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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A favorite way to practice spelling in my classroom as part of Daily 5 - Word Work is called Spelling Scribble. Simply draw a random squiggly shape on paper, making sure any loops in the shape provide enough space to fit several words. Then, inside each loop, write the same spelling word repeatedly inside each space. A cool example of brain-based learning that incorporates art to engage the mind. Our beloved Room 17 mascot, Eddie the Otter, is alive and well, and I never would have guessed how deeply he has endeared himself to my students. I thought of giving a brief update about our furry friend, because he has become such an integral part of our community. I first introduced Eddie as a cute little friend who could motivate my students towards good behavior. Eddie only stays with students who work quietly, follow the classroom rules, and are kind to others. If I forget to give Eddie to a student in the morning, I will undoubtedly be asked by someone in the class, "Who gets Eddie today?" Now into our 151st day of school, the children are still excited to receive Eddie as their desk buddy. Of course, Eddie dislikes unfocused behavior, disrespect, too much talking, and loud noise, so he will occasionally leave a student if he observes any of those things. I later expanded Eddie's role in our class to include writing in a fictitious journal about his daily experiences at school with us. Students reflected on his feelings in response to a variety of things that happen during the day. This is a great writing minilesson that teaches the diary format, and is a highly interactive activity in which I and the students literally share the pen when writing sentences, words, and adding punctuation. We end up editing a lot as well and helping each other with spelling. Here is sample we wrote from Eddie's point of view: January 17, 2014 What became fascinating for me was how the students began to exercise some empathy when they reflected on how Eddie might feel sad, happy, anxious, or excited about certain events. Things got really interesting one day, several months ago, when a student told me during class, "Ms. Long, so-and-so told me that Eddie hates me!" I promptly took Eddie away from the student who said these mean words. As a teacher, I try not to get upset when things don't go smoothly in my classroom (sometimes easier said than done!), and instead look for a way to turn it into a positive learning experience for me and my students. The next day, I told the class that Eddie was very unhappy that someone had put mean words into his mouth. "Eddie is in our class to help us, to be a kind friend, and to encourage us and make us feel comfortable here." I explained that Eddie would be going on a long vacation to the Monterey Bay, away from Room 17 (okay, I had actually tucked him away in a safe, secret place), and wouldn't be coming back for a couple of weeks. My students listened intently, and were aghast at this news. We proceeded to write a farewell "postcard" from Eddie's point of view, which went like this: February 6, 2014 One girl actually came to me later that day when school was dismissed to say, "Can you tell Eddie I miss him?"
The revelation then hit me: Eddie had become real to these children. We are almost near the end of the year, and Eddie has long since returned to us. The children know the rules well on how to care for Eddie if they want to be his guardian for the day. I see children cuddle with him while they read, prop him up on their desks to show him "listening" to a lesson, and make him wave good-bye to me at the end of the day. He helps the children remember kindness and compassion for others. I am indebted to our otter friend for all he has done for me and my students. In a room full of educators, Maya thanked them with this message and reminded them that she wouldn’t have achieved so much if not for the rainbows in her life.
And her beautiful spirit still soars. Rest in peace, Maya Angelou. This segment aired on 60 Minutes just this evening. As shown by these amazing young musicians in Paraguay, the benefits of music education are incalculable. Prepare to be uplifted! To all mothers out there, all my warmest wishes for a wonderful and blessed day with friends and family! Although I am not a mother myself, I truly appreciate how much heart and soul the mothers at Fairburn pour into the lives of their children 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Today I also pay tribute to my own mother, who has helped me in countless ways ever since I started teaching. She has tutored my struggling readers, taught cursive lessons, and drilled the kids on times tables. She's done just about everything from teaching full-out math lessons to sweeping the floor and sharpening the pencils. As a mother and a former 2nd grade teacher, she has kept me grounded and given me so much practical wisdom. She kindled my interest in teaching in the first place. Thank you, Mom! This past week, my students made greeting cards in honor of their mothers. The project involved writing portrait poems, which are composed of a few similes to describe a person. After drafting their poems and copying them onto plain white index cards, the children drew and decorated the letters M - O - M on three separate pieces of colored construction paper with oil pastel. They glued the letters onto white art paper which had to be folded into thirds to make a trifold greeting card. Because I know it's very difficult for young children to measure and fold paper into thirds, I measure the paper for the students ahead of time -- pinching the paper at every third section, allowing students to fold it more easily themselves. Here is my sample (front and back): One of the things I love most about my job as a teacher is the fact that I have many opportunities to incorporate my personal interests and passions into classroom instruction. Storytelling, art, and music have added spice to the learning lives of all my students, past and present. However, my greatest love--dance--had not been so easy to incorporate until I began teaching at Fairburn. I never expected my training in classical ballet and tap dance would ever come in handy as a teacher, but lo and behold, it's been indispensable these last two years. The spring dance performance at Fairburn this year will be Friday morning, May 23, and the 2nd graders will be performing a joyous dance set to the music of Shakira ("Waka Waka"). The children have been rehearsing nearly every day for the last three weeks on the playground. We love our choreography. Mrs. Chen, Ms. Lessner, and I compiled the dance steps after sifting through a few choice YouTube videos. Here is one of my personal favorites: I hope I am not knocking on wood when I say that rehearsals have been going quite smoothly. The children are focused, intent on learning the choreography, and taking our corrections well. It's so much fun, I can't help but join in with them and share in the joy of dance.
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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