I've wanted to write this post for quite a while! Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to read! I never leave home without a book! I am also a firm believer in no child does not like to read, some have just not found the right books yet... I take that responsibility very seriously. I want students to fall in love with reading! I am passionate about creating an experience for my students with finishing a novel. I believe that should totally be celebrated!! If you want to read about our Charlotte's Web celebration, you can here
My students can't wait to find out what they will be creating at the end of the novel. Here's where I'm going with this: how many times do we tell our kids, "Reading can take you anywhere!" or "Readers are leaders!" or "Books are dreams you hold in your hands." You get my drift. I love a good reading quote as much as the next teacher. Actually, it's kinda my thing. BUT...if we never show them how books can come to life, we are robbing them of that magic! I want books to inspire my students. I want them to read a book and that book inspire them to do something! It may be creating a fair ground after reading Charlotte's Web or designing animal habitats after reading The One and Only Ivan. I want them to be inspired to launch a kindness campaign when they read a book in which they learn of people being mistreated. I want them to write to government officials after reading about an injustice. I want them to learn they have voices and they deserve to be heard!
But ya'll....I love math too!!I love seeing students try to work their way through a math problem and to hear how many ways they can approach the problem. How many times do we tell our kids they will use math everyday. But, in this day and age of technology, we ourselves turn to our phones to calculate every little thing.
Today was the last day of Literacy Camp in my district. It is a new
approach they are taking towards summer school. We've only had 16 days
together, and tackled the book, The Lemonade War. It's a great story
about a brother and sister that are not getting along during the summer
(almost EVERY student can relate to that!) and the face off for a
lemonade war. Of course my students had the idea of having a war! I made them a few organizing sheets, and they got busy! The watched QVC commercials and fast food ads to study slogans and marketing strategies. They had to name their stand, create a slogan, and create advertisements. I also gave them a budget of $25 to buy materials. (large paper, small paper, tape, balloons, construction paper, etc.) We divided into 4 teams for our war.
Something else near and dear to my heart: showing my students kindness in the world, and putting tools in their hands that they can use to make the world a better place. We live in such an instant gratification time. Me, me, me. What do I get out of this? On the flip side, children have HUGE hearts. Well, in the book the sister wants to donate the money to an animal charity. We researched charities and directly linked to lemonade was The Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for children's cancer research. If you'd like to check it out: https://www.alexslemonade.org/
My students were moved, and they actually wanted to make some money to send to this wonderful foundation! I asked parents to donate lemonade mix, cups, and lemons. We were having a picnic for the last day, so perfect timing! They sold their lemonade for .25 a cup. I would have loved to let the students determine their own amount to see if a cheaper price would determine higher sales. When I do this project with my year long students, I will! Teachers asked all of the students selling to tell them about the cause. I wish you could've heard their responses! It was important to them! They made a whooping $60 in less than an hour with around 150 kids, selling quarter lemonade!
This little love was buying a cup for his friend! He was so excited!
Look at those smiles!!!
This camp is designed to prevent the summer slide with some students who may have struggling throughout the school year. They are working hard, but on a typical school day, there are so. many. factors. going on. Many times, these children may not feel confident to contribute to a group. This project allowed them to be the front runners, and it was a beautiful thing to watch! I hope they carry this confidence into next school year and they know their contributions are needed!!
I will miss them, and they have inspired me to make a plan and make things happen!!
