October was always one of my favorite months when I was a classroom teacher because it meant we would be celebrating Diffendoofer Day!  I knew that if I wanted my students to become readers for life, I had to find ways to bring books to life! My first #TLAP day came from my love of the Dr. Seuss book Hooray For Diffendoofer Day! The story of students learning in unique and innovative ways spoke to me instantly and I wanted to find a way to show my students that fun is at the heart of learning. This of course meant I needed a costume identical to the main character, Mrs. Bonkers (thank goodness my mom can sew and make last minute costumes) and parent volunteers to donate and assist me in teaching the Diffendoofer School subjects: laughing, smelling, listening, yelling, creating poodles out of noodles, and tying knots.  The goal of my day was two fold: learning and fun go hand in hand and that learning how to think prepares you for life beyond our classroom. It will remain one of my absolute favorite days as a classroom teacher. Please feel free to check out our celebration below:

What a wonderful day in second grade land.  Inspired by the book Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by: Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith, I recreated the day.  The book is all about a school (Diffendoofer School) that is different-er then the rest.  They study things such as smelling, laughing and yelling.  One day they have to take a special test and they are worried they won’t pass because they are different.  If they don’t pass they will have to go to dreary Flobbertown.  You do not want to go to Flobbertown because everyone there does everything the same.  However, once the test is passed out they see that they were taught how to think and they pass with flying colors. They have a celebration with pizza, milk and cake.  They then decide to have a special holiday to celebrate their success!

Our Diffendoofer Day began at morning meeting where Mrs. Ellis, er Mrs. Lowe, introduced the school to some crazy second grade teachers. Then it was off to study the same subjects they study at Diffendoofer School:

1.) Yelling: Mrs. Pitzer’s mom came in and students learned about sound.  They learned how to make noise that was loud and quiet.  They also learned how to change the loudness and pitch of a sound.  Finally they were able to use instruments and their voices to be noise making machines.

2.) Laughing: Students read and laughed at so many Laffy Taffy jokes.  Then they picked their favorite one to illustrate and write about.

3.) Listening: Students had to listen carefully to Halloween noises and try to write down as many sounds as they heard as well as draw a picture of the images they created in their minds.

4.) Tying Knots: In this subject, there were bins filled with; twine, string, shoelaces, fabric, craft loops, yarn and curling ribbon.  The goal was to try to make something entirely made out of knots.  Students discovered which objects tied the best, which objects tied the worst, and that there is more than one way to tie a knot.  We could even wear our creation all day!

5.) Noodle Poodles: Spaghetti noodles, spirals, shells, fettuccine, elbow macaroni and more were available for us to make a poodle out of noodles.  We then got to name our poodle and write something fun about it that we wanted other people to know.

6.) Smelling: *sniff* *sniff* we tested our smelling skills by sniffing 8 different smells.  We had to try to figure out what the smell was and describe the smell using juicy adjectives.  We then picked the best and worst smells.  Some of the smells included: grape Kool-Aid, onion, vinegar, pumpkin, popcorn, chocolate and cinnamon.

Next it was time for science class by making robotic rats out of soup cans and foam balls.  We got to decorate our rat however we wanted adding pipe cleaners, washers, bolts, buttons, googley eyes and sticky foam pieces. It was so fun to create our robotic masterpiece.

After science, we drew pictures upside just like the art teacher Mr. Breeze who drew pictures hanging by his knees.  We sat under the tables and drew the life cycle of our robotic rats!

Finally our day ended with some mathematics fun.  We traveled through the following math centers:

1.) Math Bingo: We played bingo for prizes but we had to find a problem that matched the number given.  We had to really think and practice important skills such as fact families and fact fluency.

2.) Math Games: There were so many games to choose from: Tanagrams, Optical Art, and tricky puzzles.  It was neat to see that math can be in board games too!

3.) Candy Corn Math: First our estimation skills were put to the test by trying to figure out how many candy corns fit in the jar. (571 pieces!) Then we used candy corns to measure objects and determine which objects were longer and which were shorter.

4.) Eggo Math: Students worked with a friend to race to 1,000.  They used an egg carton to shake buttons to see what numbers they would land on.  Next, they added those numbers by practicing their regrouping skills.  They then kept a running total to try to get to 1,000 first.

We also could not have had a day like this without parent volunteers and donations of all kinds. Thank you to Mrs. Michanicou, Mrs. Fleming, Mrs. Feuchter, Mrs. Badawi, and Mr. Glover for volunteering your time to help us learn in so many different ways.  Thank you also to all who donated to making this a day to remember!

Here’s to a wonderful day filled with so many activities that allowed us to think AND have fun!

As my 11th year of teaching second grade is coming to an end and I get ready to being my role as an instructional technology coach, I have found myself reflecting on summer learning.  One of the things I always struggled with was how to engage my students in the summer.  While I am and continue to be a firm believer in everyone (kids included) needs a break, I also see endless learning possibilities too. However, I have always struggled with how to manage it.

My first idea was a summer camp hosted via email. I emailed the students who had signed up once a week with an activity in reading, writing, math, geography, science, and art. I tried to make then engaging and interactive and usually had anywhere from 10-15 students participate. What I learned was the first two weeks students would be responsive and then the excitement would die down. They also would stop responding because reply alls got a bit out of control and or file sizes were too large to share. Thus the Summer Camp Wiki was born. Here I did the same thing but students could interact and add their creations and discoveries to our wiki. What I learned from the wiki is that this encouraged students to engage for longer time frames and allowed me a better management component. What became problematic at times was students couldn’t be as independent because situations would arise where a parent would need to step in. While this is completely fine and acceptable, I wanted to put the learning more in the hands of the students. This meant I needed students to have more guided practice with me during the school year. This way summer wasn’t about learning a new tech tool and explore new content, it was just about exploring!

After all of my trial an error, my new summer learning was born. Here is what I post on my blog for my students at the end of the school year. No sign up is needed. No tracking is necessary. I participate in all of these two, offer words of encouragement, and email parents to celebrate their successes.

~*It’s Monday! What are you learning?!*~

Greetings Seussville Alumni! I miss you already and I hope your summer is off to a relaxing and wonderful start.  Summer is such a perfect time to recharge our batteries, enjoy the sunshine, and slow down a bit.  It is also an excellent opportunity to continue learning.  Even though you aren’t coming to the classroom every day, you are still learning and might not even realize it.  It might look a bit different but can be just as much fun AND help you develop the lifelong learner habit.

Summer is one of the times when I am able to catch up on professional development (learning for teachers).  I came across a blog post and some tweets last week that inspired me and I just had to share them with you.

1. #IMWAYR (It’s Monday! What Are You Reading): This is a hashtag on Twitter where people from all over the world are sharing what they’re reading every Monday. This of course got the gears in my brain thinking.  How could I incorporate this over the summer?  PADLET! One of the very best things you can do this summer is read.  Read every day.  Read all types of books and texts.  Then share your reading with others.  Start your very own reading challenge.  Will you try to read every Caldecott Medal winner book? Or is there a series of books you have been anxiously awaiting time to dig into?!  What better time to do that then NOW!  Here’s how it will work: every Monday during the summer, head on over to our #IMWAYR Padlet.  Post a picture of what you are currently reading.  Then write the title and author and perhaps what you love about it or if you recommend this book to others and why.  Your picture should include you and the book in whatever creative way you choose!  You could even give a brief summary (What makes a really good summary?) or a short book review (Who can remember how to organize one?).  Then if you are ever stuck on what to read next, head on over to the Padlet for some fresh book recommendations.  If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this Padlet, you can see some posts from Seussville Alumni last summer.  You never know when a surprise guest might post on our Padlet too! 🙂

https://padlet.com/spitzer/IMWAYR

2. Summer Reading Bingo..er…Reado: Are you wanting to read this summer but aren’t sure where to even start?! Have no fear READO is here! I created a Summer Bingo (READO) card.  In each tile is a type of book you can read.  Be sure to check out the bottom of the card for fun prizes.  If you decide to compete for the prizes, please sign the bottom, have your parent(s) sign it, and return it to school on August 15, 2017 (the first day of school!)

Summer Reading Bingo Card

3. #KidsWritingLife : I was reading a blog post the other day that inspired me and reminded me that just because it is summer, doesn’t mean our writing lives should stop. They also mentioned a book I had never heard of before called The Scraps Book by Lois Ehlert.  In this book the author talks about what inspired her to create art and write books.  She even shares some of her brainstorming techniques and story inspirations.  This book was by far the coolest book ever and I just had to share it with you too.  Check out the video I created of it below:

After you have watched the video, I want you to think about your own writing life.  What are things that inspire you?  What objects do you have that you could turn into a story?! Have you found a new treasure, made a new memory, or created something amazing? What can you collect or look for outside that could become your next great writing piece?  Take what you learned during the school year, inspiration from The Scraps book, and head over to our #KidsWritingLife Padlet every Monday and write! It can be about any topic, any genre, and be as long or as short as you want.  I recommend trying all different types of writing this summer and encourage you to write about science, math, social studies, nature, vacation, and the world around you.  Feel free to include media (pictures/videos) too if you wish.  Please make sure to have a title and include your name on each piece. You learn to write better by reading.  You learn to read better by writing. Reading and writing work together to improve your ability to think.

https://padlet.com/spitzer/KidsWritingLife

Kids Writing Life Blog Post Inspiration

4. Symbaloo: Remember your Log-In cards also went home this summer too. Please feel free to use any of tiles on the Symbaloo page to continue learning at home.
http://sososeussey.edublogs.org/1-fish-2-fish-seussville-tech-fish/

Last but certainly not least, make sure to take some time to relax, play, sit in the sun, draw with chalk, blow bubbles, take a walk, ride your bike, laugh, eat popcorn, have a movie night, and enjoy your family.  I miss you but I’m look forward to interacting with you on our Padlets!  Happy learning!

Also be sure to check out my Summer Shelfie blog post for another way to encourage reading at home over the summer!

A simple 10 minute phone call just inspired my summer reading challenge.

It is teacher appreciation week and my principal arranged for quite possibly my favorite gift of all time…a phone call from a teacher hero. Yep. I got a phone call from an educator who took time out of their day to talk with me about reading. In fact all of the teachers in my building received phone calls off and on all week thanking us for all that we do!

Donalyn Miller, author of the Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, called me and another teacher on the phone. She thanked us for inspiring our students to read and asked how our year was winding down. It was at this point that the topic of packing up our classroom library came up. We discussed how we dread it because all those books sit there and even though we may have our library open over the summer, obstacles get in the way from making the experience worth while. From scheduling and maintenance work, having students in the classroom to check out books never goes the way it looks in our heads.  As we shared that we were getting ready to put our books away she asked if we ever considered sending books home with our kids over the summer.  In her research, she discovered that kids should be reading about 5 books during summer vacation in order to avoid regression in their reading. She said what better way to give kids good fit books, then by helping them select books from our classroom libraries.  Then after summer, they can return the books to our classrooms in a way that works best. We LOVED this idea! We did briefly discuss what happens if you loose books especially since there is a good possibility a lot of the books were purchased with our own money.  While some books may not be returned, isn’t’ it better that the books are in the hands of a child rather than sitting on a shelf collecting dust? We all thought yes!

That last week of school now had more purpose than any other year.  Seeing them react when they discovered I was trusting them to take books home over the summer was priceless. I spent it watching and guiding students to select good fit books to read over the summer. The excitement and buzz about books was incredible.

After their 5 books were selected, we had a mini conference. Our conversation centered around if their books were books they could read and understand, books they were interested in, and would all of these books be finished in 2 days or would it take them all summer. Then I took their picture with their books and posted it to Seesaw.  This allowed for more accountability in what books they were borrowing, as well as a way to connect with them over the summer.

I then sent home a letter home with families explaining our summer challenge.  The key for me too was providing students with a way to share their reading.  I encouraged them to post book reviews to the Padlet we had been using all year: #IMWAYR (It’s Monday What Are You Reading). Keep in mind, I wasn’t asking for any reports, or check ins but if they wanted to share their books, great!  I just wanted them to read and enjoy reading! Check out our Padlet here: https://padlet.com/spitzer/IMWAYR

While the inner control freak in me worried about what shape will the books would come back in and will they even read, was hard at first.  Their excitement and eagerness to select books quickly put that all at ease. At the end of the day it is about getting books in the hands of kids. Its about providing them with opportunities to fall in love with reading. If you are on the fence about this, don’t be.  You won’t be sorry!

**Thanks Donalyn Miller for inspiring me to take this leap AND taking 10 minutes of your day to talk on the phone! Thanks Mandy Ellis for setting up phone calls for us. This will go down as one of my favorite teaching gifts of all time!

**In the fall almost all of my books came to back to that classroom library (since I had changed roles to being an instructional technology coach) Those that didn’t I chalked up to…they were in a place where books were needed! 🙂