When Halloween rolls around, I like to try activities that channel the children's eagerness for some fun but still touch on something informative and, yes, maybe even academic. I have traditionally taught origami related to Halloween, showing students geometry concepts while folding ghosts and goblins. This year, we made greeting cards with black cats. It's a neat opportunity to emphasize how to follow directions, and to develop spatial awareness and manual dexterity (folding paper may sound easy at first, but it can be quite challenging). For instructions on how to make your own origami cat, visit Pink Stripey Socks. Here are a few samples of our greeting cards (click to see full view): Feeling particularly ambitious this year, I decided to incorporate a little science as well. On Pinterest, I found an activity called "Frankenworms," which was extremely cool! All it requires is some thinly sliced gummy worms, a solution of baking soda and water, and some vinegar in a tall glass to make the gummy worms come alive. The gummy worms needed to be soaked in the baking soda solution for at least 15 minutes before being placed in the glass of vinegar. (To see detailed instructions for making Frankenworms, visit the site Playdough to Plato.) As the students excitedly watched their gummy worms wriggle and writhe, I explained how the baking soda solution was a base and the vinegar was an acid. When the gummy worms had soaked up enough baking soda solution and were placed in the glass of vinegar, it caused a chemical reaction (carbon dioxide bubbles), therefore causing the gummy worms to float. Here is a moment I captured of our dancing gummy worms: Quite honestly, I think these activities can be done year-round! Many thanks to the room parents who brought in the supplies for the science and origami activities, and for coming in to help the students. Your help was invaluable and made for a fun and smooth learning time for Room 17.
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I have never been a fan of practical jokes or April Fool's Day. Fortunately for me and the class, aside from starting a striking art project (blog post coming soon), April 1 was quite uneventful (hear my sigh of relief!). However, I found myself slightly tempted to try one or two of these kid-friendly pranks I found on the site, Growing A Jeweled Rose. These are fun and funny without being mean-spirited. Save these nifty ideas for next year.
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