight at Camp Bourndale in Plymouth, MA and there were many topics there that students came back inspired to pursue. Click the link to Kevin's blog about magic. He was psyched to start this new topic after seeing an incredible magic show at Camp Bournedale.

Kevin:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/84f946be-ae15-4d76-960a-e837236f1efd/magic-show/

In this post, Will shares what has inspired him and what he plans to do about it.

Will:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/1e193d1f-fcdf-48cf-987e-627b0e905abb/how-my-project-is-going-2/

Many students have stayed with their same topic so far, but it has inspired them to find creative ways to present their topic. One student studied different kinds of codes and his research about the Codetalkers sparked his imagination, so he is writing a fantasy story that will incorporate what he has learned about codes. Click to see his post about his characters.

Zach:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/d65535c1-5b1c-4dd0-b0c1-9e0b6a71d274/character-backgrounds/

Another student worked on taking apart an older computer and learning the parts. He then had new questions about how it was different from a newer computer or an IPhone. In wanting to present his findings, he also is learning quite a bit about editing with IMovie. Click to see his posts and the course his project has taken, wholly directed by him.

Pete:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/author/8def95fc-af1d-4fd7-850b-89f614f223d5/

Some students have enjoyed their topic, but have had trouble getting going with their blogs. A few did not fully grasp the purpose of the blog. After I shared other students' blogs, created a blogging rubric, and wrote a second post about all the different topics they could write about, these students came to understand the purpose of blogging. Click to see my post:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/837a2724-97ad-49c4-8caa-a2d27142b8d3/what-should-i-blog-about/

Students are more motivated to do this important piece of self directed learning: reflection. Here are a few examples of students showing growth in their blogs. By growth, I mean not just length of post, but level of reflection and sharing their process.

Maggie:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/author/1234e58b-55de-43fc-90ee-3533e8077d7a/

Alex:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/author/88fe7b68-6277-44c5-b5b2-b11d19d6f3a8/

Aidan:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/author/e04dd351-f50b-4cf6-96cf-28b2fa6179ec/

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Navigating NaNoWriMo in Fifth Grade

This year, I have three classes for writing and wanted to find a way to make National Novel Writing Month manageable, challenging, and fun for my students. They will write a novel in November, and they have to put their inner editors away in order to produce a lot of writing in a short time. In December, the inner editors will come back out, and they will revise and edit portions of their novels. We just finished a narrative writing unit focusing on personal narratives. NaNoWriMo is a great chance to explore a different type of narrative writing.

My writing classes are four times a week for 45 minutes each. One day a week will be devoted to writing their novels. The students can use laptops or write in their journals.

We set word count goals based on how much they could write or type in ten minutes. Students figured out a weekly amount and then multiplied it to find the monthly goal. I already have students reporting that they surpassed their original word count goals for the week.

They are excited and self motivated!

We will be delving into plots and subplots, author style, character developments, flashbacks and more.

In future posts, I will share some of their story ideas and/or excerpts from their stories.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Improving Students' Blogposts

Please follow the link below to my post focused on what students could possibly blog about:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/837a2724-97ad-49c4-8caa-a2d27142b8d3/what-should-i-blog-about/

Please follow the link below to see a fantastic post that was written by a student after my Friday blogging discussion about the quality of their posts.

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/8def95fc-af1d-4fd7-850b-89f614f223d5/imovie-special-effects/

Students are sharing pictures and videos on their blogs, now that they know how. I am impressed with the choices they make for media. They post pictures and video directly related to their work. Here are some examples:

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/62958e2b-acab-4c8f-9424-2e8114712ec2/how-to-do-a-cartwheel/

http://kidblog.org/MrsMilnersClass-2/8def95fc-af1d-4fd7-850b-89f614f223d5/computers/

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Embracing Differences

My students this year had an amazing opportunity to learn about autism and embrace a new student with support and caring. Their lives have been changed because of it, but sadly, yesterday was his last day at our school.

The autism program was at another school last year and moved to our school this year. This student joined us the first day, first thing in the morning and the class immediately accepted him and were interested in getting to know him. It was new to my students, so they were motivated to understand him and be friends with him.

Right away a few students took him under their wing and invited him to play basketball with them at recess. They played knock out and this opened up a passageway into his personality. He loves Slamacow productions which are animated minecraft videos. He would take the ball and yell, "Slamacow 6A!" He taped it on the back of his shirt. The students loved this and started taping numbers on their backs because he kept asking, "What's your number?"

He joined our class for math, science and specials (art, music, PE), as well as for recess and lunch. Here was another window into understanding him. It was very powerful for students to see that he was really good at math and, at times, better than them. They were also impressed with his talented drawings. The chance to work with him in these classes built the relationship they had with him.

When he didn't want to leave the classroom one day, he began to scream and hit himself on the head. The students were worried for him and we had a follow up talk with his one on one teacher about what they saw, why he does that, and what they can do when that happens. It was important for them to know they are safe and that he needs to see how to act. Their job is to do their job and let the adult help him. Many times, the adult would say, "What are your friends doing right now?" He would look around and adjust his behavior. Very powerful.

It was heartbreaking having to tell my class that our new friend was moving and wouldn't be in our class anymore. They all made cards and one parent took the initiative to get a card and a school t-shirt/teddy bear for kids to sign. I ordered a jersey online that had his name on the front and "Slamacow 6A" on the back with a big 6, so it looked like a team jersey.

Yesterday, we presented the shirts and cards, played his favorite Angry Birds jenga-like game, watched a few Slamacow videos and played an epic knockout game with the entire fifth grade class. It was a stellar last day! He was happy and not sad at all, which I think helped my students to not be as sad as they could have been. One student cried and the rest coped by naming Friday official Slamacow day in his honor. Very sweet! We spent the last few minutes dancing to "Everything is Awesome," from the Lego movie and, well, everything really was awesome!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Math Facts Mastery

Thanks to Laura Candler's Math Facts Program, all my students know their multiplication facts. The goal was for all to know them by our Halloween celebration on the 31st, but they just finished today, October 23rd! What have they done? They have all successfully completed 30 second quizzes for facts 0-12.

This was accomplished by using the materials that Laura Candler provides in her math facts unit and setting aside 15 minutes every day for kids to study. They also took the 30 second quiz for the fact they were on, every day. Students helped each other and worked together towards this class goal. On the way back from lunch students would ask, "Are we doing facts practice?" It became a real bonding experience for them; a great way to show that Together Everyone Achieves More.

Next steps...mixed multiplication practice. They study on their own mostly and we take the mixed facts minute test every other day. The determined fifth grade goal is 30 in one minute. Some have reached it and completed 30 mixed division problems in a minute as well.

Students are finding that they are able to work quicker. We are working on a unit that includes multiplying and dividing whole numbers including division with two digit divisors. Students keep commenting that they are glad they know their facts. :-)

It was worth putting the time in every day, for a short period of time, to ensure students are successful for the rest of the year and beyond. Now that 15 minutes will be used for focused word problem work. Every day for fifteen minutes is powerful!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Blogging Rubric

Here is the blogging rubric that I created for my students' self directed learning blogs. It is a work in progress. I was inspired by an article I saw on Twitter, "Your Rubric is a Hot Mess: Here's How to Fix It," posted by Jennifer Gonzalez. The single point rubric is just brilliant! We tend to look at the "Meets" column while grading a rubric, so why not just have that on the rubric with space for not meeting and a space for exceeding. Our report cards are standards based anyway, so this is more organic/informative about each child's progress. As much as possible, I used the language on our report cards...common core standards. I recommend the article and feel free to use and tweak this rubric for your needs.

Blogging Rubric

Student: ____________________________ Month: __________________

Room to Grow Progress Towards Standard	On Target Standards for this Performance	Above and Beyond Evidence of Exceeding Standards
	*Criteria 1:* *Clear and Coherent Writing* The student clearly expresses original ideas and stays on topic. Writing is appropriate for the audience. Each post has at least 5 sentences.
	*Criteria 2:* *Effort* The student wrote at least one post a week.
	*Criteria 3:* *Follows the Writing Process* The student’s posts show improvement from planning to final draft due to drafting, revising, and editing.
	*Criteria 4:* *Prod./Distribution of Writing* The student commented on other blogs at least once a week. If applicable, the student cited others in their research and writing.
	*Criteria 5:* *Use of Media* The student enhanced their blog by regularly using video, audio, images or other media

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A Plethora of Topics for Self-Directed Learning

Our fifth grade students just had a great overnight camp experience at Camp Bournedale in Plymouth, MA. They participated in a trip to the beach to study coastal ecology, a trip on a lobster boat to catch and release creatures, a three part marine lab that included shark dissection, and an extensive team building course. There were also presenters who were fantastic. A reptile/amphibian guy and a very engaging magician.

Throughout this two day adventure, I watched my students get completely enthralled in all different topics. I felt the need to capture these general topics to remind the students just in case they were enthralled enough to pursue any of them for their self directed learning projects. Below are some pictures and the list I created in my iPhone notes app.

Bio magnification center