8 Minute Commute

11/17/10

Having slept on my friends couch at BC last night, I had the most amazing commute - 8 minutes. It was bliss! I arrived at school around 6:45, so it was nice that I got to take my time getting ready this morning.

I quickly put up my bulletin board about weather in art. It looks pretty awesome!

Yesterday, Apple announced that the Beatles would now be selling their songs on iTunes! This was an exciting announcement - too bad I already have all of their songs! I opened a web browser this morning and it went right to Apple's homepage. There was this huge b&w photograph of the Beatles. I decided to print off a copy for two of my students who love the Beatles. I wrote little notes on them and taped the sheets to their cubbies. When they walked in, they LOVED their special notes! I gave one of them to the student that I had to kick out of class yesterday. I think he was surprised that I didn't hold a grudge against him. Hey buddy - I'm not going to treat you differently just because you don't listen to me!

In Morning Meeting I talked about the importance of a handshake - and how handshakes can start friendships and great partnerships. For the greeting, we shook each others' hands and said good morning. For the discussion, I asked if students had good hand shaking stories - who did they meet? Some students shared how they met famous people or made new friends. One student shared that his grandmother is a State Senator and has shaken the hands of many influential people in government, including the Governor.

In LA, I read the book Empty Pot by Demi. It's an adorable story about a boy named Ping who enters a competition to become Emperor of China. Using the seeds that the Emperor gave to him, Ping tries very hard to grow the flower - only nothing grows. A year goes by and despite his best effort, no flower grows. He returns to the Emperor with all of the other children in the land and he is the only one with an empty pot. The Emperor is pleased with Ping for he was the only one who told the truth. All of the other children planted new seeds - the Emperor gave them all cooked seeds that would not grow - he was looking for the most honest person, and Ping was that person. Ping was chosen to be the next Emperor.

This book was used to explain how to make predictions while reading text. I read the book aloud and wrote my predictions up on the white board. I started by looking at the cover art and predicted that the story took place in Asia, the art work looked similar to the Hokusai prints that I was familiar with. As I made predictions, I either crossed them out if I was correct, or put a smiley face next to them if I was right. My predications:

I think this story takes place in Asia :)

I think that Ping will become Emperor because he is the main character :)

I think that Ping will grow the most beautiful flower X

At first Ping won't grow the flower, but then he will X

Maybe Ping won't grow the flower :)

The students really loved the story and understood the concept well. I took them outside for a quick body movement break - a sprint across the field to get some energy out. When we got back, I had them chill for a minute or two, then read more from Morning Girl.

Science began and I presented my lesson on haiku and Hokusai. I was observed my second time around, and it went really well! I spoke with a lot of genuine energy about the topic and shared how I worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, have a life long love for art, and how I took many art and art history courses in college. I also told how my dad lived in Japan for a while during his time in the Navy and brought back many Japanese works of art, furniture, and other cultural artifacts.

I then introduced the students to the poetry form of haiku - 17 syllables 5/7/5. I talked at length about the artwork of Hokusai - particularly the 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. I showed the students the books that I had brought in for them to look through and explore the great detail that he included in his prints. The students were mesmerized and totally engaged.

After the presentation, students returned to their desks and I handed out the haiku draft sheets. I modeled on the overhead how to use the sheet to brainstorm ideas for words, and how to break them into syllables. I walked around and helped students who were having a hard time transitioning from the word brainstorm to the creation of the haikus. I wrapped up by giving the students their final draft copies, getting their copies into their binders, and collecting finished work. I then lined them up to go to lunch.

I met with Eileen to discuss how the lesson went. She loved it and told me that she had lived in Japan for a few months with her husband - who was also in the military. She did suggest that I add two small bits to the presentation to bring in "real world" connections.
1) when talking about Japan - bring in the time difference. 13/14 hours ahead of us, so it it tomorrow there. Figure out what time it is there.
2) do the math for Hokusai's age. He was old! It's a quick subtraction problem and will be good for students to see how long he lived:
1849
-1760
-------
89 years old!

I tried out her suggestions in the science class following my observation. They LOVED the suggestions! It took a few seconds for them to wrap their heads around why it was tomorrow in Japan, but I did a quick explanation of time zones and they understood it a bit better. It helped that one of the students was from Australia and she gave the example of how it's hard to call her grandparents because the time zone (similar to Japan's) is so far ahead. This real-life connection was a perfect addition to the lesson.

The students also liked the quick subtraction problem and couldn't believe how long Hokusai lived to be!

After the lesson and lunch, it was on to PLCs. It was all about PEMDAS and rounding. Maura realized that the students hadn't quite understood that [P & E], [M & D], and [A & S] go together. She stressed this as she provided direct instruction to the group. I walked around to the students and checked their answers. A number of students still don't grasp the exponential multiplication process. It must be frustrating for them - they know the process, but when they do the math, they choose the wrong operation.

Rounding was a bit easier to check - they had to circle the highest place value, then underline the place value to the right. If the number (or neighbor) to the right was higher than 5, the highest place value would increase, and everything to the right turns into zero. If the neighbor was less than 5, the highest place value would stay the same and the rest would turn to zeroes. Nick wrote this on his page:

5 (arrow up)

4 (arrow up)

Great visual reminder for him, and a good strategy to use on his test.

The bulletin board that I put up got a lot of attention today! The teachers loved it and said that the students were learning so much about art and culture just by looking at the paintings and listening to my presentations in science. One teacher said that I was giving them such great life skills - now they know the names of some famous artists, so going to a museum is a bit less intimidating.

One student, who will be called Ken, was looking at the Paris Street, Rainy Day and said "this scene looks really familiar!" I overheard him saying this and asked him to think about it and tell me when he realizes why it looks so familiar. Later that day, Ken came up to me and said, "I figured it out! It looks just like the Magic Tree House cover about the earth quake!" I congratulated him for making the connection, and I looked for the book. The book is Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne, and the cover has many of the same elements of the painting: dress, cobble stone streets, ornate buildings. Truly a great connection.

Ken asked me later in the day if he could borrow one of the Hokusai books that I brought to the classroom. I looked at the book and noticed that it was the one that was written in Japanese. I asked Ken if he spoke another language at home. Ken looked excited to answer the question and said, "Oh - yeah! I speak Chinese and a bit of German." Ken then went on to tell me about his life - he was born in Germany, then moved to China to live with his grandparents until he was 5. He then moved to the US to be with his parents and to start kindergarten. Each summer he travels back to China to live with his grandparents in a small province south of Shanghai. We talked for nearly all of recess, discussed more of the paintings that were on the bulletin board, and I also found out that Ken reads Chinese - which means that he'll probably be able to read much of the Hokusai text, as Japanese and Chinese characters are very similar.

It was a great day, but I was exhausted when I got home!