A Bit of Fun

April 3, 2015
Issue #350

Seeing an elderly looking student walk into the second-grade classroom perplexed me until I realized it was the 100th day of school. Most of the students came in one aged form or another, filling the room with hair buns, canes, and joyful chatter.

The fun was woven into writing workshop, and students enjoyed recording what they would do with $100.00, as well as what they will do when they are 100 years old. Not only does Paige (pictured) plan to be the best knitter ever when she is 100, but she plans to fly a plane to New York City and go skydiving. Having met her, I’m guessing she just might. 

It is fun things like this that students will remember long after they leave us. The lessons we teach might be preparing them for life, but let’s remember that it doesn’t have to cost a thing to weave an element of fun into our learning, and that it’s those things that make some students want to come back day after day.

How do you incorporate fun into your classroom? Share it in the post titled "Adding a Bit of Fun" on our Discussion Board so we can learn from each other and add one or two more fun things to ours. 

 

 

How can I make Math Daily 3 work within my time parameters?

Whether your math block is 60, 70, or 90 minutes long, this article will help you set a successful schedule set.

 

 

Book Club—Same Series, Different Books

Check out this book club in which students are reading self-selected books from the same series.

 

 

Underline Words You Don't Know How to Spell and Move On

Not knowing how to spell a word tends to put the brakes on writing fluency and stamina building. In this video, Gail gives students an important strategy that will allow them to keep their writing flowing.

 

"I Can" Bookmarks*

Help students remember the key factors of these accuracy strategies with easily reproduced bookmarks.

1  Use Beginning and Ending Sounds*
2  Use the Pictures... Do the Pictures and Words Match?*
 

*Available to members

b-Resilient Be Curious Do you still approach life with curiosity? You may want to relearn this childlike attribute.

Conferring with CCPensieve Support While Logged In You can view all of our support pages while logged in. Follow these steps to learn how.

 

Professional Development Opportunities

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2015 Live Workshops We are excited about our 2015 workshops. At each location, the first day will focus on Daily 5 and Math Daily 3. Day two is a new CAFE Intensive.  Location Dates Chicago, IL Westin North Shore April 18, 19 (Full both days) Charlotte, NC Westin Charlotte June 6, 7 Tacoma, WA Hotel Murano June 25, 26 Orange County, CA Hyatt Regency Orange County August 3, 4 Minneapolis, MN Radisson Blu Mall of America August 29, 30 Fort Worth, TX Hilton Fort Worth September 19, 20 Las Vegas, NV Tropicana Las Vegas November 14, 15

2015 Online Seminars Prefer short bursts of information combined with independent learning? Each session offers separate seminars on Daily 5, CAFE and Math Daily 3. April 5–May 2 May 3–May 30 May 31-June 27 July 7-Aug1 Learn more about Daily 5 and CAFE workshops, online seminars, and online graduate courses. Up & Running with the Daily 5 Our new how-to video, shot in third-grade and fifth-grade classrooms, is available through subscription for online streaming or as a DVD.  Go to Stenhouse Publishers to learn about a limited-time offer that could benefit your school.