Listen. Connect. Empower.

Our music teacher obtained grants to take the entire 2nd grade district-wide to see the Nutcracker .  We worked together to prepare our students for what they would see on the stage ( see my last post ).  Following the field trip, students wrote about their favorite part of the ballet.  One teacher decided to take her students' writing one step farther and venture into an unknown world to her - computer programming.  Together, we had these 2nd graders code their experience.  Within an hour and a half these 2nd grade students who had never used Scratch Jr before had created scenes from the Nutcracker like this battle scene with the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. I was coding with my 2nd graders during Library time and giving them choices for coding activities.  However, I decided to use my limited time wisely with this particular class and use our time to get familiar with Scratch Jr (a program they had never used before). Day 1: We learned how...

Our music teacher came to see me one day, excited about the grants she obtained to take the entire 2nd grade district-wide to see the Nutcracker .  This fabulous experience would be absolutely FREE for students and she wanted to know if I would like to collaborate with her.  Of course! Quick aside and brief disclosure: I danced in a ballet company, taught dance for 14 years, and don't remember a time when I didn't dance, so I was beside myself with excitement. A rare pic from my former career  We decided that I would share the story of the Nutcracker during library time and create centers for students to further explore three pieces from the Nutcracker : March Trepak Waltz of the Flowers   She would have the students further experience the three musical pieces during music class and they would produce a written reflection in their classrooms.  My most exciting collaborative venture was a 2nd grade teacher that had expressed interest in coding. ...