We started out by reviewing what schema means. Then, each student used a sticky note to write down one thing they already know about the topic: camping. After a few minutes I called each student up one by one to add their schema to our schema chart.
As they were adding their information I asked them how they knew what they know. We found that we have learned things from a lot of different places including movies, tv, friends, family, books, school, experience, computers, etc. As students told me how they learned their information, I used puff paint to add some squiggles to that area of our brain.
After everyone had a chance to share we talked about our brains and how using our schema makes our brains light up. We turned off the lights and watched our brain "light up" with all our schema. The kids went crazy! What a good visual to help them understand what happens in their brain when they use their schema.
We read the book Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer and I challenged the kids to "make their brains light up by thinking of a connection to the story". Everyone was then asked to use a second sticky note to write down their connection. As they finished the placed their connection onto their spot on our ticket to leave chart and then were dismissed to their daily 5 rounds.
We were lucky enough to have Mrs. Allen visit us during this lesson and she told me later she was really proud of how hard the kids were working, and what good listeners they were. What a great group of kids!
