The last two days of our summer training were so rich with exciting strategies and ways to enliven the classroom with a focus on heroes. I was very inspired by Dr. Denenberg and his over the top crazy ways. At our school, we have had a tradition of celebrating "Hero Day" on September 11th as a way to remember the tragedy of 9/11 and the heroes that grew from that day. I could not stop taking notes and snapping photos as he share ideas that I knew I would use. I began the school year by having a quote of the week by famous heroes. The children learned these quickly and always want to learn more about the heroes.
I loved the literature ideas that Dr. Fran Macko presented and used one of the books as I introduced the writing of our classroom Constitution. I also like the idea of connecting to time periods through rich historical fiction.
Back to the heroes...we had a great week in my classroom where we brainstormed characteristics of heroes. we learned about American heroes, heroes in our communities, and chose personal heroes. The children wrote letters to their personal heroes thanking them for their "heroic" actions. We held a Hero Brunch in the classroom and the children invited their heroes. The hero sat in a big hero chair while they were honored with the letter (read aloud) and a special handmade medal. It was an amazing, tearful event!
To conclude, I will use the hero theme all year. Our school has embraced the "Seven Habits of Happy Kids" this year and we talk about these habits as being the "way of the hero". I am thankful to Dr. Denenberg for all of his wonderful ideas and enthusiasm!
Wow! I tried to begin using the heroes concept in my classroom at the beginning of this year too, but it looks like you're already off to a really good start in terms of fully incorporating this idea.
ReplyDeleteI have been pulling a few heroes out randomly as they pop up in our curriculum, and my students have been researching these heroes and doing mini presentations on them. For example, we when we read the book, No Talking, it mentioned Ghandi. Some of my advanced learners brought in information about Ghandi to supplement a main idea in the story based on knowing his background.
Congratulations for jumping right in with the heroes! I find it hard to jump right in with everything because we learned so much. I have been focused on SPEC, but you have given me some inspiration to get going with the heroes.
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