Almost Finished wth the Reading for Fun Unit

Today and yesterday I spent 2 hours in the media center.  Yesterday I helped process donated material and discussed the montly activities with our Media Specialist.  Today I did the last section in the reading for fun unit.  We finshed it up by discussing our favorite Dr. Seuss book (and why), and what we liked about the book we read, I Will Not Get Up Today. 
Last week we located the spots discussed in the book on tactile maps and marked them with WikiSticks.  Today we posted our thoughts on the class wiki and answered a few questions about our favorite Dr. Seuss book, our favorite place in the World, how we wake up daily, and what Dr. Seuss character we would be if we could pick one.  After the session for a special treat we made extra durable origami cups for our water and we ate BBQ chips.  The cups reminded us of the cold water being poured on the character's head, and the chips reminded us of one of the places mentioned in the book,  Memphis T.N. (they have World Famous BBQ).  A student requested that we read the Lorax by Dr. Seuss so on Tuesday April 13th we will read the Lorax and do something fun (we are just not sure yet what that will be)!

Week of March 15th - 5 hours

I spent time this week teaching my second installment in the reading for fun unit.  We reread our Dr. Seuss book, but this time we actually found and marked the places discussed in the book on a map.  We used wikistix for tactile marking.  We also make cups using orgami and drank cold water from those cups.  In the book it discussed have to wake up to cold water on your head! 
I also spent time putting together my pathfinder for my Poetry unit, and organizing the dates and locations for my shadowing days next week. I spent the remainder of the time putting the finishing pieces on my staff development unit. I added  a survey to my wiki, created users for the wiki and reserved the location and equipment for the class.

Staff Development Unit - 5 hours

I have been working on my staff development unit this week.  I decided to teach the teachers at my secondary site how to create wikis.  The school system is very "collaboration driven".  They want their two middle schools to be aligned so that there is no difference in the curriculum being taught at both schools.  As a matter of fact they rotate their planning times (and schedules) every six weeks to make sure that each grade level is allowed to meet with the teachers in their grade level and subject area once a week.  Teachers with the last period of the day planning alternate driving to the various locations to meet with their counterparts at the other school.  Having a wiki that allows instant collaboration could be a mighty tool for these schools.

Reading for Fun Part I

This week I did my first lesson in my reading is fun unit.  We decided since it was March we should focus on Dr. Seuss.  My first lesson went well, but ALL of my students were totally blind so my two PowerPoints had to be described and in shown.  However, all was fun, the kids were great, and we had a wonderful discussions.  Thankfully, the next session not many of my plans involve any type of sight. I will just use tactile/Braille maps and wiki sticks to mark the locations we discussed from "I Will Not Get Up Today". 

Week of March 1st (5 hours)

I have spent the week working on my Reading for Fun unit.  I made a commercial advertising the unit using Animoto (see the link on the side), and getting prepped for it.  Beginning Tuesday March 9th I will begin my unit. We are doing a three part unit on "I Will Not Get Up Today" by Dr. Seuss. I think it will be a great deal of fun.