...According to Beth
  • Home Page
  • Meet Beth
  • Beth's Thoughts
  • EXPLORE
    • EXPLORE Ways to Increase MATH Achievement >
      • eXperiential Learning in MATH
      • Break Out Box Activities >
        • BreakOut Scenario
        • Clothesline Math (Set the Schedule)
        • Mental Math Activity
        • Outdoor Activities
        • What's For Lunch Activity
    • Engagement & Enjoyment
    • Experiential Learning
    • Poetry >
      • Poems to Use Throughout Your Day
      • Meet the Shapes!
      • Text Feature Creatures!
      • Punctuation Pals
    • Learning Logs
    • Outdoor Education >
      • Academic Hikes >
        • Adjective Hike
        • Preposition Hike
        • Snapshot Walk
        • Rain Walk
        • Shadows
        • The Hitchhiker Hike
        • Personification Hike
    • Reading & Writing Across the Content
    • Establishing a Positive Learning Environment
  • Presentations
    • Teaching is a Well-Played Jazz Tune
    • Using iMovie as a Teaching Tool
    • The "Nature" of Communication Arts
    • EXPLORE Ways to Use Poetry to Enhance Instruction
    • Social Justice and You
    • Hopes & Dreams, Endurance & Courage
  • Contact Beth
  • New Page

Welcome to my blog!

Home Page

Nature Face Characters

3/6/2017

0 Comments

 
On a beautiful autumn day, I had a little fun creating faces from nature items that I collected on my daily dog walks. It was quite an operation. Off to the side, I had my items I wanted to use placed into categories: sticks, rocks, leaves, pine needles, gumballs, and berries.

I photographed each Nature Face after construction. When I decided to do this project, my first thought was to create faces that portrayed various emotions. My thinking was to have students identify the emotions shown by faces. However, as I kept creating these Nature Face Characters, different writing possibilities arose. 

I was working with second grade students and thought I would try out a particular writing activity using these Nature Face Characters. The students worked in pairs. Each pair was given a photograph of a Nature Face Character. They were instructed to do the following:
  • Give the Nature Face Character a name.
  • Write descriptions of his/her eyes, nose, mouth, hair, face, and emotions.
  • Tell his/her story using these descriptions, ending with a sentence telling a little more about this character.

As the students wrote about their Nature Face Characters, I helped them revise their work. They added adjectives or made a stronger word choices. The students wrote their final drafts. Then I decided to put their descriptions along with the photographs into a class book but with a twist.

I glued the typed version of their writings on cardstock along side the photographs. Then I cut them apart. I mixed up the descriptive writings from the photographs and put them back together in a book. Now, the book has become interactive where the students are required to read for details in order to match up the Nature Face Characters with the correct descriptions. (See photos of book below) It is a fun way to teach children the importance of reading for details.

Below, I have listed other possible ways to use Nature Face Characters in your lessons.
  • Have the students bring in nature items from a walk around the school grounds or their own back yards. They work with a partner or independently to create their own Nature Face Characters. You can even have them construct a whole person, not only the face.
  • Require the writings to be poems. These can be a particular type of poem or just prose.
  • Instead of descriptions, have the students write stories using these characters. Go through the whole writing process of brainstorming, writing rough drafts, revisions, editing, and final drafts. Incorporate the 6-Traits. Take photographs of their characters to display with their stories.
  • Write the descriptions as riddles.
  • For primary students, teach how to read emotions/feelings on faces. Have them create a face using items from nature. Using the same materials, have them change the emotion using more items, or changing out the items.

I hope you try one of these versions with your students. Happy Creating!
0 Comments

Create a "Live" Quilt

9/16/2016

0 Comments

 
"The richest thing (in the world) is the earth, for out of the earth come all the riches of the world." 
         -Parker Fillmore

Well, I can't deny it; I am a garage sale junkie. One summer day, while garage sale "hopping," I became very excited to find a box of 12"x12" pieces of wood. I just knew I could use these for something, so I pulled out the requested $2.00, and took home my great find. They were stored in the back of my classroom just waiting to be used.

On a beautiful autumn day, I found a great use for the pieces of wood. After teaching about Fibonacci numbers and how they can be found in art, architecture, music, poetry, and nature, I decided to take my students outside to find these numbers in the outdoor classroom. This was the beginning of the creation of our "live" quilt.

Each child received one of the 12"x12" wood pieced to use as a quilt square. They had loads of fun running through throughout the outdoor classroom finding a treasure of items to use for their square. They gathered a variety of twigs, leaves, flowers, rocks, seeds, pine cones and anything they thought would enhance their ideas for their square. The enthusiasm displayed by each child was contagious. They admired each other's quilt designs and shared nature items that they were not using for themselves. 

There were two main requirements for each quilt block: a border of some sort and something they found that contained a Fibonacci number. When all the quilt blocks were completed, they were set side-by-side to build the "live" quilt. The students found large branches which we used as a frame for the quilt. We worked on math skills as we determined the layout and size of the quilt. Having the size of each block 12"x12" made this easy to teach measurement and how many inches in a foot, and how many feet in a yard. 

Each square was unique and a piece of art. The students pointed out the items on their block that contained the Fibonacci number. Some children created a picture with the nature items while others created beautiful designs. I took individual photos of each quilt block so the students could have a record their square. I then transferred the photos onto fabric. After sewing all the pieces of fabric together, our "live" quilt was transformed into a real quilt that we kept in the classroom. With the help of Mother Nature and the artist within all of my students, we enjoyed creating a piece of artwork that had a practical purpose.

So, the next time you see a great bargain, I suggest you grab it. You never know when it will become part of a teachable moment.
Picture
The classroom quilt created from the photos of each quilt block is on the left. The "live" quilt is on the right.
0 Comments

Why Nature?

8/12/2013

0 Comments

 
Why Nature?    
                                 "Come forth into the light of things Let nature be your guide."      
                                                               -William Wordsworth

  I can’t really remember why I became so interested in nature, but I have a suspicion that it goes back to all the camping I did as a child.  Little did I know back then that through those life experiences of fishing, camping, boating, relaxing around a campfire and collecting rocks as I walked along dirt paths I would return to them as an adult.  Recent research tells us that people who are advocates for the environment have had some sort of positive encounter with nature through an important adult during childhood. Rachel Carson said, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”  For me, the important adults were my parents. Through my teaching, I wanted to be that certain adult to share the excitement of the outdoors with the students who never get the chance to see their surroundings in a special way. Also, it is important to me to find those nature kids in my classroom. 

      As a teacher, I have seen children before my very eyes come to “life” when I take a specific lesson outdoors.  Most of these children do not appear very successful inside the classroom.  They struggle with reading, or have a difficult time focusing. As soon as they walk outside the school doors, a whole new world of learning takes place.  These children immediately step into a role of teaching and modeling a different way of thinking.  They are so one with nature, that they are able to shine in learning new concepts.  Because of their previous experiences in nature, these children are able to use their background knowledge to enhance the discussions and discoveries that are happening in the outdoor lesson.  They are able to make different connections at a level that is above the other children. Howard Gardner has supported this type of child when he announced the latest intelligence, the naturalist intelligence.  Children who are strong in this area are the people who grow up to be the ones who organize our world.  They thrive on identifying patterns and classifying things in nature.  This type of intelligence is what helped our ancestors survive.  These children learn better outdoors than in a computer lab.


I taught at Reed Elementary for 10 years, and we had a wonderful outdoor classroom. Unfortunately, one year Reed had to dig up most of the outdoor classroom to make room for new construction.  The intention was to reestablish the gardens once the construction was complete. Before the planning began, I conducted a front-end research project using children from first to fifth grade. I was interested in the students’ opinions and thoughts of the old gardens.  I showed the children pictures of the gardens and asked them questions.  When looking at the pictures of the nearby creek, one-fifth grade girl told me, “I feel like a different person down there.  I feel like I am in the right place when I am there.”                  

     One beautiful afternoon, while teaching third grade, I decided to conduct our daily “poetry time” and “story time” outside in our outdoor classroom.  While reading the book aloud, the students noticed a huge black crow making a ruckus.  I stopped reading and we watched how the crow and another bird played “catch” up in a tree.  One bird would hop up to a higher branch and the crow would follow.  They used the branches of the tree as stair steps all the way to the top of the tree.  Whenever I stopped reading aloud, the crow would let out a sound as if he was scolding or begging for me to continue with the book.  One of the students even commented, “Mrs. Knoedelseder, the bird doesn’t want you to stop reading.  It is like he is listening to our story.” After we chuckled, I went back to reading, and the crow flew away and perched on top of the building.  I went back to reading poetry and the story aloud when all of a sudden; the crow left his perch and took to the air right over the tops of our heads.  He flew so closely that we almost could hear his wings swish as he soared by.  The students and I were speechless.  After a short hesitation, I looked at the 23 little faces all looking at me with their mouths wide open.  I slowly smiled and responded with, “I am so glad that we decided to have poetry time outside today. We would have never seen that!”  

        I couldn’t help but think about how we wouldn’t have had the experience if we had stayed indoors.  I often think of that day, and it always motivates me to venture outside with the students.  Many teachers have a misconceived idea that if they teach a lesson outdoors, it has to pertain to science.   Hammerman (Teaching in the Outdoors) feels that when teachers take their students outside for silent reading time, a writing assignment, or a science lesson, when the classroom is extended into the outdoors, the students are provided with a setting in which they enjoy the pure thrill of discovery along with the plain, down-to-earth fun of learning.  Children are more driven and motivated to read information in a textbook after they have caught an insect, found an interesting rock or have located a single constellation in the night sky to learn more about their discoveries.  (pp.19,20) One never knows what he/she will experience once he/she steps outside. For me, that's the thrill.

     Another time I distinctly remember is when I was on a spring hike with my sixth graders. One of the nice thing about teaching in middle school is that I have five different classes, therefore, I have five different hikes in a day. What I love about that is with every hike is new experiences. Seeing the woods in the morning with the sunlight streaming through the trees is so different from the afternoon hikes. One particular hike I will never forget is when we were just coming around the last bend on the path in the woods when a student noticed a small brown bat hanging from a branch in a tree. The students became very quiet and we stood around it and just watched it. I pulled out my camera and did a quick photo shoot of the bat. The kids and I were so excited to see the bat close up. This particular class was a fairly challenging group, so I was so proud of them when they showed such a great respect for the bat by becoming very quiet and didn't disturb it. When I took the next class out on the same hike, the bat was still there, and it was so fun to see the excitement of the kids. They had seen pictures of bats in books, but to see one that close was just amazing to them. 

      It saddens me to think that we have missed so many of those experiences because we made a choice to stay indoors. Spontaneous teaching and learning is a constant asset when children have the opportunity to learn in the middle of nature.
0 Comments

First Classroom

8/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
This year I retired from teaching. I am excited to start on a new journey, but a little anxious about the uncertain future. I have been on a school schedule for about 48  years, and now I can choose my agenda each day. It's a weird feeling, especially when I see the "Back to School" sales and my friends are in their classrooms preparing for the new school year.


My daughter, Abby, is starting her first year of teaching in her own classroom. Although she taught on an Indian reservation for a year, and was teaching ELL students last year, this is her first very own classroom. The excitement is very evident, and I can't help but smile as I remember that feeling of having my first classroom. 


I started in a Catholic school. I had 35 students with bulky "old school desks"  With very little supplies, I learned how to be resourceful and was recycling before people really started being "green." Those years in the Catholic school were priceless to me, and I have always been grateful for starting my career with that experience.


We walked in Abby's classroom, and it was a deja vu experience for me. Instead of the popular white boards that I have been using for the past 16 years, there were chalkboards. The tile floor was waiting to be waxed, and there in the middle of the room were all of her desks that were just like the ones I had 31 years ago. 


We got to work arranging furniture and sorting through materials that were left by the previous teachers. At times, she felt overwhelmed and learned quickly that decisions had to be made about how she should organize materials, the routine she needs to set up for her students, and what materials to keep, pitch, or donate. I told her that the overwhelming feeling she was experiencing will come and go throughout her entire teaching career.


While digging through a box of materials, Abby found posters of the vowels. Each one had a faded picture of an animal that represented the sound of that particular vowel. We could tell that they were many years old. I halfway expected Abby to say, "No, I think I will buy some new ones," but she didn't. She smiled and said, "I love them!" I was then given the job of trimming them down and mounting them on colored construction paper before placing them on the wall. I smiled through this task thinking to myself, I think she will be just fine. Not having to have the perfect materials or a state of the art facility, Abby is so appreciative for this chance to teach. I remember being the same way. I just wanted to teach. I didn't care where or who, I was just extremely excited about being a teacher.


I still feel that way about teaching. It is such an honorable profession. It is also one of the hardest. The long hours of planning, grading, reflecting, and everything else teachers do was still worth it. Making a difference in a child's life is not only an honor, but it is also rewarding. I am sure I will miss the interaction with kids and my colleagues, but I am ready to start something new. Throughout our lives, we encounter many "firsts." Our first steps, first loves, first jobs, etc. I look forward to a new "first" in my near future.


Have a great start to your school year. 
0 Comments
    Picture

    Welcome to my Blog!

    I am Beth Knoedelseder from St. Louis, Missouri. After teaching for 30 years, I decided to share my thoughts and ideas about keeping students engaged in learning.

    Archives

    March 2017
    September 2016
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly