How Teachers Support Students’ Unique Learning Talents

I work primarily with kindergarten through 2^nd grade students. Each student I work with has unique talents, skills, and needs to remediate or nurture. When working with over 20 students in a classroom, I must focus on creating curriculum for the greater good of the student population based on the grade-level common core standards mandated by California. Then I must adapt my curriculum to meet the needs of highly challenged students as well as gifted and talented students. When working with second grade students after the COVID school shutdowns, a few students are still emerging at the first-grade level in their reading and math skills while others are performing at the 4 through 5^th grade levels.

Literacy Skill Development at Different Proficiency Levels

When working with reading groups, I have to help beginning readers learn their sight-based words and provide them with readers and activities that reinforce reading comprehension while looking at pictures and using phonics to lean the sounds of letter combinations. The focus is to learn phonics while also learning how to comprehend stories at a basic level by asking prediction, story content sequencing, and reading understanding questions. I also have students illustrate with simple words the big ideas in the stories.

Students who are reading at the second-grade level can sound out words correctly and are learning how to sustain their reading skills with more complex comprehension questions. They can summarize what they read and are able to apply their reading comprehension to everyday and new learning situations. Their vocabulary is expanding as they use the context in a story to define the meaning of new vocabulary words.

Several second-grade students can read 4^th through 6^th grade level books. They have mastered reading the Harry Potter series as well as the Babysitters-Club series. Many graphic novels are highly sophisticated and students love the illustrations as they learn to read longer length multi-chapter novels. When students can read at this level, they are able to evaluate, analyze, and apply what they have read to other situations and learn to write evaluative book reports.

Math Skill Development at Different Proficiency Levels

As I work with math skill development for challenged students, I have them learn their basic addition and subtractions skills while using math manipulatives. I encourage them to practice basic addition and subtraction math facts with flash cards and math games at home.

Students at second grade level are learning to solve addition and subtraction 2 and 3 digit numbers without and with renaming when using various strategies including number bonding, use of number lines, writing a math story, and writing the solution in standard form or expanded form. They are also learning about measurement, geometry, graphing, and basic fractions.

When working with several advanced students, I first complete the daily assignment with them. Then they will tutor students requesting help with the daily assignment. I also prepare advanced work problems for them to solve along with third grade advanced problems. They love being challenged. I started with 5 advanced students and now have half the class challenging themselves with advanced math problems.

Putting It All Together

As I challenge more students with advanced work, I had several advanced readers research and write about rattlesnake bite antidotes. Others studied snow crystals and created detailed illustrations about the composition of snow crystals while writing a factual story about how snow crystals formed. We have written and researched opinion stories about ideal pets. For black history month, our students are learning about how Ruby Bridges entered a school with no other white students initially joining her. The students will write an opinion story about how they would feel if no other students would join them in class to learn because of the color of their skin or because of another prejudice against them. As the students expand their research, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, I am impressed with their growing leadership and compassion for their classmates. They are becoming supportive cheerleaders and tutors for their classmates as they expand their knowledge and leadership skills.

Magnificent Magical Mud

by Mary Ann Burke

INTRODUCTION: GenParenting bloggers will periodically feature select children’s stories with educational and social-emotional growth themes. Magnificent Magical Mud was written to support second grade learners. Students will complete mud science projects and research online informational text to write a mud report.

Why do I love mud?

I have loved mud since I was three years old. I liked the way it squished through my fingers. It was fun to smush my feet in sticky, muddy puddles. Mud was my favorite ingredient for pies and sloshy rock leaf soup. My favorite activity was slinging mud balls at my irritating older brother. Maybe I liked mud because my mom hated mud. Perhaps it was because our backyard became flooded with lots of muddy puddles that I played in whenever it rained. Then my mom would make me change out of my muddy clothes before I stepped into the house.

What is mud?

I was excited when our teacher, Mrs. Hecklebee, asked our class, “What is mud and how do you make it?”

We learned that you can make different types of mud when you mix water with various types of soil. Clay soil is heavy, sticky when wet, and has very fine mineral specks. Sandy soil consists of small pieces of weathered rock and is light and crumbly. Loamy soil has clay, sand silt, and dead plants in it. I was amazed that there were different types of soil that could make mud. I must have used clay soil for great mud pies when I played in my backyard.

Sophia excitedly asked our teacher, “What is the difference between sandy mud and clay mud?”

Then Manuel exclaimed, “Does one type of mud take more water to make? Can you add leaves and branches to make the mud thick?”

My teacher responded to our questions by having us make a quart of clay mud. First, we scooped 4 cups of clay soil into a bucket. Second, we mixed it with a few cups of water to make it stick to our fingers. Finally, we added lots more water to make the mud roll off our fingers.

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Experiment with different types of soil at home. Write down your answers to the following questions:

What type of soil did you use for your experiment?
Measure out 1 cup of soil. How many measuring cups of water did you need to make mud that stuck to your fingers?
How many measuring cups of water did you need to make sloshy mud that rolled off of your hands?
Did you try this experiment with other types of soil? If yes, what were the differences when using each type of soil?

How do you build a house with mud?

The next day our teacher read us a story about how the Toas Pueblo in New Mexico was constructed using adobe mud bricks.

Mrs. Hecklebee explained, “The brick makers created an adobe mud mixture of sand and clay that was mixed with water and other natural materials for binding, like straw or dung. Then they poured the mixture into large molds. Some workers added cement, asphalt, or other substances to make the bricks stronger. Adobe bricks were dried by the sun, heat, or fire. After the bricks dried, they were removed from the molds. Then the workers laid the bricks with cement mixed with sand on the foundation. Wooden inserts were set between the bricks to hold the frames for windows and doors.”

Our teacher added, “Today’s homes can still use adobe bricks. I recently visited Peru and toured an adobe home in the countryside. Other countries with adobe homes include Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, Ireland, and the United States. Adobe homes do not melt away when it rains and are cool to live in due to their insulated composition.”

Mrs. Hecklebee stated, “Different animal and insects might also live in mud houses. For example, mud dauber wasps may build their mud nests on the side of homes. Other living creatures with mud homes include mason bees, American Flamingos, Black-billed Magpies, and mud crabs.”

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Think about different living creatures that might also live in mud houses. Then complete the following activities:

Draw a picture of the creature living in their mud home.
Write a sentence describing what the mud home looks like.

Is mud play a sport?

After talking about mud houses, our teacher explained, “Some people like to participate in different types of mud sports. For example, there are obstacle races where people run, crawl, or slide through mud pits, and race onto balance beams or over inflated objects in the mud.”

Sophia eagerly described how her brother participated in a mud wrestling event and said, “He and his friends fought in a mud pit and slipped and slid in the mud as they wrestled with each other. It was so much fun to watch this sport!”

Manuel added, “My dad loves to participate in off road mudding. He drives his 4 x 4 truck with my older brother off the road on muddy mountain trails. Our truck becomes filthy with layers of dried mud.”

I excitedly exclaimed, “Our family likes to ride our mountain bikes after a rain storm. We will speed down a sloshy muddy hill. It is so much fun! My dad has taught me how to relax while pedaling evenly. I must brake early while I steer my bike through a slippery, muddy trail. I have a mud flap on my bike to keep the mud off my face so I can see the trail ahead.”

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Research a mud sport to complete the following project:

Make a poster about the sport.
Write a rule to keep people safe when participating in the mud sport.

How do people use mud to take care of their bodies?

I thought that mud was an amazing substance. Not only was it fun to play in and build with, but it was actually good for my health.

During a class discussion, Sonia explained, “My dad used mud packs for aches and pains after running in marathons.”

Jasmine exclaimed, “My mom had a calming spa treatment. She actually put a mud paste on her face to get rid of wrinkles and soaked in a mud bath!”

Manuel added, “My parents went to a Calistoga hot spring in California. They relaxed in a mud bath for about 10 minutes. Then they took a shower and enjoyed a warm mineral water soak.”

Mrs. Hecklebee stated, “Mud therapy can also improve digestion when applying a layer of mud around your stomach. Mud can also cool down the body from heat. It will relax you and can get rid of stress.”

I was surprised to learn that mud used for health purposes is sanitized or cleaned before people use it so that they do not get sick.

SIDEBAR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:

Talk with your parents about how mud is made and its importance in your daily life.

Ask your parents if they have changed their understanding or their attitude about mud after this discussion.
Report to your teacher and friends if your parents changed their opinions about the importance of mud.

That night I had a talk with my mom about my mud assignment. The next morning, I ran into the classroom.

I excitedly reported, “After seven years of having my mom yell at me about my muddy messes, she hugged me after our discussion about mud. My mother also reassured me that she now understood how important mud was to my health, happiness, and creativity. Mud truly was a magnificent magical substance!”

Bibliography

Bodine, J. J. (1977). Taos pueblo: A walk through time. Tucson, AZ: Treasure Chest Books.

Bradford, A. (2021, December 22). The Earth&I [Blog]. Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

https://www.theearthandi.org/post/everywhere-but-in-your-eye-the-healing-powers-of-mud.

Brinson, L. C. (n.d.) How adobe construction works. How Stuff Works [Blog]. Retrieved October 3, 2022 from

https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-inprovement/construction/materials/adobe-construction2.htm.

Dewey, J. O. (1998). Mud matters: Stories from a mud lover. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall

Cavendish.

eHow Team. (n.d.) How to build an adobe house. eHow [Blog]. Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

(https://www.ehow.com/how_2125714_build-adobe-house.html.

Ellis, E. (biologist personal communication, October 22, 2022).

Gentry, D. (biologist personal communication, October 19, 2022).

Hewitt, S. (2008). Gems, metals, and minerals. Mankato, MN: Aladdin Books Ltd.

How to do a mud run? Epic mud run ideas below. (n.d.). PARTYGOAT [Blog]. Retrieved

October 4, 2022 from https://partygoat.com/blogs/party-guide/how-to-do-a-mud-run-guide.

Ingrola, L. (2019, April 3). Retrieved from

https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/dirt/2019/04/03/science-mud-healing-power.

Kapur, S. (n.d.) Types of soil. BYJU’S: The Learning App [Blog]. Retrieved October 2, 2022,

from https://byjus.com/biology/types-of-soil/#sandy-soil.

Kimura, S. (biologist personal communication, October 22, 2022).

Laue, C. (n.d.). 5 top tips for mastering mud. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/how-to-ride-in-mud-5-essential-mtb-tips.

Marabito, M. (2022, March 11). Are adobe houses sustainable? Treehugger [Blog]. Retrieved

from https://www.treehugger.com/are-adobe-houses-sustainable-5116189.

Morgan, J. (n.d.) 14 birds that make must nests. BirdWatching Buzz [Blog]. Retrieved October 4,

2022 from https://birdwatchingbuzz.com/14-birds-that-make-mud-nests/.

Mud wrestling rules. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

https://jellowrestlingsupply.com/mud-wrestling-rules.

National Center for Families Learning. (n.d.) What insect builds a mud nest? Wonderopolis

[Blog]. Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-insect-builds-a-mud-nest.

Quentin Wilson and Associates. (n.d.) Localities where adobe works. Greenhomebuilding

[Blog]. Retrieved October 3, 2022 from

https://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/adobe/localities.htm.

Sather, P. (2021, October 25). 6 birds that make mud nests. A-Z Animals [Blog]. Retrieved from

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/6-birds-that-make-mud-nests/.

Surprising health benefits of mud therapy. (2019, August 9). India Times [Blog]. Retrieved from

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/home-remedies/surprising-health-benefits-of-mud-therapy/photostory/70606524.cms.

The WellBeing Team. (2022, January 14). WellBeing [Blog]. Retrieved from

https://www.wellbeing.com.au/body/health/mud-marvellous-mud-html.

Tian, X., Zhang, Y., Li, H., Jiao, Y., Wang, Q., Zhang, Y., Ma, N., & Wang, W. (2022, March

7). Property of mud and its application in cosmetic and medical fields: a review. Springer, NCI

CPTAC Assay Portal. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35254605/.

Top US off-road destinations. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2022 from

https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/outdoors-and-adventure/photos/top-us-off-road-destinations.

Vanderlinden, C. & Leverette, M. M. (2022, October 1). Understanding clay soil and how to

improve it. The Spruce [Blog]. Retrieved from

https://www.thespruce.com/understanding-and-improving-clay-soil-2539857.

Young, B. E., Schweitzer, D. F., Sears, N. A., and Ormes, M. F. (2015, September).

Conservation and management of North American Mason Bees. Arlington, VA: NatureServe.

Retrieved from https://www.natureserve.org/publications/conservation-and-management-north-american-mason-bees.

Grandparenting an Athelete

Grandparenting an Athlete

It has been an exciting school year. The younger granddaughters are learning gymnastics as they advance in their ballet classes and performances. Our middle school grandson has completed a full season of cross country. Our passionate middle school granddaughter juggles a full schedule of select soccer and volleyball. And our older grandchild loves to sail and snow ski. Our greatest challenge is to be fully present for each grandchild as we watch them compete and follow their passions. Each has their individualized preferences for how we are present for their various activities. All request various levels of encouragement. Some love us to cheer loudly while others want us to observe quietly. The older grandkids accommodate our support while the younger grandkids want our full-time participation at all events. Thankfully, we are the grandparents. Our only job is to support each grandchild with their preferred level of support and drive them to an event when requested.

Organizing the Sports/Activity Calendar

At the beginning of the school year, I contact each grandchild and ask them how much they want us involved in the sport and activity schedule. The younger they are, the more they want our attention. Once they express their wishes, I organize our activity attendance schedule. The twins love to show me their recent new dance and gymnastics steps at home. We are only required to drive them to class sometimes and are committed to attending formal performances twice a year. The middle school grandson’s schedule conflicted with the twins’ dance schedule. We volunteered to manage driving for the grandson’s Tuesday schedule while the parents and a babysitter shared driving for the twins’ schedule. I loved watching all cross country meets with our middle school grandson because he was passionate and excited about this new sport. We were encouraged to take photos at all events and share with our extended family. What a wonderful achievement! The older grandkids loved to have us attend many activities until middle school. Once in middle school we distanced ourselves as friends are very important and carpools are wonderful.

Cheering for a Grandchild Athlete

Next, we learned how to cheer for each child at their specific event. The ballet recitals were very disciplined so we quietly enjoyed the performances and awarded each twin with flowers after their performance when we all posed for family photos. The middle school cross country grandson loved having us cheer for him and his team. The coach encouraged outstanding teambuilding cheering for all athletes participating in the race. We took photos at each event and circulated them to family members. The older grandkids thanked us for coming and focused on their sport with their teammates. We were encouraged to cheer holistically for the team and remain calm and quiet.

What I Have Learned from the Coaches

The following are guidelines I have learned from coaches after years of team participation as an athlete, parent, and now a grandparent:

Be present for the entire team.
Listen to the coach and follow the rules.
Reinforce the coach’s rules with your athlete.
Cheer for the entire group of participants.
Don’t coach your athlete or the team from the observation areas.
Be positive at all times.
Don’t distract with unnecessary chatter.
Bring snacks that nourish your athlete and the team.
Offer support or help when requested from the coach.
Model positive sportsmanship for all attendees at a sporting event.

When I consider the value of team sports, I am thankful that all our grandkids value their experiences in their selected sports and team activities. This participation overcomes isolation and encourages lifetime friendships. It helps our grandchildren learn how to effectively work with teams at home, school, and eventually in their jobs and careers.

Share your experiences as a parent or grandparent supporting your athletes in the comments section below this blog.

Nurturing Your Children’s Passions

It’s a new year! Your children may become anxious about how to fill long dark winter days. What can you do as parents to nurture their passions? When your children tend to shut down on cold winter days, you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated on how your family will get through the winter months without going crazy.

Questions to Ask Your Kids to Identify Passions

Here are some questions you can ask your children to get them thinking about what they would like to do or explore during their free time:

What do you love most about school?
What would you like to do to keep your body moving on cold winter days?
What is your favorite playtime activity?
What do you like to do outside?
Who would you like to do a project with? What would you do for a project?
What would you like to learn about? How do you want to learn about this topic?
Where would you like to go to learn more about a specific topic?
Is there a museum or activity program that explores or provides training about a topic of interest?
What can I do to support your interests?
What should we research online to identify classes or learn more about your topic of interest?

Some of the Best Projects Come from Our Children

Children are capable of planning incredible projects when you encourage them with your actions. For example, Maria loves art and shares art projects with her friends. She creates temporary tattoos by drawing creations with marking pens on an absorbent sheet of paper. Then she places the marking pen art against her skin and dampens the sheet of paper with a paper towel. She is very impressed with transferred tattoos. Her sister, Anna, loves to create finger weaving leashes for her collection of stuffed animals. Rosie, her cousin, designs and sews doll clothes for her doll. She has also has created an Etsy account to sell customized Cricut stickers.

Science experiments generate lots of questions that must be answered. Brandon experimented with various hand sanitizers and surface cleaners to determine which products killed the most germs. Dave learned how to code and created various digital games. Marla won an ecology award for learning how to continuously water trees while conserving water with various irrigation systems.

Passions Lead to Internships and Careers

Although these art projects and science experiments sound like educational and exciting rainy-day activities, several led to future internships and career choices. Maria now works in a store creating graphic art designs for tee shirts and other products. She plans to major in graphic art design when she starts college. Anna loves project-based learning and wants to inspire kids by becoming a project-based elementary teacher. Brandon has expanded his scientific interests and is currently becoming certified as a train engineer at a local park. Dave is getting ready to apply to colleges. He wants to eventually construct mass transit systems. I loved playing school when I was a kid and am still teaching students after 40 years in education.

Share in the comments section below this blog what passions you may have developed as a child that led to a satisfying career. Much success as you continue to support your children’s passions.

Parent Roles on School Committees

It’s that time of year! Schools are desperately reaching out to parents to provide extended services that may include:

Volunteering in your child’s classroom or lunchtime supervision support
Fundraising for the school or a student group
Driving for field trips or sports activities
Acting as a leader for the Parent-Teacher-Student Association
Serving on a school or district advisory team for curriculum adoption, school plan development, special education services, English language learner services, Title I services, gifted or talented services, or local education bond oversight
Providing added after school or weekend services

Support Your Children’s Schools

Parents should seriously consider how they can best support each of their child’s school activities when considering their added job and family support needs. Many families struggle with accepting too many responsibilities at one school and not having any more time for the demands from another school. It is better to talk with each child to determine how they want their parents to support them. For example, could another family member offer more help? As grandparents, we provide carpool and homework help for the younger grandkids. Older grandkids may invite us to attend special sporting events as they prefer to carpool with their friends to most events.

Classroom parent volunteer help may include:

Organizing and helping at special events
Creating curricular units for a classroom teacher
Listening to students read in small classroom groups
Reading to children and managing an art or social studies activity that supports a story
Helping students with their small group math assignments
Sitting near challenged students to give encouragement and help them focus on assignments

School leadership activities that may incorporate parents’ special talents may include:

Writing public relations stories for the school
Organizing and leading fundraising activities
Organizing and leading school events
Organizing parent carpools for field trips or sporting activities
Recruiting parents to serve on school leadership and advisory groups
Helping with the after school childcare services

Consider Leadership Opportunities with Various Countries

When a parent has immigrated from another country or attended a different type of school, they can offer teachers a wider variety of culturally rich activities. Many parents are reluctant to become involved in their children’s classroom activities because they may have had limited experiences in the American school systems. Some parents from different countries help classroom teachers by sharing their cultural practices through cooking, art projects, storytelling, social studies projects, and plays. A few parents lead cultural history days. Several parents volunteer in classrooms during the Thanksgiving holiday season by talking about their holiday cultural practices. Others may lead students with various acts of kindness. They may host a fundraising event for cultural communities in need or adopt a school from another country with letter writing activities.

Grow Your Volunteer Leadership Talents

As parents become active in their children’s schools, many will gain leadership skills that can benefit their jobs. Others may explore new skills as they learn how to fundraise for a project or write a public relations story. Some may manage the social media platform for the school. The talents gained from these experiences may lead a parent to run for their local school board, substitute teach, work as a lunch time supervisor, or return to school to become a teacher. My own parent volunteer activities led me back to college many years ago to become a teacher and an educational leader. Please share your own leadership journey as a parent volunteer in the comments section under this blog.