Create a Soda

After a trip to the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA, I began thinking about the creative designs and labeling the company has used over the years. Knowing my students, and most kiddos I have taught over the years, I know that they are creative and expressive and love to have any opportunity to use both aspects in an assignment. So, I came up with a creative writing assignment geared toward both their love of writing and art. 
Using the pictures of the various Coca Cola bottles, signs, and advertisements, the students are to brainstorm in groups of two or three to come up with their own brand of soda. They will design the label and bottle, and then write an advertisement to sell their new brand of soda. They will create a poster that "sells" their new product, and then attach their written description of the soda to it. As a group they will present their new soda to the rest of the class. This could be expanded upon in many different ways such as creating their own commercial, to coming up with a cost for the soda and then figuring out how much money they would make selling their soda to various amounts of individuals. 
The original lesson would be graded as follows (feel free to adjust points based upon your needs).

Poster:  
Slogan 10pts.
Colorful Picture and Label Design 30pts.
Neatness 10pts.
Group Effort/Participation 10pts (this part varies per individual student)

Written Description:
Complete Sentences 10pts
Correct Punctuation 10pts
Spelling 10pts

Presentation:
Voice 10pts
Eye Contact 10pts
Group Participation 10pts (again this varies per individual student)

This is a basic outline of a lesson that can be adapted in many different ways, and expanded upon. Sometimes the best lessons come when the creativity flows free with the kids and they are able to truly get excited about their project. I have done other lessons similar to this, and have enjoyed watching my students apply their skills to the activity, and enjoy what they are doing. A fun learning experience on the teacher's part and on the students' part make for a great lesson!

5 Fun Blogs

I'm always on the look out for new creative ideas to use in the classroom. I have a few go to blogs that I pull ideas from, but enjoy playing around on the internet trying to find new blogs to peruse.

I happened to stumble across the blog http://www.theteacherstudio.com/ recently. I was really excited about all the ideas this teacher was posting and the pictures that she was using to show the activities. There are many of her ideas and activities that are similar to things I already do in the classroom, but she approaches them in a different manner. I love the way her blog is set up, it is user friendly and appeasing to the eye. I do find that at some points there is more rambling rather than getting to the point of the assignment, which makes me want to move on and scroll past the writing. I like that she has links back to other ideas or websites to look at that contain similar activities to the one she is showing on her entry. Overall, I am enjoying going through her blog and finding new and creative ideas or ways to enhance my lesson plans.

Another blog I discovered is http://buzzingwithmsb.blogspot.com/ I like a lot of the ideas that she has to share, and in general the way her blog is laid out. It is simple and easy to look at, not overwhelmed with a lot of other links and advertisements. In my opinion, I do not necessarily like the size of the font she is using, as I have a hard time reading it without having to use the zoom on my computer.

I really like http://tailsofthirdgrade.blogspot.com/ I referred to it a lot last year when I was teaching 3rd grade. I love how many pictures she has to show just exactly what she is talking about in her ideas. I like that she has links on the side to the blogs that she likes and follows. Her background is nice, not over the top, but fun and friendly. In general I really like this blog and can't find much that I think it is lacking.

Some blogs have great ideas, but lack a lot in set up and design. http://hedwigsnest.blogspot.com/ is a fun blog, she is creative and has some great ideas, but her layout needs to be revamped. She has pictures that overlap words so you lose part of a paragraph you a reading. The font choice leaves a lot to be desired, again too small, but the choice of the font itself is hard to read.

I'm an avid reader and I love sharing books with my students and encouraging them to read and grow a love of reading. http://www.thirdgradebookworm.blogspot.com/ is a great blog to follow, as she has many a good classroom book recommendation. Her page is laid out well, the font is fairly easy to read, and her ideas are plentiful. Books isn't her only focus, but I am pretty happy that she does so much with them. I like the ticker on her page that tracks the views of her page. Overall, I enjoy looking through her blog.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

There are many things that I enjoy doing in my free time... Although during the school year there is not much of that! 

Cooking: I love cooking and trying new recipes. I'm always looking for something that is fun, fresh, and healthy to try out. I could spend hours in the kitchen slicing and dicing. I'm not a baker, but a cook. My friends and family are my guinea pigs, and most often approve of what I am trying to sell. I love spending time creating the perfect meal, and even shopping for the ingredients! Cooking for me isn't a chore, it's a pleasure.

Favorite go-to cooking/recipe websites:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/

http://smittenkitchen.com/

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

Crafting: I love creating things to decorate an area, to give as gifts to friends and family, and just for fun. I can peruse the internet finding all sorts of fun ideas, and making a list of all the things I would like to create. I have stacks upon stacks of ideas to make or try. I love having a creative outlet to distract me from my troubles, or just appease the right side of my brain, and make myself happy. There a so many wonderful ideas out there, and just not enough time (or money) to try them all!

Favorite go-to crafting sites:

http://www.cremedelacraft.com/

https://whimseybox.com/

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/

Reading: I am an avid reader, and I am always searching for a good book recommendation. I like a variety of genres, and am always game to try something different and new to me. I have found that I can wander aimlessly in Barnes and Noble, and come out empty handed because I can't make a decision or can't afford to buy all the books I think I need to read! So, going into a book store with a list in hand makes my decision that much easier. I have more books than I can count in a single setting both for my library and my classroom library. What can I say, I love reading!

Favorite go-to book review/recommendation sites:

http://www.goodreads.com/

http://thebooksmugglers.com/

Marshmallow Math aka Let's Talk Place Value!

Learning about place value can be a difficult thing for kids. Heck, teaching place value can be a difficult thing! In order to add a little fun to the situation we decided to look at place value in a much more appetizing way. My kids were very excited to learn that we were going to work on place value with food.
Using marshmallows, fruit loops and toothpicks we set about learning place value and what each number place meant. I created a worksheet with columns naming each place up to the thousands place. The students placed one marshmallow in each square with a toothpick in the top. We used the fruit loops to represent each number.   
Using the fruit loops the kids would place the number of fruit loops needed to correspond with the number I told them. For example, if I said 4,321, the kids would place 4 fruit loops on the marshmallow in the thousands place, 3 in the hundreds place, 2 in the tens, and 1 in the ones place. This would allow them to see the value of each number with in the whole number given. We practiced this several times, each time having the kids write the numbers in the designated space below. We practiced reading each number out loud, and also breaking it into expanded form and putting it in word form. It definitely was a great way to introduce place value and the kids seemed to catch on quickly. However, the highlight of this activity for the kids was that they got to eat their math at the end of the project. They keep begging to have an eat your math day again soon! I consider this project to be a success both academically, and kid friendly.

Writing each number.

Placing the correct amount of fruit loops on the marshmallows.

Blogging Experience

I am enjoying my blogging experience thus far. I thought that this would be more complicated and time consuming and found that it really is neither. I am having fun trying out the different things I can do on this blog and am excited about the potential and possibilities that this blog presents. I am looking forward to learning more and seeing what else is possible with blogging. I have seen some really amazing blogs, and also follow quite a few, and am impressed by the flow of the blogs and the content they contain. I have been impressed by teachers who take the time to blog and share with others and really am enjoying this opportunity.

Titanic

 In my classroom we recently studied the Titanic. My kids were enthralled with the subject and wanted to dive more in depth into the subject matter. We read several stories from various points of view on the sinking, some involving survivor stories, and some from the point of researchers. We talked about what it must have felt like when the people first walked on to the Titanic and it's massive structure. How it must have felt for the passengers to set off to America, many of whom were meeting with family. And how what it must have been like to have been crammed into the lower levels of the ship all in hopes that when they made it the America a fresh start would be awaiting them.
 As we researched we came across many websites that posted virtual tours and as a class studied them and how they were similar and how they were different. We followed the story of researchers searching for the Titanic. The kids were enthralled to see the how the ship looked at the bottom of the ocean. They were fascinated by the pictures of areas that were virtually untouched after the sinking of the ship, once compared to original photos taken before the journey.
 I decided to have the students imagine themselves on the Titanic and had them draw pictures of what would have been the most incredible sight to them upon entering the ship. Through portholes they drew what they would have seen and we hung them on the walls transforming our room into a Titanic ship all our own. The students reread journals and stories from characters or survivors accounts of the journey and then created their own journal/story. Even after our weeks of studying the Titanic, my kids still enjoy learning about it and continually present me with facts that they learned whether from a book or from spending time with their parents online looking up information. This project drew my students into the learning process and excited them about history. I am very pleased and proud of them and their enthusiasm for the subject!

  I follow many blogs that friends have created for their families, and blogs of fellow teachers with great ideas. I am starting this blog in the hopes that I will be able to archive some of the ideas I have and I use in my classroom. There are so many great blogs out there, and I hope I too can contribute to the list. I would like to be able to use my blog in the form of a yearbook/portfolio of the school year.
  I am currently teaching 4th grade again, and we have been in school now for 3 weeks. I am still building relationships with my students and their parents, as well as my colleagues. I started at a new school this year, so it is almost like being a first year teacher again. I am anxious to get into a more settled routine. I hope to offer my ideas, my challenges, my triumphs to other teachers who may or may not be going through the same ideas.
  I am not sure that I will use this blog as a means of communication with parents, but it's still early in the game and like I stated I haven't made up my mind as of yet. What I do know is that I love teaching and being in the classroom with my kids. If nothing more, I will use this blog as my own memory book of this school year and all that goes on.