Amber Moore's Blog

Reflections

January 20, 2019
by learningmoore
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Scholarly Behaviors

Gifted Endorsement Year 1 Cohort: Scholarly Behaviors 

I began by reading aloud the picture book The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires to introduce the scholarly behaviors to my class. Prior to reading the book, we discussed what each picture meant. After reading the book and addressing each characteristic to match each behavior, I told them we were going to practice identifying each of these in our own learning. In the following days, they completed a variety of short activities to highlight scholarly behaviors. Here are the activities and a few examples.  Continue Reading →

January 5, 2019
by learningmoore
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Differentiated Projects for Diverse Learners

Over second quarter, my class worked on seven lessons provided by Maricopa County called Up in the Air: An Air Pollution Education Program. These lessons included many of the characteristics of the Renzulli Scales including creativity, leadership, communication, planning, mathematics, reading, and science. This quarter we focused on the human body, so this fit in nicely with the lungs portion. The culminating lesson was to choose a project from this menu.

Continue Reading →

January 2, 2019
by learningmoore
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Math Learning Centers

Learning centers give students a much needed break from their seat, paper pencil practice, and computer based learning. It gives them the opportunity to interact and learn from and with each other.

During our math block, students have a dedicated 20 minutes of learning center time. Some are teacher created or purchased, while others are included in the math curriculum. The math centers are differentiated for interest and ability and cover a range of content or skills. Some of the centers will reinforce the current content being covered, some are extensions or challenges, and others focus on review. I usually change them about once every two weeks. It depends on sustained interest and new material I would like them to focus on.

Math Video: This is a fun way for students to show mastery of a concept. It is also an exciting thing to teach and have it posted on our class blog! The students have full ownership. They write a script, practice, video, and edit it completely on their own. You can view one here.

Book Order: Scholastic book orders can be used to show students how math can relate in real-world situations. This opportunity gave students a chance to practice multiplying. The plan was to purchase sets of books for their Book Clubs in Ms. Brokaw’s class with a budget of $500.

Calculate Your Weight on Other Worlds: This was an opportunity to practice multiplying a decimal by a decimal. I found the worksheet on Super Teacher. What made this more interesting was last quarter we studied the solar system. Plus, using a scale is fun when you’re 10.

Real World Problem Solving: Leveled readers are included in our math curriculum and focus on math and another subject (social studies or science). After reading, students use math to solve problems presented in the books.

Games: I use games to reinforce the current learning and also reteach or review. There are also a variety that have been included in the math curriculum. Some are simple and based more on specific skill, while others are more complex and real-world. For example, the photo on the top-right is a budget game. It uses a spinner, dice, and a $100,000 budget.

Logic Posters/Puzzles/Challenge Problems: These are a favorite for students who enjoy a challenge! I like to make sure these opportunities are hands-on or have other visual aids.

Task Cards: These are another favorite. Students work independently or in pairs to solve a variety of tasks. I always put the answers on the back so they can check their work.

Math Fact Fluency: Poke-a-Fact has been helpful for students who are still struggling with multiplication fluency. I also have multiplication dominoes.

Reading and Writing Activities with Math: These types of activities are generally more of a challenge, but students really like the change during math.

Discovery Education: Board Builder: This is another way for students to show what they have learned as well as have the opportunity to teach others. An account with Discovery Education is necessary to use this tool.

Learning centers should be a part of every students day. When expectations are in place and centers are well explained or have precise instructions, these will run almost seamlessly.

Resources: 

I’ve found these resources to be helpful with challenge problems, low floor/high ceiling problems, and learning center options.

Money Challenges

NRICH.org

Hard Math for Elementary School

25 Riddles

YouCubed Great resource for helping with growth mindset in math.

Math for Love

Open Middle

When Math Happens

Continue Reading →

October 12, 2018
by learningmoore
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A Look at the Highly Gifted in Pop Culture

Gifted Endorsement Year 1 Cohort: Gifted Education in Current Events or Pop Culture

The contemporary perspective of the highly gifted person in pop culture is, on average, that they are not “normal” people. It’s not necessarily a bad not normal, but acutely different from the rest of society. They may be panged with the inability to fit into other groups, have inner demons making life a little more sad, or just considered quirky and in general, humorous. The latter is more often depicted in pop culture. 

A good representation of this stereotype in television is everyone’s favorite, Sheldon Cooper. Sheldon Cooper plays the self-indulgent, complete empathy lacking, yet intellectually superior theoretical physicist on the sitcom Big Bang Theory. He is brilliant beyond every character in the show and has zero academic humility. His genius level intelligence trumps even the other gifted kids on the block, making him both endearing to his friends and highly annoying. Continue Reading →

October 11, 2018
by learningmoore
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Gifted Characteristics Observation and Evaluation

Gifted Endorsement Year 1 Cohort: Gifted Characteristics Observation and Evaluation 

Why is it important that teachers be able to distinguish between low, average, gifted students, underachieving gifted students, and high achieving students? The answer is universal for all learners – to meet their needs in the general education classroom. Gifted students need teachers who understand and support them as students with special needs. With differentiation provided in the classroom and possible opportunities beyond, students will develop their individual natural abilities. Thus, understanding these characteristics becomes of utmost importance when working with gifted learners.

I have chosen two students from my class to observe for whom I will refer to as Student A (SA) and Student B (SB). I chose these two in particular because I believed it was possible they are gifted learners. I now know that one of these students has been identified as gifted, but I am uncertain about the other student’s status at this time. I decided to use the “Gifted Student or High Achiever?” characteristics checklist we received during one of our trainings to begin my investigation. These were my findings after several weeks of observation. Continue Reading →

April 27, 2014
by learningmoore
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Earth Week Impact

With Earth Day approaching, my class started a read aloud series from Scholastic Books titled Knowledge Quest: Save the Planet. The plan was read one book a week, ending with our final book, On Meadowview Street, on Earth Day. After each book we discussed key vocabulary, human responsibilities, and discussed efforts being made to restore and protect the environment. Then, we added information to our ‘Save the Planet’ wall. These books speared discussions about what can we do to help the planet?

The week we read, Where Does Garbage Go?, we started our vermicomposting project. The goal of this project was to help students realize how much garbage we throw out in general, and show a wonderful way to reduce the amount of food waste that goes into landfills. The result of this process ends with making a beneficial product for gardens out of worm castings. This is a great student written post about vermicomposting. This post has received more comments than any other post all year! The entire class was very excited about all of these comments from grown-ups! They felt they were reaching people and helping teach about the benefits of vermicomposting.

While we were trying to reduce food waste, we also decided to reduce paper waste by having a paperless week. This had a significant impact for students because they know paper comes from cutting down trees, and this is always a hot topic. Not to mention from my point of view, being able to reduce paper cost and time to make copies was a positive. I also feel this week really helped my class hone a few computer skills. They worked on a matrix comparing different Cinderella stories using a shared spreadsheet through Google Apps, used an online choice board with links to online articles about the environment, moved between windows to share what they learned from the online reading in a Google Doc, shared this with me and 3 other students, commented on blogs, and used a Google Doc to create a science journal for a project we are participating in called Full of Beans Global Project. Our wiki page for the project can be viewed here. Our class also saved paper by using dry erase boards and iPads for math and spelling practice, and page protectors for annotating text.

Other books we read were Where Do Polar Bears Live? by Sarah L. Thomson, Oil Spill! by Melvin Berger, and A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry. These books all addressed different environmental issues. We discussed ways we could help with these issues even though we could not physically help clean up oil spills, clean up a polluted river, or stop mining. So, what options did we have? Well,  we all have a voice, and that voice can always be used not matter how young. So, it was decided we would write letters to President Obama. Students researched environmental issues in the Grand Canyon and the Arctic and worked together in small groups to draft letters using Google Docs. Together we edited the letters and emailed them using an online form through the Sierra Club.

What impact did this week have on my students? How does this affect FPES? On the surface, we saved money by not using the copy machines or paper, but I think it goes deeper. In education we talk a lot about 21st century skills and the 4 C’s – critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. This week, my students used all of these skills.  I believe in a world where personal and social responsibility are necessary skills in becoming a global citizen, this week had a very positive impact. Young people need to understand they have choices to make and a voice that can help promote change. They need to feel empowered to possibly do something different than their parents and have a positive influence on others. I hope this week in my classroom helped accomplish some of these things for my students.

April 12, 2014
by learningmoore
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Post AIMS Afternoons

After long hard days of testing, here are some options to soothe and rejuvenate the brain!

  • Solve It Your Way (should have a new experiment on the 15th)
  • Perform a play – I’ll have several for them to choose from. This is something my ELA group has been begging to do! Possible plays to do.
  • Marshmallow Challenge – We did this at the beginning of the year. After, we will look at the old blog post and see how they may have changed. Then, we can write a new blog post!
  • Paper mache earth to kick off earth week and start discussing layers of the earth
  • Flat Stanley returns! My in-laws are coming out to return Flat Stanley after his 2 month adventure in Australia. They kept us updated with email, pictures, and video along the way.
  • On Thursday, we will research a few colleges to add to our map
  • Leave comments on our Quadblogging buddies blogs
  • Complete an activity for the Student Blogging Challenge
  • GoNoodle Brain Breaks
  • Flash Mob with all of the 3rd grade – Dinosaur Stomp
  • Read this week’s Save the Planet book, The 3 R’s, add to vocabulary wall, create posters, haiku decks or slide shows to share what you learned.
  • Create poster about what worms like to eat; draw and label the worms anatomy
  • Write poems and paint pictures to go with them. Then use 30 hands app to share.
  • Depending on how they feel about the story this week, The Talent Show, possibly have a talent show.
  • Mystery Class location clues
  • Acrostic poem using the word ‘Earth’
  • Do a TodaysMeet to discuss
  • Use Stormboard to to an online KWL chart about fossils
  • Make fossils
  • Cursive Books
  • Tangrams – Can you make a square using all 7 pieces?
  • Specials

Next steps: The week after AIMS, then benchmarks.

April 7, 2014
by learningmoore
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Craft and Structure

This week I was able to address both standards, RL.3.4 and RL3.5, under Craft and Structure. Using the play The Crowded House and the poem “Sand House” by J. Patrick Lewis, I was able to revisit stanzas and scenes.  I showed my ELA class this Prezi on chapters, stanza, and scenes to review previous learning. Then we discussed what the relationship is between scene, chapter, and stanza. They easily identified that authors and poets use these to help organize their text. We discussed the scenes from The Crowded House and how these would benefit someone reading or watching the play. I then  adapted a lesson from Poetry Lessons to Meet the Common Core State Standards by Georgia Heard. As a group we read “Sand House.” After I read it aloud a couple times, we went through each stanza and discussed what was happening in each room or stanza. My students were very insightful. The last stanza was dripping with figurative language, but I heard great discussions during their think-pair-share that allowed me to believe they understood the true meaning. We discussed the meaning, and then I asked them to cut the poem up by stanza and reorder it to see if it still made sense. Some believed they created a new poem that made some sense, but most admitted, the original really worked best. I then asked them to explain why they thought this poet used stanzas in this poem. This is what they told me:

  • Each stanza explains something different
  • It makes you pause to understand better and to think about what you just read
  • It’s a sequence that talks about the steps to build a sand castle
  • There are stanzas to not confuse the reader
  • If it were squished together, it wouldn’t make sense
  • It makes the reader slow down
  • Having only one stanza would be confusing, so this is better organization

Next steps/thoughts: I think ‘Poetry Friday’ has been beneficial for my students. It helps with fluency, creativity, and without me our them knowing, craft and structure.

 

 

 

April 7, 2014
by learningmoore
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Students and Math Practices

I thought it was time to investigate how much students are using math practices thoughtfully in their everyday work.  Sure, we talk about them, and I point out when they are using them. I even share which practice I feel should be the focus, but how do I know they are truly embodying them? Where is the proof they think about them ever?

A couple months ago, I had the idea to shrink the student friendly math practice signs in my classroom down to a mini size version. I then put each of them on different colored card stock, laminated them, and put each set on a ring. I made enough for each student to use during math groups. I use these in a couple of different ways. Sometimes I simply present what our learning focus is for the day. I then ask the students to look through and decide which 1 or 2 practices they feel will be the best fit. The other option is to wait until the end of the lesson and ask which math practice(s) did they use. On both occasions I have them look through, but not talk about it with each other. Finally, when everyone is ready, we unveil the first choice! I do a quick assessment if a math practice has been picked multiple times, bring it to the groups attention, and then discuss. I know when multiple kids are picking the same math practice, they are really thinking about it. Each student has the opportunity to share why they feel the specific math practice it a good fit for their learning. They are encouraged to give examples and even read part of the math practice card.

I think using these cards during math time has pros, cons, and a reality. The pros, you can see any misconceptions in thinking about what exactly a math practice is, and it gives me the opportunity to see how different their thinking may be from mine. The cons, it takes up valuable time, and shouldn’t students be moving through these practices without having them pointed out or having a major discussion? Shouldn’t math be taught in such a way that it is automatic? The reality, I saw a small percent of students appear to have the ability to process what these math practices mean. Now, this small percent is very excited to look at them, think about it, and share, but this happened with less than half of my class. These students without a doubt are the higher level thinking kids in my class. So, how do these benefit all students? How do you get the student who has trouble with basic math and reading to read a card and think about it?

Over the course of a few days I asked students to allow me to video them speaking about math practices. When I sat down to review, I found I had the same 9 or 10 students sharing. This didn’t surprise me necessarily, but definitely made it more real. Here is a short video of the students who are always excited to share their thinking on any topic!

Math Practices from Amber Moore on Vimeo.

Next steps: I’ve had students ask me to make them their own personal set, and I can do that. We need to do more problem solving in class. Without even realizing, students will quickly be using all math practices. Hopefully.

March 15, 2014
by learningmoore
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Writing Benchmark

We recently completed our district writing benchmark. For third grade, they were assessed on expository writing. I am always curious to see how many narrative will be completed verses expository pieces. I was pleasantly surprised this year with how few were narratives! Which is especially reassuring considering we spent all of 2nd quarter on informational writing. Another positive, when compared to the 45 minute on-demand expository assessment taken in October to the February benchmark, an overall average score increase of 1.21 points was earned, moving the class average from 2.23 to 3.44.

Some positives I see from earlier pieces in the year are stronger leads and introductory paragraphs, better organization, improved spelling and word choice. I was amazed as they stepped away from go-to words, such as walk and good, and used vivid verbs and adjectives. This year we took a different approach with weekly spelling lists. Each week students were given 12 new words, but 3 more words from previous lists to make a total of 15 words.  I didn’t tell them which 3 words, they just had to make sure they kept practicing missed words because they might reappear the following week. I now have more kids that correctly spell because, they and was, then I have ever had before! This makes reading their pieces much more enjoyable.

I saw a lot of students have a decrease in what would appear to be stamina in their benchmark pieces. It felt they started strong, but got tired and started to give up. Hence, the conclusions and final paragraphs were weak in comparison to the beginnings. This is not something that only happens on benchmark testing. Students appear to have a more difficult time with the conclusions, or perhaps, their teacher has a more difficult time teaching those parts of writing.

I believe our supplemental writing program has helped my students become more efficient writers. I think breaking down the writing block into mini-lesson, student writing, conferring, and sharing for feedback has given more students the mental breaks they need while building capacity to write for longer periods of time.

Something I wonder is if they were given the opportunity to edit at a later date, or simply take a break while writing, would I have seen an improvement in their benchmark scores? I believe the answer would be yes. It just is simply not the way successful writers write, in one long drawn out afternoon and have that considered your best. Something I should have done immediately after receiving their pieces back, was have them revise, edit and publish. Unfortunately, the timing did not work out. I still plan on taking a few pieces and having students publish them. We can put them on our blog, and they will continue to remember even during testing, someone is looking.

Next steps: Fairy Tales!

 

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