If I Were a Log....

We read the book:

Which beautifully describes a great pattern in nature-a tree falls, decomposes and becomes the soil for a new tree to grow. The illustrations are really beautiful and it's a process that I don't think we consider very often. After reading the story and discussing the pattern and vocabulary, I asked the kiddos to imagine that they lived in that log, what would life be like from that perspective?

If I lived in a log, I would wish it wasn't so stinky.

...it would transform into a bus

I would dream of My Little Pony

I would be glad animals live on me

I would paint my house lots of colors

I would roll.

Storytelling

I believe storytelling is a lost art. I don't think even families share stories with each other anymore, the way they used to. And certainly people who can't look up from their phones and ipads are not telling stories.

We tell stories every day in my classroom and I think it is making my students better writers! We do it several ways. I have a Storytelling Workstation that has picture cards showing characters (grandma, a dog, a surfer, a teacher, etc.), places and activities. They choose one of each and then make up a story to tell their partner. We focus on having a problem and solution as well as a beginning, middle and end.

We also do it in our whole group reading. I show them a photograph (most of my photos I get from the archives of MSNBC's This Week in Pictures-- http://www.nbcnews.com/news/week-in-pictures ). So this is an example:

I choose random students to begin the story, continue the story and then come up with an ending to the story. They come up with some wild ones sometimes! :)

I work in Texas and we don't subscribe to common core. We used to have all these objectives for oral language development. We don't anymore, but I pretend we still do! I find other ways to fit in to our program because I really believe that it's an important skill that can then translate into how they write stories.

Not Giving Up on Your Dreams

So I discovered a new favorite book, it's called:

It's about a penguin who wants to fly. When told that he's a penguin, his response is "but I have the soul of an eagle". I love this book and the message of not giving up on whatever your dreams may be. 

It reminded me of this video that every time I watch it I get somehow get something in my eye that makes them water! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4

I think it's a great example of tapping into your strengths to make your dreams come true and not giving up at the first obstacle-whether it be an urge to chase birds or the fact that you were born the wrong kind of bird.

Failure is a Good Thing

I have heard a lot about failure recently. Last year I was at a conference where the keynote speaker spoke about failure for his whole address. I have read articles and blog posts promoting the good part about failure. (When I say "failure" I don't mean academically failing, like having to repeat a grade, but failing at an experience and picking yourself up and moving on.) Imagine what a different world we'd be in today if innovators like Steve Jobs or Malala gave up the first time they failed.

This is something I have to agree we don't teach enough. In the past, maybe 10 years or so there has been such a change in our beliefs about children and their self-esteem. We have moved to be a culture where we feel we have to protect the feelings of our children and let everyone win. I have a friend who works at a daycare center where the only way they are allowed to play musical chairs is if everyone sits down every time the music stops-you don't take any chairs away so no one loses and has to get upset. I actually have a theory that this why we have so many kiddos today who give up super-easily. My sister has college students in her English classes who complain the books they have to read are too hard or have no problem copying parts of other people's work instead of putting in time on developing their own. There are kids who would rather quit the team than put the work in it would take to become a winner. I think fear of failure even ties the hands of colleagues and prevents them from trying new ideas. Luckily I have no problem falling on my face on a regular basis! :)

So what do we do about this. I told you guys that I'm using code.org's lessons for my Coding Club, but what I've found that you can use these lessons with all students. This one we did this week was to take 10 toothpicks and 10 gumdrops and make the biggest standing structure that you can. Was it easy? Nope. They started out just putting toothpicks in gumdrops and making a big string-but now how do you make that stand?

The fact is you can do these kinds of activities throughout the year with any materials. Cups, marshmallows, popsicle sticks or any combination. Make a goal who can make the biggest, strongest or maybe give a certain height it needs to get to and see what it takes to get there, if you can get there. If you can't it's ok and we'll think about how to make it better and try again another day. We can learn a lot from our failures and I think that's an important lesson for our kiddos.

Why the Leaves Change Color....

We like to talk about Big Ideas in our class. We have been talking about fall and the changes in our seasons. I asked the students to make up a creative reason why the leaves might change color. We talk a lot about thinking outside the box and that was the goal of this writing activity. They watercolored a fall tree (which honestly in Texas is hard for them to visualize-our leaves are green or brown, that's it! :). Then they wrote about why the leaves change color using their imaginations.

because they want to.

That's what some teachers call it in their behavior system. You change your color for "bad" behavior-I like the idea that the leaves changed color because they were misbehaving! :)

Grandfather Gandhi

So for the past few years we have had a few more students attend our school with an Indian heritage. I like my students to be able to find themselves on our library shelves so I have been on the lookout for books that either have Indian children as characters or are about their traditions. I found a book I  really thought was beautiful. It's called:

It's a little long for a read-aloud, especially with little ones, but I LOVE the message. The message is that everyone gets angry, it's all about channeling that anger into something effective. The book uses the metaphor of electricity. Lightning ranting and raving can be dangerous, but it can also be harnessed into electricity and be useful. I also thought the illustrations were breathtaking. Definitely two thumbs up! :)

I've Actually Been Reading....

Can you believe it?! I was slacking off a bit when school started back up again and I still feel like there are about 1,000 other things I should be doing-- but I have read a few good books recently. I'm going to write about these 2 because I think they are books I feel like others might enjoy as well.

A story about a very precocious 2nd grader with a very eccentric grandmother. After I read the book, I read the reviews people gave it and many were put off by the fact that they couldn't tell what was real and what was part of the girl's fantasy world. I couldn't tell either, but it really didn't bother me enough to dislike the book because of it. I listened to the audiobook and would be in the middle of the grocery store laughing out loud at parts of the story. It's funny and poignant all in one.

Reminiscent of The Fault in the Stars a bit, but still I think an interesting read. Madeline has a rare disease that affects her immune system so she has never left her house. She falls in love with the boy next door and takes some risks in the name of love. I read this book in 2 days which is really rare for me-I usually read pretty slowly.

Not at all what I expected. It's a mystery, yes, but the action mostly surrounds a bachelorette party (a Hen Party as they apparently call it in Britian). Not nearly as scary as the cover would have you believe. I did like the twist in the end, but I admit I did see it coming.