Hi everyone, it's Becky! When I saw this link up from I Heart Grade 3, I knew I just had to join in!

Today I'm sharing my summer goals, so here they are...in no particular order!

1. Travel! We have already kicked off our traveling season with a trip to Disney World in April, and although it was tons of fun, it wasn't very relaxing! So we are going to Topsail, NC in June for our favorite beach vacation! My dad and step-mom live there, and it is just so much fun to spend a week with them! We look forward to this trip every year, and it is the place where I truly feel at peace with everything. 
I am also traveling to Vegas for the big TPT Conference!! I am so excited to meet my roomies in person (The Kindergarten Connection and Kindergarten Planet), and all of the other bloggers and TPT creators I have talked to over the past year! It is going to be an amazing experience! 
We also have an Ocean City, MD trip planned later in the summer! To say we'll be on the move this summer is an understatement!
2. Grad Courses I am taking two grad courses this summer. They are distance learning courses, so I can take them at my own pace. I am hoping to get them out of the way early so I can focus on my next goal...
3. Creating! I have so many ideas for next year, and I am really hoping that I have time to create the activities over the summer. I'd love to have them all ready so I'm not scrambling during the school year! (But let's get real...there will ALWAYS be something else to make or try!)
4. Be a pool rat! Our boys just love the community pool we belong to,  so I have a feeling that we will be spending a majority of our time there...when we are home! Gray is finally tall enough for the water slide and you would think that Urban was born with gills with the way he loves the water! The pool holds many of our summer memories, and I'm sure it will continue this summer!

I just can't wait for summer to start! What about you?! Feel free to link up and share your summer goals!

Hi everyone, Becky here! I wanted to share a really fun and motivating activity my kiddos just finished this week. If your kids are like mine, they can taste the start of summer (just like us!), but we still need to motivate them to think creatively and apply the skills we have worked so hard to teach them all year. Insert GoNoodle's Secret Handshakes! My kids LOVE GoNoodle, so I instantly knew that anything GoNoodle related would be a huge motivator! I announced to the class that they would be creating their own secret handshake with a partner, and they went nuts!

We began the project by watching and doing all four of KooKoo Kangaroo's Secret handshakes. I also asked them to pay attention to the motions/movements while doing the GoNoodle piece. After the handshakes were completed, we came up with a list of the different types of motions we noticed in the clips, and also added other categories we thought would help us create our ownl

I then sent them off to work with their partner to brainstorm the different movements they wanted to incorporate into their secret handshake. We thought about how the Mash Up's at the end of KooKoo Kangaroo's videos usually had three different steps, and agreed that two to three steps would be appropriate for our own secret handshakes. 

Once the decisions were made, the students wrote out their steps and gave it a name. This part was a lot of trial and error for my kids. They had too see how the different movements worked together, what may need to be switched, and what they thought they were capable of doing in comparison with what they really could do! It must have been hilarious walking by my room during this phase because in one blink you may have seen ballerina, penguin, or baseball motions! 

When my kids felt like they were ready to debut their secret handshake, they came up and showed the class, and then we all tried to do it together! There was a lot of laughing together through this part, and an all around good time! I just have to share some of them with you! They still have me cracking up!

Once the steps were written, my kids spent some time practicing their secret handshakes, in preparation for recording and class participation. They also decided that we needed a background like KooKoo Kangaroo, so we pulled up some GoNoodle Champs and picked a few to print out and decorate on some butcher paper!

This activity really showed me how much my first graders have grown up this year! Their growth in maturity allowed them to work together and make compromises with their ideas for the handshake motions. The trial and error part of this lesson was also huge, because it showed me that they were analyzing and reflecting on what they were doing and being honest about what they thought, or recognizing if any changes were necessary.

If you have a few more days left of school, I would recommend doing this activity with your kiddos! Watch out KooKoo Kangaroo! You may have some secret handshake competition!

Greg here. Glad to be connecting with the Literacy Maven for the Page Turner's end of the year project link-up. 

The students completed research on the past 50 years of a regional/county specific social issue - of their own choosing (i.e. healthcare in South Africa, gay rights in China, and nuclear problems in Japan). This phase of the project introduced students in to the realities that face people from all over the world. Their timelines, which made connections to events outside of their topic, helped build a context for their issue and its place in the world.

In preparation for Stage 3, students were asked to see how people meshed art with advocacy. Students analyzed issues that were/are personally important AND focused on improving the cause. By finding pieces of art, music, and film, students recognized that people are committed to change.

In stage 3, students analyzed the list of topics researched in the first two stages. Students placed all of the topics in to separate categories which eventually served as the groups for final phase. Groups were deemed with the task to write a piece of music that reflected the theme/category of the group and incorporated elements of their earlier topics. 

To assist in the process, I worked with Ms. JJ Sheffer from CoWork155 and KableHouse Live to identify local musicians willing to help students. We held one face-to-face session followed by asynchronous collaboration via Google Docs, Skype, and phone conversations. 

In working with the musicians, students also learned that we would hold a music showcase at Central Market. (Central Market is a historic farmer's market located in the heart of York, PA.) Several of the musicians agreed to help with performing the songs. Some students agreed to present their own song while others asked student-musicians for assistance. 

The final event - the performance of the songs - was held last evening (May 19). Students introduced their songs with a brief rationale and explanation of their work. The introductions were followed by the musicians final work.

Overall, it was a fantastic event! The students were shocked at how their lyrics were transformed in legitimately GOOD pieces of music. The local newspaper even did a write-up on the event. If you'd like to read more about the project, please check out the PANc Music website created by the students.

Until next time,
-Greg