foldables.

What are foldables? Foldables are interactive graphic organizers that students create. These hands-on tools can be used in any subject and grade level. Foldables allow students to organize, display and arrange data to create a visual aid that supports understanding of concepts, facts and ideas.

I introduced foldables in my second practicum as a study aid for the grade 7 geography unit on the environment. It was a great success! The students were excited to discover how they were going to use this new tool. Each student was responsible to create their own foldable, which they used to organize and record notes on the four components of the environment. Each student was given a sheet of paper and scissors with the basic instructions: fold, cut, fill. It is important to model the process, step by step, with the students, noting where to fold, cut and record the information. This is what the final product looked like:

 

Students used the outer flaps to record the name of the component of the earth (e.g. the atmosphere , the inside flaps to record key notes, including important points, diagrams and terminology. Finally, the back of the foldable was used to illustrate the layers of the earth, which students coloured and labeled  A tip when using this graphic organizer is to use coloured paper which not only stands out, but also invites students to engage in note taking. However, be cautious not to over use foldables as a tool, ensuring that the novelty does not ware off with students.

     

There are many different ways that foldables can be used and folded. Here are some examples of foldables that you can use in your classroom:

The hamburger/ hot-dog fold: this foldable can be created with 2-tabs, 3-tabs, or multi-tabs. It is used for comparisons,  points of view, timelines or recording vocabulary. 

The shutter fold: this foldable can be created with 2-panels, 4-panels, or multi-panels and is used for comparisons; summaries; what, where, why, when; pre, post, for and against, term analysis and charts

The layered book fold is often used to tell a sequence of events, such as geological time, process of the rock cycle, process and classification.


  

Foldables were created by Dinah Zike to support student learning. More information can be found on her website.

The Balanced Literacy Diet

The Balanced Literacy Diet, is a great resource for educators. The website is designed to provide teachers with "the what and the how of effective literacy education." It was developed by university and school based literacy experts, who have complied best practice approaches that can be easily incorporated in any classroom. The website includes links to readings, video demonstrations and virtual classroom tours, which provide inspiring ideas and resources to support a strong literacy foundation.  The Balanced Literacy Diet, promotes a framework for fundamental literacy concepts which resemble that of a healthy diet, highlighting certain "food groups" that  are essential for successful student learning. 

The Balanced Literacy Diet

Curriculum Documents

The Ministry of Education website is an essential website for teachers. It includes curriculum documents, exemplars, achievement charts for assessing student work, and other policy documents. As a teacher, it is important to have deep curriculum knowledge to serve as a foundation for a rich learning experience. 

Ministry of Education Curriculum Documents

student engagement.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."

- Benjamin Franklin.

have you filled a bucket today?

Have you filled a bucket today? by Carol McCloud, is a wonderful book for students and teachers. I was first introduced to the book in our Fundamentals of Teaching class which inspired me to go out an acquire a copy of my own. The book has a simple, yet powerful message which encourages positive behaviour and is written in a way that makes it easy for children to understand how rewarding it is to express kindness and appreciate to one another. The book helps young children and adolescence to see the value of treating others with respect and kindness, and models how to be a caring, kind, and responsible person. The author has also created an accompanying website, that offers resources and and tools to help create bucket-filling classrooms. A classroom which promotes bucket-filling allows for a learning environment where all students feel safe, respected, and motivated to learn and grow.

 Bucket Fillers101

poetry foundation

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

under construction

Thank you for visiting the art of teaching and living well. The blog is currently under construction. Please visit back Thursday, March 28th for the launch of the blog.

Happy teaching :)

the importance of reading...

When learning to teach.

When learning to teach:

This past September I embarked on a new journey in teacher education.  I started my first week, as a student in the Master of Teaching program at OISE, in the classroom sharing a part of the first day jitters with the elementary school kids. Admittedly nervous, I greeted fresh-faced grade sixers, eager and ready to start a new year. I shared this same sense of discovery when I started classes the following week. It was discussed in our fundamentals of teaching class this same sense of discovery when learning to teach. Each one of us experience a cycle of learning as we begin to grow from our teaching experiences.  Teachers both new and experienced go through a process of unconsciously unskilled, to consciously unskilled, to unconsciously skilled, and finally consciously skilled. The process then starts from the beginning once again. This past year has been exactly that. As I come to the end of my first year, I have gained a deeper understanding of my own personal philosophy of education and my vision of teaching.  The process of learning to teach is the process of learning who you want to be as a teacher. I have weaved together all the experiences and knowledge from this year to a create a foundation for the teacher that I would like to be.  This year has provided me with the understanding, and the experience in the classroom of what a good teacher sounds like and looks like. I am eager to continue my journey of discovery,as  I embark on the cycle of learning once again.  

In the meanwhile, my hope for this blog is that it will serve to document this year’s past journey, so that I may share my learning and insights with fellow pre-service teachers and colleagues in the profession. It will highlight the importance of critical thinking and inquiry, student engagement, and cooperative learning. Most importantly, this blog will highlight ways to inspire young students to learn, grow, and be the most that they can be. I hope through this blog to gain a true sense of discovery and strengthen my own personal philosophy of education and gain a clearer understanding of the teacher I hope one day to be.