How To Salvage Broken Clipboards

A year ago I bought a class set of clipboards for my class. I love the option of going outside to work or allowing students to work anywhere in the room so clipboards were perfect! Unfortunately the clipboards weren't very sturdy and the top clip didn't stand a chance against my students. I draw your attention to exhibit "A" below.

So this year instead of buying a new set of clipboards (which would likely end up like the ones above) I decided to salvage the broken ones. Here is what I did:

Step 1: Use a chisel and hammer to break off the remains of the old clip.

Step 2: Flip the board over and remove the left over metal. I just wedged the chisel under and popped it off, some did require a quick tap with the hammer.

Step 3: Buy and attach cut clips to hold paper. I used chip bag clips from the Dollarstore. :)

 Well that's all for now, I'm off to Pinterest to look for a way to pretty up my clipboards :)

More Than Name Plates!

I was perusing some nameplates the other day on Teacher Pay Teacher and I had a "light bulb" moment! Name plates can be more than just a name! Some include number lines others include the alphabet ... so what little extra could I include? Here is what I came up with...

I know what you're thinking "You came up with adding a picture of Yoshi?!?", but stay with me for a minute. These name plates are strategically colour coded! The 6 colours of patterns divides the class into groups of 5 and the Yoshis divides the class in half! Now I can quickly group the class without the hassle of numbering them off! I'm pretty excited to get them onto the desks and try them out. :)

Group Bins!

Have you ever had trouble with markers, pencil crayons and scissors magically disappearing in your classroom? I am not sure how it happens, but my supplies always magically disappear (My classroom is like the Bermuda Triangle for school supplies)! So to try and curb the disappearing supplies I have decided to implement group bins. I have colour coded the bins and all their group supplies using fun and colourful duct tape! Then at the end of the week I plan on giving points to the groups who still have all of their supplies. If they do really well and nothing goes missing or ends up unclaimed on the floor than I plan to include bonus supplies like glitter glue, and scrap booking scissors. :) We'll see how it works out soon enough!

 Here is how the bins look so far... a little sparse because most my supplies are still at school, but you get the idea.

       

                                                I love the minions from Despicable Me!

                                                                     

                                     

                                   

Great Summer Read!

As of yesterday I finished reading my first ever e-book! Honestly, I was a bit apprehensive about reading an e-book at first because I enjoy everything about books. I love the texture of the pages, the smell of the book, the feeling of when you finally have more pages in your left hand than in your right hand. All that to say I was pleasantly surprised with my first e-book experience. This wonderfully written book "Connected From the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades" by Kathy Cassidy included hyperlinks that led to videos of her students, samples of their work and useful websites. What an interactive read! If you have any free time this summer I definitely recommend it. "Connected From the Start" has great ideas and tips to help you start getting your classroom "connected". I feel that I should give one disclaimer though . . . do not read this book if you are not ready to get back into "teacher mode. It is one of those inspiring reads that will get your mind racing with all the wonderful opportunities for learning you can include in your classroom. :)

Ma famille

I decided to snap some pictures of our bulletin board before I took it down today. These are our "Ma famille" posters. Students had to write 5 sentences describing their families using appropriate masculine/feminine adjectives and possessive pronouns (mon, ma, mes). They did a really great job and I love how they made it their own! I had students make their families as robots, mermaids, cats, royalty and others who decided that they would like to add an extra pet or two! I love how allowing the students to have creative liberty helps them buy in. :) The projects are actually pop outs, which look best displayed on a shelf or counter. Unfortunately counter/shelf space in my room is hard to come by so I had to use the good ol' bulletin board.
(Random unrelated thought that just came to mind: I bet that one day bulletin boards will be replaced by ginormous digital picture frames. Could you imagine how much easier that would be to "tear down" in June and set up in September?! Plus it would be so easy to switch your borders that I would actually change the theme seasonally like those crazy primary teachers! ;)

I know it's a little last minute, but does anyone have any ideas for a creative mother's day project?

Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Thanks to Zip A Dee Doo Dah Designs for the awesome sales poster!!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Fours-Next-Door

Happy Teacher Appreciation week everyone! In honour of how hard all of you teachers work The Fours Next Door are having a 28% off sale! Why not take the night off from planning and treat yourself instead? Don't forget to use the not-so-secret-code TAD13 when purchasing items :) 

I came across this poster and thought that it was appropriate for teacher appreciation week. Enjoy:)

My Top 5 Keepers!

I not sure if it's just me, but this time of year I tend to get a bad case of the "Shoulda, Woulda, Couldas"? You know when you think about all the things you should've would've and could've done. Well, I've decided that the best antedote is to think about all the wonderful things we did and I will keep for next year. Sooo I've compiled by top 5 favorites and here they are:

1) Owl pellet dissection
I know it seems gross, but the kids love it! They are always so skeptical and afraid to touch it, but once they find their first bone you can't stop them from digging in!

I wish I could show pictures of their facial expressions. They're priceless!

2) Daily 5
It was our first time implementing Daily 5 in English and French class! Why didn't I do this sooner?!?

3) "Les pinces"
After Christmas I started using "les pinces" as a motivational system for students to speak French and boy does it work! It works like one of those baby shower games where you wear clothes pins and if you say one of the "buzz" words (usually baby, bottle, boy etc... at showers that is) then the person who heard you can take your clothes pin. Our "buzz" words are English words ( I do 3 English consecutively as not to stop all communication.) At the end of each double period students get to cash in their "pinces" for classroom money! I also make my "pince" worth a lots of class money so always listen closely hoping to get my "pince". It's also a great way to keep me accountable to only speak French. :)

4) At home reading program
Just after March break we launched a French at home reading program, which has been very well received by the parents!

5) Kidblog
My students have made French kidblogs this year for  and they are really enjoying themselves. They are so motivated that they even make posts at home! It's an awesome blog platform that is students friendly and safe definitely worth checking out!

I feel much better now :)

Neighborhood Blog Party

I am linking up with the wonderful Aspire to Inspire to the Neighborhood Blog Party! Woot Woot! If you want to join in the blog hopping fun click on the link above. It's a great way to get to know the blogs on the block! B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Button . . . he he he I know it's corny, but I couldn't resist . . . my husband's humour is starting to wear off on me :)

In my fridge there is . . .

Currently in French we are working on a food unit. To kick off the unit my teaching partners and I had our students help us to create a word wall . . . or should I say word fridge :) We gave each group of students a theme (meat, veggies, fruit, drinks, desserts etc. . .) and then they each had to create an illustrated card with the new vocabulary to put inside the fridge! Since the students' helped to create the word fridge I find that they use it a lot more. Definitely something I will continue to do in the future! It's also been fun to play games using the fridge like "Qui suis je?".

I wish my actual fridge was stocked this way! 

Who doesn't keep cotton candy in the fridge? I know I do.

"Dr. Poivre" for "Dr. Pepper" I love when students translate proper nouns, way too cute!

Homophone Word Work

I saw this idea on 4th Grade Frolics a while back, but I finally got around to making! Last week I introduced this "Homophone Shaker" to the class as one of our working with words stations. They love it! Although it is a tad loud when shaken with gusto. For the station students shake the bottle to find a homophone. Then they have to try to write a sentence using that homophone and it's "pear" (a little homophone humour lol)! I have placed 15 pairs of homophones in the bottle and if they have trouble coming up with match they can search for it by shaking the bottle some more.

It works best if the word cards have the word printed on both sides

It was my first time dying rice so I was a little skimpy with the food colouring . . .
next time I'll be more generous with it :)

Our Dubbing Ceremony!

We are currently in our Medieval Times unit right now and the students are loving it! Honestly I was a bit hesitant when starting the unit because there is ton of new vocabulary and complex ideas and we would be tackling it in French! Lucky for me I have wonderful teaching partners and together we have been able to come up with some fabulous activities! Most recently we have been going through the steps of becoming a knight and each step of the way the students have had to perform a challenge. As a Page students had to read tongue twisters, do long division, and complete an obstacle course (which ended up being MUCH louder than I expected. . . note to self "Don't do that in the hallway again."). Then as a squire they had to perform endurance tasks such as standing on one foot, hula hooping, singing without taking a breathe and the dreaded "burpies"! At last they were dubbed knights by King Beauetfort! Check out the video of the ceremony (I'm totally loving IMovie right now!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa46Xfr_D2A&feature=player_embedded

After the knighting we had a royal tournament where students took part in a jousting competition! 

Here is the magic formula . . .

2 wheelie chairs, + cardboard shields + paper jousts + 2 teachers pushing the chairs = Good times! 

(Note to self: "Have students wear goggles next year . . . ").

Les expressions de quantité!

In French class we are currently working through a unit on food, which always make me hungry for some reason lol. I have just put together a fun package to help practice expressions of quantity and it is up on Teacher Pay Teacher! So for all you Frenchies out there like me . . .  Bon Appétit!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Les-expressions-de-quantite-La-nourriture

Eureka!

As of last post I was still not sure how to start my sound unit. . . today I am here to announce the winning idea! I am not sure exactly when or how the inspiration struck, but it did and that's really all that matters. To start of the unit I have made a "Name that Sound" game. I have selected 20 random sound clips and the students will work in their groups and try to identify all the sounds. There were soo many fun sound effects to choose from and lots of humorous ones. I tried to restrain myself, but I couldn't help including a burp sound effect. After the game students will take their sound lists and find a way to sort the sounds (ex: loud and soft, artificial and natural etc) using a Venn Diagram. If you want a copy of the SMARTnotebook file let me know and I'll send it your way!

Light and Sound

So I'm currently procrastinating, watching Steve Spangler Science videos (which are great by the way) hoping inspiration will strike for my next Science lesson. We are currently in our Light and Sound unit and I am searching for the perfect way to introduce sound. We introduced light by making pinhole cameras out of Pringles containers and then we converted the staff room into a ginormous pinhole camera. It was awesome! We covered all the windows with garbage bags, cardboard and tarps so it wouldn't let any light in and only had the one small "pinhole". Then we held up a white sheet and you could see the outside image projected upside down and colour onto it. Since the staffroom was a tad small for all of the grade 4 classes we had the other classes go outside and dance around near the window so we could see their images. I wish the picture of the image would have turned out, but I forgot to turn off the flash!!!  So anyways now I am racking my brain to come up with something equally as engaging to launch Sound. Any ideas?

A little bit of prep, but well worth it!

As you may note from the grease marked pizza boxes covering
the windows we recycle, reducse and reuse. lol

This is the photo I ruined with the flash . . . just use your imagination :)

Currently!

I have linked up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for this month's Currently! So here it is . . .

The Wedding Photos

There was anticipation in the air as the students arrived at school this morning. The students lit up as they walked through the door to see the classroom decorated and the 3 hamsters (the bride, the groom and the maid of honour) at the back of the classroom. As the students trickled in so did the little surprises they made for the wedding. I was overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness (the feeling was reminiscent of my own wedding). Some students brought treats, some brought in gifts for the bride and groom, and others brought items for the wedding. The ceremony was by the book. We had guests sign in, the rings, the vows etc... and all whole thing was in French! Overall it was a wonderful day and one I won't soon forget. It certainly goes to show the power of using students' interests and ideas for learning!

One of the students made a hamster cake for Buddy & Izzie!

Another student made cake for us :)

Buddy's wedding cape with little bow ties! 

Their first "kiss" as husband and wife.

Enjoying their wedding cake. He was definitely more interested her than the food.

Hamster Wedding!

Tomorrow our class will be having a wedding for our class hamster Buddy! I do realise this is a little odd, but it was the students' idea. :) Well, actually the whole hamster romance started during Show and Tell when a student brought in her hamster, who happens to be a female. I unknowingly put their cages next to each other. After a minute or two both hamsters were wide awake and furiously gnawing at their bars to escape. It was quite the scene. Since then Buddy's crush has been an ongoing class joke. Today we took some time to plan Buddy's wedding, make decorations, write cards (in French. . . great opportunity for some new vocabulary that doesn't naturally come up in class), and prepare speeches. I am excited to see how it will all come together tomorrow. I will take pictures!

This is Buddy just after he wakes up. . . still a little groggy.

This is Buddy being held by Super Mario. . . seriously.

Let's Get Aquainted Linky Party

I am linking up with Flying Into First for my first ever Linky Party! I am pretty pumped! Who knew there was so many teachers that blogged out there?

http://flyingintofirst.blogspot.ca/2013/03/lets-get-acquainted-linky-time-link-up.html

Favourite Place to Shop

Dollarama . . . I know it's weird, but Dollarama is the best! It has saved me soo much time and inspired soo many ideas over the past few years of teaching that they deserve a shout out! I think by the end of this school year I will know all the  cashiers on a first name basis ;).

Favourite T.V. Show

Reba. What can I say? I have all the seasons on DVD. I love to laugh and I don't think I can make it through an episode without Van or Barbara Jean making me chuckle.

Favourite Sweet Treat 

Deep Fried Cheesecake . . . enough said!

Favourite Food

Baked Chicken Penne is my go to meal! It's easy to make (easier to order), and is so far Christine proof (I have yet to mess this one up)!

Favourite Restaurant

Olive Garden. Unlimited soup and bread...what's not to love? 

Plural Cootie Catchers

As I have been reading some of the kiddos' writing, I've been noticing lots of spelling errors when it comes to the use of irregular plurals like "boxes", "ladies", and "lives". I can almost hear my students' voices already questioning me "Why can't we just slap an 's' on the end of a word to make it plural? Why is English so confusing?" lol So in effort to practice some of the irregular plurals in a fun way I will be introducing this Cootie Catcher as one of our Working with Words stations. I have a free PDF version of the Cootie Catcher posted on TPT. Let me know if you have other tricks you use to tackle this topic! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Irregular-Plurals-Cootie-Catcher

Easter Egg Hunt

Being that it is Easter we were wanting to have an Easter Egg hunt or some fun activity, but we wanted to be able to justify it as educational so here is what we came up with. We had students design a colourful egg and on the egg they had to write a positive fortune or secret message on it in French.   Then the students hid their eggs all over their classroom. Once we were all finished we switched classrooms and began to search for eggs as the other grade 4 class found ours. The students loved finding their secret messages, as well as figuring out who had found theirs.

Here is one of our secret message eggs!

Boggle

This week I just introduced Boggle as a new Working with Words station. The students loved it! I had students asking to take their pages home to work on it!?! I first saw the idea at 4thgradefrolics. The "giant cookie sheet" as my students call it is actually an oil drip pan. I purchased it from Walmart over the border (in the USA). . . for some reason in Canada I could only find plastic ones. At the end of the week I am having students submit their pages and on Monday when they arrive there will be the new "Top Scorer's" name will be on the board!

Welcome!

Welcome to My Curious Classroom! It's a place where you can visit to check out the curious things I am up to in my classroom and to share your own adventures. I look forward to hearing from you!