Surgery Day
11/17/2017
Kids delight in learning about the world and to learn about the world, students need to read nonfiction books. As students get older, the amount of nonfiction reading increases. As adults, reading nonfiction text is a part of our daily lives: reading instructions, business letters, information, etc. Students are, therefore, needed to be encouraged to read nonfiction materials. Moss (2003) asserted that "early exposure to the language of nonfiction can help enhance children's understanding of exposition and may prevent the difficulties many students encounter with these texts later on." When students are used to reading nonfiction texts, they will probably not feel too overwhelmed by the information they are required to read as they move to middle school, high school, and college. Nonfiction reading is a life skill and it doesn't have to be boring. In third grade, "Surgery Day" had students scan nonfiction articles and magazines to learn about text features. First, third grade surgeons reviewed the list of nonfiction text features before they were given instructions on how to perform their surgery. Then, it was time to save patients' lives! They "transplanted" their chosen text features onto a "patient" and labeled the specific text feature using a band-aid.
Source:
Moss, B. (2003). Exploring the literature of fact: Children's nonfiction trade books in the elementary classroom. New York: Guilford. Brain Breaks
11/10/2017
Helen Fowler Neville, a pediatric nurse and author of Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, claims that a 6-year old child may stay interested on a single activity for as much as 30 minutes. In third grade, there are days when students have a big block of one class. For example, on Thursdays, science or social studies go for an hour and a half. Students may get tired or bored if they just sit and listen to a teacher talking the entire time. So how do we keep students motivated? How do we improve student attention span?
A psychiatry Harvard professor, John Ratey, wrote a book called Spark that explains the science of physical exercise and its effects on the brain. As physical activity boosts blood flow to the brain, it optimizes memory and learning. PNA educates the whole child and values the importance of physical activity through PE classes, electives, and daily outdoor recess. In third grade, students have a kinesthetic brain break between two 45-minutes classes. Brain breaks take 2-3 minutes of physical movement to stimulate the brain and help both left and right hemispheres to work together. Research has also shown that brain breaks help improve students; concentration, attention span and relieve stress. Watch the video below to see a brain break in action.
Sources:
Neville, H. Is this a phase? Parenting Press. Retrieved from http://www.parentingpress.com/media/is-this-a-phase_excerpt2.html Ratey, John J.,Hagerman, Eric. (2008) Spark :the revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. New York : Little, Brown Celebrations
11/3/2017
What makes PNA different from other schools? We celebrate creativity, not just for students, but also for teachers. Teachers are granted creative autonomy in the classroom where activities and lessons are tailored to the students. For example, in third grade, students were able to celebrate a book in an unconventional way. Here's the story: The class has come to the end of their first reading unit as well as the final chapter of Stone Fox, the unit's companion book. It is about a 10-year old boy in the early 1900s who took care of his grandfather and the farm. When he discovered that his grandfather owes $500 in taxes, which would result in losing their farm, he joined a sled dog race. He used his college money to enter the race and worked hard with his dog, Searchlight, to win the race. The ending of the book is emotional and since the class has collectively experienced the story together, they were able to share their memories of the story. But to make this unit and book memorable. after reading the last chapter, the class got a surprise field trip! That same day, they were brought to the Learning Farm to see sled dogs and had a real authentic experience of how it is to be in a sled or to pull an actual sled. For additional fun and excitement, they got to feed some goats! This trip would have not been possible if PNA uses scripted instruction. Don't you think that this celebration enables students to deeply and truly remember Stone Fox for the rest of their life?
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Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
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