So, how many times have we heard kids say this, “Do I have to?” I think it’s funny that the author, Nancy Loewen, titled her book about responsibility with this question. Responsibility is such a broad topic–from doing chores to turning in homework, from doing the “right thing” to recycling–this big character education word can mean many different things to teachers, parents, and children. So, what are some ideas for teaching responsibility in the classroom or if you home school?

• Classroom jobs: In many elementary classrooms, teachers assign jobs such as line leader, plant caretaker, or milk carrier. Teaching students to check the job board each Monday and start on their task without being reminded is one way to teach responsibility to students. You can use praise students: “Joel, it is so responsible of you to remember to check the job board and get started watering the plants this morning.” At home, children most likely have daily or weekly chores they can do to help them learn responsibility.
• Green programs: Environmental responsibility is another character education lesson you can teach at any grade level. Students in elementary, middle, or high school can start a recycling program at a school or work with an existing program. Students can run the program–picking up cans and/or paper from classrooms and taking them to the recycling bin. They can also create signs, contests, and announcements to encourage recycling. In some schools, students have looked into how the school may be wasting energy and addressed administrators and/or school boards with suggestions for improvements. At home, children can be involved in recycling, conserving energy and water, and looking for any way to go green.
• Being a Good Citizen: One lesson that is often taught with responsibility is being a good citizen. As a citizen of the school, community, state, and country, children have certain responsibilities. Discuss with students what this means and talk about ways to show responsibility. For example, at school, children must turn it their homework, respect their teachers, treat their classmates nicely, and so on. You can also get into the discussion of rights and responsibilities, and how people who are responsible often have more rights. For example, a 17-year-old boy who follows the rules and restrictions for his driver’s license has the right to drive. A 17-year-old who does not and is caught by police my lose his driving rights.

Here are a couple of responsibility books to consider:

Do you have any ideas for teaching responsibility?

I once wrote an entire article on sportsmanship and how to fit it into daily lessons for Teachers of Vision magazine. We already have so much curriculum to cover in a year and state testing to prepare for–how can you add one more thing? But I think character education is as important as reading, math, and science, and so I am going to do a Wacky Wednesday series on this subject. These ideas and activities can be used in public, private, or home schools. Today, we tackle. . .

KINDNESS!

As you can see, one idea would be to have a kindness bulletin board like the one pictured with this post. This teacher posted on flickr.com that this board was used to announce when students caught other students doing random acts of kindness! I love it! (And it’s awful cute, too.) This could easily be done in any classroom at any age–maybe in high school you wouldn’t post it on a bulletin board with ladybugs, but teens could drop notes about people whom they caught being kind into a jar. Teachers could pull one of these once a week for a candy bar or homework pass or something teens at your school care about. At home, random acts of kindness can be posted on the refrigerator.

What does it mean to be kind to people? Teach children and teens that it’s not really that hard. Instead of snapping at someone when they run into him or her in the hallway, just smile and say excuse me. Help someone who dropped a book by picking it up and handing it back to him or her. Refrain from joining in when bullying occurs. Smile at the victim and say hi. Offer to give someone a ride home, help with homework, do the dishes for a sibling or parent, and so on. Make sure to give plenty of easy and practical examples to children and teens of how they can be kind in their daily lives.

Let students write about kindness–they could write poems, stories, personal narratives, or persuasive essays. Put kindness in the middle of a word web, and see what topics kids can come up with to write about. Publish these kindness writings in a book with a plastic binding or on a wall display.

Here are some books you might be interested in sharing with children:

What are your ideas for teaching kindness?

You and your students (or children if you are home schooling) probably have spring fever. Most parts of the country have been experiencing warmer weather, and you probably see some flowers and trees starting to bloom. This might also be the time when you are preparing to take state standardized tests, and spring fever and testing do not go hand-in-hand. So what can you do to buckle down and prepare for tests or finish those last few important units in math and science before it’s time for summer break AND still enjoy the nice weather? If you are at home, how can you keep your children focused when their swing set is calling to them in the backyard? Here are a few ideas:

*Read one of the many books you can find on Amazon (or any online book seller) by just typing in Spring Fever. You will be amazed–and they have books for any age group. Here are a few I found:

*Make a schedule with your child or your students that includes outside time on good-weather days. Show them that if they work hard in the classroom, they will have plenty of time to play outside at recess. Children thrive on schedules.

*Reward good behavior with reading or seat work time outside. This can be challenging if you are a classroom teacher and have a large class, but you know your class and what they can handle. If you have silent reading time every day, talk to your class about having it outside and what type of behavior you expect for this special treat. If you are at home with your children, you can even take your books to the park.

*Plan science units about plant cycles, habitats, the four seasons, and so on during spring. This way, some of your lessons and/or experiments can be conducted outside, and you are still meeting your objectives.

*Open the windows and let in the fresh air!

Talk to your P.E. teachers about physical activities that can be done outside and are still working on some of their objectives for the school year. On days you do not have P.E., take the kids outside at the end of the day and work on these skills. Physical health and development is also an important part of education!

Do you have any ideas to share for spring fever for classroom teachers or homeschoolers?

Clara Gillow Clark is holding a writing contest for students in grades six through ten. The contest goes until April 9. To enter the contest, you write a 250-word entry to one of these prompts from a book called Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter:

Writing Prompt #1: I DARE YOU Rewrite a scene from your life. Think of something that happened today. Something that wasn’t perfect–maybe something that was even downright mortifying–and rewrite it as you would have wanted it to happen. (Tip from Clara: Remember that scenes have a beginning, middle, and end!)

Writing Prompt #2: I DARE YOU Think of two people you admire. Now think of the thing you admire most about each of them. Combine those two qualities into one person, and write about that person in the following situation: She or he is walking down the street, and a strange man hands your character a small sealed carton and says, “Don’t let anything happen to this!” Then the man sprints away. What does your character do next?

Here are the prizes that tweens/teens can win:

First prize: $25 gift certificate to the bookstore of the winner’s choice, a guest spot on Clara’s blog, and his/her choice of any one of Clara’s books

2nd prize: a gift certificate for $15 to the bookstore of the winner’s choice, a guest spot on Clara’s blog, and a choice of one of Clara’s books.

3rd prize: A guest spot on Clara’s blog and choice of one of Clara’s books.

To find out more details & rules, how to enter the contest, and to check out Clara’s blog, go here.

Here’s the book, Spilling Ink, if you want to check it out. It’s perfect for students grades 5 to 9 (according to Booklist):

As other Wacky Wednesday posts pointed out this month, it will soon be National Poetry Month 2010 (like tomorrow–it starts). My past Wacky Wednesday posts had some ideas for elementary and middle grade students. For teenagers, poetry that they write can often be filled with teenage angst and focus on very dramatic topics such as lost love, peer pressure, or drug abuse. In a high school classroom, you could challenge students each week during National Poetry Month 2010 to do a different form of poetry. For example, week one instead of writing haiku like younger students often do, ask them to write a tanka. The next week, challenge students to write a villanelle. Maybe the third week, you will give them a certain rhyme scheme like ABAB ACAC and so on. The last week, challenge students to write a sonnet.

Throughout the week, give students several examples (modern, too, if possible) on the form of poetry you are requiring them to write. They should write more than one rough draft and then choose one to take through to publication. It’s not important which forms of poetry you choose as long as you choose a specific form, and don’t just allow free verse. Free verse is what most teens naturally write!

Do you have any poetry ideas for teens?

One of the first poems in the book is “March” by Emily Dickinson. It starts: “Dear March, come in!” Children could take any month they want to write about and follow Emily Dickinson’s format to write their own poems. For example, you could write: “Dear May, come in! How excited I am! I looked for you before. Put down your hoe, you must have worked, In the garden ’til you’re sore.” Or something like that. . .:)

Another poem in the book is “August Ice Cream Cone Poem,” and it’s two words long: “Lick quick.” This is a great one to discuss with students, starting with, “Why is this a poem?” and talking about how important poem titles are. Without this title, the poem would not make any sense. Children can try to come up with their own rhyming word pairs and then a title and illustration to create a poem.

The poem “The Taste of Purple” is filled with great imagery that makes you want to eat some grapes. Bring in some grapes while you enjoy this poem with your students; of if you home school, share some grapes with your children. Then ask them to write a response to this poem in their reading response journals. (Part of National Poetry Month 2010 activities can be writing and discussing poetry as well as creating some.) SO, in their journals, they should write if they agree with the author that her poem describes what purple tastes like. They should also discuss what they think other colors taste like. For example, children can pick their favorite color, think of foods that are that color, and then write a poem based on these thoughts.

Do you have any poetry activities you do on a regular basis in your classroom or at home to celebrate National Poetry Month 2010 in April or during a poetry unit?

First, I want to apologize if this photo from Flickr.com makes you hungry for cookies and milk today if you are on a “healthy eating plan.” (That’s what I like to call a diet. ) But I won’t apologize for this great information I have to share today with parents, librarians, and teachers. I am so lucky to have great Facebook and Twitter friends, and they are often sharing links with me. This link was brought to my attention on Facebook last week–Milk + Bookies. First of all isn’t the name of the organization just the greatest? I love clever people. So, let me tell you about this site.

Here’s what they say on their website: “Milk + Bookies is a non-profit organization that teaches young children how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book.” It was founded in 2004 by Meredith Alexander, who has two sons and lives in L. A. She was joined five years later by Heidi Lindelof and Laura Zimmerman, also moms in L.A. When people hold Milk + Bookies events, children are given an opportunity to select, purchase, and inscribe a book for someone less fortunate. The events also have storytime, activities, and you guessed it–milk and cookies.

This is one of my favorite paragraphs from their website: “Milk + Bookies combines two essential and worthwhile efforts: LITERACY PROMOTION AND SERVICE LEARNING. While the book donations are imperative to our mission, just as important is instilling the seed of giving into each teenage host and their young guests, sparking feelings of importance, self-confidence and the desire to give and give again.” WOW! These ladies are brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

So, what can you learn and do by visiting this site? You can learn how to get teens and college students involved with this organization and information about helping them to throw their own Milk + Bookies event. You can visit the blog. You can view information about their first ever celebrity-filled Story Time Celebration and donate money to the cause.

I love to see organizations like this because reading is just so important–I mean how do you even figure out how to make macaroni and cheese without being able to read the directions on the box. If kids/people can develop a love of reading, it just makes their lives more fulfilled and easier, in my humble opinion.

So, grab some milk, cookies, and a book today while you check out the Milk + Bookies organization. If you know a teen or college student looking for a service learning project (or even a whole class), check out this website today!

Don’t forget to leave a comment or question on today’s post or yesterday’s for a chance to win this book. Comments need to be left by Friday, November 13 at 4:00 p.m. CST to be considered in the drawing. Now, on with the interview. . .

Margo: Welcome to Read These Books and Use Them. I’ve head a lot of positive comments about your poems and your artwork from yesterday’s post. Everyone loves the snake poem! So, where did you first get the idea to publish a poetry book with text by Jen and illustrations by Colin?

Jen: Ever since Colin was a toddler, he’s drawn faces. When he was ten, I took a look at one of his piles of drawings and picked up a particular image. It was a city bus filled with eccentric passengers. As I looked at it, I wondered what he was thinking as he drew it. At that moment, a couple of rhyming lines popped into my head…and then a verse. It suddenly occurred to me that I could choose a group of Colin’s best drawings and write poems to accompany them, and that maybe we could publish the collection as a book!

Colin: She kept it a secret at first, then she showed the poems to me and my sister, Devon. We really laughed.

Jen: That’s when I knew I had something.

Margo: So, true, if you can get your own children to laugh at your poetry, then others definitely will! How long did it take you to write, illustrate, and publish your first book, Coolhead Luke and Other Stories?

Colin: My mom used illustrations that I drew when I was 8-10 years old for the first book.

Jen: Yes, I used illustrations he’d already done. It took about 2 months of focused work for me to write the accompanying poems, and then another month for tweaks and edits. After we finished our manuscript, the publishing process took over a year.

Margo: First of all, Colin, let me say what a talented artist you were between the ages of 8 and 10. You are even more talented now. And, Jen, how cool to write the poems to go with the illustrations instead of the other way around. That’s an amazing process! How is the second book, On The Edge with Coolhead Luke, similar to and different than the first book?

Jen: Colin is a few years older now, and his images have developed to represent the themes that are common in middle school.

Colin: Also, for the second book, my mom wrote some of the poems first, and I had to draw the illustrations to go along with them.

Jen: Both books are similar in that they present funny poems and drawings for kids aged 8-12. Both also have a glossary of poetic terminology and a teacher’s guide in the back pages.

Margo: I love that you are writing funny poems and that you are including teaching material in the back of the book. That is my cup of tea! Your book reminds me a bit of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. What children’s poets do you like? What artists/illustrators do you like?

Jen: Thank you; that is an enormous compliment. As a child, I was a big fan of Dr. Seuss. I feel his influence in many of my verses.

Colin: I love surrealists like Salvador Dali and MC Escher. I also like the work of Matt Groening.

Margo: For those of you who don’t know, Matt Groening is the creator of The Simpsons. I can see a little of his work in yours, Colin, but you are also very original. Jen–who doesn’t like Dr. Seuss? How can parents and teachers use your experience with your son, Jen, in their own homes or classrooms—even if they don’t want to illustrate a book?

Jen: The grading structure in our education system rewards excellence across the board, but most kids are not equally good at all skills and subject areas. Every child has uniquely different aptitudes and abilities, and it’s important to celebrate their individual strengths. Whatever you see to be a passion in your child–that is what you can help him develop. Working in collaboration with Colin has been a wonderful parenting experience for me and a great esteem builder for my son.

Margo: Jen, I agree with you one hundred percent and often say the same type of things on this blog. That’s one of the many reasons I wanted to invite you and Colin on here! This is a wonderful Wacky Wednesday idea for classrooms, home schoolers, and parents. We can all learn to work on any projects that celebrate the passions of our children or students. Colin, if kids are interested in illustrating, what are a few tips you can give them for improving their skills?

Colin: I went to a lot of art camps and workshops. Just keep drawing and trying new things!

Margo: Yep, art is just like anything–writing, basketball, or playing the piano. You have to practice! How can people buy your books?

Jen: Both titles are available at Amazon.com:

Margo: Great, thanks. If anyone is interested in purchasing either of these books, you will have to buy them through Amazon, or you can contact Jennifer through her website to get an autographed copy. How can people get in touch with you/let you know they like your books?

Colin: We have a website at http://www.coolheadluke.com . There are some fun things to do there for kids.

Jen: Or email us! jenwhite (at) charter.net

Margo: Thank you, Jen and Colin, for answering our questions and sharing your creative process with us. I wish you the best success and look forward to a book 3! In the meantime, readers, don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a Coolhead Luke poetry book!

While doing research for another article I was writing and thinking about yesterday’s Tuesday Tales book, Fussy Freya, I found this really interesting website: Fast Food Facts. There are a lot of websites out there that will compare fast food meals for you. They will put the menu items in order from highest amount of fat, calories, or carbs to the lowest amount. If you study these long enough, it’s pretty easy to figure out which menu items are not so healthy at any fast food restaurant.

Okay, but back to this site: Fast Food Facts is a great site to use in a classroom with upper elementary, middle school, and high school students because it shows the entire nutrition label for a fast food menu item. For example, if you look up Burger King’s small round hash browns, you will see a Nutrition Facts label with serving size information and so on, just like you see on a package of cookies or chips.

Since I think it is important to teach children and teens how to read these labels and make smart food choices at the grocery store and when eating out, this site is perfect for teaching these lessons. Explore it yourself for awhile, and then allow your students to do the same. After you have all had a chance to figure out how it works, ask your students to plan a healthy breakfast and dinner from a fast food restaurant of their choice using the site and the nutrition labels. You can also ask them to make a list of trends they notice. For example, a low carb chicken choice at most restaurants is chicken fingers, six piece of less.

If you are looking for books to discuss with your children, teens, or class about eating healthy and balanced meals, you could try these:

Happy reading and happy eating!

The subject of getting our kids to eat healthy, especially in the United States, has been on parents’ and educators’ minds for several decades. There are several teachers’ books that talk about nutrition and give lesson plan ideas. But what about books that talk directly to kids? These two above can be used with elementary students to discuss eating healthy foods and why it is important.

When I taught fourth grade in Otterville, MO, the National Dairy Council gave us two lab rats each year to do a short experiment on. We fed one rat nutritious food, and we fed the other rat junk food. We weighed them and observed their behaviors. The only difference between the two rats was the type of food they were getting. The results (in a very short time because we didn’t want the junk food rat to suffer) were amazing. The junk food rat was awake and wired during the day (rats are nocturnal). He did not gain weight or grow like the healthy food rat. It turns out that if all you eat is junk food, at a young age, you will not grow properly. The obesity problem comes because we are eating healthy food and junk food! Once we started giving the junk food rat healthy food too, the rat started gaining weight and catching up with the first rat.

A “Wacky Wednesday” idea I had while teaching this rat unit was having a healthy snack challenge. In fourth grade, we had a snack time every day. Kids would bring chips, candy, and cookies. With the healthy snack challenge, I decided to give them a sticker on a chart for each day they brought a healthy snack. For students who could not afford a snack, I worked out something with their parents ahead of time to provide a healthy snack for them. Before we started the healthy snack challenge, we had a healthy snack day where each student was assigned to bring a type of easy healthy snack so that students could see some examples of healthy snacks.

Since it is Wacky Wednesday and I’m talking about teaching kids about healthy eating, I also want to enter Samsung Appliances Blogging Sweepstakes to win a New Samsung French Door Refrigerator pictured here:

Isn’t it cool?????

Here’s the question I need to answer: (This is for you parents out there who are reading my blog!)
“With Our Busy Schedules, What Are Your 3 Valid Tips for Getting Dinner Ready in a Flash?”

1. Whenever I am having any type of meat, such as turkey burgers or grilled chicken sandwiches, I always make the patties and marinate the meat in the morning BEFORE I get to work or at lunchtime. Then when it is time for dinner, I just have to throw the meat on the grill.

2. Side dishes can take just as long as the regular meal. I always plan my side dishes in advance and make sure they are easy on a busy night. For example, if we are having baked potatoes and grapes as side dishes, I clean the grapes when I bring them home from the grocery store and put them in a bowl, so I don’t have to wash them that night before dinner. I also buy the baked potatoes in the plastic wrap that you can fix in the microwave. This takes 10 minutes instead of an hour or more. Although it is not cheaper, lettuce already washed and in the bag is WAY easier for salads.

3. Crock pot meals are the best for quick and easy dinners, but my husband doesn’t like me to leave the crock pot on when no one is home. So, I cook crock pot meals on the weekends, and then I divide them into containers where I can easily warm up the meal in a few minutes during the week.

If you want to enter this sweepstakes and put out your tips, please see this post for more information.

So, first check this out, and then I’ll talk about recipes, cook books, and teaching kids with cooking:

When I was younger, I had the coolest cookbook around. I tried looking for it on Amazon because I thought I remembered the title; but I guess at 38, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Anyway, my favorite cookbook was orange with a picture of cheeseburgers on the front. The cheeseburgers had smiley faces, and the book was full of kid-friendly recipes! Instead I found this one at Amazon, which seems to be pretty good and pretty popular:

What I love about recipes and cooking days in the classroom is that 1. kids are excited 2. you can teach them real life skills 3. you can work on several objectives in your curriculum. One time, my third-grade class made bread from scratch after reading a story about bread from the basal reader (yes, I said basal reader–this was a while ago and the almost-retired other 3rd grade teacher LOVED this story). Anyway, she helped my students and me make bread, and we had the best time. My students learned to read a recipe, to measure ingredients, to double a recipe, to follow directions, and to get their hands dirty! Another really simple recipe to make with students that requires no cooking is trail mix. Again, you can make the recipe and then ask students to double or triple it to practice math skills. While you are making the recipe, you can ask math questions such as how many more cups of peanuts are there than pretzels?

To make recipe day more meaningful, cheaper, and fun–be organized and plan it several weeks in advance. Send notes home to parents and ask them to donate one ingredient. Make a copy of the recipe for each student. Make a worksheet full of math questions to accompany the recipe. Figure out which objectives you want to meet through the cooking activity and focus on those during the lesson!

Cooking with your children and/or your students is a great learning experience. Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

Happy cooking on this Wacky Wednesday!