Testing To See If The Font Does Not Change

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Today I am testing out a theory.  I cannot figure out why the font on my other posts changes, but I'm thinking it is because I am adding the pictures as I go.  I am going to try typing everything first and then add the pictures.

I will explain in more detail about our first day of school kick-off.  It is really fun and goes with our explorer unit.  Anne and I dress up like we are going on a safari.

I'm going to buy a bug catcher and magnifying glass from the dollar store to add to my costume.

The students do not know what to make of it when we greet them in their lines that first morning.  When they enter the classroom, they find safari hats, a squishy globe, and binoculars on their desks.  They also have a scavenger hunt sheet clipped to a board.  Their first activity is to explore the "World of Third Grade," and try to discover what we will be learning about right away.

You may have seen this before because I think we wrote about it last year or the year before.

We tape these to their safari hats.

This has been a hit with the students for the past two years, so we are hoping it will be again this year.  I am still undecided whether to continue this first-day tradition, or think of a new "get-up."  For now, we are sticking with what we have done.

Vivid Visualizations

Monday, July 29, 2019

Good morning!  I know, Anne and I haven't posted for months, and now I've posted twice in two days.  I think it's because I'm getting antsy for all things school and third grade.  I'm getting excited to get back into my classroom to clean and decorate. It's one of my favorite things to do. However, once I'm given the "okay" to go in, my days will be a whirlwind, so I wanted to take advantage of this calm moment to share some cool websites I learned about while taking a graduate literacy course this summer.

The course was called Activating Students' Creative Thinking Through Literacy ELA Grades K-5. I did not realize the rigor these concepts, theories and activities would provide for our students and us.  It is all very exciting.  Below is an excerpt from my final research paper that may give you some insight into the course objectives.

“If we teach today’s students as we did yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”

John Dewy

According to Module One’s foundation reading resource, activating students’ creativity is vital because it will aid educators in teaching students how to be flexible in their thinking, so when they encounter new situations they can solve problems in innovative ways.  We must explicitly teach our students to think creatively because they are going to be performing jobs and having careers that have not even been invented yet. We need to change our teaching so it matches what our students will face when they leave our classrooms. Now more than ever, we need to teach our students how to be creators and innovators, (Spencer, 2019).

“Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity” (2018), as well as Module One’s foundation text, had similar definitions for the word creativity.  It is the “generation of a new product that is both novel and appropriate in a particular scenario.” Research has shown that creativity increases motivation, deepens understanding and helps students develop intrinsic rewards and enjoyment. These feelings lead to life-long learners, which is my ultimate goal as a teacher.  According to the article, implementing activities that promote creativity, help students make cross-curricular connections, which in turn deepens understanding.

To synthesize everything I learned in this course, I wrote a lesson plan that includes seven literacy activities that will give students opportunities to make their thinking visible and divergent. The lessons are designed to help  students move from the knowledge level of visualization to a deep understanding of this literacy strategy. Not only is the visualization reading strategy one of our favorites, we believe it is one of the more useful strategies our students can use to deepen their reading comprehension, as well as their love of reading.

You can find this entire lesson plan bundle on our TpT store.

Below is a website that explains this thinking strategy: See Think Wonder.  You can use this strategy with any lesson, however in this plan I use it with the Newsela article titled Sunglass Cat.

You can use this strategy with any text, too.  In my lesson plan I use it with Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dave Pilkey.

I cannot wait to use these lesson plans in the fall.  I'm most excited about my kick-off lesson.  Anne and I are going to dress up like movie directors complete with sunglasses, megaphone, beret, and clapboard.  This is because we teach visualization as making a movie in our minds.  The kids will all get a pair of movie star glasses, too, to use when we visualize various texts and genres.  This lesson plan bundle includes visualizing poems, music, fiction and non fiction texts.  At the end, the students must use their understanding of visualization to design an animal shelter.  It will be the first time we will incorporate a project-based activity when teaching reading strategies.

Below are some websites I found useful when researching how to activate my students' creativity.  We hope you find them helpful, as well.

Artful Thinking

Visible Thinking

K20 Learning

See Think Wonder

I will try to post our first day scavenger hunt and our safari outfits we wear on the first day of school later this week.  Otherwise, Anne and I will post it when she gets back from vacation.

Have a great rest of your summer.

Kim 

Does Anyone Read Blogs Anymore?

Sunday, July 8, 2019

It's been a minute since we've written a blog.  Does anyone read blogs anymore?  It seems like I've spent most of my time this past year scouring Instagram, Facebook, TpT, and Pinterest to get ideas for my classroom instruction.  Instagram is my favorite resource because it leads me to all the other social media.

Although, to be honest, I've missed writing on our blog.  I've missed sharing all of the exciting ideas I found and have used in my classroom.  I've missed sharing the lesson plans I have written for our Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I have missed sharing the latest literacy research I have learned from the courses I have taken.

Today, I am going to share the two best novels for intermediate students I read this summer.  I posted both to my Instagram account and Facebook account, but as I said I've been neglectful of our blog.  The first book I want to share with you is titled, Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau.

This book is hands down my favorite story of all time.  It is a beautiful, soul-touching story of friendship, perseverance, and courage.  It is filled with mystery, danger, magic, and eye-opening facts about nature.  Its messages not only tap at our hearts, they open our eyes to the ideas that we are all connected to each other, to the trees, the animals and the stars in the sky.  Nothing is separate. We are one and when working together in synchronicity, love, compassion and healing abound.  This book has the ability to inspire all of us to live with an awareness that can make our world a more benevolent place to live.   Watch the book trailer told by the author to get a bit more information.  I think I may even show this to my students.

 Orange For The Sunsets by Tina Athaide, is another powerful read. Orange for the Sunsets is a historical fiction story about two best friends living in Africa. These twelve-year olds still have the innocence to live their lives with an awareness that allows them to see beyond gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. They can feel the goodness and the oneness that connects us all.  Unfortunately, the friendship between these young adolescents is shaken a bit by others who live in a state of unawareness and look at life through a filter of judgement, power, greed, and hatred.  This story beautifully shows the contrast through which human beings choose to live their lives. So many messages in this text speak to our hearts and help us become more awakened to how we want to live our lives and treat others.  Here is the trailer.  

Before reading these two novels, my favorite read aloud was Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks.  It has such a powerful message and weaves in a bit of culture along the way. I'm sure most of you know this book.  It has been out for a few years.  I will definitely be reading this book aloud this year, too.

I think I will do some sort of book review of each of the three books.  Maybe a very abbreviated version of a book tasting and then allow my students to vote for the one they want read aloud first.  All are excellent and promise a rich discussion among the students.

I will be back.  I am going to try to add short posts to the blog as often as possible.  I will also add ideas and TpT lessons to my Instagram account which I believe is lally.kim.  

Happy Reading!

Kim

PS: Anne is on vacation.  She will be back blogging with me soon.