As the kids say, "It's a Dark Day in Nunamakerville!"

Today was my annual Great Depression lesson.  I realize that I shouldn't look forward to this lesson, but I will admit to you that it is my favorite lesson of the year.  This morning I told the kids that I would double any money that they deposited into their bank accounts.  I had a line of kids chomping at the bit to deposit serious amounts of their hard earned money.  Brooke deposited $273 for a grand deposit total of $546 once it was doubled.  These kids were walking on cloud nine as if it were raining money in our classroom!

After lunch our class bank book mysteriously disappeared.  The entire class was going through the classroom in search of the missing bank book.  I told them that I was very sorry, but if we couldn't find the book all of their money in the bank would no longer exist.  Panic struck!  Then I told them that taxes would have to go up to $5 next week in order to pay for some of the services that we had recently added in the classroom.  Oh goodness, the kids started chanting, "New President! New President!"

The kids had their Monday store time and barely anyone shopped.  I even heard Nolan say that he wasn't going to pay his employees today.  I had a couple of kids almost in tears over their economic crashes.  I let this go over for about an hour, telling the kids that we just had to move on with our lessons and that they could make the money up next week somehow.  This was not a popular statement to say the least!  Unfortunately, I also had to tell them that there would be no more class jobs because the bank has closed down and I could no longer pay them.  Did I mention that "life happened" to a few kids too?  Many kids who had never felt debt in this classroom went into debt for the first time.  Economic woes were felt by all.  The best comment was made when I told the kids that they needed to replace the roof on the barn because the horse was getting wet when it rained.  It was going to cost $100 to replace the roof.  Chris's response was, "Who cares?  The horse will just have to deal with it!"

After an hour of pandemonium and attempts to move on with the school day we began discussing the Great Depression.  We talked about how the kids felt about their situation and how people felt back when the Great Depression hit our country.  We looked at images online of Great Depression times.  And, yes, I told the kids that the money would be back in their accounts tomorrow morning.  Thank goodness for the FDIC!

I didn't get this year's depression on film to share, but you can check out the Great Depression of 2011 at http://www.mc4k.com/how-it-works/. Just click the play button on the right hand picture that says, "Great Depression."  Enjoy living through history with my students!

College Prep Homework is a Great Way to Prepare for Common Core!

  Each Wednesday students receive the same homework assignment that our class calls College Prep Homework. College Prep Homework translates to:  Research something educational on your own and write two paragraphs (8- 10 sentences depending on the grade level) about what you learned.

The most important thing about this assignment is what the students learn from their research. The goal of the assignment is to develop a student’s ability and desire to learn independently in lieu of simply completing an assignment made by their teacher. The contract between the teacher, parent, and student is to ensure that the goal comes to fruition and the assignment does not represent an opportunity to slack off on homework.

Typically, students take this assignment as seriously as, if not more, teacher-made assignments throughout the week. It is because students are researching and reporting on something that they have chosen. They take great pride in their ability to create their own homework. The term College Prep Homework gives the students a feeling of being “grown up” and accomplished. It is fun to listen to students who excitedly tell you on Monday morning what they plan to research for College Prep Homework that week. Over the weekend, many students actually plan what they would like to research for their next College Prep Homework assignment! Students’ products tend to be a page or more, even though you have only asked for 8 - 10 sentences. In the past, parents have shared comments like, “Annika went to her room and worked for 2 hours on her college prep homework. I couldn’t get her to put it away!” Students become so actively involved in their research and reporting that they don’t even realize the amount of time that they are investing in it.

This is a terrific way to create a love for learning in students. It also allows for natural differentiation as gifted students often research things like Greek Mythology while lower level students research things like the main idea of a book they are reading. The teacher will be able to differentiate homework assignments without even doing anything!  The best part of all is that this works for any grade level!  In first grade I waited until January to introduce College Prep Homework, but once the little ones began researching you could feel their excitement each week.  Too cute!

Common Core is coming our way and it is heavy on student research.  College Prep Homework is a great way to introduce students to research in a non-intimidating way.  You'll see that students' research becomes increasingly thoughtful each week.  Students take great pride in this particular assignment because they are given so much ownership in it.  

One of my all time favorite pieces was written last year by Robin.  She adopted a new puppy and decided to use her College Prep Homework assignment to research how to best meet her puppy's needs.  As an animal lover and a teacher who loves to see students take responsibility this one really stole my heart!