For my last post of 2012, I thought I'd go back through my posts from the year, and choose my favourite post from each month in 2012. I hope you enjoy! If you want to read more about any of them, just click on the post title or the picture to go back to the original post.
January
Art makes me happy. My students are so quiet and on task when we're doing an art project, so I know art makes them happy, too.
These beautiful cardinals were the perfect winter project, and made a gorgeous art display in the classroom. Best of all, the cardinals were quite easy to draw, so all my students experienced success with this one.
February
I love it when my students take a project and run with it. And that's exactly what happened with our historical letters. The students did a FANTASTIC job!
March
This was such a FUN math lesson. Hands-on, interactive, working with partners, problem-solving, engaging ... everything a math class should be.
April
It was very hard to pick a favourite from April - I had a lot of posts that month and I think actually a few of them were some of my favourites from the year. I chose this one because it contains a freebie Earth Day Report Card link as well as a great bulletin board display for Earth Day. If you haven't grabbed this freebie, be sure you click on this post to grab it - the students had a lot of fun with it.
May
I chose Our Poet-Tree as my favourite post from May because it was my favourite bulletin board display of the year. This post contains 5 different poem ideas, links to a free poetry resource, and examples of how we assessed some of our poems. LOVE writing poetry with my students - my little poets always amaze me!
June
Who doesn't need more ideas for teaching fractions?? This post contains two different math journal entries from our interactive math journals - a fraction flipbook and a fraction pizza. It also has a link to the fraction cootie catchers we use in math centers.
This post contains the link to my guest post on Laura Candler's blog. In this post I explain what drama circles are, how I use them in the classroom, and why they're a HUGE hit in my classroom. It also contains a link to a free drama circle I created that I hope your students will LOVE as much as I do. (For some reason I can't get the pic to link so be sure to click on the post this post title to check it out).
August
Interactive Math Journals
This was my favourite summer post as I (at last) finished my math journal resource. It was definitely my summer work project, but I made sure I squeezed in a lot of summer fun through the process. If you haven't started interactive journals yet, January just may be the perfect time to start.
September
Starting The Daily 5 and CAFE
This was the first year I had used The Daily 5 and CAFE strategies in my classroom (although I had wanted to for a while). This post explains how I set it all up with my students (and we've kept this up through the year). I also include some links to resources I used to set it all up.
October
Math Journal Sundays - Pop-Up Bar Graphs
Hands-down, this was my favourite math journal entry of the year so far. LOVED them! This post contains some lesson plan ideas for data management, some assessment ideas, and shows you how we made our pop-up bar graphs.
November
One, Two, Three - Show Me!
I made the cutest little white boards for my classroom this year. I had wanted some for a while, but couldn't believe the cost of buying a class set. This post shows you how to make them and also how we started using them in class. The kids LOVE using them - especially the black side with the neon markers. We've been using them for multiplication practice, parts of speech, and partner activities. So much fun!
December
Dear Santa ... I Can Explain
Didn't get a lot of blog posts in for December - illnesses at home, holiday preparations, and many interruptions in the classroom led to a hectic month. We had so much fun with this little activity, though. It was a great writing and oral language activity - and a perfect fit for the holiday season!
Well, that's that - my top 12 of 2012. Hoping you found something new that you haven't yet seen.
Wishing you the happiest and healthiest of years ahead. I can't wait to continue to "live, laugh, love, and learn" with you in 2013.
xo
Jen
Interactive Math Journals
This was my favourite summer post as I (at last) finished my math journal resource. It was definitely my summer work project, but I made sure I squeezed in a lot of summer fun through the process. If you haven't started interactive journals yet, January just may be the perfect time to start.
Starting The Daily 5 and CAFE
This was the first year I had used The Daily 5 and CAFE strategies in my classroom (although I had wanted to for a while). This post explains how I set it all up with my students (and we've kept this up through the year). I also include some links to resources I used to set it all up.
Math Journal Sundays - Pop-Up Bar Graphs
Hands-down, this was my favourite math journal entry of the year so far. LOVED them! This post contains some lesson plan ideas for data management, some assessment ideas, and shows you how we made our pop-up bar graphs.
One, Two, Three - Show Me!
I made the cutest little white boards for my classroom this year. I had wanted some for a while, but couldn't believe the cost of buying a class set. This post shows you how to make them and also how we started using them in class. The kids LOVE using them - especially the black side with the neon markers. We've been using them for multiplication practice, parts of speech, and partner activities. So much fun!
Dear Santa ... I Can Explain
Didn't get a lot of blog posts in for December - illnesses at home, holiday preparations, and many interruptions in the classroom led to a hectic month. We had so much fun with this little activity, though. It was a great writing and oral language activity - and a perfect fit for the holiday season!
Well, that's that - my top 12 of 2012. Hoping you found something new that you haven't yet seen.
Wishing you the happiest and healthiest of years ahead. I can't wait to continue to "live, laugh, love, and learn" with you in 2013.
xo
Jen
