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FEATURES FOR TEACHERS |
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Ideas and
Features For New Teachers |
Volume 1, Issue 18
October 2005 |
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Our school uses a common writing program that increases in complexity at each grade level. The teachers use common terminology and formats for paragraphs which are the basis of our drafting. Thus, I know they will have a bit of familiarity with the process. However, even if you are teaching 'on an island' without any class or grade continuity, this activity will allow you to assess your students understanding of the writing process and set them up for the teaching of your expectations for writing paragraphs. I've put this activity onto an overhead sheet so I can use it each year. At the top are the writing directions: "Write a paragraph describing one of the most important things you learned over the summer. No talking, and no questions." The directions are specific enough that I want a paragraph written, not a page or a few sentences. And the topic is broad enough that everyone can think of something to write about. However, it is just vague enough that students must use their best judgment to decide exactly HOW to structure the writing and how long it should be. I tell the kids there is no right or wrong way to do this assignment, and there is no right or wrong response to the prompt. In fact, the only wrong thing that can be done is just to NOT write anything at all. This explanation will help most of your students get started right away. If a student is sitting idle for more than a minute, I'll remind them that this is a writing activity, not a thinking activity. They need to get started writing, or I'll assign them a disciplinary paragraph to copy. That's usually enough to get them going.
We usually give students about ten minutes to write. Although this is less than normal, it's just enough to get them on the right track and enough for you to see if they have any idea what they're doing. Once the time is up, each student draws a line across his/her paper right under the paragraph. I then uncover the second part of the activity. Students must now "write down THREE rules, guidelines, or expectations they have learned about writing paragraphs." After these are written down, the students prioritize them, the most important labeled #1, and so forth. These provide excellent prompts for class discussions, which is next. We look to affirm correct ideas, and dispel the wrong ones. Then the students draw another line across the page. Lastly, the students number their page #1-5, and write in their responses to four questions I pose for them. We then discuss their answers, and I'm able to evaluate what they know and what they think they know about paragraph writing. Again, these help me to see what knowledge the students bring to class, and how closely they are to our class's writing expectations.
Now they're ready to learn the rules, procedures, and expectations for the formatting of a paragraph in this class. I have these on an overhead sheet and also on a PowerPoint presentation. Both have a note sheet so students can write down the information as it is presented. They quickly learn the rules and expectations I have for the formatting and writing of their paragraphs.
The history of Halloween goes back more than 2,000 years. The earliest celebrations of Halloween were among the Celtic people who lived in the areas which are now Great Britain and Northern France. The Celts were people who worshiped the beauty of nature. They worshiped a Sun God and believed that without him, they would not live. They also worshipped Samhain who was the lord of the dead and of the cold, dark winter season. They believed that on October 31 Samhain would call together all of the dead and these souls would take on the shape of an animal. They believed that all creatures wandered the Earth on that night. This was called the Vigil of Samhain. The Druids, which were the priests of the Celtic people, would build fires on the hilltops in belief that the large fires would help to strengthen the Sun God, and give him power enough to overcome the lord of darkness so that the sun season could continue. They believed that the fires were sacred, therefore they burned dried crops and sacrificed animals to help strengthen the Sun God. At midnight they stop worshipping the Sun God and start to worship Samhain because he will be the ruler for the next six months. This is the starting of the new year. They perform ceremonies through the night to ask the spirits to tell the future of the upcoming year. In the morning each household receives an ember from the fire, this ember is used to start fires in their own homes with the belief that it will ward off evil spirits in the new year. The Celts continued with their ceremonies until they were conquered by the Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics brought with them their own customs and traditions. They had established All Saints Day or All Hallows Day on November 1. This was a day in which all saints who did not have their own declared holiday were honored. The church had hoped that by establishing this holiday, it would do away with the Vigil of Samhain and the other ceremonies and celebrations held on October 31 through November 1. But this was not so. Soon witchcraft came about, and October 31 was renamed Night of the Witch. It was believed that the devil and all of his followers (demons, witches) would come out on this night to perform unholy acts to make a mockery of the All Hallows Day celebration. These ceremonies and celebrations continued and October 31 was then called All Hallows Even. It was a night for superstitious beliefs and mystery. Through the years the name was shortened to Hallowe'en and then to Halloween. By Wicke Chambers & Spring Asher The Irish brought Jack-O'-Lantern to America. Jack was a legendary, stingy drunkard. He tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree for a juicy apple and then quickly cut the sign of the cross into the tree trunk, preventing the Devil from coming down. Jack made the Devil swear that he wouldn't come after his soul in any way. The Devil promised. However, this did not prevent Jack from dying. When he arrived at the gates of heaven, he was turned away because he was a stingy, mean drunk. Desperate for a resting place, he went to the Devil. The Devil, true to his word, turned him away. "But where can I go?" pleaded Jack. "Back where you come from," spoke the Devil. The night was dark and the way was long, and the Devil tossed him a lighted coal from the fire of Hell. Jack, who was eating a turnip at the time, placed the coal inside and used it to light his way. Since that day, he has traveled the world over with his Jack-O'-Lantern in search of a place to rest. Irish children carved out turnips and potatoes to light the night on Halloween. When the Irish came to America in great numbers in the 1840s, they found that a pumpkin made an even better lantern, and so this "American" tradition came to be. References:Chambers, W. Asher, S. (1983). The Celebration Book of Great American Traditions. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. Cordello, B. (1977). Celebrations. New York: Butterick Publishing. Hurda, D.J. (1983). Halloween. New York: Franklin Watts. Patterson, L. (1963). Halloween. Champaign, Illinois: Garrard Publishing Company. Shaulis, J. (1996). Battle for Halloween surfaces once again.
The Herald Journal. Logan, Utah. pg. 10 ** I chose to focus on only one aspect of Halloween, the jack-o'- lantern. (pumpkins) Objectives:* Students will organize sequence cards appropriately.
Time Allotment: Approximately 4 to 5 class periodsResources Needed:
Procedures:A. Predictions. Ask the children to make predictions about what they think the inside of a pumpkin looks like.(ex. solid, liquid, slimy, etc.) Have a small pumpkin there for them to handle and look at. Write the predictions on the board. Then cut open the pumpkin and look at the inside. Check to see if any predictions were right. Discuss about what is inside the pumpkin. (ex. seeds, meat, etc.) B. Sequencing. This activity shows the correct growth sequence, from a seed to a pumpkin, and finally a jack-o'-lantern. Use the cards to show the correct sequence. This can be done individually or as a group. Read the story Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. Use the cards to sequence the events in the book. Students may also retell the story using only the sequence cards. Each child should have a set of sequence cards. (see Appendix) C. History. Discuss the history of the pumpkin and how they were spread throughout the world. Show the children on a world map that pumpkins originated in Northern, Central and South America. After the Americas were discovered the pumpkins were taken back to France and England. Show the travels on the map. Then have the children identify the areas on the map. D. Writing Experience. Take the children to a pumpkin patch in which pumpkins are growing. Allow them to ask questions and explore. Discuss with the students the economics of growing pumpkins. Discuss that some farmers specifically grow pumpkins (fruits and vegetables) for a profit. The farmers invest time and money into growing and caring for the pumpkins which they have planted. In turn, they sell them to the public either from their own stands or to grocery stores for resale. Have the children draw a picture or write a sentence or two about what they saw. Share with the class. E. Mini Lecture. Explain the different facts about pumpkins (see Appendix), (Hint: You may want to have visual aids for some of the "facts" for example, different types of pumpkins, vines, canned pumpkin). Also discuss how we use pumpkins for jack-o'-lanterns. Tell the brief history of the jack-o'-lantern. Have the children make books and illustrate them using the facts they have learned. They can design their own pumpkin covers. Have the children share and read their books. F. Field Trip. Discuss with the students that Halloween is a much bigger holiday in the United States than in Europe. Although we did get the ideas and traditions from the Europeans. In England, and other european countries it is not much of a holiday. Discuss with the students about the community Halloween traditions. One of the biggest traditions in Logan, Utah is the Pumpkin Walk (in which scenes of a given theme are created by carving and painting pumpkins). Relate our local traditions to traditions in other parts of the country. In New York City they have a Halloween parade in which the people in the community dress up in silly and odd costumes and parade down the streets. Other community traditions include festivals, carnivals, and parties. Have the children attend the pumpkin walk or create their own Halloween parade. G. Math Application. Give a pumpkin to each group of four or five students. Have students weigh, measure and find other facts about their pumpkins by answering the following questions: How long is the stem of your pumpkin? How many ridges are there going around the pumpkin? What is the circumference of your pumpkin? How much does your pumpkin weigh? How many seeds are in your pumpkin? (be sure a hole is cut in the top of the pumpkin) Have each group record their answers on a class graph. Discuss the graph. You may also discuss economic prices of the pumpkins. Have the children figure out higher and lower prices per pound by weight. H. Hands-on. Each child will participate in making one of the following recipes: Quick and Easy Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bread, or Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. (see appendix for recipes) The children will be instructed to use correct measurements and methods. The children will then be able to taste each of the items the class has prepared. Discuss different ways to use pumpkins in celebrations (food, jack-o-lanterns, decoration, sell for profit, etc.). I. Open Discussion. After all of the previous activities have been completed ask the students to respond to the following question. "What do you know about pumpkins?"
Assessment:* Ability to sequence the cards of the growth of a pumpkin will be
assessed.
Appendix: HandoutsHill, N. (1992). Food for Thought. Greensboro, North Carolina. Carson Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc.
Colleges prefer students who have taken an arts education course. Employers look to see if you ever worked in an arts field. Why? Because, people who have an education in any arts fields have better thinking and reasoning skills. Here are a few benefits that people with and education in the Arts have. Students gain a new ability to learning. Art education helps to develop learning experiences for the real world. It helps the mind think abstractly and logically. Improve test scores and learning ability. Of all the Arts programs, music has produced the most and best results. Here's what music education can do. According to the College-Bound Seniors National Report, students who took the SAT, with taking a music course, scored 53% higher on the verbal test, and 53% higher on the math test. Music education is beating out computer classes in most Early Childhood schools. Teachers prefer to teach their students through music rather than computer games. Music helps a child think more than playing an educational game. The University of California took and group of underprivileged kids and gave them intensified music lessons. Not only did the students' test scores soar, but they beat their middle-class neighbors in math by 33.1% Now let's see what other arts education programs can do. The Youth ARTS Education Development program was created by the U.S. Department of Justice to help kids struggling in school. Not only did the education program decreased disruptive behavior but it help the students moral on school. Students who study and act out Shakespeare's plays often have a higher level of reading comprehension. Because Shakespeare's plays are harder to understand and act, the person will have exercised their reading level making them able to reader harder text. Education in the Arts is essential for any child. It can help your child become smarter, and even prepare her or him for the real world. If your school doesn't have any Arts integrated in its education system, then give you child private art lessons, or enroll them in a dance class.
An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life. To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy. A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come. Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition. Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different. What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity. And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.
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In This Week's Issue (Click the Quick Links below): Second Day of Class Writing Assignment "Mommy, Can I Please Take Piano Lessons?" Themes on Life: "Creating Opportunity"
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