The PLAN!

The past few weeks have flown by! We have continued to focus on academic development this week. The third graders have worked very hard on forming an academic plan, which includes six steps. To make this lesson a little more interesting, each class was separated into six groups (steps). The steps for an academic plan are as follows:

Step 1: Have a good attitude

Step 2: Pay attention and listen

Step 3: Get organized

Step 4: Do all assigned work

Step 5: Prepare for tests

Step 6: Keep up your effort!

Each group worked hard on answering questions that related to their step and became experts. Below is an example of questions that each step had to answer:

After each team was able to answer these questions, it was time for them to teach the rest of the class! The third graders really enjoyed teaching each other about what they worked on. It was a great lesson that they can hopefully apply to their studies!

In first grade, we revisited the topic of tattling versus reporting. The students were taught that tattling means trying to get someone IN trouble when there is no one being hurt and no rules are being broken. Reporting, on the other hand, has the purpose to get someone OUT of trouble in an unsafe situation.

To test for comprehension, I read several scenarios where they had to tell me if it was tattling or reporting. Here are a few examples:

“Teacher, John is giving me silly looks!” (tattling)

“Kevin keeps stomping hard on my toes when we line up.” (reporting)

“Tommy has candy!” (tattling)

“I saw a second grade boy with scissors outside at recess.” (reporting)

“Sandy pushed me and knocked me down at recess.” (reporting)

After the students were able to tell me whether the scenario was tattling or telling, they then had to explain why. Quickly, the first graders could really tell the difference between tattling and reporting! Hopefully this will result in more reporting and less tattling. I am so proud of these kiddos!

Have a wonderful weekend! J

-Mrs. Bagby 

Study Habits and Test-Taking Strategies!

We have been focusing more on academic development this week. In third grade, we read an excerpt from the book, Lively Lessons for Classroom Sessions by Rosanne Sheritz Sartori. The excerpt is about identical twin brothers, Tim and Tom, who are the exact same…except for their study habits! Tim has a very clean desk, completes his homework right after school, turns it in on time, keeps his papers in his folder, and packs his backpack before bedtime. Tom, on the other hand, has a messy desk, which leads to crumpled and torn papers. He cannot find any of his school supplies and, if he does his homework, he does not complete it until right before bed…only after his mom has nagged him about it ALL day. Sound familiar? J

The excerpt goes on to explain that the boys want to trick their mom into not knowing which boy is which. In order for them to trick her, they must both do their homework and use good study habits like Tim. Tom struggles with using good study habits, however, with a lot of hard work and encouragement from Tim, Tom improves his study habits AND his grades! They even end up fooling their mom! This excerpt has the wonderful message that, with determination, anyone can have good study habits!

After we discussed the excerpt, it was time to put the first and third graders to the test. In order to have some fun while they learned, we played a B-I-N-G-O game about study habits and test-taking tips. Here is the third grade example:

First graders also played a version of B-I-N-G-O. Here is what they used:

We all had a great time playing B-I-N-G-O! I am looking forward to our kiddos using some of the test-taking strategies we discussed. As always, have a fantastic week! J

-Mrs. Bagby