Painting Like Frida Kahlo-Virtual Version

There have been many adjustments for my students learning in the virtual world. One that I think is the hardest for them is not doing as many art projects. I work in an area of low economic development-I can't assign them to do something that I am not sure they have the materials for. Some of my students have no pencils and paper, I know they don't have glue and paint. So we adjust. :)

We learned about Frida Kahlo this week for Hispanic Heritage. I showed the students some of her self-portraits and asked them to think about how it made them feel. How do you think she wanted you to feel when you looked at it? Then I asked them to do their own self-portraits using the Pear Deck tool. Here's what they came up with:

Details: Changing the Setting

Continuing our work on using Details from Kaplan's Depth and Complexity this week. We read a different version of Cinderella every day. We read:

Cinderella set in space (love that in the end she turns down the marriage proposal to do the work she loves).

Mexican Cinderella story

set in Africa

Set in a chicken coop

Set in Alaska

So we discussed how the setting of these stories determined a lot of the details. And if we changed the setting some things changed but some things remained the same (attending a ball, living happily ever after). After that discussion, I asked the students to write where their own Cinderella story would take place.

Here are their Pear Deck responses:

New York (complete with the Statue of Liberty)

on a peaceful river

Halloween themed

Haunted House

Halloween themed

Changing the Details in Fairy Tales

Details is a concept of Kaplan's Depth and Complexity that I think often gets misunderstood. I've seen many teachers use this as identifying details in a story. Identifying details is not a rigorous activity. For me, especially with the young ones, I like to have them change a detail and then see what other details change. 

We are doing a unit on fairy tales right now. So we read Cinders, A Chicken Cinderella Story by Jan Brett.

 Many of the details of the original Cinderella remarkable stay the same even though the main character is now a chicken! I asked the students to think about what other fairy tales could have a chicken as a main character and what details of that story would change.

These are their responses (we are still virtual so these are the Pear Deck answers).

Amazing Stories to Discuss Feelings

So we are still doing virtual learning for a few more weeks and then our parents have a choice of continuing virtual or having the students attend face-to-face. I have LOVED seeing my students again and connecting with them. Virtual learning has been draining for them. They were really excited in the beginning and now I can see they are getting tired. We go from 7:30-2:15 online. They have a 1/2 hour break for lunch and 2 scheduled 10 minute breaks (although I give them way more breaks than that when I see them fading). Many have expressed feelings of anxiety and fear of the coronavirus. We took a virtual field trip to Hawaii and most of their questions were: do people there get the coronavirus? do they kick you out of Hawaii if you have the coronavirus, etc. These poor babies couldn't even enjoy the pics of sun and sand becaues this is first and foremost on their minds.

One of the hardest parts of teaching littles is that you have to let them know the expectations-like keeping their mask on all day without scaring them. There has to be a balance.

That being said, we have been reading lots of stories about emotions and how to deal with those emotions.

Here are a few of our favorites:

A classic about dealing with worries.

This book is one big metaphor about how sometimes our fears are bigger in our minds than they need to be. How we often worry needlessly.

Another story on how to deal with worries.

Most of the books we read for SEL are about managing anger or anxiety-I also want to share stories with my students giving them opportunities to discuss what makes them happy. :) 

We all have days when we are grumpy.

The protagonist's mom gives her advice to push away those anxieties that are keeping her from sleeping. Don't think about purple elephants-so that's all she can think about. 

A classic. Sophie deals with her anger in a very healthy way and it's a great example for students.

A story about facing our fears.

How kindness can make people happy.

Another story about the contagious nature of smiles.

A story about dealing with anger.

I learn strategies from these books as well. We don't always have control over what happens in our life but we certainly have control in how we deal with it. I would love to see case studies on how all this is affecting our students. I know personally, I get frustrated-the technology doesn't work, I get emails ALL.DAY.LONG asking me to complete documentation or other tasks. Literally working 10 hour days and not being able to get ahead at all. I find myself in a bad mood by the time I log off. So I have to take my dog Henry to the park or do some exercises, do something mindless like clean or complete a puzzle. And I'm an adult. I can't imagine these little ones and everything they have to deal with. I want to give them as many tools as possible.

Pear Deck for Virtual Learning

I read a tweet that said "what we did in the spring wasn't remote learning, it was emergency learning". I completely agree with that. In a matter of days education was turned on its ear. Everything we knew about engagement and implementation of curriculum changed literally overnight. 

This summer I played with a number of different programs to add engagement to our daily remote learning. Pear Deck https://www.peardeck.com/ was my favorite.

You can create powerpoints (which I used to teach my whole group sessions anyway) and add checks for understanding and polls within your slides. It's easy to use and there are multiple tutorials online to help you navigate the site.

Here are just a few examples of work my students did remotely:

This is from First Day Jitters as is the next pic.

The kids have gotten used to using it and it has been a lifesaver when it comes to having something to grade. I highly recommend it for virtual learning!

Not Your Average First Week Read-Alouds

So anyone who knows me knows I am a bit of a rebel in the classroom. My word walls are not sight words-they are vocabulary. Decorations are sparse as I believe what we hang on our walls should be meaningful. You get the gist. 

My first week read-alouds tend to be different as well. I want the students to hear a story they have not heard before and although No David and the Kissing Hand are cute stories-there are others out there that I think work just as well and give students a different perspective.

Here are some examples:   

A classic story but great for opening a discussion into being who you are no matter what anyone else thinks.

This penguin has a soul of an eagle and doesn't give up on his dream of flying. Great for introducing the concep of grit.

Another one that marches to the beat of their own drum. His parents are very concerned Woolbur doesn't act like the other sheep. LOVE the ending of this one!

Another classic about loving yourself for who you are.

Molly is my all-time favorite picture book character. She has the singing voice of a bullfrog and buckteeth you can stack pennies on but her grandmother teaches her to love herself for who she is.

Amazing story about a little girl dealing with some big issues and father doing the best he can to help her get through it.

Wordless book about being kind and accepting of others.