So I blew it, officially missed they International Talk like a Pirate Day (thanks for the reminder and idea Jen) – (you can still get on board with this if you are interested). there are some wonderful things here and Some great kid songs (Blackbeard and Bluebeard). Any of your students interning in Elementary schools – here is a great activity and fun video.
One of the cool things about this is that it was a couple of people who took an interest to the extreme – they made a fun small group activity in the Northwest, a full day event that people around the world celebrate.
One of the reasons I missed this special day was our family was busy at the emergency room with our three year old who fell and smashed his front teeth so badly they had to get pulled. (I’ll skip the trauma of the moment thought it does lead me to ask why teeth produce so much blood. It felt like an episode of Dexter in our house on Saturday). But there is learning in every experience, right? Make your life, your learning. So, let’s sink our teeth into teeth…
Journals or Advisory Share: Stories of Teeth
Use the topic of teeth to start conversation and help students share about their personal experience:
- Did your family do the tooth fairy bit? What was that ritual like? What did they bring?
- Have you ever had teeth problems? What were they? What was that like?
- Do you floss? How often?
- Do you mind going to the dentist?
Brainstorm Questions
Spend some time as an advisory whetting your inquiry skills by brainstorming any questions you can about teeth, dentistry, etc. You may put up question works for students and/ or provide them with a examples of the Blooms types of questions.
Done as a whole group, you could put this up on the board as a mind map (and cluster/or organize later with types).
You might have each pair of students pick a question to research during the day and bring the answer back to advisory at the end of the day.
- How many teeth do you have?
- What is the history of dentistry?
- Why do you loose a set of teeth?
- How long does it take a tooth to grow?
- What is a cavity?
- Why is loosing teeth so bloody?
- What is a “dead tooth”?
- What does flossing have to do with heart health?
- What qualities and skills makes for a good dentist?
- Etc., Etc. The more questions, the better. (Maybe skip questions about the Marathon Man…)
Resources:
Anatomy of Teeth
Blooms Questions
Mind Mapping
Not well known facts about teeth
Let curiosity be the guide …
Wonder You 