Globally Aware....If You Dare!

My school has been focusing on global awareness activities for the last month in all of our grade levels.  Our teachers have done amazing lessons, which have resulted in many creative and visually stimulating products in our hallways.  I decided to get in on the action and am so excited about Skyping with one of my old friends from graduate school tomorrow morning.  She is a school counselor at the TASIS American School in England.  After working out the technical difficulties, we decided to pair a second grade class at my school with a second grade class at her school.

Today, I went into Ms. Liberto’s second grade class to show her students the school website, as well as some video clips and pictures of the TASIS students.  After learning some general information about the international school, the students formed teams to  brainstorm additional questions they would want to ask the students in England.  Ms. Liberto and I stressed the importance of including ALL the questions students had brainstormed and emphasized we would choose ten questions from the lists that would help us get the most information about the international students.
After reviewing all of the lists, we will be asking the following questions tomorrow morning:

1.  What are you learning about in second grade?
2.  Can second grade students sleep at the school as boarders?
3. What kind of uniform do you wear? What color is it?
4. Do you have recess? If so, what games do you play?
5. Do you have a cafeteria in your school? What kind of lunches do you have?
6. How old were you when you moved to England?
7. What countries have you lived in?
8. What are your most popular sports in England?
9. What do you do for fun? Do you play video games or do gymnastics?
10. How many students are in your class?

 Following the Skype session, the students will be creating “Friend Venns”, an idea I found via Pinterest at justaddclipart.blogspot.com.
 It will be a great opportunity to discuss similarities and differences between our students and those who are attending the international school.  I can’t wait to see what the students learn and the products they make.  Some of these students might never leave the United States, or even North Carolina, but through education and the power of technology, we can expose them to life experiences that will broaden their minds.  That excites me, and I hope it will excite them!
                                       ~ Angela

Middle School Registration

 It is that time of year again…middle school registration for our fifth grade students!  It is such an exciting time for these students.  I love hearing them discuss the electives they want and how they can’t wait to have lockers. It’s also a busy time for school counselors as we get all the paperwork and necessary information to our families.  I thought I’d share two fun ideas that I use to communicate with the fifth grade families at my school.  A couple of years ago I adapated a fabulous idea from another school counselor and created a “Moving to Middle School” brochure.  It is a cute way to let parents know important deadlines, websites, and “transition  tips” that will be helpful to them over the summer and at the beginning of next year.  You can open the example of my middle school brochure here:  Middle School Brochure[1].   Before giving the information to parents, I make a two-sided copy and fold it into a brochure.

Another idea that I came up with this year is an instructional video or “videocast” for parents on how to fill out the middle school registration form.  I referenced the videocast in the middle school brochure so that parents would know about the resource.  I created the videocast in Photo Story, which is a free program that I have used for a TON of different projects (I’ll share more on Photo Story projects in another post).   The videocast is linked to my school’s main website at www.dillardes.net .  Scroll down to the bottom left side of the page and check it out!!  Although it isn’t the most visually stimulating video, it provides necessary information so that parents can fill out their child’s form CORRECTLY, saving everyone time, which makes me happy!    
~Angela

Starting A Book Club

One of the most fun groups I have done this year is a fifth grade boy’s book club. I had been wanting to start a book club for a couple of years but hadn’t been able to find an appropriate book that I thought was a perfect fit for my kids.  I “previewed” several books, but each one seemed to have inappropriate language or an inappropriate theme for elementary kids. After attending an NCCAT (NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching) seminar in Cullowhee, NC that was focused on themes of diversity, I finally found the PERFECT book:  Gifted Hands by Gregg Lewis and Deborah Shaw Lewis.  The book is a Zonderkids biography of the famous neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson.  Along with highlighting Dr. Carson as a tremendous role model who showed PERSEVERANCE, SELF-DISCIPLINE, RESPECT, and RESPONSIBILITY, the group is working on improving literacy.  Each student is in charge of specific information such as biography timeline, characters/setting, page number tracker, and plot summaries (2 students).  I also consulted with one of my fabulous Title I teachers who gave me some reading strategies to incorporate into our sessions.  I always read aloud while the students are eating lunch, but we have a silent hand signal that serves as a cue for choral reading.  This reading helps the students practice their fluency without being singled out.  I often have students who volunteer to read paragraphs and want to read aloud, but I don’t want anyone to feel like our group is another class or that there is any pressure to read.

I am also enjoying bringing special treats to share with the group, although I do not bring something each time we meet.  Next week, I am bringing special gummy worms, which is an idea I found on Pinterest.  Check it out:
I don’t know if my fifth grade boys will think they are as cute as I do, but I’m sure they will enjoy eating them either way!

For all of you who are about to go on spring break, enjoy! I know you deserve this break and hope it is restful for you.