Class Antics – Inside Elementary Education

Mouse on the Mayflower is a good movie for teaching the classic Thanksgiving story—the kind that’s as much story as history.  As the title suggests, it’s a mouse’s eye view of the experience, from leaving England to the first Thanksgiving.  The movie focuses more on education than entertainment, so students will learn plenty about details like how the pilgrims repaired the Mayflower en route while still enjoying cartoonish fun.

Songs by Tennessee Ernie Ford are sprinkled throughout the movie.  On the whole, they are very good, but watch your kids snicker during the love song!  You might wonder why the pilgrims were singing love songs when the Puritans objected to such frivolity.  Oh, well.

The movie is definitely pro-pilgrim, which makes sense because William the mouse did sail across the Atlantic with them.  Conflict with the Native Americans (Indians in this movie) is presented with the view that there are buffoonish instigators on both sides.  The mice help to bring everyone together, of course.

Enjoy this for what it is—a nice 50 minute movie that effectively dramatizes the Thanksgiving story.  Your students will like it!

Note: this movie is currently not available on DVD, but you can buy it cheap as a used VHS.

This year, try a New Orleans theme for your Halloween/Fall Festival party.  You can work in geography, history, culture, and Halloween fun.

I did this last year and I can tell you that both the kids and parents just loved it.  It was a nice modification of traditional Halloween-at-school activities.  Parents appreciated the educational angle and they learned something, too.

I grabbed everyone’s attention by showing them that the Disney Haunted Mansion is in New Orleans Square.  I told them that the Disney Haunted Mansion movie is set in New Orleans, too.

Once I had everyone’s attention, I showed them a New Orleans PowerPoint I created.  You can click to download & share it, too (large file: 3+ MB).  It shows pictures of New Orleans to help get everyone in the mood.  I downloaded the Disney “Grim Grinning Ghosts” Haunted Mansion song along with some classic New Orleans jazz to play while we looked at the pictures.

Everyone loved learning about the New Orleans jazz funeral.  I told the children how it evolved from African funeral customs.  A New Orleans jazz band plays a sad song or dirge on the way to the cemetery, and happy tunes for the procession out.  Click here to learn more about the New Orleans jazz funeral.  Here is a sample:

Eileen Southern in The Music of Black Americans: A History wrote, “On the way to the cemetery it was customary to play very slowly and mournfully a dirge, or an ‘old Negro spiritual’ such as ‘Nearer My God to Thee,’ but on the return from the cemetery, the band would strike up a rousing, ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’ or a ragtime song such as ‘Didn’t He Ramble.’  Sidney Bechet, the renowned New Orleans jazzman, after observing the celebrations of the jazz funeral, stated, “Music here is as much a part of death as it is of life.”

Because I teach third grade, I don’t explain how the New Orleans above-ground cemeteries are necessary so that the bodies don’t wash out on the streets during floods.  This would be very interesting to older students, though.  For third graders,  I  show  pictures of the beautiful New Orleans cemeteries, famous cultural landmarks of the city.

Make sure to teach the kids about New Orleans food, like jambalaya and po’boys.  Explain that po’boy sandwiches can be any simple filling in bread, but that most people think of a shrimp po’boy.   My mom said that when she lived near New Orleans, red beans and rice was everybody’s Monday dinner because Monday was laundry day and the mother was too busy to cook something difficult.  Practical details like that help history and culture come alive for students.

Parents and students alike are very interested in my story about the New Orleans streetcars.  I explained that if you ride the car to the end of the line, the driver will have everybody stand up so he can reverse the seat backs.  In that way, you always ride facing forward.  Click here to see the concept.  The picture is part of my New Orleans PowerPoint presentation.

For a literacy connection, I recommend reading the New Orleans Magic Tree House book A Good Night for Ghosts.  Your students will enjoy learning about New Orleans and Louis Armstrong.  The book touches very, very lightly on segregation.  You can expand on that or wait for another learning opportunity, your choice.   (If you like, teach your students that Ruby Bridges integrated William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans.)  A Good Night for Ghosts shouldn’t be too scary for your class.  It has a mild ghost scene that turns out not to be ghosts after all, but Louis’s friends.

Happy Halloween!

In third or fourth grades, many children begin to need eyeglasses.  It’s not unusual for a third of the class to be wearing glasses by the end of the school year.

If you think a student might need glasses, call the nurse to schedule a convenient time, then send the child to the nurse for a vision screening.

If the child fails the vision screening, the nurse will send a note home to the child’s parents indicating that the child should be taken to an eye doctor.  In many cases, often the very next day, the child will tell you she has an appointment at the eye doctor.  If this doesn’t happen, remind for a day or two, then wait a week to see if the child brings it up again.  If not, go back to the nurse.

Let the nurse remind parents.  If you get the feeling (or know for sure) that affordability is an issue, make sure to tell the nurse.  School nurses have a few resources for free eyeglasses, but quantities are limited.  You can tip the balance in your student’s favor by advocating and staying in contact with the nurse.  Remember not to promise anything to the student, and don’t tell the student about your efforts to secure free glasses.  You might not succeed.

A heartbreaking scenario is when a child has glasses that are clearly many years old and inadequate for the child’s current vision needs.  Sometimes the tip-off is that the glasses are too small for the child’s head. Send this child to the nurse and go through the vision screening procedure.  If the parents can’t or won’t get the child new glasses, work with the nurse and social worker.  Always, always involve the nurse as the primary case manager.

At many schools, families bring items from the school supplies list to Meet the Teacher Night.  Nowadays, most supplies are collected by the teacher to be used by the whole class.

I highly recommend that you implement a system for dealing with these goods.  If you don’t, you will spend hours dealing with school supplies.

Cubbies are ideal.  You can make quick labels saying things like “paper,” “Kleenex” or “pencils” and families will sort the supplies for you.  The kids really enjoy it, and parents are happy to help.  Set aside ample room for bulky supplies like tissue, reams of copy paper, and Clorox wipes.

If you don’t have cubbies, designate bins, countertops, bookshelves, student desks, tables, or just patches on the floor for various supplies.  You’ll be glad that the supplies are at least sorted.

You can put the supplies away before school starts—or not.  If school starts the day after Meet the Teacher Night, don’t deal with the supplies after families leave.  Just go home and get some sleep!  The kids can help you put them away.  It’s a fun team-building activity.  Really.

Veteran teachers: showing new teachers how to do this is probably the number one thing you can do to help short of assisting in actual classroom setup.  Last year I showed our new kindergarten teachers how to do this, and they all said I saved them hours.

Kids and teachers know: back to school is the real New Year. Kids are full of nervous jitters at this exciting time. You can really help by reviewing key concepts before the first day of school.

Ideally, you followed some sort of program to combat summer slide, that significant decline in skills over the prolonged time off. Regardless, a concerted effort the week before school starts can make a difference.

Review basic math facts! I can’t stress this enough. Your child needs to get the same (correct) answer every time. Quick test: ask your child what 5+8 is. If your child doesn’t answer immediately, she needs to study. If your child was super-slow to solve 5+8, back up with easier problems like 3+2, and, last ditch, 3+1. The results might horrify surprise you.

Use flash cards, math games, drill worksheets from Dad’s Worksheets, or my free software: Best Times Tables Practice EVER! and Best Addition Practice EVER!

My latest shipment from The Great Courses, producer of audio and videotaped lecture series, prompted me to write this post.  They came up with an innovative marketing/thought provoking technique: Think Inside the Box.

As you can see from this picture, the inside of the box is full of facts and anecdotes from various lecture series.

“Rossini wrote all of his operas before he turned 37, and then he retired.  He started at the age of 18, and 19 years later he had written 35 operas before he put down his pen forever.”  –How to Listen to and Understand Opera

“During his secret negotiations with Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1971, Henry Kissinger wore an oversized, borrowed shirt with a label that said “Made in Taiwan.” –The Fall and Rise of China

“Beethoven’s favorite foods were oysters, blood sausage, and head cheese.”—The String Quartets of Beethoven

“In the late 1800s Georg Cantor proved mathematically that there can be more than one infinity, an idea that seems conceptually impossible.  He showed that there are infinite infinities.”—Zero to Infinity: A History of Numbers

I developed an interest in The Great Courses when I bought my parents a lecture series about the Louvre since they were interested in visiting Paris.  I ended up watching the course myself and have ordered many more since then.  Between the cool anecdotes in the shipment box and the constant supply of enticing new catalogues, I just keep ordering and learning!

I mostly like the arts-based Great Courses, but you might like the business, scientific, mathematical, philosophical, historical, or health-themed lecture series.  My favorite course is The Genius of Michelangelo—truly fascinating whether you have a passing or significant interest in the man.  I’ve ordered several surveys of art and have branched out to Understanding the Human Factor: Life and Its Impact (about the implications of man’s transition from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals) and Myth in Human History (a lot easier to explain).

If you want to learn but don’t like dealing with papers, commutes and professional development credit, The Great Courses are for you.  They make daily tasks more fun and educational.  I actually look forward to laundry and ironing because it’s such a good time to watch a course.  I imagine that an audio course would be nice to listen to on a summertime cross-country car trip or just bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I am not affiliated with The Great Courses, except as a satisfied customer.  I don’t receive any benefit from this post.  I just wanted to tell you about how these courses enhance a lifelong-learner lifestyle.

P.S. About pricing of The Great Courses:  Courses go on sale all the time, so watch for sales.  If you like a course but it’s three to five hundred dollars, just wait for it to go on sale.  Once you buy a course, they tell you about all the sales and send you coupons.  The courses are more affordable than you’d think.

Despite what you may hear, I still believe that worksheets are fun and educational.  They’re efficient and give a nice sense of accomplishment.  Doing worksheets for a student is kind of like doing calisthenics for a Marine.  It’s just something you do.  You know it’s beneficial, you enjoy it, and you don’t question it.

You know the great feeling of opening a brand-new box of crayons?  That’s how a lot of kids feel about a brand-new workbook.  You can hear the binding crack as you open it.  The pages smell like paper and ink and promise.  This workbook hasn’t been messed up yet, there are no doodles and ripped pages, and every sheet offers the promise of a nice fat A+.

Lots of kids really would welcome a summer workbook.  You can buy them at teaching stores like Lakeshore Learning, office stores, discount stores like Walmart and Target, dollar stores, grocery stores, book stores (Barnes & Noble has a large workbook section near kids’ books), club stores like Sam’s Club and Costco, and drugstores.  Once your eyes are opened, you’ll start seeing workbooks everywhere.

Here are some recommendations:

Spectrum series: they have a workbook for every subject and grade level.  The primary level Little Critter series are the most fun.  Click here to learn about the wonders of Little Critter Reading, a workbook so great that I won a grant to buy a copy for each of my students.

Evan-Moor also creates workbooks for every subject.  They have a great poetry series, and their fiction and nonfiction workbooks are both educational and interesting.  The science workbooks are fun because they teach nonfiction reading skills and science, a topic that is now taught mostly through activities, so kids don’t have much actual science knowledge like you’d get from a book.  Teachers love the Daily Math Practice and Daily Language Review books.  I also like Daily Paragraph Editing, but most kids have trouble with it since grammar isn’t taught explicitly anymore.

Brain Quest workbooks cover all subjects for one grade.  This is a good all-summer-long review/preview of everything.

Scholastic Success With…is similar to Brain Quest and covers all subjects for one grade.

Summer Bridge Activities is another good review/preview book and is available at teaching stores.

And, of course, Best Multiplication Workbook EVER! is great for all you math buffs.   It covers multiplication, from learning the facts to mastering long multiplication and word problems.

Going to the library is like shopping without the buyer’s remorse. Wait, scratch that. The library can still offer buyer’s remorse if you check out too many books, the wrong books, or just plain lose stuff.

Here are my tips on organizing your library haul.

1. Keep a dedicated library basket (or bag) in the car and at home. The basket at home is so you don’t lose books. When you’re not reading the book, it goes in the basket. When you’re checking out dozens of books at a time, this becomes important. Keep a basket in the car for already-read books so you can drop them off whenever you’re nearby. If you wait for a scheduled trip to the library, you might end up with overdue books.
2. Teach your child how to select books. Librarians and teachers try, but it might mean more coming from you. Kids pick the strangest books. My third graders will show me their latest library picks and I’ll say things like,“Have you read the first five books in this series that is two grade levels above yours? No? So why did you pick this?” “This book is about the Russian Revolution. Do you have any interest in that? Then why did you pick it?”“This is a tender coming-of-age story about a girl and her horse. You like Transformers and anything about war. Why did you pick it?”Teach your child to really think about whether there is anything he can relate to—the cover, the title, the author, or the first page. If not, pass. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s for you.
3. Use the five-finger method. At school, books are labeled with their AR levels. Not true at most public libraries. You can check on ARBookfind.com, or you can just use the five finger method. Encourage your child to read the first page aloud and hold up a finger for each word that’s too hard. If your child finds five too-hard words on the first page, the book is too hard. Put it down.
4. Ask the librarian for advice. Librarians read more than anyone and they know what kids like. You can trust them to help you choose. Just make sure your child understands that while he doesn’t have to read everything the librarian recommends, he has to read enough so as not to annoy her and make her not want to help him next time.
5. Feel free to take and check out the display books. Librarians set books out on display, like at a bookstore. You’re allowed to borrow these books. The librarian can always find something new to set out. (Hint: for picture books, sometimes it’s random. I’ve found some cool books by reading the random picture books librarians set out.)

If your child likes one book in a series, encourage him to read all the books in the series.  Your child will feel more like he chose the book and he will be more vested in reading.  Teachers, librarians or booksellers can advise you on a series at the right age and reading level. 

My high readers in third grade loved the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Children’s Choice Book Award Winner: Author of the Year. Their  enjoyment inspired other students in the class to raise their own reading levels so they could read the five books in the series about Greek mythology set in modern-day America.  More than 20 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.

Available at Amazon.com:
The Lightning Thief (Book 1)
The Sea of Monsters (Book 2)
The Titan’s Curse (Book 3)
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Book 4)
The Last Olympian (Book 5)

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney started on Funbrain.com in 2004, appearing  as blog posts.  Now, the series tops the New York Times best seller lists.  My students love Poptropica, the online game that Jeff Kinney produces during his day job at an Internet company.  There are popular movies out for the first two books.  Share them with your kids!

Available at Amazon.com:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Rodrick Rules (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #2)
The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3)
Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4)
The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5)

And of course, the Harry Potter series and movies are magnificent (available at Amazon.com).  I have read that series countless times, and before each new movie is released, my family watches all the old movies again so we don’t miss anything. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be released on July 15, 2011.  I’ll be there! 

A bit of self promotion: my Buckley School Books series has 2 volumes available now.  I plan to write one book for each kid in Mr. Hoker’s class!

Zapped! (Buckley School Books #1)
Brainstorm (Buckley School Books #2)
Double Switched (Buckley School Books #3 coming soon)

I learned the “offer a choice of two” tip from a mom volunteer, who smoothly distributed about 5 flavors of popsicles with all students feeling like they had a choice in the treat they were given.  I realized that offering a choice of 2 has many classroom management applications:

– It speeds up questioning that’s intended to keep the lesson going, not spark deep thought.  “Should we put the apostrophe before or after the s?” instead of “Where should we put the apostrophe?”

– It gives students options without overwhelming them with choices: “Would you like to use markers or crayons?” instead of “What would you like to color with?”

– It offers students a pseudo-choice: “Would you like to calm down and do the activity with us, or refocus in another classroom?” instead of “Shape up or ship out.”  (also a choice of 2, actually)

– It teaches kids to make a decision, then stick with it.  Most decisions in life are not worth over-thinking.  Your mom’s birthday card will look good whether you use red paper or pink.  Just pick one!

It’s really magic when a low reader masters reading aloud.  In the first days of school, after all the assessments are done, I work with low readers by reading aloud to the student, and then I have the student read the same material back to me.  We repeat the pulling along process after every school break.  Yes, young readers can lose fluency that fast! 

Some tips to pull reading fluency along at any time of the year:

1.  Use fun material!  If a child is struggling, dull and dry won’t inspire.  I like to use picture books, nursery rhymes, poems or lyrics because the low reader can use the rhythm of the words to pull herself to a higher level.

2.  Have the student underline the sentences with her finger as she reads.  This is a physical way to pull the student’s eyes ahead, especially if she falters on a word or phrase.

3.   Read aloud with the student, pulling her along.  Then go back and work on problem words or phrases.  Does the student understand what she just read?  If not, discuss the context and content of the material.

4.  Do it again.  Advance to materials with a higher reading level only when the student feels confident about her mastery of the lower level material.

One of the ways we celebrate reading achievement in my classroom is by listening to our low readers when they triumphantly can read aloud to the class.  As my low readers advance, I urge them to take home books from my class library and read them aloud to younger siblings.

Lucky me…I get their younger sibs in my class a few years later!

I am posting a few days before the event, so my teacher-readers have an opportunity to create lesson plans.

The organizing theme of Earth Day, April 22, 2011 is “A Billion Acts of Green,” which solicits personal, organizational and corporate pledges to live and act sustainably.

This campaign calls for people of all nationalities to commit to an act that helps reduce carbon emissions and promotes sustainability. The act can be a simple gesture, such as washing laundry in cold water, or immense, like picking up a million pounds of trash. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.

 Earth Day 1970 was the brainchild of Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.  After observing political inertia following a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Senator Nelson proposed a national teach-in on the environment to be observed by every university campus in the U.S.  The result: 20,000,000 people demonstrating for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.  The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

 Earth Day has been called the largest secular holiday in the world: it is observed in 175 countries and celebrated by more than a half billion people every year.

 Why celebrate on April 22nd? April 22 corresponds to spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.  Actually, Senator Nelson selected the day because spring breaks were over and final exams had not begun, so more students were likely to be in class for the teach-ins. 

 The Earth Day Educators’ Network  has more than 300 standard-based lessons, school greening tips and grants for teachers.  An Earth Day 2011 Organizer’s Guide is available.

Best Multiplication Songs EVER! can help children learn multiplication facts, but the songs are not a substitute for active teaching.  It’s best to combine multiplication songs with traditional teaching and learning methods. Suggestions include:

> Start with the easiest times tables first 
> Use visual aids
> Count on fingers
> Highlight the rhythm
> Make multiplication songs part of other routines

In my classroom, we sing songs during transitions: while lining up for lunch (and getting our hands clean with our squirt procedure).  We sing when we take out materials for our math lessons.  We sing when one of the students makes a connection to using a multiplication fact in everyday life.  I have heard my students singing in the bathroom, too!

I suggest using the songs in conjunction with other multiplication learning resources, such as Best Times Table Practice EVER!   This program lets students customize their practice.  Students can practice exactly what they need: just the twos, just the tens, only Level Three—you name it!  This program is great for memorizing basic facts.  For example, students can begin to memorize the sevens times table by practicing only seven times zero, one, ten and eleven—then add extra facts until they know them all.  Download this FREE software and practice any times table, anytime! 

Here are more tips about teaching times tables with songs.

Best Addition Practice EVER!

Download this FREE software and practice your addition facts!  It’s customizable, so students can practice exactly what they need to improve.   It seems that we don’t teach our children to memorize like we did even a few years ago.  I had to memorize addition facts, as did my younger sister and brother.  Parents, too, but that was back in the Dark Ages! None of us were encouraged to use our fingers for adding. In fact, my parents developed novel ways for practicing addition skills. Their efforts led to the free software Abligio Books offers for teaching addition.

A child who memorizes facts makes neural connections in their brain.  Subsequent memorization tasks become easier as that file cabinet in the brain fills with knowledge.  Each success builds self-confidence and readiness for new challenges.

A student who masters both addition and multiplication will be ready to ace all of elementary school math. Memorizing should not be a dirty word in today’s educational environment — it’s the key to helping a child succeed in many future endeavors.

Addition ROCKS!

I am celebrating the release of my newest educational product: Best Multiplication Workbook EVER!

The workbook is one of my award-winning math learning resources that help elementary students in primary grades learn times tables, master basic multiplication facts and practice addition facts.  These educational products are valuable resources for parents, elementary school classroom teachers and homeschoolers.

BEST MULTIPLICATION WORKBOOK EVER! focuses on kids: how they think, how they learn, what they like. The workbook is remedial for intermediate grades, including middle school math classes and junior high school math classes.
Order now!
Also available from Amazon.com.

BEST MULTIPLICATION SONGS EVER! teaches times tables with familiar tunes, in the same way students learn their A-B-Cs.  This CD is an award-winner: Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Educational Products Award and 100 Best Products of 2010.
Order now!

Students across the spectrum of educational institutions can achieve higher test scores with FREE software: BEST TIMES TABLES PRACTICE EVER! and BEST ADDITION PRACTICE EVER!
Here’s how to download.

I love making learning fun.  Mastering multiplication is the key to succeeding in elementary math courses…and beyond.  We should enjoy the process and so should our students!