Today will be our third day of school. This year once again the first day of school was different. I totally over planned so much that I will continue Wednesday plans today. Each new group of fifth graders (remembering really they are still fourth graders) take on their own personality even on day one. I almost view that as a mystery that I will need to unpack as the days move forward.
The only thing that was similar to last year was that we built bridges with marshmallows and toothpicks. I divided the students into 4 groups and asked them to build a bridge that would support books. We used Clementine books which was interesting because one student told me that was her favorite book in 4th grade so I learned a little more about her reading life.
After 20 minutes, I asked the students to discuss their strategies that they used for building their bridge. Some the responses included:
-We had to stop and listen to each other.
-I had to slow down because the toothpicks were getting too sticky.
-We needed to cooperate.
-We took a bunch of strategies and put them all together.
-We needed to know the end result and work backwards.
After this conversation and charting their thoughts, we talked about how these ideas will be our class rules "motto" this year. I asked them to remember the feeling of accomplishment as well as the hard work it took to build the bridge. We then placed the books on the bridges. The goal was one book-all four bridges held 2-4 books. It's going to be a great year!!
As we arrived home from vacation, I needed to change our calendars to August. Whenever I do this, I know I have about two weeks left before school starts, so my thinking is directed towards those weeks and how crucial it is to begin to build community with a new group of fifth graders.
For those of us who have been teaching for awhile (probably 10 years or more) we all have our favorite units that we just can't seem to get rid of in our classrooms. My unit was about quilting. It seemed appropriate for the beginning of the school year: building community, discussing how indicate designs create a beautiful piece of art, and how we are all unique in our own way. In addition, I had several pictures books that I collected and read aloud, several puzzles that students could put together. Also I had ALL of the students sew their own 9 piece quilt which for many of them was a brand new activity. After several years of starting the year with my quilt unit and with the changes in education, I had to stop and really think about the educational benefits of this unit. Mostly I thought about the time element that this unit consumed the first few weeks of school. How many indicators was I really teaching? Was there a better way to weave community into the start of the school year? Had times changed enough that quilting was a thing of the past? Sometimes we do need to throw the baby out with the bath water even if it is a difficult thing to do.
After much deliberation, I decided that it was time to change the opening of the school year, so last year we started totally different. We built bridges and I encouraged students to begin to wonder instantly on the first day of school. The integration of 21st Century skills drove my thinking, and we started with nonfiction reading at Wonderopolis. Instantly the students were able to choose their topic, and I learned something new about every student within the first few days of school. This year one of our first anchor charts will be entitled: What does Room 228 WONDER about?
My school year officially starts with students this Thursday and I have to admit I have done the same team building for the past 12 years. Actually I am guilty of starting it because I used to do it when I taught in MO and brought the idea to my school. But I am bored with it, and I know that so I started thinking about how to start my school year differently. If I have learned anything about my teaching if I am bored then I teach a boring lesson which isn't great for anyone.
As I was looking through my summer mail from school, I came across an article in Weekly Reader entitled "From Here to There" A new bridge across the Colorado River connects Arizona and Nevada. It took TEAMWORK to build it. Light bulb moment -building bridges.
As I thought about the idea of building bridges and connecting it to TEAMWORK, I automatically thought of marshmallows and toothpicks and having the students work in cooperative groups and build a bridge. I then went to Wonderopolis and found Wonder #236 How Long is the Longest Bridge? which is a perfect introduction to Wonderopolis. After that I googled bridges and found numerous links that I think will be beneficial as well as interactive. Finally I tweeted out to my friends about bridges and my friend Tony sent me this amazing link from TED entitled "Build a Tower, Build a Team."Although I am not starting with these materials, I definitely will come back to this idea.
Then my word study mind kicked in, and I started thinking about the multiple meanings of "building bridges."
*connecting 4th grade to 5th grade
*connecting home learning and school learning (Wonderopolis is PERFECT for this)
*connecting teamwork with the different skills it takes to build their bridge (we will create a class chart)
*discussion of the design process which connects with science
*conversations about how the key to our success this year is TEAMWORK!
I am even going to assign homework the first night. The students are going to share about their building experience as well as share Wonder #236 and try the experiment at home with their families or even post their first comment of the school year. For the students who don't have computers, I will print the Wonder off and send it home on paper and if they want to post, we will post at school. I am excited about the new start to the school year!
