Welcome to Preston County

The intent of the blog is for us to help each other out. For example if you are teaching a unit in Reading and find something really good to go with it you could share with the rest in your grade level. On the reverse of that if you are having trouble with a unit or are in need of ideas you can express those thoughts and maybe a colleaque could give some suggestions.

I have listed everything by grade level for grade K-5 and then for middle school I listed it by subjects.

What you need to do first is find the grade level you want to post in ....it might be easier to find the list on the right of the page.....click on it and then you will be able to make a comment in that grade level.

We can also add other topics for the good of the order for all grade levels.






Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Fourth Grade

19 comments:

  1. If you have a smartboard here are the reading tests you can use on it.
    http://techtoolkit.wikispaces.com/4th+grade

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  2. We are finishing up day one. We looked at the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for Mathematics in West Virginia Schools. I have a feeling we are just "skimming" the surface. I feel there is a lot of support at the state level for the implementation of the Next Generation Standards. Here is a question that we reflected on a good bit today:
    How does your classroom environment impact student learning?

    It has been encouraging to meet other educators from around the state and discuss their thoughts about the Next Generation Standards.

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  3. Day 1: Arrived at WV Teacher Leadership Institute, registered for the conference, completed needed paperwork for the laptop used for sessions, and met up with other county participants prior to dinner. The evening session was featured by three guest speakers: Carla Williamson, Clayton Burch, and Robert Hull (all from the WVDE). Mrs. Williamson highlighted the need for some changes to disrupt the "status quo" that exists in many schools. She indicated that many initiatives are bent to the convenience of those working in the school and true change must transform the school and those within it. Mr. Burch detailed the importance of consistent quality teaching in our schools and shared a national statistic showing poor to inconsistent teaching being the norm in a majority of US classrooms. He also talked about the importance of our work in spreading the message of TLI and work to overcome those who are negative in regards to needed changes in our schools. He described these people as CAVEMEN (i.e. Creatures Against Virtually Everything). Robert Hull concluded the evening with remarks about the vital role of teachers in helping students to achieve their dreams regardless of social or economic standing. Upon arrival at home, computer needs charged and documents and presentations needed for tomorrow need to be downloaded.

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  4. Day 2: Today the majority of the day was spent in group sessions. The morning & afternoon sessions focused on exploring the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for Mathematics, identifying student learning related to the standards, and discussion of effective instructional math strategies for 4th and 5th grade students. Our facilitators broke us into groups and reshuffled the groups on several occasions throughout the day. Group work allowed me to talk with teachers, principals, WVDE representatives, and higher education supervisors with each offering unique areas of expertise and experiences. I felt the sessions did help to better familiarize me with the core content standards; however, I did feel like the training was a little "disjointed" at times. Some of our group projects were assigned with inadequate direction and I felt like time was often lost in trying to figure out what was being asked of our groups to accomplish. However, I must say that both of our facilitators were very willing to answer questions and provide guidance to groups as needed. I would not feel totally confindent to provide training on the Next Generation Standards at this juncture; however, our training has really just begun and I'm sure there will be much more to learn and share throughout the rest of the week. The final session of the day allowed our county team time to meet and share our experiences from the day's sessions. We were also asked to begin preparations on a professional development planning document that will be helpful in planning our training actviities for other county teachers and staff. It has beeing a long day and it is time to prepare materials for tomorrow!

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  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA

    Dalton Sherman YouTube Clip used during Clayton Burch's speech on opening night of TLI.

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  6. http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com/2010/10/animate-graphic-presentation-sir-ken.html

    Sir Ken Robinson Clip used during Robert Hull's speech on opening night of TLI.

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  7. Hey, I finally got on to my account. I will be back to tell you about my days so far after our session is over.

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  8. Something huge I want to share from Day 2 discussion is in the Common Core Standards there are Domains, Clusters, and Standards.
    In our Next Generation Standards we have called the Domains the Standards. We have Clusters and then we named the Common Core Standards our Objectives. A little confusing at first but we will get it.

    Common Core Next Generation
    Domain Standards
    Clusters Clusters
    Standards Objectives

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  9. Day 3: Today began with math group sessions and our first activity involved each table group circulating around the room and completing basic multiplication and division problems. Each group had to demonstrate a unique manner to complete each problem, and it was interesting to see the varied techniques that teachers use to assist their students in finding the method that works best for them. We also worked on developing decimal number sense by working some sample problems and developing generalizations and recognizing patterns through the multiplication of whole numbers by given decimals. In addition, we also created visual representations to demonstrate given fractions. Discussion insued as to why it is important for students to be exposed to varied learner-constructed algorithms-- Responses included: building of conceptual knowledge, reinforcing the idea that there are more than one way to work out a problem, building of number sense, and meeting students' needs through differentiated instruction.

    The overriding theme I've taken from the morning discussion is that it is important for students to utilize lots of techniques to solve problems, be willing to try new things and learn from their mistakes, and it is extremely important for teachers to work to create an atmosphere where this can take place.

    Our mid-morning session began by asking us to craft a sample story-problem using multiplication and division and categorize each problem into groups of suggested methodology. We also reviewed specific goals and crafted ideas as to how students would demonstrate comprehension of the given goal.

    The afternoon session featured two new facilitators, and the afternoon's focus was fractions. Major concepts covered: 4th grade teachers are going to be required to provide extensive instruction on fractions, due to a lack of coverage at the 3rd grade level based on current CSOs. The lesson began by demonstrating methods to introduce the concept of fractions (i.e. counting fraction parts), determining whether the counted parts would be more or less than 1, and placing fractions on a number line and where the who number 1 would fall on the number line when provided with fractional guidemarks.

    Following a break, we compared fractions (which is larger) and discussed the throught processes involved in coming to a conclusion on each problem. Another activity involved creating fraction visuals and subdividing them to create new fractions (example: 3/4 converting to 6/8 when adding a horizontal line to the vertical lines)-- This changes the fraction itself but not the shaded portion) Homework assignment was provided at the conclusion of the session. I felt the afternoon session on fractions was very productive and well-organized.

    Our final session of the day was led by Clayton Burch. He discussed the WVDE plan to utilize 21st Century Learning Skills and Technology Tools, Next Generation Standards, 21st Century Standards, and SPL (student personalized learning) over the next 10 years to strengthen WV students and schools. The remainder of the time in this session was devoted to development of the county professional development plan and completion of our county poster.

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  10. Below is a link for a product called the SmartPal Sleeve, which was widely utilized during today's training. Great tool when completing guided practice for math instruction.

    http://www.eaieducation.com/Category/212_1/SmartPAL_Sleeves.aspx?gclid=CImgqcb_srECFYeo4AodFAwAgw

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  11. To begin our day today we brainstormed a list of disposition words for children and for adults learning.some of the words that came to mind are: eager, positive, anticipation, frustration, confused, isolated, collaborating, creative, and etc.

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  12. One of our activities today were to take one of the ELA standards and describe what the definition of the standard means, give examples and non- examples of the definition. Guess what? worksheets became one of the non-examples.Just a little food for thought.

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  13. Day 4: The majority of the morning in my math group session focused on table groups reviewing one objective from the 4th and 5th grade clusters pertaining to fractions and devising presentation posters to display what types of skills and products students should be able to demonstrate to exhibit proficiency in the given standards. This activity really showed how each standards builds on another and reinforces the idea that the objectives should not be taught in isolation. Another activity involved individual work on fraction-based problems followed by group sharing of the varied methods used to solve the problems. It is really important that teachers allow time for their students to share which allows for lots of modeling of manners of problem-solving. Heading to lunch in a few minutess, will try and post again in the afternoon.

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  14. Day 5: Morning group session began by reviewing yesterday's homework (participants were asked to take 10 pictures of 2-dimensional shapes in the natural environment). The facilitators asked us to review our pictures and identify examples of shapes with specific criteria. Another table group project asked us to identify polygons and organize them based on varied criteria (i.e. # of sides, parallel vs. non-parallel sides, angles contained, etc...). This activity required us to take a much closer look at the various shapes and gain a deeper knowledge of their characteristics.

    Another morning group activity involved the completion of a Teach 21 site called Jumping Frogs found at the following link:
    http://wveis.k12.wv.us/Teach21/public/ng_unit_plans/LP/lpview.cfm?tsele1=2&tsele2=20&upid=145
    The focus of this lesson is to assist fourth grade students construct and interpret line plots, while solving problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions using the information from line plot. There were numerous extensions a teacher could implement using this lesson (mean, median, mode; scientific method, etc....)

    Our final morning session involved the measurement of given angles with a non-standard measurement followed a standardized measurement tool (i.e. folded patty paper). We basically used angles to measure other angles. Time for lunch. We are scheduled to meet with the ELA groups in the afternoon. It will be interesting to see some of the things they have been doing firsthand.

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  15. www.lexile.com is a great tools to determine grade-level appropriate reading materials. A student's reading "sweet spot" is a lexile range that is runs 100 L points below and 50 L poiints above their current Lexile score. Student lexile scores are provided on their WESTEST 2 results.

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  16. See--Think--Wonder--> A great technique to elicit student opinions and increase engagement prior to the writing process.

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  17. Wow! I didn't realize that there was such a range in lexile levels in our 4th grade reading series. The first 5 stories between 480-1000L. 770-980L should be the 4th grade level.

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  18. Day 6: "Number Talks" a great resource for math teachers on teaching students different strategies on to how to solve problems.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=p4B9F1u2T4kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=number+talks&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6EPXT_v4Nsbx0gGsx8CkAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=number%20talks&f=false

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  19. Link to Math Resources from this week's sessions

    http://wvde.state.wv.us/instruction/math.html

    Everyday Mathematics http://everydaymath.com/
    Investigations http://investigations.terc.edu/CCSS/correlations.cfm
    Math Expressions
    http://www.hmhelearning.com/math/mathexpressions/mx09/resources/MX11_CommonCore_K-5.pdf
    EnVisions http://ttools.ccsd.net/tab2_math.html

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