Portfolio ideas.

This coloring sheet and huge dot to dot are from my daughter's portfolio.  Other than fine motor skills, I'm not sure the objectives to these, but she sure is proud of her detailed work.

Multiplication Madness

Here's how one teacher keeps track of some of the multiplication challenges like the "Sweet 16," "the Elite 8," and the "Final 4." 

Storytime

Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose

Writing Workshop in 2nd

Here's how one second grade teacher I know organizes her daily writers workshop.  Each student gets a binder, they write daily on lined paper and then spend most of their time going through peer, teacher, parent helper and self editing with the second sheet below working on only a few areas of focus at a time.  It's really effective to see in action.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter

I read this with my book club and our discussion went on for hours.  Very interesting commentary and research about how pop culture influences gender identities.  Loved it!

Winter Art

A Mother Who Read to Me

Seen on the wall of a school hallway.

Critical Literacy

A 20 minute presentation about using picture books to teach children critical literacy.  Based in Canada, they bring some interesting points and have some good quotes.  I liked the part about the lesson with third graders about which "voices" should be in the story but weren't. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pcB60_7iH0

Cool Schools

I liked the entrance of this elementary school which painted their pillars like crayons.  

Make it, Tell it, Write it

This was a DVD that my son bought for my birthday at the Storytelling Festival.  We just LOVE Donald Davis, a renowned "teller" that gives a workshop in this movie.  It was fun to watch and I liked the teaching technique of "trouble" for conflict brainstorming.  

Which Peanuts Learner Are You?

I liked this self test that describes which Peanuts character you are as a learner.

http://carribond.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/the-charlie-brown-theory-of-personality/

I think I'm a...

John Bytheway

This is a speaker/author that I really like.  He does Christian-based books for young adults with a great humorous approach.  Check out one of his books!

“The Imagi-Nation is a little country in your head. When you're young, you go there to play. When you get older, you go there to worry.” 
― John Bytheway, How to Be Totally Miserable


“It is better to be respected than it is to be popular. Popularity ends on yearbook day, but respect lasts forever.” 

― John Bytheway

“We don’t LOVE our Grandmas because they look like super models. We love them because of WHO they are”

― John Bytheway

“The miserable think that what they have is never enough. Like the Little Mermaid, who owned no more than twenty thingamabobs, they say, "But who cares, no big deal, I want MORE." (How could you be miserable with twenty thingamabobs?)”

― John Bytheway, How to Be Totally Miserable

Dunstan Baby Language DVD

Someone gave me this DVD to watch knowing I had a lot of kids.  Here's the highlights...

First three months are the fourth trimester. Babies are born with reflexes like sucking, crying, swallowing.  They are also built with a calming reflex.  It is like an automatic off switch for crying.

The 5 S's
DUDU swaddling tight with the arms down, alone will not calm them down, square blankets tucked down behind her head, makes them feel back home.  Fold top corner under head, Then down over one arm, straight up over second arm, down a tiny bit, up and around back to tuck.  About as tight as a waistband.  Legs can be straight or bent.

The Cuddle Cure = the 5 S's

• side or stomach facing down a little bit, on their back is a position of alarm, a lot of dads like that football hold
• shushing right into their ear or white noise, shush as loud as they are crying, hair dryers and vacuums are sometimes used.
• swinging-head is jiggling a little like jello, you don't hold the head because it triggers the reflex.  feet shoulder width apart on floor, knees together,  babies head in hands and they jiggle back and forth on your knees, if you use swings to help with motion always recline the most or swing at the highest speed which is basically the jiggle head, motion does not hurt a baby
• sucking-the icing on the cake, nursing or sucking your finger or pacifier,  push down on the pacifier so they think they are loosing it and suck harder to keep it in their mouth not by pushing it in their mouths.

Decrease the intensity of 5's as they calm down

The 6th S should be sleep...some babies need the movement (swing) or white noise all night long, after 3 or four months, you can release arms, decrease noise or do less movements

Rereading favorite stories

-->

Children often request that favorite stories be read aloud.  This common practice of rereading favorite stories to children has attracted the attention of many scholars.  Researchers have questioned whether lasting cognitive and affective benefits result from repeated readings of the same story.  Investigators have sought to answer this question by studying the responses of children who have had the opportunity to hear repeated readings of the same story. 

• Children's comments and questions increase and become more interpretive and evaluative when they have listened to repeated readings, 
• children's discussed more aspects of the text and in greater depth.
• children elaborated more often and interpreted issues in the story
• children internalized the interaction that occurred between parent and child.  The child gradually took over conducting the reading
• the familiarity that comes with repeated readings enables children to reenact stories, modeling the parent or attempt to read stories on their own using illustrations and the experiences to reenact 
• the familiarity gained through the rereadings provides children with frameworks of background information that enable them to deal with the text on a variety of levels. 

p. 571-2

Morrow L., & Gambrell, L. (2000). Literature-Based Reading Instruction. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research: Volume III (pp. 563-586). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.  

Thanksgiving Decorations for the Classroom

The Book Fair

The Book Fair for my children's school is one of my favorite things to volunteer for!  When there are no kids around, I go around the room and collect the latest hardcover books to read.  These are the one's that caught attention this time around.  

Helen Keller with Braille on the cover.

Loved the creativeness of this one. 

I just HAD to buy this one right away.  It was a fabulous historical fiction picture book.  Buy it!

I bought this one too.  Hilarious!