Nonfiction 10 for 10

This is my first time doing the nonfiction 10 for 10.  Honestly, I thought it would be easy to pick 10 nonfiction books I can't live without but it wasn't.  In January I really wanted to think about how to use more nonfiction books with students and to add some great mentor texts to my rather small collection.  So I have been putting books on hold at the library and looking on twitter for any new nonfiction books I could get my hands on. I have really enjoyed reading so many nonfiction books over the past month and I just love author notes because the page includes additional information about the topic and we learn the author's purpose for writing the book. I decided to keep some of my absolute faves and sprinkle in some new titles.  Even as I am crafting this blog I keep thinking about the choices I have made and if I will change my mind on a few?!  So here is my stack of nonfiction must haves:


I stumbled across this book while browsing for some nonfiction texts and I absolutely love it.  The photos are wonderful and they take up most of the page to peak your interest.  On each page Seymour Simon shares facts that you may not have heard about 20 animals with bad reputations, so that readers gain a new appreciation of what these animals do in order to survive. In the intro Seymour Simon's last line is this: "You may never love a rattlesnake, a cockroach, or an octopus-but his book may help you begin to understand and respect them for what they are."  I love how he starts his intro with a question grabbing the readers attention and sparking curiosity. It is a nonfiction text that kids will take time to ponder both the words and pictures while learning new facts along the way.

I have shared this book with a small group of third graders.  We used this book to figure out what a page was mostly about and the important details that support the main idea.  Each day the students would walk in and try to guess which animal we would read about and discuss.  I wanted them to understand that readers read nonfiction and think about what the page is mostly about so that they can then share their new learning with others. I have to say I really enjoyed reading and discussing the animals in the book right along the side of my students.

I love to read biographies about people who have made great contributions that open doors for others to follow.  Elizabeth Blackwell is a courageous and curious girl who lives in the 1830s.  She never really thought about being a doctor until she went to visit her friend Mary Donaldson.  Mary was very ill and she told Mary that she would have preferred to have a woman doctor.  Mary urged Elizabeth to become a doctor.  Elizabeth wondered if a woman could actually become a doctor, why would she want to be one?  This idea gnawed at Elizabeth and she thought about it all the time.  She decided to ask some doctors and friends.  Most of them didn't think that a woman could become a doctor and some said it wasn't right.  Some people even laughed at Elizabeth when she shared the idea.  However, Elizabeth thought it was a fine idea and pursued her dream.  Readers will enjoy the many obstacles Elizabeth overcomes and her strong pursuit of becoming the first female doctor.  

Some other books I would also share with the students to discuss people who have made great contributions would be the following: On A Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Eistein, The Boy Who Loved Math, The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever,  To Dare Mighty Things by Doreen Rappaprt, and Nelson Mandela by Kadir Neson.

This book by Nicola Davies has been a longtime favorite of mine for nonfiction.  There are so many things I truly love about this book.  I love the bold words, how she uses repetition to get her point across to the reader, how she addresses the reader, the diagrams and the circular beginning and ending.  I love this part at the beginning of the book, "What's the one word that turns your dream into a nightmare? What's the one word that makes you think of a giant man-eating KILLER? SHAAAAAAAARK!  At the end of the book she says, "If you were a shark swimming in the lovely blue sea the last word you'd want to hear would be... HUMAN!

I always use this book to show how writers can use voice in their nonfiction pieces.  I love how her factual information is stated in a persuasive way so that readers understand that sharks really aren't monsters. They are important part of the ocean food chain and not all sharks are dangerous to humans.  After you are done reading this book you will have gained a new appreciation for sharks that just might surprise you!

This is one of those rare treasures I found at the Scholastic Book Fair.  David FistzSimmons does an awesome job of using personification to help you learn how some factual tidbits on each curious critter.  He addresses the reader and each page is truly unique. I think this would be a great book to use for a read aloud and for shared reading with intermediate students.  You could focus on how he uses punctuation in interesting ways and the way the author plays with words. Here is a snippet from a page about the Virginia Opossum...

I wrote a little poem, but I'm afraid to read it to you.

What if you don't like it? 

You really want to hear it? All right, here goes...

Ode to Opossum

by O. Possom

Opossum! Opossum! How I love you!

You carry your kids like marsupials do. 

Whenever your bothered, you run on ahead.

If further provoked, you pretend you are dead.

But what I was wondering in writing these lines

is why say "Opossum, " Possum? No "O" is fine!

This book by Renee Watson is about the singer named Florence Mills. She was a member of the  Harlem Renaissance elite.  Florence was blessed with a sweet, birdlike singing voice during a time of racism.  She used her talent not to promote her own celebrity status world wide but to help promote other African American performers.  She used her voice to cry out for equal rights and to entertain her audience.  I love this book because Florence has a big and powerful voice along with a kind heart.  I read this book to students so Florence's beautiful voice can resonate through the author's words and so her kindness can continue to be carried on!

Frog Song focuses on the importance of frogs within different ecosystems and the wonderful songs each frog sings from Costa Rica to the Australian desert.  I love the onomatopoeia bold words and the beautiful illustrations by Gennady Spirin.  Students will love hearing the book read aloud and learning factual information about several frog species.  Make sure you check out the additional information about the different kinds of frogs mentioned in the back of the book and the author's note about why frogs are in trouble.  This book truly helps you gain a deeper appreciation for frogs, which will help you embrace the wonder of frog songs.

I love how the author invites you to eat, search, hunt, climb, bath, forage, and prepare like a bear.  Read and enjoy some of the language from this book...

Can you hunt like a bear?

It's June. Find Food.

But where?   

An elk calf has strayed from its herd.

Press paws. Give chase! Body bounding, race!

Find...

I love the use of alliteration and the short sentences that help to create a nice rhythm when reading aloud!  There is additional information in the back of the book so readers can continue to find answers to their fierce wonderings about bears.

I have been a big fan of Jim Arnosky and I use his books as mentor texts when crafting nonfiction pieces in writing workshop.  My colleagues bought this book for me and I love how it is a collection of Jim Arnosky's sea stories along with a collection of his paintings of the ocean dwellers that inspired him.  The giant fold out pages have intricate detail and many of them are life-size paintings.  Jim also includes sketches on different pages throughout the book. The introduction is a special note to the readers that includes his signature at the bottom of the page.   Children will enjoy learning about the different sea animals from the text, beautiful illustrations and the wonderful fold out pages.  

If you enjoy the Macy's Day Parade than you will want to read Balloons Over Broadway.  This book is about Tony Sarg, puppeteer and the genius behind the giant balloons that float in the skies on Thanksgiving Day.  Tony was a creative and curious boy who loved to figure out how to make things move.  When he was older he moved to London and started making marionettes for kids. His genius mind figured out a way to make the marionettes movement so lifelike that word spread quick about Tony's fabulous marionettes.  Macy's hired him to make a "puppet parade" for Macy's "Wondertown" windows.  Then Macy's had a bigger job in mind for Tony because they agreed to put on a street parade for their workers.  You will need to read and find out how one simple idea and one extraordinary man created one the biggest events that continues to take place every year on Thanksgiving Day.  

Sandra Markle's beginning includes onomontopoeia words that begin the life cycle of a young godwit.  Here are a few words from the book: Crackle! Crackle! Crunch! What's hatching from that egg? It's a young bar-tailed godwit. 

This bird is born during the summer in Alaska.  The yound godwit will learn to hunt, fly and escape predators in the Alaskan terrain.  The long, long journey will begin when it leaves Alaska in October to migrate all the way to New Zealand.  Oh yes, the godwit travels 7, 000 miles nonstop!  This long journey is actually the longest nonstop bird migration ever recorded, how fascinating is that!  I also love the amazing facts in the back of the book about the godwit, so make sure you check it out!

Writing Essentials

"Writing is worthwhile in and of itself.  It's important for teachers and students to internalize this." 

Ruth Ayres

I just started blogging so that I can discover my own writing process.  As I am growing and learning I am recognizing that there are some writing essentials that I currently need as a writer.  These essentials push me and motivate me.  These essentials are: choice, time, feedback, a reading life, reflection and celebration.  I am trying to implement these essentials into my lessons with students.  

Choice
Ralph Fletcher says, "Student choice is the crucial fuel that drives a healthy workshop.  The choice isn't limited to deciding on what to write about.  We invite students to have choice in length, audience, and the pace with which they write."  Children need to have the time to do choice writing so that they can discover their writing voice. 

Time
It is crucial that students write everyday.  When I miss a day of writing, my writing habit is on a hiatus that sometimes lingers on for three or four days. It is so much harder to get back into that habit.  I find excuses as to why I don't have time to write or that I don't know what to write about.  My writing fluency and stamina are slowed down during my writing hiatus which affects my motivation to write.  When this happens I need to think about what Dave Burgess says, "Taking the first step is always the hardest part of the journey."  I just need to push the "new post button" and just start writing so I can get my ideas down.  I can always go back and rewrite parts of the blog.  Seymour Simon says, "Most writers don't write they rewrite and rewrite and rewrite."  

If students don't have time to write daily how can they develop writing habits to help them better understand their writing process. I know it is very challenging to balance all we have to do in a day.  Ruth Ayres says, "The mission of writing workshop is to help people learn to be writers for life."   Writing can be a powerful tool.  People who write..

• learn about who they are as a person and writer
• the power their words have on others
• how writing can help them deal with a difficult time or celebrate something big
• how their reading life impacts their writing life
• the ability to slow down and see the world through writer's eyes  

One of our fifth graders posted this on her blog as she is embarking on her writing journey:
"The way I see writing is that you can write down anything that has happened to you.  You can change the names in your writing so you can express your feelings and no one knows it. I love doing that because you don’t hear the voice in your head telling you that you are sad or telling you there is nothing you can do about it, because there is always something you can do about it."

This student is devoting time to write daily both at home and at school.  The more she writes the more she discovers her writing voice and process.  This will help her craft pieces more effeciently.

Feedback and Celebration
I read Ruth Ayres book titled Celebrating Writers. Her book really helped me understand how big of an impact feedback and celebration have on a writer. She says, " Feedback is the key to creating a community of writers who celebrate together." 

Recently, I had a writing luncheon with a couple of fifth graders.  We celebrated the idea for their chapter book and some strong lines in their writing.  We also celebrated the feedback they gave each other as they crafted their first two chapters.  Gabrielle's writing advice, "When you end your chapter, leave your readers hanging so they will want to read on to the next chapter."  Alyssa is taking Gabrielle's advice and using it as she ends her chapters.  They read their chapter endings to each other to see how well they crafted the ending and how their readers might react.  I was so thrilled to be a part of the celebrating, and I witnessed how their feedback fueled each other to keep writing, even through the hard parts.

Ruth Ayres also states, "It is also by giving feedback that we learn how to talk to writers in meaningful ways."  This is so true.  As the two fifth graders and myself immersed ourselves into their writing we really had a powerful writing discussion about how writers work.  

As we conference with students during writing workshop we are modeling how to give constructive feedback.  Ruth Ayres says this is only the first step in the process.  Our explicit language used in our mini-lessons and the writing partnerships help students develop the skills to give and receive meaningful feedback to each other.  

Reflection
This essential is something I need to spend more time doing as a writer. Since this is an area I need to work on I am going to rely on Ruth Ayres great advice from her book titled Celebrating Writers.   Ruth Ayres says, "Reflection is thinking about what you do and how you feel about it." If I want to continue to grow as a writer then I really need to take the time to reflect on my craft and my process.  

Some powerful quotes from Celebrating Writers on reflective practice:

• Without reflection, students are missing out on an opportunity to grow. 
• The heart of reflective practice is using self-evaluation to strengthen your craft.
• As we reflect on our writing process, we learn how to work efficiently as writers.

I will start with personal reflections.  Ruth Ayres says, "Personal reflections are for the writer's eyes only and are designed to stretch the writer, encouraging risks in process and product."  My first step towards personal reflection will be writing down my strengths and weaknesses as a writer in my writer's notebook. 

I think it is easy to forget that each writer's process is unique and personal.  It is our job to help students find their own writing process by embracing some of these writing essentials.  This involves reading, talking, writing, sharing, reflecting and celebrating with the writers in our classroom. 

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One Word

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I finished reading the book titled One Little Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton and Jimmy Page.  I took some time to think about what word will help me to continue to grow as a person and will help me reach some desired outcomes in 2014.  After taking some quiet time to reflect on the word, I have decided the word "BELIEVE" was the perfect word for me.  I really struggle to believe in my abilities and I struggle with confidence.  This lack of confidence can be a barrier for me achieving my goals.  Believing in yourself gives you the confidence to take risks and the confidence to accept constructive criticism.  Believing in yourself helps you focus more on your strengths and not your weaknesses.   I am hoping that the more I believe the more I will celebrate the small steps I have taken to reaching a goal.  I am hoping that the more I believe the more I will embrace the process and not get disappointed when results don't happen quickly.  

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I love this take away truth and the more I believe the more I will be able to find encouragement from the inside.  Here are some things that I believe can happen:

I believe that I can develop into a writer.
I believe that I will exercise more.

I believe that I am a teacher who can inspire others!

I believe that I am capable of anything if I put in the effort and time!

So my next step is to post the word "BELIEVE" on my desk, in my kitchen, on my iPhone, ipad, and in my planner so that I can start to bring about positive changes in 2014! 

What is the one little word that will change your life?

Sunshine Award

I was just nominated by a wonderful colleague, Cathy Mere, for the Sunshine Award.  I was super excited since I am fairly new to the blogging world and my inspiration for blogging came from Cathy Mere and Julie Johnson.  Cathy is an amazing poet, writer and educator.  I was so lucky do my Literacy Collaborative training with her.  During our training she always had great ideas and her discussions made me think and reflect on what is best for kids.  Many years later, Cathy is still inspiring me to think and reflect on best practices, great books to read, and new apps to use in the classroom.  Thanks so much for the nomination.

Here is a description for the Sunshine Award shared by Matt Renwick:

The Sunshine award gives others an opportunity to learn more about me as a blogger and then, in turn, I will send sunshine the way of 11 other amazing bloggers for you to get to know!

and the rules:

• Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
• List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

Okay, here are 11 random facts about me:

1. It is an inspiring dream of mine to one day publish a book.  I am working on writing some poems about firefighting because my whole life has been influenced by firefighters or being at the firehouse.  My husband, Dan, is a firefighter at Norwich Fire Department.  I can totally visualize what the cover looks like and the title I have in mind is called Brotherhood.

2. My new obsessions right now would be Twitter and Lululemon Athletica clothes.  My husband and daughter got me hooked on wearing Lululemon clothes because they are so unbelievably  comfortable.  I kinda feel like I should start doing yoga because their clothes are really designed for yoga workouts.  

3. My favorite Christmas present of all time is my Shih Tzu named Daisy.  I always wanted to get a puppy for Christmas and 8 years ago my husband surprised me on Christmas morning with the most adorable black and white Shih Tzu.  She is a little diva dog!

4. I love to cook meals with my husband.  My favorite celeb chefs who I turn to for recipe ideas are Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), Rachel Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Paula Deen and Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa). I guess you could say I am a Food Network and Cooking Channel Junkie. 

5.  If I won the lottery I would do the following: travel with my family to Europe, buy a Louis Vutton purse and a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.   

6.  My daughter plays softball so I love to watch college softball on ESPN or ESPNU.  

7.  I am a city girl so I love NYC, Chicago, and Vancouver.  I actually would love to live in Vancouver, British Columbia.  

8. I love writing workshop because it is so challenging and it can be overwhelming.  I like to work through the hard parts everyday.  It is frustrating to me when teachers think it is okay to NOT have their students write everyday.  Reading and writing are a reciprocal process so how can you justify that decision.  Donald Graves said, "All of us need writing as a survival tool in a very complex world."

9. My favorite books as a child were The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

10. I could spend hours in a bookstore.  I really enjoy going to Barnes and Noble. It is a special treat when I get to go to Cover to Cover in Clintonville, OH.  My kids do not like to go to Barnes and Noble with me because they know it is never a quick trip.  I always wanted to open a bookstore in Hilliard, Ohio because we don't have one and I love to be surrounded by books.  

11.  The first people who truly inspired me to implement a reading and writing workshop would be the following: Shelley Harwayne, Joanne Hindley, Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, Gay Su Pinnell and Irene Fountas.  I loved the books titled In The Company of Children by Joanne Hindley and The Art of Teaching Reading by Lucy McCormick Calkins.

Now to answer the questions Cathy thought of...

1. When you look out the window or door of your house, what do you see?  (What's your favorite view?) When I look out the patio door I see a creek and a few wild creatures, even though my house is in the suburbs.  Some of the critters I have observed are deer, great horned owls, hawks, bats and coyotes. I love that I can live in a subdivision but still enjoy a slice of nature as if I lived out in the country. 
2. Ocean or mountains?  Most definitely ocean.
3. What is the best vacation you've ever taken? A cruise to Alaska.  The scenery was breath taking and the glaciers were stunning.  Before we boarded the cruise ship we spent a day in Vancouver and it was so much fun!
4. What is the best book you read in 2013? This is a really tough question.  I really enjoyed Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Mindset by Carol Dweck. It was too hard to pick just one, sorry.
5. Who is your favorite book character?  Willow Chance from Counting by 7s. Why? She was a very unique and different character who was trying to fit in and get through a very difficult time in her life.  Her unique qualities touched and changed the lives of Dell, Mai, Quang-ha, Pattie and Jairo in such a heartwarming way.     
6. What is the one thing you wish you could have someone else to do for you? Decorate my house.  
7. What inspires you? My husband, other educators, my colleagues,  #nerdlution and getting writing advice from authors on twitter.
8. What do you make time for? My family, reading, writing, and trying to make more time for walking my 2 dogs.  
9. If you could spend a month on any continent with your expenses paid, where would you go?  Why? Europe because I would love to visit Paris and Barcelona.  
10. What are your favorite games to play? I really don't play games but I would play Guess Who and Battleship with my son when he was younger.   
11. If you could make one change in the world, what would you want to change?  For every child to have their basic needs met and to live in a safe environment.

11 questions (borrowing some questions from Jacki Prati and Cathy Mere)

1. Who would be the most motivating speaker you have listened to at a conference? Why?

2. Who are some authors you would like to meet some day?

3. If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what would you say?

4. Would you recommend teaching to other people? Why/ Why not?

5. What is the best conference you have attended? 

6. What are some of your favorite professional books?

7. If you could try any job for a day, what job would you try?

8. If you won the lottery what charity would you donate money to?

9. What is you favorite dessert?

10.  What is the best vacation you have ever taken?

11. What book are you currently reading?

Invitation to Participate

Unfortunately, I don't have 11 bloggers to nominate because my blogging circle is so small.  So I have just 1 ...

 Julie Johnson Raising Readers and Writers

In Loving Memory

     December 22, 2012 is a date that I will never forget.  This is the day my father-in-law, Dan Buelow, unexpectedly passed away.  He went in for a simple procedure.  A procedure that hundreds have done and walk out the next day; but this one procedure lead to a different outcome for him.   He went in the hospital and never walked out.  I keep playing that day over and over in my mind realizing that some details are clear and other parts are fuzzy.  I remember the doctor walking out to the waiting room, the hope filled in our hearts, while we waited for the doctor to speak. "He's not going to make it."  The words hit my heart as if they were rocks shattering it to pieces.  All hope vanished...gone just like that. It is hard to lose a loved one and to express the emotions that rumble through your body like a violent storm.  Even one year later it is hard to have reality sink in and face the truth. It is still hard to talk about what happened but I know that it is not okay to keep it bottled in. So I am sharing a poem to help ease some of the pain that lingers and lingers still to this day.

Death

It is not goodbye,

It is not the end,

It is only a gap 

in time that 

slowly passes by

until we all

meet again.

Tick-Tock

Tick-Tock

the pain ebbs,

the sadness

slowly seeps out

to let in 

precious memories 

so happiness 

will shine through. 

The memories 

endure 

keeping Dan

strong in our hearts.

The Perfect Gift

A Staggering Achievement, an old headline from Sports Illustrated about UConn's basketball team.  This headline is glued into my writer's notebook. I paused at this page and I read the headline several times.  As I read I kept thinking about the fourth graders I work with.  How they are developing readers and the bumpy road we are traveling to help them find their desire to read.  I would change the headline to A Struggling Achievement because it is a better title that shows the ups and downs of our book talks.  We celebrate the fact that everyone participated by sharing their thinking about the book. The rest of the session is a struggle...  A struggle to drum up enthusiasm about the book, a struggle to think deeply about the reading so we can stop having discussions focused mainly on plot, and a struggle to have everyone read the pages we agreed upon. 

I offer book choices so that they can find out more about themselves as readers. I share my passion and love for the books hoping it will rub off on them. The frustrations start to mount and the worries start to escalate.  How can I help this group of readers develop reading habits that will help them become avid readers?  As I constantly ponder this question over and over I find myself wishing I could send this letter to them.  A letter from my heart about the perfect gift I wish I could have every student accept with open arms.  

Dear Students,

I've grown to know that I cannot be a reading fairy who sprinkles magic dust and you instantly have a strong passion to read.  However, it is my only wish to be able to give you but one perfect gift.  The gift that lets you see the world and its many possibilities.  The gift so you can travel anywhere...real or make believe.  The gift that lets you read with stamina and fluency.  The gift that lets you learn about anything you choose and share your learning with anyone you please .

The gift to carry a book around with you each and every day so that you can read when a free moment comes your way.  A gift for you to learn life lessons, and to have the characters linger with you even when the book is done and put away.  A gift to share your reading life with others by passing on books to friends who would love this book just as much as you.  A gift to put everything else on hold because you just have to see how the author crafts the ending or it will be a huge catastrophe!  That perfect gift would be from me and that is to help you find the love and drive of why you should have a life where you carve out time each day to READ, READ, READ!  

Love,
Mrs. Buelow
Avid and Passionate Reader

This letter reminds me to shove my frustrations aside and think about how to keep motivating, inspiring and encouraging these students to discover who they are as readers.  It is a constant struggle but I won't give up because I believe that every kid will develop a love of reading!  So we keep reading and discussing and learning about who they are as readers and maybe the passion will emerge!  Maybe just maybe they will accept the gift of reading into their lives and see how powerful it truly can be! 

Exploring, Collaborating, and Creativity=Genius Hour

     The third graders at J.W. Reason Elementary were introduced to Genius hour on Wednesday.  Genius hour was developed for students to explore their own passions and strongly encourages children to be creative and think outside the box.  As a group of teachers learning about this powerful movement it became clear that our boys and girls needed to experience it.  We also knew that the kickoff for this initiative had to be BIG and the kickoff really needed to get the kids excited and motivated to start exploring. As teachers it was our time to be passionate and creative to build this anticipation with the children. As teachers it was our time to create an experience for the children not just a lesson.   So the brainstorming began...Here are the ideas we used from Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess.

     Every third grade student would walk into the classroom and see this message posted in the room...Something big is going to happen today at 2:30!  Mrs. Stephens made signs to hang in the hallway and outside her door. All day long the students talked and wondered about the big surprise.  The buzz we wanted to create was well on its way and children were intrigued and hooked!  
    All the teachers involved in the genius hour agreed to wear lab coats and goggles to help enhance the experience for the children.  As soon as I walked into Mrs. Firestone's class with my costume on the wave of excitement swelled and the guessing about the surprise swirled the classroom.  The kids cheered because they knew that the surprise involved science.

     

     The first part of the lesson began with the video from Kid President titled Pep Talk. This youtube video was recommended on the genius hour blog to use.  The kids loved it and were getting more and more excited so we didn't waste any time and went into reading the book titled On A Beam Of Light: A Story of Albert Einsten by Jennifer Berne. This book was so perfect because the kids started wondering and questioning even more.  Here are some of the questions... How does a light bulb work?... How does electricity work?... If everything is made up of atoms why is air invisible but you can see a book?...What is the moon really made of?  

     The enthusiasm was still strong so it was time for the children to experience the mystery bags.  Each mystery bag was filled with clues about the topic they would explore over the next 3 weeks during genius hour.  The topic was energy so we included a battery, a rock (fossil fuel), a small water bottle, a flashlight, a picture of a gas pump, and a solar calculator.  The children worked in small groups to figure out what all the items in the bag had in common.  They loved it and guessed energy within five minutes.  Even after the mystery bags the questions were still generating.  The boys and girls really wanted to think and wonder and question like Albert Einstein.

The logistics of genius hour  is that the project work would be 3 weeks long. The children can work in groups or alone.  The 4th week will be children presenting their work in front of others.  Support teachers will push in to help facilitate projects and keep the groups moving forward.  I am so pumped for this inquiry-based learning and I know the kids are too.  I will be blogging about the project work next week for inquiring minds who want to know more!