ThE MOst DisJoiNteD bLoG pOSt EvEr! (and some affixes!)

This really is probably going to be the most disjointed blog post ever! There were a few different education and non-education topics swirling around in my head, and I'm just going to lump them all into one post.

I haven't blogged in a bit for no good reason than it is summer, and I'm being a bit lazy.  

Every morning, this is the plan:

                                        

But, then I get distracted.  One of my biggest distractions this summer has been this little app:

Yes, that devilish little Kindle app on my iPhone!  It has been so nice to have time to read fluff.  I am still in the middle of two different professional books, but I just lost interest for a bit.  I might need to delete this app for a couple of weeks so I can get something done! Like blogging and working on my TpT stuff.

Figuring out this whole Tpt thing was is one of my goals this summer.  I have some things I want to get done, but the time-suck that is my Kindle app has been getting the best of me.  It was so fun seeing all the pics of bloggers who attended the Tpt gathering (convention?) in Vegas last week.  It looked like so much fun.  I've been reading lots of blog posts on it, and I have yet to hear of anyone that didn't have a great time, meet some amazing bloggers, and learn lots of helpful tips.

In fact, I posted this pic on my Instagram account during the festivities.  More on Instagram later!  My goal is that by next year my Tpt store will be up and running and I will attend the next gathering  

One thing I am getting done is summer school.  I have the best group of kids this year!  I truly love them to pieces.  They are so sweet, just really nice children who are willing to learn.  No attitudes!  They really make heading to work on nice, sunny, beach days not so bad. And, there are only 7 of them which has let me get so much done.

  My summer friends will be entering 4th grade in September but have reading levels 1-2 years below that.  One thing I learned right away is that they are unfamiliar with the most basic of affixes.  I know they were taught them in 3rd grade, but the recall is not there at all.  So, when deciding what to do with them for word study this summer, affixes it is!  I wanted to get the most bang for my buck.  They certainly need help with spelling patterns, but as soon-to-be-4th-graders I feel mastering some basic affixes will help them more with decoding the grade level words they will encounter.

For visuals with my lessons, I've been using this beach themed packet of 31 different prefixes and suffixes by Rachael Parlett that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is awesome. And, free! She actually has this same pack available in different themes (pirates, jungle, Hollywood, and more) along with other for sale resources that compliment them.  We've been doing one a day.

 I write the affix down, and then I give the kids a basic word that has that affix.  I then let them try to figure out what it means.  Once they do, we write the definition on the chart we've glued in our notebook.  We then work together to brainstorm a list of words.  After that, they select a word and use it in a sentence that shows they know the meaning of the word.  Finally, they sketch a quick picture showing their sentence.  This form is another freebie I also found on Teachers Pay Teachers created by Gaily Girl.  It's a pack of various materials, including this chart/organizer.  I will say that I did tweak it a bit, but it is essentially the same.  I just changed the font, made one line dotted, and changed the center box to put in the particular affixes we are using.  The form is editable, so it was easy to do.

 I only have my friends for five short weeks this summer, so we are spending two weeks on prefixes, two on suffixes (there they are below, ready to go!) and on our last week we will be combining the two.  The best part of it all is that I can really see this clicking for the kids.  They are using the new words they learned in our conversation and have stopped me during our read aloud more than once to point out that I said a word that had a prefix we learned.  Score!!!

After summer school today, I went to my school to grab some materials from our supply room.  If you are not a teacher and wonder what schools look like during the summer, here it is!

I really feel for our custodians in the summer.  Our school is not air conditioned, and it is hot as blazes in that building.  They are busy clearing out the classrooms, stripping and freshly waxing floors, cleaning the rooms, making repairs, and actually working to retile some classrooms this year.  It is hot and sweaty work! They have to empty every room, do all that work, and then put it all back again.   But, it all very much appreciated when we come back to shiny, clean classrooms in September!

                                             

So, frozen peas.  Yup, that's me driving home from school last week with a bag of frozen peas on my knee.  At dismissal last Thursday, I tripped on some uneven sidewalk and did a full-on face plant (really more of a knee injury) in front of all the summer school staff, students, and parents.  It was so bad, I literally couldn't get up for a minute.  I was going to post a picture of my knee today, but it is so ugly I didn't want to subject you to it!  It is blue, green, purple, black, red, yellow, and every other color you can imagine.  I honestly can't believe how bad the bruise is.  It is still really sore, but I'm just glad I didn't break anything.  And to prove how sweet my kids are this summer, I can't begin to tell you how upset they got when I fell.  I was so busy reassuring them that I was fine that it wasn't until after they were all gone that I realized how bad it was.  

To keep on with this disjointed post. . .  I might be mildly obsessed with getting some Jamberry nails.  I'm seeing them all over the web.  When I first heard of them, I thought I could just pick them up in the store.  But, I think it is some kind of home party sales thing.  I do see though that I can order some on their website.  They aren't cheap, but I think it would be a fun treat. Have to look in to this some more!  Do any of you do Jamberry nails?  How do you like them?  Where do you get them?

My other mild obsession this summer has been banana frozen yogurt.  I tell you this for no reason other than I feel more people need to know about banana frozen yogurt.  (You know I'm an elementary school teacher because I can't even type the word banana without thinking of Minions and laughing!)  I posted this picture of some on Instagram a few days ago.  It was a bit disappointing due to the lack of toppings. Notice there aren't really any?  I wanted some fresh fruit, and there was none!  When is the last time you went to a fro yo shop that had no fresh fruit?!!  

Speaking of Instagram, I have just started using my blog Instagram.  I find I am much more of an Instagram person than a Facebook person.  I use FB in my personal life for friends and family, but I find it really difficult to switch back and forth between my blog FB page and my personal FB page.  As a result, I sort of don't pay any attention to my blog FB page which isn't good.  Some of you have been so nice to follow me on it which means you are probably on it more than I am!  However, I find it much easier to blend my personal and blog Instagram in one.  I think I'm more of a visual person and just find Instagram more appealing.  I need to add an Instagram link to my buttons up top, but you can find me HERE. I've only posted a few pics, but I think IG is one social media I will keep up with.

So, that's my disjointed post. Which seems about right for summer blogging! :-)

Prefixes! Roots! Suffixes! Oh My!

Guess what we've been studying? 

Pretty much what it seems everyone else has been studying! 



 

As I finished my Greek Mythology unit with my 4th grade enrichment friends, we closed by studying Greek word parts. The picture above shows the standards we met and a quick view of the big letters.  Take a look at the finished display below, and I'll explain just what we did.  Ignore my pocketbook and mess on the table!

After finishing reading various myths and completing projects related to them, we went on to finish the unit with a study of Greek roots.  I found a great resource for this on Teacher Pay Teachers.  It is a unit of Greek roots that comes with illustrated examples.  Below are just some of the cards that come with the unit.  My friends got the biggest thrill when they connected the fact that in the myth The 12 Labors of Heracles the water serpent he killed was named Hydra which related to the root hydr/hydra and means water.  It all sort of clicked like magic for them.  There's a lot that comes with this resource including the making of a tiny box which holds a tiny version of all the cards.  Each of my friends had their own box of cards and we wrote additional words we could brainstorm on the back of each card.

Once we had studied most of the cards included in the unit, we went on to look at more common prefixes, roots, and suffixes that fourth graders will run into that may or may not be of Greek etymology.  I created a packet which listed some of each, their meaning, a couple of examples, and a column for my friends to work with a partner to brainstorm more words they knew which fit.

 

I had drawn some of them freehand (which is why some of them look a little wonky!) on white oak tag and spread them out on the floor.  After we had reviewed and discussed our packets, the kids were given a Sharpie and a highlighter.  They wrote their words on the corresponding poster, underlining the prefix/root/suffix.  We then hung them in the room.

I got the inspiration for the big letters from a Pinterest picture posted by the blogger of Smitten with First.  She was doing a lesson on suffixes and made some big letters of the most common ones. 
When I saw her picture, I knew it would work perfectly with my friends.  Some lessons just span the grade levels!

This lesson turned out to be a lot of fun for us all.  Having the display in my room has encouraged all the kids to constantly try and think of new words that could be added.  I told them we would create a chart to add the words to.  There is not way I am climbing on top of those shelves again!  :-)  While I did the is lesson with enrichment students, it is very much a great way to teach word parts to children of all grades and ability levels. 

~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

On a different note, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! 

It is a day to remember a great man and the courage and grace he showed in the face of intolerance and discrimination.  Last year, my friends and I had school on this day in order to make up days lost to Hurricane Sandy.  It prompted me to write a post on some of the activities I was planning to do in remembrance.  This year, like many of you, we are off today.  I know it is a little late, but if you are looking for something to do tomorrow, you can click HERE to see the post I wrote.  It includes several links to videos, activities, and lessons.