STEM + Art = STEAM

Have you ever heard of STEAM? STEAM is STEM with the arts included and is a good way to engage students. Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22. This would be an excellent time to have students create tunnel books. Tunnel books simulate 3-D and would allow students to be creative and learn simultaneously. Students would use fold-out flaps to write more text to go with their art.

Science Reading Stations

Today I created seven centers about electrical circuits for multiple sixth-grade science classes. I used two reading-only centers in addition to the typical science experiment stations. The students read passages at these centers and replied to a series of questions about what they had read.

I asked the students to choose the centers they wanted to visit. I only required that students visit four out of the seven centers. However, they were allowed to choose the centers they wanted to visit. Some students preferred the hands-on centers; however, I found that several actually preferred the reading centers. This is an excellent way to provide students with choice in the classroom

Centers also give students opportunities to think in different ways, make connections within the material, and engage in the work that scientists do when researching topics and materials in order to form conclusions.

Quote for This Week

Today was my birthday; however, it was a stress-filled day involving Physics homework and multiple assignments due. However, tonight I finished reading Ron Koertge’s The Brimstone Journals and forgot all about everything else. Almost anyone should be able to relate to at least one character in this book. This book requires the reader to pay attention to the most minute details in order to keep the story straight. However, this aspect of the novel makes it even more fascinating to read.

Book Trailer Fun

I had so much fun creating my book trailer for Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. I highly recommend this book. Everything about the book is excellent. Miranda is a sixth grader who obviously loves to read and carries her favorite book, Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, with her everywhere. Her passion for this book drives the story and is infectious. The themes of friendship and forgiveness are woven throughout the story without being predictable and forced. It also includes an important message about compassion. In addition, it tackles the issues of racism, socioeconomic status, and truth. The time travel aspect of the story is fascinating, but as a reader, I was more impressed with the overall humanity of the characters and how the friendships evolved over time. Clocks, timers, and calendars are used repeatedly in the book to emphasize the importance of time and place to the story.

I used an older version of Apple’s iMovie to create my book trailer. It was a challenge the way the software kept losing my revisions. I would make changes and go back later and my changes had vanished.  However, I was very pleased with the way my trailer came together in the end. It was difficult to create a trailer that would not give away too much of the plot of When You Reach Me. This book is one that is easily ruined by spoilers. I hope I did not use too much information in the trailer. I wanted it to build as it played. I was so glad to find some music that builds in intensity as it progresses. This project took so much time; however, it was the most fun assignment I have had all year.

Diversity Webquest - A Glittering History

 Kira-Kira is an excellent novel for students to explore prejudice and racism, and I created a WebQuest to guide them on their way. The book’s title means “glittering” or “sparkling” in Japanese, and this book truly shines. In the novel, the children at a predominantly white school did not talk or befriend the main characters in the novel simply because they were Japanese-American. However, many students in today's middle school may not understand the complexities of why this took place in the novel due to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor in World War II. Though this is no excuse for the prejudice and racism exhibited by the people in the novel, this WebQuest gives some historical context. In addition, this WebQuest integrates standards form both English Language Arts and Social Studies. Prejudice and racism is never acceptable, but we always need to try to understand why some people have these attitudes. History explains this in many instances. Click here if you would like to view the WebQuest. I've also included an interview with the book's author, Cynthia Kadohata below.

Quote For This Week

 

As a non-traditional student, this quote inspires me. I hope I will always maintain my enthusiasm for learning something new each day.

My grandmother planted the flowers, pictured below, over 40 years ago. When I saw them this morning, I thought of her and could not rest until I knew the correct name for them. I present to you Claytonia virginica. She planted just a few of these, but now there is a huge patch of them. She has been gone over thirty years now, yet she made me smile today!

Flash Judgment Activity

I recently participated in a flash judgment activity. The presenting group chose Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. The characters in this book face bullying in their daily lives. Each group received a photo of someone and a worksheet to complete about this unknown person. My group received the photo below. If you want to complete the activity, follow the instructions below:

Give this person a first and last name. Write a brief description of this person. What do you think his GPA was? Do you think he graduated at the top, middle, or bottom of his class? What do you think his extracurricular activities included? Do you think he attended college? Has he ever been arrested? If so, what were the charges? Was he a member of a clique? What do you predict his occupation was after high school? What is his favorite style of music? Write any other thoughts you have about this person just from the photo.

Click “Read More” to read further and reveal his identity. Don’t read further until you complete the activity!

Movie Production Activity: Frederick Douglass

Working in a group to create activities featuring Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was so much fun. We designed several interesting activities for participants. One of our best activities involved a make-believe movie production based on the book. Groups chose their own cast, music, or locations for the movie. The casting group chose Chadwick Boseman to portray Frederick Douglass. The soundtrack group selected several songs including “Shackles” by Mary Mary and “Take Me To Church” by Hozier. The location group chose two appropriate sets for the movie as well. I have included a photo of our group's bulletin board below. It includes the groups' final selections.

Quote For This Week

Historical Fiction: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Historical fiction does not have to mean historical “friction” for students. If you include creative and interesting activities for students to complete, you can actually make historical fiction fun. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Uprising is an excellent choice for middle school students. Haddix has masterfully included information about the history of immigration, the struggle for women’s rights, the origins of the organized labor movement, and the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. Uprising includes all of these wonderful ingredients within a narrative full of fascinating characters and action.

This book would be an excellent choice for students to use as inspiration for a simulated journal. Have students research the time period of the book and learn about their favorite character’s culture and background. Uprising includes a wide variety of characters from different cultures and socioeconomic status; therefore, this would be an excellent opportunity to tackle these issues.

Another possible activity would be to have students compare the cost of living in 1911 to today. Ask students to bring grocery sale papers from home. The class can work in groups to find ads online from 1911. Have them compare prices of important food items like bread and milk. Also ask students to calculate how much money per hour Bella was earning at the factory.

It would also be a good activity to allow students to create a poster about the characters and what they learned from the book. I have included some photos below of  cards created about Uprising characters Bella and Jane.

Encourage Reading

According to a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll of 1,000 U.S. adults asking about their reading habits, 41 percent of Americans had not read a fiction book in the last year. In addition, 42 percent had not read a nonfiction book. Moreover, 28 percent had not read a book at all in the past year! Are you surprised by this poll? Check out the poll in more depth by clicking here.

Parents and teachers need to work together to encourage young people to read. It is important that students actually want to read for enjoyment. In the UK, there is a program called Drop Everything And Read (DEAR). Schools have set aside ten minutes each day for students to “drop everything and read” to each other and/or an adult. The schools provide a wide variety of books for the students, and this program is used across all subject areas.

Quote For This Week

Sonder

One of my friends who is currently a classroom teacher told me about a website that the Tennessee Department of Education hosts called the Tennessee Classroom Chronicles.  One article on the site is written by Reagan Homen, an 11th grader at Ravenwood High School: http://tnclassroomchronicles.org/student-voices-love-write-much-needs-documentation/


In the article, the writer mentions a made-up word that her AP English III class encountered while reading This is Water by David Foster Wallace. “Sonder: The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.”

This really made me think of the Golden Rule and some other favorite quotes of mine:

  

 

To be honest, I had never heard of David Foster Wallace or his work This is Water.  I learned that this work was part of a commencement speech he presented in 2005 to Kenyon College.  Though probably not appropriate for middle school students, this is an interesting and appropriate read for college students and adults.  I challenge you to watch this!

Calculating the Distance from Lightning

I taught a lesson this week about four types of severe storms.  After teaching this lesson, I stumbled across these resources about how to calculate the distance from a lightning strike.

Since sounds and light travel at different speeds, you count the number of seconds between the point where you first see a lightning strike and the point where you hear the thunder.  An explanation of how to calculate this in miles can be found here:  http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-thunderstorms.htm

However, there is a slightly different method for calculating this distance in kilometers.  Watch the video below to see how to do this in kilometers.

This made me think about the following quotes:

     

To be successful in science and in life, one must appreciate the differences and similarities in all things, whether you are talking about people, plants, animals, or severe storms.

Happy Pi Day!

 

 Happy Pi Day! 3.14.15

 Pi Day is celebrated by some every March 14, but this year's celebration is unique since today is 3/14/15.  This is pi to four decimal places! 3.1415

What is pi?  Read all about pi at these web sites:

• http://www.piday.org/learn-about-pi/
•  http://math.scholastic.com/top_news/2015/03/a-once-in-a-century-pi-day

Some children celebrated Pi Day by reciting the digits of the irrational number:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/03/14/pi-day-kids-videos/24753169/



If you want to read some interesting books on pi, here are some suggested titles: