Setting the Stage for the Civil War

I believe that a picture is worth a thousand words...especially for visual learners.  We are moving into the Civil War this week - a perfect unit to really distinguish between primary and secondary sources.  What better way to show them what life was like in the 1850's than to show real photographs, paintings and prints from the time period.  I started my unit by showing them this power point that you can down load for free.

It sparked many discussions and certainly made it "real" for the students.

Next, my colleagues had made up a concept sort, which the students were able to arrange and discuss before copying onto a real Venn Diagram to keep in their notebooks. 

Hope these strategies help you engage your kids in social studies....

Abolitionists....

I do love to teach about abolitionists and the Under Ground railroad.  Our students need to learn about the unforgivable (in my opinion) act of slavery in this country - as well as the people who wanted to stop it.  There are so many good resources out there now for teaching this unit...I'd like to share a few of my favorites...

Of course, I will start out with Children's Literature....one of the best ways to ENGAGE learners.

John Brown...the hero of Harper's Ferry...These are both books that I have used in my classroom.  One is a graphic novel, the other a story book with great pictures. I found both books at our public library. 

Next is Nat Turner...another interesting Virginian.  He was a slave who simple had enough and caused a rebellion.  His method was violent and led to many deaths...

And of course,  Harriet Tubman....who can forget her? The woman was truly a hero and should receive more recognition than she has gotten...

      


More to come on this unit...

New Awards....

Recently I have been nominated for a few awards. This one I was nominated with by Heather at....

 http://begborrowandteach.blogspot.com/

She is an awesome blogger with lots of great ideas for the upper grades!  Make sure you check her out! She lives in Virginia...just like me!

 Here are the rules for the Lovely Blog Award:


1. Link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Pass the award onto 15 followers.
3. Follow the person who sent it to you.


1. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/blog
2. http://crittersintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.ashleigh-educationjourney.blogspot.com/
4. http://gingersnapstreatsforteachers.blogspot.com/
5. http://vasquezfrogs.blogspot.com/

6.  http://3-6freeresources.blogspot.com/
7. http://sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com/
8. http://www.3rdgradegridiron.com/
9.  http://www.thesciencepenguin.com/
10.   http://oneextradegree.blogspot.com/
11. www.classroomfreebiestoo.com
12.  www.teachingblogaddict.com
13.  www.lessoncloud.com
14. http://www.wiseowlfactory.com/BookaDay/

and of course, my other blog....

15. www.sciencegal-sciencegal.blogspot.com




Gosh I am sure I have more that I love...but these are the top ones!

An engaging method for teaching multiplication

Do you know the box method? When I first moved up to fourth grade I thought...wow, double digit multiplication is hard!  How am I ever going to teach it in a "non-traditional" way that makes sense to my students?

Luckily, I work with an amazing math specialist as well as hardworking team who introduced me to the "box" method.  What is that you ask?  Well, I think the strategy has many different names...but this is the way that we teach it.

Take a double or triple digit number and break it into place value parts.  327 x 15 = ?
300 + 20 + 7
10 + 5

Then put them on this grid...

 X                300                   20                                  7             

3000	200	70
1500	100	35

10

5

Then you add up the columns so that 3000 + 1500= 4500, 200 + 100 = 300 and 70 + 35 = 105

Next add the 4500 + 300 + 105 = 4,905. 

To explain this to my kids, I created a power point.  It is your FREE to download at TeachersPayTeachers by clicking the link right here!  

I hope you enjoy this new product!  

Vocab through visual mapping

The other day I was working with a small group, reading a readers theater about a pioneer family.  I thought, this is perfect!  We just talked about how Virginians migrated to the west through the Cumberland Gap, we saw a PowerPoint with photos of covered wagons, the mountains...they will have a great background already!

So we started reading the text....and I realized there were more like 20 words that were difficult to understand meaning.  I guess when I was there age I had a better background on this time period - mainly thanks to watching "Little House on the Prairie"...but kids today had no idea what most of the words meant.  Keep in mind, they read the entire passage fluently and never stopped to ask what the words meant. Scary, huh???  At the end I asked what had happened, and they were able to give me some details - but a giant chunk was missing.

 I circled the words in the passage that stuck out to me as words that they needed more support on with meaning.  Then I started to draw!

Some of the kids had no idea what a corral was, but as I drew it out they could easily connect it to a fenced in area.  One of the children had thought that the woman was tied to the post because she didn't get the word "haltered".  So we talked about the halter of a horse as the method for which they would have tied the horse up.  Think about the misunderstanding going on there - wouldn't the story be different with a woman who is tied up vs. a horse?  Another word that was confusing was a sod house - "house were made out of dirt...oh like the Pueblos" (good connection!) 

We continued by looking at how stared and started are often confused (a mistake several of them made while reading the story).  We talked about what acre means, a standoff, and territory. 

After this visual map, we reread the readers theater and reflected again.  The children were able to tell me so much more the second time...clearly they had a different picture in their mind after the visual map.

Hope this helps you one day!

Vocab Game...

 

This is a great game that can be used to review content words, academic vocabulary or other words that are key to understanding in your classroom.  I don't really have a name for it...so we simply call it the vocab game.

Here's what you do -
      make up index cards with each of your vocabulary words on them.
      then, you either tape them or clothespin them to the back of one student's shirt
      have your student walk around the circle so that everyone but the person wearing it knows the word
      then have the other students give clues until the person guesses the word


It's a lot of fun!  

Engaging Boys....

I am a mother of two very active, very awesome BOYS... Having grown up surrounded by sisters, I was at a loss of how to be a mother to them...at first.  I used to be a little bit prissy girly when I was in my twenties and was expecting a life of tea parties and cute bows.  Guess what?Didn't happen.  Instead I have had a life full of batman, star wars, legos, soccer, football, basketball and really bad tv shows!  And I wouldn't trade it for the world....

My sons have taught me a lot about how to work with the boys in my classroom...especially as they grow older.


Recently I came across an article that I use to reflect and ensure that I am actively reaching my boys in class. (And yes, I also have one for girls - another post!)  So I'd like to share from.....

10 Essential Strategies for Teaching Boys Effectively

by Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens

I made a page that you can down load and clip into your plan book that highlights the eight strategies that you can implement in your classroom.  The other two strategies include providing mentors for our boys in schools and having counselors provide social skills training for sensitive boys as well as special education students.
To get your free copy click here .

Hope you enjoy it!