Inspired by the Farm to School Program and the RES Health Team

I am constantly grateful for the connections and resources that are provided to RES students by the Farm to School Program and the RES Comprehensive Health Team.  In the last few weeks, several projects have reinforced for me all of the great work everyone is doing---volunteering above and beyond to make our school a better place for kids to learn and grow!

As a member of the FOCUS team (Families, Community and School Focusing on Student Success) I participated in the planning of the recent RES Family Movie night. This was a well attended event with over one hundred community members crowding the gym to watch a movie on a cold January evening! The Farm to School program became involved in this night when they suggested that we locally source the popcorn kernels that we would use.  Several people worked to get them to school in time for the show and they were great!  I had the pleasure of announcing this local food connection to the packed house and received a giant round of applause! I of course could not take credit.....but I was thankful.

Next, I am very enthusiastic about the work that has been done by these groups to acquire a cooking cart for RES students to use! Over the course of the next few weeks I have signed up to get many of the classes in school engaged with the new cart and I am very excited!  In a few weeks we will be cooking with all the kindergarten classes--and Farm to School has facilitated having local chefs there for this first introduction!!!  On Monday one of my second grade classes used some class time to explore the cart, and next week they will work with Karyl Kent to make a movie to describe the great possibilities for its' use!

Finally, after a meeting with Amy Gifford, F to S Coordinator, and a survey put out by the Comprehensive Health Team, I was really inspired to think about movement in my classroom.  I often feel very schedule driven, and fear movement as a significant loss of time......but conversations with these great school resources has made me reexamine this fear.  On Wednesday I responded to their input and tried a 3 minute movement break with a fourth grade class.  It was fabulous! And students were able to move and then engage in learning tasks immediately after the 'break'. 

I am very thankful for this team of people who has a constant eye on the health and well being of our school and their unending support of students.

Gears and Dinosaurs

This week in kindergarten enrichment, students led centers including one on gears and one on dinosaurs.

I am sad to report that I was unable to take photographs of the gear center as students were using my iPad to manipulate gears on the program Geared2 by Playful Art. This center was designed by a student who had seen a set of toy gears sitting in a room and was curious about them. I was able to borrow the gear set from the Student Support Center and I received a donation of a gear game from a parent too! Students were engaged as they built gear contraptions and played with the idea of using one gear to move another. I also enjoyed seeing students support one another as they tried various strategies. I heard many words of encouragement and witnessed students working together to solve problems with no adult intervention required.

The other highly popular center this week was all about dinosaurs. I am always amazed by the students knowledge of dinosaur names and facts. Students created dinosaur fossil footprints in clay, constructed dinosaur bones, read books, colored pictures and played with a set of dinosaurs.

As always I am excited about what next week will hold for these creative students!

Bringing Far Away Places to Life

This week during third grade enrichment classes, students have been on the continent of Europe performing a variety of challenges. Today, in addition to their various paper resources and maps I placed Google Earth on the board. Suddenly students were at the Eiffel Tower. They were seeing views of pictures from the top, what it looked like to stand underneath it, what the geography of the city looked like around it. The exploration had a purpose, it was connected to their study....but it was also just FUN!

Critical Evaluation of Internet Sources

Information is all around us!  For the past few weeks in enrichment/library the fourth graders have been focusing on developing an awareness of the information that they consume.  From paper to digital media we have been working to be more aware information consumers.

( In addition to consumers, we have also taken on the role of creators of media. You can find blog posts about these creative activities at:  http://thinkcreatecollaborate.blogspot.com/2013/01/book-trailers.html, http://reslibrary.posterous.com/filming-book-trailers-resvt-cesuvt, http://reslibrary.posterous.com/a-professional-opinion, http://reslibrary.posterous.com/media-literacy-creating-ads-in-fourth-grade-e).

This week we have turned our critical thinking skills to the Internet.  We have been discussing the best way to analyze Internet sources.  Through the use of several 'hoax' websites and an excellent website rating scale from Common Sense Media ( http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/rating-websites-3-5) we have been analyzing potential sources of research information.  When we began this discussion we found that many students had not considered the possibility that someone may post something on the Internet that was false.  We had particularly lively discussion when I proposed that I create a website about my world travels to places I have never been. Several students felt that there must be someone regulating information and were surprised to hear that anyone can post anything!  Our discussion continued as we worked together to rate a fairly reputable website.  Students began to see the value of certain information in helping them to determine whether sources were worth using (or even believing!)  We looked at the author and the content with a critical lens.  Students also realized the value of our school website as a source of 'vetted' information. 

Individuals went on to rate several recommended websites, and lively discussions about whether or not there were Rennets or Tree Octopuses or Jackalopes ensued.  Students reasoned, they argued, they sought proof to back up their statements AND they learned the value of consuming the Internet with a critical eye!  As teachers, we did not direct their opinion, instead we asked open ended questions "Why" "Are You Sure?" and "Prove It!"  Although some of the hoax websites were extreme examples of false information, our hope is that students will use these developing analytical skills and apply it to all of their Internet use. We are still thinking about how we could add to our rating web sheet to include advertisements and web author purpose, and we have not decided how many errors a website can have before we consider the whole site invalid--but we are now an awesome group of thinking consumers of media!!

If you are interested in seeing if you can determine the validity of some interesting sites, or if you want to look at some of these sites with students, check out:

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopushttp://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus)
The Jackalope Conspiracy (www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm)
Save the Rennets (http://www.savetherennets.com/ )

A Moon Trek in Grade 2

This week in enrichment, second graders took a break from their school/community projects to work on a team challenge.  The exercise, put together by NASA, challenged students to decide which materials might be vital to a 200 mile trek across the moon surface.  I knew before introducing the activity that students would not have all of the schema to assess all of the material choices--  BUT my goal was for them to talk to each other, to work together to make decisions (even when they did not have all of the data).  During one class, an adult volunteer whispered that they were not sure about one of the materials.....and I encouraged her to repeat this out loud.  I think it is so important that students realize that learning does not always involve knowing everything--that sometimes we are guessing based on what we do know.  Sometimes we are relying on the knowledge of others without being sure ourselves, and sometimes no one answer is absolutely correct! 

Student engagement on this project was high.  Each group really worked together to make decisions, and all were able to agree on a ranking scale.  I was excited to see them applying things they had learned to a new scenario (they all ranked air, water and food at the top of their lists--understanding from their studies that these were necessities to survival).  I enjoyed seeing several students really shine as they shared facts that they knew about the moon----the lack of oxygen, the decrease in gravity that would allow them to carry heavy oxygen tanks, how far 200 miles was, etc.  And then students had to add up their scores.  They had to apply their knowledge of combining multiple addends to see how close they were to the NASA recommendations.  Students worked on this collaboratively! Some scribed, some counted, some checked--they all discussed strategies for making sure their work was correct.  When we met as a group, teams compared results and talked about why they had chosen different ranks for different items, and I shared the NASA recommendations.  None of the groups were upset that they did not get all of the answers 'correct', instead they were thoughtfully asking for clarifications that might add to their knowledge base.

As a former engineer, I believe strongly that science can provide students with amazing learning opportunities! I am going to continue to be on the look out for activities like this one that combine this level of inquiry with the need to work in a group.

Want to take the Survival Challenge?  Here is the link to this activity as part of a complex lesson (at the end):
 http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/166504main_Survival.pdf

The condensed version I used for in class work, I found at:
http://www.shurdington.org/Downloads/NASA%20Exercise.pdf

We All Scream for Teamwork!

This week during enrichment first graders have been working in small groups on several team building activities.  Over the course of the week, as I taught each class, I learned quite a bit as a teacher about how to facilitate these groups. During my first class I had students working in groups of three or four. This allowed each group to meet at a table in the classroom, which I thought would support classroom management.  But, what I found through these activities was that it was very difficult for groups of four first graders to agree upon ideas and strategies for carrying out their tasks together.  In the next class, I divided the groups into three with some groups of two.  The difference was measurable. Although we did not have tables for all groups, we were able to spread out and find separate spaces for each group. I saw a marked change in student ability to decide on plans for their group and to really listen to each other.  In the first class I had to support each group in listening to each other. In the class with smaller group sizes, I was able to move around the room and listen as opposed to facilitate.  This was a great lesson for me in team structuring and classroom planning....and at the same time, students really worked together on some great team challenges!

Students were asked to move an object from person to person in their group without use of their hands (students slid things across the table- pushing with their elbows, they used their feet to pick up the item, they used their elbows, or they each did something different that helped them connect to the next person!) They were thinking and supporting each other through the process.  Next students created a physical movement chain reaction--in total silence.  The room was full of energy, but not sound. This approach helped them to really 'listen' to each person (everyone had a role to play) and no one voice was louder than another, because voices were 'turned off'! Next the teams built machines with physical movement. We had gumball machines, candy makers, stamp machines, star wars robots, and much more!  To complete the lesson, each group wrote a song about teamwork.  The end product was not polished, but the discussion that went into creating a song about teamwork was excellent!  

My favorite song might have been "teamwork, teamwork, we all scream for teamwork!" Because I could not agree more! The ability to work together will make a difference in student ability to thrive in school and beyond.

Rhythmic Ribbon Dancing and Paper People

This week in enrichment kindergarten students continued to offer great student driven centers for their peers. We were treated to a lesson in rhythmic ribbon dancing for one center. In another center a student directed friends to decorate paper people in a variety of ways. Encouraged by a book where a girl demands to wear a wild outfit, despite her families best efforts to persuade her to wear something less flashy, students decorated their paper people with flare!

Each week the kindergarten students amaze me with their desire to share and learn with and from each other.