Book Spotlight: One Grain of Rice

After recess everyday, we have a quiet time in class. During this time, we spend a few minutes engrossed in a book just for the pleasure of it. Students listen along while drawing or coloring or even just relaxing. It is a nice way to transition from active play outside to coming back inside and getting ready for more work in class.

At the start of the year, I checked out a ton of new and familiar books from the library. I displayed them along the tray of the whiteboard. We have been reading them for the past three weeks, but last week, I was running low. I dipped into my own stash and found this old familiar story, One Grain of Rice by Demi. I had completely forgotten about this book and have not opened it or shared it in years. Immediately, I snatched it up and saved it to share that day or the next. It is perfect to not only read for pleasure, but also to reread for learning.

One Grain of Rice is great for many reasons. First, it features a folktale from another culture. The setting of the story is India. I love to bring in multi-cultural books often. It opens up the world to my students who have never traveled the far-away places featured in the story. Also, if provides characters with which some of the students in class can identify. They feel seen and heard.

Second, I love this book because it has a great tie-in to math. It is easy to bring in math skills that are being practiced early in the year such as place value and rounding. It also features doubling numbers. It is perfect to take some of these numbers and use them in math class. It gives purpose and meaning.

Third, there are many, many reading skills that can be incorporated into this book. Comprehension questions can help you go deep. Through a character study you can see the qualities that the strong characters have and how some characters change over time. I 
would also pair this with the Biblical story of Joseph and use the two stories to compare and contrast using a Venn diagram.

Fourth, the illustrations and colors in the book are stunning. The are so well done and bring the book to life, keeping true to the setting and all that is India.

Lastly, this is a great book to use to talk about thinking of others and not being selfish. It is a valuable lesson for all children, and even adults to learn and also internalize.

If you are interested in checking out this book activity pack, click on any of the pictures above.

Setting up a Parent Communication Log

Keeping a parent communication log is essential for teacher documentation. A ----not only helps you keep track of conversations you have had with parents, but also provides a record to look back on when needed.  

Here are five Tips for setting up a parent communication log and having top notch communication with parents throughout the year. 

1. Set up a Binder
It is easy to set up a parent communication log inside a binder as a place to keep everything organized. Having a binder ready at the start of the school year will help you track communication from the beginning and keep all your notes in one place.

2. Communicate Early

Start right away, before class begins if possible. Send welcome letters, mail out student postcards. Once school starts, be sure to make a positive phone call home. That positive phone call will help to set the tone for the year. You DO want to start things off positively. If you do, you will have much more support throughout the year.

3. Communicate Often

Try to find something positive to share with each parent at least twice a month. Send a note. Write a text. Make a call. You will bring a smile to their faces. 

4. Celebrate
Celebrate parents. Celebrate students. Everyone LOVES to be celebrated. Parents love you to see the good in their babies. Parents feel great when you celebrate them too. Do what you can to spread positivity. It will come back to you!

5. Listen

When parents are upset, listen. Think about where they are coming from. Think about why they are upset. Is there something you could change? Be flexible. Be approachable. 

Interested in learning more about communicating effectively with parents? You can find more ideas on my blog here or here.

You can check out some parent communication binders here, here, and here. 

Black-History-Month-in-the-Classroom

I have never really stopped to give much thought to celebrating Black history month in my classroom. It just wasn't something I had really done much before. One of my schools required that we do something and so, out of obligation, I did. However, my views on that are changing.

Last year, I read a book that featured a strong African American girl as the main character. It was a work of fiction. I cannot for the life of me remember the title of that book, but what stands out to me is the reaction of one little girl in my class. She was hanging on EVERY SINGLE WORD. She was memorized. She had found herself in the story. 

My family also took a vacation that allowed us to spend one day in the heart of Montgomery, Alabama, most known for it's place in the civil rights movement. This was home to Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and George Washington Carver also lived nearby. Being the teacher that I am, I brought along some books so that my own children could learn about these people on our road trip. By the time we got there, they had some idea what they stood for and what they had done for their people and really all of us. 

While spending the day in Montgomery, we took a tour of the place where Martin Luther King Jr. lived and even met some of the people who knew him personally. We visited with his neighbor, who was also the babysitter of his children and purchased her book about her experience. This is REAL history. My children were engrossed in history and loving every minute. A spark ignited in my daughter and when someone asks her what her favorite subject is, she will answer with two subjects, one of which is social studies. 

 We stood in the very place where Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat on the bus that day long ago. We walked the street in front of MLK Jr's house where a famous picture was taken of him marching for equal rights, surrounded by many others. We touched the spot on his front porch where a bomb was planted to kill him. It left a permanent mark that has never been fixed. We went to the church where he was a minister. We relived...history that day, imagining in our minds what it all must have been like. 

Thinking back over the experiences I had on that trip and the reaction of one little girl in my class you finally found herself in one of my stories, I realize that I do need to do more. I need to bring stories that can help this group of students identify themselves and the history of their race in America. It just can't be about the main founding fathers that we talk about every year, we need to allow time for other people that were pivotal in our history too. 

You can see some of the other ways I have brought the African American history to life in my classroom. You can see those here, here, and here. 

This year, I will be honoring some of the people who worked to give equal rights to all people. A few years ago, I created a pack of booklets to help my students study famous Americans. I have recently updated some of the booklets to include a printable story that can be used as the research guild for these booklets. I found several books into one set especially for Black History Month. You can find that here. The great thing about these is that they can be used with your students in a whole class activity, as partner work, in centers, or individually.   

Representation Matters

In the middle of the protests that our nation is facing, it is giving me time to think about how important representation is. I want to share two personal stories with you.

A couple of years ago, I got my hands on a book that I wanted to bring into by classroom. I consciously had a couple of my little girls in mind. As I pulled out the book and began to read it, I noticed that one of my babies sat a little taller, leaned forward a little more, and listened with rapt attention. She was literally hanging on every line. When one of the other students quietly said something to a neighbor, this little girl shushed him right away so she wouldn't miss a thing. It was important. This book mattered to her. It mattered because she found herself between the covers. She saw in that book a mirror into her soul. She was celebrated through this book. Representation matters.

I took note as I read this book, more determined than before to represent my students through books in the classroom. Representation matters.

On a more personal note, I grew up in the 80's and 90's, and while I am white and white people are represented in books of all kinds, I had freckles. And people with freckles were not often represented. Books were filled with all kinds of white children with "flawless" skin. The only books I ran across that focused in any way on freckles seemed to focus on the character hating their skin, instead of loving it. As a result, I grew up hating my freckles too. I a pleased to see more diversity the faces I see now not just in books, but also TV shows, commercials, and print adds. Representation matters. 

While my own experience is on a much smaller scale than people of color, because my race was always largely represented, I can understand in a very small way how they feel being underrepresented by the books, posters, and videos shown and used in classrooms around the country. Representation matters.

As I think about my own classroom now, I am not the majority. I am a minority, even as a white person. I need to do better about representation. Not just for the black students, but for the other students of color as well. My class is made up of a majority of Latino students. They also want to see themselves in the books I read. Representation matters. 

And as I think about my year coming up, I am reading and trying to find good books that will open conversations about how people are treated, even if they are from other races. I want books, not to vilify one race over another, but to discuss so we can all learn and be better, do better. So we can understand one another. We need to have windows through which we can view the world of our classmates who come from varying places and points of view. Representation Matters. 

Below, is a list of books that will help all your students realize that the ALL matter. What books are you sharing with your class? Don't forget, representation matters!

I love, LOVE this book. I features a boy, Ravi,  who recently moved from India. While he DOES speak English, because of his accent, he is seen by others, including the teacher as someone who needs special help. He gets placed in the special ed. pull out class along with another one of his classmates. This is extremely embarrassing to Ravi because in India, he had always been at the top of the class, the best in sports, and one of the popular kids. Suddenly he  himself as a "nothing", a position he had never been in. Now he is on the receiving end of all the jokes, instead of dishing them out to others. Now the shoe is on the other foot and as he realizes that he is the brunt of jokes among the popular kids, he suddenly finds himself in an unlikely friendship, battling against the one popular kid who is a reminder of the past Ravi. 

This is a great read aloud for fourth grade and up, or a powerful book to use in literacy groups from fifth grade and up.

Front desk features a family of immigrants from China and their lives as they try to make it in America. It shows how people can sometimes take advantage of immigrants through low wages and unfair practices. It shows the determination with which immigrants work, however difficult and despite the long hours. It shows the struggle that immigrant children  

have in navigating their new lives and fitting in. 

This book does have a few bad words and because of that, I would suggest it as a read aloud for fifth grade and up. I usually cut out or change bad words as I read because I try  

not to have those kind of books in my classroom, but this one has such great room for discussion and it is well written, despite that one fact. 

Ada Twist, Scientist features a black girl who is filled with scientific curiosity. It just goes to show that people of all color can achieve greatness in the scientific field. I love that it also features a girl in a field (science) that is often times thought of as a field for boys. 

I loved the movie about the little know four black women who were involved in the space race in a time when NASA was dominated by white men. These brilliant women were much needed, but not celebrated at all until now. I am thrilled that they have made a children's book telling the same story. These powerful women prove that any person or any sex or race can achieve greatness.

This book features a child from a family of divorce and different races. She struggles to find out who she is. Many children come from divorced families and are often not represented at all. Many children are also biracial, so they are also looking to find themselves in the books that are presented in class. 

Wonder is the perfect book to build awareness and empathy for all people, including those with physical deformities. While Auggie goes from being homeschooled to being thrown into a class where no kid looks like him, he learns to navigate through many difficulties and the kids around him learn that underneath their exterior, kids with deformities are still just kids wanting to be loved. 

The Lemonade Club is a book that focuses on a little girl who is battling cancer and how her friends rally around her after struggling with differences. This is a great book to teach understanding and empathy and how important it is to continue being a friend even when difficulties arise.

This book features a Latina girl who is proud of her name. Unfortunately, her teacher does not realize how important Maria's name is to her and without considering her feelings, begins calling her by a nickname because after all, there are two Maria's in the same class. This book calls out the need for personal identity that our names can bring. 

Names are important and should be celebrated, despite how different or how much the same they may be. Teacher's should make it a point to make sure to learn how to pronounce each child's name, which to them is a big part of their identity. 

In China and many cultures, multi-generations live together and older family members are revered for their wisdom and age. In this book, the protagonist is suddenly left without his best friend who happens to be his grandmother when she has to move away because of an illness. 

This book shows the importance of family connection across generations. 

The book Fly Away Home focuses on a father who is trying his best to take care of his son, despite their homelessness. They find themselves living in an unlikely home, an airport and trying to keep a low profile. 

This book teaches empathy while bringing the problem of homelessness to the forefront.

What child has not felt they are too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too whatever to accomplish their dreams? This is the true story of Stephen Curry, one of basketball's best players who at one time was considered "too short" to be any good. 

Just because other's share their opinions of what they think of you does not mean that without hard work and perseverance you cannot bring your dreams to reality.

Mexican White Boy is a book about a boy who is trying to fit in. His classmates take a look at his exterior and make assumptions about him based on how he looks. Follow the main character as he struggles to find his place, despite his mixed race. 

Whatever books you bring into your room, think about the students in your class. Are they represented in the books you have? Even if you have a classroom that lacks student diversity, providing a window into the lives of others can build understanding and empathy. As teachers, we must make that a priority! Representation matters!

Sprinkle a Little Magic While Bidding the School Year Goodbye

This week is it, the end of online school. We will pack away the ipads and the worksheet packs with very little hoopla, and say goodbye to another year. The year that made history. It feels strange saying it, but summer is upon us and in another week, we will begin a new normal without any connection to these tiny or not-so-tiny humans that have made a way into our hearts forever.

But does it have to be this way? I am here to say that it does not! We do not have to slide from this school year into summer with little notice and no celebration. These babies may have been in our classes for three fourths of a year, but they will be held in our hearts forever. So let's get out our party hats and see what we can do to sprinkle a little magic while bidding this year school goodbye. 

If you have been a teacher for any amount of time, you know that teachers love to see what other teachers are doing so they can, well, get ideas for their own rooms. Sometimes you can just take an idea and run with it or other times, you tweak the idea to make it your own. There are thousands of teachers on YouTube, Pinterest, posting on blogs, on The Gram or even Facebook. If you spend enough time there, you could come away feeling inadequate, but just remember you are not seeing the day-to-day, but the highlight reel. This is the best of what they do in their rooms and  while it can be magical, just remember, it is NOT the day-to-day. We all have magic in our classes if we stop to look around. 

With that being said, I love looking for new ideas around, especially on Instagram. One of my friends and coworkers is known as  Learning With Mrs. Fresh. I love her idea of putting together little bags for her students.  She included a letter to each student as well as a class picture. She added in some fun touches (candy, pen, glow stick). How easy is that? And what better way send the class off on summer break and let them know that you care? Also, her school did a virtual school spirit week, which I adapted and am using during the last week of school. Let's bring the fun engagement. We can STILL do it, despite being separated by distance. Here is a look at what we are doing on the last week of school. 

My whole school is not hosting a school spirit week. But what's to stop me from doing that in my class? Nothing at all! I am most excited about our Taco Tuesday. In class, we have regular lunch bunches. Students look forward to coming to sit and eat lunch with me on Fridays. I always bring treats for the students who are in lunch bunch. A lot of times, I have made homemade chocolate chip cookies for them. I took this idea and decided to enjoy lunch with my class on Zoom. What I was trying to figure out was a treat for them. Then I had the idea to send them home (after our last pick-up) with a bag of ingredients so they could make their own cookies. So, that is just what I did. I made each of them a bag of supplies and passed it out to them. I am uploading a quick tutorial on YouTube so they can bake the cookies at home with their parents and then have them for the lunch bunch on Tuesday. I cannot way. And neither can they. I keep getting questions about when they can bake the cookies. This is going to be fun!

Another idea that I loved on Instagram was these affirmation flowers. I saw them on Pencils Top Pigtails. I loved this idea so much that I decided to create some of my own.

The only thing was, that I sent my husband out to Dollar Tree to snag some of these for my project and they only had Fourth of July themed ones. That was fine, but I had my heart set on these bright ones with multiple colors that were so beautiful. I went to another store and it was the same story. I just could NOT find the ones I wanted anywhere. A week later, with nothing, I decided that I would just get the patriotic ones and the kids would not know the difference. I went back to not one, but two stores and just found three of them total. I decided to go to one more store that I had not been to previously and I hit the jackpot and was able to get enough for my whole class in the colors that I wanted. I was so excited! I am planning to do a drive by, not sure if you would call it a parade, but at least to plant a flower in the yards of my students and spread a little love. 

Whether you do something "big" or "small" teacher, you are amazing!  

At Home Learning

Times have changed and so many families are now in charge of their own student's learning. Many parents are juggling their jobs while trying to make sure their student does not slip behind in their learning. Schools are giving a wide-range of support from basically non-existent to highly involved. We've taken on new ways of doing things, learned new platforms like Zoom, Google Teams, Google Classroom, Schoology, and Seesaw. 

With all of that, teachers are heartbroken knowing that a quarter of the year was snatched away from them, unexpectedly without closure. In the midst of all that, teachers are finding ways to connect, teach, and keep the learning going.

I want to share 5 ways that I am making that happen in my classroom.

1. Streamlining activities
I am attempting to combine some things wherever possible. We are just putting together our last packet for learning (the students and families will drive through to pick up tomorrow). I have found ways to work smarter, not harder. I streamlined my reading/social studies with a single printable unit that my students will use. They will be practicing comprehension strategies with non-fiction text that I hope will be engaging, because it features children or parts of childhood and the history behind them. One of my favorite articles talks about an epidemic that happened in the 40's and 50's, Polio. It tells the heartbreaking reality of children stuck in hospitals, sad and alone. It tells the story of a retired teacher who also is in one of the Polio wards with the children because she has also succumbed to the disease. What I love about this story is that this teacher does what teachers do everyday, she worked to make things better for her young hospitalmates. She invented a game that they could play easily, without having to read. It later became a world-famous game, Candy Land! 

I hope that these articles will be ones that my students can connect to and also learn from. The other articles tell about summer camp, orphan trains, child labor, children traveling through the mail, and the kid who invented popsicles. I cannot wait to discuss these with my kids. I have a feeling they will bring about some thought provoking conversations. 

2. Games
Games give students a sense of normalcy and fun. I love to do games for morning meeting in class, but doing them over Zoom has been exciting as well. The students are so engaged. This next time, I am going to send home a printable booklet of one of our classroom multiplication games. The good thing is that it will be something familiar and it is something they can play with little supplies and with a parent or sibling. 

3. Mail
Let's face it, kids LOVE mail. In the digital age, a real piece of mail is such a thrill. I enjoy writing little postcards to encourage the students and let them know that I miss them. They look forward to receiving them as well. 

4. Being Available
I try to make myself available throughout the day by text, phone, email, and Zoom. We have an hour Zoom class every day, but sometimes that is not enough. I have babies at home with no one who speaks English. There is no one that can help them complete any of the work. So being available reminds them that I care and that I want to help. I am doing what I can to keep them going during this less than ideal time.

5. Praying
If you are a praying teacher, I urge you to pray for your students. We don't know what they have gone home to. For some, school IS their safe place. It is where they look forward to going to escape the problems at home. Just because I grew up in a great family doesn't mean all of my students are getting that same opportunity. Some don't have enough food. Some of their parents have lost jobs. I am spending time praying for each of them. I hope they know that if they need anything, I am here. I let them know that I am praying for them. I think it brings them comfort. 

These are just five quick things that I am doing to try to make it through this time with some semblance of order. If these are ideas you can take with you and put into practice, please do it. Remember, we are not doing "online learning." We are doing "emergency learning." We are in the middle of a national crisis. But in the midst of it all, there are things we can do to not just survive, but thrive!

If you are interested in any of the resources mentioned, click on the pictures below. 

That was Then, This is Now

Back when I was creating magic in my classroom, I had so many plans. I had plans for several transformations in the last quarter. I left my classroom, heading off to spring break still seeing my Toy Story S.T.E.M. transformation hanging up in my classroom. We knew we were having some time off for the Coronavirus, but we did not know then what we know now, that we are not coming back this year. 

I have been back to the classroom about three times since, getting distance learning packets ready, looking at my Toy Story things, and removing it from the walls, remember the fun day of learning we had, not know that would be our last time together. I have not had the heart or motivation to take apart the Lego marble runs they made or put away my bins of supplies. It is heartbreaking to think that that was the end and we did not get to finish the year or say our goodbyes.

However, life has to keep going and we are doing the best we can. I am trying to add some spice to our Zoom meetings. We tried doing a Kahoot, which they love. That was a big challenge for some of the families to be able to get onto, but the students were so excited. It brought a sense of normalcy and something to enjoy. Lately, we have been doing science experiments. I learned after the first couple weeks, that we need to do our experiments together, or they may not get done. So, on Zoom, we've been learning about force and motion with some experiments using a unit I purchased from Gifted Teacher 305. She did a fun transformation using a NASCAR theme. We are using Hot Wheels and having a great time. 


As the school year ends, I want to end it in a big way, with lots of fun and bonding, even if it is across the miles. So, I am getting ready for a week of fun to end this year. With all the stress that our families are going through, we could all use a little fun. Here's what I am doing for fun. 

Keep On Keeping On

I was nearing my breaking point, and I knew it. It had been over a week since we went into hiding from this invisible virus that is spreading like wildfire. We left the house very seldom to get things we needed or to exercise. We kindly declined social gathering invites and basically hunkered down. 

I was glued to the TV newscasts, in horror at what I was seeing and hearing about all the death around the world, lack of toilet paper and other essentials, and the level of contagiousness this virus had. Something had to give.

I was a ball of nerves, fearful for my little asthmatic, and thinking about all the what-ifs that could possibly go wrong with each and every member of my family facing this with uncertainty about the future. 

I couldn't make myself do much, I sat or walked around in a daze so worried about all the things on my mind, but telling myself to have faith, trust, not to worry. But as much as I told myself that it would all be OK, my doubt would creep in, nearly drowning me in the process. 

Monday of week two, I headed to the school. We met as teachers, keeping our distance as much as possible and talking about what this whole distance learning think should look like. 
I decided I needed to give all this worry a rest. To let it go. To face the fact that my worry, my fear, my irrationalness in all this was transferring to my own daughter, keeping her up at night wondering if she or the people she loved would survive this pandemic. Hearing her words, "I wish I could die and come back when all this is over" hung around my shoulders weighing me down with helplessness. It was a turning point, watching her struggle. I knew I had to muster some normalcy for her...for us both. Be strong for the two of us. Quit watching the news so much, it was quite frankly scaring her as much as it was scaring me.

I determined that I would wake up. Read, play, draw, and have fun just being with my babies. I would take time to slow down, enjoy this moment we've been given, and really take time for my kids. 

We drew on sidewalks (and watched how if affected others walking by...the best), baked, did art projects, played board games, and enjoyed each other. I went to bed on time, and slept the best I have in days...with no tossing or turning for hours. I even slept in. And you know what? The Earth went on without me worrying about it. And I woke up happier and refreshed. 

I know worry may creep in again, but I'm ready to push it down. I will treasure these days as a gift that I have been given and spend time loving on my family and doing things that I don't normally get to do in the hustle and bustle of real life. 

Next week we will begin teaching online and also doing homeschool. That will be a new challenge, but for now everyone is excited about learning from home and this new adventure. So, here's to today's adventures, tomorrow's adventures, and to the future! Cause it's gonna be O.K. 

Art to Keep Your Kiddos Creative

If you are like me, you are always trying to find ways to keep your kiddos from getting bored at home. I love having activities that they can choose to do and also time for them to just be creative. But with this whole COVID-19 thing going around, spring break is no longer just a staycation, it is a homecation. We're just not leaving home to do the fun activities around town this year and we are minimizing our time with friends who live nearby too. It's only been three days and with no end in site, I've heard, "I'm bored" more times than I care to admit. 

So I was especially relieved to see that some of my favorite people around the web were offering free art activities especially for kids and maybe you have already stumbled across them as well, but just in case, here goes.

Cassie Stephens is an amazing art teacher in Tennessee. She is super creative and fun and always has projects that I love. I have "copied" many of her assignments for use in my own classroom and they have always been a hit among the students...and parents.  

This week, she is offering a robot-themed art class everyday. And she is making it super simple so that people can use the things they have around the house with them. We have already completed her first activity and are ready for activity number two. Here's a picture of us at work. 

It is something that you can do right along side your kids. We enjoyed doing this together. You can find her first class here and her second one over here. 

Also, if you LOVE the Piggie and Gerald books as much as we do, author and illustrator Mo Willems is also offering classes that roll out each day at lunchtime. Check those out here and here.