Five for Friday May16

I am linking up with Kacey from Doodlebugs Teaching for another fun Five for Friday linky.
Thank you for hosting, Kacey. I find myself thinking of my favorite five all week long.

Last weekend we had a wonderful time at my daughter Emily's graduation from Niagara University. The weather was gorgeous, and so was the ceremony.  We had a great time with friends at a party afterward, too.  We only had two tickets (because it was inside), so only Jeff and I went up to the graduation.  We are going to have a family celebration here for everyone. You would have thought we might have had SOMEONE take a picture of the three of us, wouldn't you?!

Since it is that time of  year when USUALLY I have found frog and toad eggs in the pond, I wanted to share my Frog and Toad Prezi with you if you would like it, and maybe are watching some eggs in your classroom.

I keep hearing frogs and toads, but haven't seen any eggs yet.  My Prezi is free this week if you would like it. It includes a simple biography of Arnold Lobel (author of the famous, fabulous Frog and Toad books), links to an interview with his daughter who continued on with his work as an author herself, some videos of his stories, and some online games.  I also included some pictures that I like to use to compare frogs and toads and their eggs.  Have fun!

We grew some lollipops using our imaginations! The book The Gumdrop Tree is a great way to remind the children to never lose their wonderful imaginations. Here is my post about that book and some other fun ideas.

This time of year, I always have my dandelion activities ready to go for the perfect moment.  It really isn't something you can plan down to the day- you just have to do it!  I love spur the moment fun with the kids. They remember that, too. We had a great time. We read books, wrote about our dandelion wishes, did a little dandelion math, and decided that dandelions are actually quite pretty flowers.  So it was a successful day.  I posted about it HERE.

My number 5 is a huge bit of a rant.  I feel like it is partly on behalf of  Friedrich Froebel, because he would be so sad to see what has become of his idea of a "child's garden."  Kindergarten was to be based around playing, singing, practical activities, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. 

Yesterday I took a professional development class with our school's  occupational therapist.  She's wonderful and does a great job with the children.  She was sharing activities to do with children in the classroom to help with OT issues.  She has five times as many students to service in our school with the incoming Kindergarten class than she had this year.

I don't see how anyone can be surprised.  People wonder why there is such an increase in needs for OT and PT, and drugs for ADD and ADHD.  How can we wonder this?  Which one of us could sit do anything for a solid hour everyday at our age now without a break?  Of course children get active and distracted.

As teachers, we know that we are supposed to take into account what is developmentally best for the children we teach. We need to be able to do that, not feel guilty doing it, and be strong enough to defend that we are doing what is best for children. But how sad that we have to defend it, and that it isn't obvious. These precious, inquisitive, questioning creatures  crave hands-on experiences and movement, as the best part of their learning. Kindergarteners are so capable and so willing and eager to learn.  They amaze me. But somehow the word "developmental" has become outdated and ignored.

How sad that good teachers know what they need to do, so they shut the door and do what is right for children by giving them time to be children, like it's wrong or frivolous.  Luckily, my Principal knows and appreciates the whole child, encourages brain breaks, and realizes the benefit of movement and experiences for children. Many of these children aren't getting experiences at home with exploration and play like they used to, either.

I honestly feel like we are on this path of "flipped classrooms"even for young children,  where children will be learning on iPads or whatever devices they have at home, and school will have to be where they learn to socialize, be healthy, exercise, be polite, practice manners, and have hands-on opportunities for learning. One reason cited for so many OT referrals is the overload of technology at such a young age.  Some children don't know how to climb jungle gyms,  jump rope, or play tag.
                                  

Technology is amazing. It is a valuable tool for teaching. But it's only one part.

  

Our country's quest to be compared to other countries with high test scores is scary.  Those children are often not well-balanced, happy children, but well trained test takers, who from a young age are afraid to do anything but succeed academically.  It makes me sad when test scores are a driving factor. My children are beautiful readers and writers.  They try so hard for me because they know that I am so proud of each of their accomplishments- just like I'm sure your students are.  Still, I feel this pressure that I am not spending enough minutes reading, or writing, or adding, or subtracting, or something.  If I feel the pressure, you can bet the kids do, too.

Lots of times I  write these posts like a journal, mostly to remind MYSELF that I am not crazy to let the children be children. Moments like this remind me that letting them be little is a pretty wonderful thing.

Thanks for listening.  

Have a beautiful weekend!

Growing Imaginations (and Lollipops)

One of the books I love to use as a mentor text for Writer's Workshop is The Gumdrop Tree, written by Elizabeth Spurr and illustrated by Julia Gorton.

                                              

 Here is a review from Amazon:

A little girl plays with a bag of gumdrops given to her by her father. She can't bear the thought of eating them, because if she does, they'll be all gone. Then she has an idea. She will plant the candies and grow a gumdrop tree. She then waters and cultivates them patiently. Finally one seedling sprouts. After a while, she gives up.  The tree is doing well, but it bears no sweets. She still checks on it now and then and, one wonderful day, it is literally covered with sugary drops. Of course, she eats them. In the final illustration, readers see that a couple of gumdrops remain painstakingly tied to the branches with white thread (presumably by two loving parents).

The book is absolutely perfect for helping the children realize that if they have an imagination, they can write ANYTHING at all.  You can use it when you introduce Writer's Workshop, and then again during the year, just to remind the children how important imaginations are to their writing.

                                        

Great writers who use their imaginations write the best stories with lots of details, clever ideas, and different topics.  Some really famous, brilliant people think imaginations are pretty important...

The Gumdrop Tree  has so many wonderful text features to talk about with the children.

And it has great ideas for illustrations!

 Look how it shows the passing of time as she waits for her gumdrop tree to grow.

Plus, who doesn't love to think about growing a gumdrop tree?!

After we read the story and talked about the text features and fabulous illustrations, we talked about what type of book this was. The children quickly knew it was fiction. (I was secretly hoping someone might say nonfiction, and may just believe enough that you could grow a gumdrop tree.) We talked about how if you planted a penny, you wouldn't be able to grow a money tree either. However, when you use your IMAGINATION, anything at all is possible.  The best authors and illustrators have wonderful imaginations. We never want to lose our imaginations! 

                                     

I had each child think about something- anything at all- that they would like to plant so that it would grow into a tree. We shared some of our ideas. If you want to grow a cat, just plant a piece of cat food!

I told the children our imaginations needed a little workout, so we could keep being great writers. This is where the topsoil comes in. You have to practice using your imagination to keep it strong and healthy!

 

Here was my conversation with my husband when he got home from work last night.

Me:  Do you have any topsoil?
Jeff:  How much do you need?
Me:  Not much. We are planting Smarties and growing lollipops.

Jeff: ...  Will there be magic involved?  

That isn't normal, is it?  Just checking.  

I just happened to have Smarties, so I told the children that since they were Smarties, it was a perfect "seed" for them to plant.

I had each child plant a Smartie, and believe with their wonderful imaginations that it would grow.

Well, sure enough, after specials and before snack, (yes, that quickly) our Smarties grew into lollipops!

I wrapped each lollipop base in aluminum foil before I put it in the topsoil, so when we took it out, the sticks were clean.  (You can just imagine they are clean if you want to...)

I  noticed that somehow when the Smarties grew, they grew into DumDums.  hmmm.  That doesn't need to be mentioned to anyone- although it sort of made me smile inside.

If you have gumdrops, perfect! If you have Skittles, they will grow into anything you want, too. If it is candy- the kids will WISH it into something wonderful.  Except Reese's Pieces. They don't grow well for me.  HA- only kidding. I'm sure they would turn out the best.

Hopefully, the children will remember that lesson, and remember that when you use your imagination, anything is possible!

                         

 

While each child came up to plant a Smartie, I had the others draw and write about what tree they would like to grow.  I made this paper that you are welcome to download if you would like it.

Here are some of their ideas...

I love how he is growing a glasses tree! He will never have to worry about losing those glasses again!

Kittens and brownies... what else do you really need?

If you plant a chocolate chip, it may just grow into a cookie!

His best buddy is Logan, so apparently he would like a tree full of Logans.  So sweet.

I love this one!  He planted a wooden plank and grew... a tree house!  This little guy is  a perfect example of how fabulous activities like this are.  He gets frustrated sometimes writing, but has such awesome ideas!  Look at the details he just let spill out onto the paper.

They love to share their ideas.

                                      

Another book that  the children always LOVE this book, If, by Sarah Perry. Adults think it is a little odd sometimes, but kids just can't wait for the next page. 

 Here is a review from Amazon:

A diving board to creative wordplay, the fascinating picture book If... offers a surrealistic view of the natural world. The two-page spreads present artful watercolors paired with such strange possibilities as "If zebras had stars and stripes...," "If the moon were square...," and "If worms had wheels...." Although some of the ideas and pictures are whimsical to the point of being downright creepy ("If caterpillars were toothpaste...," "If toes were teeth..."), the hypotheticals will surely inspire flights of fancy for readers of all ages. What could be more appealing for a 5-year-old than imagining the silliest suppositions and seeing them come to life in realistic paintings?

Sculptor Sarah Perry creates a world to make us stop and think. One of her best illustrations depicts a large, hairy warthog with a sparkling crown and the text, "If ugly were beautiful...." With every if idea, the author encourages the kind of mental double take that comes naturally for children.

Here are some of the sample illustrations:

This books is PERFECT for a writing/drawing activity where the children come up with some of their own "If" possibilities.

Here are some other fun books  that tap into the children's imaginations.

Nancy from First Grade W.O.W. shared the pattern for this great activity to go along with What If You Had Animal Teeth?

Learning to the Core shared some sample illustrations from the book and a darling freebie to go with What If You Had Animal Hair.

Thank you for stopping by!