Guest Blog Week - Day #3: Hedbanz

Today is Day#3 of Guest Blog Week!

Please welcome Mynda from B is for Bilingual and check out her game idea below!

Hola! My name is Mynda from B is for Bilingual. I teach 1st grade Dual Language in Texas. I teach Spanish to Native Spanish speakers and Spanish learners. I have found that hands-on activities and visuals are great for my second language learners.  I love to make my lessons fun and interactive!

I would like to share with you one of my favorites games! This game is similar to "Hedbanz". 

Your students need to pick a card without looking and put it on their forehead. Then they need to guess what picture they have by asking the correct questions!! 

I like to use objects that we use in school. It's easy for them, but you can always change or add more objects.

The students have lots of fun formulating questions, inferences and practicing vocabulary.

It's easy to get this game ready for your students to enjoy! You just need center strips, Velcro and print the cards.

Once you have your materials ready, divide your class by partners or small groups and let them start the fun! To challenge my students, I give them 1 minute to try to guess their mystery object!

You can find the cards set in English & Spanish {HERE}.

Thank you Krista for having me today! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me! You can leave me a message on my blog or  FB page! Also I would like you to follow my TPT store to find more resources in English & Spanish!

Have fun!

Mynda

Guest Blog Week - Day #2: Spot That Word

It's Day #2 of Guest Blog Week.

Please welcome Shanon from OCD in First and check out her game idea below!

I would first like to say CONGRATS to Krista Carlson on the new chapter in her life that she is beginning this summer. Then I would like to say thank-you for including us in your great adventure by allowing us to be your guest bloggers while you're away.  ENJOY your honeymoon, Krista!!

Guest Blog Week - Day#1: Let's Play!

As I shared in my most recent post, I got married this past Friday! My hubby and I are heading out on our honeymoon today, and I wanted to make sure that you (my amazing readers) had some great content available still while I was away. 

Six other awesome bloggers volunteered to write a guest post to celebrate in my "While the Teacher's Away, the Bloggers will Play!" guest blogging week, each sharing an idea for a game they love to "play" with the students in their classrooms. I figured this would be the perfect topic for this time of year as you may be able to use some of these ideas as a fun way to wrap up the year (for those lucky ducky's still in school), or use them as a great way to start out the next year!

That being said, I am here to share the first game idea with you all today to kick off the week!

One of my favorite games to play with my students is "Four Corners". This one is such an oldie but goodie. I remember heading to the roller skating rink as a child and skating from corner to corner hoping they would not spin my corner's number so I could continue the fun!

The game in the classroom can be used similarly as a game of "luck" or "chance". I generally use it this way when we have classroom parties or for a little brain break. For instance, for Halloween in my second grade classroom last school year, we played a game of Four Corners using Halloween themed vocabulary. Each corner of the classroom had one of these 4 posters hanging in it. I usually give the kids a time limit or in this case, I played holiday themed music and when it stopped, the kids had to choose a corner to reside. I then use my handy magnetic spinner on my wipeboard and spin away to determine which corner will be eliminated. 

You can see my previous post with more details about this specific version of the game here.

Another way the game can be used is to review key concepts. This version is less about luck and more about the students understanding ideas well enough to choose the corner that represents the best answer. For example, last year in my classroom, I used this version after my students had been working hard to understand key vocabulary related to probability. 

In each of the corners I placed one of the following four posters: certain, likely, unlikely, impossible. I then read off a circumstance. For instance, "We will fly to the moon in the next ten minutes." The students must listen to the idea, and then in the time frame given (usually a few seconds) must head to the corner that they feel best represents the answer  - in this case "impossible". 

Yes, you may see some of the students following along with the others, but I always ask students to turn and talk with someone about why they chose the corner they did, and then I ask someone who ended up in the right corner to explain to us why this is the correct answer. Then no matter who ended up where, it gives us a nice review of the important vocabulary/concepts.

Has anyone else used this game in your classroom? 

How do you use it?

Stay tuned throughout the rest of the week as each day another blogger will be sharing a super game idea for your to take back to your classroom!

Hasta luego. I'll be back in a couple weeks- with photos to boot!

Moving out & up! Big changes ahead!

While I must admit I haven't shared too much about it since my "I'm engaged!" post back in September, for those of you that did not know, I am getting married in two short days! 

While I will most certainly share more about how all of the festivities this coming weekend go with you all my blog family, when all is said and done and I am a new MRS., there are other big changes that I am truly excited to share with you all today!

After we get married this summer, my fiancé and I will not only be moving to a whole new state, but we will also both we starting brand new jobs! 

I have learned so much as a Dual Language Coach this school year that has strengthened my skills as a professional. Not only that, but I have learned so much in my four years working in my current building  and made so many wonderful friends and while it is bittersweet leaving, we are ready to move forward on a new adventure and start our new life together in a place we both see ourselves happy and potentially starting our future family!

I took this photo on Monday - the last day in my current building, and last school year with my last name... All moved out.

That being said...

drum roll please...

Next year, I will be moving "up" to 3rd grade, and I will be back in the classroom again as a 3rd grade Spanish immersion teacher in a whole new setting! 

I am so incredibly excited for this new adventure (as I must admit I did miss the classroom and being with kids each day!) and I cannot wait to share in it with you all.

In order to help me prepare, as well as to be able to share just a piece of the insight that my talented colleagues from my building over the last four years possess, I asked the 3rd grade teachers, if they wouldn't mind sharing a few tidbits of knowledge with me so that I could share it with you all today as well! 

I asked them about the three following topics:

*Some essential understandings they thought all third graders should walk away with

*Some of their favorite Daily 5/Station ideas

*Why they love teaching 3rd grade

I must admit, these ladies have gotten me even more excited for the fall with their responses! Enjoy (and a huge thank you to Jen and Jessica for being good sports and participants in my little blogventure!)

1.) Essential Understandings for 3rd Grade:

*Time Management- knowing how to manage their time and juggle homework with outside activities. Sometimes students have the opportunity to work on their book club roles during Daily 5 or take it home for homework; it's the perfect opportunity to teach them to prioritize their work and manage their time.

*Multiplication - Automaticity of facts is key!

*Comprehension- have a true understanding of what they are reading.

*A sense of determination- knowing they can do anything they put their mind to!

2.) Daily 5 Station Ideas for 3rd Grade:

* Buddy reading- students love to have time to read with and discuss books with their friends

*iPads - students love creating books and they come up with such clever ideas

* Student Choice- When they can choose where they go, they are more likely to be engaged in the activity, however, you may still need to set up some rules for this like "at least 1 station a day must be read-to-self", "no more than 3 per station", etc.

*Being open as the teacher to new ideas presented by the students - For example, I taught the students the basic rules of the game Bananagrams and left the rules in the station. I also gave them the option to potentially develop a new way of playing it as well. They ended up adapting another Pyramid game I had taught them for magnetic letters and added a twist and incorporated it into Bananagrams. Guess which station is always busy? They love it and are truly trying to then spell words correctly using word walls, etc. 

3.) Why do you love teaching 3rd Grade?

* I love teaching 3rd grade because I see how Independent they start to become at this age. They seem to start venturing out on their own, taking on responsibilities and become little thinkers! I love hearing their thinking during Guided Reading. Book clubs are my favorite. I prefer listening to their thinking rather than focusing on building reading skills like in the younger grades. I am very interested in listening to their thoughts, their perspectives, and I feel I start seeing this more midway through the year once we get past the "learning how to read" stage. Of course you have those few low readers that still need that, and that's fine. But the majority, are reading to start thinking! :) 

* I love teaching 3rd grade because I love our reading group discussions. When you find a book that students really connect to, it's like discussing a book at book club with your friends!

I'm seriously pumped ladies and gents! Anyone else have some 3rd grade wisdom you'd like to impart - I'd love for you to share below!

Now after all of that excitement, there is still one more thing I wanted to share with you (I know I am full of fun today). As my fiancé and I will be heading out on our honeymoon after our wedding, I will be out of the country for the next two weeks! I didn't want to leave you all without content to kick off the summer in style, thus I have partnered with 6 other amazing bloggers to bring you a guest blogging series entitled "While the Teacher's Away, the Bloggers will Play", that will begin next Sunday, June 8th and run through June 14th. Each day a new post from a different blogger will be up to share with you all a favorite classroom game that you can "play" with your students! Seeing as it is nearing the end of the year for some and/or others are already prepping for the following school year, I thought this would be the perfect thing to share that can be used by all!

A huge thank you again to all of the participants and tune in for the first post on Sunday, written by yours truly, about how I used the game "Four Corners" in the classroom. 

Until next time! 

What is a Dual Language Coach?

Taking a week off from sharing a super site, to share something else I am "super" proud of with you all!

It was my goal this year to work to create the position of a Dual Language Instructional Coach within my district. For those of you that recall my beginning of the year posts, my position was a brand new one, freshly created this year, which I was more than thrilled to take on and make my own.

That being said, each year, we as staff members must set a goal to work toward throughout the year. As part of my annual staff goal this year, I decided that I would work to create a binder outlining the roles and responsibilities as well as resources to assist in performing these tasks for myself and future coaches in my position.

I am happy to report - mission accomplished.
Binder meet blog family. Blog family meet Dual Language Coaching Binder.

Upon opening up this freshly completed gem, one will find an introduction page providing an overview of the possible roles and responsibilities of a Dual Language Coach. 

For those of you wondering "What does she do all day?". This is it folks.

That last one is so true- every day is a new adventure. My schedule never really looks the same!

If you would like a copy of this overview for yourself or for someone else in your district, go ahead and click it to grab a copy! Fonts & Graphics: My Cute Graphics, KG Fonts, Creative Clips

Within the binder, I then tried to tie in resources I had created or found this year to assist with carrying out my role and responsibilities. Here is just a small peak at some of those resources within!

Everything from newsletters, to surveys, to meeting notes to meeting agendas and more!

This year has been such a great learning experience. Not only was I able to foster the development of this new role, but truly foster my development as a professional in the process.

Last week I was even able to share this binder and resources with dual coaches that will be new to the district next year. I am so delighted to have had something to give them to get them started on the right track and looking forward to seeing what they add to it as well as their year progresses!

Here are a few other links to posts I did this year containing resources from within this binder as well:

Peer Feedback

Parent Teacher Conference Planning

BOY Motivation

Dual Classroom Setup

Super Site Sábado #4

I may have shared this week's site a time or two before, but it is one of my favorites for getting relevant and age appropriate informational news articles in students' hands. 

If you haven't visited it yet, you've got to check out what Tween Tribune has to offer. 

This site is chalked full of news articles updated on nearly a daily basis for students at a variety of ages.

As you can see in the top navigation bar, the site is broken down for teachers and students to peruse a grade level or language most relevant to them.

My personal favorites are TTJunior for Grades K-4.

And TTEspañol for student friendly articles in the Spanish language.

Once you decide which grade category best fits you, one can scroll down to find a wide variety of article snippets from which to read. Here is an example from the main page of TTEspañol.

If you or your students are looking for an article on more a specific topic, you may want to refer to the "Topics" sidebar to select one of your choice as well.

While I do not believe they have done this for every grade level or for the Spanish articles, on TTJunior, there is a section that you can even refer to for help in determining the reading level of a particular article. 

Finally, once you have selected an article of interest, the entire thing is there in its short and sweet student friendly format to read, print, share, etc!

Seriously, you can't tell me these topics aren't going to peak your students' interest! 

Enjoy!

And happy Memorial Day weekend!

Bright Ideas: Keeping Classroom iPads Clean

Back for another "Bright Ideas Link Up". This month's focus is...

Our building just recently got a small set of iPads in all of the classrooms this school year. That being said, the teachers have been working to not only find the best ways to integrate them, but also keep them safe and clean so that they can be used for years to come!

Here are a few tips and tricks I have run across that I see them using in their rooms on a daily basis to keep their new tools fab and finger-print free throughout the year.

1. No food or drink while using the iPad.

With the risk of spillage and sticky fingers at snack time. It is just a good rule of thumb to have the kids keep these two things separate. 

2. Wash away the dirt and germs before each use.

If you only have a small set of iPads like the classrooms in our building, I would recommend asking the students to wash their hands before each use. Not only will these help decrease dirt and grime on the screen, but also the amount of germs spread between kids when they are passing iPads between them.

If you are lucky enough to have one-to-one or a classroom set of iPads, it may not be quite as feasible to have your kiddos wash between each use, but after coming in from outside, using the restroom, eating/drinking, or working with art supplies it still may be a good idea.

3. Find a student friendly cleaning tool.

One of my colleagues uses this little guy with a microfiber belly as a tool for her students to wipe off the iPads. I have seen these several places in hunting around the internet in every form from a kitten to a stuffed over easy egg shape. While I definitely think the kids would get a kick out of these, really any microfiber cloth will do. 

4. Return iPads to a safe (and clean) space after each use.

If you have an iPad cart, great, you are set!

But if not, have a place where students can place the iPads throughout the day when they are not in use so that they are up and off of the floor. 

Floor = likely to get stepped on = likely to get dirty or even worse, broken

I have seen teachers throughout my building do something as simple as have designated counter space for each iPad, to storing them in plastic containers individually like that pictured above, to creating their own "iPad cart" with a set of plastic pull out drawers.

What are some of the best ways you have found in your room to organize and sanitize these technology treasures? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Furthermore, if you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest for more great ideas.

And for bright ideas from over 130 different bloggers, please browse through the link up below and chose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up