A few weeks ago, prior to starting our Solar System unit, I updated the display on our classroom door to a poem titled, "A Galaxy".
I found the poem in Douglas Florian's book, "Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars" and decided it would be the perfect teaser to our new unit. The best part was watching students turn their heads and read the poem as they enter and exit the classroom.
If you're looking for a new book to add to your classroom collection, I highly recommend this one. I have read a poem daily from its pages to bring a little poetry to our science classroom.
We just wrapped up an awesome Book Advertisement project in 5th grade. I snagged the idea from The Common Core Lesson Plan Book by Gretchen Owocki (buy it here). I took the idea of students creating an advertisement for a book and ran with it. Within the advertisement, I wanted my students to focus more on demonstrating their inferences and analysis of the book rather than a summary of what happened.
One of the requirements for the Book Advertisement was to provide two quotes and provide evidence as to how this was important to the entire story. (This goes back to CCSS RL5.1) Needless to say, this was rather tricky for my students. Students were able to find key quotes in the story, but explaining their meaning, purpose, or importance was rather tricky.
I knew they could tell me why it was important, but what was holding them back from writing it down?? For example, I would sit and conference with my students about the quotes chosen in the story. I would ask why this quote is important, what it means to the story as a whole, and so on.. and they would give me beautiful verbal answers! I would, often, exclaim, "YES! That's it! That's what I'm looking for!! Write that!" Then, they would put pencil to paper and look at me and say, "what do I write again?"
Oh vey!
I began digging through the internet to find SOMETHING to help my kids get their thinking on paper. Then I stumbled upon Pencils and Pancakes blog post on providing evidence. She gave her middle school students a simple, but extremely wonderful, foldable to help them stretch their thinking. I quickly changed my lesson plans for the morning (yes this was all happening during my plan time at 8:30 AM), and gave it a-go during reading time. This graphic organizer was very powerful for my students in providing evidence and proving to myself and other readers the importance of specific quotations and parts from the story.
To get my students started with this graphic organizer, I modeled my own thinking using our previous read aloud, "Out of My Mind". That book has come in handy quite often! It was the perfect example because all of my students were familiar with the text and could follow my think aloud.
I'm testing out sharing documents via Google Drive (Google Docs), if you click here you can download the graphic organizer my students used to stretch their thinking.
Later this week, I'll share our Book Advertisement project!
Currently, I am experiencing book withdrawals. You know, when you finish a book and you aren't ready to start another one but you have the longing to be wrapped up in the story line and drama of another piece of literature. Yes, that's me right now.
On Monday, I finished reading/listening to (I did a combo this month) "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling). Near the end of the story, things started escalating and I actually shouted out loud, "WHAT!" Rowling's book follows detective Comoran Strike as he investigates the mysterious death of famous supermodel, Lula Landry. I have a sneaky feeling we might be hearing from Strike again soon. I can only hope!
In my classroom, we just wrapped up Out of My Mind and have moved on to a new pick by Gordon Korman titled, "Ungifted". We are only about 20 pages in, but the kids seem to really enjoy the story so far.
Eventually I will "get over" the fact that I can't take my students on a field trip to Outer Space - not exactly in the budget this year. Until then, I will continue hunting for ways to share the excitement of space with them. I am ashamed to say that, until this year, I wasn't up to date on the missions and expeditions of the International Space Station. This year, our school has been tracking and following NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins and his crew members of Expedition 37/38 as he lives in space until February. Mike Hopkins is an alumni of our high school and we've all been cheering for him since he departed earlier this Fall.
This got me thinking, if we can follow Mike on Twitter - who else can we find that's in space? A few clicks later, I was uncovering several Twitter accounts of astronauts who were preparing for space travel, had been to space, or currently residing on the I.S.S.
Earlier this week, I posed the question, "what's life like in space? What would it be like to live on the International Space Station?" We brainstormed how life would be different and started asking questions about daily routines that would change because of zero gravity.
The goal of the day was simple: find out what life is like in space! I let my students explore Twitter accounts and reminded them to take notes so we could share at the end of class.
Screenshot of Mac: Mike Hopkins' Twitter Page
Screenshot of Mac: @NASA_Astronauts Twitter Page
Oh, but wait.... there are VIDEOS, too. TONS of videos! Ever wonder what it is like to brush your teeth in space?
What about washing your hair in space?
What's it like to sleep in space? Do you float?
Okay, okay... I know you're wondering, what happens if you get sick?
That's only the beginning. Once I started searching for videos, I found TONS from several Expeditions on the I.S.S. Who better to teach my students about life on the I.S.S. than residents of the I.S.S.?
We're constantly checking in our favorite astronauts through Twitter and reading their updates in our classroom. It's truly remarkable to be able to share with my students what is happening on the I.S.S. through Twitter and live feeds. AMAZING!
Just last week, we started our Outer Space unit. We will be reaching for the stars and floating along the Milky Way until Christmas and I couldn't be happier! A friend of mine introduced me to the app "SkyView Free" for iPhone and I introduced it to my students on day during science while we were chatting about galaxies and constellations. My kids were passing around my phone spotting different constellations, satellites, International Space Station, and the Moon!
Screenshot from my iPhone After Spotting the MOON!
Don't give up on me bloggy friends. I still have a pulse and a passion for blogging and connecting with educators. Unfortunately, something had to take the back burner and it happened to be my blog.
Just checking in. Expect more from me.... soon. :)
There is one drink that is sure to remind me of family and the holidays: wassail! Last night, I jumped the gun a bit and made a batch for my bf and I. It was the perfect treat on a Sunday evening. Here is the recipe my family has grown to love!
You'll Need:
4 C Apple Cider
1 C Orange Juice
1 C Cranberry Juice
1 C sugar
1/2 t whole cloves
1/2 t all spice
4 cinnamon sticks
Make it!
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot or kettle of your choice. Let sugar and spices dissolve.
Grab your favorite mug of the shelf and enjoy curled up under a blanket!
