Hammill Institute on Disabilities

"Everyday" Items Make Unit on the Human Body Come AliveAuthor(s): Debbie JohnsonSource: Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Spring, 1983), p. 236Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1510805 .

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-LDO- APPLICATION .

and exchange tapes with each other. Soon a library of tapes will be compiled and students will be able to preview books via tapes before check- ing them out to read. Finally, students tend to be more willing to read a book at home if they know it has been enjoyed by another student.

- Harriet Libstag Jericho Public Schools

"EVERYDAY" ITEMS MAKE UNIT ON THE HUMAN BODY

COME ALIVE Everyday items come in handy in the class-

room. For example, a science unit about the human body can become an intriguing ex- perience by using such items to make various body parts in illustration of bodily systems.

A premade outline of a human body can be traced on 12" by 18" pieces of tagboard for each system of study - skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, and digestive. For the skeletal system, uncooked spaghetti can be used to simulate bones, with students referring to a picture of an actual skeleton to position and glue bones correctly. White crayon may be used for the skull and pelvis. On another piece of tagboard, the muscular system can be con- structed with thick rubber bands. To illustrate the respiratory system, drinking straws (the bendable ones work best for the trachea) can be connected to two small pink balloons, allowing the students to make lungs expand and contract. A red balloon makes a good heart for the circulatory system, with red and blue painted arteries and veins completing the picture. Inexpensive clear plastic tubing, such as the type sold for aquarium filters, works well for the digestive system, par- ticularly the intestinal tract. If carefully executed, small dry items such as uncooked rice can be blown through the entire digestive system.

Imagine the impact of this project at the school science fair!

- Debbie Johnson Orchard Park Schools

CLASSROOM JOURNALISTS To avoid causing students to stare at a blank

piece of paper when asked to write, try the following remedy. Select enticing headlines from local newspapers and have students make up their own news stories by completing informa- tion on who, what, when, where, why and how. After the students have written an opening paragraph, give them the original news story with which to compare their own story. After having outlined the who, what, whenr, where, why and how of the actual newspaper story a discussion of similarities and differences between the two stories both in facts and writing styles can offer directed reading as well as constructive writing techniques for the classroom journalists.

- Elaine Hauptman Half Hollow Hills School District

CREATIVE WRITING WITHOUT "SEEING RED"

"Creative Writing without Seeing Red" con- sists of three stages. At stage one students write a story or composition spontaneously on lined paper leaving a space between each line to allow room for making spelling and usage corrections. After completing the story, the student corrects the usage and spelling of the written product, either together with the teacher, another stu- dent, or independently. No red pencils are used. No one sees RED! At stage two, after corrections are made, the student copies the corrected work and lists all misspelled words which become part of the weekly spelling lesson. Since these words are from the students' spontaneous vocabulary, students are motivated to learn how to spell them. The third and final stage consists of typing the corrected copy (by the student or the teacher), which is finally displayed in a promi- nent place! Results are gratifying to students and teachers alike!

- Gladys Seisler Jericho Public Schools

236 Learning Disability Quarterly

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