Author: smartchickteacher

I have been teaching in a large urban school district for 28 years! I have taught in five different buildings. I taught in a self-contained gifted classroom and in a STEM school.

Class Bigfoot Project

Posted on by smartchickteacher

We have a class Bigfoot!!! This big guy will go home with each student this year. They will write about their adventures and take some pics. I print the pics and we keep using the same journal.

The kids will have a day or two to record their adventures with Bigfoot! I allow parents to text me pictures from their time with Bigfoot. I print the some of the pictures and we add them to the journal!

You could do this with ANY stuffed animal! Last year, we had a class cow! My intermediate kids absolutely love this project!

Rewriting Sentences and Writing Paragraphs

Posted on by smartchickteacher

My students really struggle to rewrite the information they find in their own words.  It is a skill we always need to practice. 

We do one topic a week as part of our writing lessons. Each pack contains five different sets related to the topic and an anchor chart. The anchor charts are DIFFERENT in each pack!  There are 10 topics to choose from and a BUNDLE of all 10 topics! Click here for the bundle!

These packs can also be purchased separately.

The 10 Topics Include:

We keep a Writing Notebook in our classroom.  It is a spiral notebook.  On Monday we glue these two pages into our notebook, one on the left page and one on the right page.  We rewrite one sentence each day and share our sentence ideas with one another.  I write some of the best ones either on chart paper or a google slide the students can see.  On Fridays we write a paragraph about the topic.  Students can use the information from the sentences with information they may already know about the topic.

We focus on different sentence writing skills when we do these sentences over the course of the year.  Sharing our sentence ideas with each other helps to share ideas and help kids start to feel more comfortable in their writing skills.  I encourage students to use their best handwriting, especially on the paragraph writing.

Remember, you can use these pages however you want in your own classroom to support student writing.

Ready to start improving your students’ writing?

Adopt an Animal Project

Posted on by smartchickteacher

This is a project we do every year during the first couple of weeks of school to build a classroom community. It gives my students a chance to get to know each other and figure out which wild animal our class will adopt for the year. We usually focus on the animals at our local zoo, but the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has a huge list of animals to choose from for this activity! You can check out their HUGE list of animals here!

We always choose an animal that comes with a plush version of it. We keep the animal, certificate, and information sheet in our classroom during the school year.

We start with a list of 5-6 animals to choose from for the animal our classroom will adopt for the year. You can choose ANY of the animals that are listed! We try to choose a variety of animals from different areas of the planet.

Once you have your list of animals each student needs to choose their favorite animal from the list. This animal will be their focus for the different projects in this pack. This pack includes a persuasive writing piece, an informational writing piece, an informational poster, and an informational bookmark activity. Click here to check out this pack in my tpt store!

Students start with a persuasive essay with the reasons why we should adopt this animal for our classroom. They will need to do some research on their animal and write 9 detailed facts about their animal on the chart that is included.

Once they have their 9 facts they will use these facts to write some sentences about their animal. These sentences and facts will help them as they progress onto their persuasive essay assignment.

We type our persuasive essays. They are five paragraphs long with an introduction, one body paragraph per reason, and a conclusion. Students can add pictures to their essay if they do this digitally.

Next students create an informational poster about their animal. This gives them a chance to get creative! We do these posters by hand on the poster layout included in the file. I usually model one on one of the animals. I typically choose the animal that most people didn’t choose.

There are some other activities included in the pack as well. Students can make informational bookmarks and puzzles for their animal.

The last thing we do is a poster about each animal. Students work in groups of 2-4 people, so popular animals may have multiple groups! They design the poster so they can use it in a presentation to the class about why their animal should be adopted.

After the presentations, we vote as a class to see which animal we will adopt. We then adopt that animal. I usually pay the $60 adoption fee, but it could be paid by your PTO/PTA or with student donations.

Once we get our plush animal and information, we write informational reports about the animal we adopted! I usually buy a few books about this animal to have in our classroom.

We put up a bulletin board display of a collection of our work! I am always excited to see which animal we adopt each year!

Monthly Writing Portfolio Piece – with a free month included!

Posted on by smartchickteacher

Writing is a skill that really takes a lot of time and a lot of practice to be successful. We keep writing portfolios in my classroom. I can share these with parents and students alike to review the progress they are making as well as the identifying the things they need to work on. We use legal sized plastic envelopes. Click here to check out these on Amazon!

We work on the monthly writing pieces for about a week to a week and a half. You could do them in ANY order, but we use the following order:

August – Acrostic Poetry

September – Short Story

October – Biography

November – Opinion Writing

December – Book Review

January – Business Letters

February – How to Directions

March – Personal Narrative

April – Informational Report

May – Infographics

June – Haiku Poetry (this one is FREE in my tpt store)

Each pack comes with anchor charts, pre-writing sheets, final copy pages, writing samples, rubrics and more!

You can also buy the BUNDLE of all 11 months which will save you a lot of money!

If you are looking for some resources for your writing program, check these out!

Don’t forget to grab the FREE June file!

Using Weekly Reading Passages with a Free Pack!

Posted on by smartchickteacher

One of my favorite activities to use in my intermediate classroom has to be weekly reading passages. I have lots of different passages to choose from, many will help build background knowledge for your students!

Click here to check out ALL of the different Weekly Reading Passage Packs and Bundles!

This one is all about Keystone Species. We learn about these animals and plants in science, so this pack is a great way to add discussions and learn some background information. Click here to see this Keystone Species pack!

My students do not want to read back through a reading passage.  I do these weekly reading passages as a way to get my students into the habit of rereading parts of a passage on a reading test, learning to skim passages for the information they are looking for, and answering questions in complete sentences.   

There is a reading passage and five days of questions about the passage included for use throughout one week.  The topics may be familiar or unfamiliar to students.  During state reading tests students often read passages about topics that are unfamiliar to them, so these will help them learn different strategies.

I also have a set of Reading Strategy Posters that are based on these Weekly Reading Passage packs. Click here to check this pack out in my tpt store.

We have a two-pocket, three prong folder we use for this packs each week. I print the reading posters in a larger size at my local Staples to hang up in our room. We focus on one of these reading strategies every 2-3 weeks in our classroom.

Why not try one of these out today? There is a FREE one available in my tpt store! Click here to grab the free pack!

This one is all about Capybaras! We are using capybaras as our theme this year, so we are starting the year with this pack!

Be sure to grab your freebie pack! It may be a great addition to your classroom this year!

Teaching Area & Perimeter with Picture Books – FREEBIE Pack Included!

Posted on by smartchickteacher

Understanding the concepts of area and perimeter can be tough for students. Pairing this issue with picture books is a great way to help students get a real visual about what measuring area and perimeter really mean. In my classroom, we use a few different picture books while we work on these concepts. You can buy the books or find read alouds of them on youtube!

One of the books we read is Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns. This project gets kids cutting out tables for the dinner a family is hosting to fit different amounts of people. The table sizes and numbers change over the course of the story.

There are three pages of worksheets to get through in this pack! The kids really get to see how to find the area and perimeter of each table size as they progress through the book!

Click here for a link to purchase this tpt pack!

If you want a copy of the book, click here to find it on Amazon!

It is a book we read every year in our intermediate classroom!

Another fun picture book to use when teaching area and perimeter is Chickens on the Move by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso. This one has students building different sizes of chicken coops throughout the course of the story!

This book is a little tougher to find a hard copy of, but a read aloud version of the book can be found on youtube.

Click here to check out this pack in my tpt store!

The kids need to build the different sizes of chicken coops using the squares that are provided. I copy the squares on a different color of paper!

If you want to focus in on finding perimeter, then the book Racing Around by Stuart J. Murphy may be a great one for you to use!

Click here to grab this pack in my tpt shop!

It is FREE!

This illustrations in the book really help kids see the way we measure the sides of different locations to find the perimeter.

The locations in the book are not all rectangles, which is an added challenge for students.

If you want to focus in on finding area, then the book Bigger, Better, Best by Stuart J. Murphy may be a great one for you to use!

This book focuses in on figuring out the different areas of windows and rooms in a house.

Click here to see this pack in my shop!

You can grab a copy of this book on Amazon if you are interested in having a hard copy of it!

Collecting a larger set of math picture books is something I work on each year!

Once we have worked through the concepts of area and perimeter, we move on to some fun math projects that focus on area and perimeter.

This alligator challenge has students figure out the pen sizes for alligators arriving to the location!

Click here to see this pack!

Who doesn’t love team projects…with toilet paper???

This pack uses rolls of toilet paper to get team of students to try to make the largest area and longest perimeter! Grab a roll of toilet paper for each group and you are all set! Click here to see this pack!

This last project pack is another engaging team activity! All you need is a large container of animal crackers and some white bulletin board paper.

This activity looks great when students add color and objects to their animal enclosures. We glue the animal crackers onto the exhibits they create! I give each group a certain amount of animal crackers, they will get duplicates of some animals, so the exhibits need to be large enough! Click here to see this pack!

What other things do you do to teach area and perimeter in your own classroom?

Using Informational Texts in the Classroom

Posted on by smartchickteacher

My intermediate students often need support as they navigate informational or non-fiction texts. These types of texts require a different set of skills to get through successfully. Students often see these types of texts on their state and district assessments. They also really enjoy reading informational texts! Including them in my reading instruction is important for many reasons.

I post non-fiction text features posters on a bulletin board in my classroom as we read these types of texts. These posters are a great way to show students the different features of these informational texts.

Click here to purchase these text feature posters!

My students are really engaged with the different informational National Geographic readers. I try to read one of these books each quarter with my students. I choose the titles that match best with my social studies or science curriculum. There are quite a few titles available in my TPT store and more are being added all of the time!

One of the titles related to science my students like is Wolves by Laura Marsh. Most of the National Geographic titles can be found for free on the Epic Books website. You can also purchase them on Amazon for about $5 a book.

Click here to buy this Wolves Informational Text Unit! At a cost of $3 this is an easy way to teach informational texts to your own class!

Other informational text unit titles that can be found in my tpt shop include:

Mummies by Elizabeth Carney

Planets by Elizabeth Carney

Bats by Elizabeth Carney

Butterflies by Laura Marsh

Owls by Laura Marsh

Prehistoric Mammals by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Vikings by Libby Romero

Titanic by Melissa Stewart

Penguins by Anne Schreiber

Alligators and Crocodiles by Laura Marsh

Each of these informational text units is just $3! Grab any that work for your classroom if you need some informational text resources! I am always working on adding more of these units! Click here for access to ALL of these informational text units in my TPT store!

Bess Beetles in the Classroom

Posted on by smartchickteacher

One of my favorite types of living things to have in the classroom are Bess Beetles! I get these amazing beetles from Carolina Biological Supply and the kids absolutely love observing them and working with them. Click here to check out the kit on Carolina! I usually buy one or two of these kits for my classroom.

This kit gives you everything you need to have Bess Beetles in your classroom!

These insects will eat through the logs they provide. They do sell replacement logs so you can keep the beetles in your classroom for many years!

Just spritz them with water every day and you will be surprised how much your kids watch them!

Did you know Bess Beetles don’t bite or pinch? They are easy to handle and are also safe, even for younger kids, to hold!

I have also developed a Bess Beetle lab pack to use in my own classroom! The lab pack contains many different resources. Click here to check out this lab pack!

This Bess Beetle pack includes:

1. Bess Beetle Vocabulary – There are 15 vocabulary cards with definitions and pictures and an interactive notebook page for recording these definitions. There are two options for the front page.

2. What is a Bess Beetle? – There is a pocket for recording information about these insects and an information page. We watch videos about these beetles, books are hard to find.

3. Diagram of a Bess Beetle – Fill in the diagram of a Bess beetle by cutting out the parts and gluing them into the correct locations on the Bess beetle. Add information about each part.

4. Life Cycle of a Bess Beetle – There is information about the life cycle of a Bess beetle. Students need to create their own life cycle chart for their interactive notebook. Copy the front page on cardstock if possible. Use a metal brad to spin the top piece.

5. Observe Live Bess beetles and Larvae– Observe live Bess beetles. These can be purchased on-line. The teacher should gently place a beetles onto a paper towel for each pair or group of students. There are also an Observe an Egg, Larvae, Pupa, and Bess Beetle Lab Sheets (we use actual live Bess beetles in each group for these observation).

6. Assorted Lab Sheets with Live Bess Beetles – There are three lab sheets that can be done with live Bess beetles. We place the Bess beetles into small bowls for these labs. They will crawl away, so be sure to watch them carefully!

7. Bess Adaptations – Do some research to find out how Bess beetles adapt to survive. Color the pictures and write the adaptations.

8. Fun Facts about Bess Beetles – Do some research using books and/or the Internet. Find 6 fun facts about these beetles. Make a mini-poster with your findings.

Why not try using some live animals in your classroom science instruction! They are a great way to grab student attention and interest!

Dominoes for Math Practice

Posted on by smartchickteacher

I am always looking for math manipulatives to use in my classroom and I have a lot of favorites! My packs of dominoes are one of my favs! Click here for 12 sets of dominoes (in case you need some for your classroom).

We use dominoes a lot in our math classroom! They are one of my favorite math manipulatives to use when we are working on different computations with fractions as well as ordering sets of different fractions from least to greatest or greatest to least.

There are so many different ways dominoes can be used in your classroom. Figure out the ones that work best for your students!

Practicing fact fluency is also a great way to use dominoes! You can add, subtract, or multiply the numbers on the dominoes.

We use a Math Mat once a week as a way to practice our math skills and do some spiral review. This one is with dominoes, other math mats in my collection use other types of math manipulatives, while other math mats use food or candy. Click here for the link to purchase this math mat for $1.25!

These math mats are great for review!

MATH GAMES with DOMINOES

We also play a multiplication war with dominoes. Students place the dominoes face down on a table and each person picks one domino and flips it over. The person with the higher value when the numbers are multiplied together, wins both dominoes. If it is a tie, the students each pick another domino and go through the process again.

You can do these games with addition and subtraction facts as well!

You can also compare two fractions using dominoes! This is a skill kids often need to practice.

Click here for a FREE file of game sheets to use with dominoes in math! This file also includes a set of paper dominoes that can be copied for students.

Practice some math facts today, and use dominoes!

Using LIVE Jumping Beans to Learn about Insects!

Posted on by smartchickteacher

Bringing LIVE animals is one way to increase the excitement and engagement of the classroom experience for your students. These jumping beans are something we used to have as kids, and it is fun to bring them back to today’s kids. These jumping beans do take a little time and work to get hatched, but it is rewarding when it works! We do these labs in May and I send the jumping beans home with my students. They have usually hatched by the end of the summer. I also tell me kids they should keep the moths as a PET and not release them into the wild as they are an invasive species.

This pack will guide you through a bunch of different lessons as your students learn about insects and jumping beans! Click here to buy the pack!

We set-up a bulletin board of the vocabulary words included in the pack.

I order jumping beans from Amazon! They are inexpensive and arrive quickly.

Click here to grab 30 jumping beans from Amazon for around $20!

There are many different activities included in the pack. The kids were AMAZED by the jumping beans and how they moved.

They were able to do a lot of research on-line and we figured out the best ways to keep the larva alive as they are developing into moths.

Storing them in a cool, dry place and spritzing them with water a couple times a week seems to be the best way to get them to hatch!

There are lots of materials included in the pack I developed for my own classroom!

The pack linked above includes:

1. Jumping Bean Vocabulary – There are 15 vocabulary cards with definitions and pictures and an interactive notebook page for recording these definitions.

2. What is a Jumping Bean? – There is a pocket for recording the definition of a jumping bean and an information page. We also read the book, Not a Bean, by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez. There is also an Observe a Jumping Bean Lab (we use a real jumping bean for this observation).

3. Life Cycle of a Jumping Bean – There is information about the life cycle of the jumping bean. Students need to create their own life cycle chart for their notebook. Copy the front page on cardstock if possible.

4. Prediction/Recording Sheet – Complete a sheet making some predictions about the jumping beans and record some data about the beans you have in the classroom.

5. Science Lab for Temperature Reaction – Find out how the jumping beans react to different temperatures by completing this lab.

6. Science Lab for Water Reaction – Find out how jumping beans react to water by completing this lab.

7. Science Lab for Touch Reaction – find out how jumping beans react to being help between two fingers by completing this lab.

8. Make a Game Board – Make a game board for the jumping beans to be placed on. Record observations. A completed game board is included on a second sheet of the pack.

9. Fun Facts about Jumping Beans – Do some research using books and/or the Internet. Find 6 fun facts about jumping beans. Make a mini-poster with your findings.

Keep your students engaged at the end of the school year with LIVE animals! There are many to choose from, but my class really enjoys learning about jumping beans!