#Sandy Quick ideas...

So, I'm sitting here in the middle of Hurricane Sandy in my Philadelphia apartment, thinking about some quick ideas for lessons dealing with Hurricane Sandy. Since my students and many along the east coast will have experienced this storm, we can build upon our students' schema by engaging in meaningful teaching and learning experiences.

This list is no way exhaustive, but just some quick suggestions.
I'm an elementary/middle school teacher, so these ideas are primarily geared toward PreK-8th grade, but I know my experienced high school colleagues could also find some of these ideas useful and can adapt them for our older students.

Social Studies
1. Quickly display a map and have a brief discussion of the states that Sandy passed through.  Have students color in maps of the states that this storm has passed through. You can also have a brief discussion about cardinal directions. Students can even stand and move their arms in those simple directions.

2.  Have older students look up the states that Sandy passed through. Then have them identify the capitals of those states and perhaps five or six other cities in those states. You can also have them draw those states' flags, identify those states' governors. You may also have them look up how many electoral votes they have up for grabs in the upcoming election.

3.  For younger - Have students identify and spell their city and state. Spell out your city and state, writing one letter per piece of construction paper. Distribute the "city" construction paper pieces. As you spell, have the student with that letter come and begin to form the city's name in front of the class. Repeat for the "state" construction paper pieces.

4.  Older students can do research on the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. It'll be also interesting to have them do research on huge hurricanes that remained at sea.

5.  Foreign Language - Have students look up "hurricane" (or the language's most equivalent word for it) in many languages and have them practice pronouncing those words.

6.  Find and read tweets with the hashtag #Sandy from different cities, including those outside of the hurricane zone --- (preview the tweets ahead of time

Science
I honestly don't have many hours of science instruction under my belt.  Here are sites that may be helpful...
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/activities.html
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/weather/childrens-science-activities/56106.html
http://theweatherchannelkids.com/
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/

Math
1.  Younger - show a map of the states that Hurricane Sandy passed through, count the states. Write or trace the number (depending on just how young the children are). Count to that number using other objects in the room.

2.  Older - gather statistics from reputable online sites about this storm. Report those statics to the class. The class can even be divided into groups and each group can take a state to research. Statistics may include, miles of wind/water damage (convert miles to kilometers, meters, feet, inches, etc.), square miles of impact (whether damaged or not), the number of crews dispatched to aid in power restoration, the pounds of food that the Red Cross & Salvation Army brought to shelter sites, etc.

3.  Younger/Older - Money - Have them bring in money to donate to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to aid in their efforts.  Count it then send it.

4.  Older - Inquire of the Red Cross approximately how much it costs to care for an individual. Set a goal to help a particular number of individuals and set out on approved fund raising efforts with all of the funds going to the Red Cross. Count the funds raised, determine about how many individuals these funds would help.

English/Language Arts
Journal Topic ideas
1.  How did you keep yourself busy during the storm? Did you have fun or were you worried?
2.  In life we sometimes we go through "storms" (situations that sometimes seem real difficult). What storms have you gone through in your life? How did you make it through those storms? What advice would you give to those who are going through difficult times?
3.  Listing all of the letters of the alphabet, what names would you give to hurricanes?
4.  Write a letter to those who are responsible for rescuing individuals who may need to be rescued or restoring power.  Some of the people may be firefighters, police officers, the national guard, electric crews, water crews, gas crews, and tree removal companies. What would you say to them?
5.  Write a letter to whoever takes care of you. Thank them for keeping you safe and giving you snacks during the storm.

Reading
1.  Find and read nonfiction news articles on Hurricane Sandy.
2.  Find and read OpEd pieces on the responses of various government entities.
3.  Find, read, compare and contrast the content of the articles on previous huge hurricanes like Katrina, Irene, Andrew, and others.

Viewing
1. CNN Student News www.cnn.com/studentnews
2.  National Geographic videos on storms
3.  Discovery education videos on storms

Writing
1.  Have younger students write a class book. Each student can contribute one line to the book and an illustration. Compile the book and either photocopy it for everyone or scan it and upload an e-version of it to your class website.

2.  Older students can do an amended version of a class book. You may want to have them write a page and illustrate.

3.  Students may prefer to write poetry. Create a poetry anthology. They may create poems about their feelings during the storm, their observations, the storm from the storm's perspective, etc.

Speaking
1.  Debate - Hurricanes are worse than tornadoes.
2.  Debate - Meteorologists "hype" up storms, just to get people to evacuate.
3.  RE: the narratives and poems discussed in the writing section above, have students read what they wrote to their classmates or in front of the class
4.  RE: the journal topics mentioned above, have students read what they wrote to their classmates or in front of the class