i teach 5th grade, i just graduated college last year and its my first year. my classroom is small and my kids are rowdy so i dont think id ever bring my dolls in. but the girls love them and we talk about them a lot! the boys, i dont know if theyd go for it. id still love to have the lesson plan books but i dont.
I wouldn't make a habit of taking the dolls in the classroom, especially in the grades before 3rd grade.
You could probably use the dolls and/or stories for a Social Studies unit. More than likely you wouldn't do much involving American history until the 3rd grade. Perhaps you could bring the doll in for one day to demonstrate clothing of that era. Keep her locked up until that particular lesson.
Last year when my son was in 2nd grade his teacher read Meet Addy aloud to them and brought in Addy and some of her things for the children to see- not sure how much they were allowed to play with , my son was very disinterested in Addy the doll but really enjoyed the story. What if you just brought in replaceable things or Let the children bring in what they have AG is big at the schildrens school although I mostly see AGTs but I bet if you asked during a particular lesson you may find some girls will have things to share.
A member of this board who doesn't post much, Calyndra, Abby teachs elementary school music and uses Felicity II as a teaching aid. Felicity actually lives in her classroom. She is great for teaching posture.
Now if only I could figure out how to include my dolls in a high school science lesson.
Ashley
My mom has two "fake" ags in her classroom (one is a disney doll and the other is from toys r us) that I had gotten and didn't want anymore. She has started to collect historical outfits from AG that she can dress them in to match things they learn about in Kindergarten. Her kids are too young to even know that they aren't real AG's. They are just like "An American Girl Doll!!!!"
I would keep the dolls at home,because one of the little kids might break her.I would try to read the stories to the kids, though.I think the girls would be very intrested but I do not know about the boys.In fourth grade I would tell my teacher all about the dolls and I would bring in catalogs. At the end of fourth grade she asked me what stories I liked the best and I said Felicity's.She wanted to know this because she was going to order a set to have for next year's class.
As Ds9jullian said, I do keep a girl in my classroom. I teach elementry school music. I happen to have a second Felicity. My original is a 1991 Lissie and she does *not* go to school. School Felicity is a mattel girl, so I'm not worried about something happening to her that cannot be mended. I use her to teach posture, to be an "audience" for the children to sing to, and to add character to my classroom. She helps us to celebrate all kinds of holidays and occationally "brings friends" to school with her. Kaya visited for Native American Herritage month, for example. I always bring her home over long weekends and during the day she sits on top of a high file cabinet out of reach of little hands. Some of the big girls are allowed to come and hold her after school. I make sure they play nicely.
I dress Felicity in the most appropriate way for whatever we are doing at school. So far, they seem to relate to her best when she dresses like they do, in the today girl stuff, but they also loved her blue Christmas gown. I encouraged the kids to watch the movie and see who she really was and some of them did.
As long as she does not become a distraction, I see no reason why a doll should not be used in a classroom. Of course, it goes without saying that children need to be trained to treat her with respect.
~Abby
Doesn't Ria use her dolls in a classroom?
Linda
I have mentioned that I am graduating this year with an early childhood degree (k-4 through 3rd). I hope to one day teach 2nd or 3rd grade and have always wanted to use the historical dolls in some way in my lessons. I know AG has those books with lesson plans for teachers. However I am now having second thoughts. I would be too afraid that something would be stollen, broken etc. Do those of you who teach this age use AG in your classroom? If so how do you use it...just books, dolls and period clothing? I would just be nervous with the accessories especially knowing that some are now retired and valuable.
Stephanie
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's a great idea even for home. My DD practices violin in her bedroom and not as often as I would like her to. I should tell her that her dolls are her audience and that they want to hear her concerts. That would probably make it more interesting for her.Originally posted by Calyndra:
I use her to teach posture, to be an "audience" for the children to sing to
~Abby
PS- Your classroom sounds like a lot of fun Abby.
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