Vocabulary is Music to My Ears

Last week, our 3rd grade vocabulary list was: persevere, confidence, talented, apply, research, invention, hinder, disappointed, ambitious, attain  

On my way to school Tuesday morning, I was listening to my recently purchased Jennifer Hudson CD.  And thought, Hmmm.  That song reminds me of many of our vocabulary words.  I pushed “eject” and a vocabulary mini-lesson was born.  I was so excited to have an opportunity to make them find phrases in the song to justify the connection to the vocabulary words.  We listened to the song during breakfast, I wrote the vocabulary words on the board and had the students first discuss which vocabulary words seemed to fit with the song.  I placed a star by these words on the board.  Then we listened to the song again.  This time I had them listen for and discuss specific phrases that made them think of those vocabulary words.  Then we even discussed the theme of the song and how it related to the biography of the person about whom we were reading (Ellen Ochoa, Astronaut). A great idea might also be to print out the lyrics and have them highlight the phrases that justify their word choice.  One thing that I am always hearing from upper-grade teachers is that the students are refusing to do their class-work, and even on “easy” assignments, students who are capable are not participating, and are turning in blank papers.  I personally think that we need to come up with ways to “advertise” learning to the students, showing them that learning is fun; that reading a biography about an engineer-turned astronaut can be exciting and uplifting, instead of just facts about a random person who seems so removed and distant from their own lives. My students are SUPER engaged when we do activities like this, and less likely to complain when some of the activities may seem a little less exciting.  I also loved that they had to support their ideas with phrases from the song.  Supporting one's main idea with details is often like pulling teeth in the third grade.  Also, relating THEME of a selection is so difficult for eight year olds.  Apparently, it is easier with music than literature, so I will be using theme-related music next year for each story in the anthology if I can find it.  Extra bonus:  IT GETS THEM STUCK ON SONGS WITH POSITIVE MESSAGES instead of the regular songs (some with sexually explicit lyrics) that they usually sing.

Here are the cd and the lyrics: 

 

[verse 1]
Packed all my clothes, shut the door,
Back on the road to success
How can my dues see the just me in the dream been of (baby)
Stick to the hurts and burst spitting words of encouragement, (baby)
And if you feel what I'm feeling
Then don't be scared to say it women, say

[Chorus]
I got this, every single breath another step on my road
I got this, I'm from the south side trying to get to my goal
I got this, ain't no stopping me,
Come on follow me if you feel the need
I got this, better believe I got this, believe I got this

[Verse 2]
So many tried to bring me
When I got up and knocked me down
Didn't keep me from moving
I flip the world upside down
They said the sky was the limit
I put my footprint all in it
Cause I've been there
I'm looking down every move
And if you feel like I do
Put your hands in the air [ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-got-this-lyrics-jennifer-hudson.html ]


[Chorus]
I got this, every single breath another step on my road
I got this, I'm from the south south trying to get to my girl
I got this, ain't no stopping me,
Come on follow me if you feel the need
I got this, better believe I got this, believe I got this

[Bridge]
God believes smile at me cause when I fall I won't drop
Something in me won't let me stop until I reach the top
I keep going, I keep showing the whole world everyday I'm growing
Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything in me says I got this

[Chorus - Outro]
I got this, every single breath another step on my road
I got this, I'm from the south south trying to get to my girl
I got this, ain't no stopping me, come on follow me if you feel the need
I got this, better believe I got this, believe I got this
I got this, I got this, uh, I got this, I got this
I got this, I know you know I got this, you better know I got it, you got it, you know it
I got this, I got it, yeah...

Sofa Table Makeover

At Tehran's house, he has an open floor plan dining and living room.  The furniture arrangement created the need for some kind of open separation between the two rooms.  Otherwise, you would just be looking at the back of a sofa when you enter the room.

So this is where I come in.  A trip to the Salvation Army and $25 later, I had an ugly, outdated sofa table made of fake wood (laminate).  It had a brass rim around the glass and some kind of fake wicker material in the bottom.  Here is Lexi the cat, making an inspection of the table.

A can of rustollem paint (oil base so that it would stick to the metal  part too), and a foam roller and a little brush and voila, goodbye outdated color and brass!

Next, I covered the bottom fake wicker stuff with scrapbook paper that has an alligator print.

Tehran loves floating candles, so I headed to the Dollar Tree and I found these vases.  I added some river rocks from Jo-Ann Fabrics and water and floating candles from Ikea.  Mission Sofa Table: Complete.  (The sofa looks kind of blue in the picture, but it is black.) 

I still want to add some more accessories to the bottom level of the table, some that his cat, Lexi will not shred or break.  I am thinking about some decorative boxes for added mini-storage.