oh, the ten day.

I taught the first five days of my ten day unit this week.
What a week.


Sunday night, after church, I went by McAlister's to pick-up some neglected paychecks I forgot about in the craziness of this semester. I had been feeling different that night, but I figured it was from all of the late nights over Spring Break I spent working on my projects. While I was at McAlister's, I sorta, kinda, maybe had a seizure. It wasn't a seizure-seizure where you foam and shake like a crazy person. It was stress/blood sugar-related, and I basically passed out and when I came to, was in fear of everyone around me. I was admitted to the ER from 7:45 until 2 am Monday morning. I spent the night with the Pikes (my sweet neighbors), and I woke up for school at 5 am. It was not an ideal way to begin my week.

This week's unit was on the Food Guide Pyramid.

Monday, the students sorted and classified TONS of pictures of foods from magazines and coupons and worked in small groups to create food groups. None used the food groups in the food pyramid surprisingly, which made my lesson so relevant.

Tuesday, the students created a still-life work of art in small groups. Each small group had a set: different foods within the food groups. The students tore tissure paper and glued them in the shapes of the set. Their art turned out so well.. we talked a lot about perspective and how the same objects look different depending on where you view them.

Wednesday, the students researched healthy snacks recipes from the countries of their ancestral origin. The students asked their parents/grandparents where their ancestors came from, wrote the countries down, and returned to school. I divided the students into several countries: Germany, Ireland, Scotland, England, South Africa (I know.. not a country, BUT these students did not know where in Africa they were from), Costa Rica, Mexico, France, India, and Italy. Some students were the only ones in their group, some had six in their country's group. We went to the media center, and they searched websites (predetermined by me because I don't trust Google or... my students...) finding recipes. They wrote them down on notecards, and when we returned to class, they rewrote the recipes neatly on a recipe handout sheet. They colored these sheets, and we voted on a cookbook title for our class' cookbook. The students voted on "Over the Borders" and they worked together to create a glossary, defining the words like "tsp," "tbsp," and "a pinch." We're binding the class copy and having copies made for the students to take home with them next week.

Thursday, the students worked in cooperative groups to study and prepare a presentation on the muscular system. The students were given roles: artists & personal trainers. The artists outlined a human body (traced a student) and decorated their person. They labeled two muscle groups. While they worked on the diagram, the personal trainers used information in folder on two muscle groups and created an exercise program to stretch & strengthen these two muscle groups. They presented their programs and diagrams to the class after lunch. We had all of the desks pushed to the sides of the room, and they stayed like this the rest of the day. I had those fifth graders sitting on the floor all afternoon. It was best though because during the presentations, they had to listen to the steps of each exercise and stretch, watch the demonstrations, and practice them with their "Personal Trainers." :)

Today, we had a guest speaker come in to demonstrate how the students can exercise at home without equipment or a membership to the gym. She had handouts and everything. She explained how muscles tear when you weight train and require a day to heal, and students who lift weights grow stronger when they only lift weights three times a week. The students were really excited about the presentation. After her presentation, we went to the gym where I had fitness stations set up. One of the coaches and I had the students in groups (the same as Thursday's) and they rotated, assessing each other's physical fitness. Before we went, I had a serious discussion about how everyone is at a different fitness level. "If I were doing push-ups, the number I'd be able to do in a minute would be completely different than yours, and yours, and yours." "You will not laugh at anyone. That will not be an issue. No one will laugh at anyone. Does everyone understand?" No one made fun of anyone. The students worked really well with each other. We returned to the classroom, they read over their notes taken by their partners during the assessment, and we discussed how we should all improve in physical fitness while we are young. After our discussion, we spent the remaining hour before lunch finishing the still-life art projects from Tuesday (that were put on the back burner due to having so much planned this week). After lunch, the students took a few tests, and parents arrived at 2:30 for a "Healthy Snacks" presentation. (AKA: Party) :)
The parents brought fruits, apple cartwheels (Google it, the kids LOVED them), banana puddding, strawberry shortcake, gatorades, & lemonade. For the remaining thirty minutes, the students listened to how the parents prepared the snacks, and they enjoyed their healthy foods. We concluded the day discussing how healthy foods taste just as great (if not greater) as junk foods. We decided we would replace one junk food a day this week with something healthy, like a piece of fruit.

It was quite a week. Next week, the students will study starving countries in the world, and they will be "social workers" for the week. They will be in charge of a hungry country, and they will create a PowerPoint presentation about that hungry country. They will include info about the country, why people/children are starving, and what they could do to help. Their parents are coming Friday morning to the Media Center to watch their children present their plans to save the starving people of the world. The students are excited about dressing professionally. Several boys are wearing suits. :)

and that is my ten day lesson plan. After these two weeks, I'll be able to focus on finding a J-O-B! :)