Things have been so hectic the last couple of weeks. I haven't been able to find time to post anything! I can't believe it is only two more weeks left until the end of my teaching practicum. All of this has flown by so fast.

I am actually beginning to wonder what I am going to do with all the extra time I am going to have. I think the first thing on the list is to reintroduce myself to my family. I think they have forgotten what I look like!

I have just created a flurry of blog posts from all the handwritten notes I have been keeping. So if you are interested in reading forward get a nice cup of tea and find a comfy place to sit:)

Also, if you are would like to access some of the course materials I have created for the following post's activities you can find them posted here at www.sharemylesson.com

Spaced out: Combining Science and Language Arts

As much as I love to teach other subjects, science is one of my favorite things to teach. No other subject seems to ignite children's sense of inquiry quite like science. This term, the focus has been on Stars and planets. Originally I had a great unit designed around space stations for the kids to rotate through. Unfortunately, once I began my practicum, I realized that the kids just weren't ready to work quite as independently as I had hoped. It's OK though, I have been working through the unit station by station with the entire class. We've been having a blast and I have been getting opportunities to try new things and take risks in my teaching.

In an attempt to do a truly cross-curricular unit,I have also been focusing on familiarizing the kids with  non-fiction literature and writing. I think learning to read non-fiction text properly is essential.I wonder if the reason some people don't truly appreciate this kind of literature is because they don't really know how to read it.  I've been working on reading non-fiction information through note taking excercises. Initially I introduced the elements of non-fiction by creating an information page about the sun which contained examples of all the basic elements I wanted to introduce to the kids. I also had the kids practice note taking skills using visual organizers.

We have also explored asteroids and comets using the non-fiction approach. This time I approached the
material as a comparison activity for the children to read. The kids read information pages about asteroids and comets both structured using the same format then compared them using a chart similar to a venn diagram. It was great!

If you are interested in finding the learning materials I have described above you can find them posted here at sharemy lesson.com

Pink Day

February 27th is Pink Shirt Day in Vancouver. All across the city people are encouraged to wear pink to support an anti-bully initiative that was started in Nova Scotia. If you are interested in learning more you can check it out here. http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

Our class contribution to the Pink Shirt Day assembly was an amazing poster. We traced our hands and forearms on pink paper and decorated them using black and pink.  I got the idea from a Pinterest post that showed traced arms in a collage to record students goals.  Our idea was our to demonstrate our individuality while at the same time showing how we make a class community. If I can be honest here for a minute, I have to say our poster blew everyone away. People are still complementing our class! The kids are so proud.

                   It was amazing to see the wonderful and individual creations the kids came up with

We talked about what we can do to support one another as a community, and how we can work together to make change. The kids came up with some amazing ideas and slogans.  We finally settled on "We stick up for each other". Other wonderful ideas were written around the edges of the poster.

"We are KIND to each other"

"We TAKE CARE of each other"

"We are PEACEFUL with each other"

"We are a COMMUNITY"

"We BELIEVE in each other"

Isn't it beautiful?

Math Games

In the last couple of weeks I have been getting the kids to play math games on Fridays. The kids see it as a special treat to wind down a week of hard focused work. I see it as the perfect opportunity to develop mental math skills. Even more importantly I have realized the impact  math games have on the kids themselves.

Many of my students are ESL learners and allowing them time to participate in structured activities with their peers is a very beneficial activity. They are developing vocabulary and cementing friendships with all of the students in their class.

I am also seeing how play in the classroom allows the kids to practice their social skills. Watching the kids negotiate which game they will play and for how long has been fascinating for me. Rarely do I have  interfere with the process (There was the time when, my Russian student told me he was forbidden by his grandfather back in Russia to play cards because they were evil. Although dice were just fine. It turns out he just really wanted to play the dice game....pretty smart excuse if you ask me.) However, most of the time the kids have it worked out to make games day fair to everyone.

Here are some of my favorites:
Digit Place
Pig
Oh No 99!
Shut the Box

There are tons of games online. I suggest looking around to find some that are suitable to your class.

Happy Gaming!

As the World Turns

Since the last post the kids and I have done some fantastic activities. Last week we incorporated a little Reader's Theater in the form of a play about the solar system called Neighbors in Space. The class split into two groups and worked for the afternoon in theater troops. We came together and preformed for one another at the end of the day. It was a real treat for the extroverts in the group and it gave some of the kids a chance to shine as leaders. It was also fantastic practice to develop speaking and listening skills. It just goes to show that learning can take place using many avenues.

I have been working hard to vary my lessons to appeal to all learners in my classroom. It has been a lot of fun to develop lessons that appeal to all of the multiple intelligences. Just by engaging kids on different levels I find I have more of their focus for longer periods of time. They also seem to genuinely enjoy coming to science class.

Melanie's diagrams of her day/ night cycle experiment

This week week we had a great time exploring the movements of the earth around it's axis and the sun. We explored day and night cycles and the reasons for the four seasons. I found these fantastic sponge globes at the dollar store. (By the way if I haven't mentioned it before, I think the dollar store was the best thing invented for teachers since the chalkboard!) I stuck BBQ skewers through the sponge globes and had the kids create their own seasons and day night cycles using flashlights as the sun. The kids loved it. It took an otherwise complex topic in the science curriculum and made it more accessible to my students.

Thanks to Kiya for demonstrating the activity! He's a great guinea pig for my lessons.

Jimi-scruff gives it two paws up!

If you are interested in finding the learning materials for these activities you can find them here at www.sharemylesson.com

Andy Warhol Study

This week in the art room we studied Andy Warhol. The grade three PLOs for art call for use of multiplication of images and experimentation with color. Warhol's popular culture inspired art lends itself perfectly.

I found a fantastic book at the Vancouver Public Library called What is Contemporary Art: A Children's Guide by Jacky and Suzie Klein. In it I found a great quote:


"I used to drink (Campbell's Soup). I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years.....the same thing over and over again."
                                                        - Andy Warhol





Originally, I was going to have the kids create their version of the iconic soup cans that Warhol is famous for. But after reading more about Warhol and how once he found a subject that excited him, he kept coming back to it again again and again, I decided to have the kids create an image that represented them.
The entire project took two art sessions. In the first session we designed out images and lined them in black. I photocopied them and in the next session we used crayon to color our images with bright vivid color and then washed over them with water color paint. I also had the kids write a sentence to describe their image. I was blown away by how the work turned out. It gave me an insight to who the kids are. They are beautiful!

The Steps of Writing

One of the focuses of my long practicum has been helping my students to develop their writing skills. In my job as a support worker, I have been fortunate to watch a team of two master teachers go through the writing process with students. I love their approach of breaking down the writing process into steps. I have decided to try out the process in my own practice.

I copied this wonderful visual of the writing steps from the teacher I work with.
I cannot thank him enough for sharing his ideas and materials. 

 The first step involves gathering ideas. At this point in the writing process "Anything goes" Students use webs to get down any idea that comes to their heads. If you have never heard of webbing process. I highly recommend checking it out in the book 50 Literacy Strategies: Step by Step by Gail E. Tompkins. It is full of great ways to incorporate literacy across the curriculum. I constantly refer to it during my planning.

In our case we focused our first writing project on ourselves. You know what they say; "Write what you know!"

The next step is to organize and prioritize ideas. The students took another look at their webs and chose the ideas that they wanted to write about and develop. The great part of the organizing process is that it helps to focus the writer and lays a foundation on which to build a solid piece of writing. I scaffolded both the webbing and organizing processes for my students.

Warning! The writing process gets messy. This is a good thing:)

The next step involves using putting ideas into words through a retelling. Students read aloud the webs over and over developing ideas and and adding details. Initially they work independently them move onto reading to a partner. It's a great way to also develop individual listening and questioning skills. 

The final step is to turn ideas into sentences. At this point the mechanics of a "good" piece of writing are introduced. Kids work on piecing their ideas together incorporating an introduction, transitions and conclusion. This process goes through  many phases in it self until the student has a published piece of writing.

 

Model of turning ideas into sentences. Notice how the kids were eager to correct my mistakes?

Actually teaching the writing steps to the class has been a slow process. I am finding the retelling stage to be taking longer than expected. But I think patience is the order of the day. Initially giving the kids lots of time to develop their ideas will pay off in the future.

I am also very lucky to have such a socially strong group of kids. They are supportive of one another and are good at sharing their ideas. One thing I did notice during the group retelling is the tendency of the kids to focus on me instead of the class. Even when sitting in the circle. I realized how trained they are to look to the teacher. My FA suggested trying inside/outside circles to focus the kids on one another instead of me. Maybe I'll try it out when we read our drafts to one another. 

Another issue I seem to run into during the teaching of writing is the amount of time spent by students sitting and watching. My kids did great but I think less time watching and more time doing needs to factored in for the little ones who need to move. 

After listening to the kids and looking at their webs I think I'll celebrate their first publishing effort by making a class book. I am so excited to go to the next step and see what the kids put to paper.