Students Come First Resources

Coloring: It's Not Just for Kids

2015-04-27T12:23:00.002-04:00

Most adults probably think it is silly to spend time coloring. If we have time to color, we probably have time to exercise, fold laundry, watch our favorite show, buy groceries, and so on. To be honest, when I was a child I did not enjoy coloring. I preferred drawing or creating my own art, not coloring in someone else's art. But recently, I have enjoyed coloring along side the small children I nanny. I find it therapeutic to select the perfect color for each component of the picture. Now that I am an adult, coloring feels like a temporary escape from the pressures of always being responsible. The added bonus is that when I color with the kids, they seem more engaged in the activity, and definitely more calm.

Here is an article published in the New Your Times about a coloring book creator popular with the adult set:

Grown-Ups Get Out Their Crayons

Johanna Basford Creates Coloring Books Loved by Many Adults
(Facebook Page)

Johanns Basford Website

Adult Coloring Therapy Pages on Pinterest

More Images of Adult Coloring Pages

Fun Coloring Pages for All

Mustache Themed Reading Log

2015-04-20T22:48:00.004-04:00

Would you like a mustache themed reading log?

Who still thinks mustaches are cool? If your kids do, then this is the perfect reading log for you to use in the classroom, or even to track their summer reading.

I Mustache You to Read Every Night Reading Log

Beverly Cleary Author Study

2015-04-14T15:41:00.003-04:00

Beverly Cleary recently turned ninety-nine. She started writing in her 30's. It is a testament to her story writing skills that her books are still very much loved by young children in the year 2015! Avid and even reluctant reader's are inspired by her books.

What a great author to study, whether as a classroom, a small group, or an individual learning activity. Use these links to get your started on your journey of learning more about Beverly Cleary.

Beverly Cleary Book List

Author Profile by Jim Trelease

Vintage Beverly Cleary Book Covers

Beverly Cleary Biography on Scholastic.com

http://www.beverlycleary.com/

https://www.facebook.com/beverlyclearybooks

Beverly Cleary Trivia

Interview with Beverly Cleary

Quotes from Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary IMDB

Additional Author Study Resources:

Author Study Graphic Organizers

Amazing Author Studies Planning Guide

Author Study Project Worksheet

Minecraft Themed Reading Log

2014-11-03T10:34:00.002-05:00

So many kids love to play Minecraft and so many Minecraft products (toys) are on the market now. In fact, many kids would rather play Minecraft instead of reading a book. Of course, teachers and most parents still want our kids to read.

To that end I have created a Minecraft themed reading log. The purpose of this log is to document the number of pages (not minutes) read, and as a tool to visualize the number of completed books. I did not include a place the write the date, but that can be written in next to each entry. A goal would be to encourage completion of pages instead of minutes (which could be spent on the same page, depending on the reluctance or distractibility of the child.)

Minecraft Themed Reading Log

Celebrate Beverly Cleary in 2013 with Harper Collins

2013-02-16T14:56:00.003-05:00

Harper Collins Children's Books

D.E.A.R Programming for April - Beverly Cleary

Drop Everyt hing And Read

Winter Break Boredom Busters!

2011-12-25T14:00:00.001-05:00

Whether your holiday celebrations are winding down or revving up, whether your kids have been out of school for a week or just started winter break, at some point you are going to hear "I'm bored". Even from the adults!

Here are some ideas and resources that may inspire a little less boredom or a little more excitement! Happy Holidays and winter break!

For local (Cobb County and Metro Atlanta) Activities this site is a great resource:
www.cobbtotsnkids.blogspot.com
You can also, like it on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cobbtotsnkids

For the latest movies, showing locations and times go to:
http://www.fandango.com/

Kids Movies out right now:
The Adventures of Tintin
Hugo
Author's Christmas
The Muppets
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Puss in Boots
Happy Feet Two
Dolphin Tale
The Smurfs
And for the pre-teen/young teen set and their mothers: Footloose!

Go ice-skating! In Marietta you can go to the Marietta Ice Center on Lower Roswell Rd.:
http://mariettaice.com/
In Kennesaw there is The Ice Forum at Town Center
http://www.rinktime.com/skating_rinks/ga/ice_forum_at_town_center_skating_rink_arena_kennesaw_ga.cfm

Host a friends/family/neighbors game day!
Apples to Apple
Scrabble
Uno
Spoons (more fun for adults)
Twister
Mad Libs
Just Dance on a family video gaming device
And so on...

It's not too late tonight to drive around and check out the holiday light displays. There a a lot of Clark Grizzwald's out there!
http://atlanta.about.com/od/events/tp/atlanta-christmas-lights.htm

Also check out all of the links, documents and website recommendations on this blog.

Reading Log Resources

2011-10-22T05:31:00.001-04:00

Below are a few resources for documenting and tracking books that have been read or for tracking daily reading minutes. These resources are primarily designed for use by elementary school students.

ABC Teach Reading Logs

EdHelper: Many Reading Logs Available

Country Clip Art Reading Logs

Reading Log PDF

That Resource Site (scroll down)

BrainPOP: Featured Movie of the Day on the iPhone, iPad, and ITouch (FREE)

2011-10-16T16:08:00.002-04:00

For those new to the App Store, simply select the Search feature and type Brainpop. You will see two choices listed for the BrainPOP Featured Movie in English and Spanish. Each day a FREE movie is featured, along with a quiz and access to other FREE movies.

By the way, kids LOVE BrainPOP! The love watching the movies and taking the quizzes

Also check out the website which features movies on most educational topics, games, a junior version of BrainPOP and BrainPOP ESL (English as a Second Language). If you are an educator of any type, and you don't know about BrainPOP, you owe it to yourself to check it out today.

http://www.brainpop.com/

Students First Resources: Give the Dog a Bone

2011-08-22T13:14:00.000-04:00

Students First Resources: Give the Dog a Bone

Give the Dog a Bone

2011-08-22T13:06:00.000-04:00

Give the Dog a Bone is a great online math game for practicing number sense on a Hundred Grid. A number is display along with the blank grid. The student must click on the location of that number on the grid to find a bone. Students have 1 minute to find 10 bones. I played this game with 3rd grade students on the interactive white board and they loved it!

Give the Dog a Bone

Vocabulary and Spelling City

2011-07-08T12:17:00.000-04:00

www.spellingcity.com
This awesome website is full of reading/language arts resources for teachers, parents, and students. You can use the existing word lists for spelling tests, vocabulary tests, online lessons, flash cards, and online or printable games. You can also enter your own word list(s) and save them to generate online activities such as those listed above.

How to use Vocabulary and Spelling City:

Teachers or parents should register for the free or premium membership. Once registration is complete you will receive your own homepage, and you can begin setting up lists.

A Parent/Homeschooler will see this message:

You can import lists from any user or resource page on VocabularySpellingCity.

VocabularySpellingCity also offers hundreds of sample lists in our Teacher Resources section that may be used in any of our games and activities, including our Premium games!

If your child's teacher is a VocabularySpellingCity member, you can find the lists that he/she has saved by using our Find A List feature.

Tip: Once you locate your child's teacher's VocabularySpellingCity.com home page, bookmark the URL on your computer for easy access in the future!

For more information on using our site, please visit our Videos - FAQs page to view a variety of informative training videos or to consult our Frequently Asked Questions.

To get started, create and save lists by selecting "List Management" from your Teacher Toolbox.

Lists are easy to come by on VocabularySpellingCity!

To create and save your own word lists:

Select List Management from your Teacher Toolbox
Select Create A New List
Enter your list on the yellow notepad and save your list

On the Word & Sentence Verification Page, you will have an opportunity to edit your list, choose a usage for each word (or create your own - detailed instructions are presented at the top of this page). Be sure to save your changes!

To edit your word lists:

Select List Management from your Teacher Toolbox
Find the list you wish to edit and click the Edit link in the What do you want to do? column.
Edit and be sure to save your list.

To find and import other user's lists:

Use our Find A List feature to search for a list (or lists) by teacher name, username, or list name.
Once you find the list you are looking for on the teacher's VocabularySpellingCity homepage, click the Import button next to that list. The list will then be imported into your List Management page, and you can edit and/or customize the list for your students!

A Teacher will see this message:

We suggest sending a Parents' Letter home with each of your students to introduce VocabularySpellingCity to their families. On this letter, you can include the URL of your VocabularySpellingCity homepage (http://www.spellingcity.com/GuinPatrick) for your students to bookmark at home. We also recommend that you bookmark this URL on your classroom computers for easy access to your word lists.

VocabularySpellingCity also offers hundreds of sample lists in our Teacher Resources section that may be imported and/or used in any of our games and activities, including our Premium games!

For more information on using our site, please visit our Videos - FAQs page to view a variety of informative training videos or to consult our Frequently Asked Questions.

To get started, create and save lists by selecting "List Management" from your Teacher Toolbox.

How to Keep their Brains from Melting in the Hot Summer Sun

2011-05-03T18:16:00.020-04:00

In case you didn't know, here in Cobb County (Georgia) the 2011 Summer Vacation has been extended by a couple of weeks. For some parents, this is great news. For other parents, not so much. Whatever your opinion, if you are a parent, you need a plan for keeping your kids safe and engaged during those long summer days. Most parents, especially in families where all of the adults work, have already signed their children up for daycare camps, YMCA camps, sleep away camps, sports camps, dance camps, and so on. Many kids are also signed up for neighborhood swim teams, and other summer sporting activities. All of these activities should keep kids active, engaged, and safe, while still having "summer" fun. For kids (and parents, too), having "fun" is the number one goal of summer. For parents, however, second on the list might be keeping our kid's brains stimulated and engaged in preparation for the upcoming school year. The good news is that combining fun with keeping the brain stimulated and engaged is something you CAN make happen.

Places to Go:

Tellus Science Museum: Check out their Summer Passport Program

This Museum is near Cartersville about 30 to 45 minutes from Marietta and has small group pricing if you want to go with a group of friends.

Booth Western Art Museum: Check out their summer program, Take a Wild Ride on a Cattle Drive

This Museum is in downtown Cartersville. Afterwards you may want to take a stroll on the traditional downtown square.

The Library: Check out their Kid's Page which include a calendar of kid friendly events.
Atlanta Botanical Gardens: They have an awesome children's garden
Atlanta History Center: They have a garden (Connor Brown Discovery Trail) designed just for children and a variety of children, family, and school programs for all ages. Another resource they offer is Summer Camp programs.

The Atlanta History Center provides an opportunity to learn about local history and native plants and animals.
Activities/Crafts:

Help your kids start a book club: Check out the Spaghetti Book Club that contains book reviews by kids for kids.
Do some hands on math and science experiments with the help of these free activity guides offered by the AIMS Foundation.
Reuse fast-food paper bags to make paper bag puppets. Have your child write a story starring the puppet on the back of the paper bag.
Does your family drink milk? Reuse the milk containers to make an animal, storybook character, or anything else they can imagine. Check out Danielle's Place for some very creative milk jug ideas.

Tips:

Don't spend too much time on summer workbooks from places like School Box. If your child has an area of learning that needs work, find activities that focus on that area. However, you don't want your child to get burned out on paper/pencil activities before the new school year begins.
Talk to your kids: Talk about different foods in the grocery store, help them count the money in their "piggy" banks, discuss interesting or funny things that happen in TV shows or movies they watch, talk about the plants and flowers in your yard or at the local park.

Get Your Kids Writing Creatively with this "Hook"

2011-03-17T22:50:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, while at Dunkin Donuts, my daughter noticed that our paper bag had the recycle symbol on it. She and I decided to brainstorm ways to reuse the lunch sized paper bag, and settled on transforming it into a puppet. After drawing on the "flap" side of the bag to design our puppet, we decided to write a story about an adventure that our "character" might experience on the "flat" side of the paper bag. We had so much fun and she did not even realize that she was telling about the character, describing the setting, and that the story had a problem and solution. In the classroom, that activity can go a step further by using the bag as the "graphic organizer", then having the student add more details and events to extend the story. Each student could even brainstorm by having his or her puppet tell about itself to a peer partner.

Paper Bag Puppet Story Starters

Although many children love to create stories and even write them, it can be difficult for them to create on command just because it happens to be time for Writer's Workshop. Sometimes we all have writer's block. Creating a puppet using very affordable lunch sized paper bags is a great "hook" to get a story idea going. If the puppet is a fictional character (imagined or borrowed), it can inspire a narrative piece. If the puppet is an animal it can inspire fact gathering to be able to write an informational piece about the animal. The student could even write a how-to or procedural piece about how to make a puppet out of a paper bag!

Resources
Additional Story Staring Ideas
How to Make a Paper Bag Puppet
Images for Paper Bag Puppets
Owl and Turtle Puppet Templates
Paper Bag Monkey Puppet
Writing Graphic Organizers

Have You Read "The Paper Bag Princess"?

2011-03-02T22:08:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I have the sincere joy of being the Mystery Reader in my daughter's 1st grade classroom and I am going to read The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. A twist on traditional princess themed stories, The Paper Bag Princess is all about Princess Elizabeth who rescues Prince Ronald from a fire-breathing dragon. Some might call this a modern princess tale because the ending is not very fairly-tale like at all. But, it is very funny!

For most of the story, Princess Elizabeth wears a paper bag because the dragon burned everything else, hence she is a paper bag princess. She also discovers character traits about herself and the prince through her journey to save him while wearing only a paper bag. I don't want to totally give away the ending, so I will say no more.

Tomorrow we will create a paper bag princess or, if the boys want, a paper bag prince using (you guessed it) a lunch bag sized paper bag, and a template of Princess Elizabeth's head and arms. I found several websites containing directions for doing this craft. The links are below.

If you go the the official Robert Munsch site you can hear the story read aloud and see the other books that he has written. The site is very colorful, kid friendly, and ideal for the interactive white board.

Paper bag princess puppet
Another paper bag princess puppet
Family Literacy Guided Lesson (PDF)
Word Search
Play Production Guide (useful info and an activity sheet)
Author study on eThemes

Celebrate the Birthday of Dr. Seuss on March 2nd

2011-02-26T07:16:00.003-05:00

I have redesigned the Students First Resources page for the Dr. Seuss birthday celebration. Be on the lookout for new designs as new topics and resources are shared with you.

Kids love birthdays, they love to celebrate, they love Dr. Seuss books, and they love to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. This is a great day for sharing books, learning fun and interesting facts, and doing creative projects.

How can you help the kids in your life celebrate this prolific author? Check out the links below for some of the best ideas:

PBS Kids: Cat in the Hat
PBS Resources for Parents
PBS Resources for Teachers
Dr. Seuss Images
Seussville (Great Interactive Site)
Dr. Seuss Biography
The Art of Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss Author Study (Scholastic)
Print and Play Activities
Dr. Seuss Theme Unit (EdHelper Membership Required)

Do you know how old Dr. Seuss would be if he were alive today? Turn it into a a math research project. Don't forget to have your child predict or "guess" first, then gather facts such as: What year was Dr. Seuss born?

Cobb County Board Votes in Favor of "Unbalanced" School Calendar

2011-02-18T18:02:00.006-05:00

This parent is not very happy about the school calendar changing yet again! First of all, the calendar voted in for the 2011-2012 year is not a "traditional"school calendar. If we are going to be traditional, let's go back to starting after Labor Day and continuing into June. That is the traditional school calendar. Second of all, as parents, teachers, grandparents, childcare facilities, and children, how are we to ever become accustomed to the school schedule if it keeps changing? Is our school board playing a game of ping-pong, or considering what is best for our school system. I'm thinking ping-pong.

Still on the fence about this latest controversy?

Here are some thoughts to consider about the "balanced" calendar:

Students still attend school for 180 days, the days are just distributed differently.
Whether it's August or May, it is going to be HOT when the kids are in school. Waiting until later in August will not change that fact.
February is the peak month for student and teacher absence due to illness, thereby affecting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress)
Family vacations cost less when they can be taken during the non-peak travel season.
This might offend some but school is not a free babysitting service. No matter the time of year you will have to find care for your child.
Some also suggest that the "balanced" calendar may also help our students perform better overall.

Finally, parents and teachers now have to scramble to change their plans, such as vacations and family trips, because our school board has decided to make a change to what was already in place. I understand that there was initial adjustment to this year's calendar, and it may have been difficult for some. However, like anything you do for the first time, you usually have to do it again before you like it or get used to it. Now we will never know if we really liked it or not.

Personally I think everyone should write a letter or send an e-mail to the school board members to let them know how you feel. I hope you feel like I do: Upset and disappointed.

http://www.cobbk12.org/board/
AYP
Calendars

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the survey results reflected over 70% in favor of keeping the current "balanced calendar". So is our board really listening to us? Hmmmm

Get Discounted Software at the Academic Superstore

2011-02-13T22:14:00.002-05:00

If you are a teacher, student or parent (of a school aged student) you can qualify to purchase software through the Academic Superstore. For some software products the discount is significant and at least worth a look at the website if you are planning a software purchase. Click the link below to access the site.

Academic Superstore

Wordle: A Word Splash Generating Website

2011-02-12T01:36:00.006-05:00

Wordle is a software tool created by Jonathan Feinberg to generate "word clouds" or "word splashes" out of text that you provide in the input section. You can either type the words yourself or input a webpage or blog address (one that has an Atom or RSS feed). The program will generate the word splash with emphasis on the words that appear most often on the webpage or blog. Once the word splash is generated you can edit the color, font, and layout to your liking. The final step is to print the image or save it to the Wordle gallery.

Note: I also saved this image to my computer by "printing" it to the OneNote program. Once the image was in the OneNote file, I then saved the image to my Pictures folder. I am sure you can also use the Snippet tool or some other method to grab the image.

Wordle Home Page

Are you a Tiger Mother?

2011-02-04T17:29:00.006-05:00

   I read Amy Chua's essay as published in the Wall Street Journal and I have to say I really like what she has to say about raising a successful child. I know people are all up in arms about this topic but I definitely plan to read her book if for no other reason than to read about a viewpoint other than my own.
   Although I am no "Tiger Mother", (my child has had many playdates and sleepovers, watches her share of TV, infrequently plays on the computer, and participates in sports, dance classes and Girl Scouts), I have to admit that almost all of my daughter's major successes and achievements were preceded by a "hard push" from me or another adult. In addition there was and is usually crying and anger prior to reaching the point of success and then always excitement and pride once she achieves the goal I have set for her. Additionally, what I remember from my upbringing is that although my parents did not necessarily push me, I knew very clearly that I was expected to make good grades and that less than an A really was not good enough.
   If you have not read the article, you should. Once I have read the book and other research I may add a post containing further assessment of this topic.

Excerpt from "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua - published in the Wall Street Journal
Amy Chua
Chinese Daughters Respond
New York Times Parenting Blog

Have You Heard About the Cursive Controversy?

2011-02-04T09:39:00.010-05:00

To summarize, many public and private schools are eliminating cursive instruction from their curriculum. The pro-elimination school of thought is that cursive writing is becoming obsolete due to the prevalent use of technology and therefore should not consume instructional/classroom time. Many parents and teachers feel that removing cursive instruction from the curriculum is a mistake. The con-removal school of thought is that our children still need to be able to read cursive writing and that internationally cursive writing is more commonly used in business and communication.

Articles:

Cursive Resources:

AIMS: Hands on Math and Science Activities

2011-02-02T22:38:00.008-05:00

Teachers and parents alike will be able to appreciate the creative and interactive science and math activity ideas offered by the AIMS Foundation. As a teacher I used activities from various AIMS books to support the learning of science topics and standards and the best part was that the kids had a great time doing the activities.

I recommend that you visit the AIMS website to check out the types of activities contained in their materials. Once you are there, please note that the site offers access to many FREE activities that you can download. In addition, you can sign up to receive e-mails about their latest "freebie" activity. If you are really impressed with their materials, you can become a "fan" on Facebook and receive updates via the FB newsfeed or on you profile page.

Below are some of the free science and math activity offered by AIMS:

Bears Wear Buttons
Down on the Ocean Floor
Around and Across
By Golly By Gum
Flagging Angles
Food Chains
Jumping to Solutions
Lining Up Planets
Onion Rings
Plant Begins
Shifty Shapes
Sparky's Light Kit
Time Trials
Watching Weather
What is the One
What is In Your Yard

Students First Resources Blog Update

2011-02-01T00:32:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone!

This is just a message to let you know that my education blog has a new look and a different name. I have also added a feed using Feedburner.

All other content is still the same. If you have any special requests of education related content you would like to see on this blog please let me know.

Thanks!
http://studentsfirstresources.blogspot.com/
Student First Resources Feed

What Time is it?

2011-01-27T20:43:00.016-05:00

It's time to practice some time-telling skills. The links below can help with telling time to the nearest hour (half-hour and so on), understanding "time" vocabulary, and grasping the concept of elapsed time. Many of the links are great for use with an interactive white board and I used them with my students when I was in the classroom. Have fun!

Time to the Half Hour (Lesson)
Bang On Time (Great Interactive Game)
Stop the Clock (Half-Hour)
Stop the Clock (Hour)
Set the Hands on the Clock
Time Vocabulary (Very dry but useful for planning instruction)
Learning to Tell Time Interactive Site that Talks to You (Cute!)
Elapsed Time
Just In Time (A variety of interactive and print activities)

100th Day of School

2011-01-24T19:25:00.010-05:00

The 100th day of school is acknowledged by celebrations and activities centering around the number 100. How to make 100, how to count to 100, what does 100 of something look like, and so on.

Below are some 100th Day of School Activities:

Collection of Links from KSU
Making Learning Fun
Mrs. Alphabet Math Ideas
Starfall 100th Day of School Interactive Book
Give the Dog a Bone Hundreds Interactive Chart (so fun!)
Cool Interactive Estimation Jar
Printables
100th Day of School Images/Printables
100 Counting Mat (PDF)
100 Days Coloring Pages (100 items per page)

Snow Day Activites

2011-01-10T16:33:00.001-05:00

Are you having a snow day (otherwise know as a day off from school because of inclement weather)?

Go outside and play in the snow!
Make a snowman. Go sledding.

And when you are ready to come back inside make some Snowcream:

Snowcream Recipe