Here’s what you’ll need: two sheets of paper (one brown, one green, and one yellow) cricut gypsy glue button magnets   Here’s what you do: (with the Cricut) Cut out a tree. (My Community) Cut out five apples. (My World) Draw a vowel on each apple. Cut the apples out. With a hot glue gun, glue small button magnets on the back of each apple and onto the tree. Please remind your child not put the magnets in his/her mouth. Play vowel games with your child, such as: "Can you take the letter off the tree that begins like "Egg?" "Can you take the "A" vowel off the tree?" "Can you tell me the sound the vowel "I" makes?" Picture book suggestion: ABC Yummy Author: Lisa Jahn-Clough Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Skill: Vowels No related posts.

Cut out pumpkin and shadow pumpkin from Designer’s Calendar with the cricut.com/gypsy/ Glue the pumpkin to the top of the pumpkin shadow. Write "My October Journal" on the pumpkin. (I used Storybook and Designer’s Calendar.) Cut out white paper the same size as the shadow pumpkin for the writing paper. Staple the book together. Writing ideas for pumpkin journal: pumpkin-theme-unit       Related posts:Magnetic Vowel Apple Tree (ages 3-6) Here’s what you’ll need: two sheets of paper (one brown,... Leaf-Shaped Book and Autumn Activites Leaf-Shaped Book: First, I  cut out a leaf (Designer’s Calendar)... September Story Starters I met a new friend this year at school! This...

love this font (Storybook/Cricut Machine) because children can color the letters and words as they read them! For example you can ask children to color: letters  basic sight words plurals word parts  color words How Pumpkins Grow by ______   (Cover) Plant a pumpkin seed in the ground. (Page one) (To make the book tactile, you can use real pumpkin seeds.) The seed grows into a sprout. (Page two) The sprout grows into a pumpkin vine. (Page three) A flower grows on the pumpkin plant. (Page four) A green pumpkin grows from the flower. (Page five) A green pumpkin grows bigger and turns orange. (Page six) Links to more pumpkin information: littlegiraffes everythingesl ehow pumpkinnook teachingheart Related posts:Leaf-Shaped Book and Autumn Activites Leaf-Shaped Book: First, I  cut out a leaf (Designer’s Calendar)... October Journal Cut out pumpkin and shadow pumpkin from Designer’s Calendar with... March 2011: Ideas for Every Day of the Month! March 2011 These calendars are designed to give you tons...

(cover) Things to ask children during the first reading: What do you think this book is going to be about? Can you point to the words in the title as I read them aloud to you? Do you think this book is going to be fact or fiction? Things to ask during the second reading: Can you color the word "orange" orange"? Can you color all of the "thes" blue? How many plural words can you find? Can you find a hard word? What is it? Why is it hard? Do two letters together make a different sound than they do when they are alone? (first page) (page 2) (page 3) (page 4) (page 5) (page 6) Related posts:Leaf-Shaped Book and Autumn Activites Leaf-Shaped Book: First, I  cut out a leaf (Designer’s Calendar)... Father’s Day is June 17, 2012 Homemade Gift Ideas for Father’s Day I have had many...

Homemade Gift Ideas for Father’s Day Happy Father’s Day! God bless the men who work hard day in and day out to support, love, and guide their children. I have had many friends panic around Father’s Day not knowing what to get Dad. I’ve done some research and below you’ll find my favorite sites for gift ideas for Dad. I’ve used some of these ideas in the past. Believe me when I say Dad and Grandpa LOVED them. Best of luck! Poems, Picture Prompts, Bookmarks, and more! Story Starters Resources for Teachers Free Printables Shape Books, Pop-up Cards, and Frames! Father’s Day Crafts 27 Father’s Day Activities Quick and Easy Gifts Enormous Amount of Father’s Day Ideas       No related posts.

February is Black History Month. We are going to make an African-American book. Below are the people we are going to study: Sarah Boone (inventor of the ironing board; received a patent in 1892) - About.com: Sarah Boone George Washington Carver (plant scientist who made great contributions to the field of agriculture chemistry) - Wikipedia: George Washington Carver Dr. Charles R. Drew (physician) - phillyBurbs: Charles Drew Shirley Chisholm (Congresswoman) Wikipedia: Shirley Chisholm Medgar Evers (civil rights leader) - Wikipedia: Medgar Evers Fanny Lou Hamer (civil rights leader) - Wikipedia: Fannie Lou Hamer Matthew Alexander Henson (explorer) - Enchanted Learning: Matthew Alexander Henson John W. Hunter (inventor of the portable weighing scale) - Evia L. Davis: African American Awareness for Young Children - John W. Hunter Dr. Mae Jemison (first African-American woman in space) - Wikipedia: Mae Jemison Henry Lincoln Johnson (distinguished soldier) - Wikipedia: Henry Lincoln Johnson Dr. Maulana Karenga (founder of Kwanzaa in 1966) - Wikipedia: Maulana Karenga Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (civil rights leader) - Wikipedia: Martin Luther King, Jr. Abraham Lincoln (16th President of the United States) - Wikipedia: Abraham Lincoln Elijah McCoy (inventor) - Wikipedia: Elijah McCoy Thurgood Marshall (Supreme Court justice) - Wikipedia: Thurgood Marshall Jan E. Matzeliger (Inventor of the shoe-lasting machine) - Inventors Assistance League: Jan Ernst Matzeliger Garrett Morgan (inventor; his inventions included the automatic stop sign and breathing masks used by firefighters) - Wikipedia: Garrett A. Morgan Lyda D. Newman (inventor the modern day hairbrush; received a patent on Nov. 15, 1898) - About.com: Lyda Newman President Barack Obama (44th President of the United States) - Wikipedia: Barack Obama Jesse Owens (athlete) - Wikipedia: Jesse Owens Rosa Parks (mother of the Civil Rights movement) - Wikipedia: Rosa Parks Jackie Robinson (athlete; in 1947, became the first African American to play for a Major League Baseball team) - Wikipedia: Jackie Robinson George T. Sampson (inventor of the clothes dryer) - Evia L. Davis: African American Awareness for Young Children - George T. Sampson James Monroe Trotter - Wikipedia: James Monroe Trotter Sojourner Truth - Biography Resource Center - Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman (abolitionist) - Wikipedia: Harriet Tubman Mme. C. J. Walker (businesswoman; invented a hair softener and straightening comb; became the first African-American female millionaire) - Wikipedia: Madam C.J. Walker Booker T. Washington (educator) - Wikipedia: Booker T. Washington Ida B. Wells - Wikipedia: Ida B. Wells Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (physician; first to perform open-heart surgery) - Wikipedia: Daniel Hale Williams Joseph Winters (inventor of the fire escape ladder; received a patent on May 7th, 1898) - Wikipedia: Joseph Winters Groups: Wikipedia: Little Rock Nine Wikipedia: Freedom Riders This is the timeline that we are using for our African-American unit: 1492: Christopher Columbus arrives in the Americas - Wikipedia: Christopher Columbus 1517: Spaniards bring first African slaves to West Indies sugar cane plantations -  Slavery in America: Sugar and Slavery - Molasses to Rum to Slaves 1619: First African slaves arrive in , a mid-Atlantic English colony - World Book: The Slave Trade in Colonial America (scroll halfway down) 1778: Writers of the U.S. Articles of Confederation compromise on slavery - Online Library of Liberty: Articles of Confederation 1778 (click "Hide TOC") 1793: Congress passes a law that makes it illegal to help escaping slaves - The FreeDictionary: Fugitive Slave Laws 1808: Slave trade becomes illegal - Wikipedia: Atlantic Slave Trade 1820: Missouri Compromise divides states into free and slave - Wikipedia: Missouri Compromise 1838: Underground Railroad is formally established - National Geographic Online: The Underground Railroad 1850: Fugitive Slave Law says that all persons must help catch escaped slaves - Wikipedia: Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin tells about the evils of slavery - Wikipedia: Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1857: Supreme Court rules that slaves are property, not people - Prentice-Hall: A Slave Sues for Freedom in 1857 1863: Emancipation Proclamation frees southern slaves - Wikipedia: Emancipation Proclamation 1866: Amendment 13 frees all slaves - Wikipedia: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Amendment 14 makes all slaves citizens - US Constitution Online: Amendment 14 1867: Amendment 15 gives ex-slaves the right to vote - Wikipedia: Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 1877: "Jim Crow" laws begin the segregation of black Americans from white - Wikipedia: Jim Crow laws 1896: Supreme Court "separate but equal" ruling declares segregation to be legal - Wikipedia: Separate but equal 1909: NAACP forms to protect black Americans from prejudice and violence - DealofDay.com: February 12, 1909, Founding of the NAACP 1915: Great Migration begins. Millions of black Americans leave the South and move north and west - University of Washington: The Great Migration - Number of Migrants 1920s: Harlem Renaissance takes place. Black arts and literature eloquently and proudly describe black life - Wikipedia: Harlem Renaissance 1929: Great Depression begins - Wikipedia: Great Depression 1941: Defense plants desegregate - Our Documents: Executive Order 9981 - Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948) 1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the "color barrier" - Wikipedia: Jackie Robinson 1948: Armed forces desegregate - Truman Library & Museum: Desegregation of the Armed Forces 1954: Supreme Court rules that segregation is unconstitutional - Wikipedia: Brown v. Board of Education 1955: Rosa Parks begins Civil Rights movement - Wikipedia: Rosa Parks 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 200,000 Americans in protest march to Washington DC - MLK Online: I Have a Dream - Address at March on Washington (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I have a dream speech," both audio and written) Martin Luther King, Jr. Great web sites: Kaboose: Martin Luther King Day 2009 The King Center Wikipedia: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Infoplease: Martin Luther King, Jr. 1964: Congress passes Civil Rights Act - Wikipedia: Civil Rights Act of 1964 1965: Voting Act passed - Wikipedia: Voting Rights Act of 1965 1970s: African Americans work to turn the promise of the law into reality. 2009: Barack Obama becomes America’s first African-American president. NOTE TO PARENTS: There is a commercial before this video (the one I watched was from Victoria’s Secret. You may want to screen the commercial, but it is a great video!) - CNN Election Center 2008: Obama - ‘This is your victory’ African-American Web sites for kids: Kaboose: Black History for Kids - Educational Activities, Games, Coloring Pages, Trivia KET’s Underground Railroad: Kentucky Historical Timeline PBS Kids: African-American World for Kids - Find the Face Walter L Sargent, University of Minnesota: The Sixties - Civil Rights, The Great Society, Vietnam Related posts:September Calendars and Links You’ll Love September calendars: This site offers many September celebrations with great... September Story Starters I met a new friend this year at school! This...

Whether or not child gets bored this summer, I hope these ideas help! How many different ways can you find to make homemade ice cream? What is your favorite? Can you make it with the help of an adult? Here is  an easy one.  ice-cream-in-a-bag If you could do anything you wanted this summer what would it be? Write a letter to your parents/guardian explaining why you should be able to do this. Your letter may be funny, silly, or it may actually work! What is graduation?  Have you ever known anyone who has graduated? Have you ever graduated yourself? Describe the experience. What is summer solstice? Write a story about the summer solstice to share with someone who doesn’t know what it is. List ten facts you know about summer. My favorite teacher last year was __ because he/she… Write a list called, "How to Have a Super Summer" to yourself. Write a "snail mail" letter to an older relative or friend. You will make them happy. What does June really mean? Where does it get its name? June is "Adopt A Shelter Cat Month".  Think and write about any of the following questions. How many types of cats are there? Are there other types of cats other than the house cat? What do you feed cats? Besides feeding a cat, what else do you need to do to take care of it? What words rhyme with cat? Write a poem about a cat.     No related posts.

My passion is teaching children to read and write. I wanted to share some sites that will help you find the perfect books for your children, no matter what their age. Teachers first 100 books Oprah’s reading list for kids Common sense media book lists Scholastic 100 books USA Today 2012-02-14 100 greatest books for- kids School library journal top 100 children’s novels   No related posts.

But apparently this is a quiet ride on Japan Rail. Apparently for it to be crowded you have to have at least 7 people making contact with you. I have to say I love the trains here. There are so many reasons for example they have trains, the trains work (thats when you have them), They are on time (refer to last bracket as a disclaimer), they are regular (every couple of minutes on main routes) and they are quite cheap. Well had the first sessions today - Some people liked it and some where less than happy, this is what you get. However, I am revising tomorrows plan based on today and we will see where we end up. Tomorrow is: Learning styles and tools continued - this is the play and report sessions Problem based learning leading into 1 class session development sessions Assessment leading onto formative assessment and rubric development Should be fun.

This week has been quite amazing. Japan is a great place and one I hope to come and visit again. As a consultant, this has been an amazing experience. The organisation and logistics have been brilliant.  I have been look after exceptionally well and felt welcomed by the school leadership and the majority of the staff. I love Helen Barrett’s work on e-portfolios and the reflection cycle  - Select, Describe, Analyse, Evaluate and Transform is great. For some staff I posed a challenge, not on a personal level I suspect, rather because I was preaching change. One of the first sessions I ran was "engage, motivate and learn". This is the keynote I did at the whiteboard conference. After the session a couple of staff said to me this was great, appropriate and timely. But I had a long discussion with a couple of staff who said that they had heard all this before and they did not know why  I was repeating material they had already heard. They also went further to try and find some point in what was said that inaccurate, and from there to dismiss the whole concept. I must stress at this point this was 2 out of 60+ staff. What was interesting with this was change management. the status quo is comfortable and stable, even if its not perfect. Change is uncomfortable and challenging. It requires you to move from the point of stasis you have been in. If this is a deep set point this process is painful, it does cause pain. Avoiding pain is one of the most engrained and innate behaviours we have. So it does not suprize me that they were trying to avoid changing. This is deep seated reluctance, while understandable on one level, is vastly disappointing. The two teachers involved are, if they allow themselves to change, potential stars. They can, if they shift their pedagogy, make an incredible influence on there students, an influence that will not stop at the end of the year when the examinations are done and dusted. But a influence that is permanent. The other change that I see many facing is also a degree of inertia from the students to. Its simple to walk into a classroom and be spoon feed the answer - to sit and take notes, to remember and understand. This is comfortable, its easy and its simple. To walk into a classroom and be challenge, to have to look critically and evaluatively at your beliefs and assumptions is hard. To learn by constructing your knowledge and understand is harder than having it given to you to repeat verbatum. Again I add a caveat, this is a general statement not a specific critique of the school. Indeed I can see example of this in every school, my own included. But the Benefits, the benefits of constructivist approaches to learning, to project and problem based learning are huge. And in the end we are here as teachers for our students. We don’t go into teaching for the money.We become teachers because we have a passion for teaching our young people.