Search results matching tags 'teachers' and 'homeschool'

Literacy Beginnings Chapter 1

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:27:03 GMT

Welcome to the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party! Today I am covering the introduction “Living and Learning in the Pre-Kindergarten Classroom” as well as the first chapter, “Growing Up Literate: PreKindergarten for the Future Generation“. I hope you will join in the conversation by leaving a comment below or posting reflections on your own blog. Bloggers, you can grab the button at the bottom of this post. I plan on offering several resources you can print and use in your classroom throughout the book study so make sure you are following Pre-K Pages and all the other participating blogs so you don’t miss anything.

Literacy Beginnings is written by Irene Fountas and *** Su Pinnell. Irene Fountas is a professor at Lesley University and *** Su Pinnell is a professor at The Ohio State Univeristy. Fountas and Pinnell have researched and published many books about literacy learning. In Literacy Beginnings they have applied their vast knowledge and expertise to the prekindergarten classroom; their recommendations are based on observations conducted in those classrooms.

After reading the entire book on an airplane (oh yes I did!) the message of this book came through loud and clear:

Children learn through play
A pre-k classroom should be full of joy and fun
A strong foundation for literacy learning must be established from the very beginning

I feel badly for the passengers sitting near me on the plane because I know I shouted “Hallelujah” a few times and there might have even been a few “Amen’s” in there too. Much of this book affirms what I have been doing in the classroom for almost 20 years. What “a-ha” moments did you have while reading this chapter?

In the introduction, Living and Learning in the Pre-Kindergarten Classroom, the authors describe a typical day in two different classrooms, one is a class of three year-olds and the other is a four year-old class. What I liked most about the daily routines they describe is that literacy is infused throughout the day, not isolated in one big chunk. The day alternates between brief whole group times and opportunities for play and hands-on learning. I know that when my day is not well balanced my students are not as focused and not as much learning takes place. We will explore full and half-day schedules in more detail in Chapter 5.

Chapter 1, Growing Up Literate, begins with a fantastic quote by John Dewey,

“If we teach today, as we taught yesterday, we rob children of tomorrow.”

I can recall my preschool experience very clearly, I remember singing “Where is Thumbkin?” blowing bubbles with a straw in the sand and water table, and eating sugar cookies with milk for snack every single day. Today’s prekindergarten classrooms may look a little different, but different doesn’t mean “wrong” or “inappropriate”. A quote from the book sums it up nicely:

“The playtime and social training of traditional prekindergartens has not been replaced but rather infused with literacy”

We are preparing children for a different tomorrow therefore the instruction they receive today will also look a little different. Another point the authors make is that teachers in today’s pre-k classrooms are intentional in planning their literacy instruction, I like to think of it as guiding the students. A good teacher focuses on the natural curiosity of his or her students and uses that curiosity to guide them towards literacy learning. We can motivate our students to want to read and write by providing plenty of fun, playful, and hands-on experiences.

The picture above shows my classroom library which we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 4.

The authors reference the International Reading Association (IRA) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) joint position statement which recommends including the following in the pre-k classroom:

The picture above shows my Alphabet Center. We will be discussing letter learning in more detail in Chapter 5. The item on the list above that poses the most difficulty for teachers is finding appropriate big books for shared reading. The authors address selecting texts for shared reading in Chapter 12 and offer suggestions.

Finally, my favorite part of Chapter 1 comes near the end when the authors denounce the use of worksheets and advocate for play and play activities that support language and literacy. I can’t tell you how great it is to see these words in print from the gurus of early literacy. As a public pre-k teacher I have become accustomed to not having my voice heard or being dismissed because there is nobody to back up my beliefs- at least nobody the people in charge have ever heard of. Now that Fountas and Pinnell have added prekindergarten to their repertoire I know administrators will listen because they are already familiar with and respect their work. I am certain this book will become the foundation of early literacy learning for many years to come. Do you think this book will change the way you are perceived as an early childhood educator?

Deb from Teach Preschool will be discussing Chapter 2 soon so stay tuned!

Grab the button below:

get the InLinkz code for your blog post.

Want to let your friends know about the book study blog party? Click “Like” at the top of this page or choose from other social media options below.

'); //-->

Get Caught Reading Contest

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:00:30 GMT

I hope you will be joining us for the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party. Our party will kick-off here at Pre-K Pages on Monday, July 27th, there’s still time to get the book if you’re interested. So, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about the party again if it hasn’t even started yet, right? Well hold on to your hats because I’ve added a little something to kick it up a notch!

I was thinking about lugging my book all over the US during the next four weeks (top secret locations- shhhh!) and I was reminded of the famous Flat Stanley project that we all know and love. Then it hit me, wouldn’t it be fun if I took pictures of myself with my book in interesting places too? That sounded a little too one-sided for me so I’m inviting you all to do the same thing! Can I get a little “Oprah’s Favorite Things” action here? That’s more like it!

Here’s how you can enter the Get Caught Reading Contest:

Take a picture of yourself reading your Literacy Beginnings book in an interesting or unusual location
Publish your picture in your book study blog party post
Link up via the link below
Vote for your favorite pictures

One winner will be announced on Monday, August 15. The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. The contest should begin today (crossing my fingers- this is my first attempt at hosting a voting contest with InLinkz!) so start your cameras!

'); //-->

Join the Literacy Beginnings Party

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:00:29 GMT

I’m so excited about the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party! We will kick off the party on Monday, June 27 with each chapter hosted by a different blogger. There’s still time to get the book if you want to join in the fun. I’m also planning for a fun contest to go along with the book study, stay tuned for more details!

Here is a list of the awesome blogs that will be hosting the chapter discussions:

Here’s how you can participate in the book study blog party:

Follow each of the blogs listed above.
Post your own chapter reflections on your blog, grab a linky party button (coming soon!), and link up your post to the linky party.
Don’t have a blog? No problem! You can join in by commenting on the blog posts.
Going on vacation? No worries! If you subscribe to the blogs above you can catch up on all the great discussions when you return.

Here’s a line-up of the topics and hosts:
Section One: Living and Learning week of June 27th
Pre-K Pages
Teach Preschool
Brick by Brick
Prekinders

Section Two: Foundation of Learning week of July 5th (no posts on July 4th)
Brick by Brick
No More Worksheets
Pre-K Pages

Section Three: Supporting Emergent Readers week of July 11-15
Look at My Happy Rainbow
Growing in Pre-K
Pre-K Pages

Section Four: Supporting Emergent Writers week of July 18-21
No More Worksheets
Prekinders
Growing in Pre-K

Section Five: Letters, Sounds, and Words week of July 25
Pre-K Pages
Teach Preschool
Prekinders

Section Six: Assessment of Literacy week of July 25 or August 1
The Seeds Network

I can’t wait to read all of your fantastic posts and comments! Happy Reading!

Want to let your friends know about the book study blog party? Click “Like” at the top of this page or choose from other social media options below.

'); //-->

Win a Flip Video Camera from Kabongo

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:00:53 GMT

This June, you can join Kabongo in a month long celebration of Father’s Day. To make this celebration extra special, Kabongo is giving away a Flip Video camera worth over $100 in their Kabongo Loves Dads Sweepstakes!

To enter, go to Kabongo’s Facebook page and click on the Sweepstakes button. Fill in your name and address, and you’re done – easy peasy!

Tell all the Dads you know, or anyone who would love a Flip Video camera, to enter now for a chance to win. Capture all your amazing dad moments and give Dad a Father’s Day to remember!

'); //-->

Father’s Day Cookie Gift

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:00:26 GMT

If the way to a man’s heart is really through his stomach then this Father’s Day gift idea featuring homemade cookies is sure to be a big hit! Since not every child has a father in his or her life this gift is appropriate for any male role model.

You will need the following materials:

Empty Pringles can (tall or short depending on how many cookies you want to bake)
Masculine scrapbook paper
Tape
Coordinating ribbon
Homemade cookies sized appropriately for the can
Tissue paper
Scissors
Marker or pen
Tissue or wax paper

Start with buying a can of Pringles and eating them all- that is what makes this my favorite Father’s Day gift ever! Next, clean the inside of your Pringles can. Then, cut the scrapbook paper to fit the can and secure it to the outside of the can using tape. Cut the ribbon with your scissors and tie around the top of the can. Trace the lid of the can on the scrapbook paper and cut it out. Write a message on the circle and place it on the underside of the lid.

Next comes the fun part! Make cookies with your students or child and allow them to cool. When the cookies are cool layer them in the can with tissue or wax paper. This idea could also be adapted for any type of treat such as brownies, chocolates, or snack mix.

What are your favorite homemade Father’s Day gift ideas?

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page or share it via other social media outlets using the links below.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Pre-K Pages newsletter. Subscribers receive early childhood teaching tips in their inbox each week.

'); //-->

Father’s Day Wordle Gift

Anonymous — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:00:40 GMT

Many teachers face a dilemma when it comes to Father’s Day. The reason for the dilemma is twofold, first, many schools are already on summer vacation by the time Father’s Day arrives and second, some children don’t have fathers in their lives. While I can’t control when school gets out, I can provide ideas for Father’s Day that are appropriate not only for fathers, but any male role model.

This Father’s Day idea using Wordle is super easy, quick to make, and will be loved by any man lucky enough to receive it! If you’re not familiar with Wordle it is a free website that creates personalized word clouds using text you provide.

To create a personalized Father’s Day Wordle, first you will need to select the type of picture frame you will use. You might consider using a store bought picture frame, a craft foam frame decorated by the children, or you can have children create their own frames using popsicle sticks. Next, ask your children to describe their Dad or male role model. Type your list of descriptive words into Wordle and adjust your fonts, colors, and layout to get your desired look. When you are finished just print to create your masterpiece and place the finished product in the picture frame.

What Father’s Day gift ideas do you have up your sleeve? Leave a comment below and share with others!

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page or share it via other social media outlets using the links below.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Pre-K Pages newsletter. Subscribers receive early childhood teaching tips in their inbox each week.

'); //-->

Kabongo Reading Games Review

Anonymous — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:00:24 GMT

Spring fever is in full-swing and both teachers and students alike are looking forward to summer vacation. Its times like these that call for a little something new to shake things up and keep everybody going for another month (or two). A few weeks ago I stumbled across a site called Kabongo that will help put an end to spring fever in your early childhood classroom. Kabongo isn’t just another online learning game site; it’s THE hot new online learning game site. What makes Kabongo stand out from the crowd? Well, since you asked:

Critical Thinking Skills: Unlike many online games that focus on very basic skills and right or wrong answers the games at Kabongo target the critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies that are essential for future reading success.
Research Based: Games are designed by cognitive psychologists and learning experts
High Quality: The animation in these games is fantastic- move over PBS and Disney!
Interactive: There is no “osmosis” learning going on here, everything is highly engaging and fun.
Learning Skills Chart: Kabongo provides a Learning Skills Chart that lists the skills covered in each game which is very helpful for teachers and parents.

Kabongo features three different learning habitats; each habitat is broken up into three games that target different skills. Each habitat is offered for a one time flat fee of only $4.95, however you can use the coupon code shown above (LEARN) for free access to everything for a limited time! That’s nine games absolutely free. The habitats are:

Galaxy Gardens
Laughter Lake
Twister Top

How does it work?

Go to Kabongo and click on “play free” at the top of the page.
Next, sign-up to create your free account.
Once you confirm your subscription, log-in and select your habitat to start playing.

Aside from classroom use, Kabongo is also a great resource for parents. Kabongo has many parent friendly features such as a parent dashboard and progress reports delivered directly to your inbox.

Since summer vacation is right around the corner and many parents are looking for rainy day suggestions consider sending out a link to your parents letting them know about Kabongo. Kabongo’s target ages are 4-7 so you can suggest that siblings have a turn too.

'); //-->

Pizza Box Flannel Board

Anonymous — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:38:23 GMT

A flannel or felt board is an important part of any early childhood classroom. One of the biggest benefits of having and using a flannel board is the opportunities it creates for oral language development. At the flannel board students can re-tell nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and other popular stories. Flannel boards come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I was very fortunate to have a beautiful, free standing easel with flannel on one side and a magnetic dry erase board on the other. While being very pretty and expensive the large easel does have its drawbacks. The flannel board easel is very tall which obstructs your view when you are trying to monitor all the students in the classroom. It is also very narrow making it difficult for two students to stand side-by-side and play. I prefer that my students use the flannel board in pairs because of the social interaction and oral language opportunities it offers. Another problem I encountered with the flannel board easel was that it was difficult to offer the students a variety of different flannel stories to choose from. When I tried to hang Ziploc bags from the side of the easel the story pieces were quickly mixed-up and became a huge mess.

The pizza box flannel board has solved all of my problems -except how to get rid of the giant flannel board. Now students can select a box and sit down on the carpet to re-tell their favorite stories. The re-telling center is much more popular now than ever before because I can offer more choices to the students. Creating your own individual pizza box flannel boards is super simple! I have included the materials you will need below.

Flannel/felt from craft store
Hot Glue Gun
Scissors
Pizza Boxes- ask your local pizza parlor for unused boxes, most are happy to donate
Optional: Computer labels

Next, cut your felt to fit the front of the pizza box and use the glue gun to adhere the flannel to the front of the box. Flannel stories can be stored inside the box. The name of each story can be typed on a computer label and attached to the side of the boxes. Store several boxes on a shelf and allow students to choose their favorites.

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page or share it via other social media outlets using the links below.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Pre-K Pages newsletter. Subscribers receive early childhood teaching tips in their inbox each week.

'); //-->

Stepping Stones Together Review

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:00:17 GMT

As a classroom teacher I feel just as much responsibility for my students learning during the summer months as I do during the school year. I want them to have a balanced summer filled with fun and learning support at home so they can begin the next school year right where they left off in my classroom. Unfortunately, research shows that children can experience significant learning loss during the summer months. Imagine if an athlete stopped training, he or she would see a significant decline in performance. The human brain is no different; it needs daily exercise to maintain learning.

In an attempt to prevent learning loss during the summer I provide parents with a calendar listing free or low-cost local activities such as library story times, public pool information, and discount days at the zoo or aquarium. I also send home a folder filled with educational activities for parents to do with their children. However, one skill that I am not able to fully support during the summer is reading. Many parents read to their children but when it comes to helping their children learn how to read parents want to help but often don’t know how.

I was recently introduced to Stepping Stones Together; an online program for parents who want to support their child’s reading abilities at home. I am not a fan of any pre-packaged curricula or “teach your baby to read” programs so you can be assured that Stepping Stones Together does not fall into either of these categories.

The philosophy of the Stepping Stones Together program is research based and focuses on fostering a love of reading in young children ages 3-7 while providing a positive bonding experience between parent and child. The program takes only 15-20 minutes per day so there is still pelnty of time for summer fun. This is not a program where the child sits in front of the computer while mom makes dinner; this is a fully interactive program that provides busy parents with the tools they need to take an active role in their child’s beginning reading skills.

Developed by Dr. Erika Burton, the Stepping Stones Together program provides simple, step-by-step directions that parents can easily follow. The program consists of the following components:

90 High-interest printable books on popular topics such as superheroes, princesses, sports, fairies and more
Printable incentive chart
Daily writing practice
Printable instructions explaining how to introduce the books
High-frequency word games
Printable certificates of completion for each level completed
Printable flash cards to introduce and review high frequency words in each book

While the program is designed with parents in mind, after careful review I believe it can be easily used by classroom teachers. Many teachers are required to teach their students to read but are not provided with all of the tools necessary to do so. Stepping Stones Together offers everything, including the books for a very affordable price. Classroom teachers can also send home the Stepping Stones URL in their summer educational packets for parents who are interested.

Here’s the good news, Stepping Stones Together is offering readers of Pre-K Pages a special one day only discount. This discount allows you to access to the complete program for one year for only $19.99, use discount the code Pre-K Pages If you missed the first day special you can still receive a 5% discount on the program using the same code.

'); //-->

Student Picture Games

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:00:41 GMT

If you are looking for an activity that will engage your students and keep them on task then look no further. The secret is to use pictures of the students; they love to look at pictures of themselves and their friends. This activity can be done several different ways to allow for differentiation.

In the picture above you can see the sight word version of this activity. To prepare the activity take pictures of your students holding letters to spell sight words. Print the pictures on cardstock, laminate, cut, and then place on binder rings. I use the Rainbow Words program; this particular activity focused on the six words we were learning at the time. The students turn the cards and spell the words on their cookie trays using magnetic letters. I added a thematic picture to the cookie tray to make it fit with our theme. This activity is one of the all-time favorites in my classroom!

Using student pictures you can create activities to meet your students’ needs all year long:

Student Names: Take pictures of the students spelling their names. Students can then make their names and their friend’s names on cookie sheets using magnetic letters.
Upper to Lowercase Match: Take pictures of the students holding upper and lowercase letters and turn the pictures into cards. Have students match the upper to lowercase letters.
Alphabet in Order: Take a picture of each student holding one letter. If you have fewer than 26 students (and I hope you do!) then give some students an extra turn. Turn each letter into a card and have students practice putting the cards in order from A-Z. You can do this for both upper and lowercase letters. You can also use an alphabet strip and have students match the pictures to the strip.
Numbers in Order: Same idea as above only take pictures of the students holding numbers. Place Velcro on the back of each number card, laminate sentence strips, place Velcro on the strips and have students attach the numbers to the strip in order.
Power Points: You can use any of the ideas above and create Power Point presentations to show your students- fun!

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Pre-K Pages newsletter. Subscribers receive early childhood teaching tips in their inbox each week.

If you enjoyed this post from Pre-K Pages please forward a link to your friends or use the buttons below to share the link on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.

'); //-->