Room Overhaul

Room Update Fall 2013

I got a bunch of new and effective decorations which most of them double as learning centers and gave my classroom a major decorating and layout overhaul in the fall. Only now do I have the time to post an update about it.

My wall bulletins were looking shoddy and worn so I replaced them and made them clearer, also customizing them to my use pattern for how we use songs and rhymes. 

Moved the printer off that bookcase and use it for games I'm using and also for a lot of the little kids class props and printout materials. 

Made a new alphabet focal point since the old thing was peeling off and getting pulled off. This cannot be ripped or pulled off like paper can. Somehow the kids don't have the idea of peeling off the letters in their mind, they look so attached! 

Also got a new organizer wall pouch in Korea. Holds everything of multiple sizes. Works great! 

Classroom Management Tool

Classroom Management Tool: 
Climbing the Walls (so kids and teachers don't climb them first.)

Ages: 5-8 3rd graders usually know how to behave or have chosen not to behave before I have to decide if I should employ this technique.

Print characters. We had rockets, then I rotated the rockets to the other teacher. In fall we started squirrels, I wanted to change for winter but never did. The students get to choose their color or I choose if I think a battle of wills might take place but most the kids accept what they get. Sometimes they just want a magnet. If they break classroom rules then their rocket falls. If they are participating readily most rise to the top. This motivates the little kids great, and starts to loose effect for second and third graders who manipulate their rocket. However, they get a point for a point card if they reach the top, and when the points add up they can have a present from my prize box. That happens after six times. I've been using it about a year and a half now with great results, though students with certain behavior problems will need a different motivator. 

Care Package!

 An expatriate's treasure trove. The taste of the abundance of the west! The jerky, the chocolate, the organic ness of it all! How I miss it... Hazelnuts. I miss the cozy cradle of agriculture that is the Willamette valley.

On Students Grabbing Things

Grabbing has been a major problem. Or maybe the kids always did it, it's just been getting on my nerves more in the winter months? They have more pent up energy to do it? This post is really a continuation of the last but I couldn't figure out how to imbed the video.

Teaching Wild Classes

"Oh look, I've been impaled" *insane laugh*



This is how I feel during classes where the little kids just get... well... rowdy. And little. Like today, they were spanking me and running around like little gremlins. They grab everything from out in front of you that you did not have the forsight to lock and stow before takeoff, and if you do not lock and stow before take off, they take off with it faster than you can say... put that thing back where it came from or so help me!

Songs for Students: 50 Nifty United States

If you are featuring the United States in a lesson, this may be a fun song. My private student who loves geography latched onto this song quite quickly, and we have done a number of bonus time fun time exercises just listening to songs, including 50 Nifty United States, and other youtube videos explaining the states. 

Also interested in teaching about other countries to my student, so if you are from another English speaking country and you know a classic song from your elementary education which kids might like, please let me know! 

Lyrics: 

Fifty Nifty United States  

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;

Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautif'ly in the breeze.

Each individual state contributes a quality that is great.

Each individual state deserves a bow, we salute them now.

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,

Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,

One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the U.S.A.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut;

Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana;

Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan;

Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada;

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,

North Dakota, Ohio;

Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas;

Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,

Al -a -o ming.

North, south, east, west, in our calm, objective opinion,

(name of home state) is the best of the

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,

Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,

One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the good old U. S. A.

Some videos I enjoy to use when teaching this song: 

My student requested this for 2 classes during his free time/game time. 

Classroom Activities 7: Info Gap Monsters and Writing

Teaching 3rd Person Grammar to Elementary Students

The fun way! 

   By the time my students arrive at level 3 in English Land, they have a good working vocabulary and are proficient with I like..., I have..., I am.... So they talk a lot about themselves. I noticed that the switch to talking about others and other items and their qualities is quite difficult for elementary students in the foreign language classroom, and when I first arrived at my job I was intimidated by it. But now I know there is no need to be intimidated by this.

Activity: Info Gap Monsters With Writing
Draw and Write, First Learning of Awareness of the 3rd Person

Corresponds to English Land Series Unit 3 

All you need is some descriptions of monsters (using target vocabulary your students have been exposed to: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, wings, teeth, skin, legs, arms, etc...) written in a way students can easily understand.  Students are also learning important sight words like colors. 

All students can read about the same monster, but in my small language classroom I like to give each student a different monster. In a large class, each group could be given the same monster so that they can work on the reading together. Also fun would be to give them all different monsters and then when they finish drawing, they can find members from the other groups who had the same monster. 

Students have finished reading and drawing. They highlight I have...  and I don't have phrases. By this point they have already drawn their monsters and arrived in their groups if you are working in the group setting. 

Students then should be made aware that I is strange in this situation, because we are talking about the monster. So we change it to it, he, or she. The sentences are then changed from I have to It has. The repetition is good for the students.
They can then present their findings to the class, which is good reinforcement, and this is possible in group and small class settings.  Everyone enjoys to see the resulting monsters and everyone had a good time! 

The students who generated these monsters are 3rd graders. This activity works well for 3rd grade and above. 2nd graders usually read "I have" and draw a monster only, without having to write themselves.