Synthesizing and LEGO Bricks

11 days left... but who's counting?

With 11 days left, what better to work on in reading than to practice putting all of our reading strategies together to create a new idea? Oh yes, dear friends, I'm talking about synthesizing. Every year around this time, I panic a little. What IS synthesizing again???

Developmentally, now's the time to teach it. But with 11 days left, it's hard to keep the focus IN the classroom, rather than OUTSIDE in the sunshine.

What's a teacher to do?

BRING OUT THE LEGO® BRICKS!!!

For real?

Yes. FOR REAL.

What do synthesizing and LEGO® Bricks have in common? Lots, actually.

I have a giant tub of LEGO® bricks that my mom gave me from when I was a kid. I keep this tub at school and use it as an incentive for bunnies who are on monitors. I put the tub in the middle of the circle. I gave them 5 minutes. The only directions were to "build something." They would be sharing their something with the class after the time was up. I always build something too :) Make sure you give them lots of time checks (I did every minute), because you know kids and their LEGO® bricks. They could do this ALL DAY!

Here we are at work:

After we went around the circle and shared what we created, I said, "What did you notice about our creations?" Eventually, someone said, "They're all different." EXACTLY!

Everyone had the same tub of LEGO® bricks, but everyone built something different. Each student used their prior knowledge to create something. Synthesizing is the same thing. We use our prior knowledge + what we read + our reading comprehension strategies to create a new idea.

Some of my favorite books to teach/practice synthesizing: The Important Book, A Color of His Own, Oliver Button is a Sissy, The Wednesday Surprise, My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother... I also do a mini unit on the underground railroad.

An update on my shoulder...

I mentioned yesterday that I got injured in my hockey game on Saturday.

I was NOT a happy camper... as you can probably tell from this picture. Well I went to the orthopedic doctor today and he didn't seem too concerned (YAY!). He said I dislocated it and may have torn a ligament (don't remember the name, but the one in front). I have to do physical therapy for 3-4 weeks and then go in for a recheck. If my stability and range of motion are back to normal, then YAY ME!!! If not, then........ I don't know, but it better not involve surgery, because...

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