a wolf in our school

Moving on to more of the usual fun things that happen at our school... a wolf came to our school last week. Yes, a wolf!

Early in the year I started an Afterschool Science Club with a small group of 2nd and 3rd graders. When discussing things they wanted to learn about, they all seemed to agree that wolves was at the top of their list.

We spent some time reading about wolves in nonfiction texts, picking up cool facts here and there. When they learned about reintroduction, they started asking questions about why ranchers wanted to keep wolves out of their respective states. So we watched Wolves in Paradise (available on Netflix) about how ranchers and conservationists work together to make reintroduction successful. This led to wonderful discussions about wolf reintroduction and the struggles on both sides of the reintroduction debate.

a wolf in "Wolves in Paradise"

The conversation changed to some of myths about wolves; primarily, wolves eat people. We turned to the stories they grew up with. Reading through "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" they came up with an image of a wolf that went against what they had been learning in their nonfiction texts and media.

The Afterschool Science Club wanted to set the story straight by teaching their schoolmates but they counted the number of classrooms they'd have to visit and quickly felt overwhelmed. We discussed various ways of getting the message across and came upon the NY Wolf Conservation Center - whose mission is to promote wolf conservation through education.

It took the students a bit to convince our principal to bring a wolf to school. My Afterschool Science Club wrote persuasive letters to the principal and buttered him up with clay sculptures of wolves. Finally, they marched into his office and presented a plan for their study of wolves. With a smile, he gave in.

our students being active listeners

The NY Wolf Conservation Center came last week and held a slideshow presentation about wolf conservation, debunked myths about wolves, and introduced a real wolf to the audience. Atka, their Amabassador Wolf, is a nine-year old the Arctic Gray Wolf who, in addition to being a beautiful animal, does a great job just being a wolf.
 

Atka arrives

Atka walks around, next to a caretaker for safety reasons

The kids were amazed by this incredible animal. They learned about the wolf's body, the behaviors in the wild, and got to watch as Atka naturally acted out some of those behaviors. The wolf is not an entertainer so it does not "perform." Instead they let the wolf do what wolves do best.

here Atka zeroes in on a backpack full of fruit

Atka walked around, smelled new things around the room, tried to get into a backpack filled with fruit I had accidentally left on a table, and rolled around in smells it found interesting. While most people would be scared, our students were better prepared, knowing that a wolf is actually more scared of us. In fact, in the last 100 years not a single person in North America has been attacked by a healthy wolf in the wild.

students were floored, literally

We learned that if Atka does not want to go on a school visit, Atka doesn't go. The caretakers have to take their cues from Atka. Atka is the boss. They explained that they believe it's Atka's curiosity that allows them to take him on car rides to schools. Atka is a very special wolf and we were very lucky to have him visit.

Baby L was not impressed by the wolf - he preferred to jump in puddles

I highly suggest that if any educators or homeschool parents in the NY area are developing units around wolves or wildlife conservation, you take a look at the NY Wolf Conservation Center. Having a visit from a wolf or visiting the center would make a great culminating experience.

where's the standard for getting muddy?

I haven't been able to blog much recently, there's been a lot going on at our school. Between our Spring Break, state exams, and superintendent visits, even the most cool-headed, balanced, reflective science teacher can succumb to work-related stress.

There's been a lot of exciting stuff happening at my school and I'll post about it as soon as I can, but I wanted to start with a bit of a rant. I apologize if some of this is comes off as an emotional-response instead of a well thought out, research-based editorial. It is a Friday night, I'm tired, and I'm concerned about the path our nation is taking.

As an early elementary science teacher I'm always trying to find the balance between teaching, creating thinkers, fostering imaginations, and having fun. Ideally, the word 'teaching' covers the other three but, in reality, with the accountability demands placed on teachers nowadays, I think 'teaching' is becoming much more clinical . . . and cold.

Now, I'm a science geek and when I heard that the first public draft of the next generation science standards were being published today, I spent a good part of my day checking the website to see if they'd been posted. When I finally got to see them tonight, I made myself a bowl of cereal and sat down to skim through what would be about 32 pages of printed material for grades k-3.

 
Initially, I was neither shocked nor awed. They seemed to cover what we already do in New York City. After a quick news-reading break I went back to them and paid close attention to the kindergarten and first grade standards. That's when it hit me. Although it all looks familiar (I teach it), it looks like there's been some shifting. The stuff that we're currently teaching first graders in New York City is showing up as standards in kindergarten. The new standards are also asking first graders to do things like obtain information about "offspring survival" behaviors using grade-appropriate nonfiction texts.

Although it won't be hard for a good teacher to do any of these things, I worry about the decisions this will force teachers to make. For one thing, it's hard not to notice that we seem to be cramming more material, more often, and doing it earlier than we're used to. Plus, with the new common core push on nonfiction material, I worry that teachers will naturally reduce the amount of quality time spent with rich fiction.

Kindergarteners and first graders are already being forced to do something that our brains were not designed to do, read. So now we're asking our youngest students to obtain complex information from nonfiction texts while maneuvering through this incredibly difficult task of learning how to read. It's not that I'm against reading nonfiction, it's that I don't think it's the best way to learn for this particular age-group.

My fears, therefore, are as follows:
- I fear the loss of rich, creative fiction in the classroom
- I fear that we may burn out this generation of kids as we ask them to do more than previous generations have been asked to do
- I fear that in an effort to meet new, rigorous standards we will quickly lose sense of what is age-appropriate and right
- I fear that, due to the culture of accountability, teachers will choose to teach in its new cold form, instead of creating thinkers, fostering imaginations, and having fun


And, gosh-darnit, where's the standard for getting muddy?

My hope lies, not in "new and improved" standards, but in the teachers that are entrusted to develop the next wave of humanity. My hope is that we do what is right.

End rant.

Stay tuned for the return of fun science stuff . . .

the school garden becomes a mud house

Our school garden has undergone several changes in the four years we've inhabited the space. When we first arrived it was a triangular dirt space, with woodchips covering the ground, and a small sickly looking tree guarding the area.

Since then my science classes have planted small trees, kindergarten classes have planted flowers, and pre-k classes have planted vegetables. Over time this became a big patch of wild-growing plants that were hard to care after.

Ms. Merril's pre-k kids began using the garden this year as a place to explore and play. They started digging holes and adding water. They brought out tools to aid in their explorations.

After watching with envious eyes for a few weeks, as one of the teachers in charge of recess, I decided to let students into the garden area during recess. The only rule: respect all living things.

 The first thing most students wanted to do was dig.

 Some students started mixing soil with water.

A mud kitchen was created.

"We're cooking."

"I think we found treasure."

Creatures were discovered.

Holes were started.

Twigs, branches, and roots from dead plants were used as tools.

"We're cleaning the dirt."

This child looked for gold with his magic stick.

Rocks were sorted.

"I found an ancient artifact. I don't know what it is."

"Let's go clean it off!"

"It's a lego piece!"

"It looks like a faucet."

A sign was made.

An entrance was labeled.

"Is that a meteor?"

 

"This soup has so much fiber."

 

"Yeah, we put many yummy vegetables in it."

It's amazing how much kids can do in 25 minutes with a little patch of dirt.

simple toys for home

There can only be one thing better than making simple toys to play with and learn from - making toys to take home.

Here are the zoomers the second graders made:

One student asked, "How come they don't sell zoomers at the store?"

Another answered, "They're not fancy enough. No one would buy them."

"But they're so much fun."

nature, risk, adventurous play, more accidents, children out of sight, escape

I'm out on Recess duty four days out of the week and try to do my part to ignite creative play in kids that don't often get the chance to engage in such activity.

The following look at playgrounds in Berlin makes me wish we had this in our schoolyard...

Thanks to bakers and astronauts for posting this

And a longer video about natural playgrounds in the UK. Exciting stuff...

Growing up in Brooklyn we had a big concrete playground with one basketball hoop and lots of dodgeball. It was fun and we used our imaginations well. But, I do wish I had this growing up.

the simple toys

Second grade scientists have been studying balance and motion - which really ends up being a study of toys. While making "zoomers" (made with a string that runs through the two holes in a large disk) that twirl and spin, I heard some wonderful noise.

second grade scientist with zoomer

"Whoa!"

"Awesome!"

"Weeeee!"

"That's so cool!"

even Jeremy Lin loved playing with the zoomers

I let them play with the zoomers for longer than I normally would have because of the amount of fun this simple toy seemed to be creating. They went on to record, sketch, and describe their noticings later in the class, but I let them enjoy the simple pleasure of a simple toy.

My students, based on conversations with them and their parents, are subject to ridiculous amounts of input (TV, video games, computer time, severely guided/overly scheduled lives). I found this moment of construction and play to be so simple it was . . . fun. Loads of fun.

variations of a zoomer

communicating without words

Mrs. L asked Mr. L to make a small solid salad with rice, beans, and other ingredients. Mr. L put the dry ingredients together: cornmeal, white rice, mung beans, pinto beans, and lima beans. He called Mrs. L to tell her about the salad he made. Unfortunately, he used the wrong ingredients. She wanted a small solid salad with brown rice, red kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, and corn. Please help Mr. L separate the small solids back into their original containers.

Mr. L's small solid salad

On Day 1 first grade scientists were sorting through a mixture of small solids (my small solid salad above). They worked in small groups of two or three, planned how they were going to complete the task before beginning, and then got to work. Most groups worked out some organized way of sharing responsibilities ("You separate the mung beans, I'll do the rice") while others split up piles of the mixture and independently sorted out the components. The sorting took about 16-20 minutes to complete and left many of them frustrated.

first grade students sort independently

some students shared the task and each took responsibility for a part

When discussing ways to sort small solids in an easier way, the group was stumped - using more hands or straight-edges to scoop were the most common and creative answers. I offered some possible tools to help: a funnel, mesh screens of various sizes, cups, tubes, and spoons. Almost all the kids opted for trying the mesh screens - they talked about places they've seen it before, how they could possibly use it, and then, I ended the lesson.

I'm becoming a firm believer that kids need time to process what they're learning, planning, or trying to solve. By moving on quickly to the solution we satisfy the urgent need for answers but I doubt that it really sinks in.

Day 2 of the lesson provided the small solid mixture with mesh screens of various sizes, as well as any other tools they may have found useful. They got to work, some very methodical, planning the order in which they were going to use the various sized mesh screens; others were less-planned but through trial and error and conversation were able to work out an adequate process.

the screen mesh made it easier to sort out the small particles like cornmeal and rice

a beautiful mess

My biggest surprise came with the pair that managed to sort the small solids out the fastest (in about four minutes). They barely spoke a word to one another. Everything they did was solely based on body language or intuition. They watched each others' hands, eyes, and body movements to know the role each would play and make decisions as to which solid each would sort.

While the rest of the class thought out loud and tried to talk out solutions to problems that came up, these two worked in silence. It's not a case of two good friends knowing what the other is doing - they're not friends, they're in different classes, one is an English Language Learner (advanced) and the other is in a Special Ed class (with a language plan). Yet, here they were, working on a project, complementing each others' moves, predicting what the other was doing ahead of time, working cooperatively, and doing it rather quickly.

Perhaps they're able to compensate for whatever they lack in oral language by reading non-verbal cues better?

In the end, the first grade scientists all walked away with something concrete - either about the sizes and shapes of solids, the sorting process, or the use of tools to help in complex tasks.

I walked away amazed at what two first grade students can do without using words.

creating questions: a new blog

Over the next few days, weeks, and months, this blog will be changing. It will now be located at www.creatingquestions.com. The move comes after much internal reflection on my teaching practice and my job as a parent.

Previously, this blog was a way to communicate with parents and kids. What I found, though, is that few parents and students used the site. This made any real, productive virtual interaction nearly impossible. As a parent, I've also become more and more wary of technology and screen time for young children.

I'd like this blog to become a way for me to reflect on my own practice and share resources and experiences with other educators and homeschool parents. My hope is that this becomes part of a larger conversation that, in the end, leads to a better learning experience for all our children.

I will be doing my best to update regularly and urge you to post comments or questions and join the conversation.

Enjoy!

Note: I have gone through the site and deleted many of the old posts. What remains is what I find to be the most helpful, either as reflection of practice or a documentation of my teaching.

Healthy Plate

Recently the USDA put out a new version of their food guidelines called My Plate. Although it is an improvement over the previous pyramid, it does little to actually educate folks on what smart choices could be. For example, under "Protein" you could easily fit in a hot dog. But, is that healthy?

So, the very smart folks at Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School put together a better Healthy Eating Plate:

Notice that they recommend limiting red meats and avoiding processed meats. Also note that they emphasize that french fries do not count as a serving of vegetables. Finally, note the glass of water on the top left hand corner. Water is the healthiest drink to have. Kids should not be consuming caffeinated tea or coffee. They even go so far as limiting dairy to 1-2 servings a day and fruit juice to 1 small serving a day.

This is a much better version of the food guidelines. Print it up and tape it to your refrigerator!

Exploding pumpkins

Every now and then I'll post something that really has very little connection to what we're doing in class.  However, it's fun. 

Many of you who know me well, know that I try to have as much fun as possible in everything I do.

So, I bring to you the incredible Exploding Pumpkins:



Warning: DO NOT try this at home!