Jumping Into Perseverance

Here we go again! Just as in years past, my students did not know the definition of perseverance when I asked them before showing Lex’s video. Ironically our class mission statement, that we wrote at the beginning of the year, has "never giving up" in it. They just never knew that meant perseverance. We even talked about never giving up as a theme in some of the poems we read the first week of the month. It was a true light bulb moment when they heard Lex talking about perseverance. “We’ve been talking about that all year!” shouted one student. In Lex's video this month, he shared with us how he lost his eyesight. His video is titled  "Achieve Your Vision Through Perseverance". Since he talked about losing his sight and his motto is "No need for sight when you have a vision" we connected that into “Fun Friday” activities.

Lex’s Challenge

Lex challenged us to write about a time we had to overcome an obstacle and explain what we did to persevere through the challenging time. Here are all my students’ responses to Lex’s challenge.

Perseverance Challenges

Since Lex’s video was titled “Achieving Vision Through Perseverance” and he shared with us how he lost his sight and persevered through all his challenges, I decided to connect this to extra perseverance challenges this month. We completed these fun challenges each Friday during the month.

Shoe Tying Challenge

Students were blindfolded and had to put their shoes on and tie them. Most were successful and it took them the normal amount of time to tie their laces. Others were successful, but it took them longer than normal. I had one student tie his shoes on the wrong feet. He even said, “I thought something didn’t feel right, but I went with it anyways”. Another student could not tie them at all and ended up with a knotted mess.

Writing Challenge

Students were blindfolded and had to write “My name is …” on a piece of paper. Lex can write his autograph so why can't we write something too. One student tried to write with the eraser end because she was missing the eraser on her pencil and could not feel the difference. Most of my students did not have difficulty writing, but their actual handwriting was a whole different story. It was sloppier (which says something for some of them who already have rough handwriting), bigger, and wavier on the lines. Our classroom roared with laughter when they took their blindfolds off revealing what they had written.

Walking Challenge

Students were blindfolded and tried to walk from our classroom to the cafeteria. This path takes us down two long hallways. Each blindfolded student had a guide helping them along the way. Their techniques for walking were quite interesting and different. Some pairs walked holding arms, while others had the guide pushing or pulling the blindfolded partner. There were even a couple pairs who had the blindfolded partner trying to lead the seeing partner down the hallway. There was a lot of zigzagging, slow walking, and laughter filling the hallways during this challenge. This by far was my students favorite challenge.

 

Persevere Through Your Fears

Before students watched Lex's video, I had them write one thing they would be afraid to do in front of the class. Since they are 5th graders, most were like "Why? So you can make us do it?". I guess they know me too well because that was part of my plan. For the last “Fun Friday” challenge, I asked, “How many of you think you have perseverance and are willing to tackle our biggest challenge yet?”. All but two hands raised. When I revealed their notecards, their hands went down real fast. It was slow going at the start, but once a few students faced their fears and persevered, others were excited to join in on the fun. I am proud of the students who persevered. Some of my most shy and quiet students stood up in front of the class and faced their fears. We also had a lot of laughs. This challenge was so much fun!

Zoe hugged a friend.

Nataly did a handstand because she participates in gymnastics.

 

Devin and Sarahi danced.

Parrish snitched in front of the whole class.

Racheal lip synced and did hand motions to a song.

 

Crystal and Cordero sang.

David danced crazily.

Mikey talked in front of the class sharing science facts.

Perseverance with William Green

We were lucky to have former running back and first round draft pick for the Cleveland Browns William Green come speak to the 4th and 5th graders. Before his presentation, I told my students I would be willing to bet he would speak on perseverance. The first time he mentioned “never give up” and perseverance, my whole class looked at me. He also talked about dreaming big and having a vision for the future. There were moments during his presentation that we thought he was a Classroom Champions mentor and that he knew Lex. My students were fascinated with the connections. It was the perfect presentation for Perseverance month!

 

We have made progress in persevering through our obstacles, but we still need to keep persevering for success, especially in reading. I think we are going to have to set perseverance goals in this area for the remainder of the school year. #NeverGiveUp

Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8- Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.