Vanguard this week is all about YOU! What makes you happy? What makes you excited to learn? What makes your BRAIN DANCE?!?!
DANCE PARTY!
First, we need a reminder of how good it feels to dance! So grab a friend or family member, and put on your favorite dancing song. I want you both to dance your silliest dance for at least 2 minutes. Set a timer if you can! If you don’t have a favorite song to dance to, you can borrow mine.
Chat with your dance partner: How did that feel in your body? What did you notice? Did anything change in how you felt or what you thought?
Make Your Brain Dance!
Did you know that just like your body dances when you hear your favorite song, your brain can dance when you learn about something that excites you? Learning is so much fun when this happens! This week you get to choose what you learn about, and I hope that you have a joyous time making your brain dance. Here are the steps you will take:
- Make a list of a few things that are really interesting to you! This could be a bizarre dinosaur that has fascinating features, something crazy that happens in nature like volcano lightning or glowing ocean water. It could be a question you have, such as “How do astronauts use the bathroom?” or “What is the most venomous snake in the world?”. Just write or draw a few things that excite you.
- Choose one of the items on your list to start exploring. Work with a parent to come up with a few questions you have about your topic. This is a very important skill to develop. Its called learning how to learn. I’ll give you an example:
- If I chose to learn about volcanic lightning, I would write down “What causes it to happen?”, “Would someone die if the lightning struck them?”, “Has anyone been struck by this kind of lightning, and what happened to them?”
- Now, go on an EPIC LEARNING ADVENTURE! Some places I love to go on learning adventures include: the library, YouTube (with parent help), books in my house, National Geographic website, Magic School Bus tv show on Netflix, talking to people who already know about my topic, and sometimes I even ask Heavenly Father to help me understand things. He loves teaching us about this world he designed just for us! I want you to really make your brain dance! If you find something during your adventure that excites you, follow it until you learn all you can.
- Your last stop on your epic adventure is to create something that can help you teach us about your topic. There are hundreds of options for you to choose from! Choose something that makes you happy. Here are some ideas:
- Dress up like your topic
- Print a coloring page of your topic, then color it
- Print pictures of your topic and make a collage
- Use clay to create a model
- Color or paint a picture
- Make a diorama
- Write a mini book with this free printable
- Design a game
- Write a poem or song
- Create a collage from scrap paper
I can’t wait to see and hear all about your topics on Thursday! We’re going to have the best time learning from each other. After your presentations, we will be going on a few more epic learning adventures by making ice cream and taking apart electronics! See you all Thursday!
