Let's Be Healthy

Our 2nd and 3rd graders took a whole big encompassing take on healthy living!  We did so much to learn about why it is important to be healthy!
We took time to learn about our heart, lungs, brain, and muscles.  We used the site kidshealth.org.  I highly recommend that site!  There are great articles and videos on a large amount of health topics.  The kids learned a lot and used the format of the videos to help create their own (more on that later)! The kids were so interested on learning about our organs and I don't think they have given it much thought before that each of them has a certain job.  We had a great discussion on what could happen to those organs if they are not taken care of and how its harder for them to do their job if it is not healthy.  We created a list of healthy activities and unhealthy activities and we tried to think about what are body is doing during those exercises.  As always, I love hearing their side conversations through out the month.  There were a lot of kids talking about how they were helping their hearts and how they were getting a lot of sleep to help their brains!  So great!!

We also joined Unicef with their Kid Power Program.  If you haven't heard about it, please check it out!  It has had a tremendous affect on the students.  It has improved their sense of community, empathy, and that they can have an impact that can be felt across the planet. Not to mention is has also helped them feel motivated to "get moving"!  Each day we have been getting as much steps as possible.  We have gotten over half a million steps since starting earlier in the month!  And they have worked on persuasive language by asking for extra recess to increase their steps!

We also used technology to help add a few fun pieces to healthy living.  One app was a bit on the less academic, but super engaging, called Sketch Nation.  It is an app where the kids can create/draw their very own video game.  They can create their own character, villain, power-ups, and backdrop.  Kids created their own games with a healthy living spin.  Their power-ups were healthy items like fruit/vegetables/bicycles and the villains were ice cream/chips/soda.  They could use their own photos of themselves as the main characters ( we used healthy living poises!)  They (obviously) had a blast!

The other creation was their own cartoons focused on a healthy living topic.  We used the app Toontastic.  Kids had to create a three to five scene cartoon to show what happens if we are not healthy.  We worked on storyboarding and script writing.  The kids were way more creative then the sample that I created!

Like most of our monthly themes, this is one that I know will have a lasting impact on them and gives them the motivation to try and convince/teach others to be healthy.  Students love "tattling" on their family members and can list the many ways they are not healthy.  We talked about ways that they can be healthy together at home and how things like exercise and sleeping enough are "catching".

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.A
Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.B
Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.C
Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2.D
Provide a concluding statement or section.

Here are students showing off their UNICEF Bands:

Here are some of the Toontastics created:

Being Healthy

This month my students worked a variety of components of healthy living: safety, lifestyle, healthy eating, and not making unhealthy choices (drinking alcohol).

We started out by watching Nate’s video on Healthy Living at the beginning of the month. He touched upon eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and exercise, but really focused on safety items that each first grader could do to. He explained by making safe choices, they could avoid being hurt and therefore stay healthy. He spoke of ways my first graders could easily make safe choices such as always buckling their seat belt, wearing a helmet when they ride their bike, and tying their shoelace so they don't trip on them (I was really happy to hear him telling them this this as learning to tie their shoes is continuing project with many of my first grade students). After his video we brainstormed different ways to be safe and the students made a google slide identifying one way to be safe and imported a picture and colored their background. Next we learned about healthy eating, the food groups, and the food pyramid. The students independently made a slide talking about the food groups, importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, and limiting unhealthy foods, and imported a background image onto their slide. We then learned about the importance of exercise and not only does it makes you fit and stronger, but well oxygenated blood getting to your brain helps you to think and learn better. The students again independently made a slide with what they learned about how exercise helps you be healthy, and selected and imported a background for their slide to go with what they wrote about.

We then studied the FAAR lessons on alcohol and their effects on a young person's brain. This was an area that did require quite a bit of scaffolding and modification for the first graders. I began by talking about how our whole body is connected by thin threads called nerves. When they bend their finger, their brain is sending the message along the nerves to the muscles in their finger, telling the finger to bend. Their brain also has neurotransmitters (like nerves)​ that pass information between the different parts of the brain. When they eat healthy and exercise the neurotransmitters work well, but if a young person drinks alcohol, the neurotransmitters slow down and don't pass messages to their body or brain as well. We then watched the FAAR videos and had lessons on alcohol's affects on the cerebellum, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex. At the end of each video and lesson I had the students write on their whiteboard how they thought that specific area of the brain we had learned about would be affected by alcohol. For cerebellum they summarized alcohol's affect could cause them to fall; the hippocampus would be affected by them not remembering of forgetting things; and the alcohol could affect the cerebral cortex resulting in changing their feelings and making them being sad or angry. We did an interactive writing lesson to plan out the information about how alcohol can affect the parts of their brain (in first grade language), and why young people should not drink. Each student keyed in their slide and then selected a 'no drinking alcohol' background to insert.

They healthy lessons this month helped my students learn about healthy eating, lifestyles, and safety, as well as why they should not drink. The children were very clear, even when we began that "alcohol is bad for kids", "only grownups are allowed to drink alcohol because it can make kids sick".  They lesson helped them to develop some understanding that their brain has different parts and how alcohol can affect them. It also helped them to develop an understanding about neurotransmitters and how they pass information to different parts of the brain, and how alcohol can make them slow down.    Overall healthy living not only helped my kids to focus on ways to eats, exercise, be safe, and avoid alcohol, it helped them to develop an understanding of how their whole body works together and how healthy choices not only make them stronger, it makes them have more energy, better able to focus and learn, and feel better

Below is a link to a slideshow that has all of my students slideshows on healthy living and how alcohol affects a young person's brain.  

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G5s_ZTi4fDwZOR5_Dti1Lm2yYsphEl5l2ZxNl-J_fn8/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=3000

The state common core standards that were addressed in the lesson are:

RI.1.2 Retell information, including key details..
RF.1.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
a. Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).
W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
L1.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Additionally, we met many of the technology goals the district as as each student made a small google slideshow with pages on safety, healthy lifestyle and eating choices, and how drinking alcohol is an unhealthy lifestyle choice due to its affects on parts of their brain, and a summary page of why they think it is important to be healthy.  The students were able to independently write, import images and background and I was really please with the finished projects that they made.

Healthy Living

Hello,

    For the month of April, the focus was on healthy living.  For this lesson I concentrated only on the grades 5/6 and 7/8s.  I was able to relate proper nutrition to some prior experiences we had in the class last year before phys ed.  I had some students who would get ill during phys ed, and were not exerting that much energy.  What I discovered was that they were eating skittles before phys ed. class and were getting upset stomachs over this.  I introduced my lesson by reminding them what was happening last year.  We also discussed how important it is to fuel our bodies properly and the negative side affects if we don’t.  A couple of students also shared answers on how to keep our bodies healthy by exercising, and staying away from substances.  

      In our grade 7/8 class we had a competitive swimmer who was on a strict diet for his competitions.  We reviewed what he was eating, and why he would eat some specific foods.  We discussed how some individuals would carb load before a competition the night before and how the body would use that energy.  We also looked at a couple other eating habits and discussed a coupe of known diets.  The class also discussed the negative side affects of energy drinks and pop.  For the monthly challenge I got the students research a healthy food and give 5-8 reasons why students should be eating it.  We are beginning track season this month so we created a bulletin board of healthy foods we should be eating during the month of May.  Some of the foods the students picked were eggs, spinach, broccoli, lemons, smoothies and brown rice.     

Healthy Living

Lesson 1

The learning target in this lesson was for the students to understand that components of healthy living.  We began by making a KWL chart. I was pleased to see that they students knew that healthy eating and exercise were important. One students mentioned drinking water instead of sodas.  We made a list of all the healthy living components that we would be talking about this month: staying fit, healthy eating, staying well, getting enough sleep, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol. Students ended the lesson by naming the three healthiest parts of their lifestyle and picking two areas that would like to improve. We will be revisiting these goals later. 

Lesson 2

The goal of this lesson was for students to be able to explain the benefits of physical activity and personal fitness. We began by discussing the heart. Students learned that the heart’s job was to pump blood throughout their bodies. That as a muscle, physical fitness makes our heart stronger. We also discussed the other benefits of exercise including having more energy. Next, we discussed example of physical activity. We listed all the physical activities that they students so to stay fit. Students then discussed with their shoulder partners what they do from the time they leave school until they go to bed. As the students shared out, I created a T-chart to categorize which actives were physical and which were not. I asked they students to think about ways they could make changes in their daily lives to be more active. Most of my students are involved in sports which is great. To conclude this lesson, students made posters that advocated physical fitness by encouraging other students to be physically active and to suggest ways to be more active. 

Lesson 3

The goal for this lesson was for the students to learn how eat healthy. To segue into the lesson, I read the book Good Enough to Eat.  Next, we reviewed the food pyramid. Students did a sorting game to make sure their understood foods that would fall into the pyramid categories. Finally, the lesson wrapped up with the students creating a health meal using a template of table setting.

Lesson 4

The focus today was for the students to learn how to stay well.  We began this lesson by reflecting back to when someone in our houses were sick. Students shared their experiences. I informed the students that even people who have healthy behaviors sometimes get sick.  Next, we discussed how diseases are spread.  Students learned that diseases are caused by germ like viruses and bacteria. Also that sneezing and coughing without covering your nose and mouth will spread germs.  I was quite proud of my Oscar winning performance as I demonstrated how coughing and sneezing spread germs .They were lots of moans and groans from the audience so I think I got my point across. I ended by reinforcing that healthy habits can help you stay well. The students loved their closing activity for this lesson. They had to create a comic telling others how to stay well and avoid spreading germs.

Lesson 5

Sleep was our focus today. The target was to make the student understand that their bodies have to have the proper of amount of sleep in order for them to be at their best. I began by polling the students about how much sleep they thought they should get each night. There was wide range of answers. Next, we did a shared reading of article from KidsHealth.org about sleep. Students were surprised to learn that the recommended amount of sleep for them was 10-11 hours per night. We watched a slide show where students have to guess which animal got the most sleep. There were several surprises for the students.

Lesson 6

This next lesson is near and dear to my heart. My goal was to convince my students never ever to smoke. We began by identifying tobacco and tobacco products.  I made it clear to students that there was a legal age for buying tobacco products. Next, we read the book Smoking Stinks. We discussed the book and how the character Maddie was affected by her grandpa’s smoking.  This led into a discussion of how tobacco hurts body organs and systems. We talked about the Respiratory System and the Circulatory System.  I shared some old cigarette ads with students. They noticed how the people in the ads didn’t how the effects of smoking including yellow teeth. Next, students had to explain how tobacco hurts the body by completing a student page naming the body systems and how tobacco affects the systems. 

Lesson 7

The target for this lesson was understanding the dangers of alcohol. I used a lesson from our health curriculum for this lesson. We began by linking back to a previous lesson and reviewing the dangers of smoking. As part of that lesson we talked about the body systems that were affected by smoking. Students were asked what body systems do you think would be affected by alcohol and why? The students’ responses were mostly on target.

As we began to learn to the dangers of alcohol, we first identified alcohol as a drug. We discussed the differences between a drug and medicine.  Next, we talked about the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the body. This lesson specifically discussed how alcohol affects the digestive, circulatory, muscular, and nervous systems.

It was interesting to hear students share their knowledge of alcohol. Most of them have seen their parents drink.  Some have seen their parents drink a lot! Many had older brothers or sisters (not of legal drinking age) that drink. It was a very good discussion! It is so important that students know how to be responsible with alcohol. The lesson concluded by the students writing a lesson to themselves pledging never to use alcohol. 

As usual with Classroom Champion lesson, I feel I made a difference in students’ lives this month! Thank you Classroom Champions! We still have to watch Alex's video next week and respond to her challenge! This was a busy month!

Healthy Living

I was very excited to teach healthy living this month because it aligns very closely with our health curriculum.  Our county offers many resources to teach healthy living so I utilized some of those in our lessons.

We started the month by introducing the topic of healthy living and talking about some of its components.  We made an anchor chart with the five parts of healthy living that we would be learning about - eating well, being fit, sleeping well, staying well, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.  The kids were already able to tell me a little bit about what they knew, which I added to the chart.  Healthy living is emphasized in my county in all grade levels, so they had a lot of prior knowledge!

Looking at the chart, we shared some areas of healthy living that were strengths.  Many kids said being fit was a strength because they exercised at recess, gym, and after-school sports.  Staying well and avoiding getting sick was another strength for many kids.  Next, we talked about areas for growth.  Sleeping well was a big one.  My kids tend to go to sleep late.  After this discussion, each student wrote a SMART goal for themselves on the topic of healthy living.  It was great to go back and review goal-setting, too!  Here are some of their goals.

In the next lesson, we focused on eating healthy.  I projected the food pyramid and we had a class discussion about what we noticed.  The kids were surprised to see that soda and sweets were not even on the pyramid but were off to the side because they weren't supposed to be eaten everyday.  Many of them did say that they ate the recommended number of fruits and vegetables a day, so that was good to hear.  We talked about examples of food that would be found at each level of the pyramid.  Then, students drew their own healthy eating plates.  I showed them a model of how a healthy plate has certain amounts of fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, and proteins.  The students then drew pictures of plates with what they would like to eat.

Next, we learned about being fit.  I explained to the kids that the heart is a muscle, and we have to exercise to keep the blood flowing to the heart and to the work the muscle.  Then, we talked about activities that we do everyday, and the kids had to decide if it was a physical activity that would work their heart, or not a physical activity.  They were surprised to find that many of the activities that they do everyday, such as walking to school, are physical activities!

Then, the kids got into pairs and made posters encouraging other kids in the school to be fit.  

The next lesson was all about avoiding alcohol and tobacco.  We had already discussed alcohol briefly in the first lesson because the kids wanted to know why adults could drink it but they could not.  I explained that kids' brains are still growing, so alcohol can affect how their brain continues to grow.  In this lesson, I decided to focus on smoking, because smoking is bad for everyone, regardless of age.  We read a book called "Smoking Stinks!" by Kim Gosselin.  In the book, the main character Maddie, worries about her Grandpa Norman who is a smoker.  She ends up doing a health report in class on smoking and learns all about the harmful side effects of smoking for both Grandpa Norman and people around him.  After reading, we brainstormed some different ways the kids could say no if someone offered them a cigarette.  Then, they illustrated a cartoon strip showing two different strategies they would use in that situation.  

In our last lesson on healthy living, we talked about sleeping well.  At the beginning of the week, I gave them a sleep log that asked them to think about what they ate the day before, how much exercise they had done, and how many hours they slept.  This activity let us preview some math skills - we are actually going to be learning about elapsed time this upcoming week.  Unfortunately, we were only able to keep the logs for three days instead of seven, but we still got some valuable information from them.  I had the kids discuss what they noticed at their tables.  The first thing they noticed was that kids who exercised during the day tended to fall asleep at a better time.  They also noticed that when they slept 8-10 hours, they had more energy the next day.

Finally, we watched Alex's video.  It was great for my kids to see how healthy living is crucial for an athlete.  Her challenge was to write down 3-5 healthy choices they had made this month.  My kids were all able to write down at least five and many chose to write more!  They also added a picture showing themselves making healthy choices.

Having Difficult Conversations Can Lead to #HealthyLiving

My students were very excited to share their learning with you for our #HealthyLiving challenge!  

As you saw in our last post, we dove into making healthy choices in regards to food, exercise, and sleep.  However, we all know that there's more to it than just choose veggies over chips.

We used so many resources from asklistenlearn.org! Their presentation of the info is done so with real thought to the intended audience.  I had a couple of teachers say that they'd have a difficult time having such a heavy conversation with their kiddos...but I was quick to inform them that these resources are WICKED COOL! 

I gave them the choice to write about what they learned.  They chose from the list of options and went from there!  Their work is very impressive.  Mind you, much of this was done in the afternoon after mornings of state assessments...so you can imagine the brain power it took.  We were ALL exhausted!

I challenged them to have discussions at home and even got a couple of messages thanking me for sharing the resources with families.  They would not have known how to approach the topic without them...so I'm glad we have this partnership and are able to share such valuable and meaningful conversations with our kiddos.

Here are a few entries...I have a zillion more as many of them chose to do more than one option on the list!


An Essay from Elijah


Short Story by Iziah



Essay by Nichol



Play by Amy



Play by Antonio



Poems by Iziah

Leadership

Nate had a great message for my students this month!  While talking about leadership he focused on how simple it is to be a leader!  That was such a great message for my kids.  I think some kids feel that they could never be a leader of don't feel they have the qualities that it takes (yet) to be a leader.  After hearing Nate's message, I think they realized that they ARE leaders already!!  I also love that Nate said leaders are not always the loudest people in the room.  I was able to share my own experience with that.  My students know I am a quiet person and they were able to see that a lot of times leader do things that never get noticed, and thats OK!  

The students had a challenge to be a leader in the classroom and in our school.  If they had not have heard Nate's Message, it would have been really difficult for them to think of ways they could be a leader.  But thanks to Nate, the challenge was really fun for the kids and they went above and beyond what was asked of them!  We will continue to discuss ways for kids to be leaders in ways that feel comfortable to them. Thanks Nate for the great message and helping my kids realize they are ALL LEADERS!

The kids made Popplets to recreate the ways that they were leaders in the school or in the classroom.  Of, course they had fun with creating them!   Here are some examples:

Common core Standards addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.B
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.C
Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.D
Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

Leaders Here! Leaders There! Leaders EVERYWHERE!

Leadership is such a powerful theme and often shows up in the most unexpected ways.

Our school ended up being one of the finalists for a MakerSpace and had to prepare a brief presentation to the foundation that was going to be awarding it.  My principal approached me and my students and asked them (not even knowing about our Leadership theme for the month of March) to help out.  We brainstormed and came up with an idea to create a mock Makerspace in an empty classroom.  They researched and came up with a few different stations, woodworking, library, 3D Printer, crafting/sewing, technology, and circuitry.  They then wrote scripts to perform when everyone walked in.  I would go into more detail, but I could write a novel and I'm sure everyone is super busy...so if you wanna know the deets...just ask!

Well, we didn't get the Makerspace after all.  Our school has several different STEM related clubs and the other school, they don't offer much so they felt they were more in need.  They let us know that they had NEVER seen a presentation like that, led by students and were beyond impressed.  I received a note from the foundation that we are on the list and "you never know what could come up in the future!" so that gives us hope that we left a lasting impression on them!

Through this, we found leaders in our room.  I gave them very little direction and after each task, I asked them to think of who the leader was for the day.  Each day was someone new.  One name, Nomia, came up over and over again.  I was kind of shocked as Nomia is extremely and sometimes frighteningly shy.  But like +Alex Rigsby mentioned, leaders aren't always loud.  They complimented Nomia on her quiet leadership and how she respected each person and included everyone's ideas in the project.  She made sure everyone was heard and participated without being bossy.

Later, I asked them what leadership looked like and they created posters.  Again, keeping in mind who led the project.  We read about leaders and read quotes on leadership.  I asked them to pick one quote that really stuck out to them and why and add it to our Google Form.  I took their pictures on picture day (no uniforms and fancy lookin' kids!) and as a surprise,  I had their pictures printed with their quotes on them.  I put them in frames and as they walked in they were on their desks.  It was pretty awesome to see their faces (Watch the video and you'll see what I'm talking about!)

As we wrapped up, I asked them to think of the various tasks that they had been charged with.  I sent out another Google Form asking them to nominate someone who demonstrated leadership this year.  I printed out certificates and we had a little ceremony.  Many of the kids who were nominated, didn't think they were leaders at all.  However, when I read to them what the other students wrote about them there were a lot of smiles and a few tears.  It was pretty awesome!

I'm attaching the video and some of the things the kiddos wrote about their classmates as leaders! Enjoy!


"How Antonio shows leadership is by being nice and how he is respectful to others. You can also trust him and count on him. Antonio will not let down so you can ask him to do something and he'll do it and he'll also help you do anything. Those are some reasons Antonio is a great leader"


"Nomia showed leadership when we were making our leadership posters she helped us out with an amazing idea, and not only that she made sure that everyone was doing something that they were good at and that they were having fun and doing something good for the poster."

Our Leadership is Showing!

First graders have a different idea of leadership.  Before watching our mentor  +Nate Hinze  video on leadership, I asked the children to define the word.  The first responses were being a leader.  I then reminded them that they couldn't use the word or part of the word they were defining in the definition.  There was a long pause in my room before one child raised his hand and said leadership meant being first, like our line leader.  Once the students' heard his idea, they caught on.  Hands went up all over our meeting rug.  Answers ranged from "being in front of the room" to "being the boss" and "telling everybody what to do".

After all that wished to had told their definition of leadership, we watched +Nate Hinze's video.  He did an excellent job of explaining leadership in little kid friendly terms.  He also pointed out several ways my first graders could and do show leadership at school.  My students were so excited by the examples that we had to stop the video a few times due to kids shouting out, "I do that!"

When the video finished, I gave examples of behaviors and the students had to tell me whether the child in the example was showing leadership.  They had no problem telling me which were leadership.  Unfortunately, showing leadership was much harder.

Most of them started with the examples from the video, which was great.  The problem was that like most first graders, they didn't think their actions through.  They got the action but didn't quite get the timing.  We would be in the middle of a lesson and a child would notice pencils needed to be sharpened, so he/she would get up and go to sharpen them.  In other cases they would try to help someone with reading or a math fact, but their way to help was to either tell them the answer, write or read it for them, or make a not nice comment while they were helping.

It took re-watching the video several times as well as multiple reminders but my kiddos finally understood what leadership entailed and that it wasn't about being first or bossing people around. I now have a roomful of proud leaders in my class who are more than happy to tell everyone they see how they are leaders.

 
Here are some of the ways they show leadership.

https://youtu.be/ft_8FrTJEtg