A Day in the Life of a 5th Grade Valentine

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What do you celebrate Valentine's Day in your classroom? 

Here is a glimpse into my Valentine's Day! 

Class Meeting: 

In my class, around this time of year, the tensions tend to rise. The students have been with each other for months and their personalities start to get on each other's nerves. I don't know if this happens in any other classroom but mine... 

To refocus the students' attention on being positive towards one another, we focus on what we love about each other! Out of construction paper, I cut out enough hearts for each student and put their name on top. Before we start the activity, I remind the students that we are all different and that is what makes us special! I ask them to think about what makes each person in the class special! We leave our hearts on our desk and I turn on some classical music to set the mood. The students and I go around to every desk and write something unique that they love about each other. I ask them to try to think of something original. For example: "Yes, we know Anthony is funny so that would be something we might want to write, but that is not all we love about Anthony, we also love..... Try to think of something different then all the other comments!"

When the students get to read their own at the end of class, their faces light up! I really think it makes a huge difference in their self-esteem, even if just for a moment. 

Math: 

How can I have fun on a day where the students are full of sugar and excitement? Well, I came up with an escape for Valentine's Day! The students will apply their problem solving skills and a little bit of logic to help Cupid escape before the students come to school and see him! I am one-to-one with Chromebooks so I made the escape easily accessible for Google Classroom users (and to save ink and copying time, because let's be real, who has time for that?). The students will complete a series of problems involving multiplying and dividing fractions all relating to Valentine's Day! I love these activities because the students can be very independent and leave me free to work with students that need reinforcement or extra help. 

Cupid's Candy Mystery

Reading/Class Meeting: 

Ok, maybe this doesn't have to do with reading necessarily BUT I think it is worth it to Spread the Love. We took 52 Kindness task cards that are focused on spreading love around the school. I gave the students the challenge at the start of February to finish by Valentine's Day! Each day, in our class meeting, we talked about what task cards they finished and how it made them feel! 

Share the Love

Writing: 

Poems! I mean who doesn't want to write a poem for Valentine's Day, right? I teach similes and metaphors and then have the students write a poem using them! They can focus on all the things they love! "Love is the steaming hot coffee that welcomes me into the day" (well that would be my first line at least ;) )

Share the Love

 The students get to decorate the cover for their poem to add to our "Share the Love" bulletin board! 

Share the Love Poem

Share the Love Poem

Grab all of these in 1 bundle! 

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What fun things can I add to my day? What are your go-to Valentine's Day activities?

Problem Solving made easy with Google Forms

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Have you ever felt like you are trying to be in 22 (or more) places at once when you are teaching math? I walk around the room with my thoughts interrupted every 5 seconds with, "Mrs. Franco, is this right?" This year, I started to search for a solution and I found it with Google Forms! 

Here is how it works- 

1. I create a Google Form by opening my Google drive and clicking "New" then "Google Forms"

2. I type in the title and the name of the problem solving lesson that I am working on. 

3. The first question I add is "Name" and make it a required question.

4. The next question, I will start to type in my first problem. There are a few steps here that you will repeat for every question that you create. 

• Type in the question or upload a picture with the question on it! 
• Make it a short answer question using the list on the side.This is what your screen would look like at this point. 
  

• Make the question a "Required Question" at the bottom right of the question's box.
• Use the 3 dots that are on top of each other next to the "Required Question" and click "Response Validation.

• After that, I click "text"  instead of "number" and then I put my answer in the"text" space. In the "custom error text," I type "try again!" and it should look something like this... 
  
• You can make a new question and repeat the steps! 

After you finish typing in all the questions you want the students to answer, you can press, "Send" and then click the "link" option. I copy the link and paste into my Google Classroom. 

The benefits of using Google Forms for problem solving lessons are:

1. The students are independently checking their problem solving by typing in the correct answer. 
2. The teacher is free to help those students that have tried multiple times to answer a question and needs a little assistance. 

Although, I admit it is a little more prep work, it makes problem solving lessons very easy to manage! Also, the students are excited to use a computer to check their answers! 

Check this out! I made you a freebie to show what a finished lesson looks like! 

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Whole Class Reward System

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Inching Your Way to a Class Reward

One of my students asked, "when will we have a class reward?" 

I paused... I did not have a whole class reward system in place. I had their check sheets on their desks if they didn't follow the classroom rules. I was holding individual students responsible for their behavior but did not have anything in place for the whole class. The whole class wanted to work towards earning a reward. 

I finally said, "You are right, how do you think we should track our behavior?"

I sometimes can't believe how creative students can be! They collectively came up with "inching our way to a class reward." Honestly, I could not have been more creative! The students felt responsible for the idea and I thought it was adorable! 

Here is how it works...

Earn an inch when... all students are ready for the next subject on time, when the classroom is left clean, when everyone is on task, etc.

Lose an inch when... students are off task, students do not clean the materials when they are finished using them, teacher is prevented from teaching because of off task behavior, etc. 

I can't even take credit for the inch tracker! One of my students volunteered to figure out a way to track our inches. She took a spool of thread and threaded a piece of yarn through it so it could move back and forth. The flower was for decoration because it matched my classroom :) 

When we make it the whole yard, we will get extra recess, movie day, p.j. day, extra Chromebook time, or some other creative reward that I am sure my students will help come up with!

Just for fun, I put it next to our classroom rules :)

Check out my TpT store for more of my creative classroom ideas! 

I'd love to hear from you! What are your whole class reward systems? 

Growth Mindset Class Meetings

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One of my goals this year has been to incorporate more meaningful class meetings into my day. After 6 years, I have learned the importance of teaching students more than just the curriculum!

Growth Mindset has been a buzz word for a while now. My school counselor would come in and teach a lesson once a year on Growth Mindset. I loved hearing the lesson but I did not think one lesson was enough! My students heard the importance of a Growth Mindset but didn't put it to practice. 

This year was the year that all that would change! I started the year by introducing a Growth Mindset with the students and continued weekly reminders for 10 weeks! 

Everything you need to foster a growth mindset in your class is in these short class meeting lesson plans! The students will see the Growth Mindset in action, practice identifying a growth mindset, and change their own mindset!

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Download Includes:

• 10 Growth Mindset lessons
• Slideshow for lessons
• Posters and worksheets related to lessons
• Videos relating to the lessons

Here is a sample of one of the lesson plans that can be found in the Growth Mindset Class Meetings!

Objective: Students will determine in a given situation whether the student has a fixed or growth mindset.  

Supplies: growth mindset slideshow, fixed or growth mindset task cards.

Procedures:

1. Start discussion with: Does anyone know what a fixed or growth mindset is?
2. Define Fixed and Growth Mindset.
1. Fixed Mindset - Believing that you only have a certain amount of talent or brain power.
2. Growth Mindset - Knowing that you can learn and have the ability to improve!
3. Have students turn and talk to tell their partner in their own words what fixed and growth mindsets are.
4. Group students into 2-4 students. Give each group a set of task cards.
5. Have the students separate the task cards into 2 piles: Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset.

Closure: Review which cards went into each pile and have the students redefine what a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is.

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What do you think? How do you foster a growth mindset in your classroom? 

6 Word Memoirs

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teaching, learning, laughing; fueled by coffee

My life in 6 words :)  This was how I introduced the 6 word memoir lesson to my class!

Goal: This activity is for students to be introspective and practice the brainstorming process. It can also be used as a get to know you back to school activity. (Make your own as another example!) The timing is about 1 class period (between 30 minutes to an hour).

Procedures:

1. First, students will brainstorm all the nouns and things that make them who they are!
2. Then they free write about 3 of words that most represent who they are.
3. Finally, students will synthesize all their brainstorming into 6 words that represent who they are!
4. Share with the class their 6 Word Memoirs.
1. Options for sharing:
1. Share on an anchor chart.
2. Have the students create their own inspirational poster with their 6 Word Memoir.
3. Create a Google Slides where each student gets a slide where they can choose a picture background and write their 6 Word Memoir.

Examples:

1. teaching, learning, laughing; fueled by coffee
2. distant places, cookie dough, soccer mom
3. be a pineapple, feel the waves
4. believe in me, buy the shoes
5. don’t look back, run for life

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A Glimpse into Let's be Franco

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Going back to school is a bag full of mixed emotions... a fresh start, the loss of summertime freedom, great co-workers, a strict schedule, new students, freshly waxed floors, and a new classroom decor. 

This summer, the school painted my classroom walls blue and I love it! Well, it didn't quite match my old decor, so I changed everything, and NOW I love it :) 

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This year, I can't wait to foster a growth mindset with my students! This bulletin board is waiting for their goals! 

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I feel like with all my goals this year, I don't have enough bulletin boards. I am playing homeworkopoly with my students so I put my board up! If the students complete their homework for the week, they get to play on Friday! 

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I upgraded my classroom jobs! I love the way the descriptions are included on the job itself. It saves the students from having to remember all the requirements of the jobs! Check out this post for a sneak peak at the jobs!

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Getting ready for math workshop with this poster! I made the "MATH" cards with Velcro on the back so I can move them around. All the groups have to do is peak at the board to know what they are supposed to do! 

Growth Mindset, S.T.E.A.M., Math Workshop, Classroom Jobs, I am ready for this year!

I can't wait to show you the boards when they are filled with student work!

Happy Teaching!

Rethink Morning Work with S.T.E.A.M.

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The students walk into class, unpack their bags only to find ANOTHER white mindless worksheet on their desk. What if there was a way to rethink Morning Work to be more engaging and encourage students to delve right in to higher level thinking when they walk through the door? 

I was feeling overwhelmed by the management of morning work that my students were doing. It never failed that there were  students that rushed through the worksheet to talk to their friends, students that came in late and barely had time to even get started, and students that never finished the morning work. Then I took a step back and started to think, Is what they are doing worthwhile? Am I just giving the students worksheets to fill time before the "real" academics started?

Also, there is only so much precious time in the day. I felt like other teachers were implementing S.T.E.A.M. activities in their classes to engage students and my thought was always, How do you find the time!?

So that brings me to rethinking morning work. Here was the checklist of what I wanted...
- Give the students the choice to work together or alone.
- Engage students in high interest topics.
- Introduce topics that weren't covered in our curriculum. 
- Include topics for every learner. 
- Integrate S.T.E.A.M. in a way that did not require a lot of materials or prep. 

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Here is what I came up with! 
The stations include...

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• Science: Explore - In this station, you can explore the science topics that interest you! Choose something you want to learn more about using these resources.
• Technology: Apply - In this station, you can use your technology skills to animate, code, or explore Google products.
• Engineering: Build - In this station, you will use various manipulatives to design and build different structures.
• Art: Design - In this station, you can use your artistic expression to create a picture. Use these ideas to get your creativity flowing!
• Math: Solve - In this station, you can use your problem solving skills to solve puzzles!
• AND 6 MORE!

Each of the station have options that the students can choose from too!

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This has changed my morning! Students are so excited to begin and create. They love sharing their projects too! For complete preview and directions click HERE.