Second Grade Ditched The Desks!

Mrs. Bondini spent all Friday night changing out her desks for tables! She was so inspired she didn't want to wait for help! Looks great!! 

Third Grade Has Ditched The Desks!!

Mrs. Bartel's made a big change in her classroom this week! She has ditched her desks! It is not easy to take a risk like this and redesign your teaching and classroom management but increasing the opportunity for collaboration and student led discussions make the risk well worth it! I had been thinking about redesigning my classroom for some time but Erin Klein really gave me the push and inspiration needed to make such a big change in my classroom. Here is an article about "The Cemetery Effect" and ditching the desks. Flexible seating in classrooms also has a positive effect on student learning. Here is another article about making your classroom as comfortable and inviting as Starbucks! If you are on Twitter @Klein Erin and @MrsDelz are two great people to follow. Their classrooms are truly an inspiration! On Twitter search #starbucks4kids to get more great ideas for your classroom! I would be happy to share what has worked well for me and what I found challenging! If you find yourself at Kittredge, stop and see for yourself! 

Weather Books

We are currently working on creating books on extreme weather. Students are working in groups to research and produce a book about either hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzard or tsunamis. This is part of our nonfiction unit in the Lucy Calkins reading workshop. Today we spent some time identifying helpful websites. Once we have finished with our research, students will create their books in Book Creator. Stay tuned for the final product!

Kahoot

Kahoot is a great site to use for reviewing for a test or to use as an exit ticket. It is very similar to Socrative. The students loved the music that went along with our review.

Create the game at http://getkahoot.com

Have students log into the game using their device (iPad or Chromebook) at http://kahoot.it

It was very easy to create this review. It gave instant feedback and we were able to discuss why an answer was correct or incorrect. Students were engaged and excited!

This is an easy way to incorporate technology into a lesson!

Lesson on Wind Turbines

Create a QR code that links to a video or reference. Have students read the article or watch the video and take notes. Afterwards, pose a question and have students respond and support their answer using a Padlet. Here is an activity my students will be completing tomorrow for morning work. Later during Science I will pose a question based on this work and have students respond in a Padlet.

Activity 

Check back tomorrow for our completed Padlet!

Reviewing For Science Using Socrative

Students loved answering questions about weather and watching their rocket ship move across the board. We did this review independently. It can easily be done in pairs or groups. It's a great way to review for a test or quiz or as an exit ticket. I love this website because it provided immediate feedback and it's engaging!

Using Padlet to Spark A Conversation About Air

We used Padlet this afternoon to review what we know about air.