Character Traits

Our last unit before break was Character Traits.  I have been meaning to post this for quite some time but I was so busy with end of quarter testing, and then I got sick with strep throat just before Christmas (which I'm just now beginning to get over).  I created several activities that I thought I'd share.

First we discussed physical, or outside, traits.  We listed the physical traits of several characters on chart paper (sorry, forgot to take pictures).  A couple of great read-alouds for this were Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon and Moosestache. We also did these sheets:

 

 

 

Click here to download

Click here to download

The, the students designed a creature. I downloaded several coloring pages of aliens/monsters from the internet and had the students color them.  Then, they filled in this sheet describing their creatures' physical traits.  I wish I had some pictures of the finished product.  They were adorable.

Click here to download

Then, we began talking about character traits.  We had a specific list of trait words to work on.  We did several T-charts listing the trait and the evidence from the text or pictures.  I made this worksheet as a checkpoint to see who was "getting it."  (I read these aloud to them.)

Click here to download

Click here to download

Most students were doing well at identifying traits, but weren't being specific with their proof from the text, so we did several examples of being specific and then did this sheet. 
 
In the end, only about 60% of my students were proficient/advanced on the post-test.  Not great results.  So, the other half of my class gets to go over it all again in small groups! 

Hopefully someone out there can use these.  Enjoy!

How do you do classroom jobs?

I have done them several different ways.  I tried changing the jobs every week, but I had trouble remembering to change them and never remembered who was supposed to be doing what job.

I tried having my students keep the same job the whole year.  It worked well for a while, but there were still jobs that didn't get done and students got tired of their jobs.  Then I worried about being "fair" because they didn't get a chance to do the coveted jobs.

This led me to think about "real" jobs.  How do people get jobs?  What happens if you don't like your job or you don't do your job correctly?  Do you change jobs every week?  Also, our first Social Studies unit is about community, rules, rights, and responsibilities.  So, I decided to incorporate classroom jobs into the SS unit.

How do people get jobs?  They fill out an application and do an interview! I came up with a simple job application for my students to fill out. (It's color here, but I printed it in black and white.)

Then, I did "interviews" with them!  I asked each one why they thought they would be good at the jobs they wanted.  (It took about 2 minutes each and they were willing to do it during recess!!) I explained to the class that I would TRY to give each of them one of the jobs they wanted, but I couldn't promise.  I did promise that I would not give them the job they crossed out.  Luckily, it worked out that I was able to give each child one of their three choices.

What happens if you don't like your job?  You quit!  I told them they had to try the job for 2 weeks and if they didn't like it, they could quit and apply for another. (If one isn't available you may have to wait!)

What happens if you don't do your job?  You get fired :-(.  If students don't do their job, or don't do it well, I can take the job away and someone else can apply for it.

I'm hoping this will be a great way to begin teaching the students about responsibility!  I'll let you know how it goes!  What do you think?  How do you run jobs in your classroom?

Update:  I have changed the google doc so that it is no longer private.  You can download it now!

Who has a wonderful husband? (and a cute sign)

I do! Thanks to him, my classroom is ready for the first day of school! We don't start until Tuesday, but tomorrow begins our district meetings. So, today he spent the entire day helping me in my room and putting up with my OCD tendencies (I made him tape yard sticks to my tables so that I could make sure they were evenly spaced and at right angles...yes, I'm THAT bad). Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera today, so I don't have pictures yet, but I promise I'll post them tomorrow.

I spent this evening making a cute sign for my room.

You can download it here.

I'd be glad to change it to for your grade level, just let me know!

Student Self Assessment

Our school has recently been studying Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning by Jan Chappuis. One of our first steps was to have the students keep track of their own learning.  We created "data notebooks" for each student to keep track of their learning.  Students set goals for themselves and tracked their progress.  Right now, our notebooks are very simple.  I'm sure someone out there could fancy them up and make them much cuter.  (If you do, please send me a copy!) I'm looking forward to trying to utilize them more this year.  Take a look at what we have made so far and let me know if you have any ideas for how we could improve upon them.  

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