Poetry for the Soul

Quite possibly my favorite literature unit... who am I kidding? They are ALL my favorite :P 

Last year I pieced together some lessons and it turned out great. This year, I made each student a poetry book and we are learning a more comprehensive unit. 

-famous poets

-famous poems

-elements of poetry

-bio poems

-haiku

-acrostic

-concrete poems

-cinquains

-two-voice poems

-limerick

-free verse poems

However, my FAVORITE part of the unit is the "unit exam." In place of a written exam we will have a Poerty Slam. Students get up in front of the class and their parents and recite an original poem. We all have snacks, listen to poetry, and give "snaps" to each other. It's one of my favorite days of the year.

(You can't tell, but this is our poetry board. Students can create free-verse poems with magnetic words.)

Rules, Rules, Rules

Last year, as I said before, my class rules were a giant fail. This year these are my rules. 

Work hard.

Be nice.

Not too hard to remember, right? I reference them nearly everyday and find that the students understand what I expect. By 4th grade students know when they're not supposed to talk,  not to stand on chairs, not to scream in class, etc. So, this is my way of creating a class motto that they can take with them.

Everyday Heroes

So I am searching the news headlines for an everyday hero (we are going to write our own folk tale about them). Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any heroes in the news today :/

Impossible right? Well, hereare some of the headlines:
Loaded Gun Makes Flight
Wild End to Football Game
Deadly Attack in Afganistan
Chinese Hack Attack?
CutCar Insurance Costs
Longoria outdone in Dress
My Week in Flirting

Need I go on?? This is ridiculous. Either the world is ending or there's fluffy fluff. C'mon people. Give me a good one about a firefighter.

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A 9/11 Lesson

I am a 2nd year teacher now, so tht means that I have to step it up & put in some extra special lessons. Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11 and while I still find it weird that I am teaching people who weren't even born yet I created a pretty awesome lesson.

First, we talked about what we've heard an watched a mini-movie on brainpop about what happened. Then, we took a virtual tour of the 9/11 memorial and talked about why we build memorials. We explored the different symbols the designers used throughout the space such as trees and water. Then, we decided what WE would have added to the memorial and why.

Here is our 4th grade memorial to 9/11
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A Fervent Prayer

Dear God,
Please help me have patience this year. I know You have given me a class that will help me grow as a teacher and I thank You for not giving them to me as my first class! Help me to be the type of teacher they need and one that will help guide them to following in Your ways. I am scared that they will get out of hand and that I will not be able to teach the way I would like to. Please help me teach them self control this year.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Sneak Peek

This is the computer table in my room. It used to be a little station, but now it's pushed against the wall because I have no room to spare :( oh well! My bulletin boards look awesome this year! Here's a sneak peek...

Rules Schmules

Last year I had TOO MANY rules. I didn't go over them with the students and I didn't make it a priority. I feel like this was on downfall of my classroom management. Don't get me wrong, there were rules and the kids were good for the most part, but I could've done better.
Sooooo... This year we're going to have a class motto as our 2 rules:
WORK HARD & BE NICE TO PEOPLE
easy. simple. catchy.
Hopefully this works better. I even ordered a poster :D I let you know how it goes.
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