Monday, December 31, 2012

Book Adventure

Book Adventure is a fun, free way to motivate youngsters to read! 
Children in Kindergarten through 8th grade can search for books, read
them offline, come back to quiz on what they’ve read.  Likewise,

they can earn prizes for their reading success. 

http://www.bookadventure.com/Home.aspx

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Excellent Children's Books

A new audience is born every year.......how wonderful!  We cannot miss if looking for the latest wonderful literature to share with our children or with our pupils.  

http://royaloak.patch.com/articles/the-12-best-childrens-books-of-2012-0c4b9c47

Saturday, December 22, 2012

2013 ISAT & Common Core Math Skill Set




Your guide for merging the ISAT Mathematics skills with The Common Core Standards (grades three through eight):

http://www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/2013/isat/roadmap-math-13.pdf

English-Language Arts Skills

Your roadmap for the merging of ISAT skills in English-Language Arts with The Common Core (grades three to eight):

http://www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/2013/isat/roadmap-ela-13.pdf

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Practice Makes Perfect

Let's get creative with the ways to master sight words.  Having fun and changing the way you approach the process will make a real difference for children who are learning them.  Give it a try so that reading fluency and good comprehension skills are the happy result!

http://www.readingresource.net/support-files/spellingpractice.pdf

FLASHCARDS for Tricky Sight Words

There are 38 high frequency words that kids simply cannot decode (or sound out)  They must be learned by sight.  Click below to access flashcards that will help youngsters begin to master them.
 
http://www.readingresource.net/support-files/sightwords.pdf

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Adults: Facebook/Twitter "Know-How"

These guides helpful; I'm eager to share them with the professionals and families I serve.  Digital citizenship is a part of educating our young people.

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/09/what-parents-must-know-about-facebook.html

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Reading Fun at PBS? Yes!



Between the Lions


GAME
DIFFICULTY
SKILL
NOTES
“The Quiet Machine”
Matching letters to pictures
*beginning sounds
Phonemic awareness
Leona’s
Coloring Pages
Reading and writing
*beginning reader activity
Printable
book
“The Messy Attic”
Picture identification
*listen, then follow directions
Pre- reading skill
“Arty’s Smarty Doors”
Rhymes
*rhyming words
Pre-reading skill
“Dub Cubs”
Rhyming words
*word families
Reading skill
“Hopposites”
Opposites
*words with opposite meanings
Reading skill
“Sky Writing”
Letter recognition
*varying styles of the same letter
Reading skill
“Monkey Match”
Match
*letters, sounds, rhymes
Reading skill
“Theo’s Puzzles”
Letter recognition
*consonant puzzles
Puzzles & a video
“Trampolini Game”
Word meanings
*inflectional endings ‘er, ‘est
Reading skill

“Blending Bowl”
Match blends
with endings
*-ack, -an, -ap, -ar, -est, -ick,
-ig, -ip, -it, -ock, -op, -up, -uck
matched up with beginning blends
good for partners
“Synonym
Sam’s Lab”
Choose
synonyms
*this game is self-checking
good for partners
“ABCD
Watermelon”
identify missing letters
*alphabet
recognition

Pre-reading skill
“Alphabet
Soup”
unscramble letters
*reader uses given
letters to find a solution

101 riddles
“Chicken
Stacker”
phonemic awareness
*listen and read words with the
same short vowel sound

Five sets words
“Flood”
categories
*listen and read book titles
Hints given
“Fuzzy Lion
Ears”
phonemic awareness
*letter sounds
beginning/middle/ending

Six rounds

“Word Play”

good for partners
*read words and then
 “click” to see the action
25 words:
three sets

“Talking Gizmo”
recognize parts
of a sentence
*readers experiment
with sentences and word order
J good for partners
“Pounce”
word matching
*listen, then choose a word
Reading skill
More
Literature
Pre-K through
fifth graders
Kids can listen and read along with stories.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Let's Talk

Keep the conversation going is essential.  Specifically---members of the school community owe it to parents to discuss openly & often any and all concerns they mutually feel are important.  Don't  hesitate to contact Parkside teachers or administrators.  Student success is our business.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Working_Schools/

Monday, September 3, 2012

The 2012 Global Readaloud

 Books are powerful things & kids deserve knowing they're connected to others. 
 Can you take part in this project?  I hope we'll embrace it at Parkside in October.
 Complete details follow:

http://www.globalreadaloud.com/

Repeated Reading Story for October

Young readers benefit from reading text that's repeated.  One excellent, free printable comes from Kathy Law (below) who blogs on "First Grade Alacarte."   You can also follow her on Pinterest.   

http://firstgradealacarte.blogspot.com/2011/10/orange-pumpkin-orange-pumpkin.html

Sunday, September 2, 2012

2012-13 DIBELS Next Reading Benchmarks

Parkside pupils are evaluated using goals from the University of Oregon.  There have been recent increases in state and federal standards calling for stronger literacy skills that yield higher-level comprehension processes.  Kindergarten through grade six goals: 


https://dibels.uoregon.edu/docs/DIBELSNextRecommendedBenchmarkGoals.pdf

Sunday, August 26, 2012

ROE #12

Contact the Regional Office of Education for information related to professional development,
certification, and so much more.  Have a question?  They have the answer: 

http://www.roe12.net/Educational_Links.html

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Can't Wait For the First Day!

Tomorrow's number 32.....it's the thirty-second time I CELEBRATE my first day of
school. How can that be?  Easy- for 32 years I've had the honor to welcoming children
into the classroom.  Makes me feel like dancing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy1RW2Atigc

Saturday, August 11, 2012

K-12 Hands On Science Experiments

  The  Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has you covered
  with a database of experiments (across 12 categories) designed to
  get your customers excited about science.  Step-by-step instructions,
  materials, and vocabulary are all printable.  There's also a variety of
  videos and activities for youngsters of all ages.

http://www.msichicago.org/education/educator-resources/classroom-activities

Saturday, July 28, 2012

YES.....Follow Maggie Cary!

"Classroom Talk" is for us all as thinkers, parents, educators, or mentors.  We can follow Maggie on Face Book and Twitter too.  

http://classroomtalk.com/

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Monday, July 16, 2012

"Listen & Read" Stories

These nonfiction tales are from Scholastic.  Level "A" stories have three comprehension questions; level "B" selections review key vocabulary words from the story.  The collection is divided into eight categories: social studies, science, plants and flowers, environmental stories, civics and government, animals, American history, and community.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/index.htm

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Parkside's 2012-2013 School-Wide Plan

Also available on Parkside Elementary School's link via the CUSD 20 website found at http://www.cusd20.com the School-Wide Title 1 Plan is here for you to review. Thanks in advance for letting others know about this information.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/86304153/Schoolwide%20Reform%20Strategies%20ADDITIONAL%20NINE%20COMPONENTS%202012-13.docx

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The JUNE Issue of "Word Up"

Discover AdLit.org; it's designed to inform us about literacy issues for youngsters in grade four through high school.   Follow it on Twitter, Facebook, get updates to videos on You Tube, or the monthly newsletter. 

http://www.adlit.org/newsletters/word_up_current_issue/?utm_source=Convio&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=WordUp

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Try Dropbox

"Simplify Your Life," they say on the site.  It works for me!  It's free folks..........   

https://www.dropbox.com/

Monday, June 11, 2012

Inspiration & "The Principal of Change"

 Educator George Couros reminded me of the many gifts in this world.  You can follow him on Twitter.  Go on, treat yourself; thanks George! 

http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

Friday, June 1, 2012

Looking for Children's Literature?


Children's Books Guide is an excellent site to enable us to keep youngsters reading.  This resource is also available on Face Book.  

http://childrensbooksguide.com/top-100

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Scholastic.com For You!

Want insightful and helpful information?  Turn to Scholastic.com.
Spread the word because it's really a year-round resource for everyone.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Parent Teacher Chats on TWITTER

Let's get the conversation going to create the best learning environments.  TWITTER can open up some doors for us all.   Learn how to join the Wednesday evening topics, starting with creating an account.

http://efacetoday.blogspot.com/p/eface-chats.html

First Grade Parade

Here you'll find a multitude of teaching ideas.  "First Grade Parade" is also on Face Book.    


http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Great Website, Just a Click Away

Discover Catherine Douthard's award winning ideas for elementary learning.  This suits the needs of kids, parents, and teachers!

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit/70690#

Sunday, April 29, 2012

ADHD and Learning Potential

Children with ADHD improve their behavior and academics when families are communicating with school personnel and are involved.  

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/family-involvement-academics-adhd-0427123/

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Friday, April 20, 2012

Funbrain.com

Reading, math, and grammar games, puzzles or even matching activities.  Funbrain.com has something for everyone in Kindergarten through eighth grade.

 http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Storybooks On-line

You'll not want to miss this!  Be ready to enjoy stories for kids of all ages, free and waiting to be shared.

http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html#books

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday, April 6, 2012

Music & Math Go Together

Kids can get a "head start" with math concepts (especially fractions) when given opportunities to perform music.  The benefits don't stop there because everyone is having fun too!

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/03/finding_the_beat_helps_kids_learn_to_do_fractions_study_says.html

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Ideas to Enrich the Elementary Classroom

 I've taught kindergarten, first and second graders.  Getting creative for kids in these early years yields marvelous learning & successful families.  Isn't that what it's all about?   


http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creativity-in-classroom-trisha-riche

Baseball Season....."Let's write!"

Get youngsters thinking with the help from these images and the story of  Mr. Jackie Robinson. 

http://www.teachhub.com/jackie-robinson-video-writing-prompts

Friday, March 30, 2012

Change It Up

If you want to teach them, reach them, and make the school day meaningful for the entire class then differentiate the lesson.  Try it- you'll never go back.

http://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/10-ways-to-differentiate-learning/

Sunday, March 25, 2012

How Often Are Children Enjoying Stories We Read Aloud to Them?

Reading aloud to preschool and kindergarten aged children is essential.  It gives them an important and fresh opportunity to develop new vocabulary, connect to books, and just might become a "learning advantage" when they enter first grade.  


http://blogs.ajc.com/momania/2012/03/22/did-your-child-have-1000-hours-of-one-on-one-reading-by-first-grade/?cxntfid=blogs_momania

Saturday, March 24, 2012

The 1000 Most Commonly Used Words

FACT:  Fry's word list will help your child become familiar with the most common words in the English language. Learning them can enable readers to become more fluent; vocabulary is an important part of comprehension. 

http://www.mattolevalley.com/Frys.html

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Saturday, March 3, 2012

100 Most Common Words in English

Teach a child these words to improve their fluency and comprehension.  Why?  "They are the most common words in English, ranked in frequency order.  The first 25 make up one-third of all printed material.  The first 100 make up about half of all written material."  (Fry and Kress, 2006) 

Attention Poetry Lovers!

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/10/05/100-great-web-sites-for-poetry-lovers/
We recognize April as national poetry month.  However, why wait?  This collection of sites has something for everyone.  Explore and enjoy verse and share the passion, pure expression, and joy that poems can bring to us all.   

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Between the Lions


The Public Broadcasting Service has learning games that are unequaled.  Have you discovered "Between the Lions" for a favorite youngster?  From PreK to fifth grade, this site has something for children, teachers, and parents alike; you shall not be disappointed! 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Greetings & Excitement Via "Animoto!"

It's free for educators and this application will put your students on the "fast" track to video creation....it is very user-friendly.   Pictures, music, and a "spotlight," feature; all you add is the narration.  Thanks to Richard Byrne for the tip and this URL! 
http://animoto.com/education

Sunday, February 5, 2012

A "Personal Best" Begins at a Tender Age

Young people deserve to develop strong bodies and minds to meet the challenges awaiting them.    Read on to see how Bill Walsh puts this all into perspective, perfectly I do believe!   
"Let all the lessons of sports be taught.  Children will be better for it." 

http://www.edutopia.org/coaches-pep-talk?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_content=article&utm_campaign=coachspeptalk

Sunday, January 29, 2012

The BIG FIVE in Reading

Professionals and parents alike can gain insight from the research, examples, and questions posed for them on the DIBELS website's The Big Five Ideas in Reading.  It's news for anyone interested in developing important language skills for preschool aged children, up through 3rd grade. 
  http://reading.uoregon.edu/


Saturday, January 21, 2012

Read It and Find Answers

http://www.anniefox.com/pdf/TeenSurvivalGuide.pdf

It's free......helps answer questions kids have, while offering advice that's straight forward.
It's Annie Fox's Teen Survival Guide.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Free On-line Calculators

http://www.calkoo.com/
This site has over 40 calculators, in ten different categories.  Hopefully one will do the job for you!