Why Is English Important?

Note: This Post was taken from my Korean Blog.

In all of my waiting (see the post in my Korean Blog), I've been trying to broaded the news I read (online). In one of my attempts to get caught up on news in Korea, I found an interesting article about the need for English in South Korea.

To sum up the article (for those of you who are too lazy to click on the link and read it):

- many Koreans are not as fluent as they would like to be in English (as evidenced by many Koreans who work abroad and work with foreigners)

- some are worried about a focus on English (which takes away from the rest of the curriculum and could potentially lead to the eventual demise of the Korean language)

- foreign languages (more than English, though it is certainly one of the more useful ones) are helpful in a world in which barriers to communiction and trade are frequently being broken down.

For my part, I look at my teaching job not as colonialism (which I'm sure is what some people see it as), but as helping the Koreans gain a valuable tool. If Koreans can speak English and Korean, they have tools to deal with more people. If they learn other languages (French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic), they are even more equipped than the monoliguists who need phrasebooks to have the most trivial of conversations.

The irony is, of course, that while the west supports this teaching of English, we do not teach our children other languages to the degree that the Koreans do (by mass hiring native speakers of a language to teach it). In a world that is largely anglocentric we have not had to do this. One day we may have to learn other languages (my guess would be Mandarin) to communicate with the rest of the world.

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: Honourable Mentions

About a month and a half ago, I finished a countdown of my ten favourite children's books. Then I promised I would give you some that are good, but just missed the list. After a long wait, here they are (in no particular order):

Stephanie's Ponytail (Robert Munsch): a great story about individuality - and a really funny ending! Check out the link it has a cute story in it. Also, as a side note, I have a friend (maybe she reads my blog) who was given a copy of this book but someone replaced all the "Stephanie"s with her name.

Curious George Series (Maragaret and H.A. Rey): If you haven't heard of Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat, I suggest you go to the library. If you have heard of them, you know why this is here.

The King's Stilts (Dr. Seuss): Not one of his better known books, but one that was read to me a lot in childhood. Moral of the story: if you're going to work hard, make sure you take some relaxation time (and don't build your city where the only thing holding back the ocean is a bunch of trees that birds like to eat).

Babar Series (Jean de Brunhoff): Originally from France, Babar is an elephant who has wonderful adventures. How can you not like that? Well, though the stories are great, check out the section "Criticism" in the Wikipedia article I linked to above. Apparently Babar is about more than just elephants...

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel (Virginia Lee Burton): I only put this here because I remember this book from my childhood. Reading this as an adult, this seems to promote development of the land (without any concern for the animals, environment, etc.). But the story does redeem itself with it's ending (sort of).

That's all I could really think of off the top of my head. Does anyone out there have any other great children's books they want to share? If so please do...

Problem of the Day Part X

It's been a while since I asked any questions. Before I give out new questions I have to give some answers to the last two problems.

Part VII

1. A notable doctor had no table and was therefore, not able to operate

2. My lighter is lighter than my wallet.

Carly G. got both for 9 points.

Part IX

I'll be honest, these were vague and pretty hard. You kind of had to know the answers as it would have been hard to figure them out.

1. Elijah Wood was first seen on the screen in Back to the Future II (playing a video game in the future) and later appeared in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

2. Tim Robbins appeared in Top Gun after Goose (Anthony Edwards of ER) dies in an accident. He replaced Goose as Maverick's (Tom Cruise) flying navigator.

No one even attempted these. Guess they were too obscure.

There has been a lead change in the points race. It's not too late for anyone else to jump in the fray...

I'm going back to patterns this week. I'm hoping they are more difficult than the first ones I gave. Each one will be one point for each blank that I have and one point for the way you found it out:

1) 3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, ___,___

2) 77, 49, 36, 18, ___

3) 3, 3, 1, 2, 4, 3, ___, ___

That's 8 points in total up for grabs. Email pieceofdust@gmail.com with your answers.

A School Without Deadlines...?

As I said in my previous post, I wanted to talk about two articles I saw in the Globe and Mail this past weekend. The second article concerns deadlines - or rather a lack of them - in schools these days. Basically, the idea is that students can no longer be penalized for handing in assignments late - if they turn them in at all.

This is a tough issue to tackle. On one hand, students need to be held accountable for their learning. Though I am unaware of a similar rule in B.C., I've been in many classrooms here where it feels like pulling teeth to get assignments in from students (though admittedly, that could be due to my relative inexperience). I find it hard to justify passing a student who hands in a quarter of the work they are supposed to do. What values are we teaching children by allowing them to "do what they can?"

That being said, since we do push students faster than their abilities, it is much harder for some students to do all the work in the given time. Should we be asking students to do more than they are able to do? What about home situations? Some students have help at home, while others have other things on their minds at home (and I don't mean XBOX).

Like the last post, it seems like the system does not offer any satisfying solution to this situation. We can either teach children about deadlines (the fact that we have deadlines in the first place could be debated - why does a paper about World War II (or whatever topic you choose) have to be finished by Friday? The war is not going anywhere), or we can frustrate many of them by giving them too much.

I find it interesting that the article briefly mentions rubrics, and in a way, dismisses them. Without getting into a big debate about marks and the difference between a 79 and an 80% I will say that I think that rubrics are fairer to students and a better measure of their progress.

So in closing, I have a lot more issues to look into in the future, including: Marks, Deadlines, and the segregation of students in Gifted programs (or otherwise).

I hope this didn't confuse you too much. I think the purpose of me writing this is to expose the issues facing our schools today (of which I saw many the last few months).

To Fail or Not To Fail

This past weekend, the Globe and Mail published two articles about teaching and I thought I would try to devote a post to each of them. The first article concerns failing students. The article, by Jill Mahoney, goes through many reasons for not failing students, but does provide some of the arguments for failing students.

Let me first explain that in my last few classroom experiences this has been an issue with which I have fought with sleepless nights. I'll out line the arguments for both sides (both of which I agree with) and then I'll offer up my suggestions for a better way.

Arguments for Failing Students:

1. If passing is automatic, then why should students try? If a student doesn't feel like working, failing is one thing that can be hung over students heads. It can be a motivating factor.
2. Failure happens in real life. Students may as well get used to it at an early age. If we give them things without an effort, they will expect it later in life.
3. Eventually, at some level of school (High School) students will need to do work to pass, and they will need skills to pass. If they didn't learn how to add or multiply in elementary school, then who will teach them in highschool? Teachers are expected to be accountable, but I have seen many grade 5 classes where MANY students (not just some) are functioning at grade 3 and 4 levels (and some at grade 1 and 2 levels). These students must be taught these grade 3 and 4 things before they can move on to grade 5 things. (I concede this could also be a problem with curriculum - but more on that one later).
4. If you promote students based on age (and not ability), you end up with a wide range of abilities in a classroom, which makes it much more difficult to teach. Sure it makes a teacher's job easier (and I might sound like I want it easier with this, but that is only a secondary benefit) but it also allows teachers to do more for ALL students.

Arguments for Not Failing Students

1. Self Esteem. I'll accept this argument as long as it applies to the current system. Imagine you are the only one in your whole school who gets held back. Not so fun. Under the current system failing a student can be disastrous.
2. Peer Groups. Students apparently need to be with their peers to develop properly. I can accept this argument in the current system where the failed student would be the only one who is older.
   

So What's My Solution?

Well, it's clear that in the current system, there are great reasons to both fail and to not fail students. Personally I think the system is broken. We are the ones that have placed this stigma on failing by not failing students (I realize that I put way more effort into one of my practicums - that I failed - while many of my students didn't lift a finger in class and were guaranteed to go on to the next grade), and to solve this problem and satisfy all parties we could use a major overhaul of our educations system.

I propose grouping students by abilities and not by age. Students must meet certain standards and criteria to move on to the next grade. I need to explain a few things with this. Does this mean standardized testing? Yes and no. It means a set of standards. There are certain outcomes that students need to demonstrate. They ought to actually have to demonstrate them all before they can move on to the next set. I don't think these should be kept secret from students. They should know what is expected and how to meet each expectation. The second thing I want to make clear is that there should not be this big high stakes failure. If you fail a grade in this system you lose a whole year. In my proposal you could move up and down grades whenever you completed the outcomes for a grade. Students would work with a teacher that helps them meet those expectations and gives them the support they need. In theory everyone in each class would be at the same ability level (more on this below) so students would be able to work on the same thing at the same time.

To make sure students had interaction with their peer group, they would also have a few periods a week (probably at least one a day) where they are with their peer group. I honestly think having students work with students of other ages is more beneficial than having students work with the same group year after year. But what do I know?

One last thought I have for my solution is this: what if a student does really well in Math and poorly in Language Arts? Well, in theory, the school could be set up so that students could go to different classes for each subject depending on their level (though I think this could be difficult if the gap between subjects was very large - as reading is important to EVERYTHING!). I'm sure my system is not perfect and could use some adjustments, but the current system is not exactly perfect.

Thanks for reading all of that.... what do you think???

Movie Review: Half Nelson

Yes, I realize today is supposed to be teaching on Tuesday. Luckily I saw a movie this past weekend about teaching.... sort of.

Half Nelson tells the story of a friendship between a teacher and a student that has many drug overtones. Don't worry, I wouldn't be writing this if the teacher were selling the student drugs. What actually happens is that Drey (played by relative newcomer Shareeka Epps) happens to witness her coach and teacher - Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling - yes, the one who we all watched go to highschool on a cruise ship) - having a bad reaction to some drugs - in the girls locker room long after a game no less. This starts a friendship between the two. Complicating the mix is a family "friend" named Frank (most likely this is a friend of Drey's older brother who is in prison. It is assumed that that Frank is the reason or part of the reason the brother is in jail - though it is never said). Frank (played by Anthony Mackie of 8 Mile and Million Dollar Baby) befriends Drey as well and also tries to influence her life.

The competing forces are interesting in this story. Drey is being torn between a drug addict and a drug dealer. As the movie goes on it appears that both Drey and Mr. Dunne are helping each other out. The ending doesn't really clarify much, but it did leave me with a good feeling.

One of the first things I noticed was the grainy feel of the movie. I'm assuming this was done on purpose and gives a realistic feel to the movie (so does the vulnerability of Mr. Dunne and his addiction).

Since this was one of two movies I saw this weekend that were actually good (there were three not so great movies), I give this a 3.5/4. This is an interesting movie that tackles a difficult subject without resorting to preaching about not doing drugs.

Just a disclaimer: I know of very few teachers like Mr. Dunne. Most teachers I know drink to get rid of their problems and alcohol is completely legal here.

Problem of the Day Part VIII

First off, lets get to the answers from last week:

1. Strengths is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel.

2. Words I accepted with no vowels and at least 6 letters: crypts, crwths, rhythm, rhythms, syzygy, trysts, and nymphs

3. A word with 9 "O"s and 6 "C"s: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. See here for a definition.

Carly G. earned 11 points and Heather D. earned 10 points with their efforts.

This week's problem is as follows:

Fill in a series of letters to finish the sentence. Each blank has the same letters in the same order, but the letters are broken up with different spaces each time. What is the completed sentence?

A ________ doctor had ________ and therefore, was ________ to operate.

If you get this difficult problem, you'll get 6 points.

Here's an easier one, worth 3 points. This one has the same word in each space. The word is exactly the same each time with no spaces.

My _______ is _______ than my wallet.

Good luck!

P.S. As a side note to get more people motivated to answer this, I've noticed my sister (Heather D.) has been bragging on her blog (I will talk about this more later once she's had a few more posts since her hiatus).

P.S.S. Don't forget there's still another set of questions to be answered. You have until Thursday to answer these ones!

Problem of the Day: Part VII

As promised, here is a second set of problems for this week (after the set I gave you on Tuesday - which are still open to anyone who wants to try). I have still yet to figure out a prize, but there will be many opportunities to get back in the game sooner rather than later. I may set it up so that getting a certain amount of points entitles you to a prize. That may get more people answering.

I have found a more reliable source of problems so I will be using those. Here are a few "riddles" today. As always, I have certain answers in mind, but other answers will be considered on a case by case basis.

1. What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, but never in a thousand years?
2. A man is out for a walk when it began to rain. The man had no umbrella and no hat. His clothes were soaked, but not a single hair on his head got wet. How is this possible?
3. What is one thing that all wise men, regardless of their religion or politics, agree is between heaven and earth?

Each question is worth one point.

Good luck!

As always, send your answers to pieceofdust@gmail.com.

Problem of the Day Part VI

Ok, so I'll admit I forgot last week and then it got closer to today so I waited a while. But I have some new stuff for you today.

First, the answers from two weeks ago:

Arrive on Time
Tricycle
Robin Hood
Three Degrees Below Zero (no one got this one)
Hi Ho Silver

Both Heather D and Carly G got 4 out of 5 and their points have been updated.

This weeks problems are fairly difficult and require a knowledge of the English language:

1. What is the longest word in the English language that has only one vowel? 2 points
2. Give as many examples as you can of words that don't have any of the traditional vowels (a, e, i, o u). One catch: they have to have at least 6 letters in the words. 1 point for each word
3. What word in the English language has 9 o's and 6 c's? 3 points

Good luck in your search!

Please email your responses to pieceofdust@gmail.com! Answers are due Monday May 14th at 11:59pm.

Since I missed last week I plan on giving another set of questions on Thursday. Keep your eye open for them.

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: #1

We've finally reached number one on my list after 4 long weeks, you finall get to know what my all-time favourite children's book is. Before we begin, here is a recap of the last four posts I've done: week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4.

A quick recap of the first nine:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series
9. Where the Wild Things Are
8. Matthew's Midnight Adventures
7. Princess Smartypants
6. Love You Forever
5. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
4. Oh, The Places You'll Go!
3. The Paper Bag Princess
2. The Lorax

1. The Eleventh Hour (Graeme Base): I said last week that it was my analytical mind that this is the number one book and anyone who has read this will understand why. The Eleventh Hour (note: this link contains a spolier!) is about Horace (an Elephant) who plans his 11th Birthday Party (on November the 11th no less). Eleven guests are invited to eat eleven dishes of food and play eleven games. The story focuses on this party but with a twist. At the end of the story, the big feast is stolen. No one knows who it is, but the book goes on to tell you that there are clues hidden throughout the book (and boy are there clues!). The first time I read this book I was in grade 5 and our class tried feverishly to figure out who did it (don't worry I won't spoil the fun). Recently I bought a copy of the book so that I could look through the pictures for the clues. Even as an adult (and I knew who did it) I had fun looking through the pages.

The pictures are amazing (as anyone who has seen Graeme Base's work - including Animalia, The Sign of the Seahorse, and many others - will know). I have fond memories of this book and it is one of the few I actually remember vividly reading when I was younger (though no doubt there are many I read over and over). For more information on Greame Base, check his website.

I hope this list has been enjoyable. Feel free to comment on your favourite books from your childhood. I will be adding some honourable mentions next week of books I enjoy and had a hard time not adding to this list.

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: #2

We're still on our way to number one in my countdown of my favourite children's books. Check here for week 1, week 2 and week 3.

Here's a quicker recap of the first 8 books:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series
9. Where the Wild Things Are
8. Matthew's Midnight Adventures
7. Princess Smartypants
6. Love You Forever
5. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
4. Oh, The Places You'll Go!
3. The Paper Bag Princess

2. The Lorax (Dr. Seuss): Another Dr. Seuss book that I didn't read until I was much older (I was actually reminded of one that I read a lot when I was young, but unfortunately that did not make the list), and a book that I read to my class just yesterday. I think this is more than a good book; it's an important book. First published in 1971, this book rings true today. For those of you who have not read the book, I suggest you do (I can't imagine a public library that does not have this book), and so I will not explain the plot, other than to say it is about our treatment of the planet. I have used it twice already to teach students about the environment and I plan on using it many times in the future. This book would have been number one on my list were it not for my analytical mind (a clue! (which itself is a clue!)) and some fond childhood memories. The Lorax is probably the only book on this list that I think ALL children should be read. It's message is too important to be forgotten or ignored.

Tune in next week to find out what the #1 book on my list is (and if you know what it is, please don't post it, as I know many of my readers are waiting in anticipation!).

A Little Poem

At my school I am teaching my class poetry. This week I introduced Limericks and wrote some examples for them. Here is one that got a rise out of the class (remember, I teach in Victoria, BC):

There's a team that we call the Canucks
Who just happen to be playing the Ducks
They struggle to score
Their games are a bore
Soon they'll be golfing and saying “Aw shucks!”

I told them they could write responses to this, so I may post any if they write good ones.

Do you have any responses to this? Please post your responses in a comment.

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: #'s 4 & 3

Here is the next installment in my countdown of my favourite children's books which I started two weeks ago and continued last week. Here is a recap of the books I have already counted down:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series
9. Where the Wild Things Are
8. Matthew and the Midnight Tow Truck
7. Princess Smartypants
6. Love you Forever
5. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

4. Oh, The Places You'll Go! (Dr. Seuss): Believe it or not, I had never read this (at least to my knowledge) until the end of my very first practicum in Toronto in 2003. A fellow student teacher brought it in to read to our class on the last day we were there and I read it to one of our classes (we were in a SK class, with a morning and an afternoon class). I absolutely loved the story. Every time I read it I have to hold back the tears. I think this book is such a classic for so many because it is honest. It's not one of those books that says everyone is great and that nothing bad will happen. It instills a message of working hard but still encourages children - and adults - to dream big dreams and to not be discouraged by setbacks. Lately this book has become a cliched gift to graduates of every level of school. I'm not really into that, but I think the book is great for people who appreciate good children's literature. I could not find much information out there about the book, except that it is Dr. Seuss's last book. Find more info at Wikipedia and at the Dr. Seuss website.

3. The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch): Ok, so those who know me, may be surprised that this is "only" number three - but I assure you, I have two good ones at the top and you'll understand why. This book is somewhat similar to Princess Smartypants in that it is about an atypical princess. I like this book more for the fact that it spits in the face of conventional fairy tales that tell girls they are the ones that need saving. As a character Elizabeth is a great role model. She fights for what she wants, uses her brains to beat a foe, and then stands up for herself at the end. The humor present in this book also adds to it's appeal. If I were doing a list of which books I like to read, I imagine this would be a bit higher (Dr. Seuss is hard to beat for readability though). A few years ago, they released a new version of the book which has background information on the book which is rather interesting if you are a fan (or for children who like that kind of thing). There is lots of information about this book at Wikipedia, Robert Munsch's Website, and a random site I found.

Stay tuned for # 2 next week (that's right, I'm going to make you wait two whole weeks until I reveal #1!).

Problem of the Day Part V

I had three readers email me in the correct answers: Alex G, Carly G and Heather D. These are last weeks answers:

1. 29 Days in February in a Leap Year
2. 26 Letters in the Alphabet
3. 3 Blind Mice (See How They Run)
4. 7 Days in a Week
5. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
6. 12 Signs of the Zodiac
7. 60 Minutes in an Hour
8. 1001 Arabian Nights
9. 200 Dollars for Passing Go in Monopoly

This weeks one is somewhat similar. You need to decode what the arrangement of words means. The formatting on this is a little messed up (every time I've tried to post it, there is a big space before the boxes.... I think that's Blogger just being weird!

Anyway, here are the problems:

Arrive Time

Cycle Cycle Cycle

HOROBOD

0 B.A. M.Sc. Ph.D.

Hi Ho Ag

Remember to email pieceofdust@gmail.com with your answers and "Problem of the Day Part V" in the subject line. Thanks and good luck!

Linking Tutors and Students

This site came to me from Lifehacker a few days ago and I thought I should share it with you on Tuesday (because, despite what the last few days would suggest, I am trying to stick to my original schedule).

Tutorlinker is a free site (so far) that helps tutors and students link up with each other. Tutors simply sign up and fill out their details (a process which can be quick – and if you have errors like I did, a little slower, but the staff was extremely quick in fixing my problems) and you're set. If you're looking for a tutor, all you have to do is type in your address (or your city) and the site will show you all the tutors that are close to you. You can click on them to find details about how far they will travel, what they can tutor and how much they cost. Doing a quick search as of this writing and I am the only one in Victoria so far (though I hope many of my friends in Education will sign up and pass the word on) but other cities have several tutors registered. Potentially this could be a very helpful tool for students, parents and tutors make the process much easier. This avoids the costly tutoring agencies (which I'm told can charge twice as much as they pay their tutors) and it allows for parents to shop around.

I would try this if I were you. I am going to be passing the site on to the parents in my class and all the teachers I know so hopefully this will be something that parents start using and can be effective.

If you're neither student, parent or tutor, then I guess this doesn't really apply to you (well, maybe if you want to advertise on their site – I hear they are looking for advertisers!)

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: #'s 7, 6 & 5

This is the continuation of the countdown I started last week. A recap of the first three:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series

9. Where the Wild Things Are

8. Matthew's Midnight Adventures

7. Princess Smartypants (Babette Cole): In the same vein as the Paper Bag Princess this is a book about a Princess who doesn't fit the stereotype. Babette Cole is definitely an author worth reading and has produced many other storybooks (which may or may not all be suitable for children). This particular story is about a Princess who everyone wants to marry. She makes each potential suitor complete some very difficult tasks. Definitely one that will make students laugh.

6. Love You Forever (Robert Munsch): If this story doesn't make you cry, the story behind the story will. A few years ago I had a music class where we talked about this book. It originally started as a song which was written by Munsch after he and his wife had two babies born dead. The song was written to those two babies. Astute fans of Robert Munsch will notice that his regular illustrator (Michael Martchenko). This is because the book was seen as a book for adults and not a book for children (though many children do enjoy it). More information about the book can be found here.

5. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Jon Scieszka): Another great author who has written several great children's books. I choose this particular book of his to highlight because it was the first one of his I read and it absolutely blew me away (no pun intended). This is the classic story of the Three Little Pigs as told by the wolf. So simple yet such a great idea. Similar to Princess Smartypants in that it is a fractured fairy tale (my how many of those made my top 10) but very different. This can be used in so many ways in a classroom.

Tune in next week to find out what books 4 and 3 are!

Problem of the Day Part IV

I am making some changes to the problem of the day so that it is fair to all involved. Please do not post any of your responses on here. Instead I ask you to submit your responses to this email I have set up to deal with this blog: pieceofdust@gmail.com

This way anyone who wants to try the problems can try. Everyone who submits correct responses will be credited with a point. Unless otherwise noted, only one response per person will be accepted, so make sure you have the correct answer (unless I explain that there is more than on answer).

The answers for last week that I accepted:

1. 99+9/9 = 100

2. 55/5-5 = 6

3. ((7 + 7) * 7) + (7/7) + (7/7) = 100 OR 777/7 – 77/7 = 100

That's 3 points for Heather D. I know someone can catch her. I heard she was bragging about getting all of these.

This weeks is part of a larger group of problems. Each of these expressions are missing words. Lucky for you, the words are replaced by the first letter in the word. It is up to you to decipher these expressions or phrases. I will give you the answer to the first one as an example and then you're on your own. You can earn up to 9 points in this round, so do what you can. Entries are due by 11:59pm on Monday April 23^rd:

1. 12 M in a Y (12 Months in a Year)

2. 29 D in F in a L Y

3. 26 L in the A

4. 3 B M (S H T R)

5. 7 D in a W

6. S W and the 7 D

7. 12 S of the Z

8. 60 M in an H

9. 1001 A N

10. 200 D for P G in M

Good Luck!

Games Kids Like

Since I'm getting lots of experience teaching these days, I thought I'd share some games that kids (and adults) enjoy quite a bit in the gym (or outside, etc.)

Everybody It Tag. Just like the name would suggest, everyone is "it." If you get tagged, you sit down. If two of you tag each other at the same time, both of you sit down. The game ends when only one person is left. A better variation of this game (and a more inclusive one at that) is to have people stand with both hands in the air when they get tagged. If someone comes up and gives them a high ten, then they can rejoin the game. This usually doesn't end and can be quite fun.

Battleship. The object of this game is to get across the gym (or a similar sized area) without getting tagged. There are two ways you can get tagged. The first is by the three battleships in the playing area. These consist of children (or adults), who have foam balls. To tag someone, they must hit them below the shoulders with their foam ball. The only catch is that they can only throw their balls from hula hoops laid out on the floor. Once thrown, the battleships can retrieve their balls and throw again (if there is time). If someone is tagged they become seaweed and are stuck in place. The second way to get tagged is if one of the seaweed tags you as you run by. The game is played until one person is left and then a new round begins. I've seen some classes who can play this game for a 45min Phys Ed period and not want to change to a new game. A great way to keep kids active.

Next time I'm having difficulties thinking of something to post, I'll share more games that are fun.

Problem of the Day Part III

Answers for the last installment:

1. A Deck of Cards is cut, passed around the table, but not eaten (unless you eat cards)

2. The Three daughters are not triplets because they are three parts of quadruplets, quintuplets, etc. The father could also have been unfaithful or a sperm donor, though the first explanation is simpler.

3. Your breath is impossible to hold for an hour (as far as I know) and weighs virtually nothing.

Today's questions are math related:

1. Arrange four “9”'s to give you 100 (this isn't a trick, use the “9”'s with any mathematical symbols but the only digit you can use is “9”)

2. Arrange four “5”'s to give you 6

3. Arrange seven “7”'s to give you 100

There may be more than one way to do these, so every unique answer will get a point.

Good luck!

Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to all the teachers and librarians (and people who would know about this stuff) to send me their top 10 favourite children's storybooks and their top 10 favourite children's novels. I got responses from three people, so I figured those results would be slightly skewed. I'm going to hold off on this and hope that maybe I'll get a few more responses to this survey. In the meantime I will count down my top 10 favourite children's storybooks. We'll start with three today:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series (Stan & Jan Berenstain): Who out there has never read one of these books. The books dealt with such things as candy, tv, homework, and on and on. Though not necessarily the best books to read to children, they sure are enjoyable

9. Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak): This one is a favourite of many and although the basic plot has been done over and over (for those of you in my program at UVic you may remember when we looked at all the stories similar to this (Someone leaves home, finds it dangerous, then returns – I can't remember the name of it, but perhaps a classmate could post the name). Apparently, I have heard there is a movie in the works. Hmmm.

8. Matthew's Midnight Adventures (Allen Morgan): Specifically Matthew and the Midnight Tow Truck, but also the Midnight Turkeys and the Midnight Money Van. The idea of the magic car wash that could shrink regular cars into “dinky cars” (ahh... the good old days when I played with those) is kinda cool if you're younger. Very much in the vein of Robert Munch books (part of that is probably that they have the same illustrator).

Tune in next week to hear about #'s 7, 6 and 5!