Loving: The Unbalanced Chronicles: July 2021

Here Comes Summer....

and with it a week of summer school (and a big ole' long post ahead).

I know it was a very LONG COVID pandemic year but I decided to contribute by signing up for a week of summer school.

It gave me opportunity to stretch some different teaching muscles, and it gave me opportunity to earn a little extra summer money.

Who doesn't need that?

So here we are

SUMMA' SCHOOL Adventures!

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My week was quickly approaching and I wanted to take a lot of time to engage grades 6-8 students in the middle of July.

It wasn't an easy task but thanks to my own purchases and a LOT of donations from my family and friends....

I was able to do so much this week.

It was awesome!

(I'm serious, very awesome.)

I did my best planning after hours so I could spread out (across the wholeeeeee building).

I wanted to try my best to have kids unplug a bit from the computer/ phones/ calculators. I guess I went a little old fashioned on all subjects so I could immediately see if students were participating.

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The most nerve-racking experience for me was planning/teaching of THE MATH (dun. dun. dun).

I scheduled it for the first two hours of the day (get it in right after the coffee),

and I stuck to my favorite- algebra.

(yes, I require a partner for middle school geometry.)

student leading the class with two step equations

Thankfully I've partnered with a lot of great middle school math teachers. I borrowed Mrs. H's system-

use short teacher directed lesson, quick formative assessment with the whiteboards, and then follow up practicing the skill with constant teacher movement.

The plan is foolproof, there is no way to not to see if a student is getting it or not. It really went well (big sigh of relief).

I don't know what I was worried about....

other than the kids throwing tomatoes at me and screaming "you are doing that wrong FOOL, go back to college" 👅.

My favorite part of the day was reading (of course).

I chose nonfiction pieces that were so interesting- Anne Franks' Dairy (remastered into a graphic novel), United Stated States Space Force, Cloning, The Role of Robots, etc. The kids had a lot of information/ good discussion to go along.

I love to listen to a teenage viewpoint on current events. They typically have unique insight that others just don't see. We had good talks.

I posted "Around the Room" questions for the class to respond in pairs. The responses were so well-thought-out and good!

As the day progressed, we moved into our Enrichment Projects.

Forgive me for the picture overload but these ideas were such blessings to the students. The kids were engaged and enthusiastic the whole week. I am so thankful to my donors and the great teachers that give me ideas on a daily basis.

Edible Maps

After reviewing parts of map, we designed our own physical maps of the 7 Continents (minus Antartica) with a designed key.

The kids had a hard time with this one because a Physical Map has quite a bit of overwhelming information. I probably should have stayed with specific countries.

I tried to teach the process of thinking it through, picking out key landmarks, then predesigning the final outcome.

NOT- cut on the power, speak into google search, and have your answers in 2 seconds.

#GENALPHA

There were some really good designs!

Australia

North America

Do you see the Great Plains, Mississippi, and the Appalachian Mountains?

Materials: Rice Krispies (I tinted blue/ green with food coloring), wafers, blue licorice, & chocolate morsels over wax paper

Gnome on the Range

The local rangers came to share with us all about facts of the local park as well as about local animals that call our area home.

You would be surprised at how many adventures Park Rangers go on!

They did a fabulous job and are definitely passionate about our wildlife and state parks. I am so thankful to these ladies!

Mr. D.

We were able to invite our 5th grade group to most of our adventures and trust me when I say- they are so ready for middle school. They could not have been better learners!

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Our next guest was Mrs. E.

She helped us create our own Gnome Gardens.

This makes me miss my Mrs. E. so much!! We started working together like Sonny and Cher (yes I'm Cher).

Every student picked out their own succulent!

I know this was educational but let me get this out....

cute.

*Leftover sand from VBS mud making.

We had so many generous gnome and garden donations, we made 24 gardens and learned the process of plant life.

We also started a Gnome-tastic Adventure!

Didn't the kids get so creative with their designs?!

I loved them.

Bon Appetite

I've always wanted to have a Book Tasting but I've never really had the opportunity until this week.

Welcome to my Five Star Book Tasting Restaurant.

Students rotate table to table where they "taste" the books at the table. ie. they review the cover, the inside, the first page, and read the synopsis. Learners then answer a serious of questions such as 'what is the genre', 'would you like to read this book', and 'provide a summary of what was discovered'.

I played Italian Restaurant music to set the mood.

To "add" a bit to the experience. I served little samplings between each station: pita bread, hummus, garden crackers, chocolate, and tea.

We discussed restaurant-like behavior and how to properly refuse (ie. NOT "no way, that looks like it sucks").

Everyone had the best manners.

This is definitely a project I want to repeat. I can see doing this with a unit where students "sample" selections on the theme.

Calling all medical staff: EMERGENCY!

I'm Chief Physician.

(I've always wanted to say that.)

Parts of the body, systems, and anatomy are covered in one way or another in almost all grades 5-9, especially 8th grade and in Biotechnology.

We set up our medical lab.

Students were incredibly stoked to be taking home name tags, medical pens, and disposable stethoscopes!

Yes, we had to have a serious conversation about rules, appropriate use of certain materials, and how certain things stay home and don't come back.

I got it covered y'all!

After a few
"medical" notes and review,

my young medical team was ready to begin.
They had to color, cut, label, and describe each body system (and there were a lot).

I love these female surgeons!
They were so good at this activity.
REPRESENT

I would absolutely give all students a referral, because

they were fantastic medical surgeons.

My helper and I got cracked up when we heard a boy say "my GOSH this is stressful". We told him that he might consider another field should real organs be involved. 😅

CSI

Hands DOWN.

This one was my favorite activity!

CSI Forensic Science

This idea originated on Teachers Pay Teachers but I added a few things such as the caution tape, fingerprint investigations, and UV light pens (yes they got to keep them, I could not resist the purchase).

Step back ma'am this is an investigation.

(The chip bag was not evidence but rather the result of a middle schooler finishing lunch. 🤣 )

At each station, students had to eliminate ONE suspect based on evidence but time was against them-

only 7 minutes per station!

Crack the Binary Code

Fingerprint Match

(be sure to eliminate any team members)

Divide the force by the mass to eliminate the slowest getaway car.

I added Connor's old cars to make it more comprehensive.

Who will crack the case first-

Private Investigators, Homeland Security, the Police Force, the Local Sheriff's Department, Detectives, OR the FBI!?!

DNA Decoding

I played a little suspension music in the background and students had to really work together.

This was a five star activity!

Dig It

This week we reviewed civilizations and how history contributes to our life today.

We completed Inca, Aztec, and Maya civilization sorts.

We soon discovered ancient bricks that held Maya secrets.

We could not wait to "dig" into it.

Learners became archeologists to find, predict, and investigate artifacts! I've been doing this project since 2005 and it never fails to garner excitement in the learning process.

Olympics

Is anyone excited about the Olympic Games!?!

I've been watching the Olympic trails like crazy. I was pretty surprised when only a few kids could tell me anything about the Olympic Games held in Tokoyo this summer.

When you think about it, due to COVID, the last summer games were held in 2016 and the students were only around age 8.

Each day I featured 1-2 American athletes going to the Olympics. I tried to feature events not so heavily televised such as rock climbing, skateboarding, and surfing.