My Last Classroom Ever??!!

Have I mentioned this is the last year I will have a classroom?   I am moving to the new STEM Academy in my school district and WE DO NOT HAVE CLASSROOMS.   I am completely a little bit freaked out about it.    We are going to have this amazing state of the art building with learning spaces, amazing technology,  beautiful furniture etc.,  but no traditional classrooms - complete paradigm switch.  We will be a PBL campus and I am super duper pumped up about it.   In fact,   I don't think I have been this excited about teaching ever!   I can hardly wait to get started.   My new team is amazing,  our administrators are the bomb.com,  the possibilities are seriously endless...   but every once in a while I get a little flicker of sadness about not having my "own" classroom. It's what I know, and change can be hard,  but I know the trade off will be totally worth it,  but right now I am soaking up my last weeks in MY little ol' room!  

This is an simulated image of what it will look like (it is still being built).   I think it is BEAUTIFUL.   I am so excited about the possibilities my students and I will have in this school!   

Here is what we are up to this week!

We are working with everything fractions in math.   I love fractions!   We have been having a blast,  playing games,  making fraction pizzas, playing with Cuisinaire rods and doing activities from Amy Lemon's Become a Fraction Fanatic Pack. 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Become-a-Fraction-Fanatic-1132229
If you haven't purchased this,  you should.   It is fantastic!  Today we wrote about when half is small and when half is huge.   I love to see the way they think!   They wrote things like half is small when you have half a minute to get down the hall and half is huge when you have to wait a half an hour for lunch when you are hungry... I love them.

In social studies we are beginning our study of wants and needs.    I like to introduce it with my Those Shoes unit.   The book is precious and sweet and hits a nerve with kids.   The little boy in the story has outgrown his tennis shoes.   His school counselor gives him a new pair but they have a cartoon character on them from a "little kid" tv show.   He is embarrassed because all the other kids seem to have the same "cool" shoes.    His grandma explains that they can't afford them but takes him out shopping to try and find a deal.   They end up in a resale shop and the boy finds one pair that are too small.   His grandma explains that they can't afford to buy shoes that are too small - they have to spend money on what they NEED. The boy decides to buy the shoes with his own saved money and his grandma buys him some boring snow boots.   What happens next chokes me up!   Go check this book out!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Those-Shoes-A-Literature-Study-based-on-Wants-and-Needs-556957

In science, we are still fully engaged in our plant unit.    The students are now creating public service announcements on how to take care of plants and why they are important to our lives.   So cute and sweet.   They are story-boarding away!   We have little green sprouts everywhere! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Plants-A-Project-Based-Learning-Science-and-ELA-Unit-1164475

In reading we are just finishing up Amy Lemons The One in the Middle is a Green Kangaroo book study!   She did such a fantastic job with this!    http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-One-in-the-Middle-is-the-Green-Kangaroo-211818 .   My kids are LOVING Judy Blume right now so we are moving on to Freckle Juice next week and I am currently working on an Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great unit.    I love when they start to fall in love with certain authors.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freckle-Juice-A-Novel-Study-476994