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/