Sentences: A Classroom Management Strategy Part One

When you think of having students write sentences in class, you probably think of the chalkboard above.  Here is a different way I use writing sentences as a classroom management tool.

I firmly believe that small consequences regularly delivered make a bigger impact that large consequences.  For example, I don't take away a child's entire recess.  I do take away a minute at a time.  Being last to recess is often painful enough, and my students still get exercise.

When I give a student a sentence for misbehavior, I have them write it one time.  If the behavior happens again, they write it a second time.  A third time earns a phone call or email home.

I have four sentences I use in class:
1.  I will walk in a single file line, facing forward, with my hands and feet to myself, and my mouth closed and quiet.
(Our school really wants students to be quiet in the hallway.)
2. I will listen to all of the teacher's directions without interrupting and follow them the first time he or she asks. 
(I use this one with specialists and guest teachers, too.)
3. I will do nothing to disrupt the learning environment in this classroom, during the lesson or work times.
(This covers many behaviors including talking out.)
4. I will listen carefully to my classmates ideas.  I understand that they have important information I may be called upon to repeat.
(I expect my students to listen to each other respectfully.)

To download a printable set of the sentences I use in my classroom, click here.  Each page has one sentence printed several times so you can cut them apart into strips.

To read more of how I use sentences in the classroom, read next Friday's post.

Happy Friday!

Nanny X by Madelyn Rosenberg

Imagine having a perfect nanny that is also a spy.  Ali, Jake and their baby sister save their city park with the help of their amazing nanny.

I was glad to see that this is the beginning of a series and the second book, Nanny X Returns, is released August 30, 2015.




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Classroom Management Pinterest Board

Last week I posted a Behavior Intervention on Classroom Freebies Too, a collaborative blog I contribute to.  I could tell by the response that people are looking for ways to manage student behavior.

The next three Fridays, I will post some other behavior interventions as my Friday Freebies. These are interventions that have worked for me that I'm happy to pass along.

In the meantime you can find all my classroom management posts here.  You can also follow my Classroom Management board on Pinterest.

Follow Mary Bauer's board classroom management on Pinterest.

Quote of the Week -- July 26, 2015

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching."
Thomas Jefferson

(Now with cameras everywhere posting to social media, the world could be watching.)

Have a good week,

Elf on a Shelf Wanted Poster -- Christmas in July

To download a printable wanted poster, click here.

Are you gathering resources for the upcoming school year?  This weekend I am celebrating Christmas in July.  July 24-27, both stores are 20% off.

Artistry of Education @ Teachers Pay Teachers
Artistry of Education @ Teacher's Notebook 

Now for this week's freebie:

I didn't do Elf on a Shelf with my fourth graders, because I thought they were too old for it.  It turns out I was wrong. Every day at class meeting, several would share their elf's antics.  They asked me if I would buy an elf for the classroom.  I made Argus instead.

It occurred to me that I could make this a writing assignment complete with a bulletin board of wanted posters.  Students could record an actual or imagined elfin crime on the poster.  They could elaborate in a short story.

To download a printable wanted poster, click here.

If you don't do Elf on a Shelf,  I have used this poster for several other writing assignments.

Happy Friday!

You can purchase all ten forms I use for creative writing assignments and bulletin boards here in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and here in my Teachers Notebook store.  I have included at least two suggestions for each form that are not here on my blog.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Earlier this year I read and reviewed Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman. This reminded me that I had never read Coraline.  Wow! is it creepy.  My students loved it and the movie. (I didn't read it aloud, but many of them were familiar with the story.)

Coraline and her family move into a new house.  Coraline finds a secret door that leads her into a similar house and another world. She finds another family who wants her to stay.  To what lengths will this new family go to keep Coraline with them?




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Please Stop the Teacher Wars

My friends who are parents complain about the Mommy Wars -- the judgment that parents unleash on each other over negotiable issues like breastfeeding or bottle, cloth diapers or disposable, homeschool or traditional school.  None of these choices will harm children.  Yet parents leave self-righteous and cruel comments on blogs instead of agreeing to disagree.

I see the same thing in the teacher world.  Some of us get attached to a particular teaching strategy or method and proclaim it with the enthusiasm of a new religious convert.  Everyone needs to embrace this new belief, or one's teaching ability is suspect.

My request is simple: please stop it.  We have enough criticism coming from outside education.  We all work hard at what we believe is best for children.  We need to encourage each other and build each other up to be stronger teachers.

When I'm in a culture of criticism, I don't want to ask for help.  When I'm in a community that supports me, I am happy to share my strengths and go to others with my weaknesses.

Okay, lecture done.

Update: a colleague from my former school was concerned that I didn't feel supported there.  I have to say I see this happening more in the teacher blogger community.  I will miss my colleagues at Terrace Park who have always encouraged me.

Quote of the Week -- July 19, 2015

The ability to see order in chaos is called creativity.
Simon Sinek

Have a good week,

Mirror, Mirror Writing Prompt

You are brushing your teeth before school one morning. You look in the mirror and instead of seeing your reflection, you see another world.

Describe what you see.

To download this one page story starter "Mirror, Mirror" please click here.

If you need something to help students edit their own work or a partner's work, here is a set of checklists I created for the three types of writing assignments I give.

Download Free Editing Checklists from Artistry of Education @ Teachers Notebook.
Download Free Editing Checklists from Artistry of Education @ Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

Happy Friday!

 

Uncle Pirate by Douglas Rees

What does it really mean to teach like a pirate?  When Wilson's uncle, Desperate Evil Wicked Bob, comes to live with him, Wilson is about to find out.

Most 8-12 year old students will enjoy this book.  I would definitely introduce the series to some of my reluctant readers.




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Art Projects for the Classroom

One of the subjects I never let go of despite pressure from above is art.  Our school is fortunate to have an Art Walk every year and we still have art on the report card.  I don't feel guilty for including this in my weekly plans.

Once a week I teach an art lesson.  I often integrate it with something else we are learning.  For example, the piece shown above teaches students about rotational symmetry.  Click here for this lesson. 

Next, I give time during the week to work on the projects.  I have a two drawer filing cabinet with hanging folders and students are responsible for maintaining their own art portfolios.  Some years I have made filing art in portfolios a class job, but I found that if students have responsibility for filing their own work fewer pieces go missing without names.

Below is my Pinterest board with art projects for school. I use this board in class with my students.  If you have favorite art projects you do with upper elementary students, I would love to read about them.


Follow Mary Bauer's board art projects for school on Pinterest.

Quote of the Week -- July 12, 2015

In teaching others we teach ourselves. 

Chinese Proverb

Have a good week,

 

In a Hole -- a Poetry Printable and a Giveaway

 

Have you figured out that I like poetry?  
This poetry printable originally appeared on my poetry blog called Poems of Silliness.   I'm happy to share it for individual classroom use.

To download In a Hole, please click here.

 Earlier this week, I started the process of streamlining my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook stores.  I renamed them to match my blog name: Artistry of Education.

To celebrate my Grand Reopening, I am giving away three copies of my Poems of Silliness Poetry Lesson Bundle July 10-13, 2015.  To enter, visit the Teacher's Notebook Giveaway page. 

Happy Friday!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a mystery.  Hugo is an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station.  He becomes entangled in the lives of a bitter man and a girl who run the toy store in the train station.  Hugo learns more about his dead father and the secrets of a mechanical man.

Brian Selzick is a gifted artist and writer.  Like his book Wonderstruck, Selznick alternates between text and beautifully detailed illustrations to tell the story.



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FYI: I'm Changing My Name

After thinking about it way too long, I have changed my store and social media accounts to match my blog.  You can find and follow me here:

Teachers Pay Teachers: Artistry of Education
Teacher's Notebook: Artistry of Education
Facebook: Artistry of Education
Twitter: Artistry of Education

I don't have any plans to change the content of what I share.  I just wanted to make my brand consistent on all these sites.

Math Spies Taking Inventory: Multiplying Large Numbers

Have you visited Math Spies?  Here is where I post math problem-solving tasks for my students, and other teachers are welcome to use it.  (I am taking a break from posting this summer, but the archives are full of problems.)

The series Taking Inventory is about multiplying large numbers.  Here are the links to the seven problems:

 

Taking Inventory #1

Taking Inventory #2

Taking Inventory #3

Taking Inventory #4

Taking Inventory #5

Taking Inventory #6

Taking Inventory #7

Quote of the Week -- July 5, 2015

Teachers open the door but you must walk through it yourself. Chinese Proverb

Have a good week,

Two Poems for Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to my American readers!

Originally these poems appeared on my poetry blog Poems of Silliness.  I have combined them in a printable page for individual classroom use.  

Click here to download Two Poems for Independence Day from my Google Drive.

The poem at the top follows a noun verb adverb pattern.  Students may use this as a mentor text to create their own poem with this pattern.

The poem at the bottom is a tanka.  It follow a 5/7/5/7/7 syllable pattern.  I have other poems that follow this pattern on Poems of Silliness here.

Happy Friday!

It's Currently July 2015

It's time for Currently July 2015.  I love this blogging party.  I also find a blog or two that I hadn't read before.


Currently, I'm listening to construction.  I live on what used to be a small, quiet street.  Our city thinks we need a new semi-permeable sidewalk.  They have been working on it since last summer with a break for winter weather.  I am so done with construction.

I love that my class starts today.  I have decided to take an accounting class online and I need to log in and start today. When I was in middle school I worried that I couldn't get my locker to work and I would be late to class.  Now that I'm in college again, I worry that my username and password won't work and I will be late to class.

I'm thinking about changing the name of my Teachers Pay Teachers store to Artistry of Education.  I can't think of any downside to this.  Any thoughts?

I really want rain.  June was the hottest on record here in Seattle.  My garden is so dry.

I have quite the to do list for today and I need to get going.

I think I'm an all-star at listening.  People tell me all sorts of things they wouldn't tell others.  I love to hear about other people's journeys and I don't share what's not my news to share.

Be sure to join Farley for Currently.