STAR WARS Parent-Teacher Conference Pack

This is for all of my teacher friends who love Melonheadz Star Wars characters as much as I do!

Two files are included in this Parent-Teacher Conference Pack. One is loaded with Print-n-Use forms.  The other is a PowerPoint file with editable forms. This pack also has lots of options for coordinating with parents as well as creating progress reports that work for you and your students/parents.

Here is  peek at what is included:

This form you would send home and have your students’ parents give you 3 dates/times that they are available. With the other set of forms (see below) you would set a time/day for each parent to meet with you (based on the sign-up sheet). They would return the bottom half of the form to you with their reply.

Use this next set of forms to find out what your students’ parents concerns are, and what your students think about their own progress.

And now, here are the options for gathering all of your data and generating a progress report or student summary. Choose the one that works for you and your students/parents.

Now, you are ready to hold your conferences! Be sure to have this sign-in sheet printed and some Padawan Love Notes ready for the parents to leave their children. 

This set will be on sale through Friday! Hope you love it!

 

Favorite Reads from 2017 {Sonlight Core E, Fourth Grade}

There are lots of great books in Core E. You can see what the kids liked last year here and here. This year Annelise, age 8, really enjoyed In Search of the Source. It is a pretty awesome book about missionaries to a tribal people in Papua New Guinea and the struggles they went through to not only share the gospel, but to give them the written Word of God.  Here is what Annelise had to say:

  Annelise, age 8

In his book, In Search of the Source, Neil Anderson and his family share the gospel with the Folopa tribe of Papua New Guinea. Along the way there are many difficulties, but the power of God’s word helps them find a way through. This is a story of true faith, bravery and lovingkindness.

Neil and his family went to Papua New Guinea to translate the Bible into the Folopa language. To do this, they had to learn the language and make it into a written language; be accepted by the people; and teach them how to read. God had called them to do a BIG JOB!

On the first day of translating, Neil had begun to write, but he was struggling to find a Folopa word for “created”. It was hard for him to describe it, and harder still for the Folopans to understand what he was asking. Two days later, on a hunting trip, he found the answer in a surprising way while eating a leaf-plateful of grubs!

This account is full of the amazing ways God reveals Himself to man, and helps someone like Neil to do the work He had called him to do. The faith that the Folopans had and the joy they found in knowing Christ encouraged me and I know you will enjoy it, too.

Spring Photo Booth Writing Prompts

We had some fun this week celebrating sping and looking forward to Easter. My kids love it when we celebrate with a photo booth (Krista’s props make them especially fun) and I love it when we work on their writing skills :). So, I put together some fun spring writing activities that you can use as crafts, as a display, or in a photo booth like we did.

1. Our Easter is Filled With—Why is Easter special? How do you celebrate it? Your students will write and draw about their Easter traditions using this brainstorming writing prompt. They will put each idea on a separate egg and then place it into their Easter basket.

2. In the Spring (Five Senses)—Using their five senses and descriptive words, your students will write about spring. Their responses can then be used to write a spring cinquain. Four colors of flowers are included.

3. Spring Cinquain—Your students will use the descriptive phrases and action words they came up with for “In the Spring” to write a Cinquain (a short, unrhymed 5 line poem of 22 syllables). Cinquain poster and instructions are included.


4. Rain is a Blessing—Your students will ponder HOW (what if it did not rain), WHY, and to WHOM rain is a blessing in this photo booth writing craft. This also a fun writing craft to use after discussing the water cycle.

Grab this set of PHOTO BOOTH WRITING PROMPTS for half-off today only!

100th Day Photo Booth WRITING PROMPTS

Here is a FUN way to accomplish some writing on your 100th Day of School–Photo Booth Writing Prompts!

There are three to choose from:

1. NOW I KNOW–to celebrate that they are 100 days smarter, your students will write 5 things they have learned so far this year. Color and black and white are included.

2. I WISH I HAD 100–what do your students wish they had 100 of and why? Find out with this writing prompt! Three different color options as well as black and white are included.

3. WHEN I AM 100 I WILL HAVE–similar to a bucket list, your students will list the places they hope to have gone, things they hope to have seen and accomplished by the time they are 100. Two skin tone options and black and white are included.

As shown in the product photos, we used our WRITING PROMPTS with Creative Clips’ Photo Booth Props and had a lot of fun with them! You can use your own additional props, or grab Krista’s here.

Happy 100th Day of School!

Graphic Multiple-Digit Multiplication

For some of our children, like my eight-year-old, multiple-digit multiplication can be quite a challenge. It isn’t the math facts that are a stumbling block, its the structure–the placement of products–that creates a problem. So, after multiple explanations of the WHYs and WHEREs with me watching like a hawk as she worked each problem, I decided we needed a different approach.  One that appealed to her visual learning style, but didn’t keep her stuck there–always needing the visual cues.

Slide01

Graphic Multiplication is based on a two-step traditional method approach to multiple-digit multiplication.  Your students will find all of the products FIRST, and add SECOND. They will also CHECK their own work–immediate feedback to ensure success.

IMG_8096

Graphic Multiplication has three stages, or levels of computation independence. You can see the variation between the three stages with these two sample problems.

Slide3

Once your students have mastered STAGE ONE—the graphic organizers that identify the place value of each number and number’s location for each step—they should complete problems on the STAGE TWO graphic organizers that only have the initial prompts. This second set of sheets will test your students’ understanding of the organization of multi-digit multiplication problems. Finally, STAGE THREE sheets have no prompts—just a reminder to be cautious about number placement.

These graphic organizers can be used with whatever math program and multiplication problems your students are working on!

SigBlk5

Division Robots

One of the things I have always loved about mathematics is the “plug-and-chug” method.  You give me a formula and some numbers…and vola!…I give you an answer. It is neat, clean, and organized–I love it!

Long division, and its myriad of steps, is the first opportunity your students will have “plugging and chugging.” It isn’t quite as neat and tidy as equations they will learn in Algebra or Calculus, but it does embody a series of steps–that, if performed accurately in the same order, for every problem, the right answer will result. And, there is even a formula for checking long division answers to ensure they are correct.

So, how do you transform your glassy-eyed students, or those that just don’t “get math” into those that embrace the joy and simplicity of long division?  You turn them into ROBOTS–Division Robots :)!

RD1

It isn’t that we don’t want our students thinking, and pondering about mathematical concepts–but, in order to be successful with long division, they really just need to act like a robot.  They need to learn the steps and complete them in the right order–it’s that simple!

You’ll want to begin by teaching your students the terms they will need to know to effectively talk about the steps in each problem. This we’ll do with an instructional poster and flash cards (with fun Melonheadz graphics!)

Slide1

Then, you’ll go through each of the six steps using a sample problem and instructional posters:

  1. Divide
  2. Multiply
  3. Subtract
  4. Bring down & repeat steps 1-4
  5. Determine if there is a remainder
  6. Check the answer

Slide3

Now, it is time to put pencil to paper.  Using the task cards included in Division Robots, or other division problems you provide, your students will work the long division using the color/robot-coded graphic organizer and their Student Graphic Reminder Card.

Slide4

Slide5

As they get more comfortable with the steps in the process, graduate them to the black & white computation sheets, and then the blank sheets (with the “check” reminder). It won’t be long before your students are Dividing Like Robots!

SigBlk5

Mastering Multiplication Giveaway Starts Today!!

My newest giveaway at Teacher’s Notebook has begun! Mastering Multiplication giveaway starts today!! The giveaway will run for the next 10 days and three of you who enter will win! Mastering Multiplication was designed to help your students master their multiplication facts and move them to a greater understanding of the applications of multiplication.

Slide1

Slide06Your students begin by learning each numbers’ skip count series. Skip counting is a valuable math skill and the foundation of multiplication! Using the Skip Count Assessment sheets, they will systematically apply this knowledge to:Slide07

— completing skip count patterns
— writing and solving equations for arrays
— determining missing factors
— building equivalent fractions
— and solving word problems.

 

 

 

OncSlide08e the multiplication facts for a number are grasped through skip counting, your students can delve into the Units of Measure. On the Units of Measure sheets, your students will:

— learn each number’s (2-8, 10, & 16) prefix, or terms for that number
— visual identify the number’s unit conversions
— apply their skip counting knowledge to discover conversion answers to basic (and more challenging) word problems/task cards

 

 

This pack also provides instruction on even and odd numbers, squares (a number times itself) and prime numbers.  Blank multiplication tables, task card recording sheets and tests for fluency are also included.

Did I mention this pack includes:Slide09
Before you enter the giveaway, grab the {FREEBIE} from this pack and see how it will help you teach multiplication this year!

SigBlk5

Last Week of School

I always like looking back over the school year during the last week of school. It amazes me what my kids have learned.  I enjoy filling their final notebook with all the highlights of the year–their creative writing; calendar worksheets; math fluency and scripture memory sheets.

CoreBScrip CoreBawa

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, of course, my kids LOVE getting their awards!

I also like having them recount their “favorites.”  The kids all have fun reading each others answers. I enjoy seeing what they consider to be their achievements. I also like getting a peak at the dreams (for their future and the summer) that they don’t always verbalize.

EndofYear

SigBlk5

Solo’s Sound Wars

You may have noticed that Kindergarten Jedi is loaded with fun and engaging math and literacy worksheets (print-n-go) for your young padawans. But, did you know that it also has a wonderful word building game that all your kids can enjoy together?Slide3

Solo’s Sound Wars will challenge your kindergarteners to sound out and build CVC and CVCC words. It will also allow your older children to demonstrate their spelling abilities and teach the younger ones something new!

My fifth, third, second and kindergarten children played Solo’s Sound Wars with some FUN and AMAZING results!

kjgame

They built plenty of CVC words; used the true blends and double consonants; and demonstrated mastery of vowel teams!

kjgame2

kjgame3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SigBlk5