February 10, 2023 · curriculum
Valentine’s Day is next week and while it always feels a little commercial and sometimes a bit exhausting for me (so much red, pink, and glitter everywhere!), it is a fun moment to get us through gray February. Also, it’s an excuse to celebrate kindness, caring for others, your classroom community, and eat chocolate! Every year, my students would bring me dark chocolate as they know from my shares that is what I prefer, and it was always a sweet moment of being truly seen and appreciated. We wrote about Valentine's Day last year, specifically talking about our investigation of the holiday and what our students came up with as well as a few read alouds. One new read aloud that I am very excited about is Your One and Only Heart by Rajani LaRocca, Illustrated by Lauren Paige Conrad (cover photo; from this list ) - always love anything by Dr. Rajani LaRocca and it’s a great STEM connection.
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February 13, 2022 · curriculum
The tracking table we gave students to guide reflection and record observations during our investigation. Congratulations to teachers who have made it halfway through February! It is always a feat of endurance, but even more so this year. Last year, my co-teacher and I decided to find a way for students to exchange cards (no food) despite all of the challenges as we felt that they needed the joy and celebration. We were back in person, but only for half days, and the adults at our school had just started to get vaccinated. So we had the students bring in cards earlier in the week, distribute them in bags they decorated, and then had the bags “quarantine” so we would all feel comfortable touching them. This was before the revelations about how COVID actually spreads and we wanted to bring some connection and fun to a very odd school year. Of course, we said no food, and specified that
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