Advice From a 3rd Grader

Writing at the beginning of the year can be tricky.  It's a balance of getting kids to write quality pieces while not overloading them with anything too hefty.  I have a list of a few things I like to do early on, but this year I took on a new project.

This summer, my family and I traveled to Yellowstone and the Tetons.  At one of our Visitor Center stops, my daughters and I came across these great postcards and bookmarks that were written as advice.  They were all about nature, and they were so straightforward and witty all at the same time.  I was immediately smitten and purchased a couple of the postcards, knowing I would for sure find a way to use these in my classroom.

As luck would have it, they have a beautiful website too!   It's called Your True Nature, and you can read how it all started with Advice From a Tree.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Fast forward to early September.  I was ready to tackle this great writing project.  I checked out the website for more examples and discovered a wonderful section for teachers (and more!) under the "Learning" tab.  They demonstrated a great approach for helping students figure out how to write this kind of advice.  I showed the kids the examples I had purchased as well as others from the website, and we worked through an example together (Advice From a Flower).

The strategy of first listing attributes and then personifying the attributes is very effective in helping students organize their thoughts and in making the project manageable.  However, here's what I learned very quickly--the simplicity of this writing is highly deceptive.  And it was very tricky for some of my 3rd graders.  So after a day of some struggle, I adjusted my plans to make this a more collaborative effort.  The kids used each other to get ideas, and then we worked as a group to help anyone who needed it.  Synergy at its best!

So after all the toil and trouble, I was pleasantly surprised by the final product.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Advice From a Leaf

Look out for poison ivy.

Beleaf in yourself.

Be free in a tree.

Stay in the shade.

Try not to fall.

It's good to be green.

Advice From a Sun

Have a sunny day.

Have a bright attitude.

Be the star of the show.

Work your way around it.

Be yellow and don't be blue.

We all shine better together.

Advice From an Owl

Even good things can be found in the dark.

Fly high in the sky.

Stop and see the world.

Try to see everything around you.

Be WHOOO you want to be.

Advice From a Wave

Swim in the ocean.

Go with the flow.

Enjoy the ride.

Make a splash.

Advice From the Sun

Be kind the people around you.

Stay bright.

Rays your hand.

Don't let someone steal your light.

Shine like a star.

Pretty good, right?!  It seems like it was worth the struggle.  I may make some changes next time (like making a connection to science--Who doesn't love some interdisciplinary work?!), and I may try it a bit later in the year, but I think it will make a return.  Live and learn.  That's pretty good advice too!

A Return to the Calendar

If you know anything about me at all, you know that I have been teaching 3rd grade for a long time.  A Very. Long. Time.  I think that makes me one of the old dogs.  And the one thing this old dog has  never done is teach math by way of a calendar routine.  At the time I began teaching 3rd grade, no one on my team was doing a calendar routine, so I didn't either.  Sure, there was mental math and Daily Math Review and a few other things, but never a calendar.  I can't think of any good reason for not doing it.  Perhaps I thought of it as something better suited to lower elementary kids.  The one thing I do know is that 3rd grade can be tricky--stuck right between the little kids and the big kids.  Those are tough waters for teachers to navigate sometimes.  Putting 3rd grade learning in the same bucket as 2nd grade learning often leaves kids needing more.  But put them at a 4th grade level, and you can be overdoing it.  It's a fine line, for sure.

But last year I began to rethink this calendar thing.  I had noticed changes in the population at my school.  I had also noticed missing skills and a lack of number sense.  And that was eating away at me.  What could I do to help not only my strugglers and my students who are still learning English, but also provide a solid review and good practice for the others?  I settled on adding a calendar routine into my math every day to see if I could create some change.

My next step was to determine exactly what skills I wanted my kids to have exposure to and how to make it worth the time we were spending each day.  I created a list and then set out to create daily activities.  I decided that if we could work on several skills at least once a week, then I would feel like I was providing meaningful work for my students.  I'm finding that many of these activities are leading to more discussion and more practice.

And so far, I really like it!  After 23 days of school, it has become completely routine for the kids (and me).  They remind me when I forget (Maybe not routine yet, but I'm getting there)!  Currently, I have one student who leads the class and fills in the page on the projector for everyone to see.  My plan is to start having the kids bring a white board to the carpet and have every student write answers as we go.  This will hold a few of my "observers" a little more accountable.  :-)  Here's a look at some of the pages we've filled out so far.

If you notice, we use the day of school as the number of the day to focus on.  So when we have to write a number in word form or show a number in Base Ten blocks, we use the number of how many days we have been in school.  Here is how our Days of School board looks so far.

I'd love to hear what you are doing as well!  And I'd love to hear your feedback.  What 3rd grade skills am I missing?  If you love what you see, you can purchase these pages at my TpT store here.

Right now, I'm just feeling good that even though I may be an old dog, I'm still learning a few new tricks!

DWTS and Pillows

Oh, Dancing With The Stars, how I've missed you!  I love this show so much!  I'd give just about anything to be a former child star, forgotten music legend, or an Olympic athlete just returned with my medals about now!  :-)  I was a dancer in my former life, so this show brings me such joy and comfort.  I look forward to it every week.  And what I really love is how these people put themselves out there to do something completely out of their comfort zone.  They set goals to get better every week, and then work their tails off to make it happen.  And sometimes, it's the little things that make a big difference.

That's where the pillows come in.  It's a little thing that, I believe, makes a big difference in my classroom.  I've done this project for about 8 or 9 years now.  I've lost count.  And even though it takes some work up front (really, doesn't everything if it's worth it?), it ends up being one of my favorite days.

If you've ever made the fleece tie blankets, this is the same idea.  I ask the kids to bring a 14 x 14 pillow form (I always have some extra for those who can't provide one themselves), and I provide the fleece.  I wait for the sales at JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby and use my teacher discount on top of that.  It was a little spendy (Is that really a word?) up front, but I've gotten much more efficient as the years have passed.  It takes 2 20 x 20 pieces of fabric (one front and one back).  I cut and match these ahead of time, and then have parent volunteers cut the fringe.  Then all that's left to do at the party is tie them up.  It's very helpful to have parent volunteers for this as well.  I'm always amazed at how many kids don't know how to tie a knot.  But in the end, between the parents and the kids, we always get them done.

And the kids are instantly in love.  These pillows go everywhere in the room with the kids.  They sit on them at the carpet, snuggle with them while reading books, and make their chairs more comfy.  No two pillows are exactly alike.  The kids know exactly which pillow belongs to which kid.  I still don't know how they can remember that but not remember to put their names on their papers.  ;-)

Here's a look at the choices before we got started this year.

I always have extra choices so whoever gets to pick last still has lots to choose from.

And here are the final products...

Today, as we were packing up to go home, I overheard one of my students say, "Pillow, I love you!"  Happy dancing all around.