Education of Coffeechug

I am desperately looking for books to engage my 7 year old son to enjoy reading for pleasure. I am an avid reader and would love to begin to read books together and discuss them.

I tried reading Tashi to him the other night. This marks the first time where I read to him and he actually sat still for more than 3 minutes.

The book description reads

In the first book of the much-adored Tashi series, children are introduced to Jack’s extraordinary imaginary friend Tashi, a gnome-like character from a place far away. Brave Tashi tells adventurous tales of being sold to a warlord and escaping on a swan. This little hero has to be clever to outsmart giants, ghosts, demons, and witches that stand in his way. Young readers will be captivated by Tashi’s tall tales of courage and daring.

Typically to have my son read for 15 minutes or me reading to him or a combo is a challenge. When I read this to him we actually read the entire book. He loved it! I was shocked by how focused he was as we read about dragons, giants, and the whole bit. The pictures on each page really helped him to stay engaged.

After reading this book he took it to his room to read and look at on his own. I have to give this book s5 starts for the fact that it connected with my son and he actually enjoyed it. For sure I will be snagging the rest of the books in the series for hope that the focus continues.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ReRead Review

If you have been following this blog, then you know that I signed up for a blogger challenge to reread the Harry Potter series. I forgot how these books just suck my mind into a world of magic.

I rarely ever reread anything. The only exception would be John Green, Kurt Vonnegut, and the book Tuesdays with Morrie. I don't like to waste time reading something again.

However, this is far from a waste of time. I planned to give myself last week and this week to read book one as I have barely done any pleasure reading this entire year. I did not need that much time as I polished this book off in a few days.

I am not going to give a book review like I normally do, but instead just speak about the experience of reading it again. Obviously this book series is one of the best series to ever be created. What I found to be so exciting was reading the story again forgetting so many cool things. I kept reading and thinking, "How did I forget about this character or that event?". I then took the time to look up names of people and phrases and such and was blown away by how much is really hidden in these books. The mirror of erised for example is such an obvious play on words that I overlooked until I Googled to see if Erised was a name of a mythological character(I was way off!). While reading I found myself constantly looking for little gems like this.

I built a Google Doc page I am recording parts that I liked - https://docs.google.com/document/d/15TOUCMYhAQSprGkMEtlhfBtxQmrZ4YHfTHNYmkeIOV4/edit

Feel free to check it out and if you are reading them again feel free to add your own. I know there are sites out there that contain everything, but I want this to be a collaborative self guided journey.

The first book in the series was even better than I remembered. I cannot wait to begin book two. You know you are reading something special when reading it again feels like reading it for the first time.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Lego Minifig Series 8 - Football Player Trade

I am working on collecting all 16 Lego Minifigs from series 8.

Here is what I currently have

I have an extra football player and would like to trade someone for one I don't have in exchange. Contact me or leave a comment if interested.

EdCafe Project - 6th Graders Seeking Feedback and Fresh Ideas

I have fallen in love with the cool idea of Edcafe presentations. If you don't know what an Edcafe is, then search #edcafe on Twitter and learn all about this concept where the learning and teaching are placed in the hands of students.

My 6th grade language arts extension students are working on this type of project as we speak. This is new territory for them and myself. I will share all details and lessons soon when I have time to organize all my thoughts, but in the meantime what is more important is my class.

My 6th graders are working on 4 topics to host a discussion with their peers. We have been reading Touching Spirit Bear and from this book and class discussions they have generated four topics to host a discussion about for their final project.

They have been brainstorming and it is still evolving. The ideas started very simple, but as we continue to talk as a class, find articles, conduct some research and explore the students are going deeper with their thoughts and discussion topics.

We have generate a Google Doc where we have been working on our topics and ideas. At this point in time my students would love to gain some insight, feedback, food for thought, articles to read, etc. from other people besides me(they only can handle so much from one person).

If you could please take 5 minutes, check out the Google Doc, read their ideas and send them some feedback through leaving a comment on the document or emailing me(aarmau@gmail.com) they would love it. I think if they had someone read their information outside of their school it would really make this learning journey more valid.

Here is the Google Doc link - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LRuXwcuFK8N2rkfXuGkHDvNlNMhZMSV8bzS5zJMWr6o/edit

Also, we are creating our very own Book Drum project that you can check out if you wish - http://spiritbearbookdrum.wikispaces.com/home

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help out with my students and their learning.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Harry Potter Read Along - Sorcerer's Stone Chapters 1-5 Update

Yesterday I posted about how I am taking part in a little group activity with bloggers about reading all the Harry Potter books again. I would love it if students, parents, readers of this blog, etc. joined me in reading the series again. You can read more about it here.

Yesterday I had some time to read and I actually was lost in the book and I have not been lost in a book in quite a long time. It was awesome. I have read the first five chapters and I cannot believe about how much I have forgotten about this series and I have barely scratched the surface.

I did not want to post everything here and ruin for others so what I have done is created a Google Doc where I am going to share my thoughts about the book specifically while I read. This will be parts I forgot, parts I like, and basically anything I want to add.

Even better, I would love it if others joined me and added information while you read the series again.

Here is the link for the Google Doc

Friday, September 21, 2012

Harry Potter Read Along - Let the journey begin

I came across this awesome blog earlier this week and after reading some back posts and so forth I became excited to join the Harry Potter Read Along. I have not read these books in forever. Well, basically since each one was released and I read each one that same day.

I have been struggling like mad lately to get immersed in a book. I keep picking up books here and there and just am not able to focus long enough to read. Today I had a bit of downtime while internet was down in my school and started to read the first book. I was hooked all over again. I will be documenting my reading journey on this blog.

If you want please join me in my rereading experience. My plan is to finish book 1 by the end of next week. So find your copy of the first book in this awesome series and join me.

Feel free to send me a tweet @coffeechugbooks (follow the chat at #HPreadalong) or email me @aarmau@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Check out the cool blog. I hope to add some pins to Pinterest and maybe even build a Lego or two.

Lego Creation Challenge #9: These are going to be tough to beat!

Just received two new creations from the 20 Piece Lego Challenge that we have going on right now in my school. The pieces were in the hands of another teacher, Mr. Hernandez and he just blew the top off bottle of creativity!

His first is a duck creation. Different from the others and another solid performance. However, he did not stop there and came up with this design:

I like this. This is good work right here! The bag is being sent out and we will see what is created next.

Have a great weekend and don't forget about the Halloween building challenge.

If you need more info about the Lego Challenges be sure to check the tabs at the top of the blog.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Some Quality Answers From Aiden's Work At School

You have to love the honesty and straight to the point thoughts of a 2nd grade boy.

We never know what will happen next with our kids. The downside of being the offspring of Amanda and I.

I bet any shoe would not argue with these statements.

Lego Building Challenge Creation #8: Industrial Crane

Good work Wagner! Another teacher has joined the ranks of the Lego Challenge. A nice edition to the creative flow of our staff. The 20 pieces are in the hands of another teacher as we speak and then it returns to the students who are anxiously awaiting.

What will be built next?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Coffeechug Daily Education Links 09/20/2012

Let us go then, you and I...: My Dog Ate My Printer...

Print to any printer. No more excuses for students

tags: education classroom printer technology teaching learning digital

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Chain Link Teamwork Challenge

I used this idea from the amazing website - http://greatsolutions.blogspot.com/2008/12/chain-link.html

Today during TA my 7th graders were asked to perform the following task

Chain Link

Materials:

strips of paper, roughly 1/2" wide and 12" long
(how many depends upon how large your group is...plan for about a dozen strips per person)

a roll of tape
(more if you are trying this with a large group)

Instructions:

You have strips of paper and a roll of tape to work with. Your task is to work together to create a festive paper chain. The catch? You'll do this back to back, keeping your hands behind your back and your face forward. Communication and cooperation is key! You have five minutes to create a paper chain as long as possible. When time expires, your chain will be measured; for every 12 consecutive links, you will receive ten bonus points. Unattached links receive no credit.

Have Fun!

I gave them about 14 minutes to see what they could do. Needless to say I was rather impressed by the end result as we ran out of paper. It was interesting to watch them work.

The first thing they did was divide up into two groups(boys and girls). Funny how middle school operates.

They then created an assembly line approach where each team selected one as a taper and the rest just partnered up and assembled.

The key piece was to leave enough extra pieces to connect them all since we were running short on supplies.

In the end we were able to connect 84 pieces. This required some serious teamwork with a TA that needs to work on these skills. They had to problem solve and make sure they shared in the work. This is hard for some to do as they just want to do it all their way. Others have a hard time learning how to operate as a team. It was a good experiment.

We look forward to seeing if any TA can top 84. If so, then we are up for a challenge to improve since we did run out of paper.

Coffeechug's Lego Imagination Contest #1 - Halloween UPDATE

I just wanted to check in to see how everyone is coming along in their Lego Halloween creations?

My son and his two buddies have begun building their creation.

They came up with a very clever title, "Brick or Treat"

Here are just a few photos of their work in progress

If you want to snap a picture and send it my way to show your current work in progress feel free and I will add it to the blog.

In the meantime, keep on building and using your imagination. I plan on starting mine this weekend. However, I might be short on some pieces as my son has hoarded many of them.

Last, I am working on a possible little prize to the best design. More details to come.

Have a great Wednesday and I look forward to seeing your work on progress.

For more information about the challenge simply check out the tab at the top of the blog title, Lego Imagination Monthly Challenge.

Monday, September 17, 2012

5th Grade ELP Interest Inventory

Last week I shared the results from the interest inventory of my 4th grade class.

Today I wanted to share the results from my 5th grade class.

Much like I stated with the 4th graders I am impressed by what they want to learn. The challenge is to make it all work.

Extended Learning Program

Student Interest Inventory

Grade 5 — 2012-2013

Grade 5 ELP Students

Eagle Eye to the World

10—Field Trip to Alcoa Eagle Nest / Cam

10—Flight

7—Young / Life Cycle

4—Legends / History

3—Prey / Hunting

2—Eagles Around the World

Student Interest Areas

11—Geo-Caching

10—Quail Cam

9—Global Contacts

8—Egg Drop

8—Frog Dissection

7—Rocketry

6—Outdoor Activities / Animals

5—Global Pen Pals

5—Architecture / Bridge Building

5—Lego / Robotics

5—Chemistry / Forensic Science

5—Sumdog / Math Explorations

4—Astronomy / Solar System / Outer Space

4—Animation

4—Puppetry

3—Author Visit

2—Field Trips / Sports / Plants

1—Origami / Natural Disasters / WWI & II / Weather / Olympics / Cars / Indians&Legends

Lego Minifig #2: Looking to trade my custom Coffeechug minifig

Alright, I am willing to trade my very own custom minifig of myself, COFFEECHUG, for another minifig rendition of COFFEECHUG!

If you have a good build of a minifig of me(I am bald and love coffee and triathlons and anything nerdy) then contact me at aarmau@gmail.com to set up a trade.

I might have to keep the coffee mug unless your minifig has some addition that is equal.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Lego Building Challenge Creation #7: My Son Aiden

So my son was complaining about being bored Sunday afternoon so after I snapped a picture of the Pac Man piece by Mr. Uhde I gave him the bag and thought it would occupy at least 10 minutes.

I told him I wanted an animal as he was going to make a pistol. Within 20 seconds he builds this turtle.

I will not lie I was quite impressed. He then took about 5 more seconds and added the turtle eating food.

He might be better than me. Not too bad for 30 seconds of work for a 7 year old. If only we did not lose our creativity the older we get!

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