3rd Grade Biography Project

I have always been fascinated with history.  There is something about learning how others lived that is just thrilling.  That is why I am always so excited to teach a biography unit.  And, last year I stumbled upon the "Who Was" biography series.  I quickly went to Amazon and Barnes and Noble and purchased as many that I could afford.  And, as of now, I have about 30 different biographies from this series for my 3rd graders to look at.

The kids just love these books as they have a bobble head characterization of the famous historical person on the front!  So, with that in mind, I created the 3rd Grade biography project!

Last year it started with an intervention group of higher level readers.  They actually read two of these books- comparing and contrasting both people's accomplishments, looking at the obstacles they overcame, and just basic information.  In the end, they needed to present a "Living Museum," based on one of the biographies they read.  These kiddos had so much fun!  Take a quick look at some of their completed projects.

I put much more value on their presentation and what was said than I did their posters.  But, nevertheless, my students had a great time.  And they learned a lot!

For this year, I vamped up the biography project quite a bit.  I have aligned it to 7 different CCSS Reading and Speaking Standards.  And, I added a project choice board.  A little differentiation going on!

I am so excited about this project that I wanted to share it with you!  Here is a quick preview of all that you would get in my $4.00 3rd grade biography unit.  (I even added a sample 3 week unit plan/teacher guide.)  All that you would need to provide would be the biographies- one page articles or books would work for the activities in this packet!

 Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to see even more information regarding this unit!

Classroom Management

We have officially entered the long stretch of school between Christmas break and Easter.    

Our school recently began a PBIS reward system, which is going pretty well so far!  But, I really want to help my students be successful.  I created 3 posters for my classroom that will serve that purpose.  The areas we are working on this month are partner work, appropriate bathroom breaks, and what to do when you finish an activity.

The 3 posters I created are free on my TPT site!  Click here to download them.

 

Plural Nouns and Silly Sentences

Another cold day- 2 days in a row!  So, naturally I re-vamped and and updated a word work lesson from last year's plural noun work.

My students last year really enjoyed this activity, and it gave them a few laughs during our reading/word work block.  The parent helper that worked at this station, said the kids had a lot of fun and some practice with creating plural nouns.

Students select a subject card and a predicate card.  When combined, they form a sentence- a silly sentence.  Now the catch is that students need to write their newly created sentence on a recording sheet correctly.  Each card has a word that is underlined.  The underlined word needs to be changed to its plural form.  Students will need to have experience with making words that end with -f, -y, -x, -o, -sh, and -ch plural.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Plural-Nouns-and-Silly-Sentences-1049220

Enjoy!

Cold Day!

Exciting News!  Today was a COLD DAY!  The temperature this morning was -20 degrees, and with the wind chill it was -45 below zero.  BRRRR!

Anyways, it gave me time to create a new resource. My students are beginning a mini-unit on using guide words.  In past years, this is a skill that the kiddos have struggled with.

This winter-themed resource provides materials and alphabetizing cards for small and large group lessons.  There are 4 different levels of practice starting with the very basic alphabetizing by the first letter of a word.  Perfect for differentiation.

check it out here!

First Teachers Pay Teachers Product!

I can officially check off my first New Year's Resolution: 

Opening a Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

CHECK!

And while, I only have one product up so far, it is FREE!

My class has been working on skills to help us read informational texts, and using context clues to figure out the meanings to unknown words is one of those skills. 

To help my class out a little bit, I created 3 posters and a recording sheet for them to use while reading.  And I am offering them to you for your personal use!

Click here to visit my brand new store!

Make sure to check out the Sites I LOVE in my side bar to the right!  It has the links to who I got the clip art, font, and borders from!

Table Group Jobs

Cross Your Fingers!

Up until this year I have always had classroom jobs, this year I decided to try having more of a "community of responsibility."  Well, it is not working for me.  Pencils seem to always be disappearing, paper scraps are all over the place (despite reminders to clean up after yourself), and the classroom volume could challenge any football game's fans.  

Here is my new plan.  To create table groups in which each member is responsible for one role to keep their group in tact.  (I have seen this before in other classrooms and teachers always seem to like how well it works.)  The 4 roles I created for each group are 1. Clean-Up Crew, 

2. Pencil Sharpener, 3. Supply Collector, and 4. Volume Patrol.

Each week, the students will switch roles going clockwise around the table.  At the end of a month students will get new spots and new group members. 

Each table group will have a copy of the job expectations.  Students will be given 10 minutes at the end of the day to complete their role.

Wish my classroom luck!

**Update** My kiddos are loving this new system!  It is probably too early to really tell, but after 2 days, the kiddos are owning their responsibilities.  They ask to do their jobs regularly throughout the day. And, BOY, my classroom has never been cleaner!