Before the holidays I came across a great writing activity called "How to Make a Coke Float." I found it on the teacher blog, Ginger Snaps. (By the way, she has a lot of other great ideas, too. Be sure to check out her other posts.)
My third and fourth grade students LOVED this writing unit! I've never seen them so excited about writing. They also thought the YouTube clip describing how to make an ice cream float was hilarious!! We watched it several times in order to make sure the students understood all the words and the concepts.
Finally, making and consuming Coke floats (made with vanilla ice cream and Coca-Cola) in ESL class was a very popular (although somewhat messy) activity! Even after the Winter Break and several weeks of school, my students are still hinting that they'd like to make floats again.
Last year, Mrs. Sunshine and I used the Phonics Dance to help our students learn the alphabet and its sounds. After our students mastered the alphabet portion, we started in on the "Hunks and Chunks". The children really enjoyed learning and reciting the hunks and chunks. It took a while for them to learn all of the "Hunks and Chunks", but it was worthwhile. It really seemed to help our ESL students with their learning how to read. Mrs. Sunshine made a powerpoint of each hunk/chunk and we used it with the large Smartboard in our shared classroom several times daily. By the end of the year, Mrs. Sunshine, Mrs. Foil and I were all top-notch "Hunk and Chunkers". Who needs aerobics when you do the "Hunk and Chunk" portion of the Phonics Dance four to five times per day??? It's a great TPR (Total Physical Response) activity, too.
Here's a fun YouTube video of a second grade class doing the "Hunks and Chunks". It's not our students, of course, but you'll get a good idea of how it works.
The Phonics Dance and its accompanying Hunks and Chunks were designed by Virginia Dowd. Her website is The Phonics Dance. Take a look at it and give The Phonics Dance a try. Mrs. Sunshine and I were thrilled with how much it helped our students last year.
Below are some examples of some of the powerpoint slides Mrs. Sunshine used. You can buy the precolored cards from Virginia Dowd's website or you can copy the black and white ones from the book and have a willing helper color them for you. Mrs. Sunshine's daughter colored a set of Hunks and Chunks and a set of the Phonics Dance alphabet for each of us. She is such a sweetie! Thanks, D. Sunshine, for the help.
