The Spark
The last four chapters of this book were wonderful, just as the whole book has been. It is important not to place the blame on everyone but rather understand what you can do to accept responsibility and move forward. I loved learning about the thought of what is "off track" and what is "on track". This thought process allows me to be the driver of my track. I know that I get off track at times and it is important to take time to reflect and get back on track. Using the "We" method is something I like to do with my class. I use this method to include everyone as the class. This way we come up with solutions together. The solutions refer to the many opportunities happening in our classroom.
I do have to say though, my favorite reading was from "Lighting the Spark". The spark happens when everyone involved is enrolled in the activity. When people are not enrolled in the activity a downward spiral will unfortunately take affect. Enrolling people in the activity lights a spark of enthusiasm and phenomenal things will happen. No matter how big the result is, it is a lot bigger than what you would get from a downward spiral. For example, during the week of Read Across America we had a special guest read the story The Lorax. Afterwards, I needed to individually assess some students so I gave the class an open ended activity. I gave each student a large piece of construction paper. I asked them to show me what they predict will happen with the seed the little boy was given at the end of the story. I told the students they could use any materials in the classroom. A "spark"; the students were enrolled in the activity. Look at the pictures to see what happened next.
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| Start with plain paper and other materials. |
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| A town is born and truffula trees are respected! |
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| The Lorax comes back to take care of the truffula trees, the fish, and the bears. |
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| He was trying to figure out how to glue the stumps to the paper. So, he filled the stumps with glue. |
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| She wanted everything to pop up. Do you see the pond with the fish? Do you see the Lorax? |
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| Tape is great for a lot of things. What fun we had! |
Lighting the spark in everyone is a wonderful gift to give to others. I hope this lights a spark in you. As always...
Keep smiling!
I love that activity. The Lorax is quite possibly my favorite Dr. Seuss book. I love...LOVE...reading it out loud to my students. The part where the last tree gets chopped, I read it in a way that ever student has their eyes trained on the book and on you can hear a pin drop. In my classroom, I've always asked them to pretend that they were the little boy and what would they do with the seed?
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great way to get enrollment and build literacy. Thanks for the pictures and idea.
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