Celebrating MLK

I have always been in awe of the incredible legacy and powerful man of God Martin Luther King was. Amidst all his human flaws, which none of us are without, he was used in such a mighty way to bring about change in our sinful world. 
and so, I always like to take a pause in our curriculum to celebrate his life the day after MLK day. 
For worship, we discussed one of his powerful prayers - "Thank you for your church, which challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but to go out as if the answer to our prayers depended on US, rather than on you." - MLK
Next, we CLOSE read and annotated one of the greatest pieces of rhetoric in American history - Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream Speech" We shared found examples of repetition, figurative language, shared our personal thoughts and opinions, and reflected on what it is calling each of us to do, today. 

Finally, using our favorite line from either the prayer or speech, we drew caricatures of MLK surrounded by our favorite quote. These turned out really unique and fun :) I found this cute idea and a step-by-step drawing example over at Curriculum and Crayons and adapted it a little. 

Christmas Economy

Economics is rarely something eleven year olds think about - however, our state testing system believes strongly  in their young abilities  har har and has made it clear that they are to know quite a LOT about it. However, it is not a fifth grade social studies skill...

Solution: Create a mini-economics unit during the largest money making time of the year - CHRISTMAS. 

Have you ever heard of the Christmas Price Index Express? Well, it is just about the cutest, greatest thing for teaching economics during the Christmas season. This cute little train travels through a train set sharing the prices of the 12 days of Christmas items - what they cost and how much they went up or down from the previous year. 

Disclaimer: The site, unfortunately, has prices from 2011, however, it allows for a fun estimation activity at the end to figure out what it would be total today.

Using this site, I turned my classroom into the "Economy Express" and had each stop along the site around my room. I love how it utilizes the different terms and vocabulary! 

Each day before Christmas break, we made a stop at each junction - learning something new about economy. I made THIS booklet to go along with our travels. 

Stop #1: Inflation Station 

Stop #2: Percentage Peak 

Stop #3: Inflation Station 

Stop #4: Fluctuation Farm

At Fluctuation Farms, we worked as analysts to determine price data increases and decreases. I actually paid them a Santa Buck or two this day since they were "hired" by the tree farm to determine sales information for the following year. 

In reading, we are always learning about story elements around this time, so I incorporate that by having the students read a Christmas Tree story with a partner and determining the different plot elements. 

Previous story mountain work with our basel story. 

Partner work plotting the Christmas Tree Story. 

Final assessment later in the week with an additional story. 

In addition to the mini-unit, I also set up a 2 week classroom economy. Now, I choose not to utilize a classroom economy for a number of reasons, however, I do like to use it during this mini unit to help kids review key concepts of economy. Students earn "Santa Bucks" for various actions such as turning in homework, arriving on time, doing their jobs, etc. They have to pay tax out of each morning paycheck - I start with Sales tax, then income tax, then social security tax, etc. Students honestly don't believe me when I keep adding these so I show them one of my pay sheets with each tax taken out! ha. This usually begins a brief discussion on what happens if you don't pay taxes and what tax returns are...

Students can purchase items every day from the classroom store. They can purchase either goods (small toys and candy) or services (cards with things such as "sit with a friend" "eat lunch in the classroom" "Teacher's Chair" etc.). 

Of course, if you utilize classroom economy you know, this helps students understand prioritizing, saving, and price fluctuation based on supply and demand. 

The ever changing Santa Buck price board. 

As you can see, sitting in the teacher's chair was a hot service commodity and since there was such a demand, with limited supply, it went up in price! 

Additional Christmas Economy Resources:

• I purchased my Santa Bucks on TPT HERE
• Purchased this Awesome Supply and Demand Unit from the Reflective Educator that I was able to integrate. Comes with a fabulous supply and demand market power point that I printed and put around the room for students to utilize like task cards. 

Over all, this is a fun review unit that I believe helps my students revisit an important 4th grade standard in a quick, but fun and educational way! 

Pilgrims and Refugees

Thanksgiving - the moment we pause and remember that we were all once refugees - seeking asylum in an unknown place. What a powerful history we have of immigration. I think of this every time I look around my classroom - the diversity we experience in this country is incredible. So many roots - European, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latino. Five continents represented in my small, mid-west classroom. 

Because of this, I use Thanksgiving as a time for students to reflect on their own heritage through a family history project. This research continues after break and turns into our Christmas Around the World Study. You can read more about the Heritage project HERE. 

During reading, I love reading the beautiful and powerful How Long Till America. It is a great read aloud and really helps generate lots of discussion on immigration, beliefs, rights, and governments - all fifth grade social studies topics! Win. Win. Win! 

We watch the classic school house rock highlighting America as a "Great Melting Pot" and our great immigrant heritage: 

In addition, the day before break we do a little Thanksgiving celebration. Because we are in the middle of Native American studies, we do a Southwest American Indian craft - Sand Art! 

Students Sand Art Creations! 

In math, we use fractions and measuring to make cornbread - again referencing Native culture and the use of Maize as a diet staple. We also discuss the mixing of cultures when the Pilgrims came - hence the making of butter for our cornbread, something that could not have been done in North America prior to the arrival of European livestock. 

Student taking his turn "churning" our butter in a jar. 

And of course, what Thanksgiving celebration would be complete without the very American tradition of Charlie Brown??

Cultural Heritage Project

Before Thanksgiving every year, I explain our big Christmas Heritage Project to the kiddos. I introduce the project and encourage them to talk to their parents/grandparents over break to find out about their family's heritage and roots. 

The Project: 
After break, students share their family roots and we begin our research at school on how their ancestral country/culture celebrates "Christmas" or a winter holiday around the same time (ex. Diwali, Chinese New Year, etc.) . Students then do a web quest that has different Christmas Around the World websites to help guide their research. 
Some of my favorites include:
Santa Net 
Why Christmas
The North Pole
Christmas Around the World
Kids Travel
They use an I-chart to record their findings. After they have discovered a lot about their country and their celebrations, we use our information to write a short paragraph about the holiday, type them up the computer, and add a caption.

Researching how our countries celebrate Christmas or a winter holiday

 Reading LOTS of books on our countries 

The "at home" part of the project is the creation of an  Ornament that illustrates a tradition from the way their culture celebrates Christmas/Winter Holiday.

I use a rubric to grade their presentation of the ornament - it reflects: effort, whether it matches a tradition or just of the country, an in depth explanation of the tradition, and if the project was turned in on time.

 Presenting our Ornaments

In writing, students wrote an informational compare and contrast  essay

Incorporating geography, we also researched where our cultural country was located using maps, globes, and atlases. It was very interesting listening to the kids as they discover the SIZE comparison of other countries to our own. Many of them were shocked by how small their country was and at how BIG others were. Geography can be very eye opening for one's world view in many ways. 

Do you do anything to celebrate holidays around the world or family heritage? 

Happy Holidays!

Valentine's Ball {Formal Dance}

I know it is a little late (oops!) but we had too much fun for me not to share a little of our celebration!
It was a wonderful mixture of pleasant awkward - as Valentine's always and forever will be in elementary school :) 
The day began with our annual Manners Breakfast starting with a lesson in Chivalry (a sadly, quickly disappearing trait), where it came from (tough, gory, medieval knights) and how ladies should react. We learned together when to place our napkin on our laps and 
what to eat/not eat with a fork during formal dinners. How to set a simple table setting, how to interact with waiters/waitresses, and how to interact with table guests and/or host/hostess. 

The room pre-kiddos

Students were asked to dress in their "finest" for our festivities! 

Then, donning aprons, our own waiters and waitresses served us our wonderful breakfast of muffins, orange juice/milk, yogurt, and fresh fruit. 

For our reflection, we completed our vintage place mats by sharing 5 things we learned from the etiquette lesson. 

For the second part of the day, we learned a combination of six dances - three with myself including SWING, WALZ, and SALSA. With my partner teacher, DISCO, the TANGO, and the CHARLESTON. Learning them with the opposite gender made for many awkward, yet rewarding, experiences as students learned how to respectfully interact with each other on a dance floor.

At the end of our practice, we learned the history of formal dances (Balls) and the practice of "Dance Cards" used by girls to organize their evenings. Each of the girls in the room were then given a dance card with the predetermined TWO dances they would be required to have a male partner for (SWING and WALZ). The ladies then walked around the room and responded to the requests of the gentlemen's "May I have the Walz/Swing?" (of course the only response could be yes, unless your card was full). It was adorable. It was awkward. It was a wonderful barrier breaker. 

The look on this guy's face says it ALL! *tehe* 

After lunch, we "got dancy!" Rockin to all styles of music, the kids really showed off their moves :) The first formal ballroom dance we had was Swing, the kiddos partnered off and did a great job of practicing their previously learned moves. Many of my students this year (more then I have ever had in the past!) stayed paired off and definitely blew me away with their skills! The second ballroom dance was the Waltz - these, mixed with inserted group dances, created a very FUN dance party!  

A delightful surprise by one of my girls, and quite possibly one of the coolest things I have had a kid do, was share her dancing, which left many of us in awe! 

(The video is not working right now sadly!)

 Cookies and punch were shared during our dance intermission, Valentine's were passed out, and boxes were admired. Below is a sneak peak at a few of the finest boxes I've ever seen come out of my room! 

and yes, my favorite, a snowboard box from the 2014 Winter Olympic games! 

Sweet Valentine's Treats from my kiddos! Love them! 

MY LIFE: 

Goofing off with MY Valentine - MR. B

LOVE THIS MAN <3

Also was blessed to be able to drive down to Tennessee (and SPRING!) to visit my favorite little sister! The Lord is GOOD!  

I hope you were all richly blessed by the one's you love!