Catching Up

It’s been a while since I last blogged about what we’ve been doing in our classroom, so here are a few snippets showing what we have been up to.

Two of the expectations in the Grade Four curriculum are:

Identify the characteristics of healthy relationships; and

Identify the challenges and responsibilities in their relationships with family and friends

I wanted a good read aloud and stumbled upon Because of Mr. Terupt.

My class LOVED this book. Every day they would ask me if we were going to read the book, and when I finished reading for the day, they would beg for just a few more pages.

The story is about a class of fifth graders who have an amazing and inspiring teacher named Mr. Terupt. The kids in the class are very archetypal; there’s the mean girl, the brainiac, the class clown, the kid that hates school, the overweight girl that gets picked on, the bookworm, and so on. The kids in the story were so easy for my students to relate to and we had some great conversations about how to handle various conflicts with family and friends.

A word of caution: this book may not be suitable for all classroom communities. For example, there is one character who comes from a very religious family. She often prays when she is upset or in need of some guidance. My class had a good talk about how some people have different beliefs and it’s important to respect that.

Also, there is a girl in the story whose mother was ostracized because she was a teen mom. Again, we had a good talk about what matters most when it comes to family. As one girl so perfectly put it, “It doesn’t matter how old Anna’s mom is, it matters how much she loves Anna!”

One of the characters mentions having a worry doll to help her deal with anxiety. Social-emotional health is a big area of focus in our school community, so we had a whole class conversation on the things that make us anxious; fighting with friends, math tests, etc. Then, using little foam doll kits I got from Dollarama, we made our own worry dolls. Some of them were very creative!

 One of my gymnastics girls made this headstand worry doll

I’m really not sure what’s happening here but hey, it’s definitely one of a kind!

Because of Mr. Terupt is emotional but authentic and like I said, it was a real hit with my class.

Here are some other fun things we’ve been up to…

Mexican Tin Art

One afternoon, I was looking through an OWL magazine that was delivered to the classroom and I saw this craft idea. We haven’t really painted all year so I thought the kids would enjoy it…and they did! 

You'll need:

-small cardboard squares (we used cereal boxes)

-tinfoil

-paint

Math

We finished our unit on fractions and we started a mini unit on time and temperature. To make it more interesting, we are pretending we are going on a vacation to Disney World (and now I really just want to hop on a plane and go to Florida).

 This is an actual picture from my trip to Disney in 2012

Grade Threes have to be able to read and record time to the nearest five minutes, and Grade Fours need to do the same to the minute. To help them out, I made this beautiful (?) flower clock.  Click HERE for the link on Teachers Pay Teachers.

The petals are actually supposed to be applied to your classroom clock but my clock was too large

Each day we estimate the current temperature, record the actual temperature on our thermometer, and record the time we looked up this data.

The Dress

One more thing…was anyone else shamefully obsessed with “The Dress”? I discovered this trending topic one Friday afternoon and was baffled by it all weekend. So when we got back to school on the Monday morning, I used it for a morning math question. I put up the picture and we graphed how many kids saw either white and gold or black and blue. Some kids had seen it themselves over the weekend and some were just blown away. I think I’m over my obsession now.

That’s it for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their March Breaks!

Learning in the Fast Lane

    What comes to mind when you think of gifted students? Perhaps words like genius, brilliant,  or intelligent jump out at you. Maybe you’re one of the many who get intimidating, anxious, or unfamiliar. Gifted students come in all shapes and sizes, ages, genders, and abilities. As different as they can all be from one another, one thing usually remains the same: having gifted students in the classroom can cause a lot of anxiety for the teacher. But anything is scary and intimidating when you don’t know much about it.

    I used to fear driving on the 401 because I’m just a small town girl who grew up in a hamlet where a few stop signs were more than enough to manage traffic. Once I began driving those major highways and familiarizing myself with the pattern of the roads, the drive wasn’t all that bad. And let's not forget to give due credit to the iPhone Maps app. 

    Teaching gifted students is quite similar. They learn in the fast lane and like to have multiple opportunities to arrive at their destination. Their thirst for knowledge and their impressive abilities to exceed normal expectations can send teachers into a panic! “What if they’re smarter than me? What do they do if they finish half an hour before everyone else? How can I prevent the behaviours that stem from their boredom?” As Francis Bacon once famously said, “knowledge is power”, and this truth can be applied to the student as well as the teacher.

    Provide the gifted students with the opportunities they need to be successful and watch them excel beyond your wildest dreams. Educate yourself on the needs and characteristics of your gifted students and you’ll be able to provide the best learning environment for those children.
    It's important to remember that gifted students are very similar to students with learning disabilities. Both parties have been formally identified and have Individual Education Plans designed specifically for their needs. The same effort you put towards differentiating your instruction for a child with learning disabilities should be applied to a child who is gifted. Both are exceptional meaning they both need accommodations and modifications in their programming.

    The following is a short presentation that educates you on gifted children in the math classroom. I used an online program called Prezi; I have seen it used many times, but had never used it myself. After a few hours of clicking and exploring, I came up with a simple, yet informative presentation on learning how to provide an inclusive learning environment for the gifted child. Just follow the few short instructions before beginning and enjoy!

1. Click on the picture below. You will be redirected to the Prezi website
2. Begin the presentation by clicking the Fullscreen icon at the bottom right corner of the video
3. Once the music begins to play, navigate at your own pace using the arrow keys