teach. - Shadow Puppets, Balloon Popping, Pin Smashing Fun

I've been really slack when it comes to blogging about the classroom. The thing is it's IEP season for me, and my daily class schedule and plans are revolving around scheduling IEP meetings, writing IEPs, and holding IEP meetings. My resource schedule has been off and the kids hate it as much as I do. Regardless, we've managed to have some fun.

Learning should be engaging. Learning should involve play as much as possible. Learning should be hands on and involve problem solving and social interaction. Learning should be fun. So, my inclusion teachers and I have been working really hard to be creative in order to engage. I mean spring fever is in the air, and we've gotta stay on our toes. Kids need to be busy - not just to be busy - but to be engaged in meaningful busyness to keep them focused on the end goal: LEARNING IS A LIFELONG ENDEAVOR THAT NEVER ENDS. 

Here comes the fun.

Some of my younger students have been working on summarizing in their classrooms. I use the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) program, and I do add my own flare. In this program there is a series of books about Moosling, and my students love the Moosling books. Once we completed several readings and small group discussions about the book, I provided the students with four pictures of events from the book. Without using the book, students had to sort the pictures in sequential order and write at least one sentence to summarize the picture. Once they completed this and conferenced with me about their writing, they took pictures of their work using their iPads and uploaded the pictures to the Shadow Puppet app. They used the sentences they wrote for each picture to narrate their summary. Then, they uploaded their Shadow Puppet to Seesaw for the classroom teachers and parents to see.

It sounds like a very simple assignment-maybe even mundane-but, the kids LOVE hearing their own voices, and they LOVE creating things! The Shadow Puppet app is very easy and simple to use, and the students required minimal assistance from me. In the end, they were so proud of their creation and were even more excited to be able to share it with others.

The Balloon Battle Math Review I can't take full credit for. I got the idea from the world wide web, but the fifth grade math inclusion teacher and I made it our own. We needed to review for a math test and wanted to do something different. So, I started searching for ideas when I came across a balloon race. Immediately, I sent the idea to my co-worker and we got excited. She created a SmartBoard presentation with ten review questions from the unit we were ready to test on. We split the class in half. She kept half of the class in her classroom, and I took half of the class to my classroom right down the hall. We decided to split the class to give each group of students more room and more opportunity to be loud. We also split the class based on performance levels, so that the teams would have fair competition. When my half of the students entered my classroom, I split them into teams of four. Each team was given five blown up balloons which I taped to the center of their team's table. Teams were located on opposite sides of the room, so they could discuss their answers more privately. In my hand I held the prize - the sharp end of a paperclip.

Here's how the game worked:

1. I presented the question on the board.

2. Each team member had to solve the problem.

3. Students had to share their answer with the team. If everyone had the same answer and agreed it was the correct answer, they gave a thumbs up. If a student or students had a different answer, the team had to work together to discuss the problem and decide on the correct answer. Everyone had to agree on the same answer before they could give a thumbs up.

4. When I received the thumbs up signal, I approached the team, and they gave me their answer silently.

5. When both teams were ready, I read the problem and gave the answer. If I saw the two teams used different strategies and both came to the same answer, I shared that with them. If one team was correct and the other incorrect, I allowed a student with the correct answer to explain it at the board. I took advantage of as many teaching moments as I could here.

6. The team with the correct answer got the paperclip and was able to pop one balloon on the opposing team's table. If both teams got an answer correct, no one popped any balloons. If both teams got the incorrect answer, the teacher was able to pop one balloon on each team's table.

7. The team with the most balloons at the end of the review wins. 

Students worked very well together, and we're able to practice respectful disagreements and communication skills. If anyone demonstrated disrespect or inappropriate behavior, the team lost their opportunity to win the paperclip. All students participated with the utmost respect and had a great time!

At the end of the game, I allowed the students to pop all of the unpopped balloons. I think they enjoyed that the most. 

Who knew popping balloons would get kids so engaged? When all problems were solved, they wanted more. The best feedback I got, before we even began, "This is the best math lesson ever!"

Cheap. Easy. Fun. Engaging.

P.S. For an added bonus, allow the kids to write on the table using Expo markers. For some reason, it blows their mind when I say, "You can write on the table."

Last, but certainly not least, a bowling alley room transformation!! Teachers at the Ron Clark Academy are masters at room transformations, and well, they are fun. An amazing middle school teacher in my district posted pictures of her bowling alley transformation on Facebook, and I had to steal it!

My fifth grade inclusion teacher and I are just insync with one another. This is our second year teaching together, and what can I say, it's so much fun! Then again, all of my inclusion teachers are incredible, and I love working with each and every one of them.

We used bowling as another math review activity, but you could use it for so many different things. We got two strands of white Christmas lights, taped them to the floor, and viola - a bowling lane in the middle of your classroom. We borrowed bowling pins from the Ms. P.E., turned out the lights (except the lamps), and boom - BOWLING IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

We split the class in half. Each half of the class was split into two groups. For example, there were 16 students. Each team had 8 students, but those 8 students were split into groups of 4. Each group of 4 had to solve the review question and agree on an answer. Then, they presented their answer to the other half of their team. Once all 8 students agreed on an answer, they presented their answer to an adult in the classroom. If the team got the correct answer, they sent a representative to bowl for their team. The number of pins knocked down by their representative was the number of points their team received - which made the competition very interesting. We had enough questions that every student had at least one chance to bowl for their team.

Again: Cheap. Easy. Fun. Engaging.

That's all I've got for now - after all it is spring break and here I am blogging about work. A teacher's work is never done - even on vacation.