A Little Summer Reading

Now people may think that during the summer us teachers just relax by the pool, sleep late, and just enjoy the dog days of summer.  Let me tell you, for most, that is not the case!  Like many teachers I spend a great deal of summer break trying to get ahead of my professional reading that I haven't gotten to during the school year.  This summer is no exception.

I just finished my first professional book of summer about problem-based inquiry.  It was a fantastic read that helped me to better understand the theory behind the method.  I left knowing more about how to begin the implementation of it in my classroom.  Moving to an International Baccelaurete school where the focus is on units of inquiry into who we are I can see this being one of the best read books of the summer. 

In April I  was lucky enough to get to go to the NSTA National Conference in San Antonio. I attended several sessions about bringing inquiry into the science classroom. What I liked about Problem-Based Learning is that it is a methodology that can be brought into any subject area.  The book discusses how to start your kids off with some teacher directed inquiry and as the year and maturity of kids progresses to more toward student-centered inquiry.  If you haven't read it and are wanting to know more about trying out Problem-Based Learning then I would highly recommend this book, great examples and easy to read.  He has another great book called Why Are School Buses Always Yellow, again about the inquiry cycle.  

Next up for independent study:  Science Formative Assessment by Page Keeley 

Next up for group book club: Notebook Connections: Strategies for Reader's Notebook by Aimee Bruckner

Day 10- Special Snack!!!

Takis, Mt.Dew, Jolly Ranchers, cookies etc.  Who knew breakfast could be so delicious!! Really though the morning bell hadn't even rung and they were busting into their snacks.  Who can blame them- I was tempted to steal a few Takis myself!  We continued our comic work as well as beginning our Poetry Anthology as we study the format of poetry as writing.

Summer Time Has Begun!!!!

Okay so the last few days were so crazy at school I can hardly remember what happened! Oh, well I do remember the kids playing dodgeball in the newly renovated gym and hitting the sprinkler head and causing the largest explosion of water ever!!! Firetrucks, TV crews, the works.  What a way to spend my last day at Edison.
Now that summer is finally in sight and my children and I sat down and created our Bucket List for this summer.  I think it is a good start.  I tried to color code it so I could quickly see my indoor and outdoor activities.  We will pry make short work of that list.  The weather here is gorgeous, 72 and sunny!!

I haven't figured out how to save word files as PDF so the fonts remain  the same.  So, Jing is the next best thing I can think of, great way to capture screen shots.

Eggs Away!!!!

Oh how I love a good old egg drop!!!  The kids had to engineer their own crate to survive falling from a two-story window.  I saw some amazing designs- like this...

It was so cool to hear the children talking about how they tried their first design at home and then after it failed had to go back and redesign it and test again! Do I hear engineers???!!! I just get so giddy about science and how they have applied the principals we've learned all year at home in their own investigations!!

Saving the City of Ember

     Have you read that book, City of Ember?? If not, you should.  My children ate.it.up.  I love the book!! I recently went to the NSTA conference in San Antonio and attended a workshop using this book as a bridge between literacy, science, and math.  I read the book aloud to the class, although it would be fantastic as a whole class novel.  We created machines to do a simple task in the City of Ember. (simple machines, physics). We did not get to do everything that I had wanted to do with the book, more later on, but we did a few investigations. Finally we got to watch the movie was part of our countdown.  And what goes better with a movie than popcorn?

     So you may be wondering what else could you do with the book. Well thanks to NSTA I have a whole slew of ideas! They had their students actually measure out the distance of the city and walk it outside so the kids could see that the city was actually very tiny.  They had them create machines, but they suggested taking it a step further.  It was suggested that you set up a store and supply room just like in the book, around the school, you will also need a trash heap in your room.  Kids could "shop" the trash heap everyday and search for things to help them with their machine.  They each got a limited budget to spend at the store or supply depot so they had to get creative with their designs. I am super bummed I didn't get  time to do all this this year. But, I can guarantee will we be doing it next year!!

Days 10-7 Final countdown!!

     Last week we continued our countdown of school while continuing to work hard along with having fun.  With 10 days left the kids got to bring in a snack of their choice to eat. Usually I am pretty firm about what they can bring in- I believe in eating whole, clean foods and I try to teach my students about healthy eating.  With that  being said sometimes you just need to be able to also enjoy the "junk" in moderation of course.  We did go and burn off some of the junk the next day with an extra recess. We were able to challenge our kindergarten friends in a kickball tourney- girls vs boys.  I love to see my students interact with our little friends. As tough as they all act in the classroom, they are so sweet and nuturing to the little ones.
     Thursday we had a mystery guest reader!  It was Mrs. Kazmierck, the principal at our middle school. She came and shared her most favorite book- Where The Wild Things Are .  The kids were really excited to see her enthusiasm for the book.

   
We also got to support our 4th grade friends in the classroom during their recorder performance!

Day 14-12 & Some Comic Life!

I didn't snap any photos those days, bummer. But day 14 was Wacky Wednesday, we had wigs, silly socks, and a lot of backwards clothes and mismatched shoes.  Yesterday we got to relax on our beach blankets during literacy with some beachy music strumming in the background.  Today, was one of their favorites- sit by your friends. This is a BIG reward for this crew!

On an aside... Do you ever come across something at the end of the year and just smack your head and say "Gah! Why didn't I find this sooner!!!???"  Well that was me on Monday after I came across Comic Life. I had the app downloaded on our class iPad and it never dawned on me that there was an actual site! Let me tell you- it is pretty awesome.  We have been looking at graphic novels, and comics as other forms of writing in our class.  So this site fit in perfectly!  It is free for 30 days then you have to pay for a license fee, I am not sure what that is yet, but I will totally  be paying it.

For this project I gave them a list of choices for what they could share on their comic page. They could choose either the year in review, a science concept, a social studies concept, or their favorite book.  The first step is for them to sketch planning panels in their journals and write out what information they are going to share on their page.

Second, they took their ideas and added them to an actual panel template that I printed from the website and wrote out their scenes and sketched their characters.  Next week we will be taking our scenes and really drawing them and adding detail and color so I can scan to add to their page. I am super excited to share their finished projects with your!!

Had I known about this software sooner I would have been all over it.  I for see me using it as a timeline. Every week/month I, or the students will create one and post it in the hallway. Moving to an IB school I can see the kids using it as evidence of meeting the different aspects of the learner profile.  I also would like to use it in my wall displays we are required to have as a way to represent student response and profile some of the photos of them working!! Such fun things to do....!!!