Limerick Lesson

One of my favorite lessons I did as a student teacher was on limericks. I am a huge poetry fan so this was right up my alley. The first thing I did was write a limerick on the board and have the students read it. I then asked them what they noticed about it. Answers included that lines 1,2, and 5 rhymed with each other, as did lines 3 and 4. They also noticed that lines 1,2 and 5 where longer than lines 3 and 4. I then had the children count the syllables in each line and I wrote the numbers at the end of the lines. They could see that lines 1,2, and 3 had about 8 syllables while lines 3 and 4 had about 6.

Next I passed out a worksheet with limericks that were missing some of the words at the end of the line. For example:

There once was a giant named Paul
Who stood over 30 feet ________.
       Mean old Mrs. Fig
       Said "We think you're too _________!"
Said the giant "I think you're too ________

A vampire who called herself Bilk
Hated blood so instead she drank ________.
           She would drink it for hours
           Even if it was ________
While she sat in her cape made of ________.

The students would have 5-10 minutes to read the poems and fill in the blanks with words that both rhymed and made sense. I was amazed at the variety of words the children were able to come up with for some of the limericks provided.

Next I split the children up into groups of 2 and gave each group an envelope containing a limerick that had been cut into its individual lines. The groups had to read the individual lines and figure out the original order of the limerick. When they thought they were done I checked to make sure they were correct, and then they pasted it on a piece of paper and read their poem to the class.

Finally it was time for the students to make a limerick of their own. In order to help them I provided a basic format they could use on the board, and we briefly brainstormed some easy to rhyme words. The following are some of the actual limericks that the students came up with.

There once was a ghost named Mooky
Who acted incredibly kooky
The children were scared
Although they didn't care
That Mooky was not very spooky

There once was a barbie named Wump
Who woke up with a one foot high lump
She screamed at her sight
And cried all through the night
Then she threw herself out in the dump

There once was a girl named Cher
Who loved her thick long blonde hair
She took long showers
that lasted for hours
Then decided to find what to wear

Reinforcers for Elementary Students

The following list is courtesy of Applebaum Training Institute

• Listening to stories/music on tape or CD player with earphones
• Working in an art corner with special art materials
• Audio taping a story for the class to listen to. note: I actually was required to do this for a class at the University of Bridgeport, and it was very fun. I would recommend doing this for your children, whether you are a teacher or not.
• Getting a drink without asking for permission
• Being allowed to clean the whiteboard. note: Believe it or not , kids love to clean whiteboards. They get to spray the cleaner and stand on a chair to wipe it off with paper towels. I have kids in my classes ask me all the time if they can wash the board at the end of the day.
• Being a helper for the teacher, secretary, librarian etc for 15 minutes at a predetermined time of day
• Being able to read magazines/book at a special area of the room
• Tutoring a younger student in the school
• Taking important messages to the office/other teachers
• Extra talking time at the end of a lesson

The following are reinforcers I  have seen other teachers use, or have used myself

• Provide students with tickets for weekly raffles. Winners get to choose an item from the class treasure box
• Provide play money to students for weekly or monthly auctions. The students can then use their money to bid on items chosen by the teacher.
• Use beans/marbles etc to fill up a reward jar. Small handfuls can be earned for individual positive behaviors, while large handfuls can be earned for positive behaviors displayed by the entire class. Once the jar is filled the class will earn a predetermined reward such as a classroom party, extra recess, extra gym etc.
• Homework passes or free snack coupons which can be used in the lunchroom
• Small candies such as jolly ranchers, blow pops, etc

10 Ways to Build Student Self-Esteem

The following (underlined) tips are courtesy of Applebaum Learning Institute. I have provided more information after each tip.

• Watch for and recognize positive behaviors. This can range from praising the student verbally for their behavior, to giving a student a ticket for a weekly raffle, to giving the student a small piece of candy if appropriate. 
• Create experiences that foster success for students who need them. In other words, if a student is struggling with something and is becoming frustrated, make sure to give them an assignment that they can be successful with the next time.
• Provide opportunities for students to show their special talents and interests. During a long term subbing job in a fourth grade classroom I used this strategy. I noticed a girl who would do origami during lessons. After reminding her that she needed to focus on the lesson at hand, I kept her after class that day and made a deal with her. I told her that if she could prevent herself from doing origami during lessons for the week, I would allow her to conduct her own origami lesson for the class. She was very excited about this, and sure enough she earned her teaching time. The child's mother was also delighted that I had handled the situation in such a positive way.
• Make sure that students always know what is expected. This should start from day one when making the classroom rules. It should continue throughout the year. Rubrics for major assignments are a good way to ensure that students know what they must do. 
• Recognize Improvement. I have seen teachers who have students of the week and students of the month. Monthly award ceremonies can also be held to recognize those students who have made improvements.
• Use cooperative learning activities so that each students has friends. This is important when establishing a sense of community in your classroom, and providing opportunities for students to work together can help to foster this. It is also a great opportunity for students who may be weak in one academic to shine in another area.
• Put sticky notes on the child's work that say things like "Good job!" Little acknowledgments like this can go a long way!
• Encourage students to be responsible in decision-making. 
• Set aside time for communication between yourself and the student to "get to know them."This should occur naturally in lower grades where you are spending large amounts time with your students. It can be a good idea to schedule a "lunch time with the teacher" once a week for individual students in order to get to know them better. This will make students feel more comfortable with the teacher, and further establish a positive learning environment.
• Set aside time for students to pursue individual interests.  Set aside a time once a week for a student to be the "teacher" and discuss/lead a lesson based upon a personal interest. 

Relaxation/Anti-Anxiety Techniques for Students

The following tips are courtesy of the Applebaum Training Institute

• Play relaxing music
• Diffuse anxiety with a joke
• Start quizzes and tests with an easy questions
• Have a silly/fun question in the middle of tests
• Have a class pet (This can be anything from a fish to a stuffed animal) 
• Provide students with stress balls to to squeeze

The following tips are ones that I have observed/used in the class

• Allow students to stand up by their desks during tests so they feel less confined
• Reduce the number of questions on tests. Remember that 15-20 questions on a test can give you just as much information as 40-50 questions, provided that all required topics/concepts are covered.
• Let students fold paper in half and just focus on one half at a time
• During open house, make bookmarks out of construction paper and have parents draw pictures and write positive/motivational sayings on it. Allow students keep these on their desks during tests and lessons

Context Clues/Sentence Editing

Something I did in order to give the students in my After School Learning Academy practice with context clues was to create a story that I believed would hold my classes interest. Many of the reading samples given as practice in the classroom are dry and the students are unable to relate to them. For this reason I decided to make my own writing samples which I believed they would enjoy and, hopefully, would actually make them want to practice context clues. The following are the first 3 parts of my story.

#1

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm clock woke Amanda from a deep sleep. She had been having a wonderful _______ about a gigantic mountain made of rocky road ice cream. She could almost _______ the chocolate on her tongue. She was sorry to have to get out of bed and get ready for another day as a 5^th grader at Alumni Central School. As she pulled back the curtains, she was momentarily blinded by the bright shimmer of the ______ shining through the window. It looked like it was going to be another ___________ , cloudless day. Amanda could hear her stomach growling and realized she was very __________. The wonderful _________ of breakfast came wafting from the kitchen into her room. The delicious scents of cinnamon and bacon were irresistible, and she ______ down the stairs as fast as her legs could take her.

            “Good morning honey!”, said her mom, “Ready for the big math test today?”.

            Suddenly Amanda felt as she were going to be ________. Her face got hot and her stomach felt as if it were twisting into _______ like the ones she had learned to tie at summer camp. How could she have forgotten to ________ for the test? Her  __________, Mr. Snyder, had reminded her how important this exam would be. Even worse, anybody who failed would miss the big field trip to Harvest Farm to pick plump, freshly harvested ___________ to carve for the big Halloween dance. The fear she felt must have been visible to her mother, because she gave her a disappointed glare.

            “Oh no! Don’t tell me you didn’t study for the test? I reminded you when you got home, and I even suggested you tie a string around your wrist so you wouldn’t __________.”

            Amanda looked at the green piece of _________ hanging around her arm and wanted to _________ at the top of her lungs to release the frustration she felt. Suddenly the delicious smell of breakfast seemed terrible and all she wanted to do was get back into her warm, cozy bed and pull the ________ tightly around her. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen. She had to face the fact that in 10 minutes the ______ would be rolling up outside to take her to school, and she would have to take the test. The ride would be terrible, but at least she could get a few minutes of studying in before she arrived at ________. Once she got there, the teachers would not allow her to study any more. They could be so unfair that way. You would think they would want her to study, but just last week her best ________ Tamara had gotten yelled at for studying for her Social Studies test when she was supposed to be doing her morning work.

            After eating a piece of French toast and bacon (her mother had made her), she slowly ________ to the door and turned the knob. The sun seemed to mock her with its bright glare. It was so unfair! why should the weather be so wonderful when she felt so __________. One thing was for sure. This day could not end soon enough.

            10 minutes later Amanda was in the back seat of the bus with her Math book on her lap, doing her best to get in a few extra __________ of study time. It was hard to concentrate. The other students were having such a good time, __________ at each others jokes and making plans about what cool new __________ would be coming to the local Showcase Cinema that weekend.

            It was not long before the familiar sight of Alumni Central came into view. Today it looked less like a school and more like a house of horrors. Amanda imagined huge, black __________ crawling up the walls, and weaving a gigantic sticky, white __________ upon the wall in order to trap her for their dinner. Suddenly she heard a loud howl that sent shivers down her spine. She was frozen in her tracks like a deer caught in headlights. No matter how hard she tried to run, her _______ would not move. Suddenly she saw a pair of bright red _________ staring out at her in the darkness. Slowly the creature began to take shape. It was a werewolf, and it was absolutely ___________, its head touching the ceiling and its body filling the hall. It had sharp, white _________ that gleamed like pearls, and it’s __________ smelled horrible, as if it had not brushed it’s teeth for weeks (Did werewolves brush their teeth anyway?). The hairy monster slowly made its way towards her, its arms outstretched, its hands grasping for her. Suddenly it called out to her.

            “Amanda,”. The creatures  _________ was that of a woman, and it sounded oddly human, not deep or threatening at all.

            “Amanda!” it called again. This time it was a little louder, as if it was trying to get her attention.

            “AMANDA! We’re at school. All your friends have gotten off the bus and I have to go pick up the elementary school children, so let’s get going here”.

            It was not the werewolf talking to her, it was her ____ _________, Kelly. 

#2

                                    Amanda’s Bad Day Part 2: Sentence Editing

            “Sorry” said Amanda hastily, grabbing her book bag and exiting the bus quickly. How could she have allowed herself to lose track of time like that? Sometimes her imagination really ran away on her. Well at least it had granted her a few moments of peace before she had to face her fears about the math test once again.

            To her relief she realized there were still some students walking through the doors of the school. The last thing she needed was to get in trouble for tardiness. Slinging the backpack over her shoulder, Amanda ran into the school and up the staircase that led to the fifth grade wing. As she approached her locker she noticed something big and purple stuck to it. Upon closer examination she realized it was a large envelope decorated with gold stars silver spiders and black winged bats. “Amanda” was handwritten across the front in big, block letters. With a mix of excitement and confusion, Amanda removed the envelope from her locker. Suddenly she heard a scream.

            “AHHHHH! OMG you got an invitation to Michelle’s Halloween Party! You are so lucky. Did you know she only invites 13 people from the entire school? last year I heard she hired a psychic and they actually made contact with the spirit of abraham Lincoln. Miranda even used the information she learned to write a biography about him for Mr. Wilkinson’s class. Of course she did get a D on it, so the whole thing might have been bogus. Anyway, you are still super lucky.”

            “Uh, thanks,” said Amanda, still in shock from both the invitation and the surprise verbal assault from Jennifer.

            “We’ll don’t just stand their, open it up and see what it says already”. While a part of Amanda wanted to share the contents of the letter, a bigger part of her wanted the moment to be private. After all, it was her invitation. Shouldn’t she be able to read it in peace and privacy?

            “Sorry Jen. I need to use the bathroom before the bell rings, but I’ll tell you all about it at lunch ok. Later.” And with that Amanda ran to the bathroom. She locked herself in a stall, opened the envelope, and pulled out a purple piece of paper with silver writing. Hands shaking with excitement, Amanda began to read the letter.

A)Upon closer examination she realized it was a large envelope. decorated with gold stars silver spiders and black winged bats.

B)Upon closer examination she realized it was a large envelope decorated with gold stars, silver spiders, and black winged bats.

C)upon closer examination she realized it was a large envelope decorated with gold stars silver spiders and black winged bats?

D)No Change needed

A)last year I heard she hired a psychic and they actually made contact with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.

B)Last year I heard she hired a psychic, and they actually made contact with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln!

C)Last year I heard she hired a psychic and they actually made contact with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln!

D)No change needed

A)Well don’t just stand their, open it up and see what it says already.

B) Well don’t just stand there, open it up and see what it says already!

C)We'll don’t just stand there, open it up and see what it says already.

D) No change needed

A)Shouldnt she be able to read it in peace and privacy?

B)Shouldn’t she be able to read it in peace and privacy.

C)Shouldn’t she be able to reed it in piece and privacy?

D) No change needed

#3

Congratulations on being selected to be one of my 13 guests at this years Halloween celebration. As you know, it is truly an honor to be invited to this annual event. Last year I hosted a séance in which spirits of the dead were contacted, and the apparition of a Salem witch actually appeared to tell us her terrifying true story of murder and betrayal.  The year before that we went on a hayride through graveyards and haunted fields led by an expert historian who knew much about our towns horrific past, filled with death and deceit. As scare-tastic as my previous soirees have been, I can honestly tell you that this year’s event will be the most gore-ifying yet!

            Please arrive in front of the school at 8:00 P.M. on the evening of October the 31^st. At exactly 8:13 you will be picked up by one of 3 hearses. It would behoove you to be on time, for if you are not you may miss out on a once in a lifetime experience. I can’t tell you where you will be taken, for if this information got out others would undoubtedly crash our private party. All your parents need to know is that they can pick you up the next day at my house any time after 10:00 A.M.

            I look forward to seeing you. Have a wonderful day. And don’t forget to wear something SCARY!!!

                                                                                    Your horrifying host,

                                                                                                Tara

Amanda could feel her heart racing with excitement. This was going to be the best Halloween ever! Even the math test did not seem like a big deal anymore. So what if she forgot to study for one stupid math test. As long as she had the party to look forward to nothing else mattered. Suddenly the bell rang and Amanda hastily shoved the invitation into her book bag, ran out of the bathroom, and into Mr. Snyder’s class just as the ringing of the bell ceased.

            “Okay class let’s settle down. I need to take attendance.”

The sound of a strange, high-pitched voice made Amanda look up at her teacher. She couldn’t believe her luck. A substitute! Mr. Snyder never gave tests when he was out. She wouldn’t have to take the test after all. Suddenly Amanda’s bad day had become Amanda’s wonderful, perfect, spectacular, stupendous day. What Amanda did not know was that in just a few hours she would discover something that would all but ruin her moment of absolute contentment, and turn her smile into a grimace.

Use context clues to help you figure out what the bold words mean.

1.     Apparition

A.    Touch

B.    Voice

C.    Ghost

D.   Picture

E.    Candle

2.     Soiree

A.    Cake

B.    Party

C.    Car

D.   Dinner

E.    Game

3.     Behoove

A.    Punish

B.    Praise

C.    Hurt

D.   Benefit

E.    Feet

4.     Hastily

A.    Gently

B.    Angrily

C.    Happily

D.   Nervously

E.    Quickly

5.     Cease

A.    Begin

B.    Loud

C.    Stop

D.   Broke

E.    Ring

6.     Contentment

A.    Sad

B.    Happy

C.    Angry

D.   Frustrated

E.    Excitement

7.     Grimace

A.    Purple Monster

B.    Teeth

C.    Sadness

D.   Frown

E.    Scream

Place Value Lesson

Another lesson that I used on occasion during the After School Learning Academy focused on teaching children place value, as well as testing basic multiplication, division, subtraction and addition skills. It was called "What's my number?", and the students really enjoyed it. I created a worksheet that had several of the exact same sentences in a row. For Example:

The number in the _____________ place is ________________
The number in the _____________ place is ________________

I repeated this 7 times so we could have numbers into the millions place. I would then fill in the blanks with different information. For example:

The number in the thousands place is 5
The number in the tens place is the number of wheels on 3 bikes
The number in the ones place is 15 - 9
The number in the hundreds place is half a dozen + 2

The students would then have to fill in the first of two blanks on the bottom of the worksheet which said

My number is _, _ _ _, _ _ _

Who has _, _ _ _, _ _ _

As I made these worksheets I made sure to put them in order, and I would put the number from the previous worksheet on the bottom of the worksheet where it said "Who has _, _ _ _, _ _ _". The student would fill in the blank for their number and read it. They would then read the part that said
"Who has _, _ _ _, _ _ _"

For example a student who had the clues given above would fill in the following

My number is_, _ _ 5,866

And then read the number I had written for them

Who has _, 645, 489

The student who had 649, 489 would then stand up and say

My number is _, 649, 489

Who has _, _ 25, 720

This would continue until the number came back to me, as I would always be sure to keep the first sheet myself. Another exciting lesson the kids really seemed to enjoy.

Fun lesson for teaching fractions, decimals and percentages

Last year I taught a group of 5th graders at the Thomaston Learning Academy. It was an honor and a privilege to work with these wonderful young people, and I hope they enjoyed the experience as well. My primary goal was to prepare these students for the CMT exams, and since this was an after school academy I wanted to make it high interest and get the students involved in their learning. One of the lessons that I taught the children was about the differences and similarities between percentages, fractions, and decimals. In order to get this concept across I made index cards with one of these types of numbers on them (example: one card with 20%, one with the fraction 40/100, another with the decimal.65 etc). I then gave each child a different card at random, and their job was to use their cards to put themselves in a line going from the smallest number to the largest number. The hard part was that they could not talk to each other during this time, so they needed to help each other get in order and communicate without speaking. It was a very fun activity that the students really enjoyed, as they were able to get out of their seats and interact with their peers while learning. I look forward to using this activity in my classroom again.