Trade Fair

The other day in class we did an activity called the "Trade Fair." I had to bring in a few items and try to trade it with my classmates. This is excellent way to teach students about various topics including:

Communication
Bargaining
Problem solving
Determine value of an item
Generosity
Wants vs. needs
Supply and demand
Import and export
Slave trade
Goods and services
Raw material
Profit and loss

I brought picture frames, coffee, donuts, flip flops and I left with a bottle of shower gel, a book mark, a greeting card, a candy bar, lotion (from Israel), Harry Potter DVD, and a donut. I think I got a pretty good deal!

Here are some pictures of our trade fair:

Salt Dough Maps

The other day in class we talked about geography. Using the atlas, me and my group picked Greece and then created a model of it using pre-made salt dough. This activity can be used in the elementary grades 3-6. I am sure the kids will not only love it but they will also learn a lot from it.

This activity can teach students the following things about geography: Using maps to locate places, the importance of maps, How can maps help us? and various landforms found in a place. By completing the salt dough project, students get a chance to express themselves through Art. Students will also learn more about the country they are presenting. In my future classroom, I would make sure that students pick different countries, this way the students will get a chance to learn from each other.

Cinquain Poems

The other day in my Social Studies class, we talked about being a part of a community/neighborhood. We had to bring in pictures of our community and analyze the pictures. The point of this activity is to see how different/alike we (as a class) were. We brainstormed some ideas as to where this activity can take us.

To name a few:

*Geography lesson: Where places are located on a map
*Plantation/vegetation
*Population in a community
*Geographical feature of a place
*Safe/Unsafe neighborhoods
*Being responsible citizens (Clean neighborhoods, mowing grass, etc.)
*Culture differences
*5 Themes of Geography
*Sidewalk War/Resolution

We listed a few more ideas, then we had to complete a cinquain poem about the "Neighborhood" theme.

Take a look at the pictures below.

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#