Healthy Living

Playing a word game relay race

Healthy Living month is my favorite! It is so much fun, and the kids really connect to it.  This year my professional growth goal has been to include more activity in my lessons, so it all fit together quite nicely.  We have been starting out each day with Action Math.  This month we have been concentrating on the idea of practice - that the more you practice, the better you get.  They have been able to see how much more they can do now - both physically and mathematically - as we have worked each day. Most of them are up above their 1,000s counting by 10s as they do their jumping jacks! And that's the last of the challenges each morning.

Skip-Count Jumping Jacks
Champions of the Day

We have been talking about the different kinds of exercise as we do new activities, but the video from Ms. Simmonds really helped them tie things together. They had great discussions about how much sleep is needed, what kinds of foods are healthy foods and how important it is to be active.  One of the things I really appreciated is how Ms. Simmonds pointed out that it is as important to eat enough as it is not to eat too much.

Discussion time

Action Math

I was fortunate enough to have my nephews come spend the day with me this month as well.  Both of them are student athletes (one in high school, the other 8th grade), and have been diligent about learning how to be healthy.  I asked them if they would talk to my students about what it's like to be an athlete in school and how their choices affect their ability to work and participate in their sports.  The kids had tons of questions for them!

They were even willing to participate in Action Math and in our small group discussions about healthy living.

The boys working on their song

After we watched Ms. Simmonds' video, I divided the kids into boys and girls to do our monthly challenge.  They have such different ideas of what a dance should look like, it's easier for them (and more fun) when they do these kinds of things separately.  I have to admit, I was a bit worried about what they were going to come up with!  But in the end, they did a great job.  The boys are still practicing, but the girls were ready to record.

Although many of the challenges for the FAAR lessons were a bit to high a level for them, we did talk about drug and alcohol use this month several times.  We talk a lot throughout the year about brain development and why their brains work the way they do sometimes.  So that part of our discussion was pretty familiar to them.  But this is a tough topic for my kiddos each year, because many of them see both drug and alcohol abuse in their community, or they have had family members who have been victims of those who are under the influence.  It's hard for them to understand why it's okay for some people to have alcohol and others can't.  Especially when they see the results of overindulgence.  The challenges were a bit over their heads, but we wanted to participate anyway, so we adapted and created our own haiku:

Our brains - still growing

Alcohol - no good for us

Wait 'til we grow up

April Healthy Living Challenges!

This month has definitely been one that we have had a lot of "real talk" about healthy living in my room, but also the most creativity I have seen in our challenges. These projects have been SO informative for my students because they are truly starting to understand the importance of development in both their brains and bodies. It's nice to expand healthy living beyond just eating well. We have talked a lot about eating healthy, sleeping enough, and exercising since we watched +Clark Rachfal's April video.

 After showing my students the challenges from FARR and Classroom Champions, my students were PUMPED! They wanted to start right away. We watched all of the Ask, Listen, Learn videos several times to learn more about what alcohol can do to our brains. My students already had some prior knowledge, but really enjoyed getting more in depth about the topics. They learned so many new terms and even started using them in conversation!

We have already started our Research Unit, so they are pros at note taking! I was amazed to see how they even took it to the next level and some took notes in Google Docs.

 

I let my students have quite a bit of freedom of choice with this month's challenges. Their choices were varied - poetry, drama, expository writing, and one wanted to make an example vegetarian meal. I was amazed to see how hard they worked each day to complete their challenges.

 The students on the left created a rap about how alcohol can make you feel and its effects on the brain. 

Alcohol is a Hindrance
Alcohol is messing with my thoughts
that's why I'm surrounded by cops

It's like a drug,
makes you feel like a slug.

When I drink my thoughts are damaging.
I need some answers.

I feel like talking to God
in a temple, mosque, or church.
I don't have anymore time.
I don't know what's in my mind.

It's damaged my brain.
I think I'm going insane.
It's slowing me down
I'm gonna hit the ground.

Something's wrong with my breathing
I can't believe what I'm seeing.

Neuros all out of balance
Alcohol is such a hindrance.

It took my boys about two weeks to come up with the lines to their poem (rap) using the Ask, Listen, Learn videos and their own creative spin. Many rough drafts later, they were pretty proud of their creation! It was crazy to watch them try to find different beats to go with their rap. They really wanted it to be the "perfect" one! 

The students above created a play in which their friend, who went to a party, made poor decisions and how his friends taught him a new life lesson. We will be recording the rap and play next week to post for our Classroom Champions family.

I cannot wait to post the both recordings this week! 

I have enjoyed learning about Healthy Living with my students!   We watched our video from Meryl and Charlie, then we talked about ways that we could be healthier.   Each student then wrote a healthy living goal, something that they could do to live healthier.  The students suggested; Drink more water, get more sleep, get more active (walk more steps each day), less sugar and less video games.

We watched all of the AskListenLearn videos are Kids and Alcohol.  They truly loved the videos and some times we would watch them 3-4 times.  The kids got obsessed with writing lyrics for the opening song.  They all tried to outdo each other with their ideas.  One of my favorites.  (I am a big Harry Potter fan)

We also spent some time of Kids Health website Learning about making healthy choices.  Which led to lots of questions about smoking and tobacco.  This is always a hard lesson to teach, because we have so many of our family members that smoke.  It is pretty upsetting to students to learn what smoking does to your body.   We have two days worth of great discussions and questions about smoking/chew and e-cigarettes.

https://kidshealth.org/en/kids#catfit

We were also able to tie in our UNICEF project.   Unicef has sponsored a program to help students in America who are NOT getting enough exercise and students across the globe that are malnourished.   My students exercise and earn point with their Fit Bits (provided from UNICEF) and their point earn meal packets for kids across the world.   We have had several lessons about getting active and also about malnourished countries.

Jumping Into Healthy Living

We have had a jam packed month with Spring Break, testing, and Leadership Days, but we managed to learn about healthy living. As a Leader in Me school, we also focused on Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw (balance feels best). In Lex’s video, he talks about the importance of exercising, eating right, and saying “NO” to underage drinking and “YES” to a healthy lifestyle. We are ready to make him proud!

Lex’s Challenge

Lex challenged us to plan a healthy recipe, cook the recipe, and eat the meal with our families. After reading my students’ recipes and meals, I became hungry. They have given me good ideas for some upcoming meals at my house. Listen as students share their healthy meals. Your mouths might start to water.

ALL Brain Challenges

We have been actively using Ask, Listen, Learn’s resources on the effects of alcohol on the brain. This has been informative for my students because they are truly understanding the importance of their brain and the reasons why they MUST say NO. They enjoyed performing metaphor skits on alcohol’s effects on the brain. My favorite was a flock of birds ramming into a tree instead of landing on the branches. They were all creative and silly. We also wrote sentences using 12 words about our favorite Classroom Champions topic. I then took a couple words out and had them read the sentence. Immediately, their responses were “This does not make any since”. As soon as I told them their cerebellum had been affected, the light bulbs went off. The lessons have been great conversation starters and are allowing my students to have confident conversations.

 

5th Grade Olympics

Some of my students had the privilege of participating in the 5th grade Olympics with other 5th graders in our county. Nataly, Lakiah, Tamiya, Jose, Max, and Parrish represented our class with fellow 5th graders from our school in different track and field events. They had a lot of fun and showcased healthy living at its best.

Parrish: 1st- 200m; 1st- 800m mixed relay

Nataly: 3rd- 100m

Tamiya: 2nd- 100m; 3rd- Long Jump; 3rd- Standing Long Jump

Standards

Science 5.L.1.2 Compare the major systems of the human body (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular) in terms of their functions necessary for life.

ELA W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

Health 5.ATOD.1 Understand health risks associated with use of alcohol. 5.ATOD.2 Understand why people use alcohol. 5.ATOD.3 Apply risk reduction behaviors to protect self and others from alcohol use. 5.NPA.1 Apply tools (MyPlate) to plan healthy nutrition and fitness. 5.NPA.2 Understand the importance of consuming a variety of nutrient dense foods and beverages in moderation

We are Champions Resources!

As you plan for this month's lesson, the following resources and ideas might be helpful.

Click to view the We are Champions Planning Meeting Recording and view in PDF  the slides from the We are Champions planning meeting.

Click here for this month's family newsletter in English and here for the newsletter in Spanish.

Click here for the link to the 2016-17 Classroom Champions Planning Manual to find even more resources on Healthy Living from pages 40-43!

Exploring We are Champions:

• Vocabulary
• Digging into what We are Champions embodies
• We are Champions in Action
• For your own learning

Your mentor will send a final video lesson, during which they might:

• Reflect on their own experience as a mentor
• Relive some highlights of the year
• Talk with the students about next steps in their goal setting practice
• Say goodbye, and close the mentoring relationship.
• While they have not been asked to provide a challenge, they might ask students to reflect, set new goals, or celebrate

Vocabulary Development

You may want to prepare for watching the video lesson by:

• Planning for vocabulary development as needed
• Preparing a Frayer model to make Healthy Living more concrete by creating examples and non-examples of Healthy Living. Click here to view an example of a Frayer Model.
• There will be lots of information that will be helpful in planning this topic below. Please pick and choose what works best for you and your students. Texts will be at the bottom of this blog entry.

Celebrating the Progress

For many teachers certificates will arrive by email and you are welcome to print them and host a closing celebration by giving students their very own signed certificate from their mentors! This is a great time to welcome special guests and families to join in the celebrations and festivities planned for May-June.

There are other ways to celebrate together like creating a class film festival by replaying your mentors videos! Revisiting your favorite lessons, making a thank you video for your mentor, creating slideshows of photos from over the year and their time together. You can also share competition films from your mentors in action and remember: Popcorn makes everything more fun (except for the custodian)!

Reflecting on the Experience

You have all accomplished a lot together and this is a great time to think about how we are each different from the beginning of the year. Which lessons meant the most for each student and what do they plan to continue working on in the future? Revisiting each topic in discussion and in action can be a great way to reinforce what they have learned!

A year long mind map might be a cool way to reflect back and a giant wall sized one could be a shared writing project over several days and showcased in the classroom or the hallway. You can also create a CC “tree” as you can see in the photo above from Ms. Marcus’s 1st grade College Champions class as they host their mentor, Taylor Cooper. Each hand expresses what their favorite topic is and what having Taylor as a mentor means to them. After posting the hands as trees they write the topics throughout the trunk of the tree and it serves to remind and reinforce what students have learned over the year.

           

Jennifer Regruth put together a year end video to share with parents. Other teachers do slide shows, or digital scrapbooks. Kids can make these as well. this was made using iMovie but you can do this with any other video creation platform. Highly recommended and fun! You can also send this to parents and share on your digital newsletter to highlight the amazing great work done throughout the year.

Check out this letter to Kate from her student! Students can do a written reflection, a Kagan style inside-outside circle or other sharing structures. They can also write letters to mentors or write a letter to their future selves. This exercise can help a person focus on what the future might look like and be very encouraging as they move through this transition into the ending of their relationship with their mentor. Making this transition is very important because of the uniqueness of the relationship from having a shared mentor experience with their classroom community and will create lasting memories to cherish and lessons to remember as they continue to develop and grow.

Extending the lessons from the year

Revisiting goals can be helpful during this time to reinforce that it’s a lifelong practice. You could try to work with students to create a new goal setting graphic organizer, or view another mentor’s video about goals for a fresh perspective. A mini goal setting party would be fun :)

This is also a great time to engage in another community service project extending the topics of community and leadership into the end of the year! What are different ways to engage your local and school communities?

Check your local $1 store for medals and swag! Here is a link to a recipe for Salt Dough medals.

Well, hello other mentors. Nice to meet you and hear your advice! This is an excellent time to hear different perspectives and other challenges that your fellow Classroom Champion’ers did for their year. Here is a link to the Classroom Champions YouTube playlist for all the videos made this year and last!

Olympic Day!!!

COC also is having Olympic Day, and their resources are outstanding. Be sure to register!

You’ll get a flag and if you live in a big city where Olympic potentials compete you may be potentially matched with a visit. If you are interested in participating and check the invitation letter sent to us directly. These are on G+ for your viewing pleasure! Please tell us if you are participating in either country so we can highlight you in next year’s Report to Communities.

Classroom Champions Day!!

CC day will be on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, If you are able to take part, it looks to be a fun day across the continent uniting and celebrating being Classroom Champions! Catherine will be taking charge of this project. This year we will help teachers to connect to be able to conduct a “mystery chat” with another class. Each class will ask each other questions to try and figure out where the other class is located. Mystery chats are generally 30 minutes to 45 minutes in length. Catherine will pair you up in advance with another teacher so you can discuss, prior to May 10, how you would like to spend your time efficiently. Mystery chat sign ups must be completed by Friday, April 28.

You will also have the opportunity to play Kahoot as several teacher-created trivia questions regarding Classroom Champions for each grade level will be available on CC Day. Your class will play an online trivia game—if you’re feeling competitive, you can brag about your scores on G+ and Twitter! Games are created specifically for grade-level groupings K–2, 3–5, and 6–8. Each game will take about 15 minutes to play.

Be sure to have tons of fun and we also ask that you take LOTS of picture of your students wearing their shirts as they participate in their Classroom Champions Day activity.

OVEP Resources for the end of the year

It might be fun to explore OVEP lessons for your own closing ceremonies, to create a ritual of their own to celebrate the year and say goodbye to one another as a community and with their Athlete Mentor. This may be a great time to explore the links below with more information:

Some lessons that connect to the end of year celebration:

• The Fundamentals Manual- A Sports-Based Programme
• Delivering OVEP- A Practical Guide to Olympic Values Education
• OVEP Activity Resources- Exercises to SUpport Olympic Values Education

Closing the Mentor Relationship

Some ways to segue the mentor relationship can be to define what a  “mentor” is and what it means to them. This can inspire them to seek out mentors in their own lives from their support group.

Talk about your own mentors and reflect what lessons will be helpful as they move into the next grade. Discuss when a person might need a mentor so they offer advice for their friends and to identify this when they get older.

Explore how to find a safe mentor, it is an important relationship that is formed so how can we know what influences we want as we continue to make decisions.  This is a really important skill so that they can be aware and knowledgeable in the ways of identifying and reaching out to experts as they continue to grow and reach their dreams.

For your own learning

Take a moment to celebrate the incomparable advantage you’ve given your students by providing them with a strong mentor relationship (and being a mentor yourself!) as well as giving them invaluable resources to succeed in the future. Below there are several links that can help to recharge and rejuvenate your spirit and validate the stellar and dedicated work you do!

• Here is a feel good video about the positive impact of mentoring!
• Coming highly recommended from Heatherle there from rookiemag.com and their “Ask a grown person” series offering mentoring advice shared by celebrities and provides nice brain break from life.
• A longtime teacher, Christopher Emdin, now a science advocate and cofounder of Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S. with the GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, Emdin offers a vision to make the classroom come alive.
• The best ever end of the year video for teachers: What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali.
• Below are three articles shared with our athlete mentors by our Athlete Mentor Coordinator, Andy Reimer, about transitioning to the next grade:
• Preparing Your Child for Elementary School
• Tips for Parents on a Successful Transition to Middle School
• Ensuring Successful Student Transitions from the Middle Grades to High School