Ask the Math Teacher

Where in the World?

2013-11-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

November 18 – November 22
Our theme for the twelfth week of school is "Where in the World?"

LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading
Our interactive read-aloud for this week was The Bunyons by Audrey Wood. The primary skill is understanding figurative language (hyperbole) and it makes a fun connection to geography since the story depicts how formations across the U.S. were created.

MATHEMATICS
We have moved on to subtraction with a focus on fractions. My favorite manipulatives to use are Pattern Blocks and Rainbow Fraction Bars.

HISTORY
The theme of this week centers around geography and since we are studying the expansion of the U.S., I thought this video about the U.S. Border with Canada would be fun. One Look At The United States-Canada Border Reveals Some Ridiculous Things.We ended up watching it several times because the kids found it so interesting.

P.E.
I suppose that it wouldn't be November without football. Aside from the basics of learning to throw a football correctly and understanding the basics of the game, we also studied the protective equipment used in football. Even students who are not athletic enjoy learning why football helmets are made of plastic rather than metal, what a concussion is and why each football team has more than one uniform design/color scheme.

VISUAL ART
All eight centers are now open: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, digital arts, fabric arts, sculpture or clay. Our five minute museum for this week was The View of Toledo by El Greco.

Read-Aloud: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2013-11-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

What we're reading together...Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a realistic fiction series (Level S-- 3rd or 4th grade) with seven books so far. (It's also a movie!)

It's a novel in graphic cartoons so it's important for kids to see the pictures as you read and it's a great book for a shared reading time via projector.

The main character Greg Heffley suffers from hilarious problems that he obliviously creates for himself.

This book is a favorite with kids and can be a fabulous way to entice the reluctant older reader because the reading level is low but the subject matter and interest level is higher. It's even popular with adults-- my brother-in-law enjoyed it so much he agreed to painted the mural for me in the library (see photo above).

Pumpkin Week

2013-10-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

October 21 – October 25
Our theme for the eighth week of school was "Pumpkin Week." We picked our pumpkins from the garden, painted jack-o-lanterns and took a field trip to a corn maze. The corn maze was at a local farm where the biggest attraction was the goat in the tree house. (We also fed pumpkins to the pigs, took a hayride, jumped on the straw trampoline and endlessly slid down the giant slide.)

LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading
We are finishing up Bunnicula by Deborah Howe. It is our read-aloud selection for the genre of horror. It's a perfect Halloween novel for kids. It isn't too scary but has plenty of references to Dracula lore.

Poetry and Literature
Because Halloween is almost here, we read epitaphs. I had an afterthought that another field trip to the local cemetery could have been fun too!

Composition
This week's project was to write a letter.

MATHEMATICS

This week we continue our study of addition with a focus on fractions. My favorite manipulatives to use for addition are Pattern Blocks and Rainbow Fraction Bars. (I like Math-U-See Fraction Overlays and Cuisenaire Rods for multiplication and UNIFIX Cubes for teaching the meaning of fractions.)

SCIENCE
Time to study weather!

HISTORY
The Pony Express ceased operations on October 26th. The old trail and station markers are still visible here in Utah Valley. I had planned a field trip but we had to reschedule for another time because the weather was not cooperating. (It did actually stop snowing for a short period in the morning so we could enjoy our time at the corn maze.)

VISUAL ART
The last area to open is our Clay Center of our art studio. As usual, after a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the eight centers now open: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, digital arts, fabric arts, sculpture or clay.

Apple Week

2013-09-30T12:21:00.001-07:00

September 23 – September 27

Our theme for the fourth week of school was "Apple Week." It was Johnny Appleseed's birthday on the 26th and we celebrated all week long with apple cider, applesauce, apple pie, fresh apples, apple fritters, apple turnovers, apple pancakes and apple coffee cake.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Penmanship
Here are this week's apple quotes for handwriting practice.

Reading
We read "Mrs. Gorf" from Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar as an interactive read-aloud and our mini lesson focused on "recalling details." Mrs. Gorf turns her misbehaving students into apples and my favorite part of the lesson is hearing the reasons children think Mrs. Gorf might be tempted to turn THEM into apples.

Poetry and Literature
Each week, I reinforce our grammar lessons through poetry. This week we are studying adjectives and Haiku is the perfect medium. I encourage students to write their poem and then go back and edit out the insignificant words. Haiku relies on cramming as many relevant descriptive words into as a small space as possible. We review the style of Haiku, remind ourselves how to determine syllables, list descriptive words and brainstorm items, places or events in nature that we can write about in our Haiku.

Also, when possible, I like to record my kids reciting their own poetry. Here is a poem written about our field trip to the mountains last week.

Nature in the Mountain
Cold and chilly hike,
early in the morning light
running waterfall.

Composition
This week we focused on the 6+1 Writing Trait CONVENTIONS (which includes grammar). The main thing we worked on is how to use commas in a series of adjectives. [Personally, I subscribe to the "less punctuation is better" philosophy (which, incidentally, is my main complaint with the English Language Arts Common Core-- they over punctuate and that makes for difficult reading material). Hence, I teach my students to omit the final comma in a general series when using the word "and."]

MATHEMATICS
This week we continue our study of the Real number system. We played an equivalent numbers matching game. Admittedly, it's quite difficult and I wouldn't recommend it for any students who haven't had significant experience with the corresponding Montessori math materials (golden bead material, fraction/decimal boards, fraction circles, etc.)

SCIENCE
Properties and States of Matter (Changing Apples into Juice, Applesauce, Slices, etc.)

HISTORY
In fourth grade we focus on several essential questions. Those that apply to this week are:

What does “Manifest Destiny” mean?
Why did the U.S. expand its territory during the 19th century and why did settlers move west?

This week we studied tall tale heroes and American legends: Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Casey Jones, Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Each of these individuals tells a story about the types of people who settled the western United States. (We will revisit several of these stories in a few weeks as we practice distinguishing between facts and opinions.)

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Printmaking Center of our art studio. As usual, after a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the four centers now open: drawing, painting, printmaking or collage.

Read-Aloud: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

2013-09-25T13:52:00.002-07:00

What we're reading together...Percy Jackson &The Olympians by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is an easier fantasy series (Level S-- 4th grade) with five books focusing on Percy Jackson, a 6th grader with ADHD and dyslexia. He learns he is the demi-god son of Poseidon and is sent on the kind of adventures children love to daydream about. The first book has been made into a movie. (The second book has also been made into a movie and it is due to be released in August.)

Our Extension Activities

leather duster

Once again, we have been collecting images off the internet of vocabulary words from the book: ambrosia, caduceus, chimera, Cupid, duster, furies, hell hound, laurel wreath, mausoleum, Medusa, minotaur, peacock, pomegranate, reed pipe, tunnel of love.
We have abalone shells and coral in our science collection and a miniature figure of the Empire State Building in our world landmarks collection that made a fun hands-on way to visualize parts of the book.
My son has a leather duster we found for his Halloween costume last year and our recent family pictures. I used it as a visual example of the one worn by Ares in the book. It's much more fun to touch and smell the leather than to simply read about it (or even see a picture of one).
We also have a blowable conch shell (like the one used in the book to call the campers to dinner) which everyone took turns trying to play. Of course, B. plays the trumpet and was a natural at the conch shell. He did noted that it is actually more like playing the French horn, which made for a brief but fun tie-in to our musical instruments nomenclature set. In the book, Grover also plays the pan flute (or reed pipes) and they mention a lyre several times.
We are studying Greek mythology simultaneously, which is perfect for increasing background schema. We put together a pedigree chart for the various Greek gods to help us visualize their lineage and we have paid special attention to the Greek mythological characters, stories and elements from this book (Procrustes, Athena, Pan, the three fates, Persephone, Rive Styx, Chiron, Charon, Kronos, Cerberus, Olympus, Medusa, Hades, Ares, Dionysus, Zeus, Poseidon, Echidna, Chimera, Minotaur, the three furies, Tartarus, Erebus, Hermes, satyrs, Perseus, the Underworld and Thalia).
We also checked out the map for the various geographic locations mentioned in the book (New York City, Manhattan, Empire State Building, Long Island, Denver, New Jersey turnpike, Los Angeles, St. Louis Arch, Las Vegas, Mississippi River, Santa Monica Pier).
The movie for book one has provided us with the opportunity to compare the similarities and differences between the two.
We used my Cricut machine to screen print "Camp Half-Blood" T-shirts.
After we read a few more chapters, we are planning a meal of blue foods as homage to Percy's mother.

The Montessori Difference

2013-09-23T12:26:00.003-07:00

If you have spent time looking through my weekly outlines, you will notice that my lesson plans are very short. In fact, they are just mini-lessons of 15 minutes or less designed to be used with 6 or fewer students at a time. You might also notice that instead of direct instruction type lessons, they are generally simple introductions to concepts or follow-up reviews of specific topics. This is because in a Montessori classroom, the learning takes place as the child works independently with the Montessori materials.

I am going to spend the next couple of weeks highlighting some of my favorite materials and conducting a virtual tour of the classroom but first I figured I should answer the question: Why Montessori?

THE MONTESSORI WAY	TRADITIONAL MODELS
Child who is intrinsically motivated to learn because he is allowed to follow his passion and choose activities that complement his learning style	Teacher who chooses when and what the child will study and attempts to motivate high performance by punishing or rewarding the child
Extended work periods where children select multi-sensory materials and hands-on activities that foster their individual interests and needs	Teacher who schedules when and for how long a child will study each concept
Inquiry based experiments and research projects that provide practical applications to real-life with cross-curricular activities that reinforce student-led discovery of new ideas	Teacher driven, whole class lectures followed by drill and practice worksheets that bore students and waste paper with additional busywork sent as daily homework
Teacher who plays an unobtrusive role in the classroom and who stays with the same students for multiple years serving as a long-term , trusted learning guide	Teacher as ultimate controller of knowledge in the classroom with white board and teacher desk as the focal point of the learning experience
Active education where students learn by doing, moving frequently to stretch both the body and the mind—choosing their own location for work	Rows of assigned desks facing the white board, filled with students sitting silently all day long
Mixed age classrooms where students mentor one another and learn to show compassion for those who are different	Students segregated by age and ability
Grace and courtesy lessons which teach children to respect adults and other students	Competition and bullying
Outside activities as central part of the educational experience developing a sense of respect and caring for the natural world	Limited recess, sometimes taken away as punishment for poor behavior
Beautiful, comfortable classrooms with attractive decorations that support learning by soothing the soul and enriching the mind	Cluttered walls and counters that distract from learning and create an atmosphere of disorder
Hands-on materials stored in reach of students with responsibility to repair broken items given to the children	Hands-on activities stored and controlled by the teacher and generally reserved as rewards for compliant behavior

It's simple. I love Montessori because the focus is the child.

Hello Autumn!

2013-09-21T13:23:00.003-07:00

September 16 – September 20

Our theme for the third week of school was "Hello Autumn!" The leaves in the mountains are starting to turn to reds and golds.

FIELD TRIP
This week's field trip was a hike up the canyon. We hiked up the Battle Creek trail due to the rock slides in AF Canyon from earlier this month. We talked about the settling of the area by the Mormon pioneers and how it got its name. (I have two ancestors who reportedly participated in this particular battle and it is a solemn feeling to think about the tragedy that occurred.)

We also took our science journals to sketch the different plants and animals we found. The first animal anyone found was a black widow. How he saw it from fifteen feet away in all that underbrush is beyond me! I am so terrified of spiders that I ended up having nightmares that night that a little girl tried to pick it up and got bitten. I cropped the picture below so it looks like we are closer than we actually are :).

We topped it all off with a discussion about people not cleaning up after their dogs. It was chillier than I expected but still fun.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Penmanship
Here are this week’s copywork selections.We also had a discussion related to social studies on how important good handwriting is. Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark expedition) had a dog named Seaman. For over 100 years, the dog's name was reported to be Scannon because the two look similar when written and Lewis had such poor handwriting.

Reading
We read Old Henry by Joan W. Blos and our mini lesson focused on "analyzing characters."

Spelling
In addition to the word sorts from the Words Their Way spelling program, we work on occasional "Wacky Words." This week we learned to spell AUTUMN. I made up new words to Rita Mae Olsen's song "It's Autumntime" and we fingerspell A-U-T-U-M-N as we sing the chorus.

Poetry and Literature
I reinforce our grammar lessons through poetry. We are learning about nouns and this week's poem was "What I Found in My Desk" by Bruce Lansky. By replacing the various nouns in Lansky's poem with our own words, we made up fun poems. I wrote my own sample to give some inspiration:

What I Found in My Purse
An apple with an ugly bruise,
a shoelace for my tennis shoes,
a coupon for a pecan pie,
a lipstick that I meant to try,
a flashlight for when it’s dark,
the keys I thought I lost at the park,
a Ziplock bag with Cheerio crumbs,
a broken phone that barely hums,
a driver’s test I almost failed,
a past due bill I should have mailed,
and one more thing, I must confess,
a note from myself: Clean This Mess!!!!

Composition
This week we focused on the 6+1 Writing Trait CONVENTIONS (which includes grammar). Since we are learning about nouns, we did another sorting activity. The objective is to sort words into one of two categories: nouns or not nouns. It is going to take a while understand the abstract nouns like love, religion, etc.

MATHEMATICS
To learn about the different sets of numbers (Natural, Whole, Integer, Rational, Irrational, Real Algebraic, Transcendental, Real, Imaginary, Complex, etc.) we played a sorting game. I printed and cut out various number cards (you can download them here). I set out six nesting boxes with the simple directions to "sort the number cards". In the past I have used different sized baskets but this summer I found nesting containers at Walmart that work perfectly.

I use Ziplock bags taped inside the two largest boxes for Imaginary and Irrational Numbers.

Because this activity is so similar to the spelling and vocabulary word sorts, I don't label the containers. Students look for similarities and differences in the number. It amazes me how easy it is for some kids to sort the numbers into accurate groups. There are usually a few incorrect numbers-- generally money (it can be hard to understand the details of cents vs. dollars/euros/pounds)-- and I need to help put the nested boxes in the correct order but I have found that the second time the activity is repeated, there are few, if any mistakes.

SCIENCE
This week we studied endangered Utah plants and animals and practiced science journaling while on our hike in the canyon.

HISTORY
Still focusing on Manifest Destiny, we studied Lewis and Clark (and Sacagawea) along with the details of the Louisiana Purchase (connecting to Napoleon and last week).

One of the things I find most fascinating is that some people believed that this new territory contained unicorns, wooly mammoths and seven foot beavers. (Kids find this fact amusing as well.)

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Painting Center of our art studio. After a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the three centers now open: drawing, painting or collage.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
We went hiking this week.We also talked about types of walking- jogging, sprinting, hiking and race walking. (Race walking is an Olympic sport. Olympic racewalkers can "walk" a mile faster than I can run it. Pretty cool! Here is a video to check it out.)

This is my country!

2013-09-16T15:54:00.002-07:00

September 9 – September 13

We just completed our second week of school and we are now starting to settle into a routine. The weekly theme was "This is my country!" (Remember that Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance is celebrated this week.) Here's a recap of our week of fun.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Penmanship
Fourth through sixth graders have the option to use whatever handwriting style they want so long as it is legible. Some will choose to print, others will work on cursive. We use Handwriting Without Tears as the instruction in the younger grades and then give children the opportunity to learn a second or third script or to study calligraphy. Each week, copywork selections (poems, sayings, jokes, etc.) that coincide with the theme are provided for children to use. Here are this week’s selections.

Reading
We read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. It's always fun to see children's expressions when they realize that it is a true story about the author. Our mini lesson (check it out here) focused on "sequencing chronological events." The supporting skill is "determining meaning through text and picture clues."

Spelling
We use the Words Their Way spelling program because it is an individualized spelling program that integrates beautifully into a Montessori classroom. This week students learned how to mark their own spelling tracking sheets and how to do word hunts and how to fingerspell/ type/ write each of their words from a word sort.

Poetry and Literature
This week's selection was “The Star Spangled Banner” by Frances Scott Key. It's a social studies tie-in for the War of 1812. I used it as an introduction to explain the major differences between poems, drama, and prose and we discussed the structural elements of poems and drama

Composition
This week we focused on the 6+1 Writing Trait IDEAS. We read The Memory String by Even Bunting and then created our own memory boxes.

MATHEMATICS
We are reviewing how to read and write all sorts of numbers: extra large whole numbers, fractions, decimals, negative reals, rational expressions, numbers written in scientific notation and even numbers with exponents. Students learn the patterns for reading large numbers starting in first grade but we review the concept at the beginning of each year. One popular independent activity this week was the "Really Big Number" name generator.

SCIENCE
This week we studied "sound." We watched Bill Nye and Magic School Bus clips from YouTube. We made connections to music (The Star Spangled Banner and the 1812 Overture) and artillery fire (the War of 1812) but by far the most fun was had with the iPad decibel meter app. Even with yelling, the loudest sound any single person could generate was 90 decibels. (We left the meter on during the lesson and someone dropped something on accident.) It was surprising that normal background classroom noise hovered around 45dB.

HISTORY
Following last week's introduction to the concept of Manifest Destiny and in celebration of Patriot's Day, we studied Francis Scott Key and the War of 1812. We discussed the burning of Washington D.C. and how the famous portrait of George Washington was saved by Dolley Madison. Everyone had the opportunity to share the items they wold save if their home caught on fire. We also listened to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (for a Napoleonic connection to War of 1812 which will be another connection to next week's lesson on the Louisiana Purchase). On the timeline, we added the following events: the War of 1812, the composition of the Star Spangled Banner and the burning of the White House.

MUSIC
Many Americans mistakenly believe that the Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture to celebrate the United State's victory in the War of 1812. Not only did the U.S. NOT win the war, but the 1812 Overture is about the Napoleonic retreat from Russia, Tchaikovsky's homeland. However, the Napoleonic Wars are an important factor in the U.S.'s decision to declare war so the song makes a fun tie-in. Besides, the cannons are just great fun! (Start watching at 4:54 for the "famous" bit.)

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Collage Center of our art studio. After a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the two centers already introduced: drawing or collage. (For a review of our art program, click the VISUAL ART link on the sidebar or the Art Studio tab at the top of the page.)

I love to integrate children's literature with every subject area and art is no exception. Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Ehlert, Leo Lionni, and Eric Carle are children's authors who are also fantastic collage artists. Other books I like include Boom Chicka Rock by John Archambault, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and This Little Pirate by Philemon Sturges. (BTW- these three authors did not illustrate their own books.)

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
As I mentioned last week, one of our goals for P.E. is to show children that there are many choices for physical activities and they don't have to be organized sports . In preparation for our hiking field trip, we are learning how to walk. We analyzed our gait by making foot impressions on construction paper with a wet foot. Then we studied proper posture (which we will review many times in dance class and music class.) We learned how different ways of walking affect our forward movement (heel-toe-pushoff versus landing on a flat foot or running on tip toes.)

THEATRE
We are learning the Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign Language. Here is the version that we use. There are many regional variations of the pledge but this version breaks it down into individual signs (some with explanations) and also has a video of the entire pledge.

Down on the Farm

2013-09-09T15:57:00.001-07:00

September 2 – September 6

We made it through the first week of school! The weekly theme was "Down on the Farm"-- Here's a recap of our week of fun.

FIELD TRIP
For the first field trip of the year we visited the Utah State Fair. It was incredibly hot but lots of fun. We visited farm animals, discussed how genetic traits are passed from parents to their offspring, critiqued the visual art displays, watched the lumberjack show, browsed the craft booths, practiced spinning wool into yarn, touched a moon rock from the NASA exhibit, and judged quilting/baking/preserving entries.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Read-Aloud
Our first selection for the year is from the genre of realistic fiction: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It makes a fun start to the year for fourth graders (and up) and because the reading level is appropriate for most students this age, many will be excited enough by this first book to read the others in the series.

Penmanship
Each week, students are provided with copywork quotes related to the weekly theme that they can use to practice their handwriting. They are a fun addition to our Montessori classroom. Here are this week’s selections.

Reading
We read Alexander and The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Our mini lesson (check it out here) focuses on using prior schema to make connections. It's an introductory lesson that we will build on during guided reading all year long.

Spelling
We use the Words Their Way spelling program because it is an individualized spelling program that integrates beautifully into a Montessori classroom. This week students learned how to use their spelling folders and how to do word sorts independently.

Poetry and Literature
This week's selection is “I Know All the Sounds the Animals Make” by Jack Prelutsky. We had lots of fun creating silly poems by substituting our own animal sounds for those Prelutsky chose.

MATHEMATICS
Measurement: Money, Time and Temperature Review-- As we start our first math unit of the year, I want to make sure that my students are familiar with the common forms in which we see and use numbers. When learning about time, students must understand what "quarter 'til" and "half past" mean. They should know that temperatures drop below zero so we use negative numbers to describe those temperatures.They need to be recognize that 75 cents is the same thing as three quarters (3/4). These basic concepts will help them as we delve deeply into the Real Number system.

SCIENCE
We are using several fun matching games from the University of Utah research division on genetics and heredity.

HISTORY
Introduction to Key Events and Ideas in Utah's History and the History of the Westward Expansion of the U.S. [i.e. Manifest Destiny]; Introduction to the Montessori Timeline

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Drawing Center of our art studio. On day one, we learned how to put away paper and pencils, how to use our personal drawing kits, and how to store our completed drawings in our art portfolios. On the second day of art class, we talked about preparing to work and how artists find inspiration.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
One of our goals for P.E. is to show children that there are many choices for physical activities. How about exploring traditional county fair games: Horseshoes, Three-Legged Race, Gunny Sack Race, Wheelbarrow Race, Basketball Shooting, Baseball Throwing at Bottles, Hoop Rolling?

DANCE
Line dancing anyone? It's a great way to teach spatial directions.

Five Minute Museum: Paul Klee

2013-05-12T09:39:00.002-07:00

Paul Klee, 1911

This is another Five Minute Museum mini lesson that is taught during the first five minutes of the lesson period. The curriculum sets Paul Klee as one of the artists studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

All of the paintings in the lesson plan are in the public domain and can be downloaded in various sizes from Wikimedia Commons.

These are the additional works (to use, but not included as samples, in the attached lesson plan) by Paul Klee:

Blumenmythgos, 1918
Cat and Bird, 1928
Death and Fire, 1940
der Goldfisch, 1925
Die Vase, 1938
Ohne Titel (der Todesengel), 1940
Red Balloon, 1922
Revolution des Viadukts, 1937
Senecio, 1922
Sinbad the Sailor, 1923
Tale a la Hoffman, 1921
Twittering MAchine, 1922

Because Paul Klee used oil paints, colored pencils and watercolors together in the same paintings, his works are fun to display as samples in the painting center where children can experiment using multiple media and tools in a single work of art.

Red Balloon by Paul Klee, 1922

While there are many fun extension activities to accompany this unit of study, rather than have the entire class duplicate a particular art project, I prefer to show students several works of art created by other children who are imitating Klee's style. This provides my students with inspiration for their future works of art but still gives them the freedom to choose.

Links to websites with samples of children's artwork inspired by Paul Klee:
Paul Klee Inspired Abstract Fish
Paul Klee Goes to Africa
Paul Klee Art Projects for Kids
Broken Window Drawings

Read-Aloud: Fablehaven

2013-04-27T10:40:00.003-07:00

What we're reading together...Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven is a terrific fantasy series that appeals to a broad age range. There are five books total, with the first book being the shortest. The author lives here in Utah so we had the opportunity to meet him in person and get a signed copy of each book in the series.

Our Extension Activities

It's been fun to collect images off the internet of vocabulary words from the book: aurora borealis, boathouse, bivouac, breastplate, mesa, butte, centuar, corkscrew, crossbow, fleur-de-lis, gazebo, geodesic dome, golem, griffin, hacienda, harpy, kachina, karkadann, limberjack, lammasu, lycanthrope, mannequin, manor, manticor, matryoshka doll, minotaur, paddle boat, peryton, phonograph, plateau, pueblo, quarrel, raft, roc, satyr, sirrush, sphinx, Stonehenge, toga, totem pole, unicorn, yahtzee, ziggurat.

Mississippi River

Brandon Mull LOVES serial commas so it's an easy way to point out their use in print. These lists also provide multiple opportunities to discuss adjectives.

We also checked out the map for the various geographic locations mentioned in the book (Mississippi River, Ethiopia, Australia, Turkey).

I searched YouTube for videos demonstrating a limberjack to help the kids see one in action.

We also played several games of Yahtzee, just like they did in the book.

Five Minute Museum: Olek

2013-04-25T13:19:00.003-07:00

Olek (whose real name is Agata Oleksiak) is a contemporary artist who has moved crochet from a handicraft into a fine art.

This is another Five Minute Museum mini lesson that is taught during the first five minutes of the lesson period. Olek's unique art form is a fabulous way to help students see that art is more than just drawing and painting. Our curriculum sets this lesson as one of the artists studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

A quick follow up to this lesson is a simple crocheting lesson (again just five minutes long). Most children over the age of 7 or 8 easily pick up the chain stitch.

Because she is a contemporary artist, few copies of her works are in the public domain (although some outdoor public displays have been documented by various photographers.) However, she has a nice website that is easily used inside the classroom via a projector and a quick internet search for images of Olek Crochet (her professional title) gives plenty of resources.

[As a fun side note, we are currently reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and there is a character called Olloch in one of the books. Olloch has this long, multi-tentacled, froglike tongue. M. commented that it would be easy to remember Olek's name because he could imagine Olloch's long tongue reaching out of his mouth and quickly crocheting around his prey like Olek does when she crochets around living people. I have to give him points for creativity and good use of the visualization memory technique.]

Five Minute Museum: Blue Boy

2013-04-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Thomas Gainsborough, self portrait

My visual art lessons are taught in 5 minute chunks at the beginning of the lesson period. Those lessons that focus on an artist or a particular masterwork are labeled "Five Minute Museum." (This is a term used in the TAB program to remind teachers that the bulk of the art period is reserved for student led art creation.) Five Minute Museums give students exposure to the elements of art as used by great artists but the lessons take only a few minutes. The art remains available for student reference after the lesson as part of the classroom art library.

The curriculum sets this lesson as one of the masterworks studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

All of the paintings in the lesson plan are in the public domain and can be downloaded in various sizes from Wikimedia Commons.

The Blue Boy, 1770

Pinkie, 1794 (Thomas Lawrence)

Running Records Database

2012-11-12T09:37:00.002-07:00

Running records are an important part of an effective literacy program. They give written documentation of the types of reading errors an individual child makes and provide a quick but accurate estimate of a child's reading level. I use running records during Independent Reading Conferences (and occasionally during Guided Reading). I periodically share the results with both parents and students.

Since preparing running records can initially be time consuming, I have prepared running records for popular picture books from guided reading levels and I am sharing them with you.

Please feel free to download and use these running records for use with your students or children. They can be printed out and filled in by hand or downloaded and typed into directly using a pdf viewer such as Foxit Reader.

I'll be adding more to the database as time and space permit.

School Uniforms

2012-01-06T10:33:00.001-07:00

In the past, I'd never been too keen on school uniforms but when I founded the charter school where my children currently attend, I agreed with the other founding members and parents that it was the right choice. My children did their fair share of complaining, of course, but now, a year later, I must admit that I LOVE school uniforms.

To be fair, our school's uniform policy is pretty relaxed compared to other local charter schools. There are specified colors to enforce uniformity and dress pants and collared shirts are required but there are no nit picky restrictions on style details. Some schools around here have weird rules about pleats, pockets, belts, specific collar styles on girl's blouses, only certain styles of jumpers allowed, no mock turtlenecks, no jackets, ties required, dark blazers with logos every Monday, just black socks, dress shoes only, jewelry restrictions for boys, haircuts for boys must leave the ears showing, limited sleeve styles, which days you can wear which styles and colors, etc.

Basically at Quail Run, you just have to show up in the right color of clothes, they have to be clean and mended and you can't wearing anything that draws attention to yourself (like wearing a green mowhawk or red tennis shoes). No jeans and T-shirts, though. It is also nice that we can choose any uniform vendor we want. This means that I can embroider or screen print them myself.

Our mornings are so smooth because there is no fighting over what to wear to school. My second grader just grabs a shirt from the closet and a pair of pants from the drawer. He pretty much chooses navy blue pants, a navy polo shirt and his blue zipper hoodie every day. (We did start the year with a slew of white polos and khaki pants but my second grader does his own laundry and one trip through the dryer with an orange crayon put all of those clothing items out of commission.)

I now officially take back anything negative I may have previously said about school uniforms possibly limiting children's creativity and freedom of expression. As a mom, I absolutely love them and they are worth the trade off. I'm glad I changed my mind. My kids can express themselves on Saturdays.

What blackboard?

2011-09-30T11:35:00.003-07:00

It's required in Utah to conduct vision screenings for all second graders but it's also required to obtain parental permission first. Well, the State approved permission form came home last night loaded with information on how important good vision is to a child's success in school. The message was punctuated by a bolded message right in the middle of the page that read:

"If a student cannot see the blackboard then they cannot learn."

Apart from any qualms I have with teachers who rely on lecturing at the board as their primary mode of instruction, I was struck by the fact that the form fails to recognize that no schools in our district even use blackboards. White boards replaced chalk boards at our local schools twenty-five years ago.

Granted, my logo on this blog pays homage to the old chalk boards that many of us grew up with and most of us will understand the intent of the message but perhaps it's time to acknowledge that in at least in this small respect, education has been modernized.

Good Fortune: Finders Keepers

2009-09-21T12:54:00.002-07:00

My 11 year old son came home from school and announced that he was a lunch worker today. They had orange chicken with fortune cookies. Apparently he believes that he is going to be extremely lucky this week because while cleaning the lunchroom, he had the opportunity to "scoop up lots of fortunes." In his mind it's Finders Keepers when it comes to fortune cookie fortunes.

iGoogle

2009-09-04T09:56:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at using iGoogle to link the apps I use most. I am intrigued by how this could be used for educational purposes. As I type, my iGoogle page is also displaying online Scrabble and Chess. I am looking at images from the National Science Foundation. I am learning the Spanish word of the day. I can see the phases of the moon and pinpoint locations with Google Earth... WOW!

The possibilities are endless.

I suppose the potential for trouble is also endless.

Kindergarten

2009-08-25T12:41:00.002-07:00

My son is starting Kindergarten this week. The excitement of this momentous event is only slightly dampened by the bill from the doctor's office for his school entrance physical.

$663

Disclosure Documents

2009-08-19T19:56:00.002-07:00

With a new school year upon us, it's time to read and sign those ridiculous stacks of disclosure documents (all typed in comic sans font.) As a parent, I love the details I find in these lengthy discourses. For example, I learned last night that Alpine School District is continuing to focus on "academic leering."

Run Quail, Run!

2008-08-30T15:10:00.004-07:00

Over the last few months, we have revised QRPS's initial charter school application to more clearly state our school's focus.

MISSION STATEMENT
Quail Run Primary School is an environmentally responsible and multi-sensory learning center that empowers students to be accountable for their own educational journey.

On a light note, I have been having nightmares about red, forty pound quail attacking me. All I can manage to say in the dreams is, "Run Quail, Run!" My husband thinks it's hilarious.

By the way, we just completed our presentation to the Utah State Charter School Board. The final decisions will be made at the end of October 2008. We'll keep you posted!

Famous Dyscalculics!

2008-04-29T10:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it helps to know that you are not alone! I am going to check the validity of some of these that I don't know and I'll report.

My Disabilities and Me 1 : Dyscalculia

2008-04-29T10:36:00.001-07:00

I like this video because it lets you see how disabilities affect real people.

Dyscalculia

2008-04-29T10:35:00.001-07:00

Math learning disabilities are frequently overlooked.

Math Education: A response to

2008-04-29T10:31:00.001-07:00

It is a little hard to hear but worth watching. It is a response to a previous You Tube Video that I strongly disagree with.