Άρθρα ανά μήνα: Μάρτιος 2018

Celebrating World Poetry Day: Acrostic Name Poems

I recently happened to come across this great article called “7 Fin Ideas for Writing and Publishing Student Poetry”, by Hannah Hudson, on the We Are Teachers website. It was great, because I wanted to get ideas for something to do in class on World Poetry Day, March 21.

Here’s a sample of what we’ve been able to accomplish in class with 5th and 6th graders (4th graders needed a little more time):

I had prepared a list of adjectives, in alphabetic order, which we translated and analysed, working in groups. Then, the students chose the adjectives that they thought described them best. They finished their work by drawing themselves as accurately as possible. It was wonderful to see how absorbed they were, trying to write self-defining poetry! Students love to define themselves, and this is a basic step towards building mutual respect and solving discipline issues in class. All they need is an opportunity! Marvellous!

 

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Mr. Tall and Little Miss Somersault (with a visit from Mr. Bounce)

For the past couple of lessons with my 2nd graders we’ve been discussing different body types, like Mr. Tall (also Mr. Tickle, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Greedy and Mr. Small, who appear in the book) and Little Miss Somersault (along with Mr. Bounce). Students were introduced to the idea that one’s obvious “drawback” may well indeed be a blessing, as is the case with Mr. Tall! And in the case of Little Miss Somersault, how delightful to see a girl character save the day like a super hero, only to discover that super heroes do sometimes need help themselves! Two lovely messages from Roger Hargeaves, worth the attention of younger learners.

The students drew Mr. Tall this time, easily following this wonderful video, which I only had to pause a little, and then there was also colouring and lots of “Jump! Bounce! Cartwheel!” singing! I think they carried on jumping for the next hour, as by the time we finished, it was time for their P.E. class.

These are the lyrics to the song, available here:

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

She doesn’t walk around, but leaps over instead.

She can do anything, even stand on her head!

Jumping, tumbling, bouncing up and down, Little Miss Somersault never touches the ground!

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

She’s so full of energy, there is no doubt.

Bouncing over and under, around and about!

Climb on a roof, or balance on a chair, she does it all with out a single care!

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

(repeat this a few times)

See you next time!

Do you know the Simple Present? Check yourself with these coloured wooden popsicle sticks!

It was about time my 4th grade students showed me how much they have understood of the Simple Present. I used a permanent marker to write words and / or phrases onto coloured wooden popsicle sticks, gave each student group the sticks of a single colour, and that was it! They were instantly hooked, and after they had made the “correct” sentences, they wanted to keep on trying to make new, perhaps odd, but grammatically correct sentences out of the same sticks. Success!

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Little Miss Wise (with a visit from Little Miss Neat) and Little Miss Chatterbox

I am excited to see the children get more involved in our project. Little Miss Wise was next in line, and we got to discuss her behaviour. A student (girl) brought Little Miss Neat in class, too, so there she was, our little guest, and we also got to know her! Letter and phoneme correspondence was tackled during the lesson, in the following words:

After that, it was Little Miss Chatterbox, and while the boys were almost sure that talking too much is a female trait, they were surprised to find out that a Mr. Chatterbox also existed, and he was just as talkative as his sister!

There was a very nice video on Youtube that the students enjoyed. The following character will have to be a male one, though. Till next time!