After a long long hiatus, I am yet again, hoping to get back into my blog.  Had an idea over the past few weeks.....what would your thoughts be on a website where teachers can find AND share free web resources that they use in the classroom.  Something like a Pinterest strictly for online educational resources and activities.  I am sure it is out there.  If you have seen something like this, direct me to the site.  I want to make this a simple simple simple format that can be navigated by vets and rookies alike.  What are your thoughts on my venture?

Here is the latest edition of Reading Hilltop's OAA pep rally for 2013.  We had fun and I look goofier every year as well!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjV1z__KXNc

Running shoes!!!!

MY FAVORITE RUNNING SHOES!!!!  I even sneak them on my feet in the classroom on dress down days!

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila - Men's - Blue In Size: 44 (Google Affiliate Ad)

Aurasma

Okay, seriously..............check this one out.  A colleague saw this in action at a conference and shared it with me.  I have downloaded it and am in the process of learning how beneficial this could be in the classroom.  Use your imagination on this one.......endless possibilities.  Be sure to watch the TED video on the righthand side.

http://www.aurasma.com

COMMENTS PLEASE!!!  Anxious to hear some opinions on this one.

Talk about slacker!!!!!  I am returning to my blog after WAY TO LONG away!  Hope everyone is doing well and ready for the holidays!

I know it has been awhile...........what a busy year that is quickly coming to an end!  Our pep rally for the OAA has revived me and I wanted to share it with you!  Let me know that you think of our wacky and awesome staff!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfSZWF3Mpk

Water cycle Wheel

Pretty cool "wheel" to help students remember the water cycle.  Not the MOST educational, but it matches most of the diagrams out there that you will find.  I plan to have my students label each step after they create the wheel.  Below is the link straight to the site where I found it (pic below takes you to my newly formed Pintrest page.

http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/fun-stuff/water-cycle/wheel-part-1.html

Source: epa.state.il.us via Rj on Pinterest

Hey all!  We have been working hard at Reading Hilltop and I am going to toot our horns!!!!  Several years ago, we had video announcements that involved the entire school.  This year, we brought them back!  Each of our grade levels shot some video of their classrooms or took some photos of events in their rooms.

I took some time to slap them together in IMovie and create our first 2011 video announcements HILLTOP- TAKE ONE!  So, I am sticking my chest out because I was so impressed by all of the teachers that took the time to get on board with the project and make it great!  Check it out using the link below.

http://www.readingschools.org/school_NewsArticle.aspx?artID=1603&schoolID=2

Hope you enjoy it!

-RJ

Sample PREZI

Just thought I would share a sample PREZI that I created to share with my fourth graders about photosynthesis. After creating a few, this one only took me about a 1/2 an hour. Check it out! GIve it a little time to load. You will see the white bar at the bottom load with gray.

Photosynthesis on Prezi

PREZI

Okay, here is a new resource that was brought to my attention by my awesome student teacher this fall!  It's called PREZI.  I like to describe it as PowerPoint on steroids.  Seriously, I can't wait to start using this internet-based resource.  As an educator, Prezi gives you an upgraded account for free (it's free anyway, but teachers get the low level "paid" account for free).

Check it out and see what you think.  Looks like it might take some time to get used to using, but it appears to be well worth the effort.

www.prezi.com

-RJ

http://hayesclass.weebly.com/

Simple "Parts of a Plant" PPT

I created a simple powerpoint presentation about the "parts of a plant".  Very basic and could lead into deeper discussions of each part.  Hope you can use it!

Ipad Advice and Apps

Okay, today I am 10 years old again (what else is new, I'm always 10).  I just received the word that I have been approved to attend an Ipad 2 conference and I will return to school WITH AN IPAD 2 to use in my classroom.  Now, here is my plea......

1.  What apps are you finding to be beneficial on the Ipad?
2.  How are you using them in your classroom?
3.  What cool educational things can I do?

I can't wait to begin playing with the Ipad 2 and figuring out how to make it a part of my class!  Yes, I know, it might be tough with ONE, but hopefully this will be a springboard for more in our school.  Michelle over at Fabulous in First is my partner in this venture.  I know she is just as pumped as I am!  Last year we attended an Ipod conference, this year...we step it up a notch!

PLEASE send me your comments and advice!

-RJ

Testing Testing Testing.....the First Test of the Year

To go along with my previous PB&J post, I thought it would be only appropriate to bring back some age old classic "First test of the year" files.  After some successful google searching, I was able to locate some classics.  YES, they are for fun and will bring a few laughs to the class, but the point is made!  Check these out...for the primary grades, you may want to get some ideas from these and create your own.  Have fun!

Check out the Google Docs link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MDXdke9JM0CAePF1_DA3jU-pTci6J6nFiQMftTNt66o/edit?hl=en_US

-RJ
http://hayesclass.weebly.com/

PB&J Anyone?

Had a great lesson today on direction following.  My fifth graders are working on designing their own simple experiments using the design process.  As we work on writing out our procedures and step by step instructions, I thought it was time for some fun "How To" direction writing.  So......

I had my students write step by step instructions on "How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich". Obviously, with peanut allergies out there, you can use any type of sandwich (or an alternative such as Sunflower Seed Butter....yum).

Once I gave ample time for the students to write their step-by-step instructions, I pulled out my apron and revealed that I would be taking volunteers to read their instructions word for word while I created the wonderful sandwich that they described.  I started by calling on students that I noticed finishing their instructions in 2 minutes.  Needless to say, we ended up with some pretty funny looking sandwiches.  I did EXACTLY what their direction stated.  For example, if it said put the bread on the plate, I placed the entire bag of bread on the plate.  If they stated, "Put the peanut better on a piece of bread", I put the entire jar on the bread.  You get the idea.

Anyone, as I continued to call for volunteers, the number of hands became fewer and fewer.  I save my "thorough" students for last, but still to no avail.  The closest sandwich landed me with an inside out lunch because it was never stated that I should put the sandwich together with the peanut butter and jelly facing each other.

The lesson learned...when writing instructions to an experiment, you must be as detailed as possible in order for it to be repeated accurately.  We had a TON of fun, a thousand laughs and I guarantee that the experiment procedures will be a heck of a lot better by tomorrow's class.

Doppler Tim's Science Lab

One of our wonderful meteorologists here in Cincinnati has an awesome science lab online that is full of experiments and demonstrations for the classroom.  The best part is that you can either perform the experiment yourself or show the video to your students.  Check it out!

Doppler Tim's Science Lab

I suppose it's time......let's start with a little chlorophyll!

Alright, alright, I suppose it is time to get back at it.  After a summer of building decks and fences, I think I am ready to focus on another year in the classroom.  My son went to a wonderful summer camp run by the Cincinnati Parks Department and I wanted to share one of the activities with you.

Finding the chlorophyll in a leaf

My take on this activity was that the students were identifying why leaves are green and what causes the green color to be seen in the Spring-Early Fall.  Of course, the explanation of the activity came from my 5 year old son, so I am sure I only heard a portion of the lesson.  I plan to extend this activity to include a discussion about the true color of leaves and the process of photosynthesis.

1.  Have the students gather a GREEN LEAF from outside.  Freshly picked would work the best.

2.  Have the students glue the leaf on a small piece of card stock.

3.  Cover the leaf with a small piece of cloth the same size as the card stock (this can vary, but be sure it is thin cloth).  I am guessing that even a section of white t-shirt would work well.

4.  Glue the top two corners of the cloth to the card stock, covering the leaf.

5.  Using a small rock (the camp was at the park, so they used rocks) or other hard object, have the students strike the cloth firmly where they believe the leaf is located.  Remember, the leaf will be hidden beneath the cloth.

6.  If all goes well, the green pigment (chlorophyll) should begin to appear on the cloth.  For older students, you could have the students attempt to create the entire leaf "in chlorophyll" on the cloth.

Hope you enjoy!  For those of us on summer break.......it's okay....no crying...we are looking forward to this right?????

RJ
http://hayesclass.weebly.com/

Summa Time!!!!!

Wow,

First week of summer and I can't lie......I am enjoying the heck out of it.  I am sure everyone agrees....it is NICE to not think about school for a while!  Some time off, then I plan on buckling down this summer.  I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and hopefully the pool!

-RJ

Pinocchio

Wow, it has been awhile!  With the end of the year approaching and the play Pinocchio over, I have a second to breathe and share our final sets with you.

This was the first play that I have had the honor to be associated with at our school.  I was amaze by the dedication of our our kids and the staff members that came together to work on this.  Blown away I tell you!  I enjoyed the entire process even more than I thought I would.  I was glad that I was able to lend my carpentry skills to the play because lord knows my acting skills are terrible!  We spent several nights at school until midnight making these sets out to be the best they could be.

I am a bit sad that I wasn't able to get pictures from the actual performance, but I was busy living the life of a stage crew member.  We ended up with 5-6 set changes and somehow.......despite my leadership....it all went perfectly!  I am so proud of my fifth graders and our staff for the amazing production.  My role......build the sets!

2 of the four 10' tall and 8' wide building facades.

The other two!

The overall set complete with town square (pseudo fountain in the middle)

From the top row!

My favorite prop......the hay wagon!  Had a blast building this one.  Complete with wooden wheels that I cut from a 2"X12" board.  And I made the wheels uneven and wobbly on purpose.....at least I tell myself I did! LOL.  A bit rough, but it worked perfectly.  The night of the show it was filled with hay!

One of my favorite props from the play.  Come on, it looks like an 11' birch tree right?  With the leaves, it stood about 14 feet tall!  All made from empty carpet roll tubes, a little paint and a hunting blind for leaves.  I had very little to do with this one.  Brilliant idea from our producers.  How obnoxious to say we had "producers" for a fifth grade play! HA HA!

All of these sets were very simple to build.  I seriously have given consideration to how these could be used in a classroom (on a smaller scale).  

I hope all of you have a wonderful summer!  It's winding down quickly.

Board game progress......

The science board games are progressing (see pervious post)!  Here are a few "in progress" pictures.  The fourth graders have been engaged and busting tail for three days!

Science Boards Games

As the year winds down and state testing is over, I returned to a past WINNER of a project for my fourth grade science classes.  Groups are creating a science board game based on topics that we covered in class this year.  Each group is bringing old board games from home to use in their new and exciting game.  Construction paper is being used to cover up old boards and some groups have decided to use an old pizza box as a game board (and box for the pieces).

I created a simple requirement sheet and grading rubric to lead groups through the week-long project.  I tried to keep it simple and basic.  I plan to snap some pictures over the next few days to share the progress!

Groups are required to create a game board AND complete instructions.  Once all games are completed, we will have a "GAME PLAY DAY" in order to allow them to play each other's games!