Tar Beach Activity Pictures

As promised, here are two work samples from my students after reading Tar Beach. They were to draw a picture of Cassie after we created our class character map. This student used crayons and decided to collage the bridge using several different colors.

This student also used crayon but they collaged Cassie's dress using blue paper.

Here is the display outside of my classroom.

Life on Tar Beach

Wow! It's been a million years since I've posted anything. But I enjoyed my time off with my family for Christmas break and just being able to lounge around doing nothing! :) So here's a belated Merry Christmas and belated Happy New Year! For the month of January, my students learned about different story elements. One element that we really focused on was character. Identifying main characters and supporting characters is one thing. Inferring characters' intentions and personalities based on the text is another.

To help my students understand this concept more, I shared the story Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold with them. This will always be one of my favorite books to work with. I love the illustrations, setting, characters,the figurative language usage and the overall theme of rising above obstacles. Enter Cassie Louise Lightfoot, an 8 year old 3/4 African American, 1/4 Native girl living in 1930's Harlem. Her father is a worker in the everchanging construction business so he is sometimes out of a job. He is not allowed to join the union simply because he is black. Due to her father's constant job searching, her mother cries at night. But instead of succumbing to the harsh realities of her life, Cassie decides that she is going to fly over and conquer them. One night as her family and neighbors enjoy a picnic on the roof of their apartment building, The Tar Beach, Cassie decides to let go and fly. Literally. One thing that Cassie flies over is the union building that her father helped build but cannot go in. On Tar Beach, he is the owner. After reading the story, I helped my students create a character map of Cassie. We talked about the things that she saw, ate, touched, said, and did. My students loved being able to pick Cassie apart and see her as more than just a little girl who could fly. She was a girl who cared about her family and wanted the best for them. I really love this activity because it gave my students an opportunity to see how things were during different times for different groups of people. When I started to explain how the construction business works, one of my students raised her hand and was able to give a first hand account. I had forgotten that her father is a construction

worker and was currently out a job. The kids were able to understand Cassie's situation a little more after hearing their classmate's story. (Her father has a job now. :) After our dicussion, I had my students create their own drawings of Cassie. They used crayons, markers, and colored pencils on their drawings but left some spaces open to fill them in with bits of paper. The books unique illustrations feature quilt pieces so I thought that it would be cool to create a textured drawing. (I'll post a pic asap! I forgot to snap a picture before leaving for the weekend!) Some of my students are more artistic than others but they still had fun. In fact, one of them checked the book out from the library the very next day! I love talking with my kids so reading Tar Beach was perfect opportunity to discuss social issues. I recommend this book to all educators, parents, or anyone who deals with children. Tar Beach is about a girl who dreams big inspite of her circumstances. I want my students to be fighters like Cassie.

"I can fly – yes, fly. Me, Cassie Louise Lightfoot, only eight years old and in the third grade, and I can fly. That means I am free to go whenever I want for the rest of my life…It’s very easy, anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars." Cassie Louise Lightfoot from Tar Beach.

"Ickle Me, Tickle Me, Poetry Too!"

This week I started my poetry unit. Lines, stanzas, repetition, alliteration, rhythm, meter, stressed and unstressed syllables; the whole she-bang. While gathering poems to use for my unit, I somehow forgot to include my favorite book ever: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. I could NOT believe that I had forgotten it! Even though I had already written my plans for the week, I decided to go back and edit. The word "poetry" should have a picture of this book next to it in the dictionary; seriously.

Today we learned about repetition. This is probably the easiest poetry device to teach. The poem I decided to use was "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too" by, you guessed it, Shel Silverstein. Thanks to the handy-dandy Youtube, I found a cool reading of the poem by the man himself. After listening to the poem twice, I gave my kids a copy of the poem in easy-to-read text and displayed a copy on my Smartboard(C). I asked the students to find a line that repeated throughout the poem and circle it each time it shows up. It turns out that the "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too" line is repeated SEVEN times! I then had my kids identify the first stanza, number the lines, and circle all of the end rhymes. For the next stanza, I called on students to come up to the board and identify the same things on the next stanza and the next. To give them another example of the use of repetition in poetry, I recited, in my most "poety" voice, another Shel Silverstein poem I had to memorize in 1st grade called "Lazy Jane".

My kids just did not understand why Jane would lay there for so long and broke out into giggle-fits. They wanted to hear the poem again and again. <3 Honestly, I was afraid to teach a poetry unit. Although I am a Language Arts lover, I was never confident with poetry. But after watching my kids have a good time with poetry and trying to recite "Ickle Me" during study hall, my confidence shot up. Learning is an ongoing process and today I learned something new: Even if you're not sure about something, try it anyway. If it fails, try again. If it succeeds, try even harder! Next week, my students will be learning about different types of poems and creating their own poetry book. I haven't told them yet, but I know that they will be VERY excited. Man, I love my job. God bless <3

MY WORDLE!

This is my first time using this site! You can use "a bunch of text" to create a collage! I love it! <3

I'm Baaack! And Some Other Things

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. The reason is simple: I got sick. What began as a sore throat and cough right before fall break turned into mis-diagnosed pharyngitis which actually turned out to be pneumonia. I was taking the wrong antobiotic for 4 days but I was not getting better. My fever kept spiking to the 100's and I could not breathe. I ended up going to a different doctor who diagnosed me with pneumonia. So I thought that with this new antibiotic, everything would be back to normal in no time. Nope. Turns out, I was allergic to the antibiotic. I could not sleep, my joints swelled, I stopped breathing whenever I tried to sleep and I still have the shakes to this day. I honestly thought that I was going to die. After yet another trip to the ER, I got new antibiotics and an inhaler. Obviously, I did not die. But when I went back to work, I was still sick. On top of that, I had missed a lot of work. I missed my kids' testing week, I missed a week an a half of instruction, and I was lost. Since I couldn't leave the house during my illness, I turned in bare bones lesson plans so that kids could have some kind of review before their tests. After doing nothing for a few weeks, it was difficult for me to get back in the swing of working. I had things due, meetings to attend, and instruction to catch up on. I wanted to quit but I told myself "There is no way that this is the end. No way." With the support of the staff and God's grace, I'm....I won't say back to where I was but I am stronger than I have been in a long time. Teaching is NOT for the faint of heart. Although we may feel discouraged sometimes, we are slow to act on these feelings. What if I had quit? What would I be doing at this moment? What would my quitting accomplish? Leaving my kids without a teacher?

A few weeks ago, I attended a seminar with a friend. The speaker made a statement that I will never forget; "I am busy because I choose to be busy." I do what I do because I love it. There are nights when I stay up late researching for a unit. If I hated teaching, I would not be up so late. I would work the 830-4 schedule and turn off the teacher mode when I got home. On a typical day, I end up staying until 5 or 5:30. On some days, it becomes 6:30 or 7. But what some do not understand is that this is not just a job, this is my career. A career cannot be stuffed into a 9-5 bubble. It is impossible if you want to excel. I cannot give my kids 45% of my energy when they deserve 100% of it! Things are not going to be easy-peasy for the rest of my ride; I know that. But what I do know is that God has been, is, and will always keep me through it all. Without God, I am nothing and I would not be where I am today. I have a few things up my sleeve and with God's help, they will be fulfilled. <3

A Little Reminder...

Today was one of those days when I felt like @_@. I was buried in paperwork that had to be redone, schedules had to be shifted due to the 4th/5th grade play, and I was just feeling in over my head. I felt as though I was not worthy to be a teacher. While I was working on something during my lunch break, I heard a blood curdling scream. I assumed it came from the primary hall. I waited another 5 minutes to go pick up my class from the lunch room. It was then that I saw the principal, the secretary, and another teacher trying to console the screaming child. As I turned to go towards the cafeteria, the principal called me over. It was then that I realized that the screaming child was one of my mine. She had been having an off day and was picked on during recess. At lunch, the same kids were messing with her and it sent her over the edge. She wanted to leave school and go home and get away from everyone. After taking her to a different room, I was able to talk to her, get her some water and console her. During reading time, I took time out to do some more talking with her and let her know that she could talk to me or any other adult if someone is bothering her. I wanted her to know that she was safe at school.When she gave me a huge smile and a hug, I knew that she trusted me. One of my college professors once said that our classrooms should be the safest place for students. I try my best to make that a reality. Kids see things differently than we do. I know because I was a kid once ;) To know that I could help my student with a pep talk and a hug meant the world to me. Kids are so precious and it's good to know that I am needed as a teacher because I care. <3

Sorry for the delay.....

I must first apologize for the lack of posts on my blog. In my first two months of being a new special education teacher, I just haven't found the time to blog. But tonight is the night that I decided that I HAD to write. I had my AH-HA moment. I teach 5th grade so my students are required to take the 5th grade writing test. However,there are no accommodations or modifications for my group so they are required to write the 5 paragraphs. Like any normal person, I was shaking in my boots. How in the world was I going to get my students to write 5 paragraphs when they had issues getting just ONE thought on paper? Like any good teacher, I attend a lot of professional development workshops. Last week, I attended a writing workshop. The presenters taught us a technique called "The Power of Three". First the student draws a triangle and writes a one word topic in the middle. Then the student writes one detail on each side. Next, the student writes a conclusion below the triangle. The items on the triangle are then transported to regular lined paper and wah-lah, a complete paragraph! Today, I started a new writing activity after having so many other false starts. Today, ALL of my students were able to write a complete and concise 5 sentence paragraph about their favorite thing to do on the weekend. That was my AH-HA moment. I presented the idea of writing a paragraph as a shape rather than lines of words. As my assistant and I walked around monitoring and helping the kids, I thought to myself, 'I can't believe that I am a real life teacher.' I felt so fuzzy and warm inside. My kids were so excited that they had written complete paragraphs. I then preceded to cheer with my students because we would soon write multiple paragraph papers. Me: Next we'll write 2 paragraphs Kids: THEN THREE! THEN FOUR! THEN FIVE! The little scuff with a parent from the day before meant absolutely nothing. Any negative energy I receive while I'm in this position means nothing. I'm sitting here in tears because I know that God placed me on this Earth just for this. God is sooooo good and it's only through Him that I am where I am today and where I will be in the future. Until next time, I will "Keep Calm and Teach On." <3