Screen-Free Week

Editor's Note: This post is authored by S. H., third grader

This week is Screen Free Week.  Screen Free Week is when you don't use screens for fun.  It is a good idea because you don't want to get addicted to T.V.  Also, you need to get exercise.  Last, television isn't good for your brain.

Yesterday, we read two books.  They were Library Lil and Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair.  In both books, they said everybody was watching too much T.V. and they didn't read.  Then a person taught people to read, and the people started to enjoy books.

Ten things to do instead of screens are:
* read a book,
* fly a kite,
* go swimming,
* play board games,
* play on the playground,
* do origami,
* go biking,
* cook,
* play with a pet, or
* garden.

I did Screen Free last night, and I read a book.

Celebrating Earth Day with Artist Boat

In honor of Earth Day, Artist Boat offered a sampling of their programs today for free to teachers.  I couldn't pass up an opportunity to spend a beautiful morning kayaking and creating art along the Coastal Heritage Preserve in Galveston.  We were rewarded with sightings of Roseate Spoonbills, Brown Pelicans (a conservation success story), a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret (catching a fish!), and a Cormorant.

Artist Boat is a fantastic non-profit that educates the public about our coastal ecology by combining kayak exploration with watercolor artwork.  It's a brilliant combination!  Strapped to each tandem kayak is a plastic box containing two sets of non-toxic watercolors and two boards taped off with watercolor paper.  Sometime during the trip, we stop our kayaks for a brief art lesson and then pull out the art supplies to create a watercolor right in the kayak.  Making art pushes us to slow down and look at nature more closely, to pay attention in a different way.

Through grants, Artist Boat has also acquired land along the coast, which they are working to restore by planting native coastal grasses and removing fire ants, red ants, and other invasive species.  In addition to their kayak adventures, Artist Boat also does some land-based hikes, habitat restoration, and field labs that include water quality testing and seining to identify the wildlife in the shallow coastal waters.

I've had several opportunities to participate in trips with this amazing organization over the years: A "Headwaters to Baywaters" professional development series on our watershed, a professional development and team-building day organized by my school, and a birthday celebration I organized with my family.

Just two weeks ago, I participated in another Educator Kayak Adventure offered free to teachers in collaboration with FotoFest.  For this adventure, we kayaked across Lake Charlotte (in Cedar Hill Park) and through the Cypress Swamp of the lower Trinity River region.

Consider taking a public Artist Boat kayak adventure with your family!  It's a great way to get outside and learn about our local coastal habitats!
Then, visit the new Hall of Texas Coastal Ecology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science to learn more!

Leap for Joy!

One day last week after school, I checked my mailbox drawer in the office and discovered an exciting surprise peeking out.  Wow!  My friend Carolyn Leap had delivered a treat for Leap Day!  With the last name "Leap," Leap Day takes on special importance.  Personalized M&Ms are in order for a sweet celebration.  She had even organized the M&Ms into individual bags of equal mass!  We're so grateful that she shares this tradition with us--and that she's so scientific (she does work at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, after all)!

Of course, I wasn't satisfied with simply handing out M&Ms to eat. 

We'd have to do some work first!

First, the children sorted the M&Ms.  We had a couple of options: by color or by printed message.  We decided to sort based on the words printed on the M&Ms.

Next, the children used tally marks to record their sorts in a chart.

This data was then used to create a bar graph.

Tea for More than a Few

Preparations for Valentine's Day begin early around here.













We start by reviewing table manners:
* Pass serving dishes to the right.
* Do not reach across the table.
* Wait to begin until everyone is served.
* Place your napkin in your lap.
* Chew with your lips together.
* Enjoy quiet conversation.
* No "goofing around" or playing with food.
* Keep your elbows off the table.
* Use utensils for their intended purpose.
* Stay at the table until everyone is finished.
The children use lunch in the cafeteria to practice for a series of days.

Next, we get out the world map and have a lesson on tea growing regions, different tea traditions around the world, and the types of tea.

White tea--Only the newest tea leaves are picked with the white fuzz still on the leaves.

Green tea--fresh tea leaves are dried and rolled or ground into a powder for the Japanese Matcha.

Oxidized, fermented, and compressed Pu-Erh.  This tea is so compressed is requires a special tea needle!

Black tea

On the day of our tea, families send supplies: heavy cream, lemon curd, sugar cubes, scones, madeleines (a French tea cake), ginger snaps, and tulips.  The children then use a whisk to whip the cream, 

arrange the food beautifully on trays and in baskets, 

reorganize our desks and chairs into a long table, and set the table with flowers, teacups, plates, and napkins.

We brew four kinds of tea: a white blooming tea (always spectacular!), genmaicha (a green tea with roasted brown rice), oolong, and ginger peach black tea.  Finally, we sit down together to enjoy.

Family Field Packs

Many years ago, one of my students included "feild kit" on his Christmas wish list.  We had just begun using them for field work on field trips, and he wanted one of his own.  Last year I finally implemented a project that has been percolating a long time.  In college, I volunteered in an elementary classroom where students could check out Book Packs, backpacks with a set of books around a theme (weather or space, for example) with a reading journal in which families could respond to the books and tell about any associated activities they did together.  In order to connect science and literacy and make field work more accessible to our families, I adapted this idea to include the tools for field work.

Each field pack includes at least one non-fiction text on the topic, a biography of a field scientist who works or worked in this subject, a book on how to do this type of field work, and the tools and field guide(s) to do field work of your own!  Families can start their adventure by reading about the topic.  Next, they use the tools (and suggested resources) to explore the topic outside with family field work.

Our most popular family field pack is the Astronomy Adventure pack.

It contains:
* Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
* Find the Constellations by H.A. Ray (curiously, the author of the Curious George books)
* Constellations (A True Book) by F. S. Kim
* a Galileoscope
* a tripod
* a red LED flashlight
* a compass
* a star chart
* colored pencils
* a field notebook

Next is our Birding Adventure family field pack.

It contains:
* For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas
* Flute's Journey by Lynne Cherry
* Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City by Barbara Bash
* Take a Backyard Bird Walk by Jane Kirkland
* Houston Birds
* Birds of Southeast Texas & the Upper Gulf Coast
* binoculars
* colored pencils
* a feathered field notebook

Our third family field pack features a Coastal Exploration.

It contains:
* Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau
* One Small Square: Seashore
* Wild Beach by Marion Coste
* Take a Beach Walk by Jane Kirkland
* The Ultimate Guide to Shells & Beach Life of the Texas Gulf Coast
* Shells of Texas
* Gulf Coast Birds
* binoculars
* a hand lens
* colored pencils
* a beach-themed field notebook

Plates and playdough

Geology is a favorite topic in our classroom, and in the last few weeks, we've been digging in!

We learned about the layers of the earth and studied soil sediments under microscopes and tested their varying abilities to retain water.  We performed a series of tests to identify mystery minerals.  This week, we've been exploring changes to the earth's surface caused by plate tectonics.

First, we used graham crackers and (heavily) colored frosting to model the action of the earth's plates and the soft asthenosphere on which they float.  














The children experimented with divergent plates, slowly pushing the plates away from each other to create underwater rifts or mountain ranges.

Next, the children experimented with convergent plates, pushing the plates toward each other so that either one plate slips under the other (creating volcanoes) or the plates crash into each other creating a mountain range as in the photo below.  (The trick for this model is to moisten the edges of the graham crackers).

Finally, children modeled the cause of earthquakes at transform fault lines, where plates rub back and forth against each other.

To enhance this lesson, I was thrilled to discover (at the CAST conference last weekend) a Pangea cookie cutter and mat developed in Texas Christian University's Idea Factory by students from the College of Science & Engineering.  What an incredible hands-on way to explore continental drift!  Everyone needs a Pangaea cookie cutter!  Don't you think?

 This (making play dough late at night) is why I have a bag of old flour in my freezer labeled "For Science."

Note: Graham cracker activity based on activities from Geology Rocks by Cindy Blobaum

Happy Election Day!

In honor of Election Day, we held a Kids' Favorites election.
















Our third grade leaders caucused prior to the election to determine the choices that would appear on
the ballot in each category.  A sample ballot was posted on the door for voters to review prior to going to the voting booth.

Every citizen of our classroom community was eligible to receive his/her own voter registration certificate.  I'm proud to report that 100% of our citizens chose to become registered voters, and, despite long lines, we had an impressive 100% voter turn-out at the polls.








Voters showed their voter registration certificates, signed in, received a paper ballot, voted in private booths, and placed their ballots in the ballot
box.

When the ballots were cast, the polls were closed and votes were counted.

Election Results:
Favorite Musical Artist: Taylor Swift
Favorite Fad: Pokemon cards
Favorite Toy: iPad
Favorite Movie: "Rainbow Rocks"
Favorite TV Show: "My Little Pony"
Favorite Book Series: Percy Jackson
Favorite Author: Rick Riordan
Favorite Museum: Children's Museum of Houston tied with Houston Museum of Natural Science




Update (11/5/14): Run-off election results are in!  When Houston Museum of Natural Science staff heard of this embarrassingly close election, there was talk of hiring a lobbyist.  It turns out such measures were unnecessary.  With an amazing 100% voter turn-out for our run-off election, the Houston Museum of Natural Science took Favorite Museum in a landslide victory!  We love science!

It's not too late for all you eligible adult voters to get out there and vote!
If you live in our area, research the candidates with the League of Women Voters Guide.
Enter your address here to find your polling location.


There's a Book for That!
Election Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays)
Granddaddy's Gift by Margaree King Mitchell
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin
Dig Into History (Nov/Dec 2014): The Beginning of Democracy