Search results matching tag 'writing'

Let's Make a Book!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:31:00 GMT

This year, I have been posting some of my more "crafty" (and I use the term loosely) on Classroom DIY. Have you visited? It really is a fun blog full of LOTS of fun ideas. Well, anyway, I wanted to bring you one of the ideas I posted over there to my blog too. A Hardcover book! This book can be used for SO many different things, from an end of the year memory book to a way to publish student writing, to a journal. I love it, and so do the students!

So here is how you make it.....step by step.

Gather the following materials

construction paper, 2 pieces, any color
cardboard or tagboard
white 8.5 x 11 paper
stapler
scissors
glue (I prefer Elmer's® Rubber Cement )

First, using the white 8.5 x 11 paper (standard copy paper works best), create a little booklet where the student's story will be written. You can put as many pages as you would like, however include at least one extra sheet of paper as this will be used to bind the book together in later steps.

At this point, I have the students write their final draft of the story. That way, they don't have to keep opening and shutting the book once it is bound. This just keeps the final product a bit neater.

Cut the paper. You will need two cut pieces of each color section. The tag board (orange in the picture) is 9" x 6". The green paper is 24" x 6". The red paper is 18" x 9". Again, be sure to cut TWO of each sized paper.

The TAG will make this the hardcover book. So if you don't have tag, cardboard will work. Something heavier than normal construction paper.

Place the tag board in the center of the long green paper. Fold the bottom up and then the top down, so as to create a little covering around the tag board. This must be TIGHT! Repeat with the second piece of tag board and green paper. The tighter the better.

From experience, the kids don't like to do this very tightly. Just go slow with them. They do eventually get it!

Place the green "package" that you just created FACE DOWN onto the middle of the red paper. Fold the red paper over by tucking it into the sleeve between the green paper and the orange tagboard. Be sure that this is TIGHT! Then do the other side. Repeat with the other green package/red combo.

Once this step is completed, the "package" should hold together on its own. You shouldn't have to be holding it.

You now will have two "packages" that will become the hard covers of your book. Using the white insert you created in Step 1, slip the first page into the opening on one of the "packages".

Repeat the above step with the other "package". Now your book is almost complete.

Glue the white part into the "package". This will give the book some stability and staying power. You can use white glue, however I like rubber cement myself. Glue sticks just won't work very well on this (as they can't get in there very easily without ripping the package.)

This is something I have used with my students to have them publish their writing. These can made as big or as little as you want/need and are really a fun way to make your students feel like authors. So break out that writing you have been working on all year (or those Paragraphs of the Week ;) ) and get publishing!

Create Stories at Storyboard That

Anonymous — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT

Create Stories at Storyboard That

by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Storyboard That offers an online place for kids to create digital stories. Its main purpose is as a visual aid for communicators e.g. in the business area, but it would also make a useful place for kids to storyboard short videos or plan other projects. Telling digital stories that include speech bubbles is an excellent way to sneak some writing into kids' play. Younger kids will just have fun expressing themselves visually with a range of characters and other elements.

To start: choose between 3 or 6 cells (frames). Once you've decided, Storyboard That is similar to most comic editors, offering you backgrounds (scenes), characters, speech bubbles (textables) and wireframes (screens and widgets.)

There's a good variety of characters - select adults, youngins, silhouettes, funky and animals. Drag any element to a cell, and then you can edit it via a pop-up menu.

You need to create an account to save your work. With the free plan, you can save up to three storyboards a day. A storyboard can be embedded into a blog, emailed, and exported into PowerPoint. The PPT option is not much use unless you upgrade from the free account, as it's hugely watermarked by the site. I did embed the Storyboard I made, but it was much too wide for my blog, and I couldn't see how to alter the width in the html. So what you see above is a screen grab.

There are also a couple of useful pages with tips, FAQ, and lesson plans.

If you're interested in digital storytelling with kids, you might like to download my free PDF, Using Comic Editors with Kids.

121Writing Looks Like It Could Be Helpful, Especially With IB & Other Advanced Classes

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:44:00 GMT

There’s a fair amount of research, which I describe in some of my books, which shows that leaving lots of teacher comments on student papers is pretty much a waste of time — many, if not most, students don’t pay … Continue reading →

50+ ideas for learning your ABCs

Anonymous — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:10 GMT

Here are over fifty ideas to help children enjoy learning their ABCs.

50+ ways to learn your ABCs

Welcome to the Carnival of Letter Play!

This Play Academy link-up is all about Letter Play. Please share an idea for any kind of letter play – a new post or . . . → Read More: 50+ ideas for learning your ABCs

The post 50+ ideas for learning your ABCs appeared first on NurtureStore.

Infographic: “Seven Steps To The Perfect Story”

Anonymous — Tue, 07 May 2013 05:55:09 GMT

I’m adding this infographic to The Best Digital (& Non-Digital) Storytelling Resources: Source: the-cma.com via Larry on Pinterest

Switch Kids On to Reading and Writing

Anonymous — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT

Switch Kids On to Reading and Writing

by Brian Rock

As a former teacher and current parent, I’ve had experience in introducing kids to reading and writing. And while there’s no magic potion that works for all kids, I’ve learned that oftentimes the messenger is as important as the message. Even reluctant readers and worrisome writers will warm up to the task at hand when they see that someone else is actually enjoying it. So when encouraging your little ones to read and write, remember to make it fun – for both of you! Here are a few suggestions:

Reading

Step out of routines
Make special times to read. Don’t save reading time for just before bedtime, or it can become another rote exercise like brushing teeth and washing up. Have a reading night where you turn off the TV and let everyone pick a favorite book to read for an hour or so. For younger readers, create special snuggle-read time on weekends or after school. Remember to take time after reading to discuss the book your child has read (or listened to someone else read.) Let them voice their opinions about what they liked best in a story. Even if they focus on illustrations, let them know that you value their insights about books. This discussion time is especially important because it lets even pre-readers feel like they’re part of the reading process.

Lights, camera, read!
Don’t just read a book, act it out. Without donning makeup and costume, you can bring characters to life with a little inflection. Is the character sad? Use your saddest, poutiest tone to convey that emotion. Is the character happy? Unless you’re in a library, let your child feel the character’s joy through your own exuberance and RAISED VOICE. Is there more than one main character? Use different voices for each character. Is your child already starting to read? Let them read the text for one character and you read the text for the other. Some great books for together reading are The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, Green Eggs and Ham, and You Read To Me, I’ll Read To You.

Celebrate books
Make trips to the library or bookstore special occasions instead of errands. Let your kids see other children enjoying books. Let them linger, browse and choose their own books. It’s a special feeling when one book out of hundreds on the shelf “speaks to you.” Kids have so little autonomy in their lives, let them enjoy this one freedom of choosing their own book and it will make reading that much more special for them.

Writing

Tell stories
It’s hard enough to memorize historical dates and multiplication tables, but at least once you memorize them they don’t change. Creative writing is never the same twice, and for some kids that really takes them out of their comfort zone. So even before writing comes up in school, you can help develop your child’s creative skills with some pre-writing exercises. Start by telling them stories, let them see that it’s OK to make up something on your own. If you don’t feel comfortable in your own storytelling skills, borrow from the classics. Make a fractured fairy tale about Goldilocks and the three skunks or Snow White and the seven leprechauns. Just change one or two things from a story you know well to create your own story--some storytellers even get paid for doing this! Let your kids suggest some of the changes and they’ll be engaged and excited about the creative process that will one day become writing.

Play games
Knock, knock. Who’s there? A learning opportunity disguised as play. Who? Orange you glad I didn’t say banana? Huh? No matter how silly the joke, encourage kids to play with words. Tell knock knock jokes. Make up rhyming games (I saw a cat and he sat on a ____). Use puns and make sure your kids understand them. Get your kids used to the idea of playing with words. Then when they are given their first writing assignments, they’ll already have experience with the creative process.

Praise
When your kids finally begin to put pencil to paper, don’t worry about spelling mistakes or sentence fragments or even if the stories don’t make sense. For younger writers, encourage their efforts and let them enjoy the fun of the creative process. Take time to find something you like in everything they write. Compliment them on a specific character or event in their story and they’ll see that you care. They’ll get the joy that all writers feel when they connect with an audience. Then they’ll enjoy the process and want to write more. And as they write more, their writing skills will continue to improve naturally.

BIO: Brian Rock is a children’s author and former school teacher who lives in Chesterfield, VA with his wife, daughter and of course, his many imaginary friends.

He has enjoyed writing stories since he was old enough to hold a no. 2 pencil. Although he was once put out of class for writing too many stories, he went on to receive a master’s degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature from Hollins University. Along the way, Brian has performed as a stand-up comic, worked as a “McCountant,” and written award winning country songs. He also contributes to the Richmond Children's Writers blog.

His first children’s stories were published in the Roanoke based children’s newspaper, Kid’s World. His poems have been published in Highlights for Children and Poetry Train. He currently has four published picture books: DON’T PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!, PIGGIES, WITH ALL MY HEART, and THE DEDUCTIVE DETECTIVE.

Window tracing on a sunny day

Anonymous — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:00:14 GMT

Exploring our names and other shapes through window tracing!

Five tips for taking preschool journals outside

Anonymous — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:00:14 GMT

Come and see these five tips shared for taking preschool journals outside.

And the winner is…(Plus Info on Student Blogging)

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:49:25 GMT

Thank you to all who hopped on over and followed our blogs and TPT Stores last weekend! Your participation in this little event was awesome! We do have a winner to announce Drumroll please…… Teachingisagift McKay – your resources and Amazon gift code are on the way! Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who took the time [...]

Science, math, and more!

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2013 02:28:00 GMT

It has been SO long since I have last blogged it seems... I have been very, very busy with state testing and planning fun activities for my kids the rest of the year. Since I teach 4th grade, I still have science left, but I am still doing lots of review with that!
My science test prep cards have been a big seller (which I am SO happy with and the kind feedback!) Click HERE to check them out!

I have also been busily working on a 4th grade matter unit! I tried to be as detailed as possible in the TPT and TN descriptions but it is basically a unit introducing matter and vocabulary like weight, buoyancy, density, mass, area, volume, solids, liquids, gases, the metric system, and more! It can be found on TPT and TN! :) Hope you can check it out!

I also wanted to share a few things that have been happening in my classroom. We definitely did a lot of review and fun math games for the math state tests... one of my kids favorite activities was "Math Jeopardy" and practicing math on the white boards!

We also did fun projects with fractions... like this adorable freebie from Felisa Williams! She has wonderful math products that my kids and I thoroughly enjoy!

I am looking for more ideas for writing projects... writing is something I want to definitely keep up with my kids throughout the remainder of the year. I was in touch with my second grade teacher (and also my piano teacher) and she told me about an assignment I believe I did when I was in second grade... I asked for writing suggestions and the wonderful lady she is (following my facebook page and all!) she came up with this:

"Idea: Have the kids trace each other's feet on paper....then write a story about where their feet took them at one special time!!!"

So that is exactly what we did! With my own little spin on it... I think for next time I can even do two feet, and have them do a picture in the middle or something. But they had fun doing this and were excited to tell me about where their feet took them!

Thank you so much for reading my post.. all of you are amazing and I appreciate every bit of advice, compliment, everything! For reading the entire post, I shall do a giveaway ;] Who would like to win my 4th Grade Matter Unit?? I will choose the first THREE (and the first three only so try to be quick!) lovely people that comment with their e-mail address on this blog post! Thank you!!!