6 Ways to Quote the Text

With Common Core, students continuously need to cite evidence from the text to support their thinking. This is a sheet that really helps students respond to passages where they can best quote the text.

Mystery Skype with Class in Michigan

Mrs. Sherman's Class competed in a Mystery Skype with a class in Michigan. They learned a lot about Michigan, while also improving their geography skills.

Mystery Skype with class in Oklahoma

Mrs. Murray's 2nd grade class competed in a Mystery Skype with a 4th grade class in Oklahoma. Students had a blast and even won the Skype. We loved learning more about geography.

Look out your Window Community Skype with Cheery Centre in Nairobi, Kenya

Our 2nd grade is working on a project called, "Look out your Window". Students looked out their window and drew what they saw. From there, teachers talked to them about a suburban community. Students learned what it was like and how it compares and differs from an urban and rural community. Now, students are speaking with classrooms around the world to see what their community is like. The first group of students they talked with was a 2nd grade class in Nairobi, Kenya at the Cheery Centre. The students learned so much from the experience.

4th Grade Wonders Force and Motion iMovie Project

In 4th grade, the students read about Force and Motion in their Wonders reading series. Afterwards, they reread the passages, while taking notes and annotating the text. Students did used iMovie to create a movie on concepts they learned. Students really did an amazing job. Here is one of the videos.

Literacy & Fitness Combined with a Haunted House in PE

To tie literacy into fitness, the Rosehill PE Teacher created a castle/haunted house in the gym. It was a fun-filled obstacle course where students had to follow directions, read signs, while also working on fitness. This castle was unbelievable and shows the things someone will do to really integrate literacy into all curriculum areas, along with engaging the students. These students could have done this all day. They LOVED it and so did I! What a great idea!

Monster Writing with Mrs. Vaughan's Class

Today, students in Mrs. Mathew's 2nd grade classroom spoke with students in Mrs. Vaughan's 2nd grade class at Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee, Kansas. They had drawn monsters, then used descriptive writing to give directions on how to draw the monster. Each class followed directions, drawing the monster. Then, we Skyped with each other where we could share what the monsters looked liked compared to the original one the class drew. We then talked about the descriptive details that helped us the most. It was a lot of fun and an engaging way to work on writing.

Genius Hour

6th grade is in full force with genius hour. This is a time when they can study anything they are passionate about. They have really been working on their research. Students had to create a driving question that can't be answered, then they had to create ten guiding questions that will help get them there. Many students have had a chance to speak with experts all around the world to help them with their projects.

Dr. Ryan Fischer from Children's Mercy Hospital spoke with these students who want to become a doctor.

Student interviewing professional fisherman, Josh Douglas

Students talked to one of the game designers for Skylander

Students interviewing Chief Education Evangelist, Jaime Casap, from Google

Student received answers from Author, Kate DiCamillo

USC Animation Professor, Lisa Mann, speaking with student

Response from a marine biologist

Young Justice Animator speaking with a student that is passionate about animation

Students speaking to a sea rescuer in Australia

Letter from USA National Softball Coach, Ken Eriksen

Posing with e-mail from Ken Eriksen

Students interviewing Tennessee Titans Linebacker, Steven Johnson

Speaking with animator, Ted Kierscey, who animated Lion King and Aladdin

Teaching Tips for the New School Year Article

Prior to the school year, I wrote an article of teacher tips for the new school year. As the new school year approaches, we are often eager and excited for the new groups of kids. As weeks go by, some of this excitement begins to fade. As we near 1st quarter ending, I would like to challenge you to revisit the list to see how many of these things still apply to you. In order to continue to grow, it's always important to continuously reflect.
Edutopia New School Year Article

Honored by DuPont - Third Grade Science Competition Winners

I have to give a shoutout to my third grade class from last school year. They won the third grade division of the Dupont Science Competition. Today, members o DuPont and a scientist flew to Kansas to recognize them and host a science day. Although I was unable to attend, I heard the day was a blast. The students received every bit of recognition for all of their efforts and hard work. What teacher and their students can I help guide to try to win the competition this year? Anyone up for the challenge?

Pen Pals with Mr. McDonnell's Class at Mudgee Public School in Australia

One of my goals has been to help teachers take learning beyond their classroom walls. Today, Mrs. Sherman's class was excited to receive letters from their pen pals in Australia. One of the cool things was using Google Earth to take a tour of their community. Students compared and contrasted their communities. We learned we are over 8,000 miles apart. It was a lot of fun making learning so relevant for the children, while also learning about cultures. It was a great morning of celebrating diversity.

Learning Grammar with Meaning

I am a strong advocate for writing. Writing is something that kids should love, not despise doing. When it came to grammar, I looked for other ways for them to learn these important concepts. Here is my latest article on bringing relevance to grammar.
Learning Grammar with Meaning

From Third Grade to Instructional Coach

I have changed my position to Instructional Coach this school year. I am really excited to support teachers and help bring innovative teaching to the kids. I believe learning should be relevant. Through this relevance, students should be engaged and have ownership of their learning. I look forward to this new adventure, while still finding time to co-teach or model lessons so I can remain connected to the students. I will also continue writing teaching tip posts or highlight the amazing things I see teachers doing in their classrooms.

How much we Grew!

We really had a wonderful school year with a lot of exciting things happening. Since I post videos all school year, this one was just a recap showing how much they accomplished and how much they grew throughout the year.

Third Grade Science Fair

The students completed their science fair experiments for this third grade science fair. They did a wonderful job and had some very interesting things they tested.

STEM - Straw Towers

We incorporated STEM into our classroom by seeing what group could use 50 straws to construct the largest tower, using only masking tape. The tower had to be able to hold a tennis ball. It was really interesting seeing the kid's strategies, problem-solving methods and how they collaborated.