Thoughts on teaching to levels 0-2 in Van Hiele's levels of geometric thought:

As an elementary teacher, I expect to be teaching kids at levels 0, 1, and 2. In my 3rd grade class, and even in my 5th grade class, I think that time spent actually manipulating and handling shapes is very important. Too often I see kids having to learn about shapes by looking at them on a worksheet. This offers no opportunities to compare sizes and angles, see similarities between shapes, and really understand how the shapes can be made. So I the first thing I would do for any group (but especially those at level 0) would be to get more manipulatives in the classroom, and give kids free access to them as they work.

For the students at level 1, I would create (or have them create) large charts showing properties and examples of different shapes and classes of shapes. Along with each chart would be a specific set of manipulatives that illustrate the properties shown on a chart. For instance, a chart explaining rectangles would have several rectangles, along with a triangle and a non-square parallellogram, and a carpenter’s square. It would have instructions to look for 4 right angles to identify all the rectangles. With this chart in the room, students could go to it and relearn concepts that they are having a hard time with in their math work. Because we would develop charts for many shapes and classes, the creation of these would act as a lesson in itself (maybe have an expert group make each one and explain it to the class?).

For kids at level two, I would expand on the charts idea and create a inquiry center of all sorts of shapes and ask students to not only determine which chart they belong to, but also write down the reasons they classify it as such. By sharing their reasons in informal, small group speeches, students who are just approaching level 2 may get a boost of understanding by watching their peers go through the process. I would keep a running list for each shape at the inquiry center so that many students could contribute the things they notice about the shape, and why they think how they do. This would be kind of like a class wiki done on paper where kids could see their collective knowledge and contribute to each others’ learning.

Another site with lots of graphic organizers, rubrics, etc...

teacher.scholastic.com/tools/

BOT graphs

Here are some neat uses of behavior over time graphs as classroom projects:

Systems Thinking in Schools

The Creative Learning Exchange

I really like the 'friendship/time graph of book characters on the clexchange site.

Guitars in the classroom

I was looking around on line last night and found this group called "Guitars in the Classroom" that trains teachers to integrate music (using guitar and singing) into their lessons. From what I can tell they don't just focus on teaching music, but use it as a vehicle to help deliver other lessons and material. They are based in California but hold seminars in 20 states across the country (with some training sites in Eugene and Springfield, OR).

Guitars in the Classroom

Cooking Lesson Ideas

Embedded in a unit could be a cooking project that would integrate math, culture, teamwork, and party! (eating)  The cooking and math lesson could also be paired with a nutrition and exercise lesson.  The exercise could even tie back into the unit by being an activity from a culture we're studying.

Example Food/Nutrition Thread

Prerequisites and Concerns: 

    review relevant math concepts

    have some cultural relevance for the food we'll be making (could be a book we're reading, country we're studying, etc...)

    the food should be simple to cook (one pot meals are nice)

1 Transition from larger unit topics   (This part may overlap with previous lesson)

    Talk about the culture we're focused on in reading or other curriculum area at the time.  Let food become the topic of conversation and plan a cooking day.

2 Make food:

    safety concerns

    team-building activity 

    write out recipe as an equation (concepts needed will have been reviewed)

    measure ingredients (keep record for nutrition calculation)

    talk about heat and boiling water (can tie into plate tectonics)

    other science topics: condensation/states of matter (clear lid on boiling pot), electricity (electric burner)

3  Celebrate!  (eat)

    good time to discuss how the food fits with its place of origin

    learn or practice special customs (like chopsticks, eating with hands, etc..)

3 Calculate  (this part may be the next lesson)

    count up total calories (in small groups)

    figure out calories per serving (in small groups)

    devise exercise plan to burn off those same calories (can tie into discussions about world hunger, hibernation)

    talk about macro-nutrients and vitamins

    do the exercise planned

This entire process could be photographed, logged, and published on a class website

Classroom Economy

The idea of a classroom economy fascinates me.  It seems an excellent way to engage students with real world situations.  I first came across the idea in Rafi Esquith's book "There Are No Shortcuts".  I don't remember the specifics of his system, but I do know that he had students take on the responsibility of classroom duties in exchange for paychecks in their invented currency.  The students used this money to pay the rent at their desks.  In this way they have to earn their place in the class- and they appreciated that feeling of belonging.  There are many more intricacies than I mention here, and I'm sure that fine tuning the 'exchange rate' takes a few years of practice, but I find the idea very sound.  

I'm envisioning a class economy- not sure yet how currency will work, but here are some jobs that need to be done:

(I'm thinking there will be a 'workday' of one or two 10-20 minute periods of duties each day)

I'm not sure how long jobs will be kept- anywhere from a one day rotation to a week or even six weeks.  If jobs are kept longer than a week, it is important to make sure that     they are well balanced enough that everyone enjoys them.

May need to have certain really fun or really boring jobs (like animal feeding vs. supply distribution crews) rotate on a daily basis, while more responsibility and experience type jobs (like welcome crew or medics) rotate on a several week interval.

Here are ideas for jobs in a hypothetical classroom with 28 kids at 7 tables:

(all jobs have 2-3 positions available unless otherwise noted)

        Library Crew

    check in and out books from classroom library to students, keep books organized 

    take care of mail delivery system

        Wildlife Management Crew

    tend to fish

    care for worms

    care for any other critters

    care for plants (or 'gardener' could be another job)

        Welcoming Crew

    welcome guests to the room

    manage background music

    new student guides (help newcomers find things in school, understand rules, etc...)

    

        Center Keepers

    bring out and put away boxes during center time

        Right (or Left) Hand Crew

    teachers 'right hands'

    help out with passing out papers, grading, etc...

        Medics/Safety Crew

    facilitate emergency and fire drills

    lead and follow line

    head counters on field trips

    manage first aid kit (supplies stocking and carry on field trips)

        Supply Distribution Crew-1 per table 

    get and put away subject tubs (papers, pencils, etc...)

        Peacekeepers-1 per table

    responsible for promoting peace, acceptance, and tolerance among class

    may wish to suggest 'peace place' to other students

Objective of project:

    To work cooperatively with other students, building community and trust

    Students get a sense that they belong and matte

Questions:

    What is the teacher's duty during 'workday'?

    

New Blog!

I'm hoping for this blog to act as a thoughtbook as I explore the possibilities of education through student teaching in Portland State University's Graduate Teacher Education Program (GTEP) this next year.  This past summer term has both filled my bucket and lit the fire, but now that I have a bit of time off from studies I feel the fire being kindled even brighter.

"Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire." ~William Yeats~