The other night, we had Open House. Now, until I started blogging, I actually thought this was a normal ritual around the country. Every spring, we open our doors to anyone and everyone to show off all the great work we have been doing throughout the year. (we have Back to School Night in the Fall, where parents come to meet the teacher) I have come to learn that this is NOT the norm, but nevertheless, it is a time honored tradition that we all here in CA have come to embrace (or not embrace, depending upon who you are ;) ) And in the tradition of Open House, I am going to open my classroom to you today. So there will be no lesson plan or activity explanation. Simply a tour of my room and all the great work that the students have done.
So without further ado.....Room 6.
Whole Class Views
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| View from the front door. I ADORE my rug. Simply adore. |
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| Another front door view. Now you can see all of my tables. I have 30 students and have it set up to accommodate ONLY 30. I am at a school where I do not get new students throughout the year (thank goodness!) but if I did, I could easily put at least 3 more desks in here. |
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| View from the opposite side of the room. Anyone care to guess what soda is stealthily making its way into the picture on the bottom corner??? |
Here is a closer view of some of the work that the students did.
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| This is the science work we did this unit. Since there was SO much, I thought I would make a bulletin board with various samples of work from various kids. My favorite is the Digestive System Power Point we made in computer lab. The students did the fun "I am a piece of food traveling through the system" perspective and they came out really good! |
Here is the math board. I drew the map up on the butcher paper and the kids painted it in. The dots on the map coincide with the battles they researched. So, no, this is not a social studies board. It just looks like it from far off because of the map :)
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| Here is the math board. The students were given a battle from the Revolutionary War, and made bar and pie graphs (after finding the percentages) of the people hurt, captured, killed, or unharmed on both the British and American sides. |
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| Close up view |
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| Standard, Task, Rubric |
The
Hanger People Biographies came out GREAT this year. Each child researched a patriot or loyalist, wrote a biography, then created their likeness in a hanger person. The kids also put some identifying mark on them so you would know who they are without reading the biography. Can you guess who any of the people are?
Here are some other views of my room. Some of these things I am actually going to dedicate whole posts to, so don't worry if I don't explain them right now!
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| My desk area |
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| Our own Flags, like Betsy Ross, made of foil |
Click here to see how I actually made the foil balloons!
Ok....that is all for now. There really are many more pictures, but I think I have exceeded my image allotment for the day :) I may do a video tour at some point, so I can explain it all a bit better, but for now, I hope you have a little better idea of the room I live in for 6 hours a day. Thank you for looking!
Do you have Open House? When is yours?
Wow!! That's all I can manage right now--Wow!!! Aside from the quantity, I'm really impressed with the quality of the work too!! Can't wait to see what you're going to dedicate posts too! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laurie! Foil balloons are first up on the list :)
DeleteWow---can't wait to read more on future blogs (especially about hand jive foldable) :) Have a great weekend and thanks for sharing your classroom pics!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely have to post about that!
DeleteYour room looks great! We don't have Open House, but after seeing so many I wish we did. (Yikes, I'm WANTING work???) Anyway...that would be a DIET PEPSI in that picture, right?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Fun in Room 4B
You are right Elizabeth!! That is most definitely a Diet Pepsi (no other soda would do ;) ) It sure is a lot of work, but worth it. The kids love showing off all their great learning.
DeleteStephanie,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful space you've created to share with your students! If you're an iPhone user, it would be cool to create a free Photosynth 360 tour with the free app:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photosynth/id430065256?mt=8
Oh, I am going to have to look into that app!
DeleteWow that looks great!! It looks like your kids have been very busy!!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, you are simply amazing!! Wow!! I am so impressed and inspired! How do you do all that you do with your students and still find time to do your blog and share so unselfishly with all of us?!! You are incredible and a blessing to all! Thank you for all you do AND share!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat kind words Jody. I really appreciate that. I have no idea where I find the time. I guess I just work fast ;)
DeleteIn my district we have an open house about 1 month after school begins. The only problem is that some parents want to turn it into a conference...not an open house. So how many school days do you have left after the open house?
ReplyDeleteIf you're a mac user, try imovie to make a video...really pretty easy. You can add photos and/or video which I like.
I super enjoy your blog.
❤Pat
A Time to Share & Create
♬ MY WEBSITE
Fabulous 4th Grade
Thank you Pat! We have about 3 weeks left after Open House. Since it is a part of the culture here, people know this is not conference time. They generally just follow their kids around the room :)
DeleteSeriously, looking at these pictures makes me so want to be in your class ;) Great job!
ReplyDeleteThat is so nice of you to say!
DeleteI think it is neat that you all do open house near the end of school instead of in the fall. What a great way to showcase and celebrate the learning that students and teachers have done all year long. We have ours in the fall about 6 weeks into the school year. We also have a meet the teacher evening before school starts, but at the middle school level I think it is sort of pointless with the number of schedule changes that occur. Hope your last few weeks go wonderfully!
ReplyDeleteMiss Klohn
Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher
We call ours an Academic Fair. It's usually in May which is the end of our school year. We showcase student projects, have a book fair, sell spaghetti dinner, and have musical and jump rope performances. The kids love it and have a blast. We usually have some sort of passport that they need to get stamped in each of the grade levels so the kids really go see all their old teachers. They get a homework pass for bringing in their completed homework pass. I loved your projects. We do a president project with 2 liter soda bottles. :-)
ReplyDeleteLisa in Florida
I am an avid follower of your blog! So many good idea in one place. Thank you! I am wondering about your reading olympics. I searched google and didn't really find one place that explained it thoroughly. Do you have a post about it, or could you tell me where to find more resources? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat is one of those things I need to sit down and really blog about. I keep saying I will, and then I never do. I need to get on it!
DeleteI will definitely keep reading then! Good writers keep their readers interested :)!!
DeleteI like how your tables of 6 look. I'll have 18 kids next year (please don't punch me) and there are 3 big tables in our hallways that are basically comprised of 6 desks each. I am contemplating just grabbing those 3 tables and setting my room up more like yours... hmmmmmmm...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your pictures!!
Marvelous Multiagers!
Tables of 6 seem to work really well for me, especially since they take up less space than a whole bunch of tables for 4.
DeleteI wish our school did something like this! I love it! What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteAlana
I love all of your project displays, but I must say your hanger people are very cool! I think I may try that next year. The 1776 Hand Jive foldable looks interesting too. My Open House is next week. I look forward to it every year. I love that our parents can come to school to just have fun.
ReplyDeleteWe don't do anything like this... we just have back to school night & 2 parent conference nights in the fall :)
ReplyDeleteGreat job!!!
Every New Beginning
Always a joy to get a peek into your room - so much fun, deep, though provoking yet creative learning going on!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea of War of 1812 and Math. I teach S/S and math 4th grade and our new standards require more indepth to the war.... excellent way to combine the two! Also, I'll have 30 students next year and love your 3 rows of 10.... I guess I'll have to tie the desks together! :) Enjoy your summer!
ReplyDeleteJust found your site and MUST say that you are AH-MAZE-ING!!! I am sure that you are the teacher ALL kids want. Thanks for sharing your wonderful work and ideas. Your students and collegues are truly blessed!
ReplyDeleteYour newest stalker- I mean follower,
Kristi
learnings-a-hoot.blogspot.com