April Means Poetry Month for Fifth Graders!

It's hard to get fifth graders motivated for many things, especially in the Spring AND the fact that their resource time is at the end of the day.  So, in essence, they've already "clocked out" for the day.  It does mean they're more than a handful some days!  Thank goodness for our Makerspace - they LOVE that!  So, when I have to do other activities with them that supersede the Makerspace, well, they're not happy.  (Gosh, it's like they have to WORK in school!).

Traditionally, the librarian at our school has always helped the fifth grade teachers by doing a poetry/figurative language unit in April.  Last year, I was so excited and found my favorite all time poem - Jabberwocky - on video and showed it to them.  Then, we looked at copies of the poem and circled figurative language/nonsense words.  Yeah, I think I was the only one excited about it except for maybe 5 total students. :(  I did the best I could with the rest of the unit but there was a lot of grumbling and protests about doing this during resource.

So, this year, I wanted to make sure I was more on top of things as well as making it more fun and active for the students.  Yes, I'll still have those grumblers, but maybe not as many!

First, I asked the writing teacher which figurative language concepts were most important to focus on (similes/metaphors, personification, idioms, and hyperbole).  Then, I created a pretest/survey for students using Google Docs.  You can access it {here} if you'd like to look at it.  I'm planning on asking students to complete it during this week before Spring Break so we can start rolling after break!

This weekend, I've tried to get a head start on planning the unit.  The responses from the survey will give me an idea of how much time to spend on each concept and, frankly, which classes need help where.  Although I'm already planning activities for each concept, I figure even if I don't use them, I can save them for next year's group.  Now in my second year of the Library, I feel I have a better feel for lessons and have even reorganized my filing cabinet and hopefully spend less time "planning" next year and be able to pull files and teach!

Using Pinterest as an inspiration, I looked first at Idioms.  We have this great book called Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold I'll read to students.  Then, we'll watch the video I found {here} about idioms and complete an activity where students use pictures to figure out the idioms.  Since I'm not sure if these are copyright friendly, I'll share it {here} but won't on my teacher stores.  Then, using a sheet I found on another site, students have to pick and draw an idiom to define its real meaning and use it in a sentence.  I figure I can give this to the teacher for a grade!

With similes and metaphors, I figured I'd best not push my luck with the worksheet.  So, after reading Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk by Brian P Cleary, we'll make it a little more "real life" by looking at quotes from some of my students' favorite books and authors.  To make it a bit more interactive, I have QR codes on each quote so students can scan to see if they guessed simile or metaphor correctly.  I'm not sure if I"ll do it like a Scoot, where students move to each table and work in a group or not.  Either way, I've uploaded the activity on TPT and TN if you'd like to see it closer.

So, I'm left with Personification and Hyperbole.  These should be fun, but I'll save them for another post (and maybe get home by dinnertime so my husband doesn't complain!).

Winter Break: Tales of an Addict

Yes, that's me.  School was open 2 days this week and guess who was there!  However, my room desperately needed a good organization/cleaning!  I wish I would've taken a picture of my desk - it hasn't looked this organized since I unpacked in the summer! (actually, even then, it didn't - it was piled with stuff for other places!).  So, I managed to get my little area clean as well as straighten up around my room.  Teacher workdays are next Thursday and Friday, but school will be open Wednesday.  (Hiding head). I'll be there, then, too!

Hah hah - as I type this, I'm actually with a friend at HER school since my husband and kiddos are off to Amazement Square to meet up with cousins who are visiting from New Jersey.  (If you don't know about Amazement Square in Lynchburg, VA, it is AMAZING!  If you ever visit anywhere near there and have kids, it's a must-go!). 

However, with 60 lb bag (okay, that might be an exaggeration) I have 4 math units, history unit, and basic lessons to plan (including a focus on nonfiction this semester!).  So, I am cherishing this day without interruption.  Oh, that and high speed internet and access to my school network folder. :)

Of course, today we FINALLY get some winter weather!  I know - some places have been hit hard.  However, it's missed our part of central VA until today.  I mean, my 6 year old told me on Thursday that we might as well go back to school on Monday because there is NO SNOW and it's WINTER BREAK!  (yes, she's that dramatic - the same girl who said yesterday to a friend that she didn't know why "Tuesday Morning" was open since it was Friday!).

Anyway, back to my addiction.  My husband calls it "dedicated," but I sense an eye-roll when he says it.  Either way, I AM getting some things done and thought I'd share!  I'm also hoping to clean up my seasonal items and throw a sale for the New Year - just on holiday things, so you can stock up on different times of the year!  That, and I'm approaching my anniversary of both blogs and teacher stores, so I'm starting to come full circle on some of my items.

So, what have I accomplished so far?  Glad you asked!  My kids are a little less than skilled on calendar.  I don't know why.  We do it every day.  Seriously.  So, I made a packet of monthly skill sheets that frankly, I probably will use no matter what month (heck - I don't mind doing July in January!).  Each month is slightly different with the skill levels.  Be sure to check it out at my stores!  Click on the picture for TpT and {here} for Teacher's Notebook.

Next up is a winter mix of writing and math activities.  We haven't touched on fractions yet this year, but I put a fraction game in there anyway and thought it might not hurt for my students to revisit this part of their brain!  Kind of a "sneak preview" of the next unit or so.  Other math concepts include patterns, money, and addition.  Writing activities include comparative adjectives, mitten writing prompts, seasonal paper, and a cinquain pattern.  It's all snowmen, penguins, and polar bears - perfect for the winter months!  For TpT click on the picture, for Teacher's Notebook {here}.

Well, back to work!  I'm trying to polish up some of my units as well, including Economics (including my "Elf Economics"), Famous Americans, and Graphing Unit/Investigations Unit 4.