The students were completing on a series of their own yearbook pages, a school scrapbook of sorts. There were pages detailing their likes and dislikes, goals and fears, handwriting samples and illustrations. And sprinkled throughout the pages were thought provoking questions like this one: What would you do with a million dollars? I know what I would have written when I was in fourth grade: “I’d buy a lifetime supply of K-Swiss shoes, 3,000 Cabbage Patch Kids, a Swatch Watch with 465 … [Read more...]
Altering Appearances
Norman Rockwell's "Girl at Mirror" To be perfectly honest I thought childlike innocence would be lost before fourth grade. With all the pressures to look a certain way—to have the right clothes, shoes and brands—how does a child go through five years of school without succumbing? But there she was looking all confused about the daily writing prompt. If there was one thing you could alter about your appearance, what would it be? I watched her extremely chapped lips and chin form … [Read more...]
Teacher or Student?
Substitute teaching in fourth grade is proving to be an emotional experience. One day I can hardly keep from laughing (see previous post). The next day I could almost cry…but not for the reasons you might think. According to the lesson plan we read Chrysanthemum. It’s the story of a mouse named Chrysanthemum who loved her perfectly beautiful name…until she went to school. Everyone made fun of the fact that she was named after a flower. In fact her long name didn’t even fit on her nametag! … [Read more...]
Solar System Song
There’s something about little boys that just makes me smile, no matter how ornery they are. Maybe it’s because I have three of my own. Whatever the reason, I find myself smiling again after a week’s worth of fourth grade science. In learning about the solar system there is just so much to remember. For instance: Is Jupiter made of matter or gas? How many moons does it have? Is the planet hot or cold? Well, to enhance our learning, a musical genius wrote a little song and posted it on … [Read more...]
Blue Flowers Redeemed
My blonde pigtails wiggled in sync with my rhythmic coloring. I was hunched over my Kindergarten artwork—an imperfectly arced rainbow which sheltered six flowers, each corresponding to a color of the rainbow. Intent upon the finer points of drawing petals, stems and leaves, I shaded each flower—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. As I was falling in love with my sketch of rainbows and flowers, Mrs. Miller walked behind me and declared flatly, “There is no such thing as a blue … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- Next Page »