Passing Notes

Notes from a Parent/Teacher to Parents and Teachers

Apr
27

By

The Name Jar: Using children’s literature for Drama activities that develop critical thinking skills

Category: Must Reads, Teacher's Toolbox Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Meet Unhei, a young girl who has just arrived from Korea to the U.S. and the protagonist of The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi. One day, a large glass jar appears on her desk.  In it Unhei finds pieces of paper with various name suggestions for her to try out. Unhei’s first experiences in school leave her questioning her identity, primarily whether she should “keep” her given Korean name, or adopt one that has been suggested to her by her peers at her new school.   She struggles with her decision; does she stay true to herself, as her family has always taught her to do or does she conform to the standards of her North American peers?  You’ll have to read this powerful book to find out.

Though this narrative is deceptively simple in its approach to dealing with identity issues, it is truly a wonderful resource for teachers to deal with broader issues of acculturation, assimilation and difference.  It’s also the story of growing friendship and the mutual respect and understanding that occurs when appreciation of others comes first.

I strongly believe that The Arts are a vehicle for social change and encourage the development of empathetic values in students. Maxine Greene says it best in the following quote:

“One of the reasons I have come to concentrate on imagination as a means through which we can assemble a coherent world is that imagination is what, above all, makes empathy possible.”

 

A few years ago, I had the honour of creating a workshop for teachers for Federation Day titled:  CRITICAL LITERACY THROUGH DRAMA: EXPLORING ISSUES OF IDENTITY THROUGH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.  Part of the drama activities I created is outlined below.  Teachers are welcome to use and adapt any part of it for personal classroom use, but I ask that anyone wishing to use it for other purposes, contact me first.

 

The following is a compilation of possible activities that teachers can do with students using these or other works of children’s literature. You can select a few or do them all depending on the needs of your students.

 Key to the drama conventions & activities

* Context Building Action: conventions that set the scene or add information to the story as it unfolds.

Δ Narrative Action: conventions that speak to “what happens next”. Emphasis is placed on the story itself.

° Poetic Action: when language and gesture is used to convey symbols and representations. This convention increases the emotional involvement of students.

◊ Reflective Action: conventions that place “inner thinking” and reflexive demands on the learners. Learners can review and comment on actions taken in the drama.

(Adapted from Jonathon Neeland’s “Structuring Drama Work”)

Pre-read aloud and drama activities

  • Warm-up:  Students can first write their names on a slip of paper and then discuss the meaning of their names with a partner. Each pair introduces the other partner to the group.
  • Group-building Game:  Write your Name in Space – with an ear, left leg, a burning torch, an ice cube, a wriggling snake…With a partner, write your names together.
During-read aloud and drama activities
  • *Objects of character:  This strategy can be used to introduce students to the main character, Unhei, and to her new life in the North America. Students can try to interpret the items you show them and what they tell about the main character.  It is the responsibility of the teacher to obtain these objects or get images form the internet before doing this activity. Possible “belongings” that can be incorporated:

 

➢ a “dojang” or Korean name stamp image

➢ Korean/ English dictionary

➢ Chopsticks

➢a North and South Korea map

➢ Plane tickets

➢ Letter from a friend back home (written by you)

 

  •  * Collective Drawing: In groups, students make a collective image to represent and establish the family’s motives for leaving Korea while others draw a representation of their final destination to North America. The pictures can show clues about their past and present lives.
  • ° Still-Image: After Unhei and her mother share supper and a conversation, students to create a frozen image that represents an idea, or alternatively two contrasting ideas (e.g., “same/ different” or “belonging/ exclusion”).
  • ◊ Writing in Role: Letters -  After receiving a letter from her grandmother, Unhei (students in role) decides to write a response to her. Alternatively, students can write in role as Unhei, in a journal entry instead. This will allow students to reflect upon Unhei’s experiences.
  • Δ Teacher in Role:   Here the teacher and students negotiate the direction of the drama by working together to solve a problem, generating interest, challenging beliefs, and creating opportunities for students to explore. The teacher should attempt to be a facilitator or mediator of the script that is being developed. The group plays the part of Unhei, and thus it is required that they speak in role using the information that was used by the person before them. (The teacher has discovered that the Name Jar has gone missing.) Teacher in Role: …Soon Mr. Cocotos came in and Ralph shouted at him: “The name jar is gone! The jar with all the names on it!” “Gone?” Mr. Cocotos replied. With a look of concern, he asked Unhei, “Did you get a chance to read all the names?”
  • ◊ Corridor of Voices:   When Unhei is on the verge of making her final decision about her name change, students provide her with advice to the dilemma which she faces. In two lines, Unhei walks between a “corridor” of people offering support, warnings or quotes from the text. This strategy can occur when she returns to class and the Name Jar has gone missing.

 

Developed by Daniela Bascuñán

 

THE NAME JAR Choi, Yangsook. The Name Jar. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.) ISBN 0-375-80613

 

 

Apr
22

By

Ms Whitworth’s Top 5 Activities for Earth Day:

Category: Curriculum Connections at Home, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

(Our guest blogger has taken over the Earth again!  Read on to find out her Top 5 ideas to celebrate Earth Day.)

 
On Sunday April 22nd 2012 we celebrate Earth Day and it’s the perfect opportunity to show the Earth how you care about it. Its goal is to recognize the non renewable qualities of our Earth and to help promote awareness that we, as a society, need to take better care of what we DO have, while also teaching the next generation that there is fun to be had WITHOUT a lot of materiality needed. Below you’ll find some activities to promote a healthy Earth, healthy child, and healthy society for many future generations. Check them out and try them out for Earth Day and then you can continue teaching your child about how to lessen his/her carbon footprint all the way through the year!   Check out these activities and try them out to show Earth why it’s special to you!

Top 5 Activities for Earth Day:

1. The Foot Patrol


Make starting to walk to school with your kids a good opportunity to discuss ideas surrounding the environment and nature. Take a look at flowers starting to grow in gardens. Use this walk as an opportunity to discuss the carbon cycle (in simplified form of course) regarding what trees and plants do for the environment. If you live close to the grocery store, school, or work start walking on short trips. This not only provides a good exercise routine, it also helps to reduce needless pollution by vehicle emissions.
2. Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips, and ferns...
This weekend take a trip to the local flower shop and grab a few bulbs to plant. Make a spot in your garden or have your child take care of a small plant in your home. Talk with your child about how often to water it, why plants need water, how plants get energy, and share with them the responsibility of looking after something. Having a plant in your home gives you the added benefit of better health. Having your child take care of something living, something small like a plant, also relates to the grade 3 Science and Technology curriculum where they learn about the plant cycle in the Growth and Changes in Plants unit. Planting a garden or enjoying simple plants also helps relieve adult stress and has been proven to be therapeutic as well as another great form of exercise.
3.  Shower Power:

It takes all of five minutes to install, but can save you a ton of money! Buying a showerhead where it either reduces the amount of water coming out or has a shut off valve so you can turn off the water when you’re lathering up is a great way to help the environment! It is simple, cost effective, and helps reduce use of such a precious non renewable source that is getting more depleted every day.

4. Fans of the Fan

Buying a simple fan will help circulate air, it can help with cooling in the summer and moving heat around in the winter. It will likely reduce energy costs for parents, but also the installation can be used as an opportunity to discuss the workings of the fan’s motor. This can provide real life connections to the pulleys and gears unit in grade 4 Science and Technology. Talk with your child about how the motor works and what you need to do make a machine work. Saving money, making connections, and spending time with your children -what better way to spend the day?
5. The 3 R’s: Recycle, Repurpose and Revamp


If you are into arts and crafts, take any old materials you may have that are about to get the kick to the garbage and turn them into fun ideas for your child to make and use. You can take old newspapers and decorate a journal to your personal tastes, use cardboard or CD’s to make a bill organizer, melt some old crayons to make candles(with adult supervision of course), or take clean non-BPA-lined cans and decorate them to hold your child’s school supplies. The old saying, “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” really does apply in this sense. You can have fun making cool designs while using materials that normally would have been sent to the landfill. It’s also a great way to have some fun and relieve some stress. Help to teach your child that just because it has one use that has been fulfilled does not always mean that its shelf life is over.

5. Neighbourhood Clean-up

Help make your neighbourhood a better, cleaner, greener place. Together with your child, plan a neighbourhood party! Ask your friends and neighbours to help pick up any trash that is floating around. Provide them with garbage bags, gloves, and a central location to meet when all the area is covered. Get your child to help with the planning, purchasing any supplies, and following through with ways to keep your neighbourhood cleaner. Use this as an opportunity to teach them about the money needed to buy the things, how to buy environmentally friendly supplies that will decompose, and the effort and organization it takes to gather a bunch of people. Take a park in your area, the block, or any type of area you want and help to make it a little bit cleaner and make Toronto (or where ever you live) a more beautiful place you’re proud to call home!

Other ideas to reduce your energy use and carbon footprint all through the year

 

  • turn the water off when brushing your teeth
  • get a shower head/nozzle where you can turn off the water during your shower when you aren’t using it (such as when you’re shampooing up your hair!)
  •  turn off your lights, or get timers to set the lights when you want them o
  • wash clothes in cold water and hang them out to dry instead of using a dryer
  • invest in a programmable thermostat to reduce your heat consumption when no one’s home
  • try AutoShare, buy a greener car or take transit when you need to travel longer distances
  • use the washing machine or dishwasher during low usage hours to save money and reduce the demand for water
  • get your paper bill statements transferred to e-bills so you don’t have to waste useless paper

 

Try to think of more ideas on your own. Have a little competition with your child to see who can be the ‘greenest’ during the month of April , May, June, …

 

Signed,

Your Friendly Neighboorhood Teacher, Miss Whitworth

 

Apr
18

By

Math (and more) – at the grocery store

Category: Teachable Moments @ Home Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Ok, so we all know how much fun it is to have a child in tow while doing groceries.  My aim here is not to make it saner (because then I’d be selling you a lie), rather I’d like to offer some ideas to make it an educational event for the kidlets.

 A visual grocery list
  • For the tiny tots I suggest you circle a flyer with a few things that you actually need to get from the store and have them cut them out, if they’re somewhat handy with scissors.  Next they paste it on a T-chart (2-column sheet of paper) and they glue the images onto the left side.  Grab a clipboard and a marker and you’re on your way…to the store! So, here the kidlets try to find the actual products and check them off as they go.  Of course you can assign them to their “desk” (sitting inside the cart).  If more time needs to be whittled away, they can copy down the actual prices or copy the name of the item onto their clipboards.

Financial literacy

  • My friend Naomi (teacher/ consultant extra-ordinaire) was taught by her mom at an early age that budgeting mattered.  She was given a specific amount of money each month, and she had to plan a budget for everything from deodorant to clothes.  Naomi is a VERY financially-savvy person.  I am not.  I also never learned to budget as a youngster so please learn from my mistakes.  If the thought of figuring out the pre-budget, – (how much said child will actually need), – is mind-numbing to you, then start with the small stuff, such as only hygiene products or school supplies.  Trust me, they’ll want to spend less once they see how quickly money flies because there’s an added benefit to saving on items.  You’ll thank me in 15 years.
  • Children that are roughly 8 years of age and up can help you do price checks.  A website like www.mrsjanuary.com might help kids to cross-reference coupons, flyer inserts and other offers, though this is not for the weak at heart it’s a good way for them to learn about financial responsibility.

Home Economics (is it even called that anymore?)

  • Older kids can plan one family meal (per week, per month, or occasionally), and they have to plan from start to finish their yummy product.  Give them some limits on how much they can spend (it’s your money after all).  They’ll need to sleuth around for a meal that fits the budget and create it.  That means you get a night off of cooking!  Speaking of food, here are some resources to help them be aware of balanced meals…

Food Groups:  The pyramid is no longer a pyramid

 

  • …and hasn’t been for a long time.  It’s a rainbow now.  My daughter used to quote “5, 4, 2, 1″.  Those were her numbers according to Canada’s Food Guide so that she always knew how much of what she needed to eat.  Children are never too little to start.  Here’s a great online activity that all ages can do to determine their “numbers” by “building” their own food guide .
  • Help children be aware of the various nutritional needs and food values so they can plan a meal that has lots of color (reds, oranges, yellows, greens, browns) and that respects a food fraction plate  - for lack of a better term:  1/2 of the plate should consist of veggies, 1/4 grains or alternatives, and the other 1/4 meats or alternatives. Here are some Canadian resources to get you started:  The “Rainbow”-shaped Food Guide is downloadable below and has translations into many languages.  There are other key resources and helpful ideas.  You can also download PDFs and docs of a food servings tracker according to the child’s age.

 

 

Happy shopping!  Till next time,

Daniela

Apr
12

By

When disaster strikes

Category: Uncategorized Leave a Comment

When the Indonesian tsunami hit in 2004, most people that “witnessed” the catastrophic events were awestruck with the sheer enormity of it.  Televised information made it possible to have emergency aid and fundraising efforts move swiftly. Growing social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook made images of the earthquake devastation that occurred in Haiti and Chile, and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami last year accessible to billions. Natural disasters have been around since the beginnings of this planet, but only recently do we see the effects of these so rapidly and with such graphic strength.

Every day, we become more accustomed to the instantaneous nature of social media.  We see people clicking and uploading images in mere seconds, and those images can spread like wildfire.

So, if you have children, is it becoming harder and harder to “protect” your child from encroaching media images?  What can you do with the superfluous and often upsetting news bites?

Natural disasters will occur.  Here are some tips to help your child deal with them :

  • Consider your child’s stage of development.  A five year old may have questions, and so may a 13 year old, but they will each need different conversations to take place.  If your very young child is curious about death for instance, due to a natural disaster they’ve seen, they will likely have little concrete experience with death.  Locating books at libraries or parenting bookstores may help to gently explain what happens when the life and death cycle gets interrupted.  Remembering family members who they knew that passed away may also help them to understand.  Conversely, an older teenager will have seen thousands of images related to death or violence by the time they’re older.  Much of it, through video games, the internet and TV for example, will be very abstract  2-D experiences.  It can be very grounding and humbling for someone who is “used to” violence to see “real” people die.
  • Look at natural distasters as opportunities to foster empathy.  Your children can take action to help others, through awareness campaigns or fundraising efforts.  Younger children will need help, older children some guidance.  Approach the school’s Parent Council or the school’s administration to ask what can be done to help in zones of disaster, and simultaneously bring the school community together to foster a sense of care for others.
  • Know what your teacher is discussing at school.  Events that are as overwhelming as the events above are impossible to ignore and often will be discussed in the form of current events or fundraising through school.  With the time crunch teachers face, it is not always possible to spend huge amounts of time on all issues and your child may have more questions or concerns that they may want to discuss.  Broach the subject in an open-ended way so that they feel “safe” to talk when they’re ready.
For the worrywarts in your family:
  • Some children will have nightmares, others will manifest fear and worry in other ways.  It’s most important to know your child’s moods and attitudes to gage their level of comfort with it all. Let your child be your guide.
  • Rather than avoiding the topic, learn about your geographical area and use it as a springboard to discuss the relatively low chances of disaster striking.  My daughter for example is terrified of tsunamis, so we’ve talked about how they won’t affect her where we live, and that when we visit an ocean, the likelihood is low given the makeup of the land.  Still, expect worrywarts to continue to harp on this.  Avoiding the ocean is not an option!  In fact, create opportunities for them to (safely!) face their fears.
  • Use this as an opportunity to research emergency preparedness in your geographical area.  Ministry websites are good sources of information for this.  Older kids can help create an emergency plan and supplies box.  Again, it’s REALLY important to stress the relative probability of it all.  Remind them that we prepare for fires through fire drills at school, but that doesn’t mean we will likely have a fire.
  • Help them to see the beauty that lies in areas where disasters have created chaos.  Stories of personal strength, and collective help give children a sense of hope and life amidst disaster.  View images of the glorious flora of a place that was devastated or learn about the traditions of its people to help them see beyond the chaos.

 

Peace,

Daniela

 

 

 

Apr
5

By

Latin@ Heritage Month

Category: Must Reads, Tackling Tough Issues 2 Comments

Ever wonder who invented popcorn, chocolate and gum?  Do you know why colourful arpilleras (sewn pictures) were used to send out secret messages from detained political prisoners in Chile to the outside world?  These and many more fascinating facts are available on the two links on this post.

What is this resource exactly?  Well a gathering of tidbits for students and families to view, read and discuss, accompanied by many cool web-based activities to last for months.

View The Primary and Junior calendar here.  These grade 1-6 activities include everything from:  The Tainos, to Candombe, to the Nazca Lines to Victor Jara, even Menudo! (There’s one for every day of the week.)

The calendar for Intermediate and Senior activities includes everything from Santeria to Islamic influences, Los Macheteros to the LGBITQQ2SA movement in Latin America, to Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo.

 

Some of the articles will lead to many questions, as some of these are heavy-duty, specifically the intermediate/ senior pieces.  It is by no means an extensive list of accomplishments but a starting point.  We tried to give it a distinctively Canadian perspective.  Together with other teachers and under the direction of an Equity Instructional Leader at the TDSB, several of us wrote about various people, places and events in the history of Latin America.  Don’t be fooled by the name of the month though, we took an anti-colonialist approach and many of the pieces are based on pre-Hispanic achievements and the contributions of early civilizations of what became known as the Americas.

A celebrar!

 

Daniela

Image taken from:

http://josamotril.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/madres-paloma.jpg

Apr
1

By

On-the-go Language Games

Category: Teachable Moments @ Home Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Extra, extra! Read all about it! “Benevolent Dictators Educate Students!”

After hearing this, my daughter responds, “Beautiful Disasters Entertain Seniors!”  What nonsense is this, you ask?

These are the sounds of our outdoor walks.  If your family is anything like my family, you relish in the silly things.  Take for instance this game we play when looking at the license plates on passing or standing cars.  We use the letters to create Newspaper Headlines.

Daughter:  ”Buffaloes Make Unforgettable Friends”

Me:   ”Beeswax-Covered Monkeys Stink“…and this is how we often pass time on our short but leisurely dog-walks.

We also make up Associations, which is easy if you live in Ontario because sooo many licence plates start with “A”.  Take ”Association of Rather Offensive Leprechauns” for example.  Tee hee, we always end up laughing incessantly at the ridiculousness that dribbles from our mouths.

As a child, my parents involved me in all manner of silly in order to get us through long road trips.  They made sure that license plates were our friends.  I don’t recall all the games we played or perhaps I’ve merged them into games I play with my own nine-year old.  What I  know is that when you’re stuck in traffic it makes time fly by faster.

Little did I know as a kid that I was developing an understanding of vocabulary and also of syntactic structures ( how language works).  I noticed the other day as I was playing this with my girl that it’s sort of hard to work within the confines of four letters, so sometimes I help her with the “way it sounds right” (read:”grammatical structures” ), without calling it such, and she learned something about language as we played.  It’s also given us an opportunity to talk about the use of acronyms.  I’ve recently noticed that we overuse words that begin with “B”, and “X” doesn’t have quite enough variety beyond “xylophone”, so it’s made us branch out to find vocubulary that is way more interesting than “big” for “B” and “nice” for “N” for example.

Ideally though, the learning about language is the icing, because the focus here is to see how close you can get the other person to pee their pants!  On that note, I ask you what ridiculousness can you come up with for:

If it’s guaranteed to get a chuckle, send it my way!

 

Daniela