My students are growing into global learners. One thing we do is dabbling in new languages. I designed our Language Board as a template. All I have to do is insert the correct phrases for the English equivalents.


     We spend about six weeks on each language, including Spanish, French, and German.  We're fortunate to have students and parents who speak these Spanish and German and who love to help out. I also supplement with online phrase generators.  Can you think of another language that we might include?

     What do you do to develop global learners?

     Wow, what a great science class today!  A parent guest-speaker brought in several live specimens for my students to learn about. They included a hissing cockroach, a millipede, a ball python, a corn snake bred to a reddish color - hence, his name "Lava" - 2 guinea pigs, and a gecko.

     Our very experienced parent presenter let students touch and enjoy and ask questions.  It was a great day for all of us!   Do you have guest speakers who come to your class?  Tell us about it!

Ball python

Millipede

Corn snake bred to a reddish color.

Hissing cockroach

     I've found a way to remind students that I expect certain behaviors during our most active, hands-on activities.  This works especially well when using science equipment or manipulatives. 

     I begin by reminding them that our manipulatives are "tools, not toys" and are to be treated with care and respect.  I then tell them that anyone who chooses to misuse materials or not follow directions will earn a one-way ticket to "Worksheet City". 

     This means that, instead of the fun, hands-on activity we're all engaged in, that person will have to do a boring worksheet or two to learn the same thing.   So far this year, no one has hopped that train and there was only one customer last year! 

     This is meant to be a low-stress, class-joke way of encouraging correct behavior while still having real consequences.  Do you have a similar system in your classroom?

My kids loved this experiment where we asked, "Which dish soap makes the most suds?"  Through discussion, they decided that the most suds was the best cleaner.  Not sure if that's true, but I went with it!

     I put students in groups of four and every person had an empty water bottle. I provided four brands of dish soap. They had to decide who was using each brand.

     Their written directions told them to add 1/2 cup of water to the bottle and 2 drops (not 2 squirts) of one of the dish soaps I provided. They closed their bottle and shook for 15 seconds, then measured the height of their suds.  They recorded the data for everyone in their group for comparison.

     I love teaching kids how to analyze data. Analysis is basically making true statements about their conclusions. For this activity, I required at least two analysis statements. Their conclusion was to answer the original question.

     You can get a FREE copy of the Student Write-Up for the Suds Experiment by subscribing to my newsletter. It gives you access to my FREE Resource Library! The write-up has teacher information and a front-to-back student sheet. It looks like this.

     Yes, we had fun! We also followed the Scientific Method and it was a real-life product comparison activity. Who could ask for more? I found this great, almost free, experiment on Pinterest this summer, but I don't know who to credit...so, thanks to whoever posted this!