Happy Teacher Appreciation Week

The link "Thank you to all the teachers on Earth" caught my eye as I scrolled down the Google page today.  Of course, as a teacher, I had to see what it was.  The video that popped up truly made my day.  There was a time when I myself wanted to be an astronaut.  Yes, I know, you're thinking, "You?  You wanted to go to space?"  Believe it or not, I did.  So...here's to all the teachers everywhere who get the chance to be a lot of things - astronauts, chefs, scientists, nurses, architects, etc.  We are so fortunate.

Comparing and Contrasting Cinderella Stories

Over the past few weeks, my fifth graders have been reading five different versions of Cinderella from around the world.  Afterwards, they were asked to look at the stories a little more closely by choosing two versions to compare and contrast.  I developed the following project as a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge.  The project also covers point of view and summarizing, two other concepts that we have recently covered.  The task was to complete prompts on 12 different pentagons.  These pentagons were then assembled as a dodecahedron.  I hung the completed dodecahedrons from the ceiling in our classroom.  Below are some student examples, as well as a link to my TPT store where you can purchase the project (including the checklist & rubric).

Click here to purchase the project:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cinderella-CompareContrast-Dodecahedron-Project-1030903

Math Games

In my hunt for new math games, I found some fun ones on Math Playground that I really like.  Click on the links to try them out.

Money with Interest and Tax

http://www.mathplayground.com/mathatthemall1.html

Logic

http://www.mathplayground.com/logic_magic_pen.html

http://www.mathplayground.com/logic_sugarsugar.html

Order of Operations

http://www.mathplayground.com/order_of_operations.html

Discipline

Our days are filled with choices.

When we repeatedly make the right choices, we set ourselves up for success.