Multiplication Array City

Array City!!

This cute project we did for Multiplication Arrays and Open House. I LOVE how the neon colors stand out on the black buildings! The students were so creative with their buildings and windows. I precut the neon squares and gave each student a black rectangle but the students really made these their own!

The CA Gold Rush

CA Gold Rush is HUGE in California for 4th grade. I was shocked how hard it was to find resources in my classroom and on the web.  So I turned to Donorschoose and got really lucky to have wonderful donors support my project! Thank you Donors!! Now we can RESEARCH to learn about the Gold Rush.





 The most loved book we got was The California Gold Rush Interactive (You Choose) book from Amazon

By: Elizabeth Raum

This is like the old books I used to read in the dentist's office or even more recent Give Yourself Goosebumps by R.L. Stine. The students LOVED getting to pick what they would do and see the results. How to get out west? You choose! I would read the choices let them think of what they would pick and then turn and talk and try to convince their partner to agree with evidence from our social studies readings. The conversations were SO detailed and animated! Thank you Elizabeth Raum for such a great book to have students interact with history!

We used the books to complete our Workshop Unit on History to Life! 

Word Pictures!

I love to read other blogs and borrow fabulous ideas like this one from Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics. (Again! I'm not sure how I would be surviving 4th grade without her!)

We use Words In Action in our school for Vocabulary. I like how it's similar to our Workshop model, uses picture books and has prompts to help our ELL kiddos. Each week with had 5 focus words and and the end of a month we looked back and selected our favorites to make the pictures for.

4th Grade Beginnings

Another new room and a new grade...

4th Grade...The Beginning!

I had been lucky to move into classrooms that were emptied out for me by former teachers. I didn't realize how lucky I was until I was reassigned to 4th grade and walked into my "new" classroom! 

There wasn't any space for my things!! Thankfully no one was using my old classroom...

This is still clearly the beginning -- it was a long (very slow) move-in process!! Of course this was because I wanted perfection before my kiddos moved in too! (Um...Like they know if the cabinets are organized!)

Fall Trees Art Project

My favorite FALL TREES art project!! I LOVE how these turn out every year... ! Fall isn't really something we see here on our coast so it's a great project for my northern CA kiddos.