Fifty Years From Now

There are moments during a teacher's career that cannot be measured in worth, because the truth is, they are priceless. These moments seem to make up for all the times that your well-planned lessons are met with dozens of questions, or worse yet, blank stares. These moments make up for the times when you've already sent disruptive students away from the puzzle table and back to their desks, and you've attended to three stomach aches, a headache and an ant bite before 9:30 a.m.

These moments make it all worthwhile.

Today I experienced such a moment.

We were in history and geography class discussing the country of Hong Kong. We talked about the Opium Wars between Britain and China, and how Britain set up a port city in Hong Kong to keep the trade open, against China's will. Hong Kong was leased to Britain for 99 years.

Bad form, Britain, my class concluded.

Then we discussed China's communist government taking over, which led to the exodus of the Chinese people into Hong Kong. China wanted Hong Kong back, but Britain refused, saying that China would ruin Hong Kong.

Good form, Britain, my class concluded.

In 1997 the 99 years was up. China took Hong Kong back, but agreed to make no changes for fifty years. "Guys," I said, "this is current history! This wasn't ages ago, this is right now! Do you realize that we are in those fifty years?"

My students were amazed to think that they were living in history, and that we didn't know what changes China would make to Hong Kong because those fifty years aren't up yet. I told them to listen to the news in 2047 to find out the end of this story.

"I never knew H & G was fun!" Matthew shouted. "Mrs. Hatfield,  you make H & G fun!"

I was tickled pink, but the best was yet to come...

"Will we still be alive in 2047?" the class eagerly asked. We did the math on the board. "Most of you will be 44."

"How old will you be, Mrs. Hatfield?" Again, we did the math and came up with the ripe old age of 83.

"Eighty-three!" the class was shocked.

Then Matthew looked at me and smiled. "Don't worry, Mrs. Hatfield," he consoled, "I'll come visit ya and let ya know what happens."

Create-A-Bug

Scientists have discovered 800,000 different kinds of insects, but they think that there are many kinds that have not been found yet. Every year from 7,000 to 10,000 new kinds of insects are discovered and named. Understanding God's World, A Beka Book, 2008. 

"Do you think you could imagine 800,000 different kinds of insects?" I asked my students. They quickly admitted that they could not.

"What if you were there when God created the insects, and He let you each think up one?" I asked. "Could you do it?"

"YES!"

Well then, here is your task. You are to create a new species of insect, and place it in its habitat. You may use paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, glitter and pipe cleaners. Be creative and have fun! God did!

Mexican Beedle with Guitar

Rainbow Killing Mantis
(with braces!)

Globe Fly

Crababeepiboutter

Background Bug

Brownie Crab Fly

 



Star Fly

Fish-Hopper Bufly



Puff Fly

Jerusalem Crickant



Killing Guinea Pig Fly

Larry the Cucumber
Bob-a-Bomb Fly
Machine Number Two

 

Summer Snowball

Seven Quick Takes (vol. 7)

Who Would've Thought...?

It's amazing what you can learn just by taking notice of the things you pass by every day...
.



1. Just when you thought you had seen the tackiest pink flamingo lawn ornament, the bar has been raised!






2. I never knew that my county's biggest tourist attraction was "just around the corner."







3. Who knew that the Periodic Table of Elements could taste so good? (Cookies made by 8th grader, Ania, for the 10th grade chemistry class. What a gal!)





4. "What's nanner poopin'? Amy asked," has been a favorite tale in our family, but I never really understood why until today.






5. I wonder...do all dentists have a Dorrie and a Nemo?







6. Wario, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad walked through my neighborhood this morning.








7. Just like that favorite childhood song says, teddy bears really do go on picnics.




Now head on over to Jen's to add your own seven quick takes.

Seven Quick Takes (vol. 6)

The other day I was folding the laundry, when I got a chuckle out of my family's T-shirt collection.



1.  There are the shirts that say, "Some are born great."







2.  There are the shirts that say, "Some achieve greatness."






3  These say, "Some have greatness thrust upon them."






4.  The "I'm feeling logical" shirt.







5.  There's the statement "I kissed dating good-bye" in video game language.




6. There's the feeling neighborly shirt.















6.a. There's the "It makes no difference to me, but mind my personal space" shirt. (front and back).





7.  And then there's my favorite, the simple fact that life is good, especially when it is accompanied by a steamy cup of Joe.






What about you? What is your favorite T-shirt?

Go to Conversion Diary to add your own Seven Quick Takes.

Big, Fat, Juicy Adjectives

Here's a fun way to teach your students about adjectives. Start with a simple sentence such as:

My big pig happily ate my juicy burrito.

Next spend some time identifying the adjectives. Since pig and burrito are nouns, the words that describe these nouns are adjectives.

Then the fun begins. Go around the room and let each student add an adjective to the sentence, which gets funnier and funnier as you go. 

1.  My big, fat pig happily ate my juicy, disgusting burrito.

2.  My big, fat, purple pig happily ate my juicy, disgusting, slimy burrito.

3.  My big, fat, purple, hairy pig happily ate my juicy, disgusting, slimy, green burrito.

4.  My big, fat, purple, hairy, good-for-nothing pig happily ate my juicy, disgusting, slimy, green, rotten burrito.

5.  My big, fat, purple, hairy, good-for-nothing, million-ton pig happily ate my juicy, disgusting, slimy, green, rotten, tasty burrito. (Yum!)

After the class has a good laugh, ask them to draw a picture of the final sentence. Here is a sample of what my class turned in after doing this activity a few weeks ago. (note: the pig at the top of this page is also student drawn).

Prim and Proper Pig

Bacon Strip Pig

Very Hairy Pig

Balloon Pig & Burrito Log

Birds of a Feather

One of the great benefits our family received from moving to a rural setting when our children were young, was that they learned how to relate to children of all ages, and they learned how to be each other's best friends. This was due to the fact that there just weren't many children who lived around us.

That is a skill that they have carried over to their current suburban lifestyle, but I am still "cut to the quick" when I am blessed to see it in action.

We were out in the yard weeding the flowerbeds on Sunday, when I overheard a conversation between my sixth grader, Philip, and the neighbor boy who is in first grade.

Let me back up a little and set the stage. Philip LOVES weapons. He has Nerf swords, maces and hatchets. He has a bow and arrow, Airsoft rifles and can crack a bullwhip. He is a real man's man. The neighbor boy, Noah, LOVES weapons, too, and sees Philip as the authority in this area

Noah LOVES Philip. Philip is like a big brother to him. Philip LOVES Noah. Noah is like a little brother to him.

So there we were, working in the yard, with Philip and Noah deep in conversation about weaponry and battles. Noah asking the questions, and Philip supplying the answers. It was all rather a blur to me. Then I heard a question that piqued my interest.

Noah: "Philip, what are those kinds of birds that can talk?"

Philip: "Do you mean a parrot?"

Noah:  "No, they are smaller...oh, I know, a parakeet! That's what I want, a parakeet!"

Philip:  "Why do you want a parakeet?"

Noah: "So I could teach it to talk. Do you know what I would teach it to say?"

I was expecting to hear something predictable, something like, "en garde" or "put up your dukes" or some such battle cry. Instead, I heard something that melted my heart.

Noah: "Philip! I would teach it to say PHILIP!"

Every so often, God gives us an unexpected glimpse into the fruit of our lives. And when the fruit is this good, this sweet, this beautiful, it is worth more than gold!


  

Scranimals

This is a fun art project for kids that will get their imaginations running in high gear. It is also a great bulletin board display for those in between holiday times.

Scranimals is the art of combining two animals, or an animal and a vegetable, into one new species. The only rule is that you keep the exact spelling of each animal in tact when you combine them. However, you drop off the overlapping letters.  For example:

Spinach + chicken = spinachicken, not spinachchicken.

Squirrel + elephant = squirrelephant

One of my favorites:  Banana + anaconda = bananaconda

But, as you will see, even these rules can be altered a little...check out these close-up shots of the scranimals my class did last week:



Shoveleopard

Flamingolive








Radiationarwhalionfish

Monkeylime



Dragon Flyon

Mangorangutan






Lionion



Sharkiwi

Firelephant



Albatrosskunk