Guest Speakers to Bring to Your Classroom!

Hello!

I had a FANTASTIC week at school this past week and I felt the need to share some of the cool things my students were able to experience. I really worked this week to make our social students unit on Ancient Civilizations as interactive as possible, and we had 2 guest speakers. Both speakers had fabulous content and spoke at an age-appropriate level (which is hard to find in my experience). So let me begin filling you in!

First, Erin Soderberg, author of the series The Quirks and Puppy Pirates, visited our school to talk about her experiences with reading and writing, her story of becoming an author, and to read a small sample of one of her books. The entire presentation was engaging and inspiring for students. There was a clear message that in order to become a better author, you not only need to write more, but you also need to read more. Through reading you understand how other authors build images, construct characters, and use vocabulary.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.erinsoderberg.com/

After the presentation, I began reading her book The Quirks - Welcome to Normal. While I've only gotten into the first 50 pages, the book points out many relatable emotions and invites you into the fantasy world of this family. I highly recommend the book. I also dug a bit into her website and learned that does FREE 20 minute virtual author visits. While she is based out of Minnesota and does travel/visit schools (for a fee - clearly outlined on her website), I just was astounded that she is willing to pop into classrooms via Skype for free. Not only does Erin have these children's book series, she also writes under the name Erin Downing for her Tween, Teen, and Adult books.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.erinsoderberg.com/

The second visitor this week in third grade was a representative from the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. The speaker presented to the staff in the morning and then a few grade levels later on in the day. I was blown away not only by the information I received in the staff training, but by the number of misconceptions I held about seizures and epilepsy. Did you know that epilepsy is the most common neurological condition in children? 1 in 10 people will have a seizure in their lifetime! I had no idea that seizures were this common. However, I feel much equipped to not only recognize a few of the many types of seizures, but also to react in a way that is helpful.

My students were fascinated with the information they learned from the speaker as well. She made it very kid-friendly and reduced fears and concerns that some children held. After a presentation, she read a book that made the content even more relatable. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name. While serious events are difficult to discuss with students, I believe that they will now be able to respond better in a scary situation. Our school is now a Seizure Smart School!

The last part of my week that I would like to share with you is our social studies unit. We are currently learning about Ancient Civilizations and started with Ancient Egypt. In order to make the unit a bit more interactive, we wrote our name in hieroglyphics and started an Ancient Civilization suitcase. The suitcase will function as an interactive notebook, although we have not spent much time with it yet.

The hieroglyphic name writing is simple, but every single was of my students was engaged and having fun while learning. Each student started with a copy of a hieroglyphic alphabet that I print from Scholastic as well as part of a brown paper bag. They crumpled up the brown paper bag into a little ball. When they spread the paper back into a flat sheet, they wrote their name in marker after spacing the letters of their name with a pencil. It only took about 10 minutes but the kids loved it and the markers helped make it look older. Check out some of their work below. (Side note: I know this activity is pretty common and it's probably been around Pinterest too - although I do not have an exact name to credit.)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you all have a wonderful week! As always, follow my blog for updates. You may also find me on Instagram: @teachdancedream.

Allie