Rigor in Virtual Teaching Activities

This is an unprecedented time in education. Educators around the world are getting very creative with the way they are delivering instruction to their students. It's really great to see all the innovation out there.

I do believe that first and foremost we need to think about the trauma this is causing for our kiddos. They have lost the daily connections with their friends and teachers too. They hear adults panicking about getting sick or having enough money to buy groceries. Many of my students are being cared for during the day by older siblings. So I believe in checking in with them regularly about how they are feeling and questions they may have about what is going on.

Many states have cancelled state testing. What a freeing feeling for teachers! This is the perfect opportunity to think about doing project-based learning or tech projects. We have not officially started our teaching yet, but I have recorded some read-alouds (strictly to be sent privately to my students-not posted online). And I am asking my students to post pics/videos of their projects and reading response.

The true story of Ada and her recycled orchestra. They turned trash into instruments and toured the world because of it. A great story to demonstrate grit.

*I read it aloud and then asked the students to find trash at home that they could turn into an instrument. (I know the parents LOVED me with all that noise).

I LOVE this book and couldn't wait to share it with my students. I had to read it 4 different times before I finally got a recording that worked :) so I think I know it by heart now. It's about all the things we should be in life-be brave, be persistent, be kind. So I asked my students to think of a character that fit each description and then to come up with their own advice for the world. I am so excited to see what they come up with.

What are some activities you are doing with your students virtually?

Inventing a New Rodeo Event

It's rodeo time here! One of my favorite activities to do with my students is to ask them to invent a new event. We look at videos and pictures of the events they already have and they use their creativity to invent something new.

Here's what they came up with :

Ethics and the Underground Railroad

When I first learned the story of Anne Frank I truly considered if I would help hide people myself. I know what was happening at that time was wrong. But the consequences of being caught doing so were extreme. When we learned about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, I asked my students the same question. My class this year is very loving, very thoughtful-most of them said yes, they would help.

We have been working on making an argument for our opinions so I asked them to also tell me why they felt that way.

I want everybody to be free. I want everybody to be loved.

because it is nice

It is not fair

Painting Jazz

I am a big believer in encouraging the Arts in our daily instruction. So for our writing activity, we listened to jazz music, painted what it made us visualize in our minds and then articulate that image in a sentence. So this is what jazz looks like. :) 

Kindergarten Blues

One of my favorite poets to use in the classroom is Langston Hughes! His poems are not too long for the attention spans of my Kinder students and they are as beautiful as they are meaningful.

I played some blues music for my students and then we read this poem by Hughes:

When the shoe strings break
On both your shoes
And you're in a hurry-
That's the blues.

When you go to buy a candy bar
And you've lost the dime you had-
Slipped through a hole in your pocket somewhere-
That's the blues, too, and bad!

Then I asked them to write about what "The Blues" looks like in Kindergarten. I expected a little more drama between BFF's to be honest. :) 

a kid knocks down my tower

bullies come in the school

boys don't listen

the room is messy

I got paint on me

A shelf fell on my head

someone skips me in line (the most grievous of offenses!)

I got hit by a soccer ball

no book club

when I get hurt and when I get mad and when I go home.