Song Writing

     One of my students' favorite activities is writing songs about something we are studying. Music can bring so much joy into a classroom. When structured properly, this assignment not only helps students remember content but also encourages creativity and builds public speaking and performance skills.
     I allow students to work in groups when we write songs and always give them guidelines for what I  expect. If it is about a historical topic (such as the plague) I give a minimum number of facts required. If the song is about something procedural (such as "how a bill becomes a law") they must cover all steps of the process. Students are also given time requirements so they know how long they have to work on their songs. It is important to include time for "rehearsing" if you plan to perform them.
     I make sure to use performance opportunities not only to teach content but also "good audience" skills. Students should be supportive of their peers and have fun. I HIGHLY recommend recording the songs! Not only do the kids like it but it is also great for sharing with parents.

Here are some songs from the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years.

Songs on the Black Plague:

Brain Dance

The Brain Dance was developed by Anne Green Gilbert, a Seattle based dance instructor. It is composed of eight developmental movement patterns that healthy human beings naturally move through in the first year of life. The eight patterns are:

• Breath
• Tactile
• Core-Distal
• Head-Tail
• Upper-Lower
• Body Side
• Cross Lateral
• Vestibular

I have included a link to an instruction sheet by Anne Green Gilbert on how to do the Brain Dance below. There are many benefits of doing the Brain Dance with your students. Besides being fun and getting students' blood moving it helps reorganize the neurological system, increase blood and oxygen flow to the respiratory system and brain, and enhance core support, connectivity, and alignment.

“The BrainDance is an exercise I developed in 2000 comprised of eight fundamental movement patterns that we move through in the first year of life,” from touching and squeezing to creeping and crawling. “These movement patterns wire the central nervous system by laying the foundation for appropriate behavior and attention, eye convergence necessary for reading, sensory-motor development and more.” -Anne Green Gilbert


How to do the Brain Dance- instructions by Anne Green Gilbert

A group of 5th graders doing the Brain Dance

Article About Anne Green Gilbert- "Dance Teacher Uses Movement to Sharpen Minds"

Foldables

Foldables are one of my favorite activities to bring creativity to the learning experience. Foldables are basically different ways to fold paper to create learning tools. Dinah Zike is the queen of foldables and has written numerous books on the topic. I have personally used her Social Studies books and love them. The great thing about foldables is that they can be used in virtually any content area. They are a fun and kinesthetic way for children to learn. I have used them for vocabulary, comparing and contrasting, question stems, hierarchies, timelines... the applications are endless.

Here are some Foldable Resources:


Video of Dinah Explaining the History of Foldables:

 

Video of Dinah Explaining Some of the Basic Folds:

PDF of A Foldable Book by Dinah Zike  
This is a great place to start if you've never used foldables before


More Foldable Instructions
This site is another useful resource on using folables

Sample Foldables: