Stone Soup

This week we have been reading the folktale Stone Soup.  Along with the story, the skill was making inferences (always a tough one). Students really seemed to be getting into the story and really looking for clues to infer deeper meaning.  All of the third grade classes at my school decided we would make our own Stone Soup on Friday.  It was a great activity to end the week and start the Thanksgiving holiday!  Students became the villagers in the story and brought their own ingredients to add to the soup.  The soup cooked in a crock pot all day, so our appetites were growing as the day progressed.  By noon, the entire hallway made your mouth water!  Students wrote recipes including the specific ingredients brought by their classmates and then wrote how to make the soup including all the steps.  The first step was to put a stone in it.  The weird thing was, when we finished the entire pot of soup, there was no stone left!  I even offered a reward for whoever got the stone, but no-one had it!  I don't know whether to be freaked out or just think that someone just wanted a souvenir.  Anyway, the whole event was a huge success, and enjoyed by all.  Check out the video to see for yourself.....
and Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!!!!

End of the Year SIW and ELA & Math wall

So right before testing in mid-April, this is what my back wall looked liked showing all of the ELA and Math standards we had learned so far.  It was a great reminder for the students and provided a sense of accomplishment when they saw it everyday.  Of course, for testing, I had to take it all down.  What a pain, but I don't want to take any chance of my students not getting all the points they earn on the iLEAP, so down it all came.  The red background sports the ELA standards and the blue one of course is Math.  It worked well for this year, however, I ran out of space for Math.  I think I will try some kind of pocket chart for next year.
Now, the Super Improver's Wall was totally amazing.  I was so excited to see how well it worked!  But more importantly, the students couldn't wait each week to see how they improved.  This picture was taken two weeks before the end of the year.   I actually ended with two students becoming living legends!  As their privileges, they were exempt from homework and tests!  I was happy to see that it worked out that there was enough levels to last the entire year.  It's incredible how hard those students worked to get a star.  They were so proud to bring their cards home to show their parents when they reached the next level.  After the leader level, there was different opportunities for them to earn or enjoy.  The end of the leader level, students had their pictures with two crazy friends revealed on the student leader board.  After the captain level, students could get water when they wanted (but could not abuse this privilege) by saying Captain Water.  It continued during the Star stage. At MVP, students had their pictures taken with a small trophy by themselves and it was placed on an MVP board. Superstars were allowed to just write their first name only on their papers (like superstars)!  Hall of Famers only had to do their Reading and Math homework.  I've already mentioned what the Living Legends received.  I used this to show improvement in their test scores, behavior, superspeed 100, homework, and sometimes for specific classroom activities.  It works.  It really works!