CURRICULUM APPRECIATION FANS
1. After the fi rst couple of weeks at school, the following activity is a great way to cement and celebrate the inclusion you are building in your classroom. Before the activity, you could read or tell the students a story involving appreciation and put-downs.
2. Have each student write his or her name on the top of a blank piece of paper. Have students then fold the paper over and back several times (like an accordion or fan).
3. Model for students how to write appreciation statements. Encour- age specifi c statements that are relevant to the student being written about. For example, “You are kind and patient with me when I get stuck in math” or “When you smile it makes my heart feel warm.” These statements are more meaningful than a vague statement like “You’re nice.”
4. Make it clear to the students that they are to write only positive statements; no “put-downs” are permitted.
5. Ask students to exchange fans with their classmates. Each person writes an appreciation statement on the other’s fan. The students may choose to sign or not sign the appreciation statements they write for others.
6. At fi rst, many students will choose only fans that belong to their close friends, but if a positive classroom atmosphere has been created, they will soon reach out to others. Students often set a goal of getting
CLASS DATABASE
1. To create a class database, think of fi ve or six categories/fi elds of information that you would like students to share with you and each other. You might determine these categories by brainstorming ideas with the students or choose the categories in advance. On a large (sev- eral metres long) piece of butcher’s paper, create the database template and record the titles of the chosen categories. Choosing categories the students will be comfortable with will encourage everyone to respond. Possibilities include: Hair Colour/ Favourite Food/ Peaceful Place/ Fa- vourite Subject/ Favourite Animal/ Favourite Book or Movie or TV Show. It’s a good idea to avoid categories like Best Friend or people’s physical characteristics, which may build exclusion not inclusion.
2. Upon completion your database could look something like this: Name Mr. S.
Sri Food Lasagna Pizza
Ahmed Dana Ana Burger Fries
Place My kayak Beach My room Mall Animal Cat Hair
Dolphin Cat Brown Black Black Subject Writing Computers Art Pizza School
Whale Panda Red
Music Math Blonde
everyone’s signatures on their fans. It’s a great idea for you, as the teacher, to have a fan as well and participate by writing appreciation statements to students on their fans.
7. Students may want to take their fans out at recess time to get friends from other classes to write an appreciation statement and sign their fans. They also enjoy taking their fans home to share with their family. Younger students could keep their fans as part of a scrapbook and read them when they need a boost. This is a great activity to revisit throughout the year.
Possible Refl ection Questions
Content: What is one statement on your fan that you would like to share in community circle?
Collaborative: Why are Appreciations/No Put-Downs so important for this activity?
Personal: How did you feel when you read the appreciations that people had written on your fan? How did it feel to write appreciations on other people’s fans?
3. Generate questions that students will be able to answer by using the database (e.g., How many people like pizza? What are the favourite subjects of students at the beginning of Grade 3?) With older students, you can ask more sophisticated, co-relational questions (e.g., Are stu- dents who like music likely to be cat lovers?)
4. As an ICT (information communications technologies) extension students could input the data using spreadsheet or database software and use the Find command to answer their questions. It’s best to start with an actual database (on paper) to ensure greater understanding.
Possible Refl ection Questions
Content: What do you have in common with other members of our class? Collaborative: Why is mutual respect important in this activity? Personal: What are some other things about me that I’d like to share with my classmates?
42 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2014
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