Together Time 4 Families

A Little Time Away

2011-12-05T04:05:00.001-06:00

Hi Friends and Recent Visitors
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find some useful information and activities here at Together Time 4 Families. I am taking a break from blogging and will return soon.
Susan

Simple Pumpkin Book Using Word Wall Words

2011-10-15T11:01:00.001-05:00

Everyone likes pumpkins. They symbolize fall, seasonal changes, cooler weather, and Halloween fun! Use pumpkins to motivate writing lessons. This is an activity for kindergarten. Focus on a repetitive text using word wall words. Use word cards for topic words. Encourage children to use letter sounds to choose a word to complete sentences. Books don't need to be long; beginning writers can write 2 sentences and feel successful. Make writing relevant and encourage children to touch each word as the child reads the text.

These are the focus words in this book: and a is
The topic words are pumpkin round orange
The student will fill in the specific word to describe the pumpkin and draw a picture to match the text.

Use a text already written on the page with a blank for the last word in the last word.

A pumpkin is __________ . (orange) draw a picture
A pumpkin is _______. (round) draw a picture
A pumpkin is _______ and _______ . (combine the words from the prior sentences orange, round)

Expand using the word has my
My pumpkin has _________ .(seeds) draw a picture
My pumpkin has a _________. (stem) draw a picture
My pumpkin has seeds and a stem. draw a picture
My pumpkin has a _________. (face) draw a picture

Some children are able to write one sentence and others can do more sentences. Challenge students to do more if they are able to write more sentences.

HAPPY FALL!
SUSAN

Morning Meeting Early Literacy Activity Using Word Wall Words

2011-10-07T11:03:00.001-05:00

This is a simple and quick activity using word wall words during morning meeting calendar time. The focus is to assist children to look for a familiar word (word wall word) within a word.

For this activity prepare multiple index cards or sentence strips with the word day printed on them. In addition have the day of the week printed onto a sentence strip. When talking about the name of the day of the week, display the word (Monday) and have a match card of different color available to match to the word day within the word, Monday.

I like to focus on the word wall word day because it is repeated daily and used in a natural learning setting during Kindergarten morning meeting calendar time.

This activity has multiple benefits to help children

look for patterns in words
match letter forms to other letters
use words in meaningful ways
match letter sound to first letter in the word (day)

Encourage children to look for the word day in environmental print around the classroom and school. Go on a word hunt to find specific words within words - you may have to display the word throughout the environment to facilitate children finding the focus word.
SUSAN

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert Writing Activity

2011-09-28T08:54:00.003-05:00

Here is the post to my original one about the Lois Ehlert book, Leaf Man.

http://www.togethertime4families.com/2010/10/leafman-by-lois-ehlert.html

I came across a post- pdf - by Tracy Theriault that outlines a writing activity for second grade students using Leaf Man as the focus piece. She connects this book to an author study of Lois Ehlert books.

"The students will analyze her themes, style of writing, voice, characters and media for illustrations. And use her picture books as a model for their own writing."

The students will also practice the writing process of editing, revising and creating a final draft. (Writing Workshop)

Before the children begin writing and after a read aloud of Leaf Man, Tracy suggests a group discussion about the story - strategies used for Reading Workshop. She encourages students to think about Lois Ehlert writing style in relation to these questions and reviews the book again with students

What makes up a good story?
How do we use our voice to ensure that the reader understands the point we are trying to make?
How can we use describing words to "show" the reader, rather than simply "telling"?
How does the author use leaves to create the illustrations?

Tracy's decision to use this book was based on the premise that this book would be "very appealing and motivating for students because it gives them a model to work from. She believes that modeling writers is the best way for children to enhance their writing abilities for future grades."

http://efolio.umeedu.maine.edu/~ttheriault/tracy_website/LeafMan.pdf

Read the pdf and perhaps you can use some of her plans and ideas for your students.

Here is a fall word search to use as a follow up or additional activity for students.
The second pdf is the answer sheet for the word search.

http://kids.creativity-portal.com/images/projects/puzzles/autumn-wordsearch-color.pdf

http://kids.creativity-portal.com/images/projects/puzzles/autumn-wordsearch-answers.pdf

Enjoy
SUSAN

8 More Apple Ideas

2011-09-21T21:27:00.001-05:00

Fall is a wonderful season!

Wisconsin has it all: fall leaves showing off their glorious colors, changing weather, apple orchards, hay wagon rides and pumpkin picking!

Stop over at www.makinglearningfun.com to view multiple activities for your class.

Here are a few activities from their site that I use at centers. (Choose from the Themes menu)

Why not make a lap book using these ideas.

Add more activities to match your learning goals.

This is a flip number book for numbers 1-10. Make this from sturdy card stock and laminate. I would suggest using smaller metal rings.

This is an individual book for children. You can stamp the letters to construct the number words or use letter tiles to place in the correct empty squares. The sample word is on each page to trace and then stamp into the letter blocks. I use the letter tiles for this activity.

Use this letter tree for a game. Lay the tiles upside down on the table; choose one and circle the matching letter on the paper tree. You can use a special cloth bag to hold the letter tiles. Then choose a tile from the bag.

See these other activities:

chart apple favorites

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/Apple3ColumnChart.htm

Ten Apple Up On Top ideas

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/TenApplesUpOnTop.htm

Sight Words for Ten Apples Up on Top

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ApplesUponTop-SightWordActivity.htm

Dot to Dot Letter A for Apple

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.makinglearningfun.com/Activities/ABC/ABCDottoDotPages/ABCdottodot-A.gif

Printing Practice Letter A and Apple

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.makinglearningfun.com/Activities/ABC/ABCPrintingPractice/ABCprintPrac-apple.gif

HAPPY APPLE TIME!

SUSAN

Morning Meeting Index Cards..... Teacher Helper

2011-09-17T16:36:00.001-05:00

Here is a handy teaching aid I put together listing interactive phonological ideas on index cards held together with a metal ring. In the mornings or when I planned to do an activity like this, I could flip through the cards for ideas that matched my goal(s).

I labeled the card with a topic and then recorded phonological type activities to do. The format is up to you...you can use different color cards for specific activities, alphabetize the activities, use one activity per card, record dates of use, place a post it note on the card about children's response to activity.

Enjoy! SUSAN

New Ideas for Show and Tell

2011-09-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

Some children want to share everyday and others need encouragement to share - Show and Tell. Organize sharing time by setting up a sign up sheet on a large sheet of paper ( Post It makes large sticky top paper). Make a heading for each day of the week or the days you share ( Tues-Fri, Monday-Wednesday-Friday) and let children sign up for a day to share. You may want to have a sign up sheet on Friday for the next week or sign up on Monday for that week. Do what meets your classroom needs.
Have an assignment sheet ready to fill out indicating what day the child shares and send it home for parents to know and assist in finding an appropriate item to share. In some classes teachers set a specific item to share based on what is going on in the classroom as far as season, theme, concept, etc.

Show and Tell/Sharing Time allows children time to talk at length to the group. This activity promotes self confidence, expands vocabulary and facilitates sequencing of thoughts to present information about personal situations to others.

Show and Tell does have it's drawbacks....Show and Tell can become stilted and too adult orientated (I remember asking questions to the child to encourage discussion) vs. letting the child do most of the talking. Perhaps changing the name of the activity to "Newstime" would encourage more discussion. I found a pdf article at Love and Reilly http://www.loveandreilly.com.au/pdf/news13.pdf that provides ideas for keeping Show and Tell interesting. They suggest changing the here and now format to instead talking about a situation/activity (theme) that involves more telling than showing..... For example, the article states that bringing in a movie ticket - serves as a reminder instead of the main part of the sharing. This adds interest and stimulates more discussion.

These are some other suggestions from the article:

Create a News Box - place small items in a box that can be used as items to "trigger" an experience for children to talk about to the class.
Choose A Theme - allow children to choose a theme for the week's news. Share this with parents through your newsletter so they can discuss it at home. Make it fun -news that features a funny situation, joke, weather, happiest memory.
Use Thinking Questions - use question starters placed in a special container : What would happen if .....? What do you like best about....?

The article also talks about setting the atmosphere - seating arrangement and size of the group - they suggest

Pair and Share - children tell their news to each other. A number of children are asked to report to the larger group about their partner's news.
Small Groups - news in small groups with designated speakers. Others are invited to ask questions or comment. At the end of the session one of the speakers reports an interesting comment or question to/from the group.
Take A Turn - the teacher takes a turn and models desired behaviors and shares something of his/her own experience.Reverse the name - to Tell and Show. The child tells first while the object remains hidden. A sentence started such as "I decided to bring the ____ because______."

Check out these sites, Show and Tell Ideas, http://www.showandtellideas.com.au/Default.aspx

Pro Teacher has examples of different topics to share about
http://www.proteacher.org/org/c/1036_Show_and_Tell.html

I think these ideas will help you think about how you can change your Show and Tell into a Tell and Show or Newstime format into a more interactive and interesting experience for all.
Susan

Teaching Sight Words in Kindergarten

2011-09-02T22:20:00.000-05:00

Teaching sight words in Kindergarten? Yes, but how many and how? Usually by the end of Kindergarten children learn 20-25 words to include high frequency words. See http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2010/02/sight-words-for-kindergarten-yes-but.html
"I would suggest a much more modest goal for the end of kindergarten (perhaps 20 words or so, with at least 10 of those being high frequency words)." states Dr. Shanahon

Read the article; it includes a letter from an Instructional Coach seeking advice about the appropriateness of teaching sight words to Kindergarten students. Perhaps you have thoughts about that too.

Dr. Shanahan writes a literacy blog. This is his bio:

Timothy Shanahan is Professor of Urban Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he is Director of the Center for Literacy and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He is a principal investigator on the National Title I Study of Implementation and Outcomes: Early Childhood Language Development. Professor Shanahan was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. His research emphasizes reading-writing relationships, reading assessment, and improving reading achievement. He is immediate past president of the International Reading Association. In 2006, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy. He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007.

Dr. Shanahan's suggestions for teaching sight words matched my teaching approach. We agree that interacting and working with words is a more efficient way to facilitate teaching sight words vs. drill work. Morning meeting, read alouds and small group time are perfect settings to focus on sight words and other core words. The use of smart boards with interactive charts, predictable charts and reading theme related literature can highlight and manipulate focus words.

See some examples of activities to do with sight words and theme words.

Interactive chart using children's names

Interactive chart using days of the week words

Sight word cards and magnet letters - manipulate letters to make the words

Letter/ sound work to facilitate phonemic awareness

Rice bottle with word wall words and matching word bottle to

cross off or circle the words you find

Cheez It Crossword Game

Interactive Thankful Chart

Writing theme and word wall words

Working with words

Days of the Week Activity

Name Activity

Choose words in poems, stories, songs, class list of names, color words, seasonal theme words, word families that you read about and highlight them. Repeated use and review will facilitate learning these types of words.

SUSAN

Denise Fleming Books and Activities

2011-08-31T17:50:00.000-05:00

Denise Fleming is a marvelous author and has a website with useful activities to use as follow ups to her stories: www.denisefleming.com (word searches, mazes, crossword puzzles, word scrambles, masks, metal work, sock snowmen pattern, word match up)

I noticed some new activities have been added to go along with her books. Check out the Barnyard Banter activity to make the animals in the story using paper plates.

I was thrilled to find a cowboy hat pattern for the book, Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp
brim http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/activitiesb/cowboyhatp2.html
crown and head band
http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/activitiesb/cowboyhatp1.html

My grandson loves word searches and here is one from Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp
http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/activitiesb/bgtccwordsearch.html

If you are crafty and like to work with metal you will want to look at the embossed tree tags at
http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/activities/treetags.html
This activity goes with the book, Where Once There Was A Wood

Snowmen sock puppets instructions are available for The First Days of Winter

She has included handouts from a presentation she had in Missouri:
http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/activitiesbpdfs/programhandouts/Handouts.pdf

There is allot to view at her site. Mark it as a favorite; you will want to refer to it when you read her books to your class. Remember - doing helps children retain information. As you make the paper crafts, use them in a Reader's Theater format to retell the story. This also aids in recall of characters in the story as well as the plot and possible problems that crop up in the story.

ENJOY! SUSAN

Interactive Sites for Preschool - First Grade Classroom and Home Use

2011-08-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

I found some interactive sites on line that you might want to look over. Some sites have activities that are great reinforcement activities for what you are teaching in the classroom or extra practice for families to do at home. Teachers are always looking for resources for parents. Hope that you find somethings helpful.

Don't forget to stop at the tried and true sites of www.starfall.com and www.abcya.com

KID'S LAB has some online activities to do at home or in the classroom. Cruise around the site to find what matches your teaching objectives.

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/Resources/SRW1.htm
Check out KIDS LAB for Grade 1 activities at this web site.

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/RESOURCES/sightreading.htm
this is a section on Dolch noun words - pre-primer through 2nd grade.The task involves a picture and then you choose the word to match the picture from multiple word choices. At the end of the activity it give you a % score for your answers.

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/RESOURCES/dolchflash.htm
Here are Dolch word cards to print out

http://pbskids.org/lions/games/index.html
Within KIDS LAB is this link for "Between the Lions" PBS early literacy games including phonological and phonemic awareness activities.

I found that the GRADE 1 had the most reliable activities. Kindergarten and 2nd grade activities were limited.

Look through these different sites:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/flash/concentration/index.htm
Concentration Game

http://www.learningplanet.com/act/abcorder.asp ABC order activity

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/abcmatch/ ABC Matching

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/picturematch/ Beginning letter sounds and vowel sounds

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/flash/confusable/index.htm Letter Match

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/construct/ Making words

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/in_the_bag/ Adjective/noun match game

SUSAN

Checking Back In...

2011-08-22T16:27:00.001-05:00

We were away on vacation - trying out our new travel trailer - for 11 days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We had never been there and really enjoyed the beauty of Lake Superior, it's beaches, sunsets, light houses and campgrounds (McLain State Park, Brimly State Park and H.B. Fuller County Park). Backing in the trailer is a challenge and requires steady nerves! It will get better with experience!
Came home to getting the garden back in shape and even had time to make a few cards using photos from my garden. I took some great pictures of butterflies at my butterfly bushes today while dead heading some plants. I know they will make it to the front of my cards. Here are some photos to share with you. Hope you enjoy!
Susan

Getting Ready For School Game

2011-08-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

Who gets more anxious for the beginning of school?

Your child or you?

We all know what we need to buy: school supplies, back pack, gym shoes, clothes, etc. but what about situations that arise at school that your child has to handle.....

My suggestion is to think about situations that might arise during the school day for your child, write them on a slip of paper and put them into a jar. Then pick a slip of paper from the jar and act out, talk about how to handle that situation. Practicing is helpful so your child has a reference to use in those unpredictable situations.

These are some suggestions to act out/talk about with your preschooler or Kindergartner:

What do I do if I drop my lunch tray?
Where is the gym, the art/music/cafeteria rooms? How do I get from my classroom to one of these rooms? (take a walk through the school to find the specials rooms; make a map to refer to and walk through the school again using the map and then not using it
Where do I line up for school?
What do I do if you are late picking me up after school?
What will happen if I feel sick? What should I do?
What do I do if I have an accident?
What should I do if someone is mean to me on the playground?
What if my shoes get wet when out on the playground?

I know you have thoughts about other situations, write them down and play the "What If This Happens At School? game with your kids.

SUSAN

10 Ways to Use Interactive Charts Part 3

2011-08-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

Interactive charts allow children to interact and play with language and print. Children will eagerly interact with these charts by moving word cards to make sense of the chart task.

Here are ways to use an interactive chart in your classroom:

Attendance - Who Is Here Today? - place name in the designated place

Answering the Daily Question - ex. Are you wearing color red today? yes/no - place your name under the correct response

Making a Choice - What is your favorite special? Art Music Gym - place name card under the special of choice

Name Charts - ex. If your name begins with "M" put your name here - If your name has the letter "t" in it, put your name here - If your name ends in letter "r" put your name here

Seasonal - moving color, number or symbol words around within a poem/song

Number - placing word and numeral cards in places to indicate the number of items
Job Charts
Work Tasks - what to do first, second, third, etc.
Today's Weather Is.....
Sequence the Daily Schedule - children can copy the schedule and as you complete an activity, cross off the activity. This provides children with a sense of participation in the daily routine as well as security by knowing what will happen next in the daily schedule

As you structure your teaching and your day at home with the kids think about how you can implement using interactive charts. Put your charts into a pocket chart, write it on a wipe off board and Smart Boards.

Using an interactive chart daily will promote

left to right directionality
differences between letters and words
spacing between words
punctuation
first letter in words/last letter in words
awareness of letter patterns within words
rhyming words
word recognition (simple words, word wall words, names, color words, number words, seasonal words, other vocabulary)
top and bottom of paper/page/chart

Make Learning Interactive - It's a Great Way to Learn!
Susan

Interactive Charts Part 2

2011-08-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

When I use interactive charts, I choose a poem for a specific skill that students can work on to improve and practice. Some of the literacy skills to focus on are

rhyming
color words
number words (make the number of dots on the card to match the number word or print the numeral)
key words that relate to a theme (seasons, animals,vehicles)
initial words (first word in a sentence)
end word (last word in a sentence)
specific alphabet letter (She Sell Seashells by the Sea Shore in this tongue twister)
classmates names (glue a picture of the child on the card)

I write the poem on sentence strips and put them into a pocket chart. One sentence per strip and I highlight the target words with marker and add a sticker or small photo to match the word. Ex. if it is a color word I write the word in the color. If it is an animal I write it in any color and add a sticker of the animal. I also number the sentences (small numbers) so the children can see the order of the sentences. Make a set of the target word cards using the same colors, stickers as you did on the sentence strip and place them in the bottom rows of the pocket chart. After the children get really familiar with the poem, I place it in a large baggie - label the bag and add a descriptive picture. Children can use these baggies at center time; the numbers on the strips assist when putting he sentence strips in the pocket chart.

Here is a link to color poems you might want to use in an interactive chart:

http://www.songs4teachers.com/colorpoems.htm

Here is a link to books of poems and fingerplays :

SUSAN

Using Interactive Charts to Build Literacy Part 1

2011-08-07T09:20:00.003-05:00

Part of my blog heading quote states "Involve me and I learn" - involvement facilitates learning. Children learn through different learning channels (senses) and "doing" is one of these channels (kinesthetic). Using interactive charts allows children to manipulate and move print cards around - taking what they say (oral language) and transferring it to written form. Additional senses are used - visual-tactile -auditory as well as kinesthetic, thus facilitating learning.
Interactive charts use rhythm and rhyme to support memorization of a poem or phrase. First children memorize the poem and then using memorization, transfer that knowledge to word cards in the chart. It is really up to the teacher to choose the lesson focus- it is an open ended activity and because of that, I think I like it so much. It allows for making the most of the teachable moments when they arise.

This is a sample poem:

Friends

I have a friend

Whose name is _________

And we have fun together.

We laugh and play

And sing all day

In any kind of weather.

Begin by teaching this poem at your morning meeting time. Recite it as you go around the circle inserting the name of a child. After the children are comfortable with the poem, introduce it in a pocket chart. Have individual name cards available to place into the blank. Invite different children to come up and put a name in the blank. At arrival time, child choice and center time have this available for children to independently use. Challenge the children by having some of the word cards available to match words in the poem. Choose rhyming words like play - day and weather - together and simple words like a, and and is.

As you observe children's interactions using the cards it can give insight to their level of literacy development.

These nursery rhymes are good ones to use for interactive charts

Jack Be Nimble
Jack and Jill
Pat A Cake
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Are You Sleeping
Polly Put the Kettle On
Little Jack Horner
and general rhymes/songs like Happy Birthday to ___, Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar

Look for future posts about Interactive Charts

SUSAN

Using Literacy to Facilitate Math Measurement with Young Children

2011-08-03T23:49:00.001-05:00

I like using books to motivate students when highlighting a skill to learn and practice. This is the case with one of the books in my Summer Math post, http://www.togethertime4families.com/2011/07/summer-math-book-list-for-young.html

The book today is called Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy. The story begins in the classroom with the teacher, Mr. Jayson, assigning math homework about measuring to Lisa and her classmates.

The assignment is outlined into sections with facts and ideas to use. ( As a parent you are happy to see these instructions to guide you and your child ). The measurement suggestions are both standard and non standard units of measurement. See what is used here: dog biscuits to measure the tails of Penny and friends.

As well as a standard unit - foot long ruler - to measure each dog's nose length. You can see how the results are recorded for the dog, Penny.

Here a yard stick is used to measure .

Penny's owner measures how much time it takes to care for Penny

during a day and record that information.

As you can see, this book provides an outline to work from and with when completing the assignment. In the classroom I would read the text and then divide it into mini lessons to do together. I would use standard and non standard measurements and record the results on paper/wipe off board in front of the children. Take pictures too and add that to the results.

Modeling the task with the children provides a hands on template for children to use when working on their own measuring task.

I hope you find this book helpful and one that you might use when teaching measuring in your class or with your own children. These are additional books you might want to look at by Loreen Leedy.
SUSAN

S'More Brownies for Your Picnic!

2011-07-31T03:20:00.000-05:00

S’More Brownies

Add these yummy brownies to your summer picnic - if you don't have a camp fire....well, these are a tasty delight to take the place of the real thing. I made this recipe and they were a hit. They came from Very Best Baking

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/144855/SMore-Brownies/detail.aspx

The recipe follows:

Yields:

30 servings

Bring everyone’s favorite campfire treat inside with this simply delicious, ooey-gooey recipe for S’more Brownies. Layer box brownie mix over graham crackers, bake, then top with marshmallows, graham cracker pieces and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

9 broken in half (18 pieces) whole graham crackers, divided

1 package (18.3 oz.) traditional 13 X 9-inch chewy fudge brownie mix

1/4 cup water

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided

2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

LINE 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with foil leaving an overhang on two sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

PLACE 15 graham cracker halves into bottom of pan, overlapping slightly. Break remaining graham cracker halves into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside.

COMBINE brownie mix, water, oil and eggs in medium bowl until blended. Stir in 1 cup morsels. Spread over graham crackers in pan.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out still slightly sticky; remove from oven.

PREHEAT broiler.

SPRINKLE remaining graham cracker pieces and marshmallows over warm brownies. Broil for 30 to 45 seconds or until marshmallows are light brown. Watch carefully as browning occurs very fast! A handheld kitchen butane torch can be used as well. Remove from oven to wire rack. Sprinkle immediately with remaining 1 cup morsels.

COOL for at least 1 hour at room temperature. Lift out by foil edges to cutting board. Carefully remove foil. Cut into bars with wet knife. Store in tightly covered container.

Planning Your Summer Picnic

2011-07-28T09:15:00.002-05:00

Summer and picnics go together and children love to plan for and go on picnics. These are three books that will set the scene for your picnic.

Pat Hutchins is the author of We're Going on a Picnic and she delivers a great story. The characters, Duck, Hen and Goose fill their picnic baskets with fruits and off they go to find the perfect picnic spot - isn't that the hardest things to do....find the perfect picnic spot! Quietly following behind them are three little creatures - a mouse, a squirrel and a rabbit. Each time Duck, Hen and Goose try to decide on a spot and put down their baskets, this silent trio sneak bites of their picnic food . Duck, Hen and Goose arrive home without finding the ultimate picnic spot. They look into their baskets, see them empty and think "oh, the food must have fallen out of our baskets." So, being optimistic, they fill their baskets again and off they go to seek out the perfect picnic spot. Your child will be engaged being in on the secret of the where the picnic food goes! Pat Hutchins writes a simple and repetitive text with colorful illustrations. All this makes it a great read aloud.

Picnic is a fun wordless book (I love wordless books - write your own text on post it notes) and Nicky's Picnic is a lift the flap book - a sense of suspense that adds to the fun of this book.

Don't let the Summer go by without planning several picnics with your children. Use this opportunity to infuse literacy such as making lists for specific items and activities.
These are some lists to make:
1. items to bring along (picnic basket, blanket, bug spray, wipes, etc.)
2. foods you want to have and refine it into a menu - add drawings next to the foods
3. games to play
4. places to have your picnic

Use your calendar as well. Using the calendar incorporates exposure to the days of the week, number dates and the concepts of morning and afternoon. Let your child choose a list to be in charge of and assit in gathering the items. Check the items off of the list as they are gathered. and don't forget your camera - you will want to add these pictures to your Summer Journal packet so you can look back on your Summer fun in the throws of the winter's cold!!

Have a fun time planning and going on your picnic!
Susan

A Robin Having A Splashingly Good Time!

2011-07-25T11:18:00.001-05:00

It's been a superb delight for me to watch the visitors at my bird bath indulge themselves in clean water over these warm days. The robins are especially having a splashingly (don't know if that is a word, but it fits) good time. Check out these photos. They have to warm your heart!

Susan

Searching for Motivating Pointers

2011-07-23T08:29:00.001-05:00

I was always looking for fun wands/pointers to use in the classroom. Use them during the morning meeting, morning message, write the room activity, I Spy game, etc. Check out these products, maybe you will see something new to use.
SUSAN

Ways to Promote Concept About Print With Your Child

2011-07-22T13:19:00.003-05:00

It is important for children to start pre-literacy activities during their young years. Pre-literacy activities will help children develop concepts about print. In the classroom teachers evaluate children's concepts about print as they observe their behaviors about how children use books, differentiate between pictures and print, letter and word awareness. These are the first steps, like crawling before walking, that lead to children moving onto more complex concepts about text. Without a firm grasp on these concepts, children will encounter difficulty when learning to read and write by themselves. The National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association state "failing to give children literacy experiences until they are of school-age can severely limit the reading and writing levels they ultimately attain."

Begin early by providing board books to babies an toddlers. Hold the book for your child and then let her hold the book, turn the pages, hold it right side up - it is an exciting observation by a parent when she/he notices their child turn the book right side up to look at the picture! Pointing to simple pictures, labeling the pictures, repeating the word and pointing to the word models the behavior your child will eventually do on his/her own.

The following are concepts about print and statements you can use with your child to bring about awareness to the concepts about print. Learning concepts about print is done over time and you will be the teacher as you model these concepts when you read together. By the time your child enters Kindergarten he/she will be ready to continue to learn more complex concepts about print.

Does your child know the concept of front of the book? back of the book?

Your statement, "Look,this is the front of the book" and turn it over to say, "This is the back of the book." Look at the book jacket - front and back- you might be surprised to see a continuous illustration

Does your child know where the title is of the book?

Your statement, "Let's read the title to find out the name of this book" - point to each word as you read the title. This is one to one matching showing that for each word there is a set of letters. Ask your child, "Show me the name of the book"

Does your child know the role of the author and illustrator?

When reading point this out to your child. Choose books from a favorite author like Eric Carle, Audrey Wood, Donald Crews, Pat Hutchins and note illustrators of these favorite books.

Can your child predict what the story might be about?

Predict what the story is about using the illustrations on the front cover. Predicting is difficult for young children and becomes easier with practice. You may have to guide and provide vocabulary and ideas to assist in developing this skill.

Does your child know that the print and not the picture is where you begin reading?

Look at the illustrations, talk about what is happening and then point to where you will begin reading. Your child will learn that the words/text carries the message not the illustrations.Say, "This is where I am going to start reading to you." In time, you can ask your child, "Where should I start reading on this page?" When reading together, you read the left page before the right page and your child will also realize this.

Does your child know that print moves left to right?

As you model this when reading to your child, your child will learn this skill. Ask your child, "Which way do I go?"

Does your child know at the end of the line you make a return sweep to the next line?

Again, you are the teacher, you model this to your child as you read together. Ask, "Where do I go after that?"

Does your child point to words as I read?

As you read, take the time to select simple text to point to as you read the words; one to one matching, voice/print match as your read. Your child will imitate you as you reread the text. "I Went Walking" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" are books that combine simple illustrations and text to model this voice print match.

Does your child understand the concept of a letter, a word, a space between words?

While working with letters make familiar names (Mom, Dad, child's names) and name the letters as you make the word, point to the letters, pointing out the first letter in the word(s). Duplicate this when reading, ask your child to "Point to a word on this page" "Point to the first letter in a word" "Point to a space between words".

Other higher level concepts of print include knowing

the difference in capital and lower case letters
punctuation (exclamation point, period, question, quotation marks, comma) and what they mean
the beginning and ending of the book
what is a sentence

See these pdf articles for more information and strategies in facilitating concepts abput print

cehs.usu.edu/ecc/images/pdf/presentations/concepts_%20of_print.pdf

www.cpin.us/docs/mod_conceptsinprint.pdf

(Highlight the above document(s), copy and paste into the address bar and go to the pdf )

Teacher Classroom Supplies at Target

2011-07-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love the dollar section at Target!

I can't seem to pass it without stopping to check out what treasures I can find.

Yesterday the bins were stocked with all sorts of back to school items that are inexpensive and useful for the classroom. Take a look at the photos and maybe there is something you could use. Besides these items there were stickers, folded pouches with sections, large wipe off boards with lines, various flashcards and bingo games and more.

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Susan

Estimation by Penny Dowdy - a math book for fun!

2011-07-19T07:10:00.000-05:00

What fun it was to read this book with my grandson. This is one of the books highlighted in my post about Summer Math Books. From a teacher's point of view, I like that the author provides strategies children can use when estimating.

To start, the author defines

Estimation as a smart guess, not just a guess.

But how do you arrive at a smart guess?

(The author makes the difference between an exact guess, such as being able to count the number of people in your family/ pencils in a group and a reasonable and sensible guess based on large unknown amounts).

In order to make a smart guess the author suggests these strategies:

modeling

chunking

Modeling is making a copy of something. In the book the little girl makes a model of the jar at the art store with erasers in it at her home. Her jar is smaller than the one at the art store; however, this model helps her think and estimate the amount in the store jar.

Chunking is another strategy presented in this book. A chunk can be any part of a thing you are estimating. It can come from the top, bottom and side. The girl looks down into the store jar at the top of erasers and counts these on the top. Then she estimates how many layers of chunks there are as she looks through the jar from the side. That way she can estimate by chunking. (Decide how many erasers are in one chunk, then decide how many chunks are in the whole group and add the chunks).

Practice these strategies at home. By giving your child opportunities to practice using these strategies he/she will be prepared to approach estimation activities - making a smart estimation! What to estimate? How many crayons are in the crayon box? How many marbles are in the mini fish bowl? How many marshmallows are in the bag? Use these strategies to estimate the amonts and then count them to see how close you are to the real amount.

Make sure to check out these books at your local library for a great beginning to working with Estimating!

SUSAN

5 Word Wall Word Activities

2011-07-17T16:58:00.000-05:00

Here is an additional idea to do with the rice bottle. Keep learning going and fresh this summer by adding word wall words to the rice bottle. In another post of mine, I placed ABC beads into the bottle. Extend that idea and add words that your child can search for within the rice. Prepare a paper bottle with the same words listed on it. As your child finds the words in the bottle your child can circle the words.

Here are three other activities to do with the word wall words cards

Place the word cards in alphabetical order
Order the word cards according to the number of letters in the words
Say rhymes to go with the word wall words
Compose sentences using the cards, adding new word cards to complete the sentence - ex. My friend and I go to the library, I like my Mom and Dad I love my dog
Copy the sentences onto paper

Susan

Who Is At My Bird Feeder? Caught You!

2011-07-10T08:09:00.001-05:00

Look who got caught - trying to eat my birdseed! I have stopped filling the squirrel proof feeder because this friendly visitor empties it withing days! Not so easy in the small hanging feeder. Our eyes met, camera snapped the pic and off went the deer back into the woods. Must say I love seeing the visitor even though she nibbles away at the seed. Susan