Exercise Buddies

notice the brand choice?

Recently a small group of teachers at my school started to exercise together on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

On Wednesdays at 4:00, we gather in Linda's room and push the kids' desks aside. We each bring a favorite workout DVD and we use our wonderful projector (thank you technology in the classroom!) to project the video onto the pull down screen. We have done pilates, lower body, abs, and some fun super up beat bunching, kicking cardio stuff. We all get stressed together, so it is really fun to work out together to blow off some steam. It is so funny to be jumping up and down and throwing punches in a classroom, just imagining how the kid would react to see us doing it.

On Fridays we have a little walking club. When it's rainy (I live in Portland, so that is quite frequently) we do laps around our building including running the stairs and circling around both levels. The custodian told us that 15 laps is 2 miles, so that is our usual. If the sun is shining, we try different routes outside so we can enjoy the fresh air. It is fun to walk in a group because I find that I end up walking next to one person and talking then we kind of shift and I end up matching strides with someone different. Topics of conversation are all over the board and it is a terrific way to end the week. 

Before we started doing this, I would leave pretty early on Fridays so that I could start the weekend. The kids leave at 2:30 so I would typically leave by 3:00. Now that we walk at 4, that gives me an extra hour to prepare for the following week, so not only do I leave for the weekend feeling good about having exercised, but I feel more prepared because I have made copies, organized, cleaned up the room and prepped everything needed for Monday.

Exercise gives you endorphins and happy teachers are better for kids!

How Does It Grow?

Last week our reading theme was "How Things Grow" and we learned about what plants need to grow. One of the stories we read talked about seeds in different types of fruit and we classified fruit into the categories "one seed" and "many seeds." Even though it seems kind of babyish for first graders, we also did a fruit sort by colors. 

Earlier in the year, my English Language Development group learned about fruit and vegetable vocabulary words and I was shocked at the response when I asked them to list some vegetables. The responses I got were:

• marshmallows
• play dough
• Vitamin Water

I assumed first graders would be able to list some veges, but this was a difficult task for my group. They did have a better understanding of fruits and were able to name many and they did learn about vegetables after making that short list because I borrowed every related book from the library to give them lots and lots of examples, but it made me realize that I can't assume they have schema for certain categories and reviewing/doing simple activities can be helpful. 

Anyway, I originally made this activity for the student in my class who has Down syndrome because one of his goals is to learn and match colors. He does this activity at his seat with the help of an assistant, but I thought it would also be fun to use **my favorite** sticky magnets on the back so that I could put these items on the white board and conduct the activity in a way that would allow him to participate within the whole group. He took a turn just like the rest of the children and placed his magnets on the board. I think that was the first time all year he participated in that way, so it was great to see. 

We also learned about how apple trees grow and how strawberry plants grow. For homework the kids labeled the parts of the plant after reading a Weekly Reader about the different parts of the plant and what function they have. They learned that:

• A plant has flowers. Flowers make seeds. When the seeds fall to the ground, they can grow into new plants.
• A plant has leaves.  Leaves use light from the sun to make food for the plant.
• A plant has a stem.  The stem helps hold up the rest of the plant.
• A plant has roots. Roots take water from the soil for the plant to use. 

I don't want to plagiarize, so I will say that this info was taken from a ScienceSpin Early Primary Weekly Reader, April 2008.

Pond Habitat Mural

Today we finally completed our pond habitat mural. My students do not have many opportunities to do art and this is one of the fun activities they get to do in which they get to be creative. They really enjoyed making all the little pieces and then glueing them on the final product. 

We started by brainstorming a list of things/animals in a pond habitat and then the kids basically used colored construction paper and scrap paper to draw/cut/make any of those things. They had two class periods to make their pieces and then about 15 minutes today to glue everything on.

Included in our list were:

frogs

tadpole

spawn

lily pads

snakes

bugs

a blue heron

fish

sun

water

flowers

Here are some photos of the project: Can you find the items on our list in the mural?

It's so fun to see kids enjoying the creativity of art projects and being engaged and hard at work!

Video Instruction

Let's face it, most kids like TV and enjoy watching videos. It sometimes frustrates me that a video can be more successful in teaching my students than I am because they are so engaged in watching the screen, however I do think videos can be meaningful instructional tools.

Recently I have been using a lot of science videos, well actually they are really short video clips ranging from 2-5 minutes, as part of my science unit on amphibians. When it comes to science, video images of creatures in the wild are as close as I can get to the real thing. Our school subscribes to Discovery Education which has an online database of amazing videos that can be sorted by topic and grade level. The kids are very engaged and always learn from the videos. I have found great videos for science, math, reading themes, and even grammar!

I think it is important to have a specific objective for watching the video and it is more meaningful to let the children know something in particular they are watching for, rather than allowing them to just sit back and watch as if Spongebob is on the screen. 

I typically like to use a book either before or after a video to extend or repeat the information and when possible, I think short video clips on a specific topic can be more meaningful than longer videos that cover a lot of topics. I am not advocating replacing my instruction during an entire lesson with a video so I can sit back and organize my desk. I think using a video as a steppingstone and part of a lesson is a great way to engage students, yet a video should not be the only component. The introduction to establish the purpose for viewing as well as discussion following the video are essential in making the viewing experience meaningful. I am always watching the video along with the students and I do not use video time as teacher break time. 

I recently discovered some cute videos on parts of speech and shared the first clip with my English Language Development group this morning. I know that I can stand in front of the group and explain that a noun is a person, place or thing and they will learn that information, but I do think that information paired with interesting visuals, characters and music can make information more memorable.

Check out this video that covers:

• What is a noun?
• Proper Nouns and Common Nouns
• Capitalizing Proper Nouns
• Plural nouns with "s"
• Plural nouns with "es"
• Plural nouns with "ies"
• Final Quiz

I will begin each lesson this week with a clip that is part of a whole video about a little bookworm that is a picky eater. Each clip is only about 2 or 3 minutes and the daily objectives are presented clearly. Additionally, the clips are perfectly sequenced so that each day adds a little more information to the previous day's knowledge. Following the video, I will conduct an activity relating to the daily objective to check for understanding. 

How do you feel about using videos for instruction? Are there particular subjects for which videos can be used more meaningfully?

More Kid Writing

I love this piece of writing by my little future scientist. Enzo is so into non-fiction and knows lots of information about animals and various creatures. 

My students have been working on writing 5 sentence paragraphs

 that begin with a main idea (topic sentence), followed by three details related to the main idea, and end with a closing sentence that tells how they feel about the main idea.  

Enzo's piece about the difference between saw sharks and hammerhead sharks is too cute! The difference between his writing at the beginning of the year and his writing now is astounding! I wish I had an example to post from September. 

Experimenting

Experimenting with posting documents that are available for download

Monsters Sight Words

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Books Humanities high frequency words

Learning Celebration Cheers

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Give me some feedback about how it works....

First Graders Love Frogs!

I am currently teaching a unit on amphibians and the kids are LOVING it. Despite my irrational fear of these little critters, especially frogs, I really enjoy teaching this unit. First Graders are finally coming into their own at this point in the year and they are curiously devouring the non-fiction books in the classroom and proudly sharing their scientific findings. 

The group "amphibians" includes two main groups, frogs and salamanders and additionally toads and newts which are part of those groups. The main difference between frogs and salamanders is that salamanders have tails. Our unit focuses mainly on frogs.

The main topics covered in the amphibians unit are:

• vocabulary "amphibian" and "metamorphosis"
• life cycle of the frog
• frog characteristics (bulging eyes, smooth moist skin, strong back legs, webbed feet, long sticky tongue)
• food chain
• frog habitat/pond life

Here are some of the materials I have used:

CHARACTERISTICS

Label the Frog

Publish at Scribd or explore others: amphibians frogs

Sticky Tongue

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Books Fiction sticky tongues flip book

modified activities for student with special needs working on color matching.

LIFE CYCLE

 

life cycle plastic set purchased for $5.95  from Oriental Trading

FOOD CHAIN

Food Chain

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work Research Business & Economics Recipes & Menus food chain

Food Chain Quiz

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work food chain

Images created using Boardmaker program. Sticky magnets used on the back so students can arrange images in the correct order on the whiteboard.

modified food chain matching activity for student with special needs. 

HABITAT

photos to come!

SOME FAVORITE BOOKS

I borrowed all of the books that our school library has relating to amphibians and frogs and put them in a separate basket so they are easy for students to access throughout the day at various reading times. I also have many age appropriate non-fiction books that I purchased from Scholastic Book Clubs that the kids are loving. Many non-fiction books are too difficult for first graders to read, but I am working on a collection of non-fiction books that are more geared towards younger readers. 

I also have many projects that the kids worked on that I am going to attempt to scan and include here for downloading, but I have to learn how to do that! Check back!

Fun with Fractions

I came across these fraction magnets from Lakeshore a few months back and included them on my most recent Donorschoose wish list. Time has passed, and sadly, there have not been any donations towards my proposal of math materials requested for my classroom. I completely understand, with the current economy, why people may not have extra money to donate, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

We started a unit on fractions this week so I knew that it was time to get crafty again. This simple fractions puzzle set only costs $12.99, but I was able to create them myself for less. I really love these realistic looking food items and thought dividing food was a great way to teach fractions that would be meaningful to young students. When sharing food, being fair ** having equal parts** is essential!

I went to google images and searched each kind of food that is pictured in the image I saw on the Lakeshore website.  I have a color printer at home, so I did have to use my own colored ink (no biggie) and I printed two copies of each food item. I then cut one picture into equal parts (halves, thirds, or quarters). I have a student whose mother feels so sad that we no longer have a laminator at my school and she, very kindly, offered to laminate items for me because she has a laminator at home and gets a great deal on the paper. I sent the photos home in my student's homework folder and received nice, crisp laminated photos the following Monday! I simply added a small piece of sticky magnet to the back and voila! I did not write the fractions on my pictures because I wanted my students to be able to tell me the fraction by looking at the image and thinking about it, not just reading from the image.

 I think I made a pretty good replica and saved myself at least 10 dollars. 

I then spent that 10 dollars I saved on the ingredients to make these delicious cake balls from Bakerella's AMAZING website, but my staff was very appreciative, so it was worth it. 

Some photos of my food fractions...

D to the R

I am very excited/proud/happy to announce that I was accepted into the Doctoral Program at PSU!

 Despite my last minute application, I was chosen to be one of about 15 members of the Fall 2009 cohort. My specialty will be in Curriculum & Instruction and my research for my dissertation will probably focus on multicultural and culturally/linguistically appropriate education. 

I am in for at least 3 more years of school, but I am really determined to get it done. The woman who interviewed me told me that only about 50% of people who start doctoral programs actually see them through to completion. I do not plan to be part of that 50% who drops out.

During any frustrating, difficult, and insane times I can always remind myself of the wedding invites..... 

Dr. and Mr. Toppel request the honour of your presence

 at the wedding of 

(insert name of yet to be conceived child)

It will be a long road ahead filled with 124+ credits, comprehensive exams, and the longest paper I will ever write, but I am really pumped for the journey.

P.S. Now I am bound by my conscience to run a marathon, sew a quilt, and write a children's book as I pledged in my application essay that I would do (thankfully, I did not give myself a deadline on that!)