Tropical Treehouse

Subjects: science, social studies, language arts, and visual arts.

Concepts:

n In biological systems energy flows and materials continually cycle in predictable and measurable patterns.

n Altering the environment affects all life forms including humans and the interrelationships that link them.

n Organisms adapt to changes in the environment according to the genetic and behavioral capacity of their species.

Skills: reasoning, discussing, researching and interpreting.

Materials: copies of student pages (I have a page that they can cut out animals and paste into the proper space in the rainforest) coloring markers or colored pencils, wall map, pictures of rainforest animals.

Objectives:

n Students will describe plants and animals that inhabit tropical rainforests.

n Students will analyze an issue involving the rights of native inhabitants of a tropical rainforest.

Assessment:

n Assess students reports in terms of how well they describe the animal and the specific rainforest habitat involved.

Background: What is a tropical rainforest? Tropical rainforests are wet, evergreen forests circling the equator in south and Central America, Africa, Asia, and many of the Pacific Islands. These complex ecosystems have evolved over millions of years. Their environment is distinguished by a warm, humid climate capable of supporting an immense variety of life. (All background information I’m going to include in a short slide show)

Doing the Activity: Part A- inside the rainforest

1- Ask students whether they have ever heard of a tropical rainforest, and of so, what it might look like. After then share their ideas, show the pictures of the rainforests that I have. The “Cross-section of a Rainforest” student page (which I will have to have separately since it’s in my book) will be used.

2- Ask students whether they have any ideas about what animals live in a tropical rainforest. The “Rainforest Inhabitants” student page (which is also in my book) will be used.

3- Each student will receive a copy of both student pages 212 and 213 (“Cross-section of a Rainforest” and “Rainforest Inhabitants”). They will all cut out the characters on the rainforest inhabitant’s sheet and place them on the cross-section of the rainforest scene at the appropriate levels. Once the inhabitants are placed in the correct levels, they can be glued on and colored. (Explain- the inhabitants on the sheet come from different rainforests around the world and would not be found all together in the same forest).

Part B- jungle tunes

1- Ask students for their ideas about what a rainforest is and what animals might live in a rainforest. The pictures will be shown to them and feedback will be collected on what sound each animal makes.

2- Gather everyone in a circle and instruct students that we are going to make some sounds of the rainforest.

n Rub palms together back and forth (wind)

n Snap fingers slowly, then quickly (first raindrops)

n Clap hands, not all in the same rhythm (steady light rain)

n Slap thighs (heavy rain)

n Stamp feet rapidly on ground (downpour)

n Slap thighs

n Clap hands

n Snap fingers quickly, then slower and slower

n Rub palms

-Talk about a quick review about what was learned-

End

Teaching Metaphors

Teaching is Like Looking in a Mirror

You must constantly reflect and check yourself to improve the ways of learning and teaching.If you don’t like what you see, you can change it to better yourself and those around you, just like you can change your appearance if you don’t like what is staring back at you. As a teacher, you can change your approaches if they're not successful. The same way you change your appearance if it is not successful.

Track Star

#402259

Students will research Andy Warhol and Pop Art, then create their own pop art as a final project.

Burlington High

Burlington High School opened my eyes to something I have never noticed before. Burlington is known as a refugee city so lots of the schools have students from all around the world incorporated into their classrooms. It was weird for me to think that I could walk into a third grade classroom and see a 15 year old girl from Nigeria sitting there learning at a third grade level because she had never been to school before. This was a whole new thing that I was being introduced to, and it opened my eyes to a completely different school environment then one that I had grew up in. I was placed in Burlington High School for this very special field trip, and I picked up immediately all the different cultures that I could see walking though the hall. I never realized exactly just how much of the population that the refugees made up. Burlington High School has a population of about 1,125 kids, 70% being white and the other 30% other. 8-9% of the 30% are Muslims, among others such as refugees from Nepal, and Somalia. They have about a 45% poverty rate but have a very successful graduation rate. About 66% of all graduating students go on to a four-year college. When I walked into those halls that day, I had no idea what to expect from it. When I walked out of those hallways that day, I had a totally new look on things. The school works around the kids to make them fit in the best way possible. Most of the new students don’t even speak English as a first language so the transition into school is quiet difficult for them. I couldn’t imagine going to a school for the first time in my life and not being able to speak the common language would be so difficult. It really opened my eyes to higher learning, no matter who you are, or where you come from, we all should get the equal chance to learn.

Chapter 9

It takes a collaborative effort to keep the classroom from being crazy and unruly. There have been classrooms that I have walked into and it’s clear that the teacher has no control, and then there are also class rooms where the behavior of the students is borderline perfect. Rules, procedures, and routines are the key things to having that quiet controlled classroom. But how do they do it? It must take lot of practice to have everyone in your class give you the respect you deserve as a teacher. I find this to probably be the biggest challenge I will face in the future. I find it difficult to keep control over a number of kids. The bad behavior seems to be contagious and it can get out of hand really quick. The teacher that I observe has her classroom managing skills polished to the T. Her third grade students know the rules and they know the consequence for each time they break a rule. She has the skills that I want to have, I watch her interact with them, her strictness always remains, and they always respect.