Those of you who have been through the interview process lately may know the words "demo lesson."  Ten years...It took me TEN years in education before I ever heard the words.  And I started hearing it from every school I interviewed with.  All in all, I did 3 "demo lessons" during my job search.  One in a classroom of all young boys, one in a co-ed Kindergarten classroom and one I videotaped with my very own students.  I'll let you guess which one I felt went better than the rest.  I could do a whole post on demo lessons, but I'll save that and just share with you the one I enjoyed the most. 

Running with this idea from Pinterest, I started planning my own Kindergarten friendly version. The lesson is based on the book, "The Best Part of Me."  The book is a collection of photographs by photographer Wendy Ewald.  Each close-up picture of a student's "best part" is paired with a child-written paragraph or poem explaining why that part is so special to them.      

After reading a few of the examples in the book, I had students pick their own "best part."  I modeled by saying,  "The best part about me is my feet.  They help me walk to explore new places.  I also use them to run to keep my body healthy."
We started an IPad rollout this year and this lesson gave us the opportunity to let our young photogs put the camera function to good use.  I put the kids in small groups and let them each take a turn photographing their friend's "best part."  (Watching this was my absolute favorite part. Some of them were moving all around the room to pick the best background for their friend's picture.)
Once the group was done, I took the IPad, and sent them off to write about why they chose that part.  From the IPad,  I was quickly able to email the images (our IPads are not hooked up to printers) and print them.  Once they printed, the students cut them out and added them to their writing.  
This lesson is great for students of all ages.  Because my Kindergarteners have been writing everyday since the very first day of school, I knew my students were up to the challenge.  They did a fantastic job and they helped me land my next job.  I'm so sad to be leaving my great kids and my great school, but I'm excited for my next adventure.  I can't wait to do this lesson with my new group of kids!