To ensure a sweet new year, Jewish families eat sweet foods such as challah or apples dipped in honey. One of the children brought a spiral-shaped challah and honey to share with us. What a treat!
Seasons deserve to be celebrated. I loved reading that Mary Beth (of Salt and Chocolate) and her family celebrate with an Autumnal Equinox tea. What a great idea! Some residents complain that Houston doesn't have any seasons, but longtime Houstonians understand that seasons are just a little more subtle here.
In our class, we celebrate the start of fall by modeling how the tiltof Earth's axis, as the Earth revolves around the sun, causes the seasons. This is something of a personal crusade. Years ago, I saw a news report that included interviews with Harvard graduates who were unable to accurately explain what causes us to experience seasons. Since then, I have worked hard to be sure that no child who passes through my classroom will make the same mistake. They will understand that when the earth travels into position such that the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, we experience summer (and yes, we discussed that having a sun smaller than the earth--and so close to the earth--makes a very poor model!). As we continue our path around the sun and find ourselves tilted away from the sun, we experience winter, with cooler temps and longer hours of darkness. At the same time, countries in the Southern Hemisphere experience summer . . . and this is how I end up explaining that Santa wears shorts in Australia.
As many of you already know, Fluffy and I had another exciting summer adventure, and I am long overdue in providing clues to the mystery of where we went.
What does this tell you about where Fluffy and I traveled?
Look closely at the shark, particularly the dorsal fin, and do a little research about what type of shark it might be. Where can they be found? Are they aggressive? I was cautious because a shark is a wild animal with teeth, but was a shark attack likely?
Challenge Question for Children: We've been studying Force and Motion, and we know that in order to begin moving, an object or organism must have a force act upon it. Our muscles move us by pulling our bones and pushing our feet against the ground as we walk. Watch the shark's movement. What is the shark pushing against in order to move?
Breathtakingly cool!
As an added bonus, swimming with sharks brings big bragging benefits--classroom cred, if you will. Imagine telling a group of elementary children that their teacher swam with sharks over the summer!
Science has successfully seduced more than one reluctant reader into the wonderful world of book lust. When these readers (typically--but not always--boys) tell you that they don't like to read, usually what they mean is that they don't like stories. They are, however, often highly motivated to read non-fiction about a topic of interest. Sometimes it's fossils. Sometimes it's dinosaurs. Frequently, it's sharks. A child who is fascinated by sharks will be surprisingly eager and persistent in reading a challenging book if it helps him learn more about this seemingly sinister species. When I see a shark book in the monthly book order, I order it up for our classroom library!
This is why I was a little star-struck when I met Kathy Zoehfeld! She is the author of some of my favorite non-fiction science books for children, but I met Kathy when we were both working as volunteer "diggers" with the Houston Musuem of Natural Science paleontology field program. When I found Fluffster 15 (the Eryops fossil I named in honor of Fluffy and our class), Kathy (far more experienced than I) did much of the work carefully separating the delicate bones from the surrounding dirt and rocks. It's exciting to be able to talk with her about education, science, and books!
Children (and adults), if you have questions for a professional author, enter a comment here and I'm sure Kathy would love to answer your questions!
"What is the Stamp Game? Is that playtime for stamp collectors?"
"Aren't Test Tubes for science?"
Stamp Game
At Family Math Night, all was revealed!
Children gave lessons to their parents on the materials they utilize every day at school to learn and understand math concepts.
It is such a gift to watch children confidently collect the necessary materials from the shelf and teach their parents how to use them. It is perhaps my favorite family event. What better "assessment" of a child's understanding than to observe him explain to his father how the Checkerboard is used and for what purpose? I love it most when the adults "get it" and begin to develop appreciation for the brilliance of Maria Montessori's math materials. "Oh, wow! How cool! I wish I had this when I was a kid!"
Large Bead Frame
Even more gratifying, I had the pleasure of watching two sets of older siblings (now in middle and high school) receive lessons on materials they used several years ago as students in my class at my previous school. Their younger brother and sister have returned to me in my new class across town! What fun! This is one of the many wonders of Montessori--the opportunity to play an enduring role in a family's education, to build trust and share joy as a series of siblings cycle through the same classroom over a period of years. Losing that deep sense of community was one of the things that saddened me most when the program at my previous school closed and I began again in a new place.
Checker Board
In a year of remarkable drought and a swiftly evaporating education budget in Texas (not exactly what Pink Floyd meant by "We don't need no education"), our school was awarded a Federal Magnet Schools Assistance Grant to extend our Montessori program to the whole school. While we wonder, "Will there be enough copy paper to last until the end of the school year?" trucks are rolling up with boxes upon boxes of beautiful Montessori materials and furniture. We are growing by leaps and bounds! I am now on a team of eight Lower Elementary Montessori teachers, five of whom were gifted with funding to begin Montessori elementary training over the summer. Part of our agreement for the grant is that 80% of parents will participate in six or more family education events at the school. Thank you to all of the families who invested an evening of their time in their children's education and, in the process, helped support funding for our school.
The children had a wonderful time! Our class divided into small groups. Each group was assigned a season, and a professional dancer met with the children to brainstorm movements for a dance the children would choreograph to represent their season.
This energetic little group represented summer with undulating ocean waves, blooming flowers, houses, wiggling octopi, and erupting underwater volcanoes (shown here)!
Another group had trains running between train tracks.
And now, . . . for our first trick: Cooperative Investigation!
Ta-da!
For many years, I've been organizing students into Cooperative Investigation Teams for their hands-on science work. As a rite of passage, third graders are invited to act as Facilitator for their groups, reading directions, making sure everyone participates, and generally keeping everyone on task. First- and second-year students act as Materials Manager (with a green job tag to represent "Go," Materials Manager is the only team member permitted to leave the lab area to ask questions or get materials), Scribe (with a special pouch shown above, the Scribe records the teams' thoughts and observations), Illustrator (charged with creating graphs and scientific illustrations of the team's materials set-up), and Clean-Up Coordinator (responsible for organizing the group's clean-up efforts).
After some research (and consultation with a friend who works in the Education department at our science museum), I concluded that Nasco offered the cheapest sets of child-size goggles. However, the set came in a rainbow of colors and I anticipated some arguments along the lines of, "I want to wear the pink ones!" "No, you wore them last time. It's my turn to wear them!" To prevent such time-wasting unpleasantness, I color-coded the job tags to match the goggles. If you're the Materials Manager, you wear the green goggles. Facilitators wear the orange goggles, and if you're the Illustrator, the pink goggles are all yours. When we're not using them, the tags and goggles store neatly in a shoebox-sized plastic tub. (To get the plastic job tag holders, I stalked tables at the end of conferences and recruited friends who dutifully passed along their badge holders after attending conferences--gotta love free supply procurement!)
As we worked up to beginning the hands-on work of science this year, I asked the children, "What do scientists do?"
* They "observe" and "measure things" and "draw pictures."
* They "ask questions" and "think about the question and try to find an answer."
* They "research other scientists' work."
* They "experiment" and "investigate."
* They "think about safety" and "consider hazards."
* They "collect things."
* They "look for clues or evidence."
* They "write reports to share information with other scientists."
We then discussed the tools of science:
* collection containers
* measuring tools such as beakers, graduated cylinders, balances, spring scales, measuring tapes, meter sticks, rulers, thermometers, and timers
* observation tools including hand lenses, microscopes, telescopes, and binoculars
* a compass (or GPS) for field work
* notebook
* and from my students who vividly remembered our paleontology work: super glue, digging tools, brushes, straws, forceps, (and one child recalled having seen in some of my photographs of field work the measuring 'rod' used to measure the level at which fossils are found)
Meanwhile, every day, the children were asking eagerly, "When are we going todo science with our Science Groups?" Soon, my small scientists, . . . soon!
For our first investigation, I challenged the children to a Coin Trick: How can you get the coin into the cup without touching the coin or applying a force to the coin?
The answer lies in science, not magic. Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object will remain still unless a force causes it to move and a moving object will keep moving unless a force causes it to stop. (This is also called inertia.)
So, if we use a force (a pull or a quick flick) to move the card, the coin should remain where it is, floating just above the opening of the cup--right?
Nope.
The trick of this demonstration (technically, it's not an experiment without variables) is to use gravity to your advantage. You don't have to use a force to move the coin. Earth takes care of that for you. When you remove the index card barrier between the coin and the bottom of the cup, inertia causes the coin to remain in place and gravity (Earth's pulling force) pulls the coin into the cup.
Magicians use the same science strategy for the tablecloth trick when they pull a tablecloth from under plates and glasses and silverware. Get permission, watch the how-to video, and then try this at home. Remember to consider mess potential and safety! What could happen? (Perhaps it's best to try this first with the cheap plates.)
Do you believe in magic?I believe in the magic of science to capture the hearts and minds of children!
As we began to discuss Force and Motion, I asked the children, “What is a force?”My Second- and Third-Year students easily--and without hesitation--responded, “A push, a pull, or a twist,” (recalling our investigations from this time last year!).“Great!Let’s observe this chair.What’s happening?” "Gravity is pulling it down." “It’s still.”“How could we make it move?”“Use a force!”“O.K.What is friction?”“Rubbing!” they cried in unison.“Wow!” I thought, “They remember all that work we did at the start of last school year!They really got it!” and then, “Uh, Oh.” My usual bag of tricks would need to be updated for this crowd. Thumbing through Picture-Perfect Science Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry, I found my answer:A fabulous force and motion lesson based on Sheep in a Jeep, a picture story book by Nancy Shaw.What fun!Two of my favorite things: Children’s picture story books and science!
Immediately, I spotted a giant bug-eyed fly in the ointment.Listed quite casually under MATERIALS, as if everyone has such things: "* Toy jeeps (1 per team)* Small plastic sheep (1 per team)."Where in the world does one find five toy jeeps and five appropriately-sized plastic sheep passengers?Much less cheap jeeps and sheep?First I thought of the now-defunct Variety Fair 5 & 10.They would have had sheep and jeeps!
Next, I consulted a science-minded friend with a child who loves all things animal and vehicle.She suggested an independent toy store where she had seen miniature plastic animals.I would need to make sure to get sheep that fit in the jeep.First the jeeps and then the sheep?
On the way there, I stopped at two Walgreens, in search of small jeeps.One dump truck ($0.89).No jeeps.The toy store did have a lovely lamb ($2.99 for one) that would fit in my dump truck, but I left in search of cheaper sheep.A third Walgreens yielded a second yellow dump truck, and then I thought of Arne’s! Home of so many things cheap and plastic.
As I scanned the wall of Made-in-China menagerie for cheap sheep, I began to wonder about some variation on “Sheep in Jeeps.”Frogs on logs? Goats in boats?Pigs in rigs?But I’ve got two dump trucks.Hmm.Dinos in Dump Trucks!
Hurray!One pack of 9 plastic dinosaurs: $0.87.
But I still needed more dump trucks.
After explaining what I needed and why, a very cheerful (and probably amused) employee led me to the motherload: 5 dinosaur-sized dumptrucks: $0.73 each.
Supplies for all five Cooperative Groups to perform the experiment: Less than $5.Win!
Colleagues often ask if I have a background in science.Nope.In fact, my undergraduate degree is in English (though, as my freshman year roommate--a scientist--laughingly reminded me when I visited her last year, I did take several science courses with science majors).I had very little science in elementary school (save a butterfly box I still remember today) and much of the science I had in high school was poor.
Soon after I began working with children, it became clear that children love science. They are natural scientists.They wonder about things.They ask questions.They try things out.They dig in the dirt.Science is a wonderful motivator for learning and a terrific way to challenge children to think critically.Science is also an efficient way to integrate subjects.In just one investigation, children are reading directions, discussing hypothesis, considering safety/hazards, summarizing procedure, creating diagrams, measuring, organizing data in a chart, displaying information in a graph, drawing conclusions, and communicating process and results in a written report.Reading, Math, Language Arts, and Science all at once!
WARNING: May result in serious science fun.
Side effects may include: Learning and love of science.
As many of you already know, Fluffy and I had another exciting summer adventure, and I am long overdue in providing clues to the mystery of where we went. 
One of our parents arranged for a dance class today with the Sandra Organ Dance Company. 
After some research (and consultation with a friend who works in the Education department at our science museum), I concluded that Nasco offered the cheapest sets of child-size goggles. However, the set came in a rainbow of colors and I anticipated some arguments along the lines of, "I want to wear the pink ones!" "No, you wore them last time. It's my turn to wear them!" To prevent such time-wasting unpleasantness, I color-coded the job tags to match the goggles. If you're the Materials Manager, you wear the green goggles. Facilitators wear the orange goggles, and if you're the Illustrator, the pink goggles are all yours. When we're not using them, the tags and goggles store neatly in a shoebox-sized plastic tub. (To get the plastic job tag holders, I stalked tables at the end of conferences and recruited friends who dutifully passed along their badge holders after attending conferences--gotta love free supply procurement!) 
After explaining what I needed and why, a very cheerful (and probably amused) employee led me to the motherload: 5 dinosaur-sized dumptrucks: $0.73 each. 
