Category Archives: Standard 4 – Content Knowledge

ELA, Math, Project, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 3 - Learning Environments, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content

Virtual Field Trip :: National Museum of African American History and Culture

On Friday, February 10th, the 4th graders at my school took a virtual field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Students started out with an overview of the newest Smithsonian museum, followed by scenes from the opening ceremony.  For maximum engagement, student also got to compete in a “Presidents for Equal Rights” Kahoot game and an equality quote match on Quizlet.  After these activities, the museum was open to be explored by students with their iPads.  Around the museum were various QR codes that would give access to the content:  a document, image, or video.  The students were engaged in this virtual field trip, and you could see students working with peers to complete writing, reading comprehension, and math activities inside the museum.  The highlights were hearing students say:  “This was the best field trip I’ve ever gone on!” and “Ms. Payne, I didn’t know that there were that many black people that did so many great things!”

Specific skills in the museum:  ordering decimals, compare and contrasting different passages, editing a writing passage to correct errors, identifying fact and opinions in literature.

Virtual Field Trip

Math, Review Activity, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content

Going Back to Rio

 

 

 

 

When the school year started, I, like many others, just couldn’t get enough of the Olympics.  I was determined to find a way to tie it into the curriculum… So I decided to update a planet project I did with place value.  I wanted to review the skills of 10 times as much or 1/10 of a value as well as write numbers in expanded form, word form, and standard form.  The students love this one!  I made to sure to the differentiate the content for all my learners!Olympics

ELA, Project, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction

Black History Month Project 2.0

 

Ever since I was in Washington, DC, I did some type of Black History Month activity/project, and my students have always learned a lot through the process.  Last year, when I taught 6th grade, I knew that I had to take this project to the next level, so I planned out how I could make this better and more relevant for them.  We used plenty of apps on our iPads and got really familiar with the Google product family!  I made sure that we had plenty of library books for research purposes, and we took a journey from Africa all the way to present day.  Some of my students’ work is featured below.

Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month 12642669_1259267154087554_8886785361444924054_n Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month

Games, Math, Review Activity, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction, Standard 8 - Instructional Strategies

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

I love making MATH relevant and finding a way to tie it into current events.  Back in October, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a math review game!  They learned some facts for their scavenger hunt, and they got to find math problems hidden around the classroom.  I made this a little challenging for the students by using Spanish numbers around the classroom.

Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanic Heritage Month

ELA, Project, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 6 - Assessment, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction, Standard 8 - Instructional Strategies, Writing

End of Year Hero Project

At the end of the school year, I like to have my students complete a research unit.  Last year, we focused on HEROES! Students had to complete 3 assignments with this project:  A Hero Tale, a Hero Newspaper, and a Hero Poem.  My colleague and I created graphic organizers for each part of the project.

 

You can click the image below to enlarge.

My Hero Project Overview

My Hero Tale Scoring Rubric

Hero Story Map

Hero Newspaper TemplateStudent's Hero Newspaper

Hero Poem by Student

ELA, Math, Project, Review Activity, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 6 - Assessment, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction

Black History Month Activities : 2015

This year, I decided to spend 2 months covering black history events.  We started in Africa in the 1300’s – 1500’s, and then we traveled to the United States in the time of slavery.  We got through the Civil War and the Reconstruction period.  We then covered the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and where we are now as it relates to equality.

Students were assigned one or two individuals to research and create a digital board as well as a tri-fold presentation board.  All of the reading lessons were tied to a skill and a the week’s study.  We found facts and opinions in a newspaper from the time of slavery.  We compared and contrasted kings and queens in Africa.  We looked at the elements of drama through a play that focused on the Greensboro sit ins.  We planned out a new Civil Rights Museum using area and perimeter concepts.  We converted fractions to decimals and found equivalent fractions for our Black History Timeline.  The students absolutely LOVED this unit, and it was a joy to be able to help them learn about a part of our country’s history that is all too often skipped over.

The students also created an Equality Quote Quilt with famous quotes from important figures in the fight for equality.

At the end of the unit of study, I organized a commemorative Selma to Montgomery March, which was 50 years after the actual march in Alabama.  In our march, 4th and 5th graders marched around the school, singing “I ain’t gon’ let nobody turn me around” in harmony.  The march ended in the library with a beautiful slideshow of images from black history with “Lift Every Voice” – the National Negro Anthem – playing in the background.  The students all sat quietly glued to the screen, where many of them saw these images for the first time.

I remember days later, one of the 5th grade teachers came up to me and told me that next year, we really need to plan (even earlier) to incorporate more black history into our lessons.  I could not agree more!

Mary McLeod Bethune Presentation Board (student)WEB DuBois Presentation Board (student)Frederick Douglass Presentation Board (student)Alex Haley Presentation Board (Teacher Model)Equality Quote QuiltBlack History TimelineCivil Rights MuseumCivil Rights Museum ExhibitSelma to Montgomery MarchSelma to Montgomery MarchMarch PostersMarch Posters

Math, Standard 1 - Learner Development, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 3 - Learning Environments, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 8 - Instructional Strategies

Coordinates Rap :: A Fun Way to Remember Math!

Video

My students love rap, and I love when they are engaged in the lesson.  I found a rap beat, and then I wrote some lyrics to help them remember how to find coordinate points.  They loved the song, and I would often hear them rapping the lyrics on the playground.  Needless to say, this lesson was successful!

 

Common Core Aligned, Games, Math, Review Activity, Standard 1 - Learner Development, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 6 - Assessment

American Revolution :: Math Review Game

My students love our review games, and one of the most popular games we played this year was the American Revolution game.  Our reading theme for this instructional window was the American Revolution, so I thought of a way to incorporate that theme into a math game.  What resulted was a way for us to potentially “rewrite history” with a battle between all of the sides that had a stake in this “New World”.  In our game, we had the British, the French, the Colonists, the Native Americans, the Enslaved People, and the Freeman’s Bureau (free blacks).  Each student was placed on one of the six sides.  Each side had a Commander/General and a 2nd in Command, which were made up of our weakest and strongest students.  We played this game in my classroom with all of the fourth graders at one time to maximize our instructional  time and encourage the peer tutoring.  This was a game where all students had to have the same thing written on the boards for their teams, and points were awarded for teams that worked well together.  Teams could spend as much time as they needed on each problem because early finishers were given “sneak attack” opportunities, which were additional problems the teachers would give finished teams to work on while the other teams completed the problem.  Teams could earn additional points if they were called on to explain how they arrived at their answer.  This meant that the higher students needed to make sure that the others on their team knew the content and could tell someone else how to do it.  One student, who receives special education services in reading and math, was so thankful for his 2nd in Command (a higher student) because he really showed him how to do the problems!

Select slides from this game are displayed below.

AmericanRevolutionAmericanRevolution2AmericanRevolution3AmericanRevolution7 AmericanRevolution6 AmericanRevolution5 AmericanRevolution4