Hi! Mollie, here!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I promise it's with good reason! These last few months have been crazy with getting ready for Baby Walsh. Every day during the last few weeks I would wake up and think today could be my last day with my students! And at home my husband and I were prepping our house for months to prepare for our first child.

I'm now happy to announce that last Tuesday we welcomed Blakeley Rose Walsh into the world! She was born at 9:16 on May 26, 2015 :) She was born 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches long. We are so very lucky  to love her and cannot wait to embark on this new adventure together as parents.

Sunday Scoop: May 31st

Happy Sunday! Amy here! It's been a bit since we have linked up with Teaching Trio for their Sunday Scoop Linky Party. Check out how my Sunday is stacking up and click the link below to check in with some awesome bloggers on this beautiful Sunday!

My "have to" list is not a fun one but I guess it rarely is! I am excited about finishing up my teacher gifts. My daughter Kate's teacher is retiring this year and I am SUPER excited about the gift we are putting together for her! I will blog about it when it is done! :)

I hope you all have a restful Sunday! And for those of you completing report cards and end of the year stuff like I am... GOOD LUCK!!!

Splish Splash Summertime Blog Bash!

We are so excited to participate in our FIRST blog hop! And what better blog hop could there be than one celebrating SUMMER! We have teamed up with over 40 bloggers to bring you some summertime fun, awesome freebies and exciting giveaways! We want to thank Rachael Parlett at The Classroom Game Nook for organizing this blog hop. Since it is our first blog hop, we have had a huge learning curve and she has been so patient and amazing. Rachael, you are the BEST!

There are so many things I love about summer. My favorite thing has to be spending all day, every day with my sweet girls. They are so much fun and we try to soak up every minute of the day.

For the past three years we have been members of a local country club and they have the most beautiful pool. The girls and I get there most days when it opens and the only thing that tears us away is getting home to meet daddy at the end of his work day.

This summer we have two trips planned. The first is our annual trip to Ludington, Michigan. My mom and dad rent a condo for a week in July and the girls and I join them. My brother Eric (one of three!) usually comes along too. It is one of our favorite places on Earth! Long days at the beach or lounging by the pool, trips to the park, evenings spent watching the Badger cargo ship come in, House of Flavors ice cream trips, and our favorite walk to the pier every night to watch the sunset (isn't it amazing that no two are alike!?!?). This year my hubby is able to get away from work and join us for the week! I think our Ludington countdown started months earlier this year knowing that he would be able to enjoy the week with us!

The second trip we are planning is to Mackinac Island in August. My parents are renting a house on the island for all of us (including ALL three of my brothers) to spend a couple of nights. The island is amazing! There is so much to do and everything slows down there. No cars are allowed on the island and everything has an old time feel. The last time we were there my oldest was only 6 months old which means that we will be seeing the island through their eyes for the first time. There is nothing better!

In addition to all of this family time, I am looking forward to a little me-time. I can't wait to start back up on my favorite series, Outlander. I have completed the first four books (if you haven't seen them, they are HUGE) but I just can't seem to get any reading for pleasure in during the school year. My sweet brothers bought me the rest of the series for Christmas and they have been sitting on my bookshelf waiting patiently for me!

I am also looking forward to digging into Guided Math this summer and revamping my whole math block. I have found some great reading materials that I am looking forward to. Wait... summer vacation is only three months?!?! How will I ever fit it all in?!?!

I am so happy to share with you something we are offering free this week and this week only to celebrate the Splish Splash Summertime Blog Bash! If you are looking for ways to add word study to your year, this is a month long unit that provides wonderful activities to help your kiddos learn about words and word parts in order to read and write unknown words. Click the link below and download this awesome resource this week! We would love to hear what you think!

No blog hop would be complete without an awesome giveaway! If you liked our freebie, you will love this Year-Long Word Study resource that gives you everything you need to immerse your students in developing a deep understanding of words and word parts. This is a $40 value! Check out this awesome resource here! Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to keep on hoppin' because each and every one of the awesome bloggers on this hop are offering a special freebie and a giveaway! Try to grab them all!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Things are getting so exciting around here!! We are only five days from our very first Blog Hop! It is going to be amazing! A celebration of summer with freebies and giveaways to boot! Set a reminder, jot it on a sticky note, put it on your calendar! You will not want to miss this!

Guest Blog Post on One Stop Teacher Shop!

We are so excited to have an opportunity to guest post on One Stop Teacher Shop. Come check out our post on Publishing S.Q.U.A.D.s!!

Stop, Swap and Roll (and a Giveaway!)

We are so excited to share this post! We are participating in the Stop, Swap & Roll Linky party hosted by Jungle Learners. Such an awesome idea that brings so many amazing resources to thousands of blog readers!

We were fortunate enough to team up with Kim at Quintessential Lessons. Kim is a 5th grade math focus teacher who loves to get students excited about math. She strives to create games and activities that students enjoy while teaching and reinforcing key concepts. She also loves hands-on activities and getting the students up and moving. She tells us that it makes her day when her students ask to do the activities again. So crazy funny because that is exactly the response we got from our kiddos when they finished Kim's fantabulous activities earlier this week!

Check out Kim's Blog, it is packed full of activities and ideas to get your kiddos excited about
math!

Kim was kind enough to share her Fraction Bundle which includes three games your kiddos will LOVE!

Fractions is the biggest unit we teach in fourth grade and one of the most challenging for our kiddos. The way it works with our curriculum guide we spend the better part of November, December, and January on fractions. Mollie and I like to try and review fractions all spring to keep the skills fresh. Usually our announcement of some fraction practice brings on several moans and groans from our kiddos but that will not be the case again now that we have shared Kim's activities. 

The Fraction Bundle includes three games: Fraction Go-Fish, Fraction Hunt, and Fraction Shipwreck. 

Fraction Go-Fish puts a great twist on a classic game. 

Students will love practicing their knowledge of mixed numbers and improper fractions in groups of 2 or 3.

Students each start out with four cards and work to make pairs by matching an improper fraction with a mixed number. I loved that my kiddos had to look at their card and ask an opponent for the card they were searching. For example, if a kid had five-thirds in their hand, they would have to ask another player if they had one and two-thirds in order to make the pair. It gave them such great practice converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers.

Fraction Hunt was by far my kiddos' favorite game! The game has three types of cards. The first type is simply a fraction that is not in simplest form (these cards do not have bears on them so they are easy to separate). This is the card that you will hand out to each student participating in the activity (you an also have kids work in partnerships). The other two types of cards are simplified fractions, one in number form and one in picture form. These are the cards you will post all over the room.

First of all, it was a blast finding places all over the room to post the cards. It reminded me of hiding eggs for an Easter egg hunt! I placed the cards on walls high and low, furniture, windows, and even the ceiling. Kids loved having to actually "hunt" for the cards, especially knowing that they were looking for specific cards to match their own. I have a very active class this year so the planned movement was exactly what they needed. It amazed me how focused they were!

Fraction Shipwreck is another game that includes movement and gives students practice with identifying the simplified form of various fractions.

Four fraction posters are posted on four different walls. Kids gather in the center of the classroom and the teacher holds up a card with a fraction on it. Students have to go to the wall that shows the simplified version of the fraction. Kim mentioned that this is a great activity to do in the classroom OR the gym. We did it in our classroom and it worked great but I would love to do this in our gym when we have one of those pesky indoor recesses due to weather!

If a fraction is held up that does not have a simplified version on the wall, students have to "swab the deck" and pretend to mop the deck as a pirate might do.

Of course my kiddos loved yelling "Arghhh" in their best pirate voice as they "swabbed the deck". In addition to swabbing the deck, the stack of cards the teacher draws from to show the students includes 8 movements that the students have to act out. My favorite was the "Crow's Nest" where students curled their hands around their eyes to resemble binoculars. They were adorable!!

My kiddos loved participating in all three of these activities and I don't think I will ever hear a groan again when we practice our fraction knowledge as long as we are able to practice by completing one of these activities.

To celebrate our swap, Kim is giving away her Fraction Bundle to one lucky winner. If you are interested in sharing this amazing activities with your kiddos, enter the Rafflecopter below to win your very own bundle!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Only one winner?? No worries! Kim has ensured you are all winners this weekend by placing her entire store 20% off!!! Check out her store, Quinnessential Lessons to grab her Fractions Bundle or one of her other amazing resources 20% off!

Don't forget to check out all of the amazing resources that have been swapped by visiting Jungle Learners or clicking on the links below. 

Information Investigators: Step #1 – Essential Questions for Authentic Learning

The moment they hear the investigator music start to play in the background, the students rip open the mysterious black box that has caution tape wrapped tightly around the outside. Their hands plunge into the evidence box like archaeologists dive into a treasure chest full of gold. Each student has a proof pamphlet firmly held in their fingertips, almost too close to their goggle-covered eyes. Some read their job description aloud to their peers loud and clear, while others opt to read chorally and still others examine the introduction silently in their minds.

Hello, all! Mollie here! 

This short vignette is a typical scene from the first few minutes of an Information Investigators session. I’m writing today as a continuation of our Information Investigators blog post series that we recently started following our presentation at the Michigan Reading Association Conference. If you missed our first post of this series, click HERE to read up on what Information Investigators is all about! Basically, Amy and I have created a process and format called Information Investigators, where students are learning Science and Language Arts standards in small groups through an integrated, collaborative, and authentic project-based style.

Within this post, you will find tips on how to create an essential question. This is the starting step to get in order before putting together your Information Investigator pamphlet. In our opinion, we think of essential questions as vital questions that are intellectually challenging and spark conversation. Essential questions call for higher-level thinking, including, but not limited to, analyzing, inferring, evaluating, and predicting. These types of questions are difficult to create, but fear not because you can do it! When they are used appropriately, you will see the benefits through the growth in your students’ knowledge.

.:. Choose an important Science standard .:.

To begin, you first need a topic to base your essential question on. Choose a Science teaching standard from either your state standards or the proposed Next Generation standards that you would like to be the focus of your students’ investigation. This standard will be the main goal of your students’ entire work during this process. Sometimes we choose standards that we have not covered previously because we are doing the investigation as an introduction to the unit and other times we choose a standard that our students have already studied because it’s a continuation or review of their learning. It’s up to you to choose which point of the unit you want to use this format and which standard you want to cover!

 .:. Unpack the standard .:.

We use the term “unpack” a ton with our students. What we mean by this is to think about what is inside of the standard. How can you break it down? What does the standard require students to know in order to be successful at showing knowledge of the standard independently? Is there any background knowledge that the students must have in their schema? Answering these questions will help give you specific ideas for your essential question. This tip may take some time, but it’s extremely important and the time will be worth it!

 .:.Use specific types of questions .:.

Since essential questions must engage students in conversation and deep thought, they cannot be questions that have a “right there” answer, such as “What is a food chain?” This question has an answer that students can find in a text. There are some particular types of questions that we use to create our questions. They start with the following question stems: what if, should, why, how, and which one. Once you’ve chosen and unpacked your standard, match it with one of these sentence stems to form a question!

 .:. Make it interesting .:.

Information Investigators is supposed to be fun! Creating a real-world scenario that goes with your essential question is one way to achieve this key aspect of the process. For example, in one of the Information Investigators we’ve taught in the past on fossils, we have the students pretend that they work at the Grand Rapids Public Museum and are hired to create an exhibit for the museum. The students enjoy this challenge and it brings excitement to the process of learning.

It is your turn to try! You can now begin on your journey to teaching and facilitating your first Information Investigators by creating an essential question. We hope these tips give you a better understanding on how to create essential questions. Click the picture for our Freebie Information Investigator Starter Pack on TPT that will give you all the components you’ll need to create your very own Information Investigators.