Kids write the darndest things...

So, I gave a spelling test today and this is what I found on the back of one of my student's papers:

Gotta admire that determination....

Week 3 - The start of my owl unit!

The Start of my Owl Unit

It has been an eventful week for all of us in Room 8! I started my Owl Unit and it has been an incredible learning experience (honestly, more so for me than the kids.) Of course they are learning a thing or two (or three or four) about owls... but the amount of knowledge I have gained from teaching the past three weeks doesn't even come close in comparison.

I observed while my mentor teacher engaged the kids in a fun activity for practicing their high frequency spelling words. The kids loved it... they all sat in a circle (massage train style) and spelled these words out loud with their teacher while drawing each letter with their pointer finger on the upper back of the person in front of them. As they practiced these high frequency words after a long day, not only were they engaged, they were also relaxed. Brilliant.

For my first lesson, we read some informational picture books and then filled in a chart listing what owls are, can (do), have, and need. (I laminated the chart so I could write with dry-erase markers.) The red marker is what the kids came up with (prior knowledge) before we read the book Owls by Gail Gibbons. The green is what we filled in afterward.

After this lesson I started a pile of index cards with key vocabulary words related to the unit. The kids and I flip through the vocab words before each lesson and I use the popsicle stick questioning technique (picking names randomly using popsicle sticks) as both a review and form of assessment. These kids are like little sponges! What they can remember from the previous day's lesson is amazing.

The next day, we learned about the different parts of the Great Horned Owl. I created this chart (with velcro labels) and had the students work together to place the labels where they belong.

The most exciting lesson I taught this week (and I know the kids would agree) was about the different sounds owls make. First, we listened to actual audio clips of different owl calls. The kids then, in small groups, came up with a list of different onomatopoeias that represent the different sounds they heard. I took a few suggestions from each group to write on the board... there were a few hoots, a couple screech's, but my favorite was "whgthp", preceded by a high-pitched squacking noise to show pronunciation. Creativity at its finest. 

After we decided on our four favorite onomatopoeias, I brought up lyrics to a song we were going to learn. When the kids found out that it would be a new and improved version of their oh-so beloved song "What Does the Fox Say?", the crowd went wild... (seriously, what is it with that song? Obnoxious.) Prior to the lesson, after I decided to swallow my indifference, I had re-written some of the lyrics to present a more unit-appropriate (yet still undeniably annoying) tune, renamed "What Does the Owl Say?"  We used their onomatopoeias to fill in the rest of the lyrics and we all practiced singing our updated version together... stay tuned, videos to come! (We are going to perform it to the first and second graders, dance moves and all.)

I have to say though, my opinion was swayed after witnessing their enthusiasm. They're so funny, how can anyone hate a song when a bunch of eight-year-olds are jumping around, nearly scream-singing it? The tune is pretty catchy... and I was really glad they had so much fun during my lesson.

Week 2

Onomatopoeias

During Week 2, I taught a few lessons but my favorite was when I used a mentor text to teach the students about how to use onomatopoeias (the creation of words that imitate natural sounds or actions) in their own writing. The students had a lot of fun with this, making all kinds of noises to help come up with examples like “Crash!”, “Pow!”, “Woof!”, etc. The mentor text I used was called Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! By Candace Fleming. It was full of onomatopoeias, which the students helped me identify at the end. For the follow-up activity, students wrote their own pieces of writing and had to include at least three examples of an onomatopoeia. They could choose to write a poem, a story, or something of their own free-choice. This was part of my formative assessment for the lesson. This lesson is also a prerequisite for my owl unit because we will be doing more work with onomatopoeias, describing the different sounds owls make (after listening to real owl call recordings!)

This week, I observed an activity that I know I will use in my future classroom: “Musical Spelling.” It is a fun, engaging way to have students do drill and practice with their spelling words (not to mention an excellent way to get some of their energy out!) Here's how it works:

Each seat has a mini whiteboard and marker. Under each whiteboard there is a different spelling word from that month's list (cut out and placed underneath). The students dance around the desks while the music is playing and when the music stops, they run to one of the seats, flip that whiteboard over, and write the given word over and over again as many times as they can. Once the music begins again, the students erase their board, flip it over, and continue dancing. Each time the music stops they are to run to a seat they haven't been to yet. I thought this was brilliant and the kids had a blast with it. Whoever said drill and practice is a yawn, clearly hasn't been to Room 8!

Did I mention that last Friday was Wacky Hair Day? See for yourselves... I can hardly handle the awesomeness. (Not to mention how genius the kids are who decided to just not brush their hair that morning because it was "crazy enough when they woke up." They're onto something.) 

Week 1

The Adventure Begins

When I started my student teaching experience last week, I was blown away by my mentor teacher (Mrs. White) and her second graders. On the first day, the kiddos performed their daily "opening" (which is Room 8's morning meeting routine). The students have jobs that rotate each day, including the MC, Time Keeper, Word Wizard, Mathematician, and the Technician (who records it all on the iPad). The kids have this semi-scripted routine memorized. You truly have to see it for yourself... click here.

Also on my first day, I did an activity with the students so I could get to know them better and so they could get to know me as well. Last semester, I read about a welcome activity called “What's Your Bag,” which is a great way to tell your students a little bit about yourself by bringing in a bag full of knick knacks that give some insight to your interests and who you are. I took this idea and flipped it a bit, so that I could get to know my students better in the process. My idea was to bring in a “Box of Me” (a shoebox filled with knick knacks that give insight to who I am) to show the students. Afterward, I would hand the students a sheet of paper with a box on it (just a rectangle, see attached) to fill in (draw, write, list, etc) anything they would like that would tell me more about themselves: hobbies, family, favorites, etc. The activity went really well. After they finished, I had mini conferences with each of them and they described their “Box of Me” to me. I learned a lot about my students and their interests the first day I was there. Here are some examples of the final product:

                                

As you can see, they got pretty creative... in the fourth photo you can see that one student included things she is afraid of. Oy vey! ... :) Never a dull moment when it comes to 2nd graders!

Adventures of Room 8

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome! I decided to start this blog to keep track of all of the learning experiences, teachable moments, and memories of my time student teaching in Room 8, Mrs. White's 2nd grade classroom. The kiddos in Room 8 write weekly blogs, reflecting on what they have been doing in the classroom (it's amazing to watch second graders do this... I've already learned in my time here that if you give them the right tools, kids can accomplish anything); so I figured it was about time I got in on the action. This is my first time writing a blog, so please bear with me. Thanks for reading!

*To check out Room 8's blog (entries from the second graders themselves), click here!

(All photos have been taken and posted with permission and to protect the privacy of the students, names will not be used.)