Mr. Giso's Ideas to Learn at Home #1

Be a Scientist for a Day

Thank you Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.  You can go to their website and view a live webcam of many of their animals in their natural "zoo" habitats.  Watch their naked mole-rats, giant pandas, lions and elephants.  Be patient because sometimes these living things can be hiding from us.  

You can make a scientist's journal page by copying the one in the picture below or printing it out if you're able to.  Draw and record what you see (OBSERVE).  Draw and record why you think you are seeing what you're seeing (INFER).  Record your wonderings (QUESTION).  Once you click on a cam, there should be a FAQ (frequently answered questions) icon to click on to search for answers to your questions.  You can visit the cams whenever you want.  Have fun being a zoologist recording animal behaviors.

Print out my "Webcam Notes" page by clicking HERE.

Visit the Smithsonian National Zoo by clicking HERE.

Write in a Daily Journal

Another great activity can be to create a journal.  Feel free to write and illustrate a picture whenever you are in the mood.  You can use a notebook you may have at home, staple a bunch of pages together to make a book, or print out my journal pages like you see in the pictures below.

Mr. Giso's Journal Idea #1

Since Sant Patrick's Day is this week, here is a journal idea for you.  What does luck mean to you?  Do you have a good luck charm or a lucky number?  Write about it.  If you are one of my students writing me a virtual journal, send me your thoughts and I will tell you about my lucky number and my good luck charm.  Here is a sneak peek.

Print out my "Journal Pages" by clicking HERE.

Mr. Giso's Room to Read Bright Idea #15

Desk Chair Makeover

I gave my desk chair a quick 2 minute makeover.  Here, you can see my desk chair before the makeover.

All I had to do was stretch one cover over the back cushion and the second cover over the seat cushion.  Each cover has an expandable elastic and is supposed to be one size fits all.  I was skeptical at first, but it did fit perfectly with no trouble!  Take a look.

I'm honestly not sure how I stumbled upon this, but it was most likely by doing an Amazon search for "orange" for obvious reasons (it's my favorite color).  These covers are made by Deisy Dee and are described as being perfect for computer office chairs.  Click HERE to order.  Here's the final result.  

What's Mr. Giso Making "Room to Read?" Pick

Title:  Front Desk

Author:  Kelly Yang

Mr. Giso's Book Pick Number:  8

Received or Recommended By:  Mrs. Erps, The Literacy Coach at my school

Number of Pages:  286

Level/Target Audience:  Grades 3-8

Genre:  Realistic Fiction with an Autobiographical influence

Date Finished:  July 29, 2019

Part of a Series?:  No, but the sequel to Front Desk is coming in 2020!

First Lines:  My parents told me that America would be this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers until we were red in the face.  So far, the only part of that we've achieved is the hamburger part, but I was still holding out hope.  And the hamburgers are pretty good.

Last Lines:  "Wait, wait, wait!" she said.  "Let's get a picture!"  "I'll take it!" Hank jumped out.  As he held his hand up and clicked, I looked around at my new family and smiled.  It was a picture I'd been waiting a long, long, time for.

Teaching Points:  Immigration, Chinese culture/customs, character development, social justice/injustice, family

This incredible read took me along the journey of Mia and her parents-- all three immigrants from China who traveled to America in search of freedom.  Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel while her parents work tirelessly to clean and upkeep the motel for its guests.  The Tang family, together with the residents who live weekly in the motel, teach us what compassion, loyalty, hard work and freedom really mean.  Family can be chosen.  We follow Mia's hopes and dreams, feel her letdowns and heartbreak and are left with a piece of her heart.  Many accounts of Mia and her parents are based on the author's childhood working in several motels.  This makes this read even more poignant and inspirational for me.

We are reminded of how much we can learn through the eyes of a child and how they are, in fact, listening to their elders-- even if it may appear that they aren't.  Mia reflects, "My grandmother used to say that people don't change.  Our heart is like a rubber band.  It might stretch a little, but it snaps right back."  Mia isn't quite sure that this is true.  She has hope it's not.  Mia knows that if people don't have the power to change, we are in a way, doomed!  I'm with her.  

Reflecting upon this book's significance, Kelly Yang notes "Often during tough times, the first instinct is to exclude.  But this book is about what happens when you include, when despite all your suffering and your heartache, you still wake up every morning and look out at the world with fresh, curious eyes."  This story is so inspiring, and it's not over.  A sequel comes out in 2020.  Thank you Ms. Yang for sharing so much of your childhood with us.

It's a Beautiful Day for Room 126! DonorsChoose.org Project Update

I'm super duper excited to report that 13 generous donors have funded my first DonorsChoose.org project in full!  My thrilled students and I are so thankful and want to wish a sincere thank you to those that helped us meet our goal of ordering six Hokki Stools for our small group, "u" table.

Special thanks to my family members, friends, friends of my friends, colleagues, parents within the Salem community and even two anonymous donors for thinking of us.  Not only have they donated funds, but have left many thoughtful messages too.

I asked my first and second grades to come up with ways to say thank you, so I'll let them say it best...

"Thank you so much!"
"We think we will do better on our studies!"
"We appreciate what you have done for us."
"Thank you for the Hokki Stools.  We can't wait to get them!"
"Thank you for being such a good community member to our class."
"You have been so nice to us."
"We will welcome you in case you want to come visit us!"

What an awesome day for us!  We definitely felt the season of giving today.

My DonorsChoose.org Project

I've been reading so many funded projects on social media these days.  It seemed to make sense to come up with my own project on DonorsChoose.org.  For those that know about my school, the Carlton Innovation School, you understand how seamlessly my project "Help for Hokki Stools" fits into our model.  You see, we teach reading, writing and mathematics in a workshop model.  This means that after a small whole class lesson on a skill, concept or strategy, it's practiced and scaffolded in small groups around smaller tables I call "the kidney table" or "the 'u' table.

A set of six Hokki Stools would help me maximize the learning in these small group sessions that happen all day long.  My students would get so much out of these additions to our classroom community.  I put up this project some time ago which, unfortunately, didn't spark any donations.  Yesterday, I decided to post it on my Mr. Giso's Room to Read's Facebook page.  A family member suggested I share it on my personal page too, so I did!  In less than an hour, my project was basically half-funded by seven people!  I'm amazed and so thankful for the generosity of my donors.  People's kindness and generosity is so much appreciated.  I love that I know so many kind people interested in "paying it forward!"  

My project's deadline in January 20th, so at this rate, I'm hoping I achieve my project's goal.  Sharing my project with friends, family and colleagues will help me so much.  A donation would help too.  Thank you, thank you!

As my project notes-- 

(Click HERE to read about it and to donate.)

The Hokki Stools will allow me to get full attention from my littles--even at the end of the day when I let them know my little secret-- "Teachers get tired too!" I can only begin to imagine how successful these will be in my busy classroom. These stools are engineered so that students can move back and forth and concentrate at the same time because the stools absorb their energy so that they can focus and give me their attention. How awesome it this? No one likes to stay still--especially me. True story! These Hokki Stools are a true gift, based on brain-based research that will give children an extra boost to succeed. My students deserve this boost, but they are too expensive for me to pay for by myself. Gone will be the days when my students are asked to "stop moving!" This will benefit my kinesthetic learners, those that work extra hard to pay attention and just about any student that gets fidgety. Let's face it. This happens to the best of us! 

This year my goal is to help each one of my first and second graders (I have both) reach their fullest potential.

I want to help my students focus and keep their mind on learning while getting their little "wiggles" out at the same time. It's a win-win situation for both my learners and me!

Our New Sensory Center

This project has been on the top of my list for "Back to School" for quite some time.  It's making a sensory center from scratch using common items easily picked up at your local home improvement store.  First off-- credit and special thanks to Mr. Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasbord for his inspiration-- and more importantly-- his instructions for completing this project.

The materials needed are shown above.  They are PVC pipes (any size works), but I got the 1 inch-width kind, a number of PVC pipe connectors and a bin (not pictured).  In addition, you see some spray paint and a PVC pipe cutter.  I didn't have one of my own, so I picked it up for about ten dollars.  It cuts the pipes very easily!  There's orange spray paint and what I thought was a clear fix spray to prevent the paint from chipping.  Turns out it was a white glaze, so I turned my newly painted orange sensory center back into a white one--oh well, it happens!  For the complete set of directions and list of materials, please click HERE to get sent over to The Kindergarten Smorgasbord.

Here's the completed frame before the bin rests in it.  I pretty much made the dimensions match the bin's size and the height match the average height (from memory) of my first and second graders.  I didn't use any glue at the points of connection, but I'm sure you could to be extra safe.

With it being Halloween and all, I used spiders, skulls, bones and eyeballs to fill my sensory bin.  The rice is dyed with food coloring.  To do this, simply place some rice in a zipped plastic bag along with a few teaspoons of rubbing alcohol and your food coloring.  Shake it up and add more food coloring and alcohol if needed.  Leave it to dry over night in flat pans covered with aluminum foil to prevent you having to wash the pans when you are done...no clean up = awesome!  You can also use the same method to dye pasta.  Other fillers I have been saving are green and red bow tie pasta for December as well as white styrofoam peanuts for January.  Click HERE for 13 of Mr. Greg's sensory bin ideas throughout the year.  

Here is the completed project in my classroom.  I cut up an orange pool noodle to keep the bin sturdy.  Mr. Greg said this step was optional.  I like it. It's orange along with most of the things in my classroom.

I used witch fingers and candy corn clip art (free from TpT) to make my center activities.  With the fingers, the students sort them according to true and false equations.  Get them HERE.  With the candy corn, the students need to find the mystery number to make the equations true.  Get them HERE.  My mathematicians love this so far.  It really is fun to sift through, calming in a way for may of them too! 

I hope you feel as inspired as I was to make one of these over next weekend.