“Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.”
― Albert Einstein
This quote from Albert Einstein summarizes the reasoning behind my belief that hands-on learning is essential when teaching. We can stand in front of our wide-eyed little friends and lecture about how to know when a word begins with a C or a K, but they don't really learn how to spell kettle or cattle until they've written the words a few times, themselves.
That's the very reason why I love Exploration Place! By using hands-on experiments and experiences, kids are able to learn about everything from agriculture to aviation, and from the science of Star Wars to the history of the middle ages. This month Exploration Place has a traveling exhibit called Math Alive! With more than 40 exhibits, Math Alive! allows students to see how math is involved with robotics, sports, music and movie production. With all the focus on math in preparation for the State Assessments, I'm so excited to give my kiddos the opportunity to really explore how math is involved with things like video games and space travel. You know, things they actually want to learn about!
For more information about Math Alive! and Exploration Place, please follow this link.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein
This month our theme is Myths, Legends and Fairytales. This is one of my all time favorite units - it just brings out the kid in me! This study, in particular, lends itself to a lot of creativity, allows them to explore their own culture, as well as those of their classmates, and to learn about cultures from all over the globe!
Each week our class will read different versions of the same story, each from a different part of the world. Throughout the unit, students will work on their graphic organizer to create character studies, describe the major events of the stories and how the characters responded, and what they learn about the different countries. We will compare and contrast these stories using Venn diagrams, vote on which version is the favorite and graph the results, and research the countries of origin so that we can create PowerPoint presentations to show what we have learned about each country, including the habitat, indigenous animals, food, music and traditions of the people in each country.
One of the key elements of this unit is problem solving. Students will examine what obstacle the characters face, and how they overcame them. The final project will require a little creativity (of course!) and some critical thinking. Students will create their very own legend or fairy tale, complete with illustrations. Each student will then create a PowerPoint with their story, and we will all visit our Pre-School friends to share our stories with them. This is something the Pre-School teachers and I look forward to every year. The stories are always so fun and creative, and I'm sure this year will be no different!
― Albert Einstein
This month our theme is Myths, Legends and Fairytales. This is one of my all time favorite units - it just brings out the kid in me! This study, in particular, lends itself to a lot of creativity, allows them to explore their own culture, as well as those of their classmates, and to learn about cultures from all over the globe!
Each week our class will read different versions of the same story, each from a different part of the world. Throughout the unit, students will work on their graphic organizer to create character studies, describe the major events of the stories and how the characters responded, and what they learn about the different countries. We will compare and contrast these stories using Venn diagrams, vote on which version is the favorite and graph the results, and research the countries of origin so that we can create PowerPoint presentations to show what we have learned about each country, including the habitat, indigenous animals, food, music and traditions of the people in each country.
One of the key elements of this unit is problem solving. Students will examine what obstacle the characters face, and how they overcame them. The final project will require a little creativity (of course!) and some critical thinking. Students will create their very own legend or fairy tale, complete with illustrations. Each student will then create a PowerPoint with their story, and we will all visit our Pre-School friends to share our stories with them. This is something the Pre-School teachers and I look forward to every year. The stories are always so fun and creative, and I'm sure this year will be no different!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Welcome!
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
- Albert Einstein
This is perhaps one of my favorite quotes, although, as you will soon discover, I enjoy a good many quotes attributed to Mr. Einstein. Our class pet is named Einstein after the scientist, and our blog is named after our little hedgehog (shown in the profile picture)!
- Albert Einstein
This is perhaps one of my favorite quotes, although, as you will soon discover, I enjoy a good many quotes attributed to Mr. Einstein. Our class pet is named Einstein after the scientist, and our blog is named after our little hedgehog (shown in the profile picture)!
Our classroom is one of creative expression, curiosity and understanding. We are able to accomplish this, all while maintaining Common Core Standards, by utilizing project based learning. Each month our class takes on one or two projects (depending upon the number of days in a month and upon the difficulty of our task). Some of our projects are individual, others are collective, and others are a little bit of both. All of our projects have elements of research and presentation. While I have some projects in mind at the beginning of the year, I try to leave room for curiosity and creativity. If our class is curious about ants, for example, we might take a couple of weeks to learn about ants by bringing in an ant farm and doing some research and experiments to learn about what they eat, how they live, and what effects they may have on our ecosystem. In learning this way, students are able to use hands-on activities to gain the Language Arts, Mathematics and Critical Thinking skills required by Common Core State Standards, and still have the opportunity to learn about Science and Social Studies, as well as Art and Music.
The purpose of this blog is to not only inform our parents about what we are doing in class, but to serve as a reminder to myself on even the most exhausting days that I truly believe that the best part of my job is to "awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge" in my students. My day may not always go smoothly, but the end result is definitely worth the effort.
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