Boomwhackers! A Classroom MUST-HAVE

Have you ever heard of Boomwhackers? 
Before last week, I hadn't either! Boomwhackers are percussion tubes that are tuned to musical pitches by length. They're also colorful which makes them so much more fun.

Obsessed with ROYGBIV!

For my Integrated Arts class at UCF, we had to create a math lesson with arts integrated, but really, the students have to learn through the arts, not just with. 
What's the difference?
When I think of with the arts, I think of arts and crafts, like creating a colorful book describing the water cycle. Although this incorporates art, students are not learning through the arts. However, creating a song to describe the events of the life cycle of a butterfly is considered through the arts.  Also, consider the fine arts: music, theater, visual arts, sculpture, literary arts.

Ok, back to the Boomwhackers/Math lesson.  My fifth graders are learning place value and some of them are having a really difficult time when asked what place a specific digit is in. After reviewing their homework from the night before, I broke out the Boomwhackers. 
Make sure students "bang" or "strike" the Boomwhackers on their hands, legs, etc... Not on each other :) Or the table or corners of desks. Because they are plastic, they bend and crack easily and this totally messes with the tuned pitch of them.

I made this poster as a key and each color coordinates to the Boomwhacker.
This also taught students the different notes of each one.
For this specific place value lesson, as a class we assigned
each color a different place value position.

 We used the poster above to go over the different colors and sounds. We also talked about pitches and how our voices can make high pitches and low pitches. Our musical learners shared some great knowledge too. For the younger grades, I would definitely spend more time explaining pitch.

Then I wrote a number on the board. START SMALL! 

For example, 6.43

The ones group (teal) struck their Boomwhackers 6 times.

The tenths groups (yellow) struck their Boomwhackers 4 times.

The hundredths (red) groups struck their Boomwhackers 3 times. 

I had to count for them in the beginning to get them all on the same beat.

So for 6.43, I would count:
 "5,6,7,8:
1,2,3,4,5,6,
1,2,3,4,
1,2,3."

This helped A LOT.

Once they get the hang of it, start using larger numbers. We also played with the numbers too, because obviously a number like 757.757 sounds better because it is a pattern :) Eventually, I didn't have to count anymore.

The students LOVED this lesson, so did my supervising teacher. 

These Boomwhackers are VERY affordable and so useful in all grades!

 I taught a lesson in first grade using these for patterns. In groups, students made patterns out of colored paper (the paper coordinated with the Boomwhackers), then the groups came to the front and performed their pattern. 

Here they are mid-strike! 

Lovin' the Boomwhackers!

Again, mid-strike!

Click here for the Boomwhackers' educational uses, videos, and sample classroom ideas. Enjoy! Pinterest: Boomwhacker songs and ideas

Happy Monday!

When you lose control of the classroom and can't get them to quiet down:

In addition to Pinterest, I LOVE Instagram. When I first started using it, I just followed friends and would post pictures of my personal life- nothing really school related. Now, I follow so many wonderful teachers who post ideas for lesson plans, activities, classroom decor and organization, etc. that I often save for later.  Well, one of my favorite ladies posted this and I laughed so hard because this is SO something I would do. :) 

A New Adventure

This week I started the second half of my junior internship in fifth grade at a totally different elementary school! I feel so lucky to be in a program where they have us go to different schools and grades to experience different things. I know several teachers who started teaching one grade at one school, then were transferred to another grade or even another school. Even though my ideal job would be to teach K-3, I need to be prepared that I may one day teach upper elementary.
My first day in fifth grade went really well! I absolutely adore my supervising teacher, Mrs. S. I feel so lucky that both of my supervising teachers have been so wonderful. She has been teaching for twenty five years and is still so passionate about it. Her and I just click, a lot like me and Mrs. C did! There are a few girls in my cohort that do not like their supervising teacher, so I feel so fortunate to like both! 
Fifth grade is going to be a challenge for me. I am so used to primary since that is where all of my experience has been. It's hard because fifth graders are not cuddly and dependent on you like the primary grades are. The curriculum will also be a challenge for me... The first day I was there they were doing long division with thousands! Yikes!  But like any other adventure, I am going to embrace this and really try my hardest to shift my primary brain to fifth gear :) 

Last Day in Second Grade

Yesterday was my last day in second grade. I was too distraught yesterday to even think about posting! Okay, maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, especially since I have to go back once a week to finish my case study, but I was so sad all day! 
When I first found out that I was going to be working with second graders for my junior internship, I was worried. I thought my heart belonged in kindergarten or first grade, but boy was I wrong! My heart did just fine in second grade! In a few short weeks, I became so attached to those little munchkins. Even though I hated waking up at 5:30 every morning to be there on time, I woke up so happy and eager to get to school.
The day went as a normal until right before lunch. My supervising teacher asked me to go cut 50 large sheets of paper in the teacher workroom. I thought nothing of her request and went to do it quickly since lunch was fifteen minutes from then. When I was walking back to the classroom, she was waiting at the door holding it open (the classroom door must be locked at all times). I walked in and the kids were on the carpet. Again, I thought nothing of it. Mrs. C told me to sit in Anne's chair and when I went to sit there, there was the cutest wire basket with apples dangling off. Then in pairs, the students came and read little signs with little gifts attached and dropped them in my basket. By the end, my basket was full of goodies. Such a cute way for each student to participate. Of course, I was bawling by the end!

Kids reading their notes and filling my gift basket

They get their new intern Monday, so I thought it would be sweet to have every student write her a welcome letter. This also reviewed a skill we just learned last week. The kids were so creative and I know she will love reading the letters on Monday. 
We ended the day with a big group hug. I will seriously miss this class and the teacher so much. If the stars align, I will return there for my senior internship in January. Please keep your fingers crossed for me! 

The "Teacher Toolbox"

I am a huge Pinterest-er (not sure how else to say it)... I mean I am like THE Pinterest Queen. I am so addicted, it's actually a problem. Phew! Now that that's off of my chest... I am sure you all have seen the DIY teacher toolbox. There are many versions of it, but basically it's a 18 or 22 drawer toolbox that is decorated and labeled for a teacher. I had pinned a few different examples of it for myself and my future classroom, but I decided to make one for my internship supervising teacher, Mrs. C. She has been so wonderful and I have learned so, so, SO much from her. I am really going to miss her and my second grade babes!  Here is how I made Mrs. C's teacher toolbox. I started with this 22 drawer plastic organizer from Lowes. I read that they  can be found elsewhere but it was only $17 at Lowes and I had a coupon!

To start, I took all of the drawers out and spray painted it a bright purple color. It's by Valspar and it's called "Purple Fury". 

love the color!

After that, I used a PowerPoint to edit Chevron labels and I used the font HelloDotStick to type up my labels. I borrowed ideas from other Pinterest users, but I tried to think of what items she had a lot of in her desk.

Using my $12 Scotch laminator. Thanks, Tar-gey! 

These letters were purchased at Michaels. I had to buy two packs to spell her name, but they were only $4 each and I had a coupon! I also purchased the scrapbooking stickers for some extra flair and used my hot glue gun to enforce them!

Drumroll please...

The final product:  

P.S: A lot of Pinteresters decided to stick the labels on the inside of the drawer using Mod Podge or double-sided tape. My wonderful boyfriend came up with the idea of using my laminator and putting them on the outside so the colors were brighter. He's so smart :-)
She loved her teacher toolbox and now I can't wait to make myself one! 

I'm a "Newbie"!

I am so excited to have finally started a blog. For the last year and a half, I have been saying to myself, "I am going to start a blog", at least three times a week. Every time I had a project or I wrote a lesson plan, I would think if I only had a blog to post this to.

So, here I am!

Finally, a place to store all of my projects, lesson plans, crafts, etc. Not only will I be using this for that kind of stuff, but I will also be sharing my adventures as I approach graduation (MAY 2013!). I also hope to be a resource to my future followers, as I have been inspired by fellow bloggers too many times to count.

If you found me and you're reading this... 

Welcome! :-)