tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75263815291621552942024-02-08T01:16:30.214-05:00Mrs. Robinson's Classroom BlogMusings of a Third Grade TeacherHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-46714494063679593002012-07-16T18:06:00.002-04:002012-07-16T18:06:45.803-04:00Summer of Changes!
It's been a very long time since I've updated this blog! The 2011-2012 school year has come to an end, and I am preparing for a new challenge for the next two years. In 2009, our district was awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates Grant, which is a seven year/$100 million investment. Part of the grant is being used to develop a new system for how teachers are supported, evaluated
and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-55867555515180098042011-10-02T20:15:00.000-04:002011-10-02T20:15:05.978-04:00Open for Business!Last Friday, I opened our first bank and store of the 2011-2012 school year! Students had filled out their "payforms" the day before, so everyone knew how much they were getting paid for the month (they are paid once a month - the last Thursday of the month - store is on the last Friday of the month). I will have to take a photo of one of their completed payforms and post it here so you get a Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-19271124378970932482011-09-25T12:19:00.000-04:002011-09-25T12:19:10.985-04:00Unexpected Recognition is Awesome!A few weeks ago, I linked up with Marygrove College to discuss how I use Bucket-Filling to help create a positive classroom climate in my third grade class. Last week, I was notified by Colleen from Marygrove that my contribution would be featured in their Guide for Successful Bucket-Filling Techniques! Pretty cool!
Then, this morning, I found out that I was awarded The Versatile Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-46306895875189081562011-09-09T20:21:00.000-04:002011-09-09T20:21:54.981-04:00Author's PurposeLast week, we focused on the skill of author's purpose and author's perspective. We discussed that most of the time, authors write to persuade, inform, or to entertain (P.I.E.).
We started off by reading The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, and pondered why the author would have written this entertaining fantasy. Many of my readers came to the conclusion that Lynne Cherry wrote the book to Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-58231779468261306672011-09-09T19:50:00.000-04:002011-09-09T19:50:50.522-04:00Writing From the HeartIn my Writer's Workshop, I provide a mini-lesson, usually share a read aloud that incorporates the skill that I would like my writers to try out, model that skill in my own writing, and then students have the opportunity to write about a topic of their choice for about 20-30 minutes, applying the skill that I just taught. At the end of Writer's Workshop, it is important to share and celebrate Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-91069711799904978642011-09-05T00:53:00.002-04:002011-09-09T20:24:39.246-04:00Beginning Reader's WorkshopIn third grade, we kick off Reader's Workshop right away! I wanted to share a few of the lessons I have taught my students, as they are essential for building a strong classroom community of readers.
One of our first lessons was about keeping track of our thoughts while we read, since, after all, we should be thinking during reading. We charted the many things we could jot down on sticky notes Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-8325543302765108382011-09-03T02:40:00.000-04:002011-09-03T02:40:07.776-04:00Will You Take the 40 Book Challenge?I love to read. Always have. I remember bringing a book with me everywhere I went when I was a kid. Of course, I don't seem to have as much time now that I'm an adult swamped with responsibilities, but I still make time to read for pleasure mostly every day. For the past couple of years, I have taken on the 50 Book Challenge, which is a group of people across the world whose goal it is to read 50Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-83840638684665208652011-09-03T01:35:00.001-04:002011-09-03T01:37:53.585-04:00Have You Filled a Bucket Today? It is essential to establish and warm and caring classroom environment these first few weeks of school. I try do that in several different ways, one of which includes Bucket-Filling. The idea of this comes from the Bucket Fillers website and this book that explains it all in the simplest of words and illustrations:
The concept is simple: we all carry invisible buckets with us everywhere we Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-3072503152595469942011-08-28T15:03:00.002-04:002011-08-29T18:37:54.744-04:00Welcome to Third Grade!WELCOME TO THE THIRD GRADE TEAM!The first week of third grade has come and gone quickly! I hope your child enjoyed their week as much I did.
FIRST DAY PACKETSYour child brought home a colored file folder and a red and white First Day Packet (if you did not pick this up at Meet the Teacher) inside their red folder today. It is filled with a plethora of items requiring yourHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-25571176925534548942011-08-26T23:59:00.000-04:002011-08-26T23:59:19.551-04:00Meaningful First Week ActivitiesThe first week of school generally consists of getting to know one another, in addition to discussion and practice of classroom procedures and routines. We also got our creative juices flowing by creating summer reflection writing pieces, squiggle stories, and "All About Me" mini-posters. Students are getting to know one another and me, and we are learning to work together to build a successful Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-1612403029407141092011-08-19T20:47:00.001-04:002011-08-19T20:48:29.721-04:00Meet the Teacher Day: Success!It was so wonderful meeting my new third grade students and parents today. I was also happy to see so many of my former students and their parents stopping by for a quick hello! I hope my students enjoyed picking out their seats for the first day of school. Since some students have a little bit of anxiety about being in a new grade with a new teacher and new classmates, I thought giving them a Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-27683817823732979032011-08-17T22:22:00.000-04:002011-08-17T22:22:55.059-04:00Countdown to the First Day!Thanks so much for stopping by our classroom blog! Only a few more days until the official start to the 2011-2012 school year! I have been working very hard to get the classroom ready for my new third graders! I hope to use this blog as a tool to communicate our studies, achievements, homework assignments, important dates, etc. to students, family, and friends. I plan to update this site on a Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-78582459045134355452011-07-18T10:17:00.006-04:002011-07-19T11:31:31.973-04:00How I'm Spending Summer VacationAnother fabulous third grade teacher, Jodi from Clutter-Free Classroom, is doing a fun little writing "assignment" this week, in which bloggers are responding to a topic she posts (kind of like those 45 minute timed writes we give monthly to our students!). Hope this gives you a tiny peek into my world! I'm going to include photos, just because I like to add a little flair.
Before summer Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-61613289638485621832011-07-15T20:44:00.003-04:002011-07-15T22:11:46.170-04:00Parent InvolvementI am very fortunate to teach at a school in which parent involvement is high, teachers are respected and supported, and education is valued. Home-school communication is one aspect of management that I pride myself on, as I make myself quite accessible to my parents. My parents, students, and myself are (usually) all on the same page, and I think that has a lot to do with the routines I establishHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-26265751849416801902011-07-15T19:11:00.000-04:002012-07-16T18:46:17.977-04:00Teacher Resources PageThanks to a comment an anonymous poster left today, I became aware that the documents I tried to upload to my Teacher Resources Page (and probably my Weekly Newsletters, too) were unable to be opened! Yikes! I tried again using Scribd, so I hope everyone who wants to see, can now see what I have on those pages. I didn't want to link too many documents because I'm still not sure if it works. If Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-6877107064070196332011-07-08T00:32:00.001-04:002011-07-08T00:33:51.144-04:00Ten Things to Know About Me!Inspired by another blogging teacher, Go 4th With Mrs. Owens, I am making a list of ten things to know about me. What a great way for students to get to know their teacher, and of course and even better, what a great way for teachers to get to know their students! Here's my list:
10. I love reality TV shows - give me The Real Housewives of (insert any) County over 60 Minutes any day!
9. My Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-15381893644086169972011-07-07T23:57:00.002-04:002011-07-08T00:49:18.966-04:00The Daily 5(ish)Last year, I read a great little book called The Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. The authors advocate using five stations that students should rotate through every day, as opposed to teacher-created centers, which are often very time-consuming to make and manage. These are the five stations:
1. Listen to Reading
2. Read to Self
3. Read to Someone
4. Word Work
5. Work on Writing
I am Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-49683227164191804762011-06-25T23:20:00.002-04:002011-06-25T23:25:55.617-04:00Pinterest!Another really fun website entered my life about a month ago: Pinterest!!! It is a great way to keep all of those creative ideas you find on the internet neat and orderly and categorized. Let's say you're on-line, perusing ideas for the new school year, and you come across an amazing game or a photo of a fabulous classroom library or a cute craft to celebrate a holiday. You click on the "Pin It" Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-52204234161956812032011-06-25T22:54:00.001-04:002011-06-25T23:51:46.432-04:00I Heart Google Reader!Why didn't I know about Google Reader before? For the last couple of years, I've been visiting my favorite teacher blogs, home decorating blogs, kid craft blogs, fashion blogs, etc. via my bookmarks. It was pretty time-consuming to check for new and exciting content of all of the fabulous blogs in internet-land. My bookmarks were organized by category but seemed unwieldy and inefficient and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-7731574701425856542011-06-21T21:52:00.002-04:002011-06-23T08:41:53.849-04:00A Workshop Approach to Math, Too!For the past several years, I have taken a "workshop" approach to teaching both reading and writing. It only made sense that eventually, I would turn to a math workshop model, too! Last year was my first attempt at math workshop, and wow. I loved it, the kids loved it, and my instruction was individually tailored to meet the needs of all students. Here's what math workshop looks like:
Students Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7526381529162155294.post-54914338828727367752011-06-21T21:35:00.005-04:002011-06-23T08:43:13.612-04:00A Workshop Approach to Reading and WritingA reader and writer since the time I can remember, I hope to share my enthusiasm for reading and writing with my students. I like to take a "workshop" approach to teaching because it encourages responsibility, independence, and I also get time to meet with each reader and writer regularly - both individually and in strategy-based groups. Here's what each Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16314316155283966654noreply@blogger.com1