Classroom idea-sparkers.

The following four Idea-Sparkers were submitted by Jason McKinney, a graduate student at Southern Mississippi University and a 1st-grade teacher at Pisgah Elementary in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Raceway in the Classroom

Focus: K-2 sight words. This activity can help increase children's fluency and ability to identify numerous sight words.

Plan-Ahead Preparations: Depending on the frequency of this activity, I'll suggest two options. The first is to create a quick, temporary racetrack. Find a spot in the class that is 4 feet by 4 feet. If you have carpet, use chalk to draw a racetrack with one passing lane in the middle. If you have tile, paint the track and passing lane using washable paints. Option two involves purchasing a sheet of black felt, 4 feet by 4 feet, and a thin strip of yellow felt for the passing lane in the middle. Cut an oval shape in the middle of the felt to create the racetrack appearance and ask a parent to sew the yellow strips down the middle of the track.

Procedures: Line up two students, back to back, at the starting line. Place index cards with words on the track. Depending on the students' skills (emergent vs. fluent), you decide the amount of words to place. On your mark, get set, go! The first student who gets all his/her words correct is the winner. The winner continues for a maximum of three rounds or until he or she is defeated.

Options: Students can race the clock, trying to improve their times over three rounds (fluency rates will increase). Leave the track out for exploration and students can place word wall words and/or other words on the track and challenge their peers in racing contests.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blastoff!

Designed for K-2 students but easily adapted to higher grade levels. Create solar systems in your classroom using one of your entire walls and ceiling. Students will enjoy these solar system lessons integrating math, language arts, science, social studies, technology, and the arts.

Let's Get Started: The first day, you will read about the solar system (refer to the librarian for age-appropriate text) and plant a seed by saying, "Tomorrow, you will come in and see one of our walls completely covered in black and we're going to create our own solar system in class." (If I were your principal, I'd allow you to paint the wall black and then the students can paint the planets. Otherwise, you might use rolls of black paper or ask a parent to get you a giant piece of black felt.) The next day, have 8" by 12" sheets of black construction paper available for students, along with orange, yellow, and red sheets the students can use to create the sun at one end of their black construction paper. Every student will create a small representation of the solar system. Students undoubtedly will make mistakes, so be patient and put out models that they can see. Each day, thoroughly discuss the next planet in sequence from the sun, providing as many colors of construction paper as possible. Support creative thinking by encouraging students to decide on the colors of the planets. Pictures of planets can be observed through illustrations in books or Web sites (for example, at www. enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/venus/). As the students complete their planets (the size should be in appropriate scale relative to the sun, and the number of moons should be correct), allow them to create another, larger, planet, proportional in size to the sun on the wall, and attach it in sequence from the sun for the giant classroom solar system. After 10 days, you will add aliens your students created in detailed writing about the adventures they had in the solar system. Next, you will add the red giants, dwarfs, and other stars you explore. You can play math games by sequencing the planets in correct order. Please don't limit yourself to these guidelines--use this as a springboard, and enjoy your trip into space.

Family Involvement: Encourage your students to create a three-dimensional planet of their choice with their parents. Require the students to attach a hook to the model so that it may be displayed from your ceiling. Please do not punish the students who lack parental involvement. You will get plenty of displays. And for any of you teachers worried about fire codes or overly authoritative principals, using wire (99 cents for a spool of thin wire) and allowing two-and-half feet between the ceiling and the model should prevent any chance for a fire hazard.

Community of Learners: Invite the families of your students to school one evening after completion of both solar systems (wall ceiling), when the kids can informally share their creations. Have their alien/space stories framed in construction paper, create small packets for sequencing planets, and add your other wonderful ideas. This also would be a great opportunity for a parent to bring in a telescope to observe Venus and other night objects. After the families complete their visits, have students invite all the classes of your school to visit your space museum. Your museum may be tiny, but you will have created a charming effect that may spark new interests for further investigations.

Send a Letter Airmail 

This activity is designed for K-2 students but can be easily adapted for higher grade levels. Students will rise above the rest when the concept of letter writing is mentioned after this lesson. Integrated subjects include language arts, math, social studies, science, and the arts.

Let's Get Started: Begin the lesson with a helium tank and several balloons. Ask students to discuss their prior knowledge of helium. Associate helium with the three states of matter. In front of your group, blow up one of the balloons using the helium tank. Let the balloon float to the ceiling and discuss why it acted as it did. Next, blow another balloon up and attach a string to it. Then discuss possibilities of where the balloon might go if it were released out on the playground. Incorporate social studies by showing your state on a map. A lively discussion may ensue about where the balloon would go. At this point, begin a discussion of letter writing and model correct procedures on the board. An example may be: "Dear friend, I am a 1st-grade student, Jason McKinney, at Pisgah Elementary. We are studying helium and letter writing. I think this letter will end up in Mississippi. If you get my letter, could you please write me back" (leave apppriate contact information). Write the small letters on index cards, and use a hole punch to allow a string to be attached. As the students complete their letters, blow up their chosen balloons and attach the letter. Test the strength of the balloon in class. Discuss different types of transportation available for mailing items, including the cost of stamps. After all the students have completed their short letters and attached them to their balloons, march to the playground (preferably away from trees). On someone's command, let the balloons go and lie down on your backs for about 15 minutes and watch in amazement. Your kids will beg to write letters using airmail for the rest of the school year.

Family Involvement: Have students write to family members across the United States and world, asking for postcards from specific locations. Set a goal (50 states/7 continents/etc.) and record and share information about each new postcard. Students will attend school each day in hopes of receiving a postcard.

Community of Learners: Locate the nearest hot air balloon company in your area. Invite employees from that company to your school to demonstrate the hot air balloon rides with your students; you may be able to get free rides if you explain to the company that the activity will eventually lead to purchased rides through word-of-mouth advertising. If that doesn't work, explain that you need a unique approach in helping explain the theory of helium and the concept of hot air rising for a science lesson. This should spark their interest!

Take the Class for a Swim in the Creek

Designed for K-2, but easily adapted for higher grade levels. Students will become rock hounds--exploring creek beds and locating rocks of their choice for further investigation back in class. This lesson integrates math, science, social studies, language arts, and the arts.

Let's Get Started: I usually introduce this activity right at the beginning of the school year when it is hot. Inform the families about the adventure you're going to have at a nearby creek. Ask the parents to send old shoes and a change of clothes with their children for the activity, as well as old toothbrushes for washing the rocks, a bucket or two, and one bottle of dish soap. (The kids will get soaked regardless of the depth of the water.) I also ask for wagons and small wheel barrows. The students will need the wagons and wheel barrows to carry their rocks. Find an area that has a water hose and designate this as the washing station. The kids will enjoy further examining their treasures. Make sure you have a camera to take photos of the kids in the water and the kids on the trail back to the washing center. After as many trips as you deem necessary, start the sorting process in class with each group of rocks. You may ask the students to sort by color, size, and shape, discussing these options aloud. Further sorting may take place by using the official sorting categories for rocks: metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous. One book I have found very helpful (it has excellent representations that can help students sort) is Rocks & Minerals (Smithsonian Handbook) by Chris Pellant. Later, get out the paints and let the students make a mess. After your exquisite rock art collection has been developed, invite families to a private art show with intentions of purchasing art. Discuss with students that prices may range from 25 cents to a dollar.

Family Involvement: Invite families and extended families to the rock art show with intentions to purchase all of the art, so no one's feelings are hurt. Discuss with the families that all proceeds go directly to your class, starting with a "rock party," complete with cupcakes and ice cream. The rest of the money can be spent on what the kids vote on. Prior purchases I've made include the generic Brio table, paints, commercial games, footballs, and jump ropes. Different amounts are raised each year. Remind the kids about how they created treasures.

Community of Learners: Send student-generated letters and invitations out to the community/families for a specific day to come and clean the creek of litter and clear the brush. Locate the nearest rock quarry and arrange a visit (no cost). The students can witness, firsthand, the crushing of rocks and see the unbelievable machinery used. The wheels on the dump trucks are bigger than those on a school bus. Discuss different types of soil before going (clay, sang and peat). Each layer of soil is visible and clear in the gigantic craters dug out at the quarry. Students will never forget this trip.

Judith Kieff, Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of New Orleans