Dr. Seuss Math

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

It is often difficult to find the perfect combination of rigor and fun when planning activities for the upper elementary grade levels. With STAAR looming around the corner, teachers often feel like they can't give up any precious days of instruction. In preparation for Dr. Seuss' birthday, I searched and searched for the perfect activity to do with my fourth graders. It was taking much longer than expected, so I gave up and created my own!

Here is a preview of my activity. It is FREE on my TPT site. Just click here.

Click here to see more products from my TPT store.

STAAR Pressure

The honeymoon period is over. Teachers are stressed and students are restless. The pressure of STAAR is sinking in. Tension is high in the school hallways and you can feel it in the school climate. Is STAAR an excuse to lose your focus and passion for teaching? Absolutely not! Here is my piece of advice: don't lose the connections you have developed with your students. Your passion for teaching and the connections you've made with your students are more important now than ever! 

Now - I am not saying that you should disregard the STAAR test completely. I am merely saying that you should focus on teaching the kids to love to learn. Everything will fall into place! Don't let the passion fade away. 

Here are a couple of ways you can make STAAR review FUN! Yes, FUN!

STAAR Review Scoot

Take the STAAR released questions from last year (or any rigorous word problems you have on hand) and type them on one sheet of paper each. Laminate the paper and post them around the room. The students will travel with paper and a clip board around the room to answer the questions. They may work alone, with a partner, or with a small group. You can ability group them or mix up the ability levels. Students will rotate or "scoot" around the room on your time! How much time do they need? That is up to you and your class makeup. I would suggest about 3 to 5 minutes per problem.

Review Stations

Look at test data from throughout the year to find those tough spots for your kiddos. Create review stations for these tough skills. Each station should be about 10 to 15 minutes long. The key to review stations is classroom management and setting expectations. Don't assume they know the directions for each station. Explain each station before hand and have instructions at each station in case they forget. 

Task Cards

Task cards are always a deceivingly fun and engaging way to practice math. Task cards can be used in guided math stations, review with shoulder partners or small groups, small group intervention, or an early finisher activity. Do you have iPads in your room? Buy or create task cards with QR Codes to make them even more engaging and exciting!

 4th Grade Math: STAAR Review Task Card Scoot 

bundles all these ideas into one FUN activity! 

Click here to download this product from my TPT store.

Visit my TPT for more engaging fourth grade math activities. Just click here.

Valentine's Day Party

Looking for easy, fun, and FREE Valentine's Party ideas?!?! Below you will find cheap and easy ways to keep the kids entertained during your classroom Valentine's Day party.

Tower of Hearts

All you need is a box of conversation hearts (per student) and a timer. Students are given three minutes to build the tallest tower they can. Students cannot hold their tower or support their tower using other conversation hearts. Whoever has the tallest tower when the timer goes off is the winner!

You can mix it up by having them build their tower using patterns: 

Pink, white, pink, white...

Pink, yellow, white, pink, yellow, white...

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, yellow, yellow, purple, purple.... 

Let the kids get creative!

You can also have them build a tower where not two same colors are touching. Have fun with it!

Valentine's Day BINGO

Each student will receive one Bingo board and one box of conversation hearts. The teacher will call a word from the cards provided. Students will cover the word (if they have it) on their Bingo board. You can determine the winner in a variety of ways: four in a row, four corners, black out, etc. Have fun!

You can download Valentine's Day Bingo for FREE from my Teacher Pay Teacher's page. Just click the picture below or click here.

Please visit my Teacher Pay Teachers store - Cool Beans Ed - for more products!

President's Day - Converting Customary Length

Happy President's Day!

I use this lesson every year and thought it was too fun not to share! President's Day always falls during our Converting Customary Measurements unit. Thanks to Teacher Pay Teachers I was able to find this long term keeper!

Here is what you'll need:
Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman
"Measure the Presidents" activity from Teacher Pay Teachers (FREEBIE courtesy of That Teacher Spark)

You can buy Looking at Lincoln on Amazon.com. Just click here.

 

You can download "Measure the Presidents" from The Teacher Spark's TPT site for FREE. Just click here. 

Top 10 Teaching Essentials

First year teachers often ask us "seasoned" teachers for advice before they begin their journey as an educator. If you are a seasoned teacher then you know how hard this is! I have a "teacher candidate" this year - yes, a "teacher candidate." Back in my day we were called student teachers ;) Anywho, she has been asking me for tidbits of advice and information to help her prepare for her first year as an elementary teacher. I decided to start making a list and felt it was unfair to keep it hoarded in my head. After all, the best teachers are ones that steal ideas! Here are my Top 10 Teaching Essentials for Elementary School Teachers. This is for you newbie teachers who don't know any better and you oldies who have forgotten!

Top 10 Teaching Essentials
For Elementary School Teachers

1. Monthly Planner
I'd like to emphasis the word MONTHLY on this one. Do not buy a weekly planner. It is very overwhelming to be a teacher. Our days are packed with things from ARDs and student reviews to picture day and assemblies. Having all your agenda items on one page in a planner is a life saver. I cannot tell you how many meetings I missed and schedule changes I overlooked because my weekly organizer was overwhelming. With a monthly planner, you are able to see all your agenda items on one page!

2. Watch
Schools run on a very strict schedule. Need to go to the restroom? Sorry, you'll have to wait until your conference period at 10:40. A watch was one of the first to make my list because it is astronomically important that you are on schedule. Teachers are expected to be PRECISELY on time during transitions... not a minute early, not a minute late. 

3. Paper Mate Felt-Tip Pens
This one is just a personal preference. I strongly feel that every teacher needs a good pen - and if you're an elementary school teacher, you need bright ones! These aren't cheap, but they are totally worth the splurge.

4. Mr. Sketch Markers
You are not a teacher until you have these. It is in the rule book. That is all.

5. Card Stock
Every year my mom asks what she can buy for my classroom. My answer is always card stock!!! I use card stock for task cards and games during my guided math centers. You know... come to think about it, I could write a whole Blog about card stock. Noted. Until then - just buy some! Don't forget to get fun colors.

6. Dollar Tree Baskets
I went to Dollar Tree my first year teaching and about $50 worth of colorful baskets in all shapes and sizes. That is 50 baskets for $50 (in case you are unfamiliar with Dollar Tree). You could easily spend $10 per container/basket at your nearest teacher supply store. This one is a huge money saver!

7. 1 BIG BINDER!
This may be a personal preference, but I HATE paper. I hate filing cabinets and unnecessary binders. We live in a digital world - get used to it! I have 1 BIG BINDER (3") and I use it for everything: student contact info, health info, parent communication, 504 notes, student review notes, ARD notes... the list goes on. I NEVER have to ask myself what binder to grab- I just grab my 1 BIG BINDER.

8. Post-It Notes
Post-it notes made the list for two reasons. (#1) They are helpful for small checklists, reminders, marking off pages you'd like to copy, and so on. (#2) Tell a kid to write what they know on scrap paper as an exit ticket: BORING... ask them to write it on a sticky note: FUN! Kids... I could go on, but I think you get the point.

9. Thank You Notes
Students bring you gifts for Christmas, teacher appreciation, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and the last day of school. They also bring you gifts on the second Tuesday of every April. Just kidding... BUT they do like to surprise you with things. Some gifts may be a homemade painting while others are a new pair of Kendra Scott earrings (both are pretty special in my book). EVERY GIFT DESERVES A THANK YOU NOTE. I keep an overstock in my desk drawer. FYI - buy your thank you notes at Target's dollar section. They're $1 and super cute!

10. A Teacher Pay Teachers Account
Teachers are always looking for new and exciting activities to do. Sign up for Teacher Pay Teachers!!! Don't want to spend money? That's fine! There are many things out there that are absolutely FREE! Click here for a link to my Teacher Pay Teachers store.

Welcome to Ms. Uecker's Nest

A little about me: My name is Danni, Fightin' Texas Aggie class of 2012! I am currently starting my third year of teaching 4th grade math/science at Fredericksburg Elementary School in Texas. I am extremely passionate about my job and want to share my ideas with the education world. I have done my fair share of stealing ideas and wanted to pay it forward.

I thought I'd start by sharing some classroom organization and decoration ideas that I use in my classroom.

4th Grade is a Hoot
Saying that I like owls and pink is an understatement. I have to remind myself to hold back on the pink/owl decor in my room ;)
This is the bulletin board I created to display student names in the hallway. The large owl is made of various color poster boards that were cut, laminated, and stapled to the wall.

Words to Make You Wise
Word walls can be tricky. They should look different depending on the grade level and content you teach. During my first year of teaching I used a word wall that organized the math vocabulary based on the first letter of the word. I think this is an excellent idea if you teach language arts or a younger grade. For fourth grade math, it seemed that most of the words belonged in the first half of the alphabet. This was a complete waste of space because half of my word wall was unused. After playing with it for a bit, I decided to organize my word wall based on the content. My word wall contains the following sections: place value, operations, fractions, measurement, and geometry. This not only prevented wasted space, but it also helped the students quickly find the word they were looking for.

Oil Drip Pan & Button Magnets
This was one of my favorite Pinterest finds to date. I was hunting for an alternative way to hang papers near my desk that wasn't a cork board. I knew I wanted something magnetic and had some options to compare. I first looked at Lowe's/Home Depot for a piece of sheet metal, but this was a pricey option. Then, I found this idea and it was life changing! This is an oil drip pan I bought at Wal-Mart for only $12. It was not only cheaper than the sheet metal, but it was also nearly twice as big! It just took a drill to make some holes and a couple of screws and I was good to go. The magnets are made out of oversized buttons from Wal-Mart and self-sticking magnets on the back.

Crayons
I love using crayons, but i absolutely HATE when the crayon boxes are torn. Here is my solution: dollar snack containers from The Dollar Tree. The containers came in packages of two. I bought 10 containers for only $5. My goal this past summer: cheap organization solutions! This was definitely a good find.

Border Storage
Here is another Dollar Tree steal. I bought these containers a couple of summers ago and was worried they were too flimsy to make it this long, but so far, so good! These containers came in packages of four for $1 and they hold a whole package of border easily. No more awkwardly long pieces of border with no place to put them.

Pencils
This idea is an oldie, but goodie! Each student has two pencils on them at all times. If one breaks, no big deal- they have a second pencil. If both break, then they silently get up and exchange their two dull pencils for two sharp pencils.

You've Got Mail
This is an idea I stole from my wonderful chem/physics teacher years ago in high school. When you teach more than one class it is very expensive to buy the large slotted paper organizers to use as mailboxes. This idea only costs about $3 per crate plus about $5 for hanging folders. This is much less expensive than buying two or more paper organizers at about $30 a piece. I have also been using the same crates and folders for three years! I was nervous about the students tearing the paper hanging folders, but it just took a little patience and training for them to handle the folders gently.

Frequently Used Papers
As a math teacher, I have many papers that I frequently use with the students: multiplication tables, STAAR charts, timed fact tests, place value charts, etc. I ALWAYS keep a very large amount of each of these copied at all times. This saves so much time and I always have a few extra activities printed and ready to go if there is a few extra minutes of class time.

Lesson Plan Organization
Every Sunday I copy everything I need for the week and organize them in these containers. This was a splurge for me, but well worth it. I had a cardboard paper organizer I used before that only lasted a year. These containers were $9 a piece, but well worth it!

Exit Ticket
Exit tickets are a wonderful way to informally assess what you taught during your lesson that day. I have these folders laminated and attached to the wall right next to my classroom door. The students place their exit ticket in one of the folders based on their understanding of the concept as they leave the room.

THE Life Changing Pencil Sharpener
This pencil sharpener is amazing! It takes a bit longer to use this than an electric sharpener, but the pencil always stays strong and sharp. What more can I say?!? Here is the link so you can buy your own: http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I plan on continuing to share my ideas as the school year goes on.

I also create and sell math activities on Teachers Pay Teachers.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Danni-Uecker