The Vocabulary Question Cube

I was teaching 4th and 5th AIG students when we made this little video. It was Quicktime, but not sure all computers can view it now. I can view it on my Mac, but not on my PC.

The Vocabulary Cube is a great way to have Word Study Activities. I used Notebooks and modeled how to use a ruler to make tabs for 'interactive' notebooks. I have included a study guide with my updated Vocabulary Cube packet on TPT, also a Vocabulary card for teachers. I just had students write them on index cards or a sheet of paper.

Read the post below to get some ideas that you can use in your classroom for Voc Study.

I have so much fun with my students when I put an iPad in their hands! They are actually very good at anything to do with Technology. This is great since the Common Core Standards have interacting with technology as a major strand.  I love taking pictures, but my students are the best when it comes to putting their thinking into power points and videos. This is a lesson using the Vocabulary Question Cube. I let them video themselves playing the game. We can spend three to five days on a lesson with everything that is involved.

This is a quicktime video made by 4th grade students. They are on the carpet, with their words and finished cubes. Now they roll the cube and ask each other questions using the words they wrote and defined. Because these are new words, this gives them more practice using the words in sentences and just saying the words. 

I used one of the products I have on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store, the Vocabulary Question Cube. This product is aligned with the CCSS ELA L.3.4d, L.4.4c, L.5.4c.

Vocabulary Question Cube - Comprehension 

I love this little comprehension, question game and my students love it also. The first thing I did was give them a passage (4th grade) or text (The Odyssey, 5th grade.) In 4th I wanted them to practice some of the "testlets" with questions. Mostly these are so boring for students, but this is how they are tested on the EOG so they need to practice! Why not make it fun!

5th Grade with Odyssey and Workbook.

5th Grade Looking Up Vocabulary Words or New Words!

I gave each student an orange post-it note so they could write down 6-8 words while reading that they thought were interesting or that maybe they didn't really know the meaning. Each student had a dictionary so they didn't have to wait for someone else to finish and they could look the word up immediately. Yes, I still use workbooks when I can, I just add a little fun to them!

4th Grade Reading Passages.

4th grader using highlighter.

My 4th grade students needed practice finding the main idea, inference, supporting details and other elements of text. I found these great comprehension books that are common core aligned. Notice that I write notes to my students before copying so they know exactly what they will be doing with the packets. We go over our answers at the end and students make corrections and we discuss WHY the answer is right. I don't have them put Xs on the ones they have wrong, they just erase and put the right one after we discuss it. I encourage my students to voice their opinions and why they thought their answer was right. Sometimes they make very good points and they really should get some credit! With only 3 or 4 questions per passage, it doesn't take long and my students get to discuss the reasoning behind the questions.

4th grade - after finding the words, they glue the I Can statement in their notebooks, and write the word, definition, illustration, sentence and part of speech. We call these notebooks our Vocabulary Word Notebooks. I have used this for years and love them. Nothing like color to keep students interested.

4th grade - You can see the I Can Statement better in this picture. This student loves to illustrate her words! Notice she also has the CCSS Standard in the upper left hand corner.

Some students take great pains in coloring their cubes!

The last day we use the Vocabulary Question Cubes. We have to make them about 3 times a year since they are paper and get messy after being used so many times. After about the 3rd time, (you can see from the picture above,) students really get creative in their coloring!

They might be discussing their words or the story while coloring, but they have to keep their discussion on literacy. Sometimes I will put out recorders on the tables to make sure they follow this.

Finished product and ready to play!

You do not have to "play" a game with these cubes. They can be used as an exit ticket at the end of a class. I have also had students use these independently with whisper phones so they can hear themselves say the word and see if they remember the definition. These are great for buddies to use during literacy centers. Let me know any ideas you have for how these can be used!

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Loving The Photo Boxes for Math Centers!

Just a heads up that the boxes are on sale at Michaels right now. $14.99! Really a good buy and you can use them for so many things! 

Many of the craft stores are selling photo boxes. Some are clear, others have different colored bins. I ordered a set and started to put pictures but then decided to make centers for my Kinders. Colored coded - easy to pack away - exactly what my group of Kinders needed.

http://www.michaels.com/iris-color-photo-craft-keeper/10468242.html

They come on sale every once in a while. I think mine was 19.99. I love these cases for centers. Of course I had to make something for my Kinders.

This is the way I keep mine stored. The math center is all about number sense in Kindergarten.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Centers-Print-and-Pack-Number-Sense-Practice-All-Year-Just-Add-Clips-3123602

The cards are as closely colored coded to the photo boxes as I could get. I just open the case and students take out the boxes that they need to finish or that they haven't done yet. There are over 100 pages with 3 cards on each page. That makes around 300 colored coded math cards. I will be adding more this summer when I start thinking of my Kinders needs at the beginning of the year. 

This is an addition card. Students take the little clips (read about these on another post) Making Centers. (search for December 2013! They have lasted quite a while!) My students love those little clips! They beg me to give them centers just so they can use them. After a few years of use, you do need to add some Gorilla Glue to get them to stay on, but they are well worth the trouble!

The girls love the stars and hearts. I do have sports themed and animals themed clips also. They can choose whatever they want. I keep a lot of them!

Very easy to put everything back in place. 

I keep the clips in plastic take out boxes.

All straightened up! Read for next time!

I introduced this center one small group at a time. I wanted all my students to know how to use the recording sheets that come with the Math Center packet and how to put things back. Plus, there are some cards that might need explaining, especially the number bond cards. I tried to differentiate the cards when needed. Those boxes are labeled with green for grade level and yellow for below. 

The recording sheets are simple. The one pictured is for the number bonds and addition and subtraction cards. Kinders will get lots of practice using this set. My ELL (English Language Learners) will also get a lot of use out of this because it is all visual. They have to count. I do have a few plastic containers of those wonderful small erasers that I use for my ELL students. They can take the erasers and put over the little animal pictures they are counting to help them keep track.

In this picture my student is wearing her Dolphin Headband. We are doing Dolphin Research and next Sharks! I like for them to wear headbands. It is fun and keeps them focused on what they are researching. This is all in my Dolphin Writing and Research packet for Kindergarten. They are doing amazing writing! (because they love the subjects!)

Click on the picture to view this packet on TPT!

Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you got this far I really appreciate your patience! I do 'talk' a lot! 

Beginning of the Year in Kindergarten!

This was my post last year about this time.... not much has changed except I have 20 sweet Kinders this year!!!
Well my time this school year has definitely been spent having a great time getting to know my Kinders! I love Kindergarten! I started out teaching K and now I am hoping to stay with this grade until *****Retirement Time.*****

The best thing about Kindergarten is having 27 little darlings who absolutely LOVE their teacher. They hug me and tell me they love me constantly... even when I am asking them to move their color. The second best thing about Kindergarten is seeing students LEARN! You can actually see the progress day by day. How rewarding is that! Some people get their rewards making money, teachers get their rewards by knowing they are helping little people!

One thing we are doing every minute is Letter Recognition. This is a Standard:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1d Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Having fun with Letter Recognition is what my students love to do best. We play games, we use flash cards, we do all kinds of things. One of the best ways I have found to help students with letter recognition AND know their color names are my "Letter Recognition Practice - 8 Mystery Pictures To Color!"

My students love doing these. At the beginning of the year I gave these out, but I had to color in each 'crayon' for them so they would begin recognizing their colors. Now that 2 months have gone by, (well almost 2) I printed these out again and they have to look at the color words to figure out the colors.

There are 8 different pictures in this set and by this time most students had completed about 6 of them at various times during the month. They are great when someone finishes up their work or as morning work. I kept all of the completed pictures in their folders and had them pick their best work to put up!

Thanks for reading my Blog! 

If you have any questions about anything posted, please just let me know. My email is pamjmmes@gmail.com.

The Mystery Pictures are in my TPT store. . I have two sets, one is the Letter Recognition pictured here and the other is Sight Word Practice. Both are fun for students and they really do LEARN while having fun!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sight-Word-Practice-Mystery-Pictures-to-Color-Centers-Activities-K-1031695

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Letter-Recognition-8-Mystery-Pictures-to-Color-1031156#show-price-update

Thanks for reading!

Math Puzzles - Scrambled Squares - 4.NBT.4

Drill and Practice! Oh how students groaned and moaned when they were handed a worksheet with problems to work out. They needed the practice though, Practice Makes Perfect! Right? I use Math Puzzles in my room and my students never, ever turn them down! They are aligned to the Common Core Standard that we are working on at the time. I can use them as an assessment or just as practice. I love color and cute, and these are both, but they are also a meaningful activity that incorporates some higher level thinking by having students think about the numbers and move the puzzle pieces around until they all fit together. 

First I took the regular Magic Squares that we have all used for years and “fixed” them up a bit. My Math Puzzles are designed for groups of 4, with each student getting a different Puzzle Sheet. No more having to cut the pieces out yourself and paper clip together for each student. Also, every 4 students will have a different puzzle and you will have the answer sheet for a quick check. This is how it works for me.

Math Puzzles 4.NBT.4 

In the picture you see a Teacher Answer Sheet #1 and a Scrambled Squares for Students # 1. The fonts match on the TA Sheet 1-4 and the Scrambled Student Sheet 1-4. I put the 4 TA sheets on a Clipboard to carry with me so I can monitor my students working out the problems.

Students working in journals using Math Puzzles 4.NBT.4

The picture above shows two different students' work. After cutting out their squares, they get to work. The math problems align with the common core standard 4.NBT.4. They are working the math problems out in their journals (showing their work.) I ask them to write the answers on the math puzzle pieces because it makes putting the puzzle together easier. 

Notice one Student pasted the I Can Statement at the top of her puzzle page. This is required and is included in the Math Puzzle 4.NBT.4 packet. ( I always include PAM somewhere in the  puzzle.) They love it!

This student went to another page where she had some extra room (to save her paper) and starting working her problems out. The journals are graded every 9 weeks and kept to show students growth.

You can see where this student has written her answers in with pencil.

The 4 different fonts keep the students from glancing over at what someone else is doing. All students have the same 31 problems that match 4.NBT.6 but they are scrambled up!

Some students work methodically. 

These are finished squares from 5th grade.

After finishing, I check their work by just looking at my 4 clipboard pages. Then they glue the squares and color. Some students never get to the coloring part because they might work slower than others. To differentiate by giving some students less problems to work with, just take off the bottom 4 squares from your Teacher Answer Sheet. When the student has cut all of his out, take those bottom pieces away. It gives the same practice but with fewer problems to do which would be helpful with some students who cannot process so many at one time.

Hope this helps with your classroom activities. Email me with any questions for comments! Next time I'll show of the work we are doing with task cards.