Busting Myths

Great possibilities for a project with a 5th grade class today. Execution ... not as much.

Taking what was called "urban legends or old wives' tales", researching background information, then actually experimenting to prove/disprove these myths.

1) Why must all the background knowledge be obtained in one 50 minute session? Pretty hard to do in one session.
2) Why can kiddos, no matter what you say, not think to do anything but go to google and ask "Will soda dissolve a steak?" or "Does exercising at night make it hard to sleep?" or "Will crossing your eyes make them stick that way?" Or may favorite "Does dropping a utensil mean a guest will be visiting?"

I didn't have any idea of what they would be specifically researching until about 20 minutes before they got there.

Is that why I am frustrated? Cause it was vaguely planned idea from the get go? So many hours spent on can kiddos bubble in a test ... and yet when push comes to shove they haven't a clue how to problem solve. Look up "digestion" or "eyesight"? I just wanted to help because this teacher had never asked for anything before.

Also it was SO HOT in the library today. I probably sweated off 10 pounds. I hope the book bugs don't come back. #causethatwasgross




What a grump. More fun ...

I have been weeding like CRAZY. Teachers and parents think I'm nuts. They don't realize that as they go to the shelves and things are less crowded and more orderly they are finding things much more quickly and easily. We may not have one specific book ... but what we do have looks nice. And we are rearranging our everybody section a bit. The non-fic was separate but in Dewey order. We separated them and I made some shelf labels that we'll see if it helps the kids find things more independently (also maybe help with time spent reshelving). What I can't decide is how to "label" the books so we don't have to redecide every time "we put that in transportation and community helpers" or "we put that in space and our planet." I also pulled all of the "reader" type books (think tall and skinny, if nothing else) and put them in a browsing cart. All day kids thought it was full of new books (even though hello, some of them look decidedly already much loved). How to label those as well, when they're not on a shelf in alpha order? The browsing cart has 6 different compartments on top and bottom.