"No Time for TV" Winners!

Thanks to the support of our wonderful PTO, this morning I was able to hand out TEN gift certificates for the Other Tiger bookstore in Westerly.  Each gift card is worth ten dollars!  The winner's names were drawn from the pile of "No Time for TV" contracts that were handed in this week, and I'm thrilled to say that it was a very big pile!!  More than half of our students participated in our challenge to "Exercise Your Body, Exercise Your Mind".  Last week I had a lot of students tell me about the activities they were enjoying with their friends and families, and I noticed that many arts and crafts books were gone from the shelves.  I hope that the week encouraged some people to discover a new favorite activity or to begin a family tradition!  (Game night, anyone?)

Research Buddies!

Our first graders have begun a research project in preparation for their field trip to the zoo!  After I confirmed with the zoo's curator that all the critters on my list were still on view, each student selected an animal to learn about.  Then I modeled for them how to take notes by looking for the "treasure" - or useful information - in each source.  In keeping with the theme, they imagined that they were pirates digging for gold.  (If you have a first grader, ask to hear an "Arrrrrg!"  They were very good at it!)  They will be using a variety of resources to find information including books, EnchantedLearning.com, and World Book Kids Online.

Some of our fourth graders were able to visit the library to assist the younger students with reading the material and to help them identify the useful information.  I emphasized that they were there to support and guide the first graders and to be careful not to end up doing the work for them!  The older students took their roles very seriously and, having just finished their own lighthouse research projects, did an outstanding job assisting with the tasks at hand.  I was amazed by how much the teams got done and look forward to continuing the project this week! 

We have NO TIME for TV!



Three 4th graders who not only participated in No TV Week last year but also went all seven days with NO screen time!  Great job!

This coming Monday, May 16th, will be the beginning of our school-wide "No Time for TV Week".  Over the years this program has evolved into "Exercise Your Body, Exercise Your Mind" (courtesy of Mrs. Reiser-Jones, the librarian at Charlestown Elementary School and former Charlestown PE/Health teacher Mrs. Fiske).  Over the course of the week, we are challenging students to think about how much time they spend in front of a screen (TV, video games, etc.) and to find a different activity to do instead (for example, oh, I don't know...how about...reading?  Heh heh). 

Students will get a prize for earning at least 100 points. They do this by keeping track of their activities (every 1/2 hour is worth 2 points) and by going an entire day with NO screen time (10 bonus points each day).  For more details, directions, and suggestions for activities, please refer to the sheet your child brought home this week.  You can also view it by clicking on the links below:

Exercise Your Body, Exercise Your Mind points tracker (page 1)
Exercise Your Body, Exercise Your Mind directions (page 2)

When introducing the program to students during library classes this week, I began with the question, "Is it okay to eat a candy bar once in a while?"  The students would of course chorus back, "Yes!"  Then I asked, "Is it okay to eat only candy all the time?"  Most of the students would respond, "No!"  (Naturally there was usually one student in each class who would gleefully say "yes" to that question, and even we adults might admit that we've indulged in the fantasy of calorie-free, nutritious junk food!)  When asked why it's not okay to eat only sweets, the students presented a long list of reasons: it would be bad for your teeth, you'd feel sick, you wouldn't have much energy, the extra calories can cause you to gain weight, your body wouldn't get the nutrients it needs.  As we transitioned to dicussing the rules and guidelines of No TV Week, I emphasized to the students that my message isn't that all TV and videogames are "bad", but too much of them prevents us from doing things that help to keep us mentally and physically fit.  Of course, understanding the message and putting it into practice are two very different things.  I hope you encourage your child to participate and take some time to enjoy some activities together!

Here are some links if you're looking for ideas for things to do!
http://www.insteadoftv.com/
http://www.parents.com/fun/activities/rainy-day/tv-free-activities/
http://www.ivillage.com/101-tv-free-alternatives/6-a-145059

And don't forget that the library has lots of books on drawing, crafts, cooking, foreign languages, and all sorts of other topics that can occupy a curious mind!  :)

Traveling the World in Folktales!

Our second graders have been enjoying stories from all around the world.  As a culminating activity, the students searched through the books to determine their settings.  Then we used Google Earth on the SMART Board to identify where each country is on the globe.  The continents are part of their social studies curriculum, and we zoomed out to identify those as well!

 

Our class time just flew by, so we'll have to "book" another flight to visit the countries we missed!