St. Patrick's Day

I've never met a child who didn't enjoy a celebration, so we look for something to celebrate as often as possible; holidays, the first snow, the melting of snow, a student's good grades, etc.  This week, we are looking forward to eating a completely green meal and counting all the things that make us lucky individuals, all in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  We have a few things on the docket here at the Learning Lab and wanted to share them.

1.Healthier Shamrock Shakes
Typically, holidays, can cause everyone to get off their healthy eating schedule.  It is important to us as an organization, to continuously show our students healthier options, even when a day traditionally calls for sweets and fats.  That being said, we don't want to take out ALL the sweet fun of our celebrations.

Minty green Shamrock Shakes are a mainstay on the McDonald's menu during this month, but we have been talking with the students about how loaded with fat and sugar they are.  After perusing a few recipes online, we came up with one that will be easy for students to make, requires minimal ingredients to purchase, and sounds scrumptious!

1 serving

2 cups reduced fat/non-fat frozen vanilla yogurt, softened
1 handful baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
1/4 skim milk
Organic chocolate sprinkles

Put first 4 ingredients into blender.  Blend for 30 seconds, or until mixture is creamy and spinach is fully incorporated.  Serve in a parfait glass with chocolate sprinkles on top and a green straw :)

2. I am Lucky Shamrocks
Each day we try to infuse a little writing and self-reflection.  We all have something that we feel "lucky" to have or be apart of.  Click here for an easy shamrock writing prompt.  After students complete these, we will run a ribbon through and hang like a bunting.

STEM Lessons

One of our favorite things in the Learning Lab is hands on science demos.  Luckily, we have a great partnership with Oakland University which allows students in the Education Program to complete some of their field hours at the Baldwin Center.  The past few weeks one of these such students, Sarah Robertson, has been teaching her lessons here.  Students have loved learning about everything from chemical reactions by building their own lava lamps, to phases of the moon using Oreos.  Sarah was kind enough to share the lesson plans she had created, along with her Powerpoint.  Awesome!

Learning about phases of the moon and eating Oreos?  Yes, please!

Mykell is enjoying watching how the particles in his lava lamp react to the Alka-Selzer

Click here for a link to Sarah's Powerpoint on chemical reactions using glow sticks.

Click here for a link to Sarah's lesson plan and printable on making your own lava lamp.

Drop of the Hat Activities

Working with such  a wide age range in the Learning Lab (K-8) and offering so many activities, often has us having to think on the fly and fill in gaps of time before a larger activity or direct instruction. With that in mind, we did a little PD this week, gathering and trying out a variety of what I can "Drop of the Hat" activities; essentially time-fillers.  One of the worst things that can happen is not having something planned and losing students' attention and motivation.  So, we are filling toolkits with as many activities as possible and trying some out this week.

Here are some that we came up with:

Word Building Age Group-all Materials: white board, paper, pencils Write 5-6 letters on the board, including at least 1 vowel.  Give students a designated amount of time (5 minutes is usually adequate) and challenge them to come up with as many words as possible.  Share out and record on the whiteboard. Extension: Have students write sentences or a small story, utilizing 3-5 of the words they built. *include word families, blends, digraphs, or endings that you are working on (ing, th, at, etc)

Rhyme Time Age Group: Lower Elementary Materials: white board, paper, pencils Select a word with a common ending and write on the board.  Give students 5 minutes to record as many words that rhyme with the original.  Share out. Extension: Have students write a funny verse or poem using the words they brainstormed.

Sentence Starters Age Group: Upper Elementary/Middle (can be adapted for younger students) Materials: paper and pencils Give each student a scrap sheet of paper.  Ask them to write a sentence on the top about a particular topic (anything from Halloween to carrots).  Have them pass the papers behind them.  Give students 3 minutes to add onto the story and pass again.  Continue for at least 4-5 rotations.  Allow students to share out the story. Adaptation for Younger Students: Write a sentence on the whiteboard or chart paper.  Read sentence aloud.  Call on students to share out the next sentence for the story.  Continue adding on silly sentences until everyone is given the chance to share. Extension: Assist older students in going through the writing process to adapt the rough story in a publishable piece.

Addition or Multiplication Around the World Age Group: Elementary Materials: Flash cards Depending on the age/ability of your students you can do addition, subtraction, or multiplication.  Arrange the students in a circle.  The first 2 students stand.  Display a flashcard, the first student who calls out the correct answer advances and goes up against the next student.  Each student must keep track of how many “victories” they have throughout the round.

Addition or Multiplication Mad Minutes Age Group: Elementary Materials: Mad Minute print outs Keep a supply of Mad Minutes available.  They are available on the following sites: http://www.math-aids.com/Multiplication/Multiplication_Drills.html http://www.webmathminute.com/ http://www.softschools.com/math/games/mad_minute_math/ Consider making this a weekly challenge, giving students the same problems and challenging them to get more correct or finish with a faster time

Daily Trivia Age Group: All Do your research and collect a list of daily trivia facts.  Select a space in your room or facility to display it.  Have students read aloud the fact each day and encourage them to make connections or share out additional knowledge on the topic. http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/jokes/trivia.htm

Wink Murder Age Range: 5 to 11 Students sit in a circle on the carpet and you choose a detective. The detective goes outside whilst you choose the murderer. When the murderer winks at you, you must play dead. The detective then must try and catch the murderer. Another element my class likes to add is 'dramatic death' where they are allowed to act. You can add other dimensions such as - more detectives, more murderers.

Shoot Out Age Range: 5 to 11 You then choose two people to come up and stand back to back with their hats on. You give them a question and the first person who knows the answer turns around and calls out the answer. I use the game to test times tables, basic maths and as a plenary for some lessons as it tests what they have learned. This game seems to go down a treat with every class.

Slam! Age Range: 5 to 11 This game is called SLAM and can be used in all the subjects. Before the lesson decide what questions you like to ask and write down the answers on the board randomly. 1) When the class starts, choose two people to come at the front both of the should stand on each side of the board 2) Now you should ask the question and the pupils should work it out in their head and slam on the correct answer 3) Whoever gets it correct should get a point and the first person to get 5 points wins. The pupil who loses should now go back to their seat and you should pick another pupil to play the game. The first person to win three games wins and is the CHAMPION.

Word of the Day Age Range: 5 to 11 I have a vocabulary word for the day on the board.  I define the word during reading in the morning and use it during the course of the day. The first student to acknowledge that I have used the word and correctly tell me the definition gets a sticker.

Back to Back 1. Students stand in pairs; an odd student can stand and play with teacher. 2. Instruct students to stand with their backs touching and say "That's Back-to-back". 3. Students stand facing each other - "Front-to-front". 4. Students stand beside each other - "Side-to-side". 5. Each faces each other and moves one foot forward to touch toes - "Foot-to-foot". 6. Each touches an index finger to the other - "Finger-to-finger". Teacher then issues random 'orders' of "finger-to-finger', "Foot-to-foot" etc. etc. at various speeds or in quick succession. Once students are confident or bored, throw in mixed orders such as "Back-to-front", "Side-to-finger" etc. and let them sort it out!

1. Buzz As soon as students learn their multiplication facts this is a great game which is actually entertaining for students up through high school. You first choose a target number – let’s say 4. The first student starts counting at one and then others follow. When a student reaches a multiple of 4 or a number with 4 in it, he or she must say “buzz” or they are out of the game. The pace must be fast. To advance the game, you can also require students to say “buzz” if the digits add up to the target number.

2. Going on a Picnic This game can only be played once with a group of students because the purpose is to solve the trick. Invite the students to go on a picnic with you, but tell them that each person can only bring certain items, which are actually items that start with the same letter as the first letter of their first name. Tell them what you are going to bring and then start asking students to join you. If they happen to say something that fits the criteria, let them know that they are welcome to come, otherwise tell them that you are sorry. If no one catches on the after first round, give a few clues. “Haley you cannot bring potato chips, but you are welcome to come if you bring hamburgers.” Eventually, some will catch on and help you bring the others in on the secret.

Green Glass Door This game is similar to “Going on a Picnic.” This time students can only pass through the Green Glass Door if they bring things that have a double letter in the spelling of the word. Once you have played this game, you can easily vary the rules: On the Huge Blue Plane you can only bring items that have a silent “e” in the word, the Main Suite only admits words that have homophones. Students go crazy for these and they are actually fun to try with adults.

20 Questions I love this timeless game that actually requires a great deal of critical thinking. The classic method can be played almost anywhere, but a great way to draw students into this game is to let them bring in an object. Each student gets to take home and return the “mystery box” with an item for questioning. They love the opportunity to answer the questions and show off some of their own possessions. Students will usually want to go well beyond 20 questions to solve the mystery.

Other Activities

Ø  Flashcards

Ø  Legos/K’Nex

Ø  Mad Libs

Ø  Pictionary

Ø  Dominoes

Ø  Read aloud

Ø  Buddy Reading

Ø  Illustration/Comic Strip

Ø  Make a card for someone

Ø  Illustrate a vocabulary word

Ø  Fill in a times table

Ø  Adding with blocks

Ø  Write a math word problem

Ø  Writing prompt

Ø  Wordsearch/crossword

Ø  Adding words to word wall

Ø  Designing a building or town

Ø  Scrabble

Ø  Bananagrams

Build-Your-Own Fiber Energy Bars

This week's nutrition lesson focused on fiber.  When activating prior knowledge, most kids knew that fiber "makes you poop" and "fills you up." Sometimes, a kid's explanation of things, is far superior to the wordier versions from adults. After completing a picture sort of fiber-less and fiber-filled foods, we began the fun part: putting together our own delicious, no-bake treats.  Students were given several choices of protein and fiber rich ingredients to form into "energy balls". 

Here is a list of our chosen ingredients:

• Low-fat, chunky peanut butter
• Oatmeal
• Chia seeds
• Protein powder (chocolate whey)
• Almond slivers
• Honey
• Flax
• Raisins
• Mini chocolate chips (I know these don't fit into the nutrient-rich category, but they made the process even more exciting for the students and were used in moderation)

Students went through the line of ingredients, adding 1-2 teaspoons of their desired items into a bowl.  After they made their selections, they formed the ingredients into 2-3 balls. This works best if you are able to put the formed balls into the fridge for 20-30 minutes and allow them to firm up.

*Note: you must include a binding ingredient such as peanut butter or honey. The balls won't form without them.

Embracing the Polar Vortex

Here in Michigan, we are now onto week 3 of living inside of the Polar Vortex.  Today marks the 9th snow day of the year for most of our students, temperatures dip to -20 degrees with the windchill, and we have set a record for the snowiest January in Michigan history.  As frustrating and disruptive as the weather has been already, we have tried to let go of the things that are outside of our control and make the most of it.  Since it is too cold to actually go OUTSIDE and enjoy the snow, we have found as many things to celebrate the weather on the INSIDE.

1. Snowman Paintings
Using paint always makes me a little nervous as it is often a catalyst for large messes, but after covering every surface in butcher paper, we were ready to paint!

First, students painted their background using blue and purple watercolors.  We set them aside to try.  While they were drying, we decorated our snowmen.  Artists had the option to use a pre-made outline, or design one entirely on their own.  Once the snowpeople were cut out, we used Sharpie markers to paint a horizon or background scene on our watercolor, glued the main characters on, and threw in a little glitter for good measure!  They turned out beautifully :)

 2. Paper Snowflakes and Mini-lesson
If you made it through elementary school, chances are you have made a paper snowflake, or a whole blizzard of them.  The fact that you're not introducing new material doesn't take away from a child's excitement as they unfold the paper they have carefully snipped for 20 minutes to reveal an intricate snowflake.  To extend the learning here, we shared some video clips to the students on both weather and snow.

Hanging up our creations in the hallway

Here are a few good findings from the internet:

Every paper snowflake template imaginable
http://www.papersnowflakes.com/


BrainPOP: Free video about snowflakes
http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/snowflakes/

Wax Resist Snowflake Paintings
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/lesson-plans-grades-3-5/62295-watercolor-painting-winter-snowflake-and-snow-globe/

 3. Melting Snowman Cookies
Typically, we don't allow the children to eat unhealthy treats in the Learning Lab, but once in awhile we indulge.  The inspiration for these cookies was passed along to me and we can't wait to try them on our "Fun Friday".


Ingredients:
1 tube sugar cookie dough
1 bag large marshmallows
2 containers white frosting (or you could make royal icing)
Assorted colored frosting in tubes

Steps:
1.Roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick.
2. Using a glass or biscuit cutter, cut out round cookies about 3 inches in diameter. Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet according to package instructions.
3. Once cookies have cooled, spread frosting over the entire surface.
4. Spray a microwave-safe plate with non-stick spray and rest marshmallows on top.  Microwave marshmallows for 10-15 seconds. Watch closely, you don't want them to double in size!
5. Push marshmallow into frosting.  Decorate with assorted frostings to create your perfect snowman.  Yum!

Engineering Club with General Motors

At the Learning Lab, we are in the process of launching several enrichment clubs to introduce our students to a wide variety of possible interests, knowledge, and career paths.  Yesterday, we were able to get our highly anticipated Engineering Club off the ground.  Through a wonderful partnership with volunteers from the General Motors Powertrain plant here in Pontiac, we designed an 8 week curriculum to engage students in the process of designing structures with a purpose in mind, building small cars, playing with circuits, and collaborating to create the best model possible.  Their workshop will even end with a trip to the plant for a tour.  This week was all about exposing students to a variety of building activities and what it means to be an "engineer."  It is always awesome to see people sharing their gifts with young people and watching new passions ignite!

The Engineering Club members of Baldwin

Here is a full sampling of pictures and activities.

Interested in trying some simple building activities at home or in your after school program?  Here is a round up of some tried and true plans.

1. This link includes several activities using toothpicks and marshmallows, material lists and academic standards addressed

http://smartkids.sc/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sciolympiadset2.pdf  

2. This Ted talk lists some interesting ideas for how building marshmallow towers correlates with teamwork. Great to show to students before building.

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower.html

3. A Youtube video demonstrating how to introduce basic engineering principles to students.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FmrOS72EA

4. PBS Kids provides a link to over 10 engineering lesson plans geared towards elementary students. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_index.html

Green Smoothies

Our Buildable Snack this week was a real crowd pleaser: Green Smoothies!  We were planning on using fresh spinach from our hoop house, but unfortunately, even the greenhouse cannot withstand the sub-zero temperatures.  Frostbitten spinach couldn't hold the students back from blending up their own vitamin-packed concoctions. After perusing some different options online, we came up with these two favorites, yum!  At first, the students were a little apprehensive about trying the Grinch-hued drinks, but it was love at first sip.  To try these frosty delights at home, click the recipe for Peach Strawberry Refreshers here.

Green smoothie mustache :)

Can't get enough of the smoothies? Try these recipes and tips from Real Simple.