Before I jump into the blog hop I wanted to share with you what I have been working on (aka- blood, sweat and tears). These assessments took me almost a whole week to complete!!! They are the standards based assessments written for the 3rd Grade Common Core Math *ALL STANDARDS*. You can see some problems below, and I talk about my assessments in a few other posts here and here.
I've received many questions from teachers about whether or not they should purchase the different grade level assessments in addition to their own grade level.
I've got one word for you, YES.
As I was working on these, I was thinking to myself that I am totally going to use a ton of the 4th grade and 3rd grade material with my 5th grade students. I may not only use them as an assessment but perhaps for morning work, homework and review?! LOVE IT! I know I have kids that need to review elapsed time. How about you? Calculating area?! YEP!
That's what we are here for right?! WE MUST DIFFERENTIATE!! I often feel like I am the differentiation queen and sometimes it becomes pure craziness in my classroom, because I may have every student working on different homework or morning work that day. But you know what, thats ok. That is what my kids need to be successful. I can easily keep track of it all with a simple spreadsheet. I can group my kids on the spreadsheet and write out which student has which assignment page that day/night (I will show you how I work this during the school year).
Really, I say craziness, but it's that kind of craziness us teachers eat, breathe, and sleep. It's the craziness that makes perfect sense to us. Now, if you came in and tried to observe and/or take over our controlled craziness, well...good luck!
Here is a sneak peak of literally only 4 questions out of a bundled pack that contains WELL OVER 200 questions!!! The majority of the questions are extended response questions, many are higher level thinking, there are pictures, graphs, charts, data tables, pictographs, and more! Remember that you also receive teaching notes on how to break down the standards and a page to document the "I can" statements as well as the test dates and percentages. Click HERE or the picture below to check them out!!
Now, onto the BLOG HOP!!
Probably my favorite day in the hop! I am technology OBSESSED and do whatever I can to integrate technology into my classroom.
Today I want to share with you my top 5 favorite *student* friendly ways to integrate technology into your classroom.
#1- Websites to play with words and make visual texts.
I've included a link to a blog post that gives some great ideas on how to use wordle in your own classroom HERE!
#2- Websites to make comics.
Comics are a blast. They are perfect for character studies, working on writing, I use them throughout the holidays, and even as an assessment for kids to show their understanding of a topic. My kids BEG to create comics in my classroom ALL THE TIME. It makes the "old soul" in me pretty happy.
#3- Digital timelines.
Obsessed. My all time favorite subject to teach is social studies. We do a lot of colonialism, Revolutionary War stuff, and these timelines are PERFECT for breaking down the events for my kids. You can create your own, or look for timelines that are already complete!
#4- Writing digital stories.
Quoted directly from their website, I couldn't have said it better, "Storybird reverses the process of visual storytelling by starting with the image and "unlocking" the story inside. Choose an artist or theme, get inspired, and start writing." My kids LOVE this website and beg me to read their creations every week!
#5- Math review or enrichment.
Khan Academy is amazing for review and enrichment. I mostly use it for math enrichment opportunities. Last year we received a laptop for our classroom, and I was able to let two students use headphones to plug in and listen to some of the awesome lessons on the website. Khan Academy also gives students problems to complete after some of the videos. Not to mention, kids can view videos at home too! FLIPPED CLASSROOMS?!!?!! YES PLEASE!!!!
These are only my top 5 favorite and really I could go on FOREVER! What are some of your top websites that you use with your kids?! I'd love to hear!