Posted on February 1, 2012 by Suzan Woodard in Integration Ideas, Literacy, Personal Experiences, Reading Lists.
Tags: Crafts for Children, February in the Classroom, Freedom Day, Groundhog's Day, Leap Year, Mardi Gras, President's Day, Punxsytawney Phil, Slavery
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Punxsy Phil, the weather-savvy woodchuck.
For such a short month, February is living large this year. It kicked off with today’s observation of Freedom Day, which commemorates President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery. A wreath was laid on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to acknowledge this historical American watermark.
A troupe of top-hatted men will congregate tomorrow, Feb. 2nd, in Punxsytawney, Pa., to get the weather prediction from Punxsy Phil, the famous weather-savvy Groundhog Day woodchuck. The burg of Punxsytawney was not far from where I grew up, so my family always paid close attention to whether this chubby little rodent saw his shadow or not.
Then there’s Valentine’s Day on the 14th, Presidents’ Day on the 20th, Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras on Feb. 21st, and John Gandolfi’s Leap Day birthday on the 29th. It’s unlikely that most of you know Mr. Gandolfi . He was the ultra-gregarious kid who sat four seats in front of me in homeroom from seventh grade through twelfth. “…Gandolfi, Gaston, Glasser, Golinsky, Granata….” He was a Leap Year baby, so I think he celebrates his 13th birthday this year.
I see these holidays as gateway ops – perfect avenues to promote literacy and chase away the winter doldrums. I suppose it depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist and whether you’re “a natural” when it comes to integrating seasonal activities into the classroom. Whether you use a Valentine’s Day word search sheet or read a biography about a U.S. president on BigUniverse.com, you will be adding “snap, crackle and pop” to your classroom and advance the cause of literacy.
Here’s a starter list to get you in the spirit.
Freedom Day
Groundhog Day
Valentine’s Day
President’s Day
Mardi Gras
Leap Day
NOTE: For more general reading, click on “Holidays” – a Teacher Created Materials book at Big Universe Learning. Or, read “An Ode to History and Phillis Wheatley” or “Books Introduce Black History Month Heroes,” blogs that showcase kid-friendly biographies about remarkable Americans.
Ever wonder why students seem to remember rules, operations, or facts when put to a catchy tune? Have you ever wanted to create or find a song for that concept that just seemed to be too difficult for some to remember or learn? After becoming quite frustrated that some of my students in my word study group were not catching onto the “vowel consonant-e” pattern, I began to think of a way in which I could get it to “stick.”
A colleague of mine recently found many songs on YouTube that related to various concepts, including word study. In previous blog posts, I have commented on using YouTube for science or social studies, but also wanted to make readers aware of the songs teachers can use during Language Arts.
As always, it is best practice to view the complete video before showing them to students. It is also best practice to monitor the advertisements and commercials that tend to come with some of the videos on the site.
Word Study Videos:
The Electric Company: Veronica Jackson’s “Bossy R”
Super “e”!!!! (hip children’s song by Mark D. Pencil)
Vowels Save the Day
Short Vowel Song
Song About Contractions: A Contraction has an Apostrophe by Miss Jenny
Contraction Rap 1st Grade
Teaching By Magic- Homophones
Song About Compound Words: Compound Word Whiz With Miss Jenny
Prefixes and Suffixes
Eight Parts of Speech!
Parts of Speech Music Video
It was amazing how many different videos were on YouTube related to these various concepts! The visual and audio aspect of learning is captured during these types of learning experiences, and can really impact a particular child’s understanding. When all else has failed and you are about to pull your hair out (haha!) just remember to think outside of the box, or use modern technology to help you out! It is amazing what our kids remember and connect to in this generation…good luck and rock on!
What is important to know for working more effectively with learning disabled children?
Recently I watched the video, “How Difficult Can This Be?” presented by Richard Lavoie. This is a great professional video that emphasizes the need for us to be much more sensitive to the feelings and perspectives of children with learning disabilities. A few points that I found interesting include: how deficits and differences in visual perception impact students; why student engagement is difficult to achieve and maintain; and how processing delays cause students to become further behind. If you have not seen this video and would like to learn more about how children with learning disabilities struggle, this is definitely one to check-out!
Since watching this video, I’ve noticed just how much more sensitive I am to the students struggling in my classroom. I’ve tried to make every effort to consider my students’ capabilities and weaknesses prior to setting lesson objectives and learning goals. I thought I would share a few questions I often ask myself before planning my reading instruction for my struggling students:
- At what reading level is this student performing? What reading behaviors are evident and/or lacking?
- What is the student’s stage of writing and spelling development? How does this information help me understand the student’s stage of reading development?
- Does this student have an IEP? If so, what are the goals and accommodations? How can I best adjust my instruction to help this student meet his goals?
- What are the reading strengths/challenges of this student? What reading goals can I help this student set and eventually meet?
- What reading program is most appropriate for this student at this time in their reading stage of development?
- What resources do I have that will help this student meet the lesson objective?
- What is the student’s affective development? Does this student display a weak or strong reader self-concept? Why? How can I help in this area?
- What strategies do I currently use to work effectively with learning disabled children?
- How is this student performing in the regular classroom? How can I help bridge the gap between the student’s intervention services and classroom small group instruction?
- How can I best motivate this student to accomplish his work?
- What is this student’s level of social and emotional development? How can I use this information to help this student stay focused and on task?
What information is important for you to know prior to working with a student with a learning disability? What strategies do you use that help you work effectively with a struggling student? As we learn to be sensitive to our struggling students, our lesson objectives can be met successfully and our students definitely grow in more ways than one!
Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is how to continuously engage my students in their learning. Ok, let’s face it, that is something I’m constantly thinking about. I bet we all are! We want our students to be invested and interested in what they are doing, and when they are engaged with the material they are working on, great things happen.
Motivated learners are the ultimate and I’m finding that on Big Universe, my students are naturally motivated and engaged. Recently, I posed a writing challenge to some of my students. They are currently working in groups on writing and publishing an ebook on a math concept of their choice. With very little assistance from me, all the students (10 of them) are collaboratively working every moment they can during the day.
Still some of my students have really found a hook into reading through the variety of books on the site. One girl has built a bookshelf of history books to peruse. Another has great fictional books about adolescence – chapter books that she keeps returning to at various times in the day. One boy has built a heafty bookshelf on all sorts of topics and loves sharing it with others by sending messages to his classmates.
It’s a new type of engagement with literacy, a 21st century engagement where students interact with technology and social media in a safe environment and share in the enjoyment and excitement that literacy can bring.
At least once a week, our class takes a trip to our Computer Clubhouse to use the computers and Big Universe freely. My students covet this time and are very disappointed if the time is cut short. Many read a new text, some work on writing an ebook and of course they all want to send messages to each other both personally and virtually. During that time, we are working on balancing out what we do. In our 30 minutes, I ask that students don’t just take advantage of the social media features, but find something that will engage them for 10-20 minutes. It takes some stamina building, but the kids love the practice because of the pure motivational and engaging value of working online.
This week, my students began learning about the past and present with regards to analyzing how technologies related to communication, transportation, occupations and daily life have changed. The evolution and progress made over time in these areas fascinated my students during our discussions.
I created graphic organizers to help them display their understanding of how communication, transportation, occupations and daily life has changed from past to present. The graphic organizers were set up similar to a time line in that the students could display progress in a sequential order.
Big Universe Learning has a great series of resources for helping students understand how occupations have changed from the past to the present. The series is published by Teacher Created Materials, and the books outlines different occupations and compare how they have changed between “then and now.” Since there are many books in this series, I chose a few and assigned them to groups of students. The groups were required to read the book, determine the main ideas and supporting details, and then share their findings with the rest of the class. This way, the students were experiencing opportunities to learn in a cooperative group setting, as well as, present their findings to their peers.
In addition to these books found on Big Universe, I also used the book titled Pony Express to illustrate how
communication has changed, specifically using chapter four as my focus. This helped the students begin to realize that the technologies that they have grown used to having did not always exist and that trying to communicate with others long ago was much more difficult.
At the end of the unit, I read the book 2030: A Day in the Life of Tomorrow’s Kids by Amy Zuckerman, James Daly and John Manders. This book helped my students begin to wonder what life might be like in the future, and what technologies haven’t even been invented yet that could help them communicate, travel, create new jobs or make daily life easier. After I read this book, the students were asked to pick a category (communication, transportation, occupation or daily life) and invent something that would impact this category that doesn’t already exist. The students had to then answer reflection questions related to the progression of their chosen category over time. The kids really enjoyed this project and were eager to work on their inventions! It was a great way to culminate this unit, and come full circle in their learning about the past, present and future!
Posted on January 12, 2012 by Suzan Woodard in Classroom Ideas, Integration Ideas, Personal Experiences, Reading Lists, Writing.
Tags: Current Events, Environment, Matilda Snake, Reptiles, Snake Books for Kids, Writing Online
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Wildlife Conservation Society photo of the colorful Matilda viper.
Mention the “S” word and you’ll usually get polar reactions. Some people express revulsion, while others indicate fascination for all things viper. But, it’s safe to bet that everyone has a snake story to tell.
My oldest daughter stepped on a copperhead in her bare feet while playing in our yard. My geologist father stared a few rattlesnakes down in his day while doing field study, and I found a sizeable black snake nesting under the pine shavings in a horse stall a few years back. There was a snake in our church gym’s rafters at a girls’ youth group sleepover, and my mom found “Mr. Thin Lips” lounging on the grill on her porch. Similar anecdotes by students could be the launching pad for writing stories on Big Universe – ones full of sequence words, action verbs and descriptive adjectives!
We all escaped unscathed, except for a few heart palpitations. Our inquisitive chocolate Labrador Retriever was the only family member to ever be bitten. She had a run-in with a copperhead. Her nose swelled, but the vet said she would recover quickly. And, she did.
I’m not particularly fond of being startled by snakes. I’d much rather observe them from behind a nice thick pane of glass or read about them. Big Universe Learning has numerous children’s books about snakes and reptiles that make this possible. These online books are pretty interesting and are the perfect supplement to science units about reptiles or the environment. (See list below.)
Why did I pick this topic for my blog? Well, it’s not because I really enjoy scaly things, but I do love zoology, scientific discovery and current events. An Associated Press (AP) article today heralded a new green-horned snake named after a little British girl called “Matilda.” The rare lemon-colored snake was found in Tanzania and was introduced to the world in the December issue of the scientific journal Zootaxa.
“Only three new vipers have been discovered across Africa the last three decades, making the find rare and important,” according to the AP article.
“My daughter, who was 5 at the time, became fascinated by it and used to love spending time watching it and helping us look after it,” said Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, who – along with two teammates – discovered the highly endangered snake two years ago. The find was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be initiated.
Big Universe’s Snake Books for Children
Our family recently went to the zoo and got to feed the giraffes. We have been to places before where we got to hold buckets to feed the giraffes, but this time we got to hold banana pieces in our hands for the giraffes to eat. My little one says the giraffe spit her banana out because he did not like it (She actually pulled her hand back when the giraffe’s tongue got close to touching her).
Based on our recent experience and the fact her favorite animal right now is the giraffe, I think that topic could provide a good “literacy hook” right now.
She has been drawing pictures of giraffes recently, so maybe now it is time for her to do some writing to go along with those pictures. I don’t have to ask her to write a lot … just words and phrases to start with. Hopefully those small steps will lead to longer writings in the future.
I think another way to encourage her writing about these pictures is to have books about giraffes available to read and look at. A nice blend of fiction and nonfiction should work well to show the importance of both facts and descriptive language.
Lucky for me that Big Universe Learning has some great books for us to start with:
- Critters up Close! ~ Giraffes from ZooBooks provides simple ways to describe the various actions of these magnificent animals (and my daughter in Kindergarten can read most of it on her own … build some confidence).
- The Giraffe who was Afraid of Heights from Sylvan Dell is a great story about overcoming fears, but it also has some fun facts and puzzles included. (This story is also available in Spanish.)
- ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day from Sylvan Dell is about things not going exactly according to plan and might be another fun one to include, especially since there are drooling giraffes!
I think that as both a parent and teacher, I can use the experiences children have to encourage and support literacy development.
image source
My students have been fortunate to have access to Big Universe this school year. They love reading online, writing stories, creating illustrations and, above all – the social aspect of the site where they are able to connect and share literature with other kids in the classroom and all over the world.
As their teacher, I love seeing their excitement. Assigning them new books to read is easy and it always surprises me when a student comes up to me and asks when I’m going to assign another book.
Unfortunately, our classroom is not equipped with much more than one student computer and not all of my students have access to one outside of school. Hence, my next thought…
Having the new year come in the middle of a school year is a very positive opportunity for me as a teacher. It allows me to think freshly and try new things. Just as I will ask my students to create a “res-school-ution” when we return from break, I will make my own. In the case of Big Universe, I am working to schedule in some Big U time each week for my students. This will be time where we can go up to our “Computer Clubhouse” and work on literacy. Students who need to work on assignments can do so and those caught up can read, search for new books for their shelf or view their friends’ original works. It’s important for me to provide this time for my students if I am to send the message home that their work in literacy and on Big Universe is important.
For me, it’s as simple as providing time for my students to continue to explore and utilize the resources on Big Universe. What new idea might you try in your classroom for the new year?
~EMP
Photo Credit
Read 'Penguin's Special Christmas Tree' on BigUniverse.com.
This is the latest we’ve ever put up a Christmas tree. It’s also the first year that both of my daughters have been away at college.
“Please wait until we get home, so we can get the tree together,” they begged.
Traditions are important to us – especially at Christmas time. It’s always been a family activity, so my husband and I waited for them to finish final exams and return home before getting a tree.
Eager to put equations, theories and philosophical debates behind them, they donned their scarves and gloves, and we loaded into our 1993 Ford pickup with the tired shock absorbers and the window that doesn’t seal properly. The only things louder than the wind whistling in the window, were the Christmas tunes on the radio – that, and the laughter.
It was dark when we got to the farm, but the white board fencing told us we had arrived. It was a few minutes past closing time, but the strings of overhead Christmas lights in the lot were still on. We piled out of the truck. It was not as cold as in past years – what with global warming and all. And, the selections were rather sparse, but we headed over to the stand of pines leaning against a support rail.
We poked and prodded. Was it tall enough? Was the tip going to support our angel tree topper? Did the branches leave enough room for our treasure of ornaments (each with its own unique story)? Was the trunk nice and straight, so our tree would stay securely in the stand…not like that one year?
Finally, a selection was made. Cash exchanged hands and the Fraser fir was deposited in the back of our Ford. We headed for home, stopping in at a local joint for enchiladas, tamales and way too many chips. The salsa was so hot, it made our voices hoarse when we laughed.
Had we found the ultimate shapely specimen? Not really. The tree had a sizeable dent in one side, resembling a boy with a bad haircut. Its trunk was a little off kilter, and all its needles would probably not stay intact until Jan. 1, the day we usually take down our Christmas decorations.
No, it wasn’t a picture perfect, Southern Living kind of tree. The excursion was, however, perfect. We were celebrating a season very important to us, we were together, and we’d made another deposit in our collective memory bank.
Joy to the world!
Penguin's Special Christmas Tree on Big Universe Learning
Note: Traditions play a big role in the fabric of holidays. Our family always made reading part of our Christmas season traditions: the Christmas story in the second chapter of Luke in the Bible, “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey,” “The Christmas Kitten,” “The Night Before Christmas” and many more. BigUniverse.com offers several Christmas-themed selections, including “Penguin’s Special Christmas Tree”. Read about Penguin’s quirky tree-trimming efforts, as he tries to find the perfect tree topper before Santa’s arrival. The Christmas children’s book is written by Jeannie St. John Taylor, illustrated by Molly Idle and published by Lobster Press. The book is leveled for first-graders, but will be of interest to those 8 and younger. Click on this link for other bedtime stories at Big Universe Learning.
The other day, while up in our Computer Clubhouse, after taking an online test, my students excitedly went on to Big Universe. They love spending their free time there: browsing books, creating images and finding friends. That’s what their focus seemed to be that particular 15 minutes. By the time everyone was done with the test, the whole room was buzzing with happy kids. I actually had wished later that I had recorded the sounds in the room.
“Look at all my friends!”
“Look at this friend. He has over 300 books on his shelf!”
“Mrs. Peterson, you NEED to be my friend!”
The SHARE part of Big Universe is a great feature and I like to encourage the students to use it. First of all, it is a very safe environment. Many of the kids’ names are in code, the social network is confined to Big Universe users and the comments students can make are limited. In fact, they choose a comment to leave for a friend from a drop box.
I find that the students are showing some nice camaraderie online that can sometimes can be lost in person. Everyone wants to be everyone’s friend. It’s nice to see!
Another great thing about the SHARE tab is that you get to see what other readers are up to. The boy who became friends with one who read over 300 books was so excited. So, I told him to check out the books he was reading. My student happily went back to his computer and started to read one of the books on the boy’s shelf. He took the recommendation as an exciting adventure: to read what someone across the country thought was a great book.
It was fun to see my students get excited about social media in the classroom in a very safe and educational environment. My hope is that this healthy interaction with other people online will help them see the possibilities of online collaboration in the future.
~EMP
