Together Again, Naturally

Each school year I get a brand new class of eager-to-learn 4th graders. I love this age. They are still young enough to be amazed and in awe of the world around us, yet they are beginning to "get" it. Yesterday my class had the second Mystery Skype of the year. I had the opportunity to reconnect with a colleague whom I met many years ago at a Discovery Education Summer Institute. (By the way the people I met and the things I learned through the DEN influence me in a positive way every day!)

Mystery Skype is a 20 questions game experienced with video and audio on Skype. Two teachers connect and set a date and time. Once the connection is made, the fun and learning begins.

The students quickly learn to create questions that eliminate a great deal of states. Such as, "Are you east of the Mississippi?" Our two or three speakers are responsible for talking to the other class. Two more students keep track of the states already eliminated. Another two students keep track of the questions already asked. A few students are using globes and Google Earth. Meanwhile the rest of the class has their atlas and blank map trying to identify "Where in the USA", or world the other class is.

In 20 minutes my students have fun and work on their US geography skills. They are quickly getting a sense of where major rivers, coastlines, and mountain ranges are. And without them even realizing it the "geography" lesson has so much more!

In the words of my students, "Our class gets to work together as a team." Mystery Skype - marrying fun with collaboration, critical analysis, and communication.

If you would like to participate in a Mystery Skype session contact me at mgriffin@cbsd.org or fill out my sign-up form.

Students as Authors

Every year my students write and publish a book using Bare Books. They are these great hardback books with lots of white pages. Students print and paste their work in the books.  Typically it has been a collection of personal narratives titled "Tales of a Fourth Grade Something" with apologies to Judy Blume. This year so much of our reading and writing has become focused on non-fiction. Informational writing, non-fiction text features, biography, expository...This is the language of  fourth grade readers and writers.
     This year students selected a world biome to learn about. Through research in the library and on the web, they learned about the biome's climate, precipitation, flora and fauna, and what impact humans have had on it. Using their knowledge of non-fiction text features, they created glossaries, graphs, tables, and diagrams. They also added a section of poems. Cinquains, haikus, The Important Thing About _______ were among the types of poems.
     While searching for appropriate and useful research sites, I discovered a fifth grade class in Illinois who had already studied and created reports on the biomes.Through the power of the web I was able to contact the teacher via email and set up a SKYPE session so her students could share their knowledge with my students.
     My students were thrilled to share what they had already learned as well as ask questions like, "What sites did you find useful?" and " Where did you find information on plants? I am having trouble." Realizing that they were talking to students that neither they nor their teacher knew was mind opening. If their teacher had found these students online and they were now sharing their knowledge, then it was not too far a reach that the same could happen to them. Suddenly their research and writing became a little more authentic.
     Books were finished, covers were illustrated, and About the Authors were written. All that remained was the celebration. The last week of school we had a publication party with parents and other students in the school. The new authors were proud as punch!

Loop de Loop

The last few days of school. It is hot and sticky, and students and teachers alike are dreaming of summer vacation. Textbook inventories have been completed and it seems as if the students neither expect nor are willing to do anymore school work. Enough is enough their expressions groan.
      What is a teacher to do? Give in and show movies? Let the kids read - as long as they are quiet? Harness the students' dwindling energy to clean and pack up the classroom for summer. (A Sisyphean task if ever there was one.) While all of these ideas have their merit and time, none of them fit my style or goals for my classroom. My students will tell you I believe that "if we are in school, we are learning."

     Student learning is always my first and foremost goal, but that does not preclude fun or nontraditional learning opportunities. Thanks to Mattel and Hot Wheels I was able to provide my students with fun nontraditiional learning this last week of school.
     For the last month or two we had a large cardboard box in the back of our classroom. Students asked what was inside it and when we would use it. Eventually, it became a part of the background and forgotten. However, questions quickly reappeared as I brought it out the last week.
     Bags and bags of hot wheel cars, bright orange track, blue connectors, and loops, LOTS of loops spilled out of the box. Some students had played with Hot Wheels in their "younger" days, but most had never had. Immediately kids began opening bags and calling dibs on cars and track.
     Day one the students were free to explore with self-selected partners, groups, or on their own. With no direct instruction students got to work. They created loops and runs watching each others' successes and failures.During this "play: time I heard, "Cool!", "Look what they are doing", "Let's try this", and "We need more momentum."
     Unbeknownst to them, or so I thought, students were learning through their play. The second day when students clamored for another opportunity to "play" with the Hot Wheels I tried to make it look as if it was something I needed to carefully consider. One little girl hoping to get me to say yes made the point, " You know Mr. Griffin, this is really like doing science." I had been exposed.
     The second day I created student groups and presented them with a challenge. Which team could get a car to successfully go through the most loops. With a clear objective, students began to work. Some students started building immediately, others wanted to discuss options, and still others argued with one another. It was noisy, dictionaries were piled high, and some students climbed on desks to attach track to higher points. Indeed, just like science it was messy work.
     After we watched each group's car perform we reflected as a class on the successes and challenges of the day. They quickly discovered my second learning objective. Those students who collaborated and worked together had more success. As one student commented, " We just kept talking over one another and we never had time to really build our idea." Another said, "We spent too much time arguing, and not enough time testing out the ideas." Ah, more learning disguised as play.
     Mattel and Hot Wheels had helped to make this one of my best last week's of school ever. Students were genuinely engaged in authentic learning. They were solving problems, thinking creatively, and even learning to collaborate.
     Next up: Hot Wheels for back to school. Have a creative summer. Double loop success.
    

What does Research Mean to a 9-10 year Old

Every year my fourth grade students do many guided research projects. They research a famous Pennsylvanian, Pennsylvania facts, and many other small topics. Their year culminates with a large biome research project. The students love the idea of creating their own biome book. They spend hours researching, selecting pictures and drawing. However, one thing I hear over and over again is, "I can't find - insert a specific word. I can't find anything on the tundra climate! I can't find anything on animals of the savannah."

Students expect to go on to Google, type in a word and magically everything they need will appear. Granted, I too would like that to happen when I am researching. So, much of my research instruction at this point is helping my students reword their search. As much as they hear me say, "Research means searching and searching again", they don't really believe it. This year, while searching biomes myself, I discovered a school in the midwest whose 5th graders had done biome research. The teacher's web page had some basic information as well.

Knowing how beneficial it is your students to connect with one another I connected the 5th grade teacher. We agreed to set up a SKYPE date where our students could discuss biome research. Suddenly having to search and search again seemed natural as the students discussed the various sites they used for research. For example, one student suggested using botanical sites for more information on specific plants.

My students loved talking about biome facts and research with our new friends. They were even recharged to re search.

Eco Skype

Every year my fourth graders read Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree. They research a rainforest organism, create posters urging their schoolmates to act now to help protect the rainforest, and finally they create a dramatization of the story. Weeks of research, memorizing lines and rainforest facts, and creating props and costumes culminates in a Broadway worthy performance for friends and family.

As I assume most teachers do, I try to refresh our project every year. Some years we write letters to the newspaper, sell t-shirts, or create PSA type videos. This year I had the good fortune to connect with Karen Ogen of South Carolina.

 

I know Karen from my days as a Discovery Education “Star” Educator. Discovery produces and archives educational videos, articles, photos, speeches, and songs available to schools as for fee product. For those teachers lucky enough to have access, Discovery also offers an unbelievable opportunity to meet and collaborate  world-wide with educators, scientists, and other professionals.  Karen, as a Discovery Star, had the opportunity to travel to Churchill, Canada and learn first-hand about climate change and the polar bears.

This week Karen met with my students using Skype. Karen shared photographs of her trip. The students were amazed to see the size of the polar bear’s claw. When Karen shocked my students when she opened the skull of a female polar bear and placed its enormous teeth against her own head.

We were able to visualize the dramatic changes to the sea ice over time using one of several recorded animations available on the web.   Students clearly understood the connection between the climate change, sea ice changes, and our future. 

The connection my students have made to our study of the rainforest has been amazing. While they always seem to “get” the need to “go green” before, now they seem to really understand the implications for themselves and their future.

I am reminded of the old children’s tale that tells of a kingdom lost for want of a nail. Our world, our future will surely be lost for want of a connection. If we fail to understand that what happens in the Artic, or the Amazon, or anywhere else in the world affects us all we are doomed. The connections that we can so easily make today through Twitter, Skype, Facebook, etc. allow us to personally connect to people and places thousands of miles away.

Welcome

I am a fourth grade teacher in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I love to learn and I love to teach. I have started this blog as a place to share classroom experiences and activities.

I love to encourage my students' curiosity and find that connecting them to the "real" world is the best way to do that. 9 year olds want to know all about the world and how it works.

Feel free to visit our previous class blog http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=134291 or our class website.