Common Core Assessments

New school year, new district, and new grade level.  School is back in full force.  Today was day eight, and I could not have asked for a better start!  Pictures of the new homestead are coming soon!

In addition to beginning the year and my daughter's 5th birthday, I have been working hard to finish the ELA Common Core Assessment Pack for 4th grade.  Math has been completed for about a month now, and I really don't think it was as tedious as Language Arts.  I have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into compiling this resource.  Well, I may not have literally bled, sweated, or cried but you get the point.  It took a lot of time and brain power, but I'm happy to announce it's finished and ready to be put into action!

Below you will find a preview of what is included.  For Math, each standard has a one-page printable assessment.  The English Language Arts Standards are the same except for the standards within Writing and Speaking/Listening.  These standards are better assessed locally through students' writing and teacher observation.  You will not find a printable assessment for these. 

The English Language Arts contain answer keys for each printable assessment.  Unfortunately, I have not included answer keys for Math quite yet, but they are in the making and will be added very soon.  If you purchase them beforehand, you will be notified through TpT when they become available.

 

When compiling these assessment packs I envisioned using them for common formative assessments.  Please keep in mind that these assessments are simply one type of assessment.  You as the teacher are the best judge of the assessment that should be used in your classroom. 

If you are a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade teacher you can find assessment packs aligned to your grade level by following the links below.  Thanks to The Lesson Plan Diva for starting the 1st grade assessments and allowing me to compile the 4th grade!

The Lesson Plan Diva - 1st Grade Common Core Assessments-Math

The Lesson Plan Diva - 1st Grade Common Core Assessments-ELA

Sunny Days in Second - 2nd Grade Common Core Assessments-Math

Sunny Days in Second - 2nd Grade Common Core Assessments-ELA

3rd Grade Gridiron - 3rd Grade Common Core Assessments-Math

April is of Course...Poetry Month!

For the past four years I have entered my students’ poetry in Creative Communication’s Poetry Contest.  I really like this contest for a couple of reasons.  First, I like that it is not an all those who enter shall win.  I think that winning and losing is a part of life and this gives students an opportunity to put themselves out there.  They are excited to take the chance and even more excited when their poem is chosen.  I also like this contest, because it is not impossible for my students to be chosen.  Every year I have had students published in their anthology. 

In the past, to prepare my students for entering the contest I have required my students to write specific poems, but after reflecting I changed my ways!  To introduce writing poetry, I read a number of poetry books.  Two of the books I chose were based on topic poetry.   Toasting Marshmallows:  Camping Poems and Little Dog Poems both by Kristine O'Connell George contain a collection of poems centered around a specific topic.  Love this idea by the way!

For each student, I put together a Poetry Handbook as a resource.  In the handbook, I included some of HeatherRenz’s examples from her Poetry Unit and I printed off poems from Poetry for Children (there are a lot of pop-ups on this site) to include.

There were two requirements that I had.  One was that all their poems had to be centered on one specific topic.  Second, they had to have a total of five poems.  These poems could be of any form, but had to be five different forms. 

When it came time for publishing our poems, students got creative.  They each got a file folder and access to a wide variety of scrapbook paper and stickers.  Here is what a couple of them came up with.  Not bad for saying, have at it!

As always, they were excited to share their published work.  We did a traveling author’s chair.  Before we began, they chose their two favorite poems that they would read to their classmates.  To start I appointed one person from each team to share.  They read their poems to their own team and stood up when they were finished.  This was my cue that they were ready to go on.  Once the reader from each team was standing, they rotated to the next team to follow the same steps.  This continued until each student was back at their home team.  At that point another student shared their poetry and the process started over.  

I liked the traveling author’s chair.  It was a nice change from the traditional author's chair where a few students share while the rest of the class listens.  This gave all students an opportunity to share while having the attention of a small group.  The entire process took us about 30 minutes.  This is definitely not something that I would do every day but it was a great way to mix it up and get students moving while limiting the intimidation of “whole” class sharing.

 Creative Communication has extended their Spring deadline until April 19.  If you are interested, there is still time to enter and it is super easy!

The Great Kapok Tree~Celebrating Earth Day

Earth Day is quickly approaching.  Even though we want our students to be conscientious of recycling, reducing, and reusing on a daily basis this gives us a time to celebrate and educate the younger generation.  

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry has been one of my favorites for years.  The vibrant illustrations and the story that is told is a memorable one.  In order to celebrate Earth Day, I wanted to incorporate one of my favorites with the importance of the 3 Rs.  

Here it is and it's a Freebie for you!  Students will:

•Conduct an open sort with animals of the Rainforest

•Compare and contrast the Canopy with the Understory

•Compare and contrast the Rainforest with a regular forest

•Choose projects to complete based on their preference and learning style with a Choice Menu

•Create their own plant

•Identify where specific animals live within the layers of the rainforest

•Collaborate with classmates on ways to recycle, reuse, and reduce

•Choose projects to complete on ways to recycle, reuse, and reduce based on their preference and learning style with a Think-Tac-Toe

You can download it for free HERE at my TpT store.

Teaching Similes with a Tune

Have you ever heard Everything At Once by Lenka? I'm not sure where I came across this song, it may have been on a commercial, but the moment I heard it I knew this catchy tune would catch my students' attention. This song is composed of similes. Today was the first time that I shared it with my class. They instantly loved it and wanted to hear it over and over again, of course!

We were revisiting similes so it wasn't anything new. Once they listened to it a couple of times, I had them pick their favorite one and compare it to something or someone. They were able to use names of classmates only if they were granted permission from them personally.

Here are a few examples of their work:

I'm pretty sure my fourth graders won't forget what a simile is any time soon!

Language Arts Common Core Posters

Finally!!!!  I have finished with 4th Grade Language Arts Common Core posters.  Just like my Math posters, they are in kid friendly language.  Also, on the bottom of each poster you will find the name and standard number. 

You can purchase them at my TpT store.

Common Core Posters

Have you looked at the Common Core Standards and felt a little overwhelmed? I know I have. I have created KID friendly Common Core Math posters for third, fourth, and fifth grade. I plan on copying my grade level posters onto cardstock, laminate them, and post them for students to refer to when starting a new concept.

You can find these posters in my TpT store.

Look for Language Arts Common Core posters to be available soon!