what's in a letter? engineering tornado-resistant towers

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AGAINST THE WIND

MY

WORD PARTY

WHAT’S IN A LETTER?

Favorite

WHO: Becca Foxwell WHAT: Grade 1 WHERE: Lickdale Elementary School, Jonestown, Pennsylvania

LESSON

PHOTOS (FROM LEFT): ADAM CHINITZ; COURTESY OF SHELLY VROEGH

By seven State Teachers of the Year (as reported by Chris Borris)

What makes a great lesson? Innovation? Yes, but sometimes the most straightforward lessons, well taught, are the best. Collaboration? Sure, but some kids do best working on their own, at their own pace, with help from you. Dramatic delivery? That can work, but the bells and whistles can get in the way of a clear concept. The best lessons, quite simply, can be taught by any teacher, in any classroom, and they don’t follow a script or a template, but are the result of an engaged teacher communicating something that resonates, and sticks, with his or her students. Below, we take a look at some amazing lessons taught by seven State Teachers of the Year, as named by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a nonprofit that works to amplify the voices of teachers to affect state and national policy. The lessons range from a letter-learning dress-up party to an environmental project for third graders involving chocolate (!) to a STEM lesson challenging fifth graders to create models of tornado-resistant structures. We hope you enjoy reading about these teachers as much as we enjoyed talking to them about their great lessons!

ENGINEERING TORNADO-RESISTANT TOWERS

To explain how one of the sounds that y spells is long e, I build excitement by sending my first graders home with a formal invitation inviting them to a “Fancy Y Party” in honor of y as long e. On the day of the highly anticipated event, students come to school dressed in their fanciest clothes, and we learn how y often (but not always!) becomes Fancy Y when it appears at the end of words with two or more syllables. We start by reading and writing down all of the words we can find in Fancy Y’s favorite book, Fancy Nancy, by Jane O’Connor. To continue practicing reading words with y as long e, we play party games, including hunting for Fancy Y words on pictures of pastries and using starry wands in a team game of identifying the correct Fancy Y word. Students also use the words they learn by writing and illustrating a page for our “Classy Book of Fancy Y Words.” We end our day with a fancy, tasty treat! My students walk away from this meaningful learning experience not only having learned a phonics skill that will help them be successful in reading and writing but also with the memory that learning is fun! For tips on how to throw your own Fancy Y Party, visit bit.ly /FancyY.

WHO: Shelly Vroegh WHAT: Grade 5 WHERE: Lakewood Elementary School, Norwalk, Iowa My students thrive on any and all STEM experiences I can provide, and I try to take a cross-curricular approach when teaching reading, writing, and science. Because we live in an area of the country well known for experiencing tornadoes, I thought the kids would enjoy using an engineering design process to create tornado-resistant structures. I wanted my students to use reading, writing, and research skills, along with critical thinking and creativity, to collaborate on their projects. First, students did a close read of “Twister Trouble,” by Joe Bubar (Scholastic News magazine). This information was critical as they began to design their structures. Once they had some background knowledge, students worked at first individually and then in collaborative groups to design tornado-resistant towers. They were given a $20 budget to purchase building materials such as index cards, straws, tape, craft sticks, string, and pipe cleaners. Each group then tested the structure in a simulated tornado complete with wind, rain, and thunder and lightning, courtesy of a fan, a spray bottle, and some sound and visual effects from YouTube. By infusing reading, writing, research, and science, my students found they could enjoy designing, building, testing, and revising in a collaborative environment while creating structures that withstood the “elements.”

SCHOLASTIC TEACHER FALL 2017

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