Environmental Friendly Findings

Today proved to be such a success! I had originally planned for the final day of our project to be a mini-science fair, but after talking with my students about it three weeks ago, I realized that for this group, another option would be more feasible. With that in mind, the final project was changed to an exhibit in which the children made posters showcasing something they had learned or something that they wanted to investigate farther. ( NCATE Standards 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)

As my students began coming into the room this morning, I was more than amazed! All in all, their posters were very well done and the children were so excited. They could hardly wait to start sharing their information with each other. Like them, I have a couple I just have to share with you. One girl made a poster about ways to conserve water and she brought in a demonstration to accompany her poster. She brought a jar containing a plant that needed watering, a funnel, some tubing, and a measuring cup. Then she showed us how to pour the water into the funnel, and we watched as it ran through the tubing into the jar so that no water is wasted when plants are watered. At the end of her presentation, she said, "I'd like to dedicate my project to ______" (the child who originally suggested our project). This display of respect and courtesy let me know that my objective for NCATE Standard 2 had been met.

Instead of buying pre-cut letters for her poster, a girl cut letters out of old magazines her mother was going to throw away. Her research was on precipitation and she wanted to make clouds at the top of her poster. Rather than using cotton balls, she used the liners out of newborn baby diapers that her baby sister had outgrown a month or so ago. She truly demonstrated the theories of reducing and reusing. My objective for Standard 4 was for my studentsto realize that the choices they make affect the environment, and seeing her and the other students share their findings left no doubt that this had happened!

Our principal came to our room to see our posters and he told us that the state had given us 200 seedling trees that are native to Alabama. The trees are presently in small pots at the greenhouse at Ashford High School, but he said if they are ready to be planted by spring, our class could plant some on our campus.

The other sixth grade teachers invited us to present our posters to their classes. In the first room we visited, some of my students were a little nervous, but by the last visit, they were "old pros" at speaking in front of groups. In observing and listening to their oral presentations, I knew that objectives for Standards 6, 7, and 8 have proved successful.

Next week we will have the materials that we have collected taken to a recycling center. Although this is our last blog, maybe I can share those results with you during our presentations on November 19th.

It has been thrilling to see my learners become environmentalists, and each week I see more evidence that what we are learning is really registering with them. I believe that the time we have spent doing Earth 911 will make a difference in each one of their lives and in our world-- and isn't that the desire of every teacher's heart?

Interesting sites:

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste
http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/school

Waste Watchers' Week

This week took a different route from the previous work on Earth 911. It started by continuing last week's discussion about ways to conserve energy. The students came up with some very interesting ideas and they never cease to amaze me with what they already know and what they are adding to their knowledge base. Our class meetings have personified my objective for NCATE Standard I which was to establish prior knowledge.

We have called this week our "Waste Watchers' Week" because each child took home an audit to use to assess ways their families use energy. They learned to read an electric meter and they recorded their home readings on their audits. In one week, they will re-read the meters and calculate the average daily amount of energy that is used by their families. The audits included questions about the number of lights that are left on with no one in the room, how many televisions or radios are on in a room that has no one in it, how many windows have drafts, how many faucets are leaking, temperature of hot water heaters, etc. Other questions dealt with using hot or cold water to wash clothes and if they use the drying cycle on their dishwashers or let them air dry. I believe that this is the week where the children are really practicing what they are learning. My plan for Standard 4 was to provide real-life experiences for the students so that they will retain and transfer knowledge. I feel that not only "Waste Watchers' Week", but the entire Earth 911 project has given my learners opportunites to truly make that transfer. I see them realizing how the choices they make affect our environment, and hopefully, this project will be a life-long lesson for them.

Since our meetings this week revolved around reporting on the audit and lots of class discussion, I don't have pictures to post. I do have some neat websites to share, though, so be sure to visit them.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/
http://www.scienceforamerica.com/
http://www.school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide

NCATE Standards and Earth 911

As I began evaluating my project according to the objectives I developed according to each NCATE Standard, I saw how they all perfectly fit together. For example, the first standard deals with anchoring content in meaningful learning experiences, and because environmental issues are such a familiar topic, my sixth graders could see the relevance of our project to their lives (Standard 2). Seeing the importance of the issue caused my students to take ownership of Earth 911 and they truly created the environment to showcase the project. (Standards 4 and 5)

I have been amazed with the way they have assumed their roles and come together to solve problems.They have seen what needs to be done and worked as a team to complete the task. I have even heard them make comments about who should do certain things because he/she is good at that. My goal for the second NCATE standard was that they would demonstrate respect and courtesy to classmates, and it has been a joy to see them do that. (Standards 2,3,5)

Earth 911 has given my learners many opportunities to use wide varieties of instructional strategies as they have explored the various topics. They have researched using trade books, reference books, and Internet sources which allowed them to read, write, organize, summarize, classify, synthesize, categorize, infer, and to evaluate and orally present their findings. They have used visual art to create a bulletin board, posters, and a wall hanging. Discussion has been a large part of our project and they have demonstrated the conventions of etiquette. The students participated in an election which was held to vote on a name for the project. (Standards 3,6,7,9) In one of her posts to my blog, Joan H. even commented on the number of learning strategies taking place in this project.

At the beginning of the semester, I had some concerns about how my students would handle the activities I had planned in my proposal. How rewarding it has been to see them work together and "gel" as a class and for me to grab the teachable moments that so easily escape us as we strictly adhere to weekly lesson plans. The greatest pleasure has been to see this age group become excited about learning, and that, in turn, has re-ignited this teacher's joy.

Deeper Roots

This week our "roots" became stronger on the subject of trees and their benefits to the world. The children continued to work with their partners to organize the information they discovered from the research they began last week. Each team of partners presented their information orally to the class. Due to the fact that we were out of our room for several Red Ribbon Week activities this week, it took three days to complete their presentations. Today they wanted to put a tree on a wall in the room so they could put their facts on it, so we did that very thing.

At our Thursday afternoon meeting, we started talking about ways to conserve energy in our homes. I was really surprised when one of my boys mentioned cleaning the lint filter in the clothes dryer! Ironically, some of the girls didn't know what he was talking about!

Our recycled materials are mounting up, and I am eager to see how much money the students will earn at the end of our project. I think it will be interesting to see what they think we should buy for our room.

http://www.idahoforests.org

http://www.arborday.org/kids/

A Tree-mendous Week

What fun and interesting meetings we have had this week! Our attention has been on trees and how they are useful to us. I started by asking my learners how trees help us. I was so happy with the myriad of ways they listed. Their replies included food (of course!), furniture, books, pencils, medicines, herbs, shelters for people and animals, and many other responses. Someone suggested entertainment; you can build a treehouse, play hide and seek behind and in trees, have a picnic, or read a book under trees.

One of my environmentalists asked how paper is actually made from wood, and from that, the questions came pouring forth. We checked the laptops out of the library and began researching their topics. This has been a very educational week for them and for me!

The thing I love most about doing this project is the opportunity it gives me to really "see" what my students' backgounds of experiences are and to tune in to their knowledge bases. Seeing them think outside of the proverbial box has been a real eye-opener for me, and I am getting to know them. What I am learning from them and about them would never have been revealed through our ARMT and SAT standards, Alabama Course of Study guidelines, or even my district's guidelines ( but rest assured I am meeting those requirements, too!). Practicum has made me wonder just how much autonomy and voice I have allowed my students in the past 28 years! Do I need to ask my former students' forgiveness?

There are so many neat websites about trees and with activites for students of all ages, but three really cool ones are:

http://pencils.com/ (Be sure to see the Teach & Learn section)
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/trees3
http://treelink.org/


"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come."--Chinese Proverb

Help Please

For some reason when I put my links on my posts, they don't take you to the site when you click on them. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks so much.

Earth 911

This week has been fall break for our system so I have not had the opportunity to work with my students on our project this week. But, of course, like all teachers, our project has been a very present part of my fall break. Since I can't share what happened in my classroom this week, I would like to share some great links with you.

www.youtube.com/howit'smadealuminumcans
www.disney.com/friendsforchange

"Can" 't Get Enough of This

Although our week started a little more slowly than I wished, it ended on a great note! My learners finished their mini-posters and the bulletin board they had started last week. Quite honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the appearance of the outcome. I had to remind myself that in elementary art work it is the process, not the product, that is most important. My disappointment diminished as they shared their posters and talked about what they had learned.
The rest of our week was spent learning about how aluminum cans are made. The culmination of our week's work was illustrating the steps in the production of a can. After the students reported on each step, I assigned them partners to work with to draw a particular step. I decided to assign the partners because they usually get to select who they want to work with on these types of activities. Of course, they pick the same partner repeatedly. Today I basically paired a high achiever with a lower achieving student.
I was delighted with what I saw and heard taking place among my sixth graders! They were sharing information about their step, making (and taking) suggestions about how to illustrate their step, and deciding who would draw and who would write their caption; it was teamwork at its best! Co-operative learning was alive and well in my room! The best part of all was that they were so pleased with what they had constructed and with what they had learned. They wanted to post their work in our hall. My camera's battery died before we got the final products up, so they may appear on a future blog.
Our recycling piles are getting bigger and bigger. This week we learned that if people in the United States recycled all the aluminum cans they usually throw away each year, they would save enough energy to power a city the size of Baltimore, Maryland. I wish I knew how much energy these students have in plastic bags in our school's storage room waiting to be taken to the recycling center!

www. reuserecycle.net/how-can-i-reuse-php.
www.pacleanways.org/kids

Mrs. Godfrey's Class is Going Green

This week my students finished reporting to the class what they learned in the research projects they conducted last week. They enjoyed it so much they asked if they could make mini-posters illustrating their research findings. This led to their asking to create a bulletin board to display their work.

Although this has been a good week and the children are becoming more and more involved (one girl brought in a website she had found that has some neat things for children to do), it slowed down the pace I had originally planned. I am glad Dr. Bowden called those plans our "Proposed Plans!" It looks like we may have to add a week to our project in order to get it all done, but my sixth graders are constructing their learning. Sometimes I feel like I play "Beat the Clock" from the moment my students arrive, so it has been refreshing to be able to take hold of so many teachable moments!

Other classes are getting on the recycling bandwagon, and everyday someone from another class comes in to bring the materials they have collected. Our piles keep growing, and it looks like our principal is going to have lots to take to the recycling center for us.

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm

http://www.recycleworks.org/

Excited Recyclers

Several weeks ago, one of my students came in and said that she had been hearing on the news that the state does not have any money to give to teachers to buy school supplies. She asked me if we could do a project to raise money so that we can buy things we need for our classroom. Her suggestion was that we recycle. She and two other girls went to the principal to get his permission and returned to class with huge smiles on their faces. Not only had he granted permission, the principal said he would transport the items we collect to a recycling center for us. Can you imagine my surprise a few days later when a lunchroom worker arrived at our door with a huge bag of aluminum cans that she and her coworkers had saved for us after the same little girls told them about our project?
At our first class meeting, the students voted on the name "Earth 911" and discussed things they want to do for our project. During that week they found locations of recycling centers ,what items will be accepted, and how much is paid for the items. They collected boxes and labeled them "Plastic", "Paper," and "Cans" and placed them in all three buildings of our school. Each day the boxes are collected and brought back to our room to be emptied.
This week the children enjoyed researching reasons to recycle, ways to recycle, what happens to materials after they are taken to recycling centers, and ways to protect the earth. Their excitement was uncontainable and from every area of the room I could hear my "environmentalists" exclaiming, "Wow! Did you know this?" "Hey, listen to this!" Man, we really do need to do this!" Two of the websites they visited are http://www.ecocycle.org/, and www. resourcefulschools.org.
I realized that my students are truly living what they are learning as I was grading reading tests this week. One of the questions required the students to write about something they had come to care about that at one time had been unimportant to them. One of my learners wrote that he used to not care about recycling until our class started this project, and now he believes that everyone should recycle, reuse, and reduce!

Proposed Calendar of Weekly Work

Week One- Students attended class meeting to decide on proposed project and select name for project. Earth 911! becomes class project.

Week Two-Begin research to investigate reasons to recycle, ways to recycle, ways to protect earth, water, and air. Create a survey of attitudes about recycling. Begin recycling in classroom.

Week Three--Students will explore environmental impacts of producing new aluminum and recycling aluminum products.

Week Four-- Learners will focus on products obtained from trees and ways the products can be conserved.

Week Five-- Waste Watchers Week. Students will brainstorm energy saving ideas and create a Home Energy Audit.

Week Six-- Earth 911! Fair. Students will set up a mini Science Fair by creating an exhibit illustrating what they have learned. The three other sixth grade classes will be invited to attend.
Materials that have been recycled will be taken to recycling center to be sold and class will hold a meeting to decide what to do with the money they have earned.