Addressing an Audience

Letter writing is a lost art that is rarely used in today's society. Not only the use, but the form and style as well. Through writing letters, students learn how to address an audience, how to write correctly, and how to address different types of audiences. Often times, students writing in the class is not addressed to a specific person. It is a general writing for the teacher to read. Students should be able to pinpoint a specific audience in their writing. Also, they should be able to write for different audiences. They need to learn the difference between writing to a friend, and writing to the principle or a community leader. A great way to do this is to have them write to the different audiences. They should write letter to a person in another class, like a pen pal, and one to the principle. Both letters should be on the same topic. After the student writes the letters, and before they are send them, they should compare the different wording they used. Have the children look at the language they use with a friend and the language they used with the principle. Make a chart on the board so that the kids can see it more easily. This is a great activity for students to learn how to address an audience. 

Reading Aloud to the Class

It is very important for teachers to read aloud to their class. It gives the class the opportunity to listen to a book and not have to stress about reading it. It works on the students ability to comprehend what they hear as well as helps students strengthen their attention span. I think that some of the books should have to do with the unit being taught, but most should be an enjoyable book for the students to listen to. This way, when the teacher reads to the class, the students are excited about the book and about listening to it. Many kids in the classes that I have worked in do not enjoy reading and I hate that. Students should see their teacher reading books that he or she loves and share that love with the students so that the students would be excited about reading that book or a similar book. Teachers have such a strong influence over their class, so I think they should use it for the good and try to teach students to love to read!

Multiculturalism

I saw a video in one of my classes about a way to teach children about multiculturalism and tolerance. I wish I knew whose idea it was so I could credit her, but unfortunately I am unsure. She sat all of the children in a circle and asked what color they were. The students responded with the typical black or white answers. Some of them were unsure. She then asked the question again, are you really black or white, or a shade in between. The students responded with a variety of answers. The teacher pulled out a box of flesh colored paints. One by one, she painted a small patch on the arms of the children. Once she found the color, she would announce to the class that this person has a skin color of warm cinnamon, or whatever color he or she was. The student would walk around the circle and show the rest of the class and then the next person would go. At the end of the activity, the teacher asked each student what color they were and they each responded with the color of the paint. She told them that everyone is different and that you should not judge someone because of their skin color. Then the students got to paint a self portrait using the color on their skin.  I think this is a great activity to do at the beginning of the year to begin talking about tolerance inside and outside of the classroom. 

Nature Walks

Nature walks are a great science way for students to learn about science. When students leave the classroom, their excitement for an activity raises a lot. When students are more excited about an activity, they learn more from it. Inquiry brings about learning, so lets make the children want to learn. While on the walk, take your time. Let the students explore, ask questions, and collect artifacts. Each student could bring in a shoe box from home to collect their artifacts in. When you get back into the classroom, you can have them classify what they collected, label them, and make a display out of them. For example, if the class is studying different types of trees, let the students collect leaves while outside or things that have fallen off of the trees. They can figure out which items go with each tree and glue them to a piece of paper that is labeled with the tree type. The pages can be displayed on the wall or in a class book. 

Voice Thread

The first day I was introduced to voice threads, I shook my head and assumed it was another piece of technology that would not be worth the time. I think I always feel that way because it takes me so long to get used to new technologies. I was very wrong this time. Voice threads are great tools for students and teachers. Students can hear and see what they are learning as well as corresponding pictures. They can respond with more information or questions. Other students can follow up information or answer the questions that their peers may have. Teachers can use it as an evaluation tool. They can see what concepts the class understands, and in what areas they are weaker. From there, a teacher may evaluate herself to find out why students are struggling in specific areas and figure out what can be done to change that in the future. Voice threads are easy to make, easy to use, and easy to find. It is an all around good source and I am glad that I have been introduced to them. 

SmartBoard

The use of a SmartBoard in a classroom is incredible. I hope that a day comes where all schools will have access to one. I thought that they were going to be nothing but an expensive way to use powerpoint. In a way it is, but there is so much more. SmartBoards allow students to have an interactive lecture time with their teacher. Whether the notes are on a powerpoint, a piece of paper, or whatever else the teacher chooses to use, the students can come up to the board and work directly on the page. The students love using the SmartBoard so they love to participate in class. Their participation means they are paying attention and getting the most out of their education. I do not know what their price is, but I know SmartBoards are not cheap. I think communities should try to raise the money to have computers and a Smartboard in classrooms so that the students will enjoy learning more, therefore learn more. 

Earth Day

Earth Day is a great time to have a school wide day dedicated to science and social studies. The students can learn about the environment in their home town, recycling, and help clean up the town or the school campus. Teachers can review the life cycle of a plant and then plant a class tree. This will make the life cycle of the plant easier to understand because of the visual and physical contact with the tree. Also, you can talk about the ecosystem and human effects on the ecosystem. Students can go for a nature walk and come back to the classroom and record what they saw in their science notebooks. Then the teacher can talk about how humans living on a land can both help and hurt the land. The lesson can end on recycling and cleaning up trash. The students can do a campus walk and clean up any trash that they see. If a teacher needs more activities, there are plenty of outdoor activities. If it rains, the students can watch a movie like WALLE to see the human effects on the ecosystem. Ultimately, we want the students to learn that the world is a beautiful place and the life cycle is a perfect process. As humans, we should do our part to keep this world and our community more beautiful than we found it. 

Letterbox Lessons

Letterbox lessons are a great way to teach young children how to read. It teaches the students to break a word into phonemes and then use their knowledge of phonics to produce an invented spelling. To begin, a teacher should make about six 2x2 inch squares and tape them together in a line. When using the boxes, only the number of boxes needed for the word being spelled should be showing, the rest will be folded behind the showing boxes. The instructor will help the student break down a word into phonemes, or sounds. Each sound gets one box. The student should use plastic letters and place the corresponding letter or letters in the box for that sound. For example, the word cat has three phonemes: /c/ /a/ /t/. The letter c makes a /c/ sound and so it would go in the first box. A will go in the second box because of its /a/ sound. Lastly, the t will go in the third box because of its /t/ sound. As stated before, more than one letter can be placed in a box. For example, the word punch has four phonemes (even though there are five letters): /p/ /u/ /n/ /ch/. You cannot break the /ch/ sound down anymore so it stays in one box. If a silent e is at the end of a word, it does not get a letter box! The e sits outside the last letterbox to symbolize it is part of the word but it does not make any sound, just manipulates the sound that other vowels make. All of this allows a student to break up a word and try to spell it the way it sounds. This helps a student with phonemic awareness. Also, students who can break down words can read unfamiliar words faster and usually with more accuracy. Students should all have the opportunity to work with letterboxes in the first grade to help them with both their spelling and reading. 

Brainpop

The websites Brainpop.com and Brainpopjr.com are great resources to use in the classroom as well as for preparation for an upcoming lesson. There are activities, kid friendly explanations of difficult concepts, and short video clips that the students love! I have found that site to be so useful, especially for social studies. I found activities for producers and consumers from site to be extremely helpful. They were exactly what I needed, had good directions, and were very relatable for second graders. These invaluable resources saved me hours and hours of time when i was making a unit study for producers and consumers. I realized when I was on this site how many resources are available to teachers and I want to make sure I take full advantage of it. If anyone has favorite websites for teaching resources, please leave a comment here!

Literature Circles

These past few weeks I have had the privilege of being the discussion leader in a literature circle in a second grade classroom. We read the book Horrible Harry Cracks the Code and the students loved it. They found the story to be funny, intriguing, and relatable. The first two times we had a literature circle meeting, the students had a hard time understanding how they were to behave in the group. Most of the talking I did was trying to get the group back on track, which was not easy. This week, I had to film myself for a class, so i gave a quick talk to the students before I began the tape saying it was very important to stay on track and talk only about the book. I was amazed at what I saw when we began discussing the book. These second grade students were asking why and how questions to further their understanding of the plot. They were going back into the text to find the answers to their own questions as well as helping out their friends who had questions as well. I saw students who usually only goof off during this time digging for information in the book as to why a specific character was acting they way they were. This experience renewed my hope for literature circles. I know that it is a popular teaching strategy, but I had to experience it first hand in order to believe that it was something beneficial to the classroom. 

Centers

As I plan center activities for my future classroom, I realize what a great tool they are! Teachers can have students do multiple activities to learn one skill or concept. When students engage in more than one activity on one topic, they are more likely to understand the lesson much better because they have experienced it in different ways. Each center should be focused towards one or two learning styles. Because each student gets to go to every center, they will be able to learn the new material in the learning style that suits them best at least once. Centers also allow students to work either independently or with each other. They learn how to read directions and follow them, problem solve individually and as a team, time management, and how to behave all on their own while learning a new skill. Centers combine student needs and teacher directions while the students learn to work on their own. This is a winning combination and I think centers should be used in every classroom. 

Auction

Today I attended a silent auction that I planned. As the event was going on, I remembered an activity I did when I was in the third grade. My teacher would give us stickers throughout the year as incentive. Each sticker had a number written on it, and that was how many points it was worth. At the end of the year, we got to spend our points at an auction. She brought in all kinds of knick-knack things that we could bid on with our points. That was a great activity and I didn't even realize it until today. The students learned the value of objects, what happens if you spend your money too quickly, and how to save. It was a great economics lesson that the kids enjoyed! This idea could be adapted in many ways to fit the incentive program set in place in the classroom. 

Sean Cavanagh has done research in secondary classrooms that supports the idea of music education being beneficial to students. Not only to the students get the opportunity to learn about the cultural side of music, but it also helps students with both mathematics and reading. Students must have the ability to simultaneously read and play the notes, read and play the rhythm, put it all together while producing a sound that is full of emotion and expression. The concentration that this takes carries over to the classroom. Because music education has so many benefits for students, why is it being cut from schools? I know that money is tight but I think that children deserve the opportunity to have music education just like everyone else has. It is a great experience, as well as an educational experience, and I am shocked that people even consider cutting the programs. 

We the People

In class today, we discussed the use of We the People in a fourth and fifth grade classroom. We the People is a unit that teaches students about the rights of the American people. Not only do the students learn about their rights, they also defend them in a mock hearing in their classroom. I think this is a great way for students to learn! It is a hands on experience that makes the students really think about what it is they are defending. It is a great citizenship lesson that is very informational and fun!