Hobbit Book Projects

It has been forever since my last post.  Between teaching new subjects this year and all the after school responsibilities I have taken on, I just don't seem to have the time.  But my kids turned in some great projects last week and I have never included a post about them before, I thought I would try to squeeze in a quick post.

Whenever I get a chance to read The Hobbit, we always do projects.  Once, about halfway through the book and again at the end.  Each set of projects is written as a learning menu where the kids have some choices about what projects they would like to complete.  If you are interested in the learning menus or the entire book unit, you can check them out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

The final projects always come out cool.  Here are some examples of The Hobbit Newspapers, ABC Books and Book Guides.

I know this post is short, but hopefully also sweet.  The kids love projects like this and I hope it inspires you to come up with some of your own.

C.U.P.S. and A.R.M.S.

I am new to teaching Writing in sixth grade.  It was a subject previously taught by one of my team members, but now I am on my own.  I really wanted to use something simple for my kids to use for revising and editing and it seemed like the C.U.P.S. and A.R.M.S. revising and editing was a simple enough place to start.  I also wanted to make something that they could glue into their notebooks for a quick reference.  Of course, I quickly hopped over to PicMonkey to create something fast and cute.

So far, I am still getting my feet wet when it comes to teaching writing, but the kids liked this and seemed to catch on quickly.  Thought I would share my little poster with you.

UPDATE WITH FREEBIE!!!
Turns out, this little poster has become very popular on Pinterest and has received quite a few hits here on my blog.  So, for those of you that would like a free, printable version, I have it linked here on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Enjoy!

2013-2014 6th Grade Quote

Here it is people!  After much deliberation and design consideration, here is our new t-shirt and quote for the sixth graders!  I am so excited and it looks great thanks to AMJ.  Our new quote is...

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

And although the shirts are not yet off the presses, here is our final design...

Book Jacket Redesign

As I was going through my stacks of stuff, getting my classroom ready, I found some laminating to be cut.  I realized that it was something that I had intended to blog about, but had completely forgot.

In my classroom library, I have rings that hold book jackets that were created by sixth graders.  They choose the book that they most enjoyed reading throughout the year and redesign its book jacket.  I do this at the end of the year, so I choose my favorites.  I have quite a collection as I have done this a few times and on average, I have about 100 sixth graders each year.

We start by analyzing current book jackets.  I put a pile of books out for each table group and they brainstorm a list of things that they have in common.  I ask them to note what they look like and important elements that they all have.  Then, we make a master list to use as a rubric.  Usually it includes things like

• a bold title 
• author name
• quotes and reviews by authors or publications
• great use of graphics and colors (no white space)

My sixth graders this last year were awesome.  I could brag about them for paragraphs.  Each and every one of them was and is wonderful. I have so many awesome book jackets this year, I didn't know how to only share a few, but here they are:

I punch a hole in the corner and put them on rings.  Then I hang them up in the classroom library (pictures soon to come).  So when kids have free time they can take a set of jackets on a ring to their desk and see if there are any books that they are interested in reading.  Many of the reviews on the jacket are quotes from other sixth graders that also read the book.  This year, my new sixth graders will get to read jackets from the last two years of sixth graders; they are often kids they have looked up to at school.

A great way to get kids interested in literature because it isn't coming from you, but from their peers.

Class of 2014 Quote

So, I admit it.  I snuck over to work today and spent some time working on my room.  If I ever get it back together again, I will post pictures.  I am SUPPOSED to be on vacation, but... Well, if you are a teacher, you know.  As I was putting together a to-do list I realized that my team and I had not yet decided on a quote for this year's sixth grade class.

Let me explain...
A few years ago, one of my team members in 6th grade thought it would be a good idea to choose a quote for the year.  Something that brings all of the sixth graders together and is sort of their "motto" for the year.  Then, we design "Class Of" t-shirts with the quote on the back and we post the quote up in all of the sixth grade classrooms.  Here are a few of the tshirts we have had in the past few years...

t-shirt designs for 6th grade

We all wear our 6th grade tshirts on Spirit Days at school and important events (like camp and playing dodgeball with the Airforce).  So, here are the quotes we have used since we have started this great sixth grade tradition:

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi
"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend." -Thoreau
"The time is always right to do what is right." -M.L.K.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." -Christopher Robin

And as I said, I am in search for this year's quote.  I have a Pinterest board just for quotes and I keep an eye out everywhere.  I feel like when I find it, I will know.  I am a HUGE fan of Robby Novak, so I am on the lookout for great Kid President quotes.  He is so fun.  I found these great posters from Shane Read Creative and I would love to design a tshirt that was a little more hip this year, like this...

Anybody out there have some good quote suggestions for the class of 2014?  I would love to hear them!

Using PowToon in the Classroom

Summer is my time to try out things that I am petrified to try for the first time during the school year.  Today, I searched around for a new, more dynamic way to make presentations.  I wanted something a little more engaging then the regular old Powerpoint or SmartBoard lesson.  I did a little bit of research and decided on Powtoon.

Why?  It was free, easy to use (if you are familiar with presentation software like Powerpoint), and it was cute.  Those kids love "cute" and I thought maybe they could also learn to make their own animated presentations.  I am hoping it will work for not only presentations and slideshows, but also for short "flipped" videos that could be linked to websites, tweeted out, or on YouTube.

The only drawback is that it requires a flash player.  So those of us who work mainly on an IPAD are out of luck.  Luckily I have both a laptop and an IPAD for the classroom.  The laptop is hooked up directly to my flat screen TV in the classroom, so this works fine for me.  Also, instead of getting a few IPADs for my room, I decided to try out the cheaper option, which is a set of about 6 Chromebooks.  So, PowToon should be a great tool for those.

First, I started with something I knew I could use right away in the classroom.  I took the posters I made for our 6th grade interactive notebooks and turned the information into a short little video.


Then, as I felt like I was on a role, I tried a quick explanation of Main Idea.


It's actually addictive.  At first, it takes some time to figure out how to use it.  I of course always opt for the "playing around until I figure it out" option which sometimes takes a little longer than watching the tutorial.  If you are familiar with PowerPoint and timing slides, then it isn't too hard.  Once I got the hang of it, it went pretty quick.

It is a little limited once you get going.  There were times I caught myself saying things like, "oh man, it doesn't _____?"  But for something totally free, I can't really complain.  Easy and fun to work with, if you are looking for animated presentation software online for your classroom.

I would love to hear what other people are using that are similar.  I wish I had the time to check them all out. And if you have tried PowToon, what did you think?

College Week Activity - College Research and Posters

Wow.  It has been a really long time since my last post, but as most people know, it is testing season.  Most of my time recently has been spent preparing, giving, and then recuperating from the test.  We recently celebrated college week here at my school, so I had the sixth graders work on a project in partners to learn a little more about the colleges they were interested in.
First, they had to work together to do research on the college they had chosen.  We are lucky enough here to have a few IPADs that we can pass around and share, but this could totally be done in a computer lab.  I gave each set of partners this worksheet to guide them.

Then, they make posters using the information they have gathered.  Here are a few of the posters my sixth graders made this year.

When all of the posters are complete, I put them on the walls around the room.  Then I give them this worksheet.  They use it while they walk around the room and get information from the posters that the other students have made.

Click this link if you would like to download both worksheets for free!