Roanoke, The Lost Colony Flip Chart

    

       I LOVE FLIP CHARTS!!!
           
      The 5th grade curriculum in Michigan includes a  lesson on the Lost Colony of Roanoke.     Along with reading the lesson in our text, taking notes, a Study Stack, and a short video clip I added a flip chart to make a short lesson summary.    My students like the hands-on work of a flip chart.  

        I found that children need the tactile experience when learn even in Social Studies. Turning the flaps back and forth, opening and closing reinforces learning.   These are easy enough to make in a class period.     If you choose to make a second or third flip chart for a later lesson, your students will feel confident and comfortable making  flip charts and the instructions will be minimal. 

            😀 Happy teacher  = 😁 happy students!
                         It's a win - win situation!

       As you an see,  I have the kids glue their flip charts onto loose leaf paper.    This way 
the flip chart can be clipped into their Social Studies duo-tang so it  does not get "lost ".

     My students enjoy doing a little added decoration to their flip chart.  
I'll do just about anything that will give an incentive to study.      Some students use more color and symbols, while others draw stick figures, add speech bubbles, captions, and arrows to enhance their work.     Each child learns by using their own style.       What works for one might not work for their neighbor. 

      The inside of the cover flaps can be used to write additional facts.    The student is able to write pertinent information on the lines of the loose leaf paper.   After the flip chart is complete my students enjoy sharing their work with their classmates.     In this way the next student can possibly learn additional information by reading a different flip chart than their own.    They can also learn from looking at the illustrations.

Please leave a comment.  I love to hear if someone can use my ideas.

Beti

Learning the Apostles Creed with a puzzle

 Learning with  Puzzles ...
      
     My 5th graders are learning the Apostles Creed in Religion class.
In order to do this is class, I printed the prayer, dividing the phrases into
11 boxes.  Each child wrote their initials and class number in each of the 11
rectangles. Then we flipped the paper over.  They held up the piece of paper
and realized that they could see the boxes through the paper.  Each box was
numbered on the reverse side of the paper.  The students cut the paper into
11 strips, each numbered on the back.  This was the way they could check to
if the phrases of the prayer were in the correct order.

        Now to play the match game. All the strips were placed on the desk in
random order.  Each child stands up and pushes in their chair.( I like to have the students stand to work on this activity in order to make it different from other class activities. They get very engaged in the activity when standing. )  Everyone begins  to put the strips in the correct order.

This young student has completed the puzzle strips and is raising their hand.  The right arm is blurry because of movement.

          When the words of the prayer are in the correct order the student raises their hand  high into the air.  The student looks around the room to see another student with their hand up.

 
     

       Eye contact is made.  The kids point to each other in order to make sure they have made a contact. They nod their heads in agreement.  Finally, each child mixes up their strips, and they switch locations.  The process begins again.
     
 My students really like doing this in order to learn the Apostles Creed. They get to move around the room.  Oh, I forgot to tell you that all this is DONE IN COMPLETE SILENCE!  It is AWESOME to see my students working so intently.
   
       I will be able to use this activity if the kids need to memorize the Preamble of the Constitution or the final part of Patrick Henry's speech.

Beti

Study Chart for Jamestown, Roanoke, & Plymouth Colonies

        When we finished the chapter on the English settlement of Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth Colonies I like to do a wrap up.  Before the chapter assessment I like to have the kids make some kind of  chart to compile their knowledge.  I came up with a chart which complies most of the important information introduced in the chapter.

     This is the work of one of my students.  We made the basic chart with the three headings, Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth together as I modeled the directions. Then I give the students time to "talk with their neighbor"  to fill in the names of the leaders.  This strategy gives the students an opportunity to share ideas and information.  I feel this gives the more shy and timid children the opportunity to absorb more information that they haven't grasped yet. These kids can offer information to one or two peers rather than the class as a whole.  As we all know, some students aren't confident enough to share with the entire class.  As the year goes on their confidence level begins to soar by working with students with whom they comfortable.
    After each section, children were able to share what they had filled in. The shy or timid child now has an answer that they can be confident to share with the entire class.  Then we moved on to the next category( location, Native American tribes, problems,  help, ships, etc.)

         My students also like to use a strategy I call "Do you know".  I have the kids write "Do you know" statements about the information that they have learned.  Then the students find a partner and ask their partner their question.  The partner has to repeat the statement saying, "Yes, I know that ..." back to their partner.  The students switch roles and the continue.  The repetition of the statement back to a partner reinforces the information. If the student can not repeat the statement his or her partner will repeat it again for clarity.
      This concept is a take on the Whole Brain teaching concept where the teacher makes a statement and the students repeat the information.
The students become the teacher in this case.
       Here are some "Do you know" statements that one of my students made up to use in class.

      Give this one a try with your Social Studies or Science students.

      Feel free to leave comment if you find any of my strategies helpful in your classes.  I would love to hear from you.

Beti

Adding Illustrations and Color in Notetaking

           

 Many students doodle while in class. Flowers, spaceships, airplanes, animals of all kinds, squiggles, stars, hearts, etc. We've seen it all.  Kids like to color.  But teaching your students to add little pictures and color to their notes can be very beneficial for your kiddos.  The pictures can help a person stir a memory of a piece of information during a test or sometime later in life. 
             
    My Social Studies class was making a flip chart about the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  I suggested that they add some pictures to their flip charts by telling them, " A picture is worth a thousand words".  

        This student drew an island on the Roanoke flap and a crown on the Queen Elizabeth.

        The flaps continued with a helmet and sword for Sir Walter Raleigh.

     This student took a different approach with stick figures and speech bubbles.
Sir Walter Raleigh is saying, " Go to Roanoke".  On the Captain John White flap, he wrote, You can't go back!" referring to John White leaving Roanoke to go back to England for supplies. 

    I love teaching these kids. They help me learn something new every day.  I hope I can do the same for each of my students.

   Please leave a comment if you have a spare minute.  I love to hear from my readers.

    This post is featured on Teachjunkie.com     Take a minutes to check out all the great ideas on the blog!  
    www.teachjunkie.com

I have linked up with Forever in 5th Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday.
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com 

 

Enjoy your day!

Beti

Who am I? Explorers Flip Chart

  Flip Charts!

       If you know me, I LOVE to make  flip charts with my 5th graders!

As a study guide for the chapter on early exploration, we made this flip chart.  On each outer flap the students wrote "Who Am I?"  Then they wrote several "I  statements" to give clues to the explorer's name.  You can see that my kiddos use their notes to make sure their information is correct.

         This sample is the basic layout of the explorers' flip chart. I try to explain to the students that each statement must be specific to each person.

           The pictures of the explorers are from a set of reading comprehension sheets we used to study Christopher Columbus, Ponce deLeon, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.  The pictures can be colored. By coloring the illustrations the students spent more time on each explorer and hopefully learn more in the process.

       After the flip charts are completed, the students "share or trade"  their flip chart with another student in class. Each student reads the  "Who am I?" questions and tells who the explorer is.  This can  also be used as a whole class activity where each student comes to the from of the room to place their flip chart under the projector for everyone to view at the same time. Students can then raise their hand if they know the correct answer. Some students like to try and stump their peers with difficult questions. 

        Today I linked up with Forever in Fifth Grade for the  Show and Tell Tuesday.  

www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com 

       Please send me a comment if you use flip charts or these are of any help for your students.

     

Beti

Do you know....? Yes, I do know......!

      Did you say... STUDY?   How do I do that? 

     Studying information for a unit of study in order to prepare for a test can be overwhelming for many children.  They don't know where to start.  Some students don't know what they know or don't know.  So, I tried to come up with a fun interactive way for my kiddos to study with each other. Hopefully, some child will take this activity home to study with parents or other students.

            I have my 5th grade students write on index cards the following sentence.
"Do you know that ____________________?"  
 Then they complete the statement using information from their notes or text book. For example, "Do you know that Christopher Columbus was born in Italy but explored for the King and Queen of Spain?

      I have the kiddos write 3 to 6 statements, one on each card. They need to look through their notes and text book to find the correct  important information for the unit of study. 

      Then the fun begins!  The students form two circles or lines. I'll say, "Decide if you want to be peanut butter or jelly?" or hot dogs or hamburgers, or ice cream or apple pie. You get the picture.  The kids are very excited to make a choice and pick one.  Then I'll say, " Jelly goes first."   Now the children know who will read their statement first.  

      "Jelly" students read their statement "Do you know that ......?"   Then the "peanut butter" kids respond, "Yes, I do know that ....." and have to repeat the first statement exactly.   This keys in on their listening skills as well as recalling and repeating the information given. 

      Sometimes students write incorrect information on their cards. OOPS! This can be a learning situation too. Hopefully, the misinformation will be caught by other students and corrected on the spot.

       Now it is the "peanut butter" students turn to read their statement card to their partner with the "jelly" students responding.

       After a few minutes, I ring a bell or make some other sound to get my students' attention.  The "peanut butter" students will need to move on to the next person in line.  The process starts again.  This way the students are hearing new information from different classmates. Sometimes the information is repeated by different children.  That is okay, too. We have to hear information more than once to get it to stick in our mind.

      It is a kind of a "Speed Dating" situation, but we are reviewing information.

      I do hope you can use this study technique in your classroom. Give it a try, It can't hurt, and your kids might have fun and learn something. Let me know if it works for you.

Please leave a comment.  I'll love to hear ideas from your classroom.
Beti

Interactive Student Interest Board

        Our 5th graders switch classes.  I teach Religion and Social Studies. My partners, Suzanne and Kathy, teach the Math and Science classes and the Language  Arts ( Vocab, Grammar, and Reading classes) respectively. The students, 30 in each homeroom, line up at the end of each class to move to another room every 45 minutes. This area gives the kiddos something to do when they are standing in line.
        I have an interactive board for the students to work on cooperatively during their free time.  I remind them that working cooperatively does not mean you tell your friends the answers. That will not help your friends. Cooperatively means to help others understand how to solve the problem.

          This is my board that is located to the right of the door leading out into the hall.  The blue background paper is laminated.  I have found it lasts the entire year.  The papers are attached with sticky tack so items can be changed quickly by myself or a student. The kids like to go to the drawer and pick the next game or activity to be placed on the board.
 

     I change the Boggle game sheet weekly.  This keeps the kids practicing their spelling. Sometimes I give a "prize" to the students who has found the most words.

             Jumble For Kids was in the newspaper years ago.  The date on this one is 2004. You can tell that I have been teaching for a while.  The words are usually easy, but answer at the bottom has an interesting twist.  It has to do with the clue in the picture.  This can be  a pun or a play on words. 

        Hocus Pocus  also was featured in newspapers.  The directions are to "Find at least six differences in details between panels."  This is great for examining details and going back and check again.  Many kids want to be finished and do assignments very quickly.  This gives a chance to practice the skill of carefully looking for details.

           SUDOKU is a favorite for some children while others dislike it.  My students teach each other how to play Sudoku every year.  Sudoku is a great thinking game for all ages.

      

              The CROSSWORD PUZZLE  is also popular with some students. Students often work together on the crossword puzzle.  Collaborative work is so important for children. They learn how to learn from each other and teach each other. They also learn that everyone has different strengths.

      I have a variety of different activities because my students have a variety of interests, skills, and skill levels. Teach each child.

 Enjoy teaching your students every day.  

Make it the best year ever!

Please feel free to leave a comment.  I enjoy reading your thoughts and suggestions.

• Beti

Boston Tea Party Notes

              Each spring the Boston Tea Party is part of the 5th grade curriculum in Social Studies.  I was looking on Pinterest and found some interesting ideas.
 This anchor chart is so wonderful with great information. I knew I could use this with my students.   Pinterest stated it was "saved by Katie Shaw- Boston Tea Party Cause and Effect Anchor Chart American Revolution 5th Grade Social Studies."

         I like to have my students take notes and keep them in a Social Studies duo-tang. So I made a worksheet from this anchor chart. So I changed it to fit the needs of my class. 

     I like to have my students add color to their notes when they are reviewing their notes for homework.  This way I know that they did look at their notes because they have to color them.  

        This is what the blank note sheet looks like.




        I also saw another anchor chart on the Boston Tea Party.  This one is from Miss Mills Blog.   I was so impressed.  I knew I could use this in my own class.
www.missmillsblog.blogspot.com 

    

      
      I did take the liberty of making this into a sheet of notes for my students to fill in and keep in their dou-tang for safe keeping.

      I would like to thank these two wonderful ladies for putting their ideas out there for all the rest of us to see.  I also hope that I have done justice to their ideas by adding my own spin. 

      We will be participating in a SKYPE field trip with Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum very soon.   So these notes will be so very useful to my students.

      Enjoy your day. Please leave a comment if you have a spare minute.

Today I linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five For Friday Linky. 
See what everyone is sharing by clicking the link below.

www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com  

 Beti

Review Activity

            At the end of each unit or chapter, I like to have my students actively review for their upcoming test or quiz.  Sometimes it is an online Jeopardy game, flip chart review with a partner, or make up questions from your notes.  
           
        This time I gave each student four index cards.   I instructed them to fold each card in half.  On the outside of the card they were to write a question from chapter 11 or 12 in Social Studies.  When the card was opened, they were to write the answer. 

Question - Outside of card

Answer- Inside of card

   As you can see the questions were not perfect. 

          Then each student got a sheet of loose leaf paper.  The paper had a Review Title at the top.  My students were instructed to make two columns: Correct ( a very thin column on the left ) and Incorrect - I need to review ( a much wider column on the right side of the paper.

      The two columns were different sizes because if the child answered the questions correctly, they would write a star, smiley face, or check in the correct column.  If they had the incorrect answer, they student was to write the question and the correct answer in the much larger column.

    This question is more detailed and to the point.
" What 3 tasks did the Continental Congress face at the Second Continental Congress?"


      The questions could be teacher made.  You would be directing the focus of the studying  that way. I like to have my students involved in their learning. The students took their four index cards and passed them to the next student.   Then all the students worked on answering those four questions.   After a few minutes, I said, "Pass." everyone passed the four questions to the next person.   It didn't matter if they had finished all four of the questions.   Now they had a new set of questions to work on.  This way the students who finished quickly were not sitting waiting for everyone else to finish.  The kids liked to keep things moving.  

What are some strategies you use to review with your students?

Please leave a note.  I always like to use new ideas with my students.


Beti

Study Spelling in the car!

   I just saw this on Pinterest.  This is a great way to help your child study Spelling words, sight words, definitions, Math facts, etc. while in the car.  Why didn't I think of this when my kids were young?

All  parents should give this a try. It can't hurt!

Beti

Jet Toy Vocab Review Flip Chart

       Jet Toy is a STEM program in coordination with automotive engineers. Our 5th graders have been part of the Jet Toy program for years. An engineer volunteers his or her time once a week for six weeks to come and teach our children about force and motion along with the basics needed to construct and test their jet toy, balloon powered, vehicles. 
     My teaching partner teaches the Science and Math subjects for our 5th grade team. She  uses flip charts for review and study of vocab. Along with all the hands-on learning being done, the students need to have a good grasp of all the technical vocabulary.  This is where the flip chart comes in.

Some of the vocab words have been glued onto the flip chart.

Students use their books to make sure the definition matches the vocab word.

     

          Students learn so much by doing hands on activities.  

Enjoy your day!

Beti