A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Welcome to the the most wonderful busiest time of the year! A few weeks ago I had Parent-Teacher Interviews. I always like to share student writing on a bulletin board for the parents to view in the hallway while they are waiting. One of my favourite pieces of writing for the year goes along with the book "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald. The author asks children "What's the best part of you?" and presents their answers along with a black and white photograph of their best part of themselves. First, I read the book aloud and have a discussion with my class. After, my students write about the best part of them and I take pictures of the body parts they chose. It is so cute to see what the students say!

I scoured the second hand stores to find cheap picture frames and spray painted them black. The Dollar Stores also have nice frames for only a dollar or two.

This year I have a student who does not celebrate Christmas so I've had to create new lessons for Language Arts centred around winter and snow, rather than the my Christmas Around the World I usually do. Last week we began by learning about snow and I prompted the students with the question "What is so special about snow?". 

I wanted all my students to be accountable for contributing to Our Schema, Our New Learning, and Misconceptions chart so I created a Padlet wall for the students to post their thoughts on. Padlet is a real-time collaboration tool where students post virtual sticky notes on a shared wall. After my students made their initial schema post, we read "The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder" and also watched a video about snow from YouTube, which I've posted below. After the learning, my students posted their New Learning sticky note.

On a different note, next week is Computer Science Education Week. My students, along with my entire school, is participating in the Hour of Code at code.org. The Hour of Code is a global movement that introduces students to computer science and the language of coding. Tutorials are available for all ages and best of all, no experience is required! 

Image from http://cuebc.ca/cue/pro-d-opportunities/hour-of-code/

Consider signing up and introducing your students to the new literacy they will need to be in charge of their future. Give your students the confidence to try something new and help prepare them for the unknown world they will be living in. Be someone's inspiration for their future and register your class or even your school.