Moon Journals :)

In my class we had to observe the moon for a few days and keep a journal about it. At first, I didn’t really get the point or the idea, but then as I sat at night in my backyard and watched the moon I began liking the idea of writing in a journal. I think that is because it is not something that I am used to. I have always noticed the moon and I personally love watching it but that is because I wanted to watch it and no one told me to sit and watch the moon and write what you feel in a journal. The first day, I couldn't think of anything to write, although I felt like writing a poem. I kind of felt like singing a slow song too! So, I started writing a bunch of words to describe the moon, like bright, calm, peaceful, gift, lonely, and I kind of felt like it was watching me. My husband was beginning to start a fire on the fire pit we drank tea and went to sleep. So the next day, I observed the moon and wrote more things about it. I really like the idea of bringing this to the classroom. Students really like to do different things and an assignment like this where they describe their feeling and emotion and how they feel about the moon is fantastic. Although like my teacher said, it is ideal when this activity is longer than a few days. Students need at least a month of journaling before the students really start getting the hang of the activity. But this activity also brings a whole lot of other conversations, ranging from writing, poetry, to science.

Here is a link to a website I found that guides teachers to the Moon Journal Activity in the classroom.

http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/pup/act_moonjrnl.html

Photography Book

We were given an assignment in class to do a photography book. I chose to do a book about community helpers. I got the idea last semester when I was in observations for another class and the kindergarten teacher did a unit on community helpers. Every week she would introduce a community helper and read all kinds of books about that person. So I started making a collection of photos for my book. I went around and took pictures of a police officer, a doctor, a firefighter, and a librarian. I really wanted to take a picture of a plumber that I call when something goes wrong in my house but nothing was wrong. I could have made up something to bring him to the house but I thought that was a waste of money. So I gathered whatever pictures I can put together and created my beautiful book about community helpers. I really like the idea of creating a photo book. All children like to see real pictures in books. I plan on creating more books for my future classroom because it helps children visualize the story and connect the story to real life situations when the pictures are real. I plan on doing a book about single mothers. Three of my sisters are single mothers with children. I am sure that they miss their dads, so creating a book that will describe this situation will help ease the situation on some students. I also want to do a book for my own children with their pictures of when they were younger. I am sure they would love it. In a classroom, students would love the idea of creating a photo book, of course I have to make sure that they will access and proper resources to create their books. But I am certain that it will be a wonderful idea!




Here is a link that will help children understand the meaning behind photography and how you can connect it to writing. It is an article written by Peggy Zehnder, an 8th grade school teacher who inspired her students to take photographs.  


http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/strategies/topics/literacy/articles/photography-as-a-connection/index.html

  

Speaking of Passion!

The other day in my class we shared our passions and what is it that makes us unique. I first spoke about my passion for buying art supplies. Anytime, I go grocery shopping, I have to pass by the school supplies aisle and buy a few things. Every time I have a project for school, I would go buy a bunch of school supplies regardless whether I will be using it or not. As much as I love buying art supplies, I don’t like to think ahead of time about my project. In a way, I feel like I need the art supplies to give me the ideas as to what I want to do. I like to shop for the supplies, come home and then think what I would like to do. Then, I shared with my class about my passion for belly dancing. Ever since I was 4 years old I loved to dance. I would turn on the music and dance. I have 6 sisters who are older than me, who also like to dance. I learned how to dance by watching them dance. We have so many different moves and we memorized them all by heart. Some dances we named other we just follow when we listen to a certain song. It is really nice to just know what the next move will be without talking about it. We all have the same moves when we dance, which makes it easier to create a dance. Our bodies’ moves together like a tick tock on the clock. Whenever there is a wedding in the family, we automatically end up doing a dance in the wedding without planning it ahead of time. Now, years after we all went our own paths in life, we get together once in a while and dancing is something we have to do. We all have somewhat rough times, and struggles in life, so we overcome our obstacles by dancing it out. We all agree that it is truly a stress relief to dance. I recommend trying it out, even if you can’t belly dance. Just shaking your hips or even your body is a great exercise for the body mind and soul. Just turn on the music, move your hips, and shake it down! 

I spoke about my passion and shared it with my class. I know that I dance when I am happy and I also dance when I am sad to let my anger out by dancing. In a school setting, it is always good to know your students and what make them happy and what makes them sad. What makes them feel good or bad, what are they passionate about? My classmates shared what they are passionate about and all of them have passion for different things and all of them are beautiful. 

I have a link below that shares some music and basic steps to help beginners learn to belly dance. Just keep in mind that belly dancing moves are mentally not physically! 

http://marisawright.hubpages.com/hub/Teach-Yourself-Belly-Dancing-at-Home

Pretending to be a Rock!

One day in my class we took a group trip across the street from our university. That day, we had to pretend to be rocks for 15-20 minutes. I picked a spot near a tree and sat down in the shade and started writing in my journal. We were free as to what we write in our journal but mostly we had to pretend to be rocks. I couldn’t think with my eyes open, so to pretend to be a rock I had to close my eyes and think what a rock would feel like sitting in the shade. I wrote whatever I feel inside me, I wrote how I felt, what I smelled, and what I heard. I liked the activity until an ant started crawling up my feet! I think that this would be a nice activity for 3-6 grades where they get to express their feelings through writing. Journal writing is always an awesome activity and I truly believe that it is something that as young as Kindergarten would work. Journal writing is something that will help improve self-esteem, refresh some ones thoughts, and reduce stress. From this activity, I took one thing, that is to appreciate what I have in life and I am glad that I am not a rock. 

Here is a link that can help your children appreciate nature! It gives tips to parents that help children learn more about nature, appreciate it and love it.

http://www.cuteparents.net/2011/11/teach-child-to-appreciate-nature.html#

Zoo Trip

This is the African Lion

Fact: Lions are awesome predators but they only kill once in 5 or 6 attempts. 

On May 17, 2012 we took a trip to Potawatomi zoo in South Bend , IN. Before we went to the zoo we had to think of an animal and create a habitat for that animal. At first, I wanted to pick the butterflies, but after I got to the zoo the butterfly exhibit was closed. So, I picked the African lions. We were supposed to take lots of pictures of the animal we chose so I did that. I liked a lot of the animals there but we only had to choose one animal. I went back to the class and created my lion habitat. I took many pictures and many of them came out beautiful. Below are some of the pictures as well as a link to the zoo if you decide to go… http://potawatomizoo.org/

A day at the Japanese Garden

Today, we took a trip to the Japanese garden called, "Shiojiri Niwa." The weather was sunny and beautiful. The point of the trip was to take picture and then go back to class and write a haiku poem about our pictures. We went on the trip and when we got there I started taking pictures and then, after a few pictures my camera died and I could no longer take any pictures. Luckily one of my friends lent me her phone and I continued to take more lovely pictures. The garden had beautiful trees and plants. The garden had a few bloomed flowers and beautiful and a Tea house. There were a couple of bridges and lots of rocks. There were lots of different rocks, some were small and some were big. I was undecided at first as to which picture to draw but then I picked a picture of a wooded bridge. When we got back to class I drew it on a piece of paper and hung our pictures in the hall. Below are some of the pictures that I have captured on the day of the trip. In Japanese Gardens, bridges are always made of natural materials, stone, wood, or earth. The Garden Bridge is a symbolic link between this world and paradise; the arch representing the difficult path to be followed. If you would like to know more about Japanese gardens, you can follow the link below. http://www.mishawaka.in.gov/shiojiriniwa