Using Evernote for Checklists and Records

Happy Tuesday! Its time for another day of reading fabulous ideas and pinning until my heart's content!! I'm linking up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper to share my experiences with Evernote in the classroom.

I've been an Evernote user for quite some time now and I really like it, but I wasn't maximizing its potential in the classroom. I recently created a notebook for school check lists and have been using it as a way of tracking when students return permission slips, money, progress reports, ect. and I am in LOVE!! It is sooo easy to use and I have access to my information anywhere, anytime! To make this process even quicker, I created a note titled master list, so when I want a new list I just copy and paste my kiddos names into a new notebook and I'm done! 

Here is a screen shot of my School Ideas 2013-2014 notebook (some of you may recognize those pictures). Evernote has this great clipper feature for your browser that allows you to store clips from the web in any notebook. I've been using this feature to keep some of those blog ideas that I KNOW I want to use next year, but am afraid they'll get lost in my Pinterest world and I won't be able to find them again. 

I also think the attachment feature is really handy! It works just like adding an attachment to an email and is perfect for documents you need in a hurry and don't have time to look for. I've also been using this feature when planning for next year. We wanted to revamp our assignment book/homework sheet so I created a note, jotted down the new ideas, and then attached a new document I created - easy peasy and when I need it again everything will all be in one place! 

Next year I plan on creating a notebook just for reading records. I am going to make a note for every child and then I can add to it as I have conferences and work in small groups. 

How do you use Evernote? 

Guide Word Sandwiches, Goodies, and Keep Calm {Five for Friday}

Happy Friday! Only 20 more days to go until summer break!!! woo hoo Its time to link up with Doodlebugs Teaching for another great Five for Friday! Here are 5 random things from my week.

1. We had a cute little treat in our mailboxes every day this week - adorable! Our principal also got lunch for us today...yummy! 

2. This week in Social Studies the kids worked together to come up with skits to review important Virginians from the 20th century. I couldn't really get a picture of them in action, but them pretending to play tennis like Arthur Ashe was adorable!  

3. We've been making sandwiches in reading class - guide word sandwiches! When it comes time to answer standardized questions about which entry word belongs on which dictionary page I teach my kiddos to make a sandwich. The first guide word is the top piece of bread, the entry word is the cheese, and the last guide word is the bottom piece of bread. Then we work on ABC order. The word that is first in ABC order gets a 1 beside of it and so on. A good sandwich stacks up to be 1,2,3 and anything else is rotten and gets thrown out! A teaching buddy of mine showed me this trick and it has been such a big help to my kiddos! 

4. I finally finished the clipboard tub!! I love it and we've already been putting it to use the classroom. Its so much nicer than the big thing I had them all stacked thrown in before.

5. A few weeks back Tanga had a big sale on teacher t-shirts and I ordered one that said Keep Calm and Teach On. When I wore it this week the kids loved it and were coming up with their own "Keep Calm" sayings. Here is the sign one of my students made for me because we have been doing test prep and I say reread a 1,000,000 times a day!!! Made my day....LOL 

Click on over and join me on Facebook! I'm loving all the little "extras" that everyone is sharing on there! 

Magnetic Review

It's almost Friday! Just one more day..I think I can...I think I can! I thought I'd share another quick idea we've been using for Social Studies review these past few weeks. 

As we are reviewing I like to make sure students have a grasp on the sequence of events in social studies and which century events happened in. Our state standards don't require kids to memorize a lot of dates, but they are often asked to put events in chronological order. Over the years I've discovered that is easier said than done! The kids really seem to get the Revolutionary War and Civil War all mixed up so this year I decided to try something new.

I typed up people and events from all our studies of Virginia, laminated them, and added a magnet to the back. Then I showed the kiddos how to use it and turned them loose in groups of 3-4. 

We used the front of two filling cabinets to begin with because Wal Mart was out of 9x13 cookie sheets. This also caused me to go into a panic and frantically search every store I went in for cheap cookie sheets. Luckily, a few weeks ago they came back in stock at Wal Mart and I bought some a lot. The check out lady gave me funny looks....oh well...I was just happy they were back! 

After the groups discuss the people and events and decide where they go they can check their answers with a key. Then they partner up, switch up a few cards, and try to trick the other group members. They love playing that game! 

This is a pretty simple concept and didn't take very long to put together, but I feel like it has helped my students get a better understanding of when events happened in relation to each other. 

QAR Reading Comprehension Strategy {Tried it Tuesday}

Before I get to the QAR post today I'd like to take just a minute to say thank you to all the wonderful teacher bloggers I've met through this blog. I can't express how much I appreciate you sharing your ideas and classrooms with me and all the comments and support you've given me! I've learned so much through this blog in such a short time and its all because of you - THANK YOU! 

Second, I am thrilled about the TPT sale that starts today. I keep browsing, adding things to my wish list and then moving them to my cart! I'm so excited to shop and get some great new products for next year! 

Now that I've gotten all that off my mind I can tell you about my Tried it Tuesday this week. I'm linking up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper to share a reading strategy I've been trying out in my classroom. 

I had the privilege of participating in a grant-funded professional development called Leading in Reading. We met 5 times in the fall and learned about some new strategies we could try in our classroom. The group I was in focused on comprehension strategies and that's how I was introduced to Question Answer Relationships. 

When it came time for the team from my school to choose a strategy to implement we went with QAR;. The strategy is pretty simple. You teach kids that there are 4 basic types of questions: 

1. Right There - you can put your finger on the answer in the text

2. Search and Find - you can put your finger on the answer but you will need to use two or more fingers (answer in more than one place) 

3. Author and Me - this when you use what the author told you and what you know to answer the question (inference, conclusion, etc)

4. On My Own - don't need to read the text to answer the question

Here are some posters we created as I was introducing this strategy. 

To introduce the strategy I asked how we get the answers to questions and we came up with two ways - in our head or in the book - that's where the two categories (and posters) come in. We then read a book called Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman. I used the book to model how I would create questions for the 4 different types. Then, students worked on small passages with partners for several days and finally on their own. 

As you would expect, the Right There and Search and Find questions were pretty easy for students to identify and also create themselves, but the Author and Me questions were much more challenging. We had to spend some extra time on creating our own Author and Me questions, but it was time well spent. I feel like QAR has really helped develop my students' ability to formulate good, "thick" questions. 

As a part of our work with the grant we had to do a pre and post test and we saw a 5% increase in pass rates on the comprehension test after we taught this strategy. I thought that was a pretty good return for a strategy that is easy to teach and the kids really thought it was fun too! 

Have you tried QAR before? Any tips of teaching the strategy and using it in the classroom? 

Raymond and Graham Rule the School {Must Read Mentor Text}

I'm linking up with Amanda & Stacia at Collaboration Cuties for their Must Read Mentor Text linky. This week the linky is all about Language Arts and I'm thrilled to share my favorite read aloud with you! 

When the school year starts I always like to hook my reluctant readers with a funny book. A few years ago I discovered Raymond and Graham Rule the School and its been my go-to ever since! Even though I've read it many times I still laugh out loud 'til I cry at certain parts! There are aides who've heard it once and always come to me wanting to know when I'll be reading about "the prunes" so they can come listen again.

The main characters are two fourth grade boys who are now the "top dogs" and are ready to rule the school. They have all these great plans and ideas about how this will be the best year ever, but things don't really go as planned. This book is packed with fourth grade humor. One of the boys discovers the power of prunes and they also have a little mishap with a razor.  I don't want to give too much away because you've just got to experience it for yourself! 

This book hooks my reluctant readers every time. Some kids even say they never knew reading could be this much fun and they beg me to read one more chapter. The best thing about this is there are 3 other books featuring Raymond and Graham, so students who really get interested automatically have something on their "read next" list. 

If you've got some extra reading time with your fourth graders before the year ends I'd highly recommend this one! 

If you get a chance stop by Teaching Special Thinkers. Gabrielle is having a CrAzY good giveaway! 

Paper Plate People, Author's Purpose, and Fun {Five for Friday}

Happy Friday! Its time for a recap of the week with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday. Since we are in full review mode (T -10 days to THE test) I don't really have any exciting, life-changing things to share - just the regular "stuff" from our days.

1. In Social Studies this week we reviewed the Founding Fathers, so I decided it would be a great time to make those adorable paper plate people for some review fun. You can read more about the paper plate people here. 

Both of these are George Washington - check out his hair in the picture on the left! I love it! 

2. We've also been talking about author's purpose this week. I always like to have students write for each purpose, so this week we were writing about cereal. I overheard one group talking about Usher and Lil' Wayne AND cereal, so I just let them write on...LOL...you gotta love fourth graders! 

3. We have been playing a memory matching game in stations this week as well. Who knew they would get so excited about this game? Its an oldie that I sometimes forget to pull out but they are all loving it! 

4. We celebrated my Dad's birthday last weekend with lunch out on Sunday and then some shopping. We stopped in at Staples (because I just can't pass it up) and he bought me this adorable clipboard! His Birthday and he bought me something?! I think we somehow got that backwards, but it was a fun day anyway! 

5. I am so excited because I just booked my first ever massage! Yay!!! Happy Dances! It is scheduled for the Friday after I finish state tests and will be much needed by that time! I can't wait...I'm dreaming about it...literally! 

May Currently

It's already time for May Currently. I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for all the fun!

Listening...I love to come home and sit in silence without a tv or radio. Its so nice just to have some time to think. 

Loving...It has taken a while but the weather here is finally starting to warm up. I've actually worn dresses and flip flops this week! woot woot

Thinking...What is it about the end of one school year that makes me start thinking about the beginning of the next?!? The wheels are already turning and I'm thinking about all the new things I want to try. 

Wanting...I am a bag addict! I would be ashamed to tell you how many I have. And then the other day I saw this adorable bag from Vera Bradley and now I just can't stop thinking about it. Oh no.... Anyone have this bag? Wanna tell me what you think of it? 

Needing...There have been several days over the last few weeks where I really think two of me couldn't have gotten done everything I needed to accomplish! I guess its the warmer weather?!? Anyone else feeling like this? 

Summer Bucket List...We already have a camping/horse riding trip planned for the middle of this month and I'm going to insist on a few more this summer. We also have a pond on our farm and love to go build a fire in the evenings and catfish. It is my favorite thing to do in the summer and we just didn't get to go as much as I'd hoped last year. Of course the stack for summer reading is growing and I can't wait! I can only imagine what school prep is gonna be like for me this summer now that I follow so many awesome blogs! I think I'm going to need an extra month to get ready for the school year!