Spark Student Motivation: Math Scrimmage

Yay!!! My class has one state test (Writing) down!  In Texas, 4th graders have a 2-day, 4-hours-each-day Writing test, and I am sooo relieved it is done.  I am also SO proud of my students because I heard from their test monitors that they were working very hard the whole time.  Nothing makes me prouder as their teacher :) *Happy Dance!!*

So that's one sigh of relief.  BUT, before I get too excited, there are still the state Reading and Math tests to prepare for...which are coming up fast in only 2 weeks!  How is a teacher supposed to keep her students motivated to work hard after just having a 2-day testing marathon?  Well, I have an answer for that, so I'm linking up with Head Over Heels for Teaching for her linky Spark Student Motivation Saturdays.

In order to prepare for the state Math test, everyone knows that a lot of spiral review is good.  But how good is it if the students aren't trying their hardest or aren't paying attention?  Enter....Math Scrimmage! Math Scrimmage is a way of turning spiral review into a group competition.  Luckily, my class is already divided into groups: Giraffes, Zebras, Crocodiles, Toucans, Lions, and Anacondas.  So I made a class chart that looks like this:

Included on the chart are places to put scores for daily scrimmages and homework, and a weekly "Game" (quiz).  The scrimmages are 10-question worksheets with review problems.  The homework includes 4 questions each night.  And the Game is a 10-question quiz with review from the whole week.  Every day, I grade students' homework and quizzes immediately and tally up the average scores for each group.  And here's one of my favorite parts: If a student doesn't show their work on any or all of the problems, they lose 10 points for their team.  However, if a student gets a 100%, they earn 10 extra points!  The winning team at the end of the week gets a special prize from me, as well as from our Dean of Instruction.  I also gave prizes to the 2nd and 3rd place teams.  I'd be happy to explain any more of the details if you have questions, but that's the gist of it.  

The important thing is, I have NEVER seen a class so motivated to show their work, take their time, and do Math review worksheets!  We did the scrimmage 2 weeks ago, but not this week because of the Writing test.  But on Thursday, after the testing was over, my students were already asking when we could do Math Scrimmage again.  When I said we'd get back to it this coming week, they literally cheered!  So needless to say, I am feeling confident that these next 2 weeks before the Math test are going to be extremely productive.

I also transferred the same idea to Reading practice.  When the kids take a reading quiz, I calculate the groups' average scores to determine a winning group.  This idea can be used for any subject.  Thank you to our school's Math Interventionist, who found this Scrimmage idea!  

On a side note, I am offering my Spring Summarizing Sort (Grades 2-4) over at my store today for FREE!  Its normal cost is $4.  Head to my Facebook page for the link if interested :)  Ladybug's Teacher Lounge

Have a fabulous Saturday!  I, for one, will finally be getting my taxes done...woohoo....!

My Top 3 YouTube Videos for Stress Relief During Testing Season (Or Anytime!)

I used to get a headache Every... Single... Day my first couple years of teaching.  Now, in my 6th year, I am finally beginning to find ways to manage my stress.  But I have the most difficulty during this magical time of year called Testing Season!  However, I have been mostly headache-free this year, and I credit it to many things.  There is all the typical advice, like drinking plenty of water and eating snacks throughout the day; managing your home/work balance; and exercising.  But I finally tried some new stress-relief ideas starting after New Years (My New Years resolution was to manage my stress).

 I had heard about yoga and meditation plenty of times from plenty of people, but I always had excuses.  "I don't have enough time.  Yoga looks too hard. What difference can it really make?  I'll wait until I can do it right by taking a class on it...."  Well, I am here to tell you....it works!  Even just 5 minutes a day of meditation or yoga helps me.  And don't worry if at first you feel like you are no good at meditation, and all those pesky worries keep flooding your brain.  Even starting with just a few seconds of successfully clearing your mind is going to help, and you will get better!

So, what are you waiting for?  Check out my top 3 favorite YouTube videos for meditation, yoga, and stretching.

Yoga for Complete Beginners: I love this video because it is definitely for COMPLETE beginners!  I would even consider it more of a full-body stretch/easy meditation video.  All I know is, at the end of the video, I feel blissfully relaxed and peaceful!

Neck Stretch Exercises for Pain, Tension, and Stress Relief: When I get headaches, it always stems from the tension in the tops of my shoulders and neck.  This video hits all my sore spots, including the back and sides of my neck.  My muscles always feel a lot looser after doing this video.

Guided Meditation for Relaxation: I love how this video guides me through every step of meditating - the breathing, clearing my mind, releasing my worries, visualization, etc.  The guide's voice is very calming and helps me relax.  I feel like my mind is a clean slate after this video, and I definitely feel like it's time well spent for my health.

Trust me, if you also suffer from stress headaches and haven't tried daily stretching, meditation, or yoga, you've got to give them a try.  I noticed a difference within the first few days of incorporating them into my routine!  Let me know what you think if you give these videos a try!

What We Did the Day Before STAAR Writing

In Texas, 4th grade has the STAAR Writing test tomorrow and Wednesday.  Today, I knew I wanted to spend all day reviewing.  But I wanted to keep it light, fun, and relaxed.  I feel really good about how it went and wanted to share what we did.

First, I wanted to expose my students to some idioms that they may be able to use in their writing.  They are experts at similes, vivid vocabulary, onomatopoeias, and hyperbole.  So if there were one literary element I wanted to review, it was idioms.  Plus, I love this fun activity and haven't had a chance to do it yet this year!  I wrote about 26 idioms on the board and we discussed what some of them meant as a whole class.  Then, I let students each choose an idiom and illustrate the literal and figurative meaning.  We shared as a class, and I feel confident that at least a few of them will incorporate idioms into their writing on the test.  I heard a couple of them using "Hold your horses!" and "Keep your chin up!"  throughout the day.  I forgot to bring their pictures home with me, but here is an example of one I made:

Next, I knew I wanted to review revising multiple choice questions.  These are questions for which students have to figure out where sentences should be added to a passage, what sentence should be the concluding sentence, the best way to combine sentences, etc.  To make the review fun, we played Scoot with this set of revising task cards from Rosie's Resources:

We checked our answers and reviewed the cards students had questions on.  They actually had questions on a lot of them, so I would definitely recommend this task card set as a rigorous review.  

After lunch, we did a quick review of the steps we need to follow after we see the writing prompts tomorrow and Wednesday.  We reviewed how to tell if it's a personal narrative or expository prompt (look at the label at the top of the page, personal narrative will have a picture, expository will say 'state your central idea').  Then I had them practice their brainstorming graphic organizer and the graphic organizers I taught them for each genre.  

Finally, I wanted to pump them up and motivate them for the big day.  I found this great book with the theme of perseverance at Half Price Books a couple months ago.  

It is about a little boy who wants to climb a big hill at the park, but his mom says he's not old enough.  Maxwell doesn't let that stop him! He decides to research mountain climbing, gather supplies, and train his body to prove to his mom that he can do it.  She gives in, and as he's climbing the mountain he comes across many obstacles.  But he never gives up, and he has such a feeling of accomplishment at the top.  The kids automatically connected Maxwell's perseverance to how hard they need to work on the tests over the next couple of days.  I recommend this book as a great read aloud before any testing that your class might have.  It would probably be appropriate anywhere from grades K-5.  

So that was our review day, and I can't wait to see how the kids do when we get scores back in a couple months!  What things do you do to review before a big test?  I would love to hear about them!

Guest Post at All Things Upper Elementary

I have a post today over at All Things Upper Elementary all about helping your student writers get impressive results with their revisions. Go check it out!

  Revision Tips from Ladybug's Lounge

My Favorite Classroom Ever!

I am so excited to finally get a chance to share pictures of how my room looked at the beginning of this school year.  It still looks pretty much the same, except for the anchor charts all over the walls and bulletin boards :)  Thanks to inspiration from blogland and TPT, I am more excited about this room than I ever have been before.  It is such a colorful, happy place for me to step into every morning and always makes me feel peaceful.  So let's get started with a quick tour!

This is my favorite part of the room - our classroom library.  I bought the pink and green book bins from Really Good Stuff.  The pink and green book tubs are from the Dollar Tree.  The genre library labels are by Ladybug's Teacher Files and are a real lifesaver for keeping the library organized.  The product came with large labels for the tubs, but also mini sticker labels for inside the books.  Now, there is no excuse for not putting books back in the correct tubs!  The number labels for the book bins are from Hope King's Classroom Decor Wild Things.

This is the view from the door of my room.

I love this Jungle clip chart from Curriculum to the Core.  I use this very consistently - students are moving up and down the chart all day, and I keep track on my clipboard.  They can earn tickets if they end the day on green or above, and they redeem tickets on Fridays for class coupons.

This is the view of the front of my room.  The kids come to the carpet for minilessons throughout the day, and the pink chair is our author's chair during Writing Workshop.

This is our Writing bulletin board and shelves with writing materials. 

This is our word wall and shelves with tubs of community supplies.  I love the tubs - also from Dollar Tree!

During the first week of school, we wrote our classroom mission statement and made construction paper faces of ourselves to hang on the wall.  This greets me every morning when I get to school, and it always starts me off in a good mood!

I will be back soon to share what is going on in our classroom!  Time to get to bed so I can catch up on some sleep before school tomorrow.

Winner of My Pin It to Win It

This is just a quick post to announce the winner of my Pin It to Win It contest - congratulations Cherie!  I have already emailed the product to you. I used a random number generator website to choose the number.  Cherie won my Summer Themed Writing Devices Practice pack.

Thank you so much to the other THREE people who entered my contest - you made me and my little TPT store feel special lol!  

I'm off to get some sleep because I have out-of-town guests visiting and am getting up bright and early to meet them for breakfast and a trip to the children's museum with their little 2 year old!  Good night!

Top Ten Linky: Classroom Must Haves

With less than 3 weeks to go before my school begins our preservice, I am slowly feeling ready to get back into work mode.  I found this fun linky over at Swimming into Second that got me thinking about ten of the most important things in my classroom.

1. My stopwatch

I use this when teaching procedures at the beginning of the year.  I time my students to see how quickly they can get lined up, and we talk about the importance of not wasting a second of learning time.  The stopwatch motivates them to go as quickly as they can, and I keep using it throughout the year.  I also use it to time their restroom breaks (we have to go as a whole class at my school).  Most years, my whole class can be done at the restrooms in 5 minutes or less.

2. My easel

I use my easel almost every single time I bring my class to the carpet for a Reading or Writing minilesson.  I use the dry erase board on it, but also put chart paper on it to make our class anchor charts.

3. Mr. Sketch markers

We make anchor charts for almost every new objective we learn, so I go through these fast.  The kids love getting wafts of the smells coming from the markers!

4. Post-it chart paper

I love how easy it is to make an anchor chart on this paper, then just peel it off and stick it on the wall.  It's expensive, but well worth it to me!

5. Class data board

It changes every year, but I love having some way for everyone to see their progress in math and reading via a class data board.  On this one last year, I had their names on little monkeys that I moved up the chart as they progressed in their reading level and on Mad Minute.  

6. Pens and mechanical pencils

It seems like I go through a pack of these things every week sometimes!  I'm constantly grabbing for a pencil or pen throughout the day, and I don't know where they end up sometimes.  So I always make sure to have extra packs on hand.

7. Clipboard

I carry one of these with me everywhere when I'm with my class.  I always have a class list with me so I can gives checks to kids in the hallway if they are talking, running, etc.  It is a big part of my classroom management.  This year, I'm going to be having a clip chart, so this will help me remember if anyone has to move their clip (up or down) when we get back to the classroom.

8. Student book boxes

I am a big fan of individual book boxes for my students.  This prevents them from constantly being in the class library getting new books.  They can keep several at a time in their book boxes.  It's a big part of my Reading Workshop setup.  

9. Magnetic dry erase board

This was my first classroom that had a MAGNETIC dry erase board.  In my old classroom, it wasn't magnetic.  It made such a difference to be able to stick some magnet tape on the back of something and, "VOILA!" it sticks!  I also loved being able to use magnetic clips to hold papers on the board.

10. Mini dry erase boards

My students keep these in their desks, along with a dry erase marker and a washcloth (to use as an eraser).  We pull them out during Math class all the time to do quick reviews and checks for understanding.  

Well, there you have it!  10 items from my classroom that I would have a hard time doing without!  Link up with your top ten if you get a chance; I'd love to see some of your ideas.  

Also, if you stuck through this long post, I feel like you deserve a reward.  I've been wanting to try this Pin it to Win it idea.  Head to my store and pin any item that you would like to own (link to my store over on the right).  Leave a comment below with the name of the item, a link to the pin, and your email address, and I will choose a random number as a winner on Friday, July 26th.  Good luck!