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.