Reading Interest Survey (Best Title I Could Think Of)

About four and a half years ago, I posted an interesting "Reading Interest Survey," a post that was titled Reading Interest Survey (I know, it was one of those interesting titles that just grabs your interest).

I was looking through some old posts, and decided I would take the survey again. This is one of many iterations of interest surveys that can be done with students to get some valuable, qualitative information that can help you better understand the needs, wants, and learning styles of your students.

Here are my responses. You can also click the link I have provided to be taken to a .doc version of these questions that is ready for printing: READING INTEREST SURVEY .DOC FORMAT

1. Do you like to read? I enjoy reading very much. I don't read as much for pleasure as I would like, especially during the school year, but during vacations I end up reading quite a bit.

2. How much time do you spend reading? During the school year, not much. In fact, I'll sometimes find myself going months without reading for pleasure. When I find something I'm interested in, and have time, I'll read an entire book in one sitting.

3. What are some of the books you have read lately? I just finished reading The City of Ember to my students, and we are currently reading Holes. Personally, I am working on Lucifer's Hammer, an old sci-fi classic. I'm looking for some zombie stuff so I can get back into that genre.

4. If you are going to buy a book, where would you go? My personal favorite is the used book store here in Las Cruces called Coas. It's a huge used book store that takes trade ins for credit. I can go in there and buy a basket full of books for a few dollars.

5. Do you ever get books from the school library? I'm a teacher, so yes. Usually not books for reading, but instead I usually check out books to assist with research in the classroom.

6. About how many books do you own? I have about 250 books at home, and about 600 on my shelf at school (not counting all the textbooks/dictionaries/etc.).

7. What are some books you would like to own? I REALLY want to get my hands on the entire collection of The Walking Dead comics.

8. The kind of reading I like best: Zombies, history, science fiction.

9. Do you like to read the news, either online or in the newspaper? Yes, I usually read the news either on my cell phone or on my tablet. There's a free local newspaper called the Bulletin that I like to read as well.

10. What parts of the newspaper do you like? Columnists, headlines, sports, comic strips, politics, current events, and editorials

11. What are your favorite television programs? The Walking Dead (I bet you didn't see that coming), Jeopardy, King of the Hill, Open Court, Breaking Bad.

12. How much time do you spend watching television? During the school year, probably 2-3 hours a night, during the summer, probably a lot more than that.

13. What is your favorite magazine? Wired

14. Do you have a hobby? If so, what is it? Yes, reading.

15. What are the two best movies you have ever seen? The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Inception.

16. Who are your favorite entertainers and/or movie stars? Matt Damon movies are always awesome, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio makes good movies, and believe it or not, Brad Pitt, his movies are always good.

17. When you were little, did you enjoy having someone read aloud to you? Yes, I did. I still do.

18. List topics, subjects, etc. which you might like to read about: Zombie fiction, I love the stuff and can't find it. The Holocaust, I am immersed in the genre, and am always trying to find more.

19. What does the word 'reading' mean to you? Reading means interacting with language without speaking, with written words. That's the simple definition I guess.

20. Say anything else that you would like to say about reading: Reading opens door, it changes world views, and it has the power to shape lives.

New Mexico SBA 2012-2013 Testing Dates

I've recently started getting inquires from teachers here in New Mexico about the dates for the standards based assessment (once called the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment, or NMSBA, and now referred to as the SBA, until they change it again next year, and probably the year after that).

Like anything else that involves a states Public Education Department, it's not simple, and in this case, the state has provided a window in which districts can set their own schedule. So, for New Mexico's 2012-2013 Standards Based Assessment, the window is from March 18 - April 5. I grabbed this information from this memorandum posted on the New Mexico PED website.

In Las Cruces, I've seen the schedule in a few different places, so I don't think it's a secret, the dates as I've seen them are March 18 - March 21. I know this might differ not only from district to district, but from school to school in some cases.

In any case, it'll be here before you know it. Now, if you're in a state other than my home state, and you're having trouble finding the information for testing in your area, just let me know and I'll try to hunt it down for you.

5th Grade Social Studies Fair Projects: A Great Presentation Based Project

Next up in a growing line of project based research and presentations that are based around social studies will be the schools 5th grade Social Studies Fair. I've been doing the social studies fair for my entire career, and this is the first year that my colleagues in 5th grade will be joining me for this great project.

We've already done two presentation based projects this year, the 50 States Presentation, and the just finished Famous Individual Presentation. Both projects involve a ton of research and synthesis, and the major burden of work and learning on these projects falls on the shoulders of the students. These are great because while I consider them "social studies," they involve reading and writing, and are multi-disciplinary to the point that I had students working on them at all different times during the school day.

I am again going to ask students to cite sources and complete a bibliography in the APA format. I had a few parents who looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that their children would be completing APA reference pages, but they have done them, and done them correctly, so we're moving forward. I have already posted some great Research Project Resources that can get any teacher started with having students research appropriately and go the extra mile in documenting their research in any area.

This project mimics the presentations that students all over the world do for Science Fairs. Students will be purchasing a science tri-fold board, and either working alone or with a partner to complete their project board.

This project was left pretty open ended. First, I explained the emphasis of this project, either history, culture, invention, geography, or ideas. Students were not allowed to do a state, the cultures we have already studied, or any famous individual that was researched for the last project. Topics range from the history and evolution of computers to research about Pearl Harbor. I make it a point to push students in the direction of topics that aren't too broad, but not too obscure, they need to be able to find sources out there.

When the day comes for the presentations, students will be setting up, again in Science Fair format. We'll set up all the poster boards, and will invite guest to join us. Other classes from the school, parents, the community, and dignitaries will be invited to view their great work. Each student or pair of students will create some note cards to guide them in the presentations they will be making numerous times on the day of the Social Studies Fair.

I have included photos of two poster boards done last year. I will post some of the ones that will be done this year (we just began work today), they should be a little more in depth than what I had my students do in previous years.

 



Finally (and what 99% of you are here for), I have the documents for download:

SOCIAL STUDIES FAIR PROJECT (pdf): This document is what we're using. If you like what you see, I recommend downloading all of these documents in the zip file below so that you can modify it in any way you see fit.

SOCIAL STUDIES FAIR PROJECT ZIP FILE (this file contains all the pages of the above pdf in .doc format.

Please check back around the second week of December when I will post some of the students finished work and pictures from the social studies fair.

Polygon Practice Mega .pdf Document of Great Practice Pages for 5th Graders

I recently published 5th grade math unit 3: Area, Perimeter, Volume, Prisms, Pyramids, Polygons, and Circles. It's a huge unit that involves a lot of vocabulary and targeted skill practice. You can see that unit listed in my Math 9 Week Plans, in its own Unit Page, and in the more popular post titled 5th Grade Math Unit: Area, Perimeter, Volume of Prisms and Pyramids, Polygons and Circles.

I scoured the internet over the last couple of evenings, downloading pdf documents of practice pages that could meet my students needs. Currently, we're working on getting the vocabulary up for unit 3, and it's a huge task that involves over 30 definitions that are necessary for understanding and success in these skills.

I took the best of what I found in freely available online pdf documents and created a mega document that is 49 pages long and 1.4 megabytes in size. It's the practice pages that I'm intending on using during these upcoming weeks, and I believe that it could be of service to any teacher teaching these skills.

To download the document, which is available through my Google Drive, click:

POLYGONS MEGA DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD (pdf)

5th Grade Math Unit: Area, Perimeter, Volume of Prisms and Pyramids, Polygons and Circles

5th grade math unit 3 (which you can see listed in my subject specific page for MATH) is a huge unit. It covers area and perimeter, the volume of rectangular prisms and pyramids, polygons up to ten sides, and circles. The main bits of this unit get down to the vocabulary, practical application of the necessary formulas, and conceptual understanding of each concept.

The unit is available at its own page HERE, and is also posted here in its entirety. So without further delay:

5th Grade Mathematics Unit 3 is all about 3-Dimensional Geometry, including Area, Perimeter, Volume, Attributes of Polygons up to 10 sides, Circles, and Parallel / Perpendicular Lines. It's a big unit, but we always manage to pull it off with pretty good results. So let's get right to it!

Unit 3 is split into three portions:

UNIT 3.1: AREA & PERIMETER

The first portion of this unit is very simple, it's all about area and perimeter. We spend the majority of the time doing area and perimeter of quadrilaterals (especially area), but it's also a good opportunity to refine measuring skills by going outside, in the hallway, or measuring the classroom.

The assessment that I use for this cycle of instruction is very simple, and can be found HERE.

The PDSA (again, it stands for Plan/Do/Study/Act, and is the current form of lesson planning that my school does) can be found HERE.

Now that the nuts and bolts are out of the way, I'm going to list some great online resources that could help any teacher out in the classroom when teaching area and perimeter:

First off, I have already done a fairly lengthy post on Area & Perimeter, titled Area & Perimeter Teacher Resources: Worksheets, Games, and Activities.

• Interactive Shape Explorer: A Java based activity that can range from very easy to quite difficult. 
• Area & Perimeter Formulas: I'm printing this out and will use it with my more advanced students to study formulas and their relation to geometry.
• PBS Kids Cyberchase Airline Builder: An interactive game involving area and perimeter. 

And to repeat some of what I've already posted:

BEGIN THE UNIT WITH AN EXPLANATION:

• Perimeter and Area Visual Explanation: An Adobe Shockwave presentation that introduces the unit. Smartboard friendly.

ACTIVITIES:

• Interactive Shape Explorer: A nice interactive where students find the perimeter and area of various, randomly generated regular and non-regular polygons on a grid. Optionally, the teacher can ask students to copy the shapes on graph paper and solve there.
• The most simple classroom activity is to have students measure the dimensions of the classroom, a chalkboard, the hallways, their desk, etc. Then use those dimensions to find perimeter and area (and later on, volume). 
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Perimeter and Area: Go to pretty much any resource listing on perimeter and area activities, and you'll probably find a link to this one. There's a reason for it, it's simple and effective. It's Smartboard/projector friendly for whole class, and teaches as it goes.

GAMES:

• Cyberchase Airline Builder: An online game where students must use the given amount of sticks to create different polygons. 
• Zoo Designer: I wasn't impressed with this game at first glance, but played it for a few minutes and actually see some value in using this in class. This one is also web based.
• Real Estate and Perimeter Game: I found that at the blog Homeschool Parent. It's a good idea for a very effective in class perimeter or area game. I'll be using this, my students always enjoy the partner games.

WORKSHEETS:

• A to Z Teacher Stuff Area & Perimeter Worksheets and Printables: Decent, but not very difficult, worksheets to use in class. A good starting point.
• The Grid Game: This is a 4 page printable, I will be using the last page (the grid game), and possibly the page before it (perimeter patterns).
• Worksheet Works.com Worksheet Designer: A nice, easy to use tool that gives you worksheets in pdf format based on your needs.
• Large Worksheet Packet: What I like about this packet is it has a table at the beginning that names many types of triangles and quadrilaterals. If anything, I'll be using that first page.
• Free Math Worksheets: A decent page with some good worksheets in a lot of different skills. 
• Measuring Perimeter & Area: An adapted worksheet packet that has some good skill building activities within a pdf document.
• Math-Aids Perimeter and Area Worksheets: A good site with various worksheets, fully customizable before printing.
• Illuminations site: There is a worksheet about finding perimeter and area, and an online geoboard.
• A full supplement pdf from Bridges for Mathematics. There's good information here if you have no curriculum to start with.

UNIT 3.2: VOLUME OF RECTANGULAR PRISMS & PYRAMIDS

I've always enjoyed teaching volume, because it just makes perfect sense right after teaching area, and it's fun and the students usually enjoy the process.

Let's get started with the assessment, which can be accessed HERE (you'll need to download it to see the attached images, they don't seem to show up in the Google Doc preview), and the PDSA, which can be accessed HERE.

First, I'm going to list some basic volume of rectangular prism (and just general volume) links:

• A great interactive lesson for volume: Has instant feedback, and it's very clean looking.
• Math Illuminations Interactive Cube Builder: I love this interactive because it lays the cubes out flat (something that I've seen referred to as a "net"), which is also how we practice this in class, by building boxes and filling them with cubes. 
• A simple pdf poster from Scholastic on volume
• Interactive Formula Teacher: It's good stuff

Now, my favorite volume activities include making cubic units. I usually have my class use rulers to make a cubic foot, yard sticks to make a cubic yard, etc. I'm not even going to show a picture here, because all you do is use the given unit to make a cube. It's pretty cool and effective.

It's also important that students know how to use the units. I count off if students don't label units, and don't use them appropriately. I teach my students very simply that for a unit to be squared, it has to involve 2 dimensions, cubed involves 3. Here's a simple visual:

I also think it's important to expand and reinforce these concepts when applicable. My students always enjoy the EXPONENTIAL GROWTH activity, where we build some cubes, starting with a 2x2x2, going to a 4x4x4, then an 8x8x8, it looks like this:

Now on to the more difficult volume of pyramids:

It's actually very simple to find the volume of a rectangular pyramid. First, take the three measurements (length, width, height), and multiply. Now here's the catch: divide your answer by 3. That's it. The majority of the work here is getting students to understanding this 3:1 relationship, and practice it.

• A pdf document of a pyramid you can have students cut out and use to show the 3:1 relationship.
• Simple Explanation of the v=(l x w x h) / 3 formula (aaamath.com).
• Worksheet Works customizable worksheets on volume, area & perimeter.
• Various worksheets on volume at mathworksheets4kids.com

In my opinion, these first two sections of the unit go hand in hand, and are fairly simple for 5th graders to get once they grasp the concept. And the concept is important, let them experiment with 3D shapes (make them out of paper and fill them up with sand or rice). These are more or less developmentally appropriate skills for the vast majority of kids at this age level. 

Now, we move on to the final portion of this section on volume of pyramids, where we discuss the attributes of three-dimensional shapes, including vertices, faces, and edges. 

We're basically talking about vocabulary for this final section, so that's how I approach it. Let's move right into it:

• Geometry attribute vocabulary cards at Quizlet: A great starting place to get ideas or have kids practice for reinforcement.
• A great online resource that is clickable and shows the vocabulary: Good for Smartboards.
• A GREAT resource at Teaching Ideas: Posters for the shapes and attributes, and great downloadable resources. 
• Primary Resources has this page of TONS of great resources, including this properties page I'll be using.

So now we come to the finale of this lengthy unit, a set of lessons on polygons (up to 10 sides), and circles. The circles part especially tends to rock the kids around for a bit. 

UNIT 3.3: POLYGONS UP TO TEN SIDES & CIRCLES

Here we go, let's get started with the assessment HERE and the PDSA HERE.

First we'll deal with the polygons, because again, it comes down to vocabulary and practice (i.e. memorization and matching):

• A page with enough information about polygons to get any teacher started. Go here and grab the definitions you need to move forward. 
• Polygon Names: It is what it says it is.
• Polygons: Regular vs. Irregular.
• Some decent naming polygons worksheets (with some other stuff that would be review at this point).
• Another worksheet, this one about regular vs. irregular polygons.

OK, now we finally come full... circle (haha... nevermind). Anyways, students will learn radius, diameter, circumference (and all applicable formulas), as well as the value of pi to two places. 

The pi part again comes down to repetition and memorization. So, I came up with the now irreverent "PI MONKEY," a mainstay in my classroom. He hangs up near the front door, beckoning to the students each time they walk out the door:

Now that pi monkey has done his job, it's time to teach some circles!:

• Definitions at Coolmath.com: You need these, they get it all started. Students can review right here on the page.
• A great PowerPoint from Mr. Lovett on Wikispaces about circles.
• Some Visual Aides at Mathworksheetsgo.com.

Remember that circumference is simply pi multiplied by the diameter (or pi multiplied by the radius x 2): It looks like: C= pi x d  OR C= pi x (r x 2). It's fairly straight forward. 

OK, we've reached the end, FINALLY. Now that we're here, it's time for the big unit test. You can grab that HERE.

5th Grade Colonial Life Classroom Book Project

Unit 2 in our 5th grade social studies (which covers basically all of American history, as you can see in the 9 week plans HERE) is titled The Discovery and Founding of North America. It is a fairly quick unit, because I like to spend a lot of time researching the American Revolutionary War era, so I have to borrow time from other places. In the unit, I reference a classroom project called Colonial Living, a research book that the class collaborates on.

Student research took place in groups, and covered the following topics:

• Colonial Towns: Buildings, layout, variety of towns, defenses.
• Journey by Sea: How the colonists / pilgrims reached the America's, including challenges, living conditions, etc.
• The 13 Colonies: A quick research on the original colonies, including founding dates, and a map of the original 13.
• Crime & Punishment: The crimes that were most common, and their punishments.
• Native Tribes: A quick research on the native tribes of the area, and their interactions with the colonists.
• Religion in the Colonies: How religion influenced life and politics in the colonies. Also, what religion meant on a day-by-day basis to the colonists.
• Colonial Food: How they grew food, and what the typical colonial meal looked like.
• The Lost Colony of Roanoke: This topic fascinates many students, so I have a group take a look at its history and present some pages on it.

It was a frantic week of research and producing work. I would like to point out that it's not always about producing a fantastic, amazing work. In this case, the book came out pretty well, but some students are great artists, others not so much. There was a lot of variety in the book, and it's gotten a good response from passers by. The images below show some of the finished book. It's a great project, simple, easy, and it really promotes group synergy and team work:

This first image shows our book hanging out in the hallway by a lanyard that I looped around a metal brad. It's a simple setup, but it works. 

A closeup of the cover of the book. It was "laminated" using tape.

The rest of these pictures show various pages from the book. Click any photo to view it larger: