Shape Poems

With this being National Poetry Month and all, we've switched our focus a bit from the kids listening and responding to poems, to more of them writing their own. We looked at a couple of shape poems and talked about how they could be about anything, but would probably be easier to make a shape of something simple-like an ice cream cone or a star. Here's what they came up with:

My fave: he took the icon for Ethics and wrote words on both sides-right ways to act and wrong.

Perspective of an Object

Multiple Perspectives is a concept we use all year long. I think it's the easiest of the depth and complexity ideas for the little ones to comprehend. To make it a little more challenging, I used Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror"-"I am silver and exact...I have no preconceptions", as their poem for the week. Very deep, I know, but once we discussed it, I think the kids really enjoyed the dialogue that seemed to be happening with this object.

Then I had them choose an object of their own to write about. I asked for a poem form, so some are not in complete sentences, some used them anyway-out of habit, I'm sure. The hardest part for them was coming up with the object itself-I love how creative they were in their choices.

This one was my favorite:

Ponytail-hairstyle: I am always getting messed up.....

Egg-I am colorful. I  have to have salt. I can be eaten.

Pencil-...I'm sad because my lead broke.

I'm happy because people are stepping on me. I see the plants grow.

If I were a backpack my life would be embarrassed being dragged on the floor all the time. :) (Who hasn't felt like that some days! )

Novelty in the Classroom

I've written about my Ruby before. She's my 3-year old German Shepherd who I truly believe is GT! Once in a training class I taught her to dip her head on command-it took like 10 minutes-(not a particular useful party trick, I know, but the trainer was showing us how to introduce a new command). She's extremely intelligent, sensitive and is even a little awkward when it comes to playing with other dogs. :) It's a bad sign when you are shopping at PetSmart and the cashier asks you how many dogs you are shopping for....one, I say blushing. So she is not disadvantaged when it comes to toys or bones. However, she gets bored with them very easily. I learned that I can stick one of her old bones in another toy and suddenly it's interesting to her again. Today she had a blast with her new hula hoop ($1 at the dollar store)-entertained her for a good 20 minutes:

Why am I telling you this? Because I think you can easily apply this concept of novelty in your classroom. Rearrange the furniture, change their seats (I do this every month), change the sand in the sand/water table to pompoms or popcorn kernels. Give them new materials to create with (we got out tissue paper the other day, they got such a kick out of that-paper made out of tissues? ha!). Do your read-aloud outside, say "good-morning" to each student in a different language as they walk in. Dress up like the '50's one day or have a Poetry Luau. Anything to change the routine up a little bit.

Little changes make our brains have to think about things differently and that's good for their brain development. I get bored looking at the same room arrangement or items hanging on the wall all the time, imagine being 5 and having that same experience. Especially this time of year when even Kindergarteners seem to be getting "senioritis"! They notice those little changes immediately and get so excited about it.

Kids this age do need routine and structure, but I also think they need to have little surprises sometimes to, keeps them on their toes! :)

Frames for Edward Tulane

Frames are a way for the students to apply the GT ideas of depth and complexity for a concept or characters from a story or event. In this activity we used them to compare the different perspectives people had of Edward Tulane, the stuffed rabbit who for one person was treated like their child, another a confidant, etc. It's very challenging for young children to apply these concepts, much less have to think about several at once. One student noted that her "brain hurt" after completing it, but I was really happy with the results.

This little girl is just now mastering sounding out her words to write. So proud of her!

Favorite Chapter Read-Alouds

I know what you are thinking--but she teaches Kindergarten?!? My favorite part of the day is our chapter read-aloud. I think reading above the students' grade level forces them to listen very carefully-no pictures to rely on. I think it is a great springboard to introduce new vocabulary. I also think they can really go into the depth of a character. With a picture book-it's over in 10 minutes and we can discuss it and do an activity. But with a chapter book-it's an on-going view of that character-we really get to know them and get invested in how it will end. When we finish a story sometimes the kiddos will remark fondly months down the line "I miss Edward" - it's like they got to know them as a friend.

Some of my faves:

1) The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane- this is a very deep book. It's about an elitist stuffed rabbit who goes through a number of events to make him someone who learns to love others. You can do activities with multiple perspectives (each owner thought differently about him-he was like their child, a friend, a caretaker, etc). Definitely a lot of Big Ideas. You will have to give them some guidance in "getting" it, but my kids are always begging me to read another chapter of this book.

2) Toys Go Out (and also the sequel Toy Dance Party). -the kids love these books and even though it's about stuffed animals and what they do when you are not there, the issues they deal with are pretty challenging. Lots of great character study-who are you most like, what toy would you be?

3) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz-lends itself to many activities as well. How the characters change over time? You can even show the movie and compare to the book (did you know her slippers in the are silver, not ruby). Lots of examples of ethics as well-especially when we discover who Oz really is.

4) Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper-I've posted about this little gem before, I discovered it in the books I was reading for my student book club this year. It's told from the perspective of a little girl with cerebral palsy. Again very deep and what I really like about it is there isn't really a happy ending. What they do to her makes you furious for her. Now my kids always ask me "does this one have a happy ending?".

5) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-the book again is very different from the movie they've seen. Lots of great characters to study and also great examples of ethics.

6) Charlotte's Web - another classic, right? After you skip the part about how Wilbur is meant to be bacon...(that commercial for My Baby Can Read where the toddler is reading that part about the ax disturbs me a bit). Again, not exactly a happy ending. The kids can learn about personification and apply that to create their own character who might also live in that barn.

7) James and the Giant Peach-great example of where your imagination can take you as an author and as a reader. Lots of great characters and problem-solving tasks.

(I hate doing papier mache in the classroom, but I thought these turned out so cool -that's James inside the peach.

8) Pippi Longstocking- who wouldn't love a little redhead who lives with a horse and monkey!

9) The World According to Humphrey-told from the perspective of a class hamster. Nothing like thinking about life from the eyes of a critter a few inches tall. He doesn't understand the concept of fire drills or tests (me either, some days! :). Lends itself to activities/discussions about life from an animal's perspective.

10) Loser - I know, I know the title will scare you away. Loser is a story about a boy who I have taught in class many times (I wish more teachers would read this book, it's about teaching too). Zinkoff is odd. He stands at attention and says "yes ma'am" when the teacher asks him a question. He laughs at words like Jabip that just strike him funny. But he is the most easygoing, positive child you will ever meet. Some teachers got him and some didn't, same with the kids. But definitely an interesting character study.

I Do Ask Them To Be Creative.....

We are doing a "Poetry Celebration" this month. The kids write their own poems and we invite parents to our little celebration where the kids read their poems aloud. We started our rough drafts and I had some great ideas flowing: one about the stars, one called "Flower, Flower" (does that sound like a poet or what), an ode to a new bike. I think this student may have to tweak this topic a little bit before we present to our parents:

Two boys go walking, the second one does the talking and their underwears fell off.

Gotta love 'em and their obsession with underwear!

Tree of Life Interpretation

I love Klimt's tree in his painting The Tree of Life:

I asked the kids in the class to discuss what they thought he meant by that title and what characteristics of the tree expressed that Big Idea. Now, for some of the kiddos this idea sounded better in my head than it turned out in practice. :) I was impressed with what some of them came up with, however. I asked them to use a different "Big Idea" and create their tree with tissue paper showing the details of that interpretation. 

Tree of Texas-we do have our state pride! :)

Tree of Animals (I love the details with the tissue paper).

Tree of Love

Rainbow Tree

Tree of God

Tree of Firefighters

Firefighters are important because to get you out of fires. (Very proud of this kiddo, finally starting to make that connection for sounding out words!).