Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog

Fancy Ideas for the Everyday Classroom

Open House 2014

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   This past Thursday was our Open House. It was really late in the year and it gave my class A  LOT of time to show off all their learning!

Science:

The kids loved my Circuits- Print and Go- Activity and it made a fantastic bulletin board! **This is one of my top sellers**

Parents and students got to play with real circuits at the back table while admiring our the Ecosystem my class made in October… The fish is STILL ALIVE!

Social Studies:
We did a lot with Social Studies this year because we integrated a lot of our reading and writing with it.
It was a great way for them to work with non-fiction text, interact with difficult vocabulary and go beyond just reading a text book. They read, they researched, they wrote and they got creative!

On their desks they had their Gold Rush projects. Students were able to make a Conestoga Wagon, Sutter’s Mill, Mining Tools or Sutter’s Mill.

They proudly hung their research reports on the back wall.

Earlier in the year the student did a group mission project together. Each group had 6 kids in it and as a group they chose a mission to research together. At school they brought in their tablets, library books and internet research and each person was responsible for a different part of the report.  Individually they were responsible to make a model of the mission they researched or make a poster board about it.  I hung their group reports on the wall and bordered it with pictures of them holding their mission model/poster board.  I connected string to each of the group projects and attached them to where on the Camino Real their mission was located. They kids loved it! 
The ramp leading up to my classroom was decorated with their poster projects.

To learn about the Gold Rush we did a pictorial timeline of the most important events and details about the California Gold Rush.  I read to them an excerpt, they summarized and then drew a picture of each event.

It was fun to see the kids explain the California Gold Rush to their parents by pointing to each picture and explaining it in their own words!  
Accelerated Reader is BIG at my school and in my class. We challenge the upper grades to read 1,000,000 words in a school year. If they reach their goal they get to attend a fancy luncheon at the end of the year as well as receive front of the lunch line passes for the year! To track their progress I hand a $100 bill each time they reach 100,000 words on a piece of ribbon with their name on it.  It is a great motivator and cool bulletin board!  The tree house tracks their points for the year. They move up in hopes to become a Top Owl!
Math:
We just finished algebra and moved onto geometry!  The bottom picture is my Fall in Love with Algebra activity.  They worked on these with a partner, in their math centers. They had to solve the algebraic equation and then match the variable with the corresponding equation.  This is a great review activity and makes a super fun bulletin board!  The top picture was a group activity where they sorted the pictures into different geometry categories.  
Above their desks I hung All-Star baseball cards of my students.  On the front is a picture of them in their favorite sport’s team jersey and on the back are all of their accomplishments this year.

You can pick up this End of Year All-Star Brag Card at my TpT Store on sale now!
Thanks for letting me share my Open House 2014 with you! 


Comments

  1. WOW! Look at all this amazing stuff you've got going on in your room. I think I would really enjoy an Open House near the end of the year for the kids to be able to showcase their work. We always have our so early and there is never a lot that we have completed by then!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  2. I love your electricity bulletin board. I saw that you are planning a post about that – I can't wait to read more about it since I also teach series and parallel circuits. It is so obvious how much your students learned this year with you as their teacher. Lucky kiddos! -Amanda

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  3. I don't know how I missed this post, but I did. I saw your blog on TPT this morning and checked it out. Went to go follow you and found out I already follow. Eek! Wait, I know why I missed it. Because your Open House was around the same time as mine, and was going crazy getting ready for it.

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the pics of your room! I teach 4th grade in SoCal too, and we did some of the same things, but I have to admit, I'm gonna have to steal your electricity/circuit thingy. That is just too cool, and since I have no idea how to teach that, your idea looks like it's fun and will do the trick! : )
    We need to stay in touch and be 4th grade Cali bloggy buds. : )

    Ali
    Teaching Powered by Caffeine

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