Candle Making

Each year when the holidays roll around, I begin thinking of a craft my students can make to give their parents for Christmas.  This year I decided to revisit a craft I made years ago with students.  After visiting Wonder #443 How Do You Make Candles? and discussing how candles are made, we began making our candles for Christmas gifts.  A mom that came in to help out was amazed at how simple and easy the process was, so I thought I would share.  This would be a great activity to do with kids while they are out of school during Winter Break or out of school for a snow day.

Materials:

• an old crockpot
• old candles to melt down (great way to recycle)
• candle wicks
• molds
• optional glitter to sprinkle on top
• an old measuring cup for pouring the wax into molds
• old spoon(s) for stirring

Directions:

• Place the crockpot on high.
• Place old candles in the crockpot to melt.  It can take up to an hour to melt larger candles.  
• Scrape soft wax off the candles to help the melting process.
• Once there is enough wax melted, you can start pouring the wax into molds.  
• When the candles start to get stiff, add the wick and optional glitter.  You can reuse the wicks from the melted candles, but will also need to buy some at a craft store.
• Once the candles have cooled in the molds (about 30 minutes), they pop right out of the rubber molds.

Another great Wonder to visit as a follow-up to this craft is Wonder #276 Does Matter Really Matter? to help explain the solid and liquid of this activity.

Using Wonderopolis to Help Teach Main Idea

Wonderopolis has some great holiday seasonal Wonders to read and share with students and families. One of those Wonders I shared this week with my students was #82 Do Reindeer Live Outside the North Pole?. We used the Wonder to practice determining the main idea and supporting details of nonfiction/informational text. Main idea is included in the K-5 band of Informational Text in the Common Core State Standards. Wonderopolis is a great way to teach, model and practice using the main idea standard.

After reading the Wonder, we decided as a class what the main idea of the Wonder was. Each student then got a blank piece of white paper and created their own "main idea" map. As a class we reread through the Wonder and underlined supporting details and added those to the map. Using the Wonder was a great way to review and practice main idea and supporting details when reading an informational text.

Below are some additional Wonders you may want to use when working with main idea and supporting details in your classroom or at home:

• #788 Why Do We Need Eyelashes?
• #739 What Is a Nomad?
• #719 Why Do Your Feet Stink?
• #707 What Is a Parasite?
• #667 Why Are Rainforests Important?
• #625 Do Any Mammals Lay Eggs?
• #530 What Is a Dromedary?
• #515 Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?
• #378 Do Bats Need Maps?
• #342 Do Animals Play Hide and Seek?
• #144 Do All Birds Fly South In the Winter?

Holiday Seasonal Wonders to Share and Ideas for Using Them

As I turned the page of my calendar this morning, I began thinking about all of the Wonders of the Day at Wonderopolis that I want to share with my students and some activities I may use with the Wonders before our winter break begins (and a few to share when we return).

#541 Why Aren't There More Holidays?

• Have your students create their own holiday, or use The Ultimate Holiday Site to pick an "unofficial" holiday.  Have them write about their holiday (when it would be, how it would be celebrated, and who would celebrate it) or have them write a persuasive writing piece trying to persuade a chosen audience (parents, teachers, government officials) why their holiday should be "official".

#455 What Foods Bring Luck in the New Year?

• Have students talk about, or write about traditions they have in their family for the New Year.  Are there special foods they eat?  Places they go?  People they visit with?

#545 Why Are Some Drinks Bubbly?

• This is a perfect science Wonder.  The 'Try it out!' section describes how to perform the famous Diet Coke and Mentos experiment.  It also has a link for a Soda Balloon experiment.  What a great way to engage students during such a crazy time of the school year!

#448 How Did Candy Canes Get Their Shape?

• This Wonder would be great to use for creating a timeline from informational text.  The dates are easily identified and found in the text and stretch from the mid-1600s to the 1950s.  Each date has information that could be added to the timeline.

#443 How Do You Make Candles?

• This Wonder not only talks about the history of candles, but shares how different cultures incorporate lighting candles in their traditions including, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  This would be a great starting point to compare and contrast different holiday traditions.  You could even have students compare and contrast their holiday traditions to a different culture.

#441 What Makes Something a Holiday Classic?

• After discussing what a makes a 'classic' holiday movie (maybe even creating class check-list or rubric), have students use persuasive writing to try and persuade their friends why they think a particular movie should be chosen as a 'classic'.  

#439 Why Do We Wrap Presents?

• This is another good Wonder for discussing holiday traditions, but as I was reading the Wonder, I was astounded to learn that, "scientist estimate that the United States alone generates an extra 5 million tons of waste over the holidays, most of which is from wrapping paper and shoppings bags."  You could discuss the three Rs with this Wonder (reuse, reduce and recycle) or brainstorm possible solutions to the problem that wrapping gifts creates in our landfills.

#437 How Are Sleds and Sleighs Different?

• You could use this Wonder to compare and contrast sleds and sleighs using a Venn diagram.  It is a great Wonder to review such words as friction and gravity, too.  

#428 Who Was St. Nick?

• Another great holiday tradition Wonder including what other countries call Santa Claus.  You could make a class chart including what other countries call Santa, what he does for the children in that country and maybe when he visits.  Put them into groups and let them research the questions and fill in the chart.

#427 What's Your Favorite Holiday Cookie?

• Who doesn't love a yummy holiday cookie?  I've found myself discussing with co-workers our favorite holiday cookies.  After you have read the Wonder as a class, have students draw or write their favorite cookie on a post-it note and create class graph.  For older children you could have them visit a younger class to collect data and create their own graphs.

#90 Why Do People Make New Year's Resolutions?

• This would be a great Wonder to share before having students write about their own resolutions, tell why they chose those resolutions and then share them with their classmates.

#89 How Did the Months of the Year Get Their Names?

• With the start of the New Year, kids will love learning how the months got their names.  I think this is a good Wonder for having the students predict where the names came from before reading the Wonder.  You could put the kids in groups, have them choose a month and then share how they think the month got its name.

#84 What Is Boxing Day?

• Though this isn't a holiday celebrated in the United States, it is a great way to talk about other holiday traditions.

#82 Do Reindeer Live Outside the North Pole?

• The reindeer (caribou) is described in the Wonder, including some of its body parts and how they are used.  You could use the Wonder to create a diagram and label the parts.  It would also be a good Wonder for talking about animal adaptions for different parts of the world.  Why would/wouldn't the reindeer survive in a different climate?

#80 Why Do People Kiss Under Mistletoe?

• This is a fun Wonder for sharing another holiday tradition.  

#78 How Do People Celebrate the Winter Holidays?

• There are three winter holidays discussed in the Wonder, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Advent.  I will use this Wonder to create a class chart to compare the three.  I will use this Wonder in conjunction with, #443 How Do You Make Candles?.

Connecting Across the Country Via Skype

Last weekend, I emailed fellow Wonderopolis Wonder Lead and kindergarten teacher, Jon Fines to see if he would have time to Skype on Monday or Tuesday.  My students had been working on some Thanksgiving readers theaters and I wanted to give them an authentic audience to watch them perform.  He said he would love to connect with my second graders and have his kindergarteners watch us.

On Tuesday afternoon we made our Ohio to Montana connection.  We shared our readers theaters with Jon's class and they shared a poem and sang a song to our class.  I had previously shared with my students that Mr. Fines plays the ukulele.  They were very excited to hear him play for us.

After our connection, Jon and I decided to try virtual "buddy" reading with our classes.  I'm excited to model and practice this next week when we return from Thanksgiving break.  How engaging and motivating will it be for a couple of my second grade students to Skype a couple of Jon's kindergarteners in Montana and "buddy" read with them a few times a week?

If you are engaging your students in Skype or any other technology, below are some great past Wonders to visit.  Specifically, Wonder #670, Do You Have Good Netiquette? is a great Wonder to use before Skyping or talking about leaving comments on any website.

• #63 How Does the Internet Work?
• #206 What Is a Mouse?
• #292 What Is the Smallest Computer?
• #420 How Do Touch Screens Work?
• #468 Do You Need a Pen To Have a Pen Pal?
• #670 Do You Have Good Netiquette?
• #710 How Does Technology Change Lives?
• #754 What Does It Mean To Go Viral?

Make your own picture slideshow

Engaging Families in Thanksgiving Seasonal Wonders

Next week is a great time to spend learning and wondering as a family.  Below are several Wonders from Wonderopolis.org to share while spending time with your family.

#45 What Is a Totem Pole?

#46 What Is a Cornucopia?

#53 Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

#407 What Does It Mean To Be a Native American?

#417 Is It Thanksgiving Without Cranberries?

#418 Why Is It Called "Black Friday"?

#419 How Long Do Leftovers Last?
#781 How Big is Plymouth Rock?

If you are an educator, be sure to share these Wonders with parents.  I will be sharing them with families via my classroom blog and our class Twitter account.

If you are a parent and are looking for ways to interact with your children while they are out of school next week, check out this post, Using Wonder to Engage Children Over the Summer.  The activities can be used anytime, not just during the summer months.

Check out my fellow 2012 Wonder Leads and how they infuse Wonder in their own homes, and nurture their students to wonder at home:

• Wonder what causes excitement when reading? by Melissa Edwards (@EdwardsWONDER)
• School - Home - School by Jon Fines (@WonderLeadJon)
• Extending Wonder Over the Weekend by Maria Caplin (@WonderLeadMaria)

You can read more about using Wonder and Wonderopolis in and out of the classroom by going to the Wonder Playground at Wonderopolis.

Using Wonderopolis to Help Meet CCSS Informational Text 3

The lesson below is an example of a Common Core State Standard lesson using Reading: Informational Text-Key Ideas and Details for grades K-5, Standard Statement 3.  Below I have included a vertical progression chart of this Standard Statement.  I have also created a K-5 vertical progression guide for Informational Text here.

Reading: Informational Text-Key Ideas and Details (RI.3)

K	With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
1	Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
2	Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
3	Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
4	Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
5	Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Before reading any further, please check out Wonder of the Day #188 Are Frogs and Toads the Same?

This Wonder could easily be used to meet Reading Informational Text Standard Statement three for grades kindergarten through fifth grade, and beyond.  

In order to help meet this standard, I would start by tying it into my daily routine.  I would post the Wonder when students arrive to my classroom and have them write about the wonder in their wonder notebooks.  I would then read over the information in the Wonder with students.  When working with text, I don't believe most primary students are ready to work with the text on the first exposure, therefore we would revisit the text during our reading workshop mini-lesson, either later on the same day, or within a few days of our first exposure.  Depending on how much experience students have had with this standard would depend on what kind of activity we would do.  You could orally have the students share the connection frogs and toads by turning and talking, create a class "t" chart, create venn diagram as a class or with a partner, or have students work in groups to write about the connections.

With older students, after modeling and working with this standard whole group, you could have students choose a different Wonder from the list below and have them work in a small group or with a partner to practice the standard.

Wonders that could be used to meet Informational Text-Key Ideas and Details, Statement Standard 3:

#726 Who Invented Potato Chips?

#707 What Is a Parasite?

#660 Can Dogs and Cats Get Along?

#657 Where Is the Milky Way?

#628 How Does Dynamite Work?

#624 How Does a Submarine See Above Water?

#619 Who Came to the Boston Tea Party?

#608 Can You Only See the Moon at Night?

#589 How Do Seeds Sprout? 

#584 Who Discovered Electricity?

#544 How Are Slugs and Snails Different?

#530 What Is a Dromedary?

#505 Who's on Mount Rushmore?
#478 What Is Fool's Gold?

#437 How Are Sleds and Sleighs Different?

#351 Why Is the Liberty Bell Cracked?

#276 Does Matter Really Matter?

#274 Who Made the American Flag?

November #WonderChat

With the onset of the Common Core State Standards, I have been trying to include more nonfiction text into my second grade classroom.  According to the standards in 4th grade, students should be reading 50% literary text and 50% informational text.  By 8th grade, 45% literary and 55% information.  Finally, by 12th grade the criteria should be 30% literary and 70% informational text.  One resource, of many I have been using to integrate more nonfiction into my second grade classroom is Wonderopolis.  Wonderopolis can be one resource to help meet many of the Common Core State Standards.  

I am excited to announce the November Twitter #WonderChat will focus around using Wonderopolis to help meet the Common Core State Standards.  How are you using Wonderopolis and Wonder to meet the Common Core State Standards and standards within your district and classroom?  Join and share in some wonderful virtual professional development!

Please join the November #WonderChat Monday, November 5th from 8:00-9:00 PM EST to learn and share about using Wonderopolis to meet Common Core State Standards and district and classroom standards.

If you are using Wonderopolis in your classroom and haven't already done so, you might want to join the group Wonderopolis for Educators at Thinfinity.org.  You also might want to check out the 2012-2013 #WonderChat Schedule.

Looking forward to discussing Wonderopolis and how you use it to meet standards this Monday night, November 5th from 8:00-9:00 PM EST.