Being "The Friz"

This summer I was babysitting a seven year old twice a week and since she had never been to a day camp I figured I'd try to mimic the experience for her. I created some simple activities and practiced lessons on this unsuspecting child and she loved every minute of it.

As much as I enjoyed watching reruns of Curious George and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, which she was able to quote word for word, I decided to introduce her to a few classics. She enjoyed Peep and the Big Wide World, Seven Little Monsters, and  Madeline, but The Magic School Bus was the only one she'd request on a daily basis. Investing in the collection of DVDs from Scholastic seemed like the best 65$ investment!

The last episode we watched was "The MSB Goes to Mussel Beach". For those of you who aren't familiar with each episode the kids learned about low and high tide, the three zones in the water, and which is best suited for the needs of a mussel. My eighteen year old sister sat and watched with us, but since she had been on her computer I figured she hadn't been paying much attention. That is until a few weeks later when my sister came back from vacation from Salisbury Beach, Mass. bursting with excitement and wanting to show me a video she'd recorded of mussels feeding in a small pool. I laughed as she told me how she'd watched them for ten minutes, telling them that they were too high and they needed to be in the middle zone, that they would need to hang on tight when the waves came in.

This, I realized, is what I've been learning for the past four years in University. This is what education is about. Making things matter to the students, encouraging excitement and relevance so that facts stick with you.

What I've always loved about the Magic School Bus is the fun and excitement Ms. Frizzle brought to her classroom and how she let the students explore and discover on their own. Hum...kind of like inquiry based learning don't you think? Unfortunately I don't have a magic school bus that can take my kids into outer space and that would be one expensive field trip to go scuba diving...but I do have manipulatives, hands on learning, and activities to engage.

What I want to share is resources I've found and/or created to help you develop child centered activities that will engage your students in meaningful learning so that you too can seem as cool as Ms. Frizzle!