tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62448139078348600042024-03-13T05:34:57.073-05:00 Mrs. Nation's Educational HubMrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-16954717388839162902014-08-14T22:31:00.001-05:002014-08-14T22:32:36.580-05:00First Day of School<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong>Tomorrow, August 15th is our first day of the new school year. I am so excited and "pumped" about the students coming. The classroom has had a make-over and is ready for them. On this first day we have a few "usual procedures" to manage in the morning. At 10:45 the students will begin a Math Scavenger Hunt inside the school and outside (playground). Each item to be found or solved is directly related to a Common Core Learning Standard. I plan to use this as a Pre-Test of sorts to help guide my instruction. In March or April we will have the same scavenger hunt as a post-test to help determine growth. </strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong><br /></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong>In the afternoon we will be working on a few writing activities and sharing our illustrations from the summer. </strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong><br /></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong>Year long hint for success...be prepared to write, write and write some more. 3rd Grade is a hallmark year. It's very important to strive for excellence and have stamina in all we do.</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong><br /></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><strong>See you soon!</strong></span>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-46822977418022914752014-08-12T03:45:00.000-05:002014-08-12T03:45:49.115-05:00A Shift in Direction<span style="color: #351c75;">It seems my trend of updating my blog is a yearly event. Once school begins each year and life takes hold of my brains cells, not much time or energy is left to blogging. I created this blog to be a place where people could readily find educational news and popular concepts. </span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;">I'm changing my direction to chronicle my new position at our school. In the past two years I have been our District's Reading Specialist and Interventionist. Due to budget concerns and a possible consolidation with another school district next year, our School Board shifted me back into the classroom. The 3rd Grade classroom.</span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;">At first I was overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings about the change. It took me about three days to get my mind wrapped around it and then I was off to planning and getting inspired. The classroom I moved into was once occupied by a wonderful, top-notch teacher. The expectation is already high for me from the start.</span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;">So, with that being said, I plan to use this blog for more than just educational news and trends. It's for my students and their families to get information about our class, assignments, projects and important information.</span> Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-37941585256970946782013-07-07T12:31:00.002-05:002013-07-07T12:31:50.983-05:00Reading to be be inspired and to self- educate about new changes.Last summer I read a few books about different reading strategies and books on leadership. This summer brings a professional need to educate myself about the new teacher evaluation system and brain research. <br />
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Charlotte Danielson has written multiple books about best practices of exemplary teaching. In our state of Illinois, evaluations are widely based on her research and models. We have known for a few years that these changes in our evaluation system were going to take place. I remember a few years ago a Superintendent and myself attempted to discuss this with fellow educators. They dismissed this as not important. I sure hope they are taking notice now! Their jobs depend on it!<br />
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Below is one of Danielson's books I downloaded to my Kindle. I hope to start reading it soon.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Implementing-Framework-Enhancing-Professional-Development/dp/1416609199/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373215739&sr=1-5&keywords=charlotte+danielson"><img alt="" class="productImage" src="http://1.1.1.5/bmi/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51c5sGJnkbL._AA160_.jpg" title="Product Details ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page." /></a><br />
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In addition to Danielson I've also been inspired to revisit the research of Robert Marzano and his team. His website has been recently revised, <span style="color: #388222;"><a href="http://www.marzanoresearch.com/site">www.<strong>marzano</strong>research.com/site</a></span>. On his website anyone can sign up for the newsletter and weekly emails. I personally enjoy reading and learning more about research that can help my students and colleagues. Stay tuned for more on this.<br />
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Lastly, our 3rd Grade teacher has been motivated to use "The Daily Five" in her classroom this year. I'm looking forward to using it within other classrooms also. I found my copies on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">www.amazon.com</a>. Paperback and Kindle version...I got both! ha Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-82895433187785897862013-06-09T06:46:00.002-05:002013-06-09T06:46:21.435-05:00It's been nearly a year!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I updated my blog. Life threw me several curve balls in the past 11 months and my priorities shifted a bit. Last May I was hired to be a Reading Teacher and Instructional Coach in a new district. Instead of a classroom I have an office. Wow, what a switch! We had two major health scares and now a new baby on the way! So, it's been a busy time. Hopefully I can get back to posting helpful and inspirational tips to all of you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The teacher blog world has exploded and become so wonderful. I feel like a dinosaur in this realm. I will meet it's challenges and be bringing you more cool stuff.</span>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-68618364146158999632012-07-23T12:19:00.001-05:002012-07-23T12:22:53.486-05:00Laugh of the Day Activity- Common Core<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In our 6<sup>th</sup> Grade
Reading Class we will share in a minute or two of laughter with a “ Laugh of
the Day”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every child will have the
opportunity to read or share their weekly jokes to the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same child is responsible for being the “Comdedian” all week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will have a rotating
schedule to help keep us on track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>5
jokes should be submitted by the student 1 week before their spot in the
rotation and approved by the teacher.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jokes must be pure, age appropriate and non -discriminatory towards
individuals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We will keep these jokes and
publish them at the end of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joke
books and websites will be available for students as resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">6<sup>th</sup> grade Common Core
Standards: RI.6.5 & 7, W.6.4,8,10<o:p></o:p></span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-26217745534393242532012-07-23T12:09:00.002-05:002012-07-23T12:09:28.194-05:00Team Teaching improves learning?Does Team Teaching really improve learning? You bet it does. Not only is Team Teaching a proven teaching strategy it also helps teachers to learn to work together for a common purpose. It goes without saying that a team can be hard to be apart of if there is a kink in the process. Excellent collegue leadership and in-tuned Administration are a plus. <br />
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While reading <u>Leaders of Learning</u> by Richard DuFour I found the 4 P's of success in people working together for student and school achievement.<br />
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<em>" Success doesn't just happen. It's the result of 4 P's, Planning, Preparation, Performance and Perseverence."</em><br />
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Food for thought.Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-27670699119622322982012-07-23T11:57:00.001-05:002012-07-23T11:57:10.346-05:005 Princples of RtIWhen planning and preparing for your year of RtI requirements there are five ideas to keep in mind.<br />
<ul>
<li><strong><u>"All children can learn!"</u></strong> Even if it's the simplest concept no matter what age they are.</li>
<li><strong><u>"Quality assessment informs instructional practices."</u></strong> Purposeful assessment(s) should be the compass of your instruction. </li>
<li><u><strong>"Quality teaching makes a difference. </strong></u>" It's a no-brainer that children need to have teachers and leaders who are knowledgeable about pedagogy and how to best teach/reach students. For a few years I have said that a "warm body and a teaching certificate doesn't qualify them to teach children in our classrooms". I have been a witness to teachers who got their jobs for who they are in a community rather than their abilities. Sometimes the teacher employment process can be an unfair one... grr, I digress! Please see some of my other posts for further opinionations on "quality teachers". :)</li>
<li><strong><u>"Positive relationships within the classroom maximize learning."</u></strong></li>
<li><strong><u>"Educators must work as a team."</u></strong> </li>
</ul>
These principles are from a book I read this summer.<br />
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<u>RTI SUCCESS, Proven Tools and Strategies for Schools and Classrooms</u>. Written by Patricia Whitten, Kelli Esteves and Alice Woodrow, ISBN: 13-978-1-57542-320-3.Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-79839568098100255652012-06-27T06:53:00.002-05:002012-06-27T06:53:25.335-05:00Summer Reading for EducationMost teachers I know try to read for enjoyment in the summer as an escape from our busy and stressful school year. Then there are a few of us-geeks who enjoy reading about our profession and building our knowledge base. So for those of you geeks who are looking for a book about how to improve schools I would "lightly" suggest the book<u> Leverage Leadership: Building Exceptional</u> <u>Schools</u>. I have been reading it on my kindle. The target audience for this book is Administration, Superintendents, Principals and some lead teachers. It discusses the steps and attitudes people in leadership should have in order to lead effectively. The book uses real life experiences of Superintendents whose schools are not meeting the state requirements, meaning AYP. It walks you through some great concepts, ideas to try and helpful research to consider. It can get a bit boring and dry in some areas. I am about 50% through it and finding myself skimming and scanning through some parts of the book. Have a great summer!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OvLalC58RXg/T-r0E5zU6SI/AAAAAAAAAKw/cR4BpjNdRa8/s1600/51atAsiMjwL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA115_%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OvLalC58RXg/T-r0E5zU6SI/AAAAAAAAAKw/cR4BpjNdRa8/s1600/51atAsiMjwL._SL160_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-dp,TopRight,12,-18_SH30_OU01_AA115_%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-44891353866490701912012-06-15T07:01:00.002-05:002012-06-15T07:04:30.365-05:00Driven SchoolsOne of the many keys to a successful school is having teachers who are providing quality instruction. In our profession a teacher who teaches strictly from a "manual" will not provide students with the tools to be successful. An administration that allows teachers to remain in their comfort zones of teacher manuals and workbook pages and myriad of worksheets is also setting children and teachers up for failure. <strong> Children do not learn from filling out worksheets! It's boring and has little value to the learning process!!! </strong> That old practice is not applicable in our fast moving, high-tech and otherwise progressive society. I've heard teachers and even school board members start complaining about modern education with this sentence..."When I was in school....." Guess what? There is a reason our society and country have not been able to keep up with the world of academic progress. It's a challenge to find solid teachers who are able to connect with children in a way that will help them to achieve in school and in life. <br />
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Another adage: "There's more than one way to crack a nut". Teachers who only teach or provide information in one way are providing a disadvantage rather than a successful opportunity for children to grow. So...get cracking and be an awesome teacher.<br />
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Over to the right side of this blog I have added some links to help you validate or find researched based lessons and activities.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFPUkUkpU-g/T9sjOlXxo2I/AAAAAAAAAKk/8B6PwiOceY0/s1600/th%5B9%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFPUkUkpU-g/T9sjOlXxo2I/AAAAAAAAAKk/8B6PwiOceY0/s200/th%5B9%5D.jpg" width="169" /></a></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-55020338472782980982012-06-14T22:04:00.000-05:002012-06-14T22:04:53.122-05:00Moving in day.Today I officially moved into my new school and into my new path in education. This afternoon when I pulled into the parking lot, car loaded with all my teacher stuff and my son, I saw our school's marquee. Below is a picture of it. What a wonderful way to start a new school year! Thank you God for answered prayers!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iqe38nmf1hU/T9qlk4atL6I/AAAAAAAAAKY/Hl-Ss1hW1JI/s1600/IMG-20120614-00055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iqe38nmf1hU/T9qlk4atL6I/AAAAAAAAAKY/Hl-Ss1hW1JI/s320/IMG-20120614-00055.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-90338695102169543832012-06-03T17:05:00.002-05:002012-06-03T17:42:10.111-05:00The Book Whisperer by Donalyn MillerThis week I am reading The Book Whisperer. It is helpful and insightful book for any teacher or parent to have in their "tool-box". It has inspired me for the up-coming school year. It is a reminder of the need to promote passionate reading and to instill in our youth the fun and failures of reading. I found my copy at amazon.com. I highly suggest it.<br />
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Donalyn Miller has a blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1970104.Donalyn_Miller/blog">http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1970104.Donalyn_Miller/blog</a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Jeb4aQqzdE/T8vfp72ljGI/AAAAAAAAAJI/JvD1mXozQJE/s1600/519lHx-UOzL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Jeb4aQqzdE/T8vfp72ljGI/AAAAAAAAAJI/JvD1mXozQJE/s200/519lHx-UOzL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_%5B1%5D.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-74749860764180177622012-06-01T16:31:00.000-05:002012-06-01T16:31:30.424-05:00Rebecca Goes RetroI am soooo excited about my latest venture. I am setting up an online store to sell vintage and otherwise known as Retro clothing and other items. It will be on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/">www.etsy.com</a> soon. Check back later to shop my store. :)Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-89880746642696170272012-05-22T17:00:00.001-05:002012-05-22T17:03:45.007-05:00Hello Hornets!I am pleased to announce I have found my "dream" job of being a Reading Teacher, Co-Teacher and Title Teacher. I met the staff today and they are awesome. You can tell that they are thoughtful, dedicated and like-minded people who are in teaching for all the right reasons. They are funny and have a sense of humor! They care about kids and will do "whatever" it takes to help children be successful. They work very well together and collaborate as a "Team". I'm ready to work for a school that works with the "team-mentality".<br />
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The School Board is also a wonderful bunch of community members who share the same goals about "doing what's best for kids". They have a great sense of humor and high standards for quality and effective teaching. I appreciate that! I am so blessed!Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-12393941493357661972012-05-14T07:00:00.000-05:002012-05-14T07:00:44.377-05:00Research Based Best PracticesI've had a few friends ask me how to know if their teaching methods are "Researched Based". I found this article that maybe helpful. Good for you if you are one of the educators who wish to provide the very best for your children. With the changing tides in education and more required of teachers, it can be overwhelming to get it all organized and implement the quality education you strive for. I will continue to look for more resources.<br />
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<a href="http://www.primary-education-oasis.com/best-teaching-practices.html" target="_blank">Research/ Evidence Based Practices</a>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-52411966255193956572012-05-09T15:13:00.002-05:002012-05-09T15:15:12.210-05:00Teacher Team Work- Cute Story I found to inspire you.<strong><em><span style="background-color: #99ff33; font-size: medium;">The
Story of the Geese,</span><span style="font-size: small;"> a lesson for all of us
flapping and honking through life to make a
difference.</span></em></strong><span style="font-size: small;">Lesson 1: The flapping of each
bird’s wings creates uplift for the geese that follow. By flying in a V
formation, the entire flock has a 71% greater flying range than if each bird
flew alone.</span><br />
<i style="background-color: #ffffcc;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">If we share in a common direction and sense of community, our going may
be quicker and easier because we are traveling on one another’s
thrust.</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Lesson 2: Should a goose fall out of the
V formation, he will suddenly feel the resistance and the drag of flying alone.
If you keep watching, you will see him get back into the V formation, to take
full advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in
front.</span><br />
<i style="background-color: #ffffcc;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
we have as much sense as the goose, we will keep in formation with those who
share our vision, who are headed where we want to go. We will be willing to
accept their help, and give our own help to others.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Lesson 3: When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back into the
formation and a new, fresh goose flies in the lead position. <br /><i style="background-color: #ffffcc;">As with the geese, we are
interdependent upon one another.</i></span><i style="background-color: #ffffcc;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">It is helpful to
take turns at the hard tasks and share the burdens of
leadership.</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Lesson 4: The geese aren’t honking
without cause. They honk, honk, honk up to the lead goose to congratulate him
for flying fast and strong.</span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: #ffffcc; font-size: small;">We need to make certain that
all of our honking is encouraging and never something
else.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Lesson 5: If a goose gets ill or injured
during flight and descends to the earth, another goose will follow. He will
remain with the fallen bird until it is well again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">If we
have as much heart as a goose, we will stand by each other in difficult times as
well as when we are strong. <br /><i><span style="background-color: #00ff33;">As educators, we will fly down and help
our children soar to the learning sky.</span></i></span><i><br style="background-color: #00ff33;" /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #00ff33;">To be an educator is to carry the energy
of the journey of life and to find ways to help children learn to their
potential.</span></span><br style="background-color: #00ff33;" /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #00ff33;">Remember, you can do this.
</span></span><br style="background-color: #00ff33;" /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #00ff33;">You can do anything.</span></span></i>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.ganderpublishing.com/About-Gander-Publishing.html</span></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-79483615431389482042012-05-09T08:37:00.000-05:002012-05-09T08:43:05.986-05:00Helpful RtI WebsitesFellow Teachers, I have come across some websites that can be helpful and informative for you and your staff when working towards fine tuning your RtI aproaches. <br />
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<a href="http://www.rti4success.org/" target="_blank">http://www.rti4success.org/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.florida-rti.org/" target="_blank">http://www.florida-rti.org/</a><br />
<br />Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-86054205813717168212012-05-09T08:33:00.001-05:002012-05-09T08:33:12.564-05:00Marshmallow MathIn March and April we used marshmallows to help learn about angles, vertices and sides. We also use the marshmallows along with toothpicks and fruit loop cereal to discover and practice the 100's, 10"s and 1's column. It was a lot of fun.<br />
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Angles, shapes and vertices</div>
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100's, 10's, 1's place value and writing </div>
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numbers in expanded form</div>
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<br /></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-77959495959646716812012-03-18T11:34:00.002-05:002012-03-18T11:34:22.974-05:00Autism Awareness is in April<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As some of you know I have a special place in my heart for Autism. April is a month that the wonders and curiosity of Autsim is talked about more in the media. Here a link to learn more or to donate for research. <a href="http://www.autism-society.org/about-us/national-autism-awareness-month/" target="_blank">http://www.autism-society.org/about-us/national-autism-awareness-month/</a></span>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-2292488238167754562012-03-18T11:29:00.000-05:002012-03-18T11:37:03.081-05:00Butterflies and Chickens! Which came first, the egg?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the time of year when our classroom has an influx of wildlife. Every year we watch the butterfly cycle from caterpillar to adult butterfly. We've already read many stories about this so the children will be excited to see it come to life inside our butterfly cage. I ordered the caterpillars online and they should be at school soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chicks, chicks and more chicks. We will also start our Egg to Chicken experiment. A local mom and grandma donate eggs and the incubator for our kiddos to start the 21 day journey.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two activities are a great way to discuss our Earth and Conservation. I love this time of year</span>.<br />
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Butterflies were ordered from <a href="http://www.insectlore.com/" target="_blank">www.insectlore.com</a> .Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-54775304875806940482012-03-11T09:43:00.000-05:002012-03-11T09:46:09.362-05:00Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Alas we have come to the time of year when I bring out the popular story "Who Took The Cookie From The Cookie Jar". Spring is around the corner and animals are coming out of hibernation. The story has many. This cute story has so many opportunities for Math and Science teachable moments as well as all the Language Arts aspects as well. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6xB4KLtBo4/T1yqQXWgJBI/AAAAAAAAAHw/lvFzXegF2_8/s1600/DSC01933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6xB4KLtBo4/T1yqQXWgJBI/AAAAAAAAAHw/lvFzXegF2_8/s200/DSC01933.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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We will use the poem to discuss sentence conventions and structure. The rhythmic pattern of the poem is perfect for emergent readers. We know that memorization is a building block to fluent readers some day. <br />
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I have a large cookie model I made from canvas. We will use this for our vocabulary words and math activities this week. Educational researchers tell us that children's brains best remember and learn when we give them a visual way to compartmentalize the information. Simply by displaying and interacting with manipulatives on the cookie will help them to make the needed connections of the concepts we teach.<br />
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Monday: I will start the lesson by placing pictures of all the characters from the story in front of the children; a raccoon, snake, beaver, frog and ants. Next I will show them the front cover of the book and read the title. Then each child will get to make a prediction using tally marks (math integration) of the animal they think took the cookies. We will "picture walk" the story and then read the story. This lesson will be a spring board for the week's lessons of sequencing and comprehension as well as sight word and rhyme word reading. I'm looking forward to it. At the end of the week we will make some cookies...healthy..gluten free, whole wheat..of course! :) .Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-35228867696799802202012-02-23T23:41:00.000-06:002012-03-11T05:38:48.821-05:00Dr. Seuss WeekDr. Seuss' Week was a lot of fun. We had a week in honor of this author and illustrator. I will share the week with you through pictures and daily descriptions. I have also found great websites for parents and teachers. I may even create a separate section on this blog devoted to Theodore Geisel.<br />
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Monday: We read Hop on Pop. The kids used this book to discuss rhyming words. Teachers and parents all know the importance of learning to rhyme. It helps us to be better readers. The students made a list of rhyme words they heard from the book. Next we played a game with the rhyme words. <br />
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Tuesday: We had a lot of fun today. We watched Cat in the Hat short film and then read the book. We compared an contrasted the two while I read the story. The kids would put a thumbs up if the book and film matched and thumbs down if it didn't. We practiced -at words and wrote a summary of the book. I will post the pictures of this at the end of the week.<br />
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Wednesday We read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". We discussed how Dr. Seuss uses nonsense words and rhymes to write his stories. We are writing our own story called 'There's a Wazoom in our Classroom. Each child has a page that reads " There's a _______ running around the _______". each student chooses a object from the classroom. We find a fun rhyme, non sense word to match it. Next we filled in the blanks. Example: There's a Lobe running on the globe. Each child will illustrate their fictional character. After P.E they will make a model of their character with some art supplies I need to use up. It should be a lot of fun. Our booklet is hanging in our hall for everyone to read. It's really cute.<br />
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Thursday: Today we read Yertle the Turtle. We discussed what the "Main Idea" was. We decided that Yertle was "greedy". We participated in a cloze activity to practice our high fequency words. It read, "We learned to not be greedy from Yertle the Turtle. Being greedy means to only think of yourself. In the end, all Yertle had left was mud. Next we made paper plate turtles. Once the glue dries we will stack them to see how many it takes for them to fall. Today was fun.<br />
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Friday: To wrap -up our week we read Green Eggs and Ham. We also had a field trip to the local library where they had a speical reading hour. The libraroan read many of Dr. Seuss' books as well as gave us a little history about ed Giesel's life. A very creative mom sent a Green Eggs and Ham snack for us to enjoy. Two pretzel sticks (ham) with green modeling chocolate and a yellow M&M on top. It was cute!Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-61431108477889837012012-02-15T23:38:00.001-06:002012-02-23T23:43:38.138-06:00Sentence Starter Idea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our classroom is ever-evolving and at many different rediness abilities. Some students are still working on letter recognition and letter sounds. Some students are ready for complex reading opportunities and writing skills development. While at a local "dollar" store I found blank, connected party flags. I bought them not knowing what I would do with them. Then one night it occured to me to use them as simple sentence starters. First I cut them in 3 flag sections. On each flag I wrote one sight word. For example: I like the, They saw a, and They like to. The flags are hanging on a clothes line we have hanging from our ceiling. As I model a sentence or help the children write their own we refer to the choices the student has. It has worked great for our "Word and Letter" center. At present time I am having trouble uploading pictures of this. Our home internet speed isn't the greatest. I hope to get the pictures of these sentence flags posted soon.Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-81264606728551665752012-02-15T23:21:00.002-06:002012-02-18T21:04:53.307-06:00Eric Carle WeekThis week we have spotlighted one of my favorite author/ illustrators, Eric Carle. Usually I save this unit of fun and learning for March, but I was ready to dive into the wealth of learning possibilities all of his books has to offer. In fact I may stretch it into next week's math lessons just to help our concepts of counting, measuring and graphing. <br />
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Monday we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We focused on the life cycle process and sequencing the story. We made these cute caterpillar chains. Each link of the chain has a picture and label of each phase of the cycle. We also watched the animated version I have on DVD of the story. <br />
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Tuesday we read "The Very Grouchy Ladybug". If you're not familiar with the story, each page has a small clock and the story follows a time line. We used this book to double-up on our math concepts through making "grouchy clocks". First we colored both sides of a paper plate. Next we glued a clock face page I found in my file of "what-nots" onto the paper plate. Using brads and two paper arrows we fasend the minute and hour hands to the plate. Children cut black circles from construction paper to decorate the back of the clock. They were placed in a center for easy access. We need student clocks in our classroom. Since money is scarce we have made our own for the remainder of the year.</div>
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Wednesday (today) we read all three bear books; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Panda Bear, Panda Bear. Using compare and contrast skills we focused on Brown Bear and Panda Bear. Next we listened to Polar Bear on Cd and youtube.com. Lastly, each child wrote their own page of a story in the same style as these three books. Example, Mrs. Nation, Mrs Nation What did you see? I saw a Robin Bird looking at me. The children then drew a detailed picture of the animal they chose.</div>
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Thursday and Friday I have similar projects planned through the books "The Greedy Python, The Foolish Tortoise and The Very Busy Spider"</div>
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Eric Carle's Website:<a href="http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html">www.eric-carle.com/home.html</a></div>
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Khol's stores are selling a few of Carle's books and plush toys for only $5.00 right now. What a deal!</div>
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<br /></div>Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-55213891556411239362012-02-15T22:36:00.000-06:002012-02-15T23:21:43.365-06:00Happy Valentine's Day! This month our class along with many other K-2 classrooms participated in a Valentine's Exchange. We sent 10 classrooms "love bug valentines" to connect and network with other children across our nation. We met (through the exchange) seven classes who were not all that different from our class. It was a lot of fun.Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244813907834860004.post-45240003017592623812012-01-15T09:38:00.001-06:002012-01-16T19:43:53.662-06:00Kaleidoscope WorkshopMy earlier post did not display very well. I was updating it from my Kindle Fire. For two days I attended many workshops that have inspired me and awakened the creative side of me. Last night, while watching the Broncos vs. Patriots game, I worked on three new "Word Wall" bulletin boards and activities. Also I have decided to make some small changes our daily schedule to make room and "time" for more Writing and Math opportunities.
Last week a new "work station" was introduced. It's our Word and Letter station. It has a basket of flash cards, rubber letter stamps, letter blocks, paper and pencils. It's a way to encourage more writing and less picture making during this block of instruction time. Have no worries, the children have plenty of time for free and creative doodle and picture making.
Lastly, I heard of a great new way to set-up a behavior chart and manage classroom behavior. At present we have a chart of Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. Everyone has a wooden star with their name. Each day the child begins on "blue". We say that "our stars are in the sky". If poor behavior persists after warnings are given then a child can "drop their star".
This "new" idea has another direction for children to go for good behavior ...Off Into Space. Any child can move their star up for helping others, being kind and/or modeling respectful behavior. It is a more positive and proactive way of helping children make good choices in the classroom.Mrs.Nationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05156619318600065000noreply@blogger.com0