With all of the technology that kids love to use such as computers and ipads, it amazes me that sometimes the simplest of activities are still completely engaging to students.  About to embark on a new unit on nonfiction text features, I sat down with Mrs. Dillon yesterday afternoon to plan.  Our task: to find high interest materials and activities that would bring what can be a very dry subject to life.  It was rewarding and gratifying to watch day one of our unit unfold quite successfully this afternoon.

Over the years, Mrs. Dillon and I have found that when students are answering questions about nonfiction text they often say, “I can’t find the answer” or “the article doesn’t say” without actually reading all of the words on the page.  In response to this, we put together several activities that would require them to pay attention to all of the text features on the page such as text boxes, sidebars, and captions.

After showing the students examples of text features in a nonfiction article displayed on the ActivBoard and having them complete a reading comprehension activity, the students were sent off on a Scavenger Hunt with their reading partners.  Instead of buried treasure, students searched for text features within a short news magazine called Kind, published by the Humane Society.  Armed with a list of text features such as subheadings, text boxes, and captions, students set off to mark their articles with post-it notes.

Within minutes of starting the activity, exclamations could be heard throughout the room.  ”I found a text box!”  ”Here are some parentheses!”  The room was abuzz with excited energy and conversations and all the time, students stayed on topic.  Thoughtful questions emerged as well.  ”Is this a thought bubble or a speech bubble?”  ”Can we consider these to be bullets if there are numbers inside them?”  ”Can we call this a timeline if it doesn’t have dates on it?”

Engaged students, on topic conversations, thoughtful questions, correctly identified text features:  Mission Accomplished!  With the energy generated today at the beginning of the unit, Mrs. Dillon and I eagerly look forward to the next few weeks.

CS9 – When you find someone in the world you admire who is generous and nice, keep that person close to you.  Respect them because people like that are very rare.

CS10 -Bullying should not happen.  Instead of hurting other children, people should respect other’s children.

CS18-You can always be a better person.

CS12- Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

CS13-If you treat others well, you will be treated the same way.

CS20 – Respect the world, not trash the world.

CS19 – Respect the world like it is you.

CS8 – Always keep on trying.

CS2 – Respect the world like the world respects you.

CS14-Respect your family, friends, and teachers.

CS6- Treat others as you want to be treated.

CS16 – Respect the environment and help keep it clean to prevent pollution.

CS15-Electricity is for false men who don’t have friends or family.  No electricity is for real men who have friends and family.  Family and friends are warmth so you don’t need electricity to get it.

CS17 – If you hurt nature, it will hurt you back. Leave nature alone!

CS4- Treat others as you want to be treated.

CS7-Be a friend and it will come back to you.

CS3-Treat people the way you want to be treated.

CS11- If you look, you learn well and will never fail again.

CS5- Do well, act well, live well.

CS1- Care for the world, not trash the world.

After gathering everyone around a large table, Steven shared the four treasures found on a scholar’s table: rice paper, delicate brushes made from bamboo and horse hair for poetry and calligraphy, a beautiful block of elaborately decorated ink, and an ink stone made from river stone. For inspiration, scholars often had intricately decorated fans, carved brush pots with nature scenes, and stones with scenes carved by nature which bring qi into the home. Although the children used real ink from China in their painting today, Steven showed them how artists prepare their ink, grinding it gently on the stone. Preparing ink this way, prepares the mind to write or paint.

The children were given the opportunity to practice their painting strokes using brushes from China. “Imagine the brush dancing on stage or as an ice skater skating across a pond. Look at the strokes and ask yourself, qi or no qi.” After practicing, the children listened to Chinese music from Lake Landscape on a Moonlit Autumn Night, and using “grace, energy, and qi” painted delicate strokes on rice paper. Their work was used as an inspiration  to write a new poem. “Use your imagination and let the painting speak.”

Writing a journey poem.

On Steven Ratiner’s third classroom visit, he started the lesson by talking with the children about the art of revision.  He shared his personal poetry notebook and showed how he revises again and again, always in search of the perfect words to capture the images.  Sometimes he does as many as 60 revisions over a 6 month period, all in different colors so that he can see how the poem has changed each time.  Through revision, a poet works until he/she owns all of the words line by line and rhythm by rhythm.

Today’s lesson was on poetry from the Song (Sung) Dynasty where man’s interaction with nature was important.  A scroll was displayed giving a detailed glimpse of the artist’s world.  People in ancient China often attended singing parties for inspiration where new poems were presented as songs with familiar tunes.  Eventually poems became so lyrical that they sounded like music just through their words.

“Find one treasure in your life.  Pick one memory you never want to lose and capture it,”  Steven told the class.  After

The students share their poems with Steven.

listening to the crisp, clear sound of Tibetan prayer bells, each child wrote their own poem about a special moment in their life.

The lesson continued with a discussion about how it is important to choose images for your poem carefully so the reader can see the story in their mind.  “Use only essential words to create an image. By compressing imagination in a reader’s mind, it expands the image,” he said. The title is important too and opens the door for the poem to come through.

Next Steven shared a beautiful 100 year old hand carved bamboo brush pot from China so intricately carved with a scene from nature, it looks like you can reach inside and touch the trees.  The Chinese believe that on a day when you cannot go walking in the woods, sometimes looking at a beautiful object will bring nature to you.  A marble jasper stone known as a greenery stone, appeared to have a natural landscape picture on it, but each child saw something different.

For today’s lesson, each child had brought from home a special object that held memories for them such as a handmade model, a shell, or stone.  A museum of objects was created in the classroom which the children toured until they found one, perhaps their own, that could take their mind on a journey.  ”Today’s journey has no limits to your imagination. Picture yourself traveling on a journey.  What do you see, hear, discover, wish, or remember?”  With that, the children sat down and after hearing the beautiful sound of a singing bowl carved from a single piece of crystal, wrote their poems. The results are amazing. We will soon be sharing them with you.

Late in the afternoon, we headed down to the river walk and each child was challenged to find an area for their own poet’s retreat.  While in their retreat, Steven explained, they can step away from the world for a moment and see the outside with fresh new eyes.

At an assembly earlier this month, Steven discussed the theory of the open bowl. Using a singing bowl and wooden mallet from Tibet, he explained that when the children are preparing to write poetry,  their minds should be open bowl.  When the mind is open bowl, they become much more observant about the world around them and ready to write.  Today while the children waited quietly in their spot with their eyes closed, Steven rubbed the wooden mallet around the rim of the bowl, making it sing. Once the ringing stopped, the children opened their eyes, ready to see the world around them in a new way, and began writing poems about whatever inspired them at the moment.

Walking back to the classroom, everyone was talking excitedly, “I wrote about the ripples in the river!”  “I wrote about how the birch tree branches reflected in the water!”  We will share the poems with Steven tomorrow and look forward to returning with him next week to the river to our very own poet’s retreat.

Meeting Speedy and Dribble

“Can we name them?”  “Will we be able to feed them ourselves?”  “Are all turtles endangered?”  These are some of the many questions asked by the class this Wednesday when our Blanding’s turtle hatchlings finally arrived.

The morning began with a meeting with Dr. Bryan Windmiller who has been working to protect and increase the population of Blanding’s turtles.  Blanding’s turtles are found throughout the United States, but are very rare in New England.  Under 500 live in Massachusetts with a small group of less than 100 at the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge. This group of Blanding’s turtles at Great Meadows is the third largest population in New England.

Over the decades, Bryan and other scientists have noticed a steady decline of Blanding’s Turtles.  Of the 50 adults counted in a recent headcount, most were older adults.  Bryan’s goal is to reverse the decline through educating about the species, protecting the nests, and giving the turtles a “head start” on becoming an adult.

As part of the Head Start program, our class will care for two hatchlings throughout the school year.  They will live in a warm cozy environment with plenty of food and clean water, and free from predators such as chipmunks and raccoons.  In June, we will then release them back into the wild at Great Meadows where a tracker will be placed on any that are females.  It will be 18-20 years before they are old enough to lay eggs.

We are all looking forward to watching our turtles grow. Be sure to stop  by to meet Speedy and Dribble!

Brian holds up Dribble and Wink

“Let’s measure and weigh our turtles one last time this morning,” I said to my class right after they arrived. To my amazement, twenty cameras instantly appeared.  There was an air of excitement in the room, but also a sense of sadness knowing that this was the day we were going to release our turtles, Dribble and Wink, back into the wild

We knew from the start that this day would come, but for much of the year they had become our friends and our pets.  If we forgot to feed them, they knocked against their tank to remind us and as we approached with their  favorite freeze dried worms, they stuck their necks up and opened their mouths like little baby birds. It’s been amazing to us how much they have grown and I think everyone feels a sense of accomplishment knowing we have given them a head start in their warm cozy tank in the room.

At Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge, Bryan Windmiller measured and weighed each turtle and filed their identification notches deeper into their shells.  A tiny radio was attached to our female.  It will be about 20 years before she lays eggs, but her movements will be tracked over time and her radio replaced as she grows bigger.

Soon it was the moment of the actual release.  After following Brian down a small remote trail to the water’s edge, all cameras appeared once again as Brian waded into the water and held up the turtles for a final look.  “I know they have been like pets, but this is the right thing to do,” he said.  “This is where they belong.” Placing them into the water, we could see the tiny radio antennae on Dribble as she slowly swam away.  “Goodbye Dribble and Wink,” everyone called out. “We love you!’

Yesterday as the rain poured down outside with no glimpse of the sun anywhere, we made the decision to cancel the ponding field trip.  Ordinarily the class would have been very disappointed, but instead, Diane Kablik, our science coordinator turned it into an amazing indoor ponding activity that may have actually turned into a better learning experience than if we had actually gone to the Town Forest.

It all began when Diane arrived with small tubs of pond water which she scooped out into small pans for each table in the class.  At first glance, everyone thought there were just leaves in the pan, but within minutes there were cries of, “Guys, guys! I have mosquito larvae,” or “Hey look, it’s a baby leech.”  Quickly magnifying boxes appeared as the students eagerly captured small critters for better viewing.  Happily students spent the next 45 minutes sketching and sharing tiny critters they never knew existed.  Using identification charts, Diane encouraged the students to find the actual name of their critter so they would no longer call it a bug or “thingy.”

The lesson ended with sharing.  Using a small data scope, the students were able to actually see the wildlife magnified on the Activboard and learned about the features of insects.  What started as a rainy day turned into a great learning experience for all.

Our magazine unit is a comprehensive and highly individualized project combining research, creative writing, and graphic design. At this point we are almost finished.  Our magazine includes a  feature article using three or more sources,  a letter to an expert, an imaginary or real interview based on factual information, poetry, game pages, trading cards, and picture pages.  We look forward to sharing them with you in June.