Soils in the Environment Learning Goal Statements and Assessment Strategies (New Product! Plus the Boost Sale)

 My newest product is in my TPT store and just in time for the BOOST Back to School Sale!

Here in Ontario we study Soils in the Environment as part of the Grade 3 curriculum. I know a lot of my American teacher/blogger friends teach about soils as well because I've seen so many great posts, pinned wonderful ideas on Pinterest and purchased your products on TPT! 

This product  is a great companion to your soils unit.

It contains: 

- all of the Big Ideas related to Soils and the Environment from the Ontario Science Curriculum

- the specific expectations re-written in student-friendly language as "I can..." statements. These can be posted on a bulletin board or in your room as you teach through the unit. 

- Individual Student Learning Goal Statement Cards that can be glued into a science notebook or used with the Learning Goal Reflection sheets that are included in this pack

- three different Learning Goal Reflection pages (2 are pictured here)

- Written Learning Goal Reflection, Glow and Grow and Postcards for Learning- lots of different ways to differentiate and help your students self-assess in Science

If you haven't already checked out my Growth and Changes in Plants Learning Goals Pack click here to check it out!

Click on the image to head straight to my TPT store.

Right now this new product, as well as everything else is on sale in my store for the BOOST Back to School Sale.

Don't forget to use the promo code BOOST to get all the deals!

Guided Math Posters and Planning (FREEBIES)

“Graphics by The Hazel Owl @ http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Hazel-Owl”

One of my biggest goals for this coming school year is to have a solid Guided Math/ Math Workshop program in my class. Over the course of this year I have been doing a lot of reading, pinning and planning to get ready for this... and here we are, only three weeks away from the start of school!

I've posted a lot about my learning and my plans for my Math Workshop and you can find those posts starting here.

Below you can see the posters I have created for each of the 4 rotations/ centres/ stations (whatever you want to call them) that I will have in my class. I really liked the idea of using MATH as an acronym for my Math Workshop so I played around with it and this is what I came up with.

**On the Teacher Time page of the freebie it will say "Small group lessons that will be done with your teacher." instead of being customized like the one above for a teaching colleague of mine.**

Please click on any of the above images to be taken to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to grab this freebie for yourself. 

I am also in the process of planning out the first 20 days of my Math Workshop...and beyond. I have purchased Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton as well as downloaded this AMAZING freebie from Mandy's Tips for Teachers. 

Another blog I recommend visiting is Tina's Teacher Treasures. Tina has some amazing products in her TPT store as well.   

I've also created a Workshop at a Glance template for both my Math and Literacy Workshops. I like to see where I'm going and where I've been as I plan my lessons and move forward through the year.

Click on the image below to grab your copy!

I hope you can make use of these freebies, either in your own classroom or in your planning. I am working on a weekly planning template for both my math and literacy workshop and plan to have those ready soon.

A Name Art Project- A Wonderful Way to Start Your Visual Art Class

In anticipation of the coming school year I am hoping that I get to teach my own visual art. It is an area of the curriculum that I love and really enjoy teaching. 

In the Ontario curriculum for art we concentrate on the elements of design: line, colour, value, texture, shape and form, and space. I found a great resource for explaining the elements on this site. You should definitely check it out if you are teaching art this year.

This is a great project that could be used as a display for an Open House night and even double as the cover of our art portfolios.

Deep Space Sparkle had just the art activity I was looking for, Name Designs: Line Art...go take a look at this fantastic project to do with your class.

What an amazing site...so many ideas, techniques, supply lists. 

Everything you could ever need to teach art!

The last time I taught this lesson I started with a discussion on lines and patterns. 

My class and I looked at some art by Keith Haring, Van Gogh and others (multiple mediums) and discussed the moods, emotions and types of lines we saw. 

It was very interesting to talk to the kids about their impressions of the famous art works. 

Then we did a lesson on how to draw block letters and we practiced various size letters, shapes of letters and talked about the contours of the lines. Once we had spent a good deal of time on the block letters we moved on to different types of patterns we could create using lines... thick lines, wavy lines, round lines, thin lines...you name it. 

The students created a tic-tac-toe board on their practice paper and drew 9 or so different types of patterns. 

When we had finished that we did a gallery walk to get new ideas from what our classmates had tried. 

(This was my first art class gallery walk and I LOVED it!)

Now we were finally ready to start the project! I must say that the kids were focused, quiet and hard at work make their name projects.  

As a side note: my teaching partner thought this project would be way too hard for grade 4 but I disagreed and felt that if we teach high they will learn high...and I was right! 

 Here are some pictures of my students working away on a rainy Friday afternoon. Some are close to done, some are done and moved on to other line drawings but many are still in the process. 

I can't wait to see what they all look like when they are done and on display!

This student's name only has three different letters and they are all very angular, no curves. 

He has added a TONNE of patterns and I can't wait to see the finished product.

This is one of the finished ones! 

This student chose to use pencil crayons instead of markers for his letters. 

It's going to take more work to colour everything in so that it pops! but he is pretty determined.

This student used a ruler A LOT. 

It will be an interesting contrast to this students who worked free hand.

Click here to see the finished projects on display. 

(Grade 4 students)

Click here to see some more examples taken from a different year. 

(Grade 3 students)

This post was originally published in 2011. 

Ohhhh! I just had to go back and do some shopping today!

I know, I know...

I posted about some great resources yesterday but let's be honest here... this girl just can't resist a sale!

I've been dying to buy an Erin Condren planner forever now but the cost of shipping to Canada pretty much doubles the price of the planner.

Just a little too steep for me.

But of course, the FABULOUS Tina has created something that will fit my need for a cute planner just perfectly.

Just go and look at this amazing teacher planner!

And it's on sale.

Oh my word. 

And it's CUSTOMIZABLE.

That's right folks.

It's a must see for sure. 

Aaaaand, I love this calendar set from Brandi Miller at Swinging for Success. 

She sent me a free copy during the Guided Math book study (thanks again!!) and I am super excited to use it in my class this year. 

You can go wrong with rainbows and math!!

Need Something to Fill Up Your Cart? Back 2 School Sale

Have you been shopping yet? I sure have!

It's been a crazy busy summer and I haven't been able to upload any new products to my own TPT store...but I do plan to soon. Here in Ontario we don't go back to school until September 2nd so my mind hasn't been on school stuff too much yet. 

So here's what I'm thinking. 

Since I didn't have any new products posted for the big sale I will just host my own sale EVERYTIME I post a new product from now until back to school.

But until then here are some great products from other sellers that I would love for you to check out.

Tina's Teaching Treasures

Oh my word! I can't say enough about the amazing products that Tina has in her store. You couldn't go wrong with buying anything or everything in her store.

My top recommendations are:

Guided Math COMMON CORE Grade 3 All Strands Bundle

Guided Math Starter Kit CCSS

Daybook Teacher Binder Preppy Style

Math Problem Solving Independent Practice: Planet Math Path

While you're over at TPT browsing away, check out these other great products I found.

Guided Reading Lesson Plans Level A- M

Math Calendar Cards

Ready 2 Number Library Labels

Guided Reading Resources

Launching the Reader's and Writer's Workshop

Happy Shopping!!!