Shell Advetures

I just got back from GYTO in Orlando.  We live in a small rural community 2 hours north of Chicago. So a warm weather getaway is just what my teach heart needed.  I attended with a great group of teacher that I am blessed to work with every day.  We decided to leave early and drive to St. Petersberg.  We spent a day on the beach.   

While walking on the beach one day, we saw SO many shells. We decided to collect shells to bring back for our students.  When I returned, I told my students that I  brought something back for each of them.  I had them play 20 questions to infer what I had brought back.  The students had some really good questions and they used the information they gained from my answers to drive their next questions.  By the end of the game, they figured out that I brought back shells. 

Next, I had my students buddy up and write adjectives that described their shells. 

While I was at the beach I also saw these adorable tiny shell creatures that would bury themselves into the sand after the waves would wash it away.  This reminded me of the Disney short film titled, Piper.  This is an adorable film of a little bird tries to get shells that bury themselves in the sand.   I showed this short video to my students then showed them my real life video.  We talked about how movie makers and writers use real life experiences to get ideas.  

Lastly, I showed my students a shell I found that had been broken.  We talked about what could have happened to this shell.  We visualized it what it might have looked like before it was broken.  I had my students write about the adventures the shell had been on to become broken and washed up on the beach.  Click the picture below for you FREE copy of this fun writing activity. 

Christmas Tree S.T.E.M

Every December I dread...I mean D-R-E-A-D putting up my classroom Christmas tree.  I hate sorting the branches, attaching them to the pole, fluffing, etc, etc, etc!  

Now, before you call me the Grinch, I LOVE Christmas time!  I love decorating my house and my REAL tree. I love sitting next to the tree with only the Christmas tree lights on.

Last year as I was dragging my Christmas decor and tree out of storage, it hit me!  I am  not going to put the tree up this year, my students will as a S.T.E.M  challenge!

This week I started math time by throwing all the parts to the Christmas tree down on the floor.  (Yes very dramatic like!)  I had students visualize the shape of the Christmas tree.  And share with them their challenge.  

Groups rotated to this as a station during our Guided Math time.   It took them a bit to figure it out and at times our tree looked a little funny! 

However, at the end of Guided Math, the tree only had 2 miss places branches. 

This activity taught my students...

1. The importance of  developing a plan first

2. How to listen to every one's ideas

3. How to effectively communicate our ideas

4. We shouldn't all do our own thing.

5. How to work as a team.

I will NEVER put together another class Christmas tree again!  The learning benefits are amazing and as an added bonus, I don't have to put the tree together!  Now, how do I make beginning of the year classroom set up a S.T.E.M activity?

Frest Start to a GREAT year!

I started this blog several years ago when I uploaded my first products to TPT.  When life got busy as my daughter got older, I began blogging less and less.  Two years ago my family went through one of our darkest times and blogging was non-existent.  At 12 weeks into my second pregnancy we were given devastating news.  Our child had Trisomy 18 and was not expected to make it past the second trimester.  We trusted God's plan for us and continued through pregnancy knowing our son would not survive.  At 33 weeks he passed and we had a stillbirth.  The next two years our marriage was rocky at best.  I was depressed and didn't realize it.  My husband had developed panic attacks and was suffering from anxiety, which led to self medicating with alcohol.  Fast forward now... we are happier and healthier than ever!  GOD is so good!  One of these days I will blog all about that time in our life as I do think now part of my purpose in life is to share God's faithfulness during the darkest of times. 

However, today I am SO happy to be back to the blogging world and to share all things school with you guys!  I love to share and to get inspired from ALL the amazing teachers out there.

2018-2019 Classroom Tour

Several years ago I transitioned my classroom over to a flexible seating classroom after being inspired my some great teachers in my school. I will NEVER go back!

When my students ever the classroom, they choose each day where they sit. I love giving them choice and control over their learning. 

You will notice LOTS of blank space.  I believe in adding to my walls with my students throughout the year. This way they are more likely to use the resources that we hang up. 

I do not have a traditional desk either.  My husband built me this L shaped top to sit on top my two plastic drawer towers.  This is where I keep my computer.  Then, I work at the horse shoe table with my kiddos.  I don't know about you, but I NEVER had time to work at my desk.  It just became a spot to pile up stuff.

Below the "Your Mindset is Everything" we put up all the quotes we learn for Growth Mindset.

Construction Day

Our room and teacher were briefly transformed for the day! 

We have been really struggling to understand nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  Something we need to have solid for second grade.  So today, we were second graders under construction.

One of my student's dad works for a construction company and let us borrow some supplies to transform our room. 

To start the lesson off, I pulled out my "tools."  Students had to name the tool that I held up. That was our noun.  Then, students had to list things that the tool could do. These were our verbs.  Lastly, students had to describe the tool.  These were our adjectives.  We did this activity whole group for three different tools. (saw, tape measure, and a hammer)

Next, I had giant bricks with either nouns, verbs, or adjectives written on them.  Together as a class we sorted these brinks and build 3 different walls.  A noun wall, a verb wall, and and adjective wall. 

Next, it was time for our centers.

At the first center students had to color code their blue prints. I printed these on larger paper and rolled them for a more authentic look. ;)  Students had to color code the nouns, verbs, and adjectives in the sentences. 

At the second center, students had a pile of real rocks with words written on them.  They had to sort the rocks next to the correct construction vehicle. (Noun, Verb, or Adjective. Sensing a theme here?) Of course we had to wear our helmets!

The last center students had to BUILD sentences with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. I wrote nouns, verbs, and adjectives on large Duplo blocks.  I also color coded the nouns, verbs, and adjectives to make it easier to sentence building. 

Students had to pick one of each. Then, they would place the words on the floor and write the sentence directly on the floor with a Vis-a-Vis marker.  We call this floor graffiti. Students love it!  I had students wear safety vests at this center. 

My students had a blast during our construction day!  Most importantly they were engaged and the learning was tied to a memory. I am confident now that my students have a good grasp of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Bring on second grade.    

I will NEVER put up a Christmas Tree again!

I will never, I mean NEVER set up my class tree again!  From now on my students will set up the tree!

At one of my Guided Math stations, students had to set up our Christmas tree. I scattered the branches around the pole and went to work with my groups at the guided math table.  As I worked with my groups, I kept an eye on  the tree building station. It was hard not to give suggestions. It was SO cool to see students successes and failures.  It was AWESOME to see the students that emerged as leaders.  (Not the students I would have thought!) 



For the entire math block, groups rotated in and out of this station, but the tree was never put together correctly. 



When math time was over, we gathered around the tree to discuss what kept us for correctly assembling the tree.  Here is what my students came up with...

1. We were not communicating

2. Everyone was doing their own thing

3. We didn't have a plan



I was impressed. 

So, we took apart what we had done and started over using the strategies that we just brainstormed.  We talked. We developed a plan.  We worked together and not on our own.  In 30 minutes, we did what we couldn't accomplish during our hour math block. 



This lesson was SO worth it! Not just for math and problem solving, but for building team work!  When we were done building the tree, we sat around our accomplishment and shared what we learned and how we can apply it to ANY group work situation. 



Click on the link below to see my class blog post with pictures!



Mrs. Wanke's Wonderful Whales: Building the Tree: On Wednesday, Mrs. Wanke put all the parts of the tree on the floor and we had to work together as a team to correctly build the tree. ...

3 Cheers for Dr. Seuss

I love Read Across America week honoring Dr. Seuss.  This year I decided to transform the entrance of my room for the week.  What do you think?

I think my students will love walking through the Truffula forest before entering our room! Super excited for the week.  Check back soon to see what fun we are going to have!

3-2-1 Blast Off

Have you ever wanted to take a field trip into space with your class?  Of course you have!

Last week we were able to travel to all the planets in our solar system.  

We learned a little bit about each planet while we were there.  

 I hung 11 cards around the school. One for each planet, and introduction to the solar system, and one for returning to Earth.

Students used iPads to scan QR codes on each card. The code took students to various videos and songs to learn about our solar system.  

As they learned, they had to record their findings in their Astronaut Log Book.  (I included the QR codes in the log book so families can travel to space too!)

You can take your class on a field trip to space too!  Just click the picture below to blast on over to my store.