BrainPOP’s video Voting is an informative and efficient way of providing students with a picture of the voting process. This video would be appropriate for grades third and up. The film is relevant to the upcoming election and could be used in the social studies content area. In the video some questions addressed include who are elected officials, how to elect or reelect representatives, the date for the presidential election, the process of registration, what materials you use when voting, and what voting decisions can help determine. Voting engages students without boring them as the video lasts less than five minutes.
I showed Voting to brother who is currently in fifth grade. He agreed that learning information through the video was better than receiving information through a textbook. He enjoyed watching the video because it was easy to understand and the robot that narrated the video was funny. It seemed as if the content in the video was too easy, as he is well informed for his age. Most of the information he already knew. I asked him a variety of questions to prompt his engagement and learning in the video. Prior knowledge he had before the video was that you vote in private. Something new he learned was the date of Election Day is the second Tuesday in November. A topic he thought needed to be voted on at his school was recycling habits. Something he had voted for previously was for the positions for student government. Overall, the video was clear, descriptive, and easy to comprehend.
The One Great Text I shared with my student is a poem called My Pet Germs by Kenn Nesbitt. Kenn Nesbitt is an author of humorous poetry for children, including the books My Hippo Has the Hiccups and Revenge of the Lunch Ladies. I thought this one poem was really cute and funny while also explaining some patterns of germs. The poem also uses good vocabulary such as “epidermis.” The end of the poem leaves the kids with a question that should make them ponder on how many germs there actually are.
I have a half a billion germs
I keep as tiny pets.
They’re cute and clean and never mean
and give me no regrets.
They spend all day engaged in play
upon my skin and hair.
They’re on my clothes, between my toes
and in my underwear.
They dance and shout and bounce about.
They run and jump and slide.
My epidermis teems with germs
who party on my hide.
I never fret about the pets
inside my shirt and socks.
I love them there but wonder where
they keep their litter box?
My student absolutely loved this poem. She laughed throughout the reading and wanted me to read it again once I was finished. She understood and said that “Germs make you sick because they are tiny and we can’t see them.” She also said that “Germs are bad, but I don’t think they go in your underpants and have a party (haha).” I feel like even though the poem was humorous, Ingrid understood the point of the poem. She giggled about three times while also responding with insight! I would recommend this poem and more Kenn Nesbitt poems to use in the classroom!
The One Great Text I shared is an article entitled “Gloomy Underpass Transformed Into Awesome Kids’ Park” that I found on the website, TeachingKidsNews.com. This website is a great resource that provides articles on current events written in language understandable to elementary-age children. I shared this particular article because I hoped it would be interesting to my case study participant. The article is about an amusement park that was built underneath an underpass in Toronto, Canada. I would use this article in a science lesson about the different careers that scientists go into, such as engineers that help build parks like the one in the article (TEKS 3D).
When I read this article to my student, he said that he thought it was interesting because it reminded him of “parks that are really beautiful” and you can see “the cool stuff.” He also liked the picture provided because “it looks really familiar” like the underpasses in Austin.
The Useborne Book of Inventors From Da Vinci to Biro written by Struan Reid and Patricia Fara from Scholastic Inc. is an incredible resource for the classroom. From early inventions to communication machines there are articles about every subject you might need. It could be used in a unit on science, history, social studies or even language arts (expository text). Whether your lesson is on transpiration, technology, observations, and or inventors your students would be able to find something in this book. Short exert from text:
Trains and Railway
The age of railways began at the end of the 18th century, with the invention of the steam engine and the introduction of cast iron rails. At the time, many people believed that it was dangerous to travel fast than the speed of a galloping horse, and opposed the development of locomotives.
Eat Your Math Homework is filled with delicious recipes created especially to teach math concepts to children of all ages and levels of cooking experience through real world application. This special cookbook does an exceptional job of introducing new math vocabulary and give students a chance to practice measurement skills. It also includes fun math facts and follow up activities! If you don’t have access to a sink, oven, or microwave the recipes available for use in your classroom may be limited, but either way this is a great text.
I first saw this book in the homeschool library of a family I frequently babysit for but after talking to the kids I realized they had either never used it or hadn’t in a very long time. We flipped through the pages and decided to make probability trail mix. I liked that the recipe could be altered to fit what they had in the pantry and realized that both kids could benefit from learning about probability, despite their differing prior knowledge. We mixed the trail mix together and created charts to estimate the likelihood of pulling out each ingredient. Both of the kids wrote down their estimations and after reaching into the mix ten times (and eating along the way!) we compared the numbers. The kids had fun and didn’t seem to realize that math was involved despite my emphasis on the vocabulary.
I would definitely consider using this text while babysitting, tutoring, or in a traditional classroom. If you’re interested in learning more check out free teacher guides and other related resources at www.eatyourmathhomework.com
I Face the Wind by Vicki Cobb, is a great tool to use in the classroom for integrating science principles in a fun and engaging way. This book explores the concept of wind by relating it to every-day life. As the story continues, there are numerous opportunities to engage students in discussion given that it poses questions that will be sure to spark students’ imagination. Similarly, students are invited to explore this concept through hands-on experiments presented throughout the story which makes learning about science a fun learning experience.
Here is a short snippet of her work:
“Ever face a strong wind?
Your hair blows away from your face.
You could lose your hat.
And if the wind is
blowing hard enough,
you may even have to walk in a slant.
You can’t see this force that’s pushing you But you can feel it. And you can see what wind does to other things.
It makes dust swirl in a circle.
It makes flags stick out straight and flutter.
Can you name some things you see wind do?
Go outside and watch.
Leaves on trees shake.
A kite stays in the sky.
An umbrella turns inside out.
Add your own ideas to the list.
Why does the wind push you?
You can discover WHY by asking questions and doing things to get answers.
Here’s the first question. What is wind made of?I Face the Wind
Schoolhouse Rock is a educational series first produced in the 1970’s. They are short animated videos set to catchy music that have inspired generations of kids to learn math, history, grammar, science, economics and civics. Schoolhouse Rock endeavored to teach kids content during the Saturday morning cartoon line up on the ABC network. The series taught an entire generation of kids that “Knowledge is Power,” and today they still are used to inspire learning threw engagement and repetition.
In 2009 Schoolhouse Rock created an entire new series reflecting recent current events called Earth Rock, which will continue to inspire the next generations of kids to learn about recycling, global warming, and energy. Many of the videos are available for free access on You tube and Teacher Tube or the 30th Anniversary collection can be purchased on Amazon.
I choose to post the Schoolhouse rock video Counting by fives, because it is one of my favorites. It is part of the math series which I remember from my childhood. Along with impatiently waiting for the clips to air when I was watching cartoons as a child, my parents bought me the record Multiplication Rock. I would spend hours listening, singing, and dancing around to the record, not realizing that I was learning my multiplication tables at the same time. As scratched and warped as this record is today, it is so loved that 35 years later I still own it! Recently I bought the entire series on DVD so I can share the fun and magic with the future students in my own classroom.
My 10 year old niece was recently visiting me in Texas from Minnesota. As she was rummaging through my videos she came across the Schoolhouse Rock DVD, across the house I could hear her squeals of delight as she came running to me exclaiming, “Auntie can we watch this video? I love these, my teacher uses these. I love the math and conjunction ones!” She sat (directly in front of the TV) singing while automatically remembering the words to many of the songs. When the Counting by Fives video ended she told me that when she plays hide and go seek outside with her friends, she convinces them to count by twos, fives or tens as they all scurry to find hiding places. It is inspiring to find a resource that kids not only can be prompted to learn by, but a resource that they are motivated to use in their daily lives.
Web comments about Schoolhouse Rock:
“When My son was in College in a Business English class, the Professor asked the class what an Interjection was……silence! Leave it to my son; he started singing the Schoolhouse Rock jingle of Interjections! He proudly told me as I am writing this, “I got it right!” with a smile in his voice. He also said he was embarrassed, but he was the only one that got it right!”-Kathy Pukeko (home school teacher).
“I recently picked up the Schoolhouse Rock! retrospective DVD for my five year old and we got hooked into watching all 46 lessons. Beyond being hit by a nostalgic blast from the past, I was struck by how, after all these years, I instantly remembered all the songs and was able to sing along. But what really blew me away was the shows effect on my son. He was completely riveted and now, after watching just a couple of times, he walks around singing his times tables, telling everyone how the nervous system works, and reciting the preamble to the Constitution.”- Inspired Parent
“One idea to try with your students is to let them watch a particular video three or four times. For example, when my third graders were learning their times tables, they used the “Three Is a Magic Number” to help them out. I divided them into groups and let them come up with a routine to the song, and they made “music videos” to go with each song, which I recorded with my flip camera. They did an awesome job, not to mention mastered their three’s times tables!” -Kelly Hines 3rd grade teacher from NC.
Alice in Pastaland A Math Adventure written by Alexandra Wright is a picture book parody of the novel Alice in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll. The familiar theme and exciting plot will entice any student. Alice in Pastaland A Math Adventure is ideal for incorporating math content. It applies to multiple areas of the TEKS content including measurement in 2nd grade math in 111.4 (b) (9) “The student applies mathematical process standards to select and use units to describe length, area, and time.” It can also be utilized when teaching predictions within texts. Alice in Pastaland A Math Adventure provides a fun and engaging format to explore mathematical concepts in your elementary classroom.
Here is a snippet of the book:
“Alice was astonished to hear a rabbit speaking
about math. She jumped up explaining, “You just have
to multiply…” but he disappeared into a rabbit hole.
Alice stuck her head in the hole and tried to see into
the darkness. She only succeeded in losing her balance
and falling…down…down…down.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is perhaps one of the most brilliant writers of our time. He is a tremendous figure, enormously talented, and admired. This is his story, lovingly told, for children to enjoy. Using the imagery from his novels, Monica Brown traces the novelist’s life in this creative nonfiction bilingual book from his childhood in Colombia to today. She does a wonderful job of articulating García Márquez’s complex literary style (called magical realism) in a way youngsters can grasp. Even better, she shows how his imagination was nurtured and encouraged from a very early age by the things around him.
This is an inspiring story about an inspiring life, full of imagination and beauty and a 2008 Pura Belpré Honor Book.
Below is a snippet of the book:
“Once, there was a little boy named Gabito who could. This little boy would become one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Gabito was born in the magical town of Aracataca, Colombia.
Can you imagine what kind of stories Gabito told? Close your eyes and see.”
“Había una vez un niñito que se llamaba Gabito, que sí podía. Este niñito llegaría a ser uno de los mejores narradores de cuentos de todos los tiempos. Gabito nació en el pueblo mágico de Aracataca, Colombia.
¿Puedes imaginarte qué tipo de cuentos contó? Cierra los ojos y mira lo que imaginas.”
Parts is written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold. It is written in rhyme with watercolor illustrations and it is the first in a trilogy on the theme of body parts. This book can be used for pre-k or kinder students, this way they understand all these things that are happening to them. Also, it can be used to introduce idioms. Students can use it as an example or can pick out the idioms themselves. Also since it is written in rhyme it can be used to introduce poetry, and how poetry can be created into a book as well. It is a very funny book with great illustrations. Below is a snippet of the book:
I just don’t know what’s going on or why it has to be.
But every day it’s something worse. Whats happening to me?
I think it was three days ago I first became aware-
That in my comb were caught a couple pieces of my hair.
I stared at them, amazed, and more Than just a bit appalled
To think that I was only five and starting to go bald.
Then later on (I don’t recall exactly when it was)
I lifted up my shirt and found this little piece of fuzz.
I started at it, amazed, and wondered, Whats this all about?
