Five For Friday, Flashback, and Clean Sweep!

Time for Five For Friday and Friday Flashback!

First up, Have you entered my 100 Followers Sweet Giveaway yet? Go do it! (after you read this blog post of course!)

Next, my Friday Freebie! We used this as a review game - it's good practice with factors AND fractions! (Click the picture of the game to download.)

In this game, students roll three dice. They should arrange the digits of the three dice so that it makes a proper fraction. Can the fraction be simplified? Students will list the factors of their numerator and denominator to see! If it can be reduced, they'll put a star in the last column next to the written simplified fraction. The player with the most simplified fractions at the end of the game wins!

Third on the list... Opinion writing! After reading Groundhog Gets A Say, which was about a groundhog trying to convince the reader they deserve more than one day of recognition, I pulled out the Your Big Backyard magazines and National Geograpic for Kids.

They picked an animal they were interested in and found a few really interesting facts about them. Then they used these facts to help support their opinion about the animal deserving more respect. They really worked hard on their pieces! Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

"Some animals get no respect, like the poor lions. Now I know you'll say they already get enough respect, that's why we call them King of the Jungle...." How's that for a strong lead?? Love it!!

"I think prairie dogs should have their own holiday. They might be small, but they don't give up. They act like they are the same size as you."

"Fruit bats drop seeds on the ground which will grow into plants. So you see, we need bats to help us live!"

They really did a great job with their pieces. :)

Next up- when I first set up my classroom this year, I was at such a loss. I didn't use wall space well (for example, I put decorative cutesy stuff in prime display areas instead of saving it for anchor charts...) because I just didn't have a clue what all would NEED to be displayed and how I wanted things to be hung. (I know this sounds crazy- it's not like I'm a first year teacher... but being in a new school kind of IS like being a first year teacher again!!)
 

Look at all the "prime wall space" I'm taking up... oops. Also, originally, these buckets were going to be used for reading groups, but they aren't quite big enough.

Yet again... good wall space taken. But it's CUUUUUTE right?! LOL

Yesterday I got it in my head that I was going to fix that problem. I know, I know. Now? We have, what... 60ish school days left?? Some might think it's a waste at this point, but I don't. We've still got some serious learning to do, especially before the state test! 

I've been wanting to find a better way to display my kiddos' imitations of their mentor sentences each week (more on how I do those in a future post -very soon! But til then, you can get the idea by reading this post from Collaboration Cuties), a better way to organize and display my Math Workshop Stations (and Reading Workshop Stations), and more room to move my Math Calendar activities in and out. I think I'm happy (for now) with what I've come up with!! It still looks a little bare right now because I'm still moving things over and of course, leaving room for future stuff!



This board used to be my calendar board, but I kept using half of it for mentor sentences anyway, so I took the calendar down and moved it so I can use it completely for mentor sentences. :)

I moved my calendar over to where my genres used to be displayed. I also will use this area for the students' math workshop materials (better use of the buckets!). The empty space will also be filled with more calendar activities (just haven't glued them up yet).

I moved the genres to the top of the wall - the white space can be used for anchor charts now... and don't worry. I didn't get rid of my net! :)

This is in the corner now, where my Friday Folders, mailboxes, and manipulatives are. I used to "hide" the kids' imitations of mentor sentences over here!! Glad I made the move!

Lastly...Oh boy... I'm behind on my Clutter-Free Classroom Project! I wish I had taken a picture of everything on my desk last FRIDAY when I got to school after 3 and a half days of a sub. Sigh. It would make me feel a lot more accomplished in my recent attempts anyway. It was piles and stacks everywhere. 

I'm trying to clean up and get more organized. Trying. I'm actually going up to the school tomorrow (yes, on a Saturday) to try to organize because I'm just too brain-dead to do it after school.

I have gotten so many amazing ideas from you, my fellow bloggers, and HONESTLY- blogging has totally made me strive to be an even better teacher (and a more organized one)! Thank you so much! So let me ask you- what is the one "must" for you when it comes to organization??

Oh, and (I know I said this already but........) don't forget to enter my giveaway! ;-)