#sol15 Gyms: For People and Cars

Yes, from the mouths of a kindergarten student thinking outside the box this afternoon, come the invention we have all been waiting for!  A "gym" space were humans can run on treadmills, fast, and cars can go to learn to go on race tracks, fast!  That's how one little guy explained his block creation to me.  He then proceeded to demonstrate how that would work!  I smiled, as he eagerly explained his creation....while my mind raced to the possibilities of this creation! 

What if there were gyms where we could work out while our cars were cleaned?

What if there were gyms where we could work out AND get our laundry done at the same time?

What if there were gyms where people and their dogs could both work out at the same time?

What if there were gyms where someone would pay our bills while we worked out?

What if there were gyms where we could relax while the pounds and inches melted away?

Tangential thinking on my part; however, I am reminded of the potential to think outside of the box and shape their environment in creative ways every time I sit knee to knee with an eager young learner.  

If only we could "bottle" and save that imaginati

on. 

Teaching Grammar: A TWT Share

https://twowritingteachers.org/2016/09/21/five-grammar-lessons-with-sneaky-double-duty-goals/
From Anna Cockerille of Two (or more) Writing Teachers Fame. here are FIVE amazing mni-grammar-writing lessons.  These suggestions are TOO good to miss!

Ideas for teaching:

Paragraphing

Punctuating Dialogue

Conjunctions

Verb Tense

Sentence Fragments

Good Morning to You or Happy Birthday to You:You Choose

This week, I'm singing "Happy Birthday to You," again and again as we celebrate two very special first birthdays in my family.  The "little babies" who joined our family last year just as fall blew in are now, I guess, technically "toddlers." Yet, they will always be my "miracles" who brighten my heart when they smile and melt my heart when they share a slobbery, open mouth version of a kiss.  

So as I prepare to sing Happy Birthday to You to them, I started wondering about the roots of the song.  I know, the CCS get to me again and I start wondering about the information behind customs and traditions! Here is what I found here: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/Happy-Birthday-song-and-its-strange-past/

In 1893, Mildred and Patty Hill, teachers, wrote Good Morning to All to sing to their pupils.  "Good morning to you........."  In 1922, "birthday snuck into versions of the song!  In 1931, the song made it into the musical, The Band Wagon and it was copyrighted in 1934.  it was not until 2015 that the song was "copyright free!"  Phew...'cause we;re singing it more than once at this point in time....and we may just add the "Good Morning to You"  origins to our singing routine just to break things up a bit!  

#sol201 We All Need Somebody to Lean On

"Do you know your way back?" I asked her after we read together, "or would you like me to walk back with you," I asked her at the end of my fall screening.

"Can you come with me?" she asked.

"I'd love to," I responded seriously.  She grabbed my hand and we headed back to her class.  It was not much of a walk, but as she grabbed for my hand, I was sure she was grateful for my guidance on her journey through a not-yet-familiar hallway.

I thought of that moment many hours later when I exited the unfamiliar highway and thinking I knew where I was going, turned right rather than left.  I spent 15 minutes or so, even though it felt longer, trying to find my way home, with several stops to access my GPS along the way. If not for GPS, I might be wandering through deer-and-bear-infested hills even now!

There are times in our lives when we all need someone to take our hand when we are lost on our journey through life.  That person can be our parent, teacher, partner, sibling, friend, pastor, GPS, or even a paid counselor.   

As the song says, "We all need someone to lean on."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4ei-RE3Nc

Celebrating: When it is really hot!

It's been hot  and humid this week in these parts, and my school, like so many others, is not air conditioned. Most of us have abandoned our fall clothes in favor of our old linen shifts and long, loose skirts.  Most of us have splurged on an extra large iced tea or perhaps a diet coke to cool from the inside when we cannot control the outside.
It was certainly "hot" in the hallway as I walked one of my "customers" back to class and a colleague commented, "It is so hot in hear, we could fry an egg in this hallway."
I suspect I nodded, understanding the reference and agreeing it was hot; however, after we were down the hallway a bit, my reflective young reader offered her own perspective on the heat - or perhaps the lack of it.
"It's not really hot," she noted, "until your hair is sweating."  
I smiled as her comment did not require a response.  She was right, indeed.  Really hot is when you have been really working out at the gym, or running around the yard, or running a marathon!  You are working so hard, your hair becomes drippy from sweat.   Clearly, we were uncomfortable today, but we were not working THAT hard!
Perspective: an important part of reflection.

School Days

Back to school, 

Whether your first,

Your last first,

You're starting Kindergarten,

Middle School, High School,

College, Grad School,

Is a totally exhausting, 

Exciting wonderful,

Experience.

There are lots of new notebooks,

Backpacks, lunch boxes,

Pencils, pens, and crayons 

Representing the excitement and

Potential of the new year.

Even for this lawn-art-statue,

I see each morning, 

Who is ready for school,

Complete with a lunch box,

Backpack, skateboard,

 and an ear-to-ear smile.

Even though the future holds

Late nights of lesson plans.

Homework and that dreaded alarm,

Back to school is pretty special.

Celebrating : Readers

"There is so much to do in our Balanced Literacy Block," she sighed, "what is most important for all my students"? How can I help the ones who are below grade level readers?"  

During "back to school" season, there are lots of teachers who find themselves with shortened/split/overprogrammed/RTI filled/writing intense/reader response filled/busy ELA blocks.  So much to do...so little time.  There are also many teachers working outside their comfort zone. Sometimes it is a new grade level or sometimes it is a particularly challenging group, academically or behaviorally.  Most of us have been there at some point. I suspect Heinemann was thinking of that often asked question when they write this post.
https://medium.com/@heinemann/these-18-practices-are-proven-effective-for-teaching-reading-5ea6c9424fa0#.nofx5dz77  The suggestions are certainly based on research based teaching practices.  No matter where readers are on the journey, we need to focus on MEANING.  Without meaning, there really isn't any real reading!  We need to value "read alouds" which serve as reading models and motivators, especially when they allow readers to "stretch"where they cannot yet go independently. Encourage, motivate, and value the reading experiences of your students.  Talk about books and encourage readers to talk about what they are reading.  Embrace whatever they will read! Remember, phonics is the key to understanding the code of print; however, it is not focused on reading as a meaning making process.  Writing, however, is the inverse meaning making process and activates the same centers of the brain, the meaning making. Check out the Heinemann page for the full article.