I recently read a great book entitled Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye. She has some great ideas to make writing fun and engaging for children. I've tried a few in my classroom and hope to try out a few more.
Here are a few that I liked:
1. Family Journal: Once a week or once a day or once a month, have the whole family sit down and write a journal entry to add to a family journal. Little kids can draw a picture and parents can scribe what they wrote. Put the date at the top and be sure to go back and reread the entries from time to time. One family I know does this yearly as an extended family at Christmas time...grandpa and grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins all write about the highlights of that year and add it to an annual book.
2. Write comic books.
3. Create your own board game.
4. Write a menu for a monster cafe. (Or a cafe for bugs or dinosaurs or whatever your child is interested in.)
5. Write letters and mail them.
6. Angry Alphabet book...this is an ABC book (so that encourages lots of writing) but all the characters in the book are angry, grumpy and unpleasant. Like A is for Angry, Annoying Adam the Ape. B is for boisterous, box-shaped bugs.
7. Silly Sentences (my students and my children love this.) First, divide a paper into 4 columns with 6 rows. In the first column, write down WHO..and be creative. Write down 6 different characters... perhaps, a buffalo, a teacher, a praying mantis, my dad, the alien, and the fire fighter. In the second column write down what each of them did (again, be creative). In the third column, write down where they did whatever they did. In the fourth column write down when each of them did whatever they did. Now grab a die and roll it. Let's say you get a four...so on a new sheet of paper, you write down the 4th character...my dad. Roll again...what did he do? If you get a 3, then it says he ate a leaf. Roll again...where...in a spaceship... Roll again...when... ten years ago. So here's your silly sentence...My dad ate a leaf in a spaceship ten years ago. They can then illustrate it or you can have them turn that one sentence into a whole story. Why was my dad in a spaceship eating a leaf? That could turn out to be one interesting story!
8. Make books in the shape of whatever your kid is interested in.
9.To teach summarizing and including important details, try "The 3 sentence challenge." Have students pick an object from a list of 4 related objects. Then in exactly 3 sentences they have to describe the object without using any of the words on the list. IF they describe it well enough that you know what they are describing, they get 5 points. Then switch roles.
10. She is so mean...this is a story with the meanest, nastiest person you can imagine. Take turns writing...each time adding something else to show mean and terrible your character is.
11. That's Good/That's Bad...need a spinner marked with "That's Good"..."That's bad"..."Lose a turn" and "That's Good That's Bad". Spin and if you land on that's good, you write a sentence where something good happens to your character and then end with "That's good." Then it is your child's turn and they spin...if they land on "That's Good. That's Bad." then they write first something good that happens to the character, followed by something bad happening to the character. (YOu might want to read Fortunately, Unfortunately to your child as well.)
12. Acrostic Poems
13. Is it true? Have your child write 3 statements...2 are true and 1 is not. can you guess which is true and which isn't. Now you do the same. Can they guess?
14. Bragging Contests... each person takes turns writing as many brags about a subject as they can...for example..how strong they are... I'm so strong I can lift you with 1 finger. 2nd person: I'm so strong I can pick up an elephant and toss it over my shoulder. And so on. Could also try I'm so rich... I'm so sneaky... I"m so smart... I'm so silly... I'm so happy
15. Make lists...real ones or fun ones (for example, what would you take on a rocket ship through the galaxy)...(What rides do you want to go on at Lagoon?)
******
Bravo to Peggy Kaye for all of her wonderful ideas...and there are many more in her book! Thank you!!!
One of my favorite writing projects that my second graders always love is to do How To books. They pick something they know how to do and write all the steps down. They might write how to brush your teeth or how to ride a bike. The love writing the steps and illustrating it. They especially love it if I encourage them to pick a "fun" topic like "How to Make the Teacher (or mom) Mad" or "How to Be Gross in the Cafeteria" and they can write about all the things they aren't supposed to do... They also like "How to be Teacher's Pet" or "How to Make Mom Happy". Giving them permission to write about being naughty brings many of them great pleasure...and gets them anxiously engaged in writing...often a LOT more than is typical on other projects.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Math Bingo
For Halloween, I made up a bingo game. Then I thought, hey, I could play a math bingo game with my students too! SO I did. You can do it too. I made an addition bingo card by making a table with 4 rows and 4 columns (you can draw this by hand or make it on the computer). Then add numbers in each square that would be the answers you might get if adding two numbers 0 to 10 (0 to 20...but you only have 16 squares and you could use the same number more than once). Then either roll two dice (but if you're using dice that only go to 6 then your bingo card should only go from 2 to 12 and should have some repeats) and add the number or use playing cards and flip over the top two cards and add. Check the bingo card and if your sum is on the card, mark it off. The first to get 4 in a row has bingo. Then you can keep playing to black out. You could play this several times and change your bingo card each time...or even keep it the same, as you will get different problems each time.
You could also play subtraction bingo. Put the answers you would get if you subtracted numbers 0-10 and you would have to put the same number in more than one square. Then using the cards, flip over two cards and subtract the smaller number from the bigger number. Then mark your card.
In fact, you could also play multiplication bingo in the same way, making sure that you put multiples of 0 to 10 on the bingo card. Have fun! BINGO!!!
You could also play subtraction bingo. Put the answers you would get if you subtracted numbers 0-10 and you would have to put the same number in more than one square. Then using the cards, flip over two cards and subtract the smaller number from the bigger number. Then mark your card.
In fact, you could also play multiplication bingo in the same way, making sure that you put multiples of 0 to 10 on the bingo card. Have fun! BINGO!!!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Math Fun!
Every weekend I send a math game home for my students to play with their families. Some of these games have come from our math program or from our district math coach, but some I have found online. I just thought others might want to see where I found some of these great games and might want to try them out as well. Here are two sites that have some fun printable games.
(For online math games, see the links list over on the sidebar.)
Snake and other games to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication (as well as many other skills) were found on this very fun blog, Love 2 learn and share. These are printable card games...and snake was/is very popular in my second grade class.
The website Learn with Math Games is great. I found a couple of printable math games in the section labeled "printable". One was a matching game to match shapes and solids with their name. Another is a game called Honey Hunt that works on patterns. There are other games as well under the other sections... check it out.
(For online math games, see the links list over on the sidebar.)
Snake and other games to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication (as well as many other skills) were found on this very fun blog, Love 2 learn and share. These are printable card games...and snake was/is very popular in my second grade class.
The website Learn with Math Games is great. I found a couple of printable math games in the section labeled "printable". One was a matching game to match shapes and solids with their name. Another is a game called Honey Hunt that works on patterns. There are other games as well under the other sections... check it out.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Economics lessons
We did a mini-unit on economics. In second grade, our focus is on what a producer and what a consumer is and on understanding what a want is versus a need.
First, we used the darling lesson called Simple Simon Meets a Producer found at Econ Ed. This gives them a good introduction into what a producer is and what a consumer is. Then we talk about ways they are producers and consumers. Each child then wrote a paper listing one or more ways they are a producer and another paper telling what they consume.
After these activities, we begin to talk about wants versus needs. One of the activities I have them do is a sort. There are pictures and they have to sort them by want versus need. This leads to some great discussions. Is a plant a want or need and why? (Some plants provide food and oxygen, for example, but you could survive without house plants. We need shelter, but it does't have to be a huge mansion.) Ultimately, I let each child decide whether something is a want or need. I say that for me, books feel like a need, although I guess I could LIVE without them...but it would be hard, very hard! :) Already they can probably tell that is true for me. Similarly, they wouldn't want to live without their video games, but they could survive.
First, we used the darling lesson called Simple Simon Meets a Producer found at Econ Ed. This gives them a good introduction into what a producer is and what a consumer is. Then we talk about ways they are producers and consumers. Each child then wrote a paper listing one or more ways they are a producer and another paper telling what they consume.
After these activities, we begin to talk about wants versus needs. One of the activities I have them do is a sort. There are pictures and they have to sort them by want versus need. This leads to some great discussions. Is a plant a want or need and why? (Some plants provide food and oxygen, for example, but you could survive without house plants. We need shelter, but it does't have to be a huge mansion.) Ultimately, I let each child decide whether something is a want or need. I say that for me, books feel like a need, although I guess I could LIVE without them...but it would be hard, very hard! :) Already they can probably tell that is true for me. Similarly, they wouldn't want to live without their video games, but they could survive.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Golden bookshelf and books about reading
In my classroom, we have lots of books. We use them for Daily 5 and we use them for read alouds. The books are on shelves built into the wall. But on the counter, we have one small but very special shelf called our "Golden Bookshelf". (This idea came from Steven Layne's book Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers). Each week, I put some wonderful books on the golden bookshelf.
Our school uses Storytown for language arts. So I try to tie the books on the golden bookshelf to that week's main selection...either thematically or by doing an author study or topically.
Last week, our main selection was Arthur's Reading Race by Marc Brown. Arthur doesn't think D.W. can read and says if she can read ten words while they are taking a walk, he will buy her an ice cream cone. We talked about how reading helped her (kept her safe, helped her prove she can read, allowed her to help Arthur) and how reading can help us (be smart, learn new things, have fun, get good jobs, help others, keep us safe).
So for the golden bookshelf, our books were all about reading. Here are the titles that I chose to spotlight this time:
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco is one of my all time favorite books. Polacco had a hard time learning to read, but a special fifth grade teacher helped her to learn. This is her story of learning to read.
How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Pearson gives the mama slug step-by-step directions on how to teach her little slug to read. Many of the steps are true for young children, but some are especially for slugs. Cute.
Miss Dorothy and her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston is a sweet, true story of a woman who wants to be a librarian in a beautiful, big library. But she and her husband move to a rural area where there isn't a library. So this innovative woman helps the town buy a bookmobile which she drives all over so that people can check out books. Gorgeous illustrations and sweet ending.
Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail...One night while Edward is reading, the pirates in his book come to life and think his book will tell them where their treasure is hidden. If you've ever felt a story come to life in your mind...or wished that it would REALLY come to life, this is the book for you!
No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo is the story of what would happen if there were a dinosaur trampling all the books in the library. Fun vocabulary in this rhyming book.
Wild about Books by Judy Sierra The library bookmobile comes to the zoo and the animals fall in love with books. Great illustrations and fun story.
Hooray for Reading Day by Judy Sierra In this story, Jessica is nervous about reading aloud to her class. But her dad helps her to know that she can do it and after practicing with her dog, she does a great job. Great for kids that find reading difficult or find reading aloud in front of their peers to be scary.
How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is the story of a cute dog that is taught how to read by a bird.
Our school uses Storytown for language arts. So I try to tie the books on the golden bookshelf to that week's main selection...either thematically or by doing an author study or topically.
Last week, our main selection was Arthur's Reading Race by Marc Brown. Arthur doesn't think D.W. can read and says if she can read ten words while they are taking a walk, he will buy her an ice cream cone. We talked about how reading helped her (kept her safe, helped her prove she can read, allowed her to help Arthur) and how reading can help us (be smart, learn new things, have fun, get good jobs, help others, keep us safe).
So for the golden bookshelf, our books were all about reading. Here are the titles that I chose to spotlight this time:
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco is one of my all time favorite books. Polacco had a hard time learning to read, but a special fifth grade teacher helped her to learn. This is her story of learning to read.
How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Pearson gives the mama slug step-by-step directions on how to teach her little slug to read. Many of the steps are true for young children, but some are especially for slugs. Cute.
Miss Dorothy and her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston is a sweet, true story of a woman who wants to be a librarian in a beautiful, big library. But she and her husband move to a rural area where there isn't a library. So this innovative woman helps the town buy a bookmobile which she drives all over so that people can check out books. Gorgeous illustrations and sweet ending.
Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail...One night while Edward is reading, the pirates in his book come to life and think his book will tell them where their treasure is hidden. If you've ever felt a story come to life in your mind...or wished that it would REALLY come to life, this is the book for you!
No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo is the story of what would happen if there were a dinosaur trampling all the books in the library. Fun vocabulary in this rhyming book.
Wild about Books by Judy Sierra The library bookmobile comes to the zoo and the animals fall in love with books. Great illustrations and fun story.
Hooray for Reading Day by Judy Sierra In this story, Jessica is nervous about reading aloud to her class. But her dad helps her to know that she can do it and after practicing with her dog, she does a great job. Great for kids that find reading difficult or find reading aloud in front of their peers to be scary.
How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is the story of a cute dog that is taught how to read by a bird.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Grandparents Day
Today, here in the U.S., it is Grandparents Day. In honor of Grandparents Day and in appreciation for my grandparents and my children's grandparents, here are a few books about grandparents that I love. It is definitely not an all-inclusive list...just a few titles I have enjoyed.
I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada. It's great for so many of my students from hispanic or mixed backgrounds to read/hear a book that they can relate to. It's great for my own children who have English speaking grandparents and Spanish speaking grandparents. I love that it shows that while some parts of the culture are different, there are many commonalities and that both sides of the family love the grandchild. I love how at the end both sets of grandparents collaborate to give the little girl a very special birthday gift. It could also be used as a teaching tool in a bilingual class... for example, in English we capitalize days of the week but in Spanish they do not.
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood and illustrated by P.J.Lynch.
I think this is a beautifully written story...both the text and illustrations. It is spiritual in nature, but not really religious. The little boy loves spending time talking long walks with his grandad. One day he asks his grandad about prayers, and his grandad teaches him what he believes about prayers. His grandad said that all of the Earth is praying...the trees as they reach heavenward, because prayer is a way to reach heavenward and the rocks pray because they are still and silent and all the other parts of the Earth. I particularly love some of his wisdom about people's prayers...He says, "We pray because we are here--not to change the world, but to change ourselves. Because it is when we change ourselves...that the world is changed."
Oma's Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Stephanie Jorisch. This is a sweet story where Oma has to leave her home to move into a retirement home. (This story touched me as my grandparents were moved into a hospice care facility a few months ago.) Oma does not like it at first, but her daughter and granddaughter create a quilt for her, filled with memories of her past. As she shares her stories and finds a place for herself within the retirement home (helping with the cooking 1 day a week, for example), she is able to accept the changes that have occurred.
The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read McDonald, illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma is a retelling of a Puerto Rican song "La Cama". This is a cute cumulative story in which the squeaky door keeps scaring the young boy so grandma keeps adding more animals to his bed.
Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clements is a funny story where Grandpa has dentures. But they have disappeared. And Grandpa suspects everyone... so everyone in town has to smile wide. Hilarious, great fun!
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say has beautiful illustrations and is another beautiful story. It is based on Say's grandfather's life...leaving Japan to come here to the U.S., then returning to Japan to marry. His grandfather loved both countries and longed to be in both places.
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. (In fact, so many of Polacco's books deal with her relationship with her family...mom, dad, grandparents, that you could pick up most of them and they'd fit this theme. And in my opinion, they are all WONDERFUL!) This tells the story of her great-grandma who came from Russia with only a babushka and a dress. The dress was later turned into a quilt, along with pieces of other family member's clothes. The quilt was used for weddings and other celebrations for several generations.
Abuela by Arthur Dorros and illustrated by Elisa Kleven is another fun read. Rosalba goes for a ride on the bus with her grandma and imagines that they are flying through the air, seeing the sights of New York City. Has Spanish words peppered throughout. Fun!
I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada. It's great for so many of my students from hispanic or mixed backgrounds to read/hear a book that they can relate to. It's great for my own children who have English speaking grandparents and Spanish speaking grandparents. I love that it shows that while some parts of the culture are different, there are many commonalities and that both sides of the family love the grandchild. I love how at the end both sets of grandparents collaborate to give the little girl a very special birthday gift. It could also be used as a teaching tool in a bilingual class... for example, in English we capitalize days of the week but in Spanish they do not.
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood and illustrated by P.J.Lynch.
I think this is a beautifully written story...both the text and illustrations. It is spiritual in nature, but not really religious. The little boy loves spending time talking long walks with his grandad. One day he asks his grandad about prayers, and his grandad teaches him what he believes about prayers. His grandad said that all of the Earth is praying...the trees as they reach heavenward, because prayer is a way to reach heavenward and the rocks pray because they are still and silent and all the other parts of the Earth. I particularly love some of his wisdom about people's prayers...He says, "We pray because we are here--not to change the world, but to change ourselves. Because it is when we change ourselves...that the world is changed."
Oma's Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Stephanie Jorisch. This is a sweet story where Oma has to leave her home to move into a retirement home. (This story touched me as my grandparents were moved into a hospice care facility a few months ago.) Oma does not like it at first, but her daughter and granddaughter create a quilt for her, filled with memories of her past. As she shares her stories and finds a place for herself within the retirement home (helping with the cooking 1 day a week, for example), she is able to accept the changes that have occurred.
The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read McDonald, illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma is a retelling of a Puerto Rican song "La Cama". This is a cute cumulative story in which the squeaky door keeps scaring the young boy so grandma keeps adding more animals to his bed.
Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clements is a funny story where Grandpa has dentures. But they have disappeared. And Grandpa suspects everyone... so everyone in town has to smile wide. Hilarious, great fun!
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say has beautiful illustrations and is another beautiful story. It is based on Say's grandfather's life...leaving Japan to come here to the U.S., then returning to Japan to marry. His grandfather loved both countries and longed to be in both places.
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. (In fact, so many of Polacco's books deal with her relationship with her family...mom, dad, grandparents, that you could pick up most of them and they'd fit this theme. And in my opinion, they are all WONDERFUL!) This tells the story of her great-grandma who came from Russia with only a babushka and a dress. The dress was later turned into a quilt, along with pieces of other family member's clothes. The quilt was used for weddings and other celebrations for several generations.
Abuela by Arthur Dorros and illustrated by Elisa Kleven is another fun read. Rosalba goes for a ride on the bus with her grandma and imagines that they are flying through the air, seeing the sights of New York City. Has Spanish words peppered throughout. Fun!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Art Project-Paul Klee
This week we did another art project. This time the idea came from my friend and teammate, Brenda. It was inspired by the book Paul Klee by Sean Connolly (part of the series The Life and Work of...about many different artists.) At one point in his career, Klee used letters and numbers in his artwork and felt that through his art and music, he was in a sense creating a new language. So the students created artwork inspired by Klee. In one painting, it was like a mosaic with letters in each square, and a few of them spelled out words (such as mom) but most were just random strings of letters. So we duplicated this.
I gave each student inch square graph paper. They were to write a letter or number in each square in black pen. Then they could color the squares with crayons. They could spell out real words and many of them did...or just add random letters. Also, I pointed out how Klee often colored a square more than one color.
Here are our art pieces in the style of Klee:
I gave each student inch square graph paper. They were to write a letter or number in each square in black pen. Then they could color the squares with crayons. They could spell out real words and many of them did...or just add random letters. Also, I pointed out how Klee often colored a square more than one color.
Here are our art pieces in the style of Klee:
Friday, September 9, 2011
Art Project-Piet Mondrian
This activity came from the book Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga. Mondrian grew up in Holland. He studied to be an artist. At first he painted landscapes and portraits. But after a visit to Paris in 1910, he began creating abstract art...geometric designs. He hoped his pictures would express thoughts and feelings.
I modified the directions from Discovering Great Artists just a bit. Here is how I did it.
I cut strips of black construction paper in advance.
Then I read aloud a little bit about Piet Mondrian to my class and showed some samples of his work on my smartboard. I then put a white piece of art paper on the white board and modeled the project. I glued strips of construction paper onto my paper to make a geometric design. Then I showed them how to color small sections to add visual interest. (We used markers, not paint.)
Then I had students return to their seats and create their own geometric designs after the style of Mondrian.
Here are some photos of their artwork. I think they turned out quite nicely.
I modified the directions from Discovering Great Artists just a bit. Here is how I did it.
I cut strips of black construction paper in advance.
Then I read aloud a little bit about Piet Mondrian to my class and showed some samples of his work on my smartboard. I then put a white piece of art paper on the white board and modeled the project. I glued strips of construction paper onto my paper to make a geometric design. Then I showed them how to color small sections to add visual interest. (We used markers, not paint.)
Then I had students return to their seats and create their own geometric designs after the style of Mondrian.
Here are some photos of their artwork. I think they turned out quite nicely.
Make Ten Go Fish
Here's another game to play with number cards or face cards with the J,Q, K and Joker removed.
Game can be played with 2-4 players.
Deal 5 cards to each person. Place the rest of the deck face down.
Each person sets down any pairs that add up to ten. (For example, 1 and 9, or 0 and 10). Then add enough cards to again have 5 cards in hand.
First person asks another player if they have a card (that will add up to 10 with one of the cards in their hand). If the other player has that card, then they hand it over and the first player places the pair down.
If the other player does not have the requested card, they say "go fish" and the first player draws a card. If it makes a match that equals ten, they place it down.
Then it becomes player 2's turn. They draw one card from the pile. Then they ask for a card from another player. Play continues until all cards are gone.
The person with the most matches/pairs is the winner.
Game can be played with 2-4 players.
Deal 5 cards to each person. Place the rest of the deck face down.
Each person sets down any pairs that add up to ten. (For example, 1 and 9, or 0 and 10). Then add enough cards to again have 5 cards in hand.
First person asks another player if they have a card (that will add up to 10 with one of the cards in their hand). If the other player has that card, then they hand it over and the first player places the pair down.
If the other player does not have the requested card, they say "go fish" and the first player draws a card. If it makes a match that equals ten, they place it down.
Then it becomes player 2's turn. They draw one card from the pile. Then they ask for a card from another player. Play continues until all cards are gone.
The person with the most matches/pairs is the winner.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Math Games: Addition and Subtraction War
I am hoping to update each week with an easy math game that can be played at home to practice and improve math skills. Most of the games can be played with number cards (cards labeled with 0-9 and a dot pattern) or with a deck of face cards with the King, Queen, Jack and Joker removed.
Addition War:
Divide the cards into 2 piles. Each person flips over the top two cards and adds them together. Then the person with the highest sum or total gets all 4 cards. For example, player 1 gets 5 + 7 = 12. Player 2 gets 3 + 6 = 9. So player 1 takes all 4 cards and sets them aside. If there is a tie, both players flip over their next two cards and the winner of that round takes all 8 cards.
Keep playing until cards in your pile are gone. Then count how many cards each person collected. The person with the most cards wins.
Subtraction War:
Divide the cards into 2 piles. Each person flips over the top two cards and subtracts the smaller number from the bigger number. Then the person with the highest answer gets all 4 cards. For example, player 1 gets 7 - 5 = 2. Player 2 gets 6-3 = 3. So player 2 takes all 4 cards and sets them aside. If there is a tie, both players flip over their next two cards and the winner of that round takes all 8 cards.
Keep playing until cards in your pile are gone. Then count how many cards each person collected. The person with the most cards wins.
Addition War:
Divide the cards into 2 piles. Each person flips over the top two cards and adds them together. Then the person with the highest sum or total gets all 4 cards. For example, player 1 gets 5 + 7 = 12. Player 2 gets 3 + 6 = 9. So player 1 takes all 4 cards and sets them aside. If there is a tie, both players flip over their next two cards and the winner of that round takes all 8 cards.
Keep playing until cards in your pile are gone. Then count how many cards each person collected. The person with the most cards wins.
Subtraction War:
Divide the cards into 2 piles. Each person flips over the top two cards and subtracts the smaller number from the bigger number. Then the person with the highest answer gets all 4 cards. For example, player 1 gets 7 - 5 = 2. Player 2 gets 6-3 = 3. So player 2 takes all 4 cards and sets them aside. If there is a tie, both players flip over their next two cards and the winner of that round takes all 8 cards.
Keep playing until cards in your pile are gone. Then count how many cards each person collected. The person with the most cards wins.
Make Ten Concentration
Use number cards 0-10 (or face cards with J, Q, K and Joker removed). Place cards face down. Turn two cards over. If the numbers add to make ten, you keep the pair. If not, flip them face down again. The second person then goes, trying to make ten. Continue playing until all the pairs of ten have been matched up and all cards are gone. The winner is the player with the most cards.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Family Literacy Night Notes
I helped plan and run a family literacy night at our school last week. It was a great success and a lot of fun. We had classes for families, a "book walk" (like a cake walk but the winners got free books) and a library open house. There were free cookies to decorate at the end. It was a great celebration.
Here are the notes from the class I taught about reading aloud to your children and shared reading. There is a lot more I could have said, but this is a good summary:
Benefits of reading: (Why read aloud?)
In a research article, titled What Reading Does for the Mind, the following benefits were found for reading:
*You become a better reader.
*You have a larger vocabulary.
*It usually improves your spelling.
*It increases your knowledge about the world and your practical knowledge (day to day living).
*It improves your ability to speak and communicate.
*It increases reading comprehension.
*It can improve IQ and make you smarter.
*It slows the process of aging and decreases memory loss.
Plus, reading is FUN!!! And reading together with your child helps them be more successful in school but also strengthens your relationship with your child.
How do I read aloud?
**Read in your native language.
**Have your child sit close to you.
**Choose a book that you’ll both enjoy (perhaps take turns picking.)
**Stop after a few pages to talk about the book:
*What is happening? Who are the characters?
*What’s your favorite part so far?
*Talk about words your child doesn’t know.
*Would you act like that character?
*Could that/would that happen in real life?
*Has anything like this happened to you?
**Kids are never too old to be read to.
**Picture books are valuable even for older kids who can already read.
**Make it fun! You can use voices. You can act out a favorite part. But most importantly, don’t try too hard to make it educational… Enjoy being with your child sharing a book. The learning will happen naturally.
What is shared reading?
Shared reading is when an adult and child read out loud together. This most often occurs when reading a favorite book that you have read together many times. Young children will often naturally begin to chime in the parts they know.
Why do shared reading?
Shared reading is fun!
Shared reading can help your child understand what they are reading. If they are not working too hard to sound out the words, it allows them to focus more on what the story or poem means.
Shared reading is also a great way to lend support to your child if they are trying to read a book that is just a little bit hard for them. You read along with them and provide help.
Shared reading is also a good tool to work on building fluency. As you read aloud together, your child will try to read at the same speed that you are. You will need to slow down a little and read in chunks (3 or 4 words at a time). Model for them what good reading sounds like and they will try to copy you.
Examples of shared reading:
*Reading a poem or nursery rhyme aloud together.
*Having your child chime in on a repeated line in a story. For example, in the Three Little Pigs, they might read along with you the lines: “Little Pig, little pig, let me come in.” “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin, chin.”
*If your child checks out a book from the library or brings home a book that is just a little bit difficult, you could read aloud a paragraph or page and then have then share read it with you.
*On homework papers, you might share read the directions.
“You don’t have to read every day—only on the days you eat.” --Proverb
Here are the notes from the class I taught about reading aloud to your children and shared reading. There is a lot more I could have said, but this is a good summary:
Benefits of reading: (Why read aloud?)
In a research article, titled What Reading Does for the Mind, the following benefits were found for reading:
*You become a better reader.
*You have a larger vocabulary.
*It usually improves your spelling.
*It increases your knowledge about the world and your practical knowledge (day to day living).
*It improves your ability to speak and communicate.
*It increases reading comprehension.
*It can improve IQ and make you smarter.
*It slows the process of aging and decreases memory loss.
Plus, reading is FUN!!! And reading together with your child helps them be more successful in school but also strengthens your relationship with your child.
How do I read aloud?
**Read in your native language.
**Have your child sit close to you.
**Choose a book that you’ll both enjoy (perhaps take turns picking.)
**Stop after a few pages to talk about the book:
*What is happening? Who are the characters?
*What’s your favorite part so far?
*Talk about words your child doesn’t know.
*Would you act like that character?
*Could that/would that happen in real life?
*Has anything like this happened to you?
**Kids are never too old to be read to.
**Picture books are valuable even for older kids who can already read.
**Make it fun! You can use voices. You can act out a favorite part. But most importantly, don’t try too hard to make it educational… Enjoy being with your child sharing a book. The learning will happen naturally.
What is shared reading?
Shared reading is when an adult and child read out loud together. This most often occurs when reading a favorite book that you have read together many times. Young children will often naturally begin to chime in the parts they know.
Why do shared reading?
Shared reading is fun!
Shared reading can help your child understand what they are reading. If they are not working too hard to sound out the words, it allows them to focus more on what the story or poem means.
Shared reading is also a great way to lend support to your child if they are trying to read a book that is just a little bit hard for them. You read along with them and provide help.
Shared reading is also a good tool to work on building fluency. As you read aloud together, your child will try to read at the same speed that you are. You will need to slow down a little and read in chunks (3 or 4 words at a time). Model for them what good reading sounds like and they will try to copy you.
Examples of shared reading:
*Reading a poem or nursery rhyme aloud together.
*Having your child chime in on a repeated line in a story. For example, in the Three Little Pigs, they might read along with you the lines: “Little Pig, little pig, let me come in.” “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin, chin.”
*If your child checks out a book from the library or brings home a book that is just a little bit difficult, you could read aloud a paragraph or page and then have then share read it with you.
*On homework papers, you might share read the directions.
“You don’t have to read every day—only on the days you eat.” --Proverb
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
100th Day of School
Our 100th day of school was January 27, 2011. We had fun celebrating.
We practiced counting to 100 by 5 and 10. We talked about how many dimes, pennies, nickels and quarters equal 100 cents.
Kids found different ways to group objects into 100. For example, they made 10 groups of 10 blocks and 2 groups of 50 paperclips. They put teddy bear counters into 5 groups of 20 and beans into 4 groups of 25.
Students also wrote a story about what they thought they would look, act and feel like when they are 100. We turned these into a darling, funny class book!
In addition, we made a class book of 100 things we are grateful for. There are 24 kids +1 teacher = 25 people. So each of us wrote 4 things we are thankful for.
We also looked for words that equal 100 cents if A = 1 cent, B = 2 cents and so on.
We read a couple of great books including: 100 Hungry Ants by Bonnie MacKain and Elinor Pinczes and 100 Days Of School by Trudy Harris and Beth Griffis Johnson.
Some other ideas that we didn't have time to do this year were:
to do 10 jumping jacks, 10 sit ups, 10 jumpropes, 10 spins, and so on until we had done 10 different activities.
Have a list of items that students could buy that cost $2, $5, $10, $20, and $25 and let students create a list of what they would buy for exactly $100.
Practice reading our 100 second grade high frequency words.
Measure to find things that are 100 centimeters (1 meter) long.
Measure to find things that are 100 paper clips long.
Turn the number 100 into a work of art (using collage to create the number or by writing the number 100 and then drawing designs to turn it into a picture).
We practiced counting to 100 by 5 and 10. We talked about how many dimes, pennies, nickels and quarters equal 100 cents.
Kids found different ways to group objects into 100. For example, they made 10 groups of 10 blocks and 2 groups of 50 paperclips. They put teddy bear counters into 5 groups of 20 and beans into 4 groups of 25.
Students also wrote a story about what they thought they would look, act and feel like when they are 100. We turned these into a darling, funny class book!
In addition, we made a class book of 100 things we are grateful for. There are 24 kids +1 teacher = 25 people. So each of us wrote 4 things we are thankful for.
We also looked for words that equal 100 cents if A = 1 cent, B = 2 cents and so on.
We read a couple of great books including: 100 Hungry Ants by Bonnie MacKain and Elinor Pinczes and 100 Days Of School by Trudy Harris and Beth Griffis Johnson.
Some other ideas that we didn't have time to do this year were:
to do 10 jumping jacks, 10 sit ups, 10 jumpropes, 10 spins, and so on until we had done 10 different activities.
Have a list of items that students could buy that cost $2, $5, $10, $20, and $25 and let students create a list of what they would buy for exactly $100.
Practice reading our 100 second grade high frequency words.
Measure to find things that are 100 centimeters (1 meter) long.
Measure to find things that are 100 paper clips long.
Turn the number 100 into a work of art (using collage to create the number or by writing the number 100 and then drawing designs to turn it into a picture).
Series of Chapter Books
As per a parent request, here is a list of chapter book series that many second graders can read and enjoy. Of course, there are many other books that your child may like and not all second graders are ready for chapter books (which is okay).
Early Chapter Books
Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant
Magic School Bus Chapter Books by Eva Moore and Ted Enik
Arthur Chapter books by Marc Brown
A little harder chapter books:
Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline
Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osbourne
Jigsaw Jones by James Preller and R. W. Alley
A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney
Early Chapter Books
Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant
Magic School Bus Chapter Books by Eva Moore and Ted Enik
Arthur Chapter books by Marc Brown
A little harder chapter books:
Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline
Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osbourne
Jigsaw Jones by James Preller and R. W. Alley
A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney
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