Classroom idea-sparkers.

The following Idea-Sparker was submitted by Adrienne Hartley from Sand Hill School, Greene County, Mississippi. She is a Graduate Student at The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg Campus.

Add+jective Stories

I have taught special education for six years. I have found that my students not only find it difficult to write stories, they find it even more difficult to use interesting and describing words in their stories. In this activity, I challenge my students to think about and look for (e.g., using dictionaries and thesauruses) colorful words.

Skill:                Writing with adjectives
Target Group:         Elementary special education students K-4
Number of players:    Small groups of 5
Materials:            Short story (teacher- or student-created)
                      Tape recorder
                      Index cards
                      Card stock
                      Crayons

PROCEDURE:

1. The teacher will read the story to the students as it is written.

2. Each student will receive one index card containing one sentence from the story that has just been read. The index cards are numbered in the order that the sentences appear in the story.

3. Each student will be instructed to add at least three adjectives to his/her sentence.

4. Each student will go to the tape recorder in the order of his/her numbered index card and read his/her sentence into the tape recorder.

5. The teacher will play the tape for the students.

6. The teacher will transfer the story to the board, without using capitalization or punctuation.

7. The students will help the teacher make the necessary corrections.

8. Each student will receive a piece of card stock on which to write his/her sentence in its corrected form.

9. Students will create an illustration to go with their sentence.

10.The pieces of card stock will be bound together to form a book for the classroom and for the students to enjoy.

EXAMPLE STORY:

Once there was a boy. He lived in a house. He had a dog. He liked to ride his bike. He walked down the road to school every day.

EXAMPLE OF CHANGE:

He liked to ride his little shiny yellow bike.

This activity can be adapted for use with larger groups by adding more sentences or by grouping students together and letting each person in the group add one adjective. Be creative and have fun.

The following Idea-Sparkers were submitted by Crystal Zane, also a graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi. The ideas were created for her 7th- and 8th-grade math students at Cathedral Camel School, in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Equation Interrogatives

I wanted to find a fun and innovative way to help my students study for their algebra tests and review for national testing. With all the things taught in algebra, it is important for students to review what they know frequently. I found the best way to do this was through computers. With the world becoming more and more technology based, it is important to teach to the latest and greatest things. Using computers, the Internet, and E-mail is a great way to prepare for a test--just follow these simple steps:

* Have each student submit a possible question on related subject material to the teacher a week before you plan to bring them to the computer lab. The students should have the problem completely worked out, with all the steps clearly laid out.

* The teacher will make sure every question has been correctly answered and then give them back.

* The teacher will pair up every student in the class with a partner.

* Each pair will be responsible for bringing both of their problems to the computer lab, as well as the chart with every child's E-mail address on it.

* In the computer lab, each pair will have a laptop/computer to work on.

* Each pair will pick one of their two pre-approved questions and send it to every other pair of students.

* Each pair will work on the problems sent to their E-mail and forward back the answers they come up with to the question makers.

* The pairs will keep working back and forth until they arrive at the correct answers. The question makers can send hints. Any messages that are sent to and from pairs will be added on to the next forwarded E-mail.

* When a pair calculates the correct answer for a problem, they send it to the teacher to get it approved.

* Once the teacher sends the pair back an E-mail saying the problem is correct, the pair can check off the question maker's name and move on to the next question.

* Each pair will be responsible for charting the problems that they have completed.

* When all problems are answered, the pair will turn in all their work with their charts.

Portfolios

This activity helps compile student work to keep on file to show parents and administrators, and to keep for teacher use. It is a good way to have students practice responsibility, neatness, and organization, and it is a very simple and creative way to integrate portfolios into the curriculum.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Poster board for each student, scissors, glue, magazines, markers, "Why I chose this piece ..." sheet, and rubric for grading.

* During the first week of school, the student will create a portfolio to use throughout the year.

* Every student will be given a large piece of poster board to fold in half and staple around the edges.

* Every student will be able to decorate their poster board in any way that describes them. The teacher will provide magazines to use to decorate the portfolios.

* Every portfolio will have to have the student's name, period, and grade.

* These portfolios will be placed in a bin, giving the students easy access to their portfolios.

* Each week the students will be responsible for picking one piece of work to put into their portfolios.

* Next to the portfolio bins will be a sheet for the students to fill out and staple to their work. The teacher will create a form for the students to use to tell why they chose the piece of work that they did. (This helps to integrate writing into the curriculum.)

* The teacher will randomly check the portfolios to check for neatness, the correct amount of work in the folder, and the sheet that explains why they chose the piece that they did.

This Idea-Sparker was submitted by Karlene Buddoo, a teacher of students with special needs at Southwest Dekalb High School in Decatur, Georgia. Karlene is also a graduate student at The University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Fruits for All

Students with severe and profound developmental delays are often overweight and their eating habits are often neglected. These students often get junk food as appeasements. Teachers need to promote an environment that helps students enjoy eating healthful snacks, such as fruit. The challenge for parents is to set a good example at home by providing nutritious snacks. Here are some unique ways in which fruit could be used in place of candy bars and other junk foods.

ACTIVITY:

This activity was designed for students with special needs in grades 9-12, but it can be adapted for use with any population. During special events (e.g., community skills days), take your students shopping for specific fruits. The following classroom activities will prepare students for that excursion.

IN THE CLASSROOM:

* Have students draw a picture of their favorite fruits.

* Students with mobility problems can touch a computer-activated screen to identify their favorite fruits.

* Have students put pictures of their favorite fruits on construction paper and post them on the bulletin board.

* Have students take pictures of themselves eating their favorite fruit and post them on the bulletin board.

COMMUNITY SKILLS DAYS:

* Before going out shopping, have students cut out pictures of their favorite fruit or fruits and glue them on a piece of construction paper.

* Have the students find the pictured fruit in the produce section of the grocery store.

* Have students name the color of the fruit.

* For nonverbal students, have them touch the picture of their favorite fruit or fruits.

CULMINATING ACTIVITY:

* The teacher will provide listening opportunities by having students listen to tapes of themselves naming their favorite fruits.

* Have them listen to stories pertaining to fruits or eating healthfully.

* The teacher can ask students to bring in their favorite fruits from home and use them to bake treats.

* Students who are tube fed can have their fruits blended.

HOME ACTIVITIES:

* Parents can have students buy fruits in the store.

* Parents can have students make fruit salad at home.

* Parents can have students assist with making a pie, using their favorite fruit.

* Take students to a farm and have them pick fruit and place them in baskets to take home.

* Have students make fruit jams.

* Put pictures of fruits on the refrigerator.

The following Idea-Sparker was submitted by Heather Lambert. She is a graduate student at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. The idea was created for her kindergarten students at Earl Travillion Attendance Center with the Forrest County School District.

Looking for a fun way to reinforce skills in your early childhood classroom?

Use a beach ball to catch your students' interests, improve their hand-eye coordination, and reinforce skills. I teach a kindergarten class and have learned that countless skills can be taught and/or reinforced using a beach ball.

I enjoy using these activities during transition times when we have a few extra minutes. We use the beach ball on Fridays for fun. Also, I sometimes use the beach ball to wake them up when I feel that I am losing their interest.

Below are a few activities that my students have really enjoyed:

REINFORCE ALPHABET SKILLS

I will frequently pull the beach ball out of my closet and call out the letter "A," and then toss the ball to a child. He would, in turn, say "B." The student would return the ball to me and I would continue. This same routine can be used for calling out alphabet sounds rather than the alphabet letters. I found that it worked best for my students to return the ball to me after their "turn." It kept them from taking a long time picking the next recipient. Also, it helped me to monitor and make sure that all of my students were receiving an equal number of turns.

COUNTING

My students and I use the same pattern of me throwing the ball to one child and them returning it to me so that I could throw to another. We used this pattern to practice counting by ones, twos, fives, and tens.

SPELLING

The beach ball can be tossed back and forth to spell the child's name, a spelling word of the week, or any other word they should be able to spell.

ADDITION/SUBTRACTION

I would start this activity by saying "4+2 is ..." or "6-3 is ...," and then I would throw the ball to one student and that student would be responsible for answering the question.

The use of the beach ball is great, because all of the students try figuring out the answers to the questions in their head. They do this because they never know to whom I am going to throw the ball. Also, they love catching and throwing the ball. These activities seem to inspire the students to be active in the process.

Children at this age need hands-on activities, and they need to be motivated. It has been my experience that something as simple as a beach ball is a fun and great way to reinforce basic skills.

Call for Idea-Sparkers

Do you have a great idea that you would like to share? Do you know a colleague who has a great idea? Please share the exciting things that are happening in your classroom. I am particularly interested in publishing columns in the near future that provide ideas and resources related to learning centers, unconventional field trip sites, the use of projects to promote authentic learning opportunities, literacy and numeracy development, family and community involvement, and developing healthy dispositions for lifelong learning. Send ideas via E-mail. Photos and illustrations are also welcome. Please include your name, address, where you have used the idea, and a description of the activity. Send Idea-Sparkers to:

Judith Kieff, University of New Orleans 

[e-mail]