ABC and 123

Bilingual Wednesdays- Los colores

noreply@blogger.com (Ana) — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

We are finishing our review for colors and I chose this song to sing with my niece

Red and yellow and pink and green,

purple and orange and blue

I can sing the rainbow, sing a rainbow, too.

After watching the video and singing it in English for a while I invited her to sing the song in Spanish.

Rojo y amarillo y rosa y verde

violeta y naranja y azul

yo puedo cantar el arco iris, cantar el arco iris, también.

Then we went on a color hunt at home singing the Spanish version of the song.

Beforehand I printed and laminated these cards for sorting the small objects she found.

Pics are from the English version of the cards, but below you will find the Spanish version of the cards.

We practice the sound of the English and Spanish word for each color. She wanted to sing the song again and to finish the activity she draw and color a wonderful rainbow.

just in case you want to download the English version

Show and Tell #102

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Play Eat Grow shared a list of their favorite travel activities.

Cooks Chaos mixed up a bowl of cloud dough.

School Time Snippets enhanced their salamander theme by making the salt dough version.

It's your turn!

If you are new to Show & Tell or need a quick recap, here are the rules:

~Post your favorite lessons, crafts, traditions, kid friendly recipes, field trip recap, learning games, experiments, DIY organizational projects, holiday related activities, or Ah-Ha moments.

~Direct link to your post, not your home page.

~Include a link back to us or include our link button in your post or sidebar.

~Please try to visit and comment on at least three links. This adds to the positive collaboration that makes our learning cooperative a success!

~Each week we will feature three links from the previous week's party. Some weeks these are chosen at random, sometimes by theme, and other times according to linky tools stats.

Teaching with Ticia: Writing Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Ticia) — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:30:00 +0000

A few months ago I wrote a post about the portable writing center I designed, and it was wildly popular. I realized that I'm not the only Mom or teacher who wants ideas on how to encourage writing. I started researching and looking into more ideas and wanted to share a few things I figured out from that.

Provide a variety of writing materials

Pink and Green Mama shared her portable center and it had many different pens, markers, crayons, pencils. I've found that the more things available to write with, the more they will write.

Try different sensory experiences. Try writing in paint, or my personal favorite shaving cream (it cleans the surface your writing on, I used this all the time while teaching). Dry erase boards also make a great place to practice.

Set up a permanent space

If you have the ability and wall space (this is great in a classroom, it was my most visited center).

Lessons Learnt Journal shared how she set up her area, along with where she got everything. I've found in my various experiments less is better, because it forces them to think it through more.

Or you could set up word walls and other important writing information.

Provide many different things to write on

If you look at my picture up above you see all sorts of different cards in there. Other great things to leave in there: note pads with funny pictures, those little pads of paper given away as freebies, old stationary, construction paper, scrapbooking paper you're not going to use.

Fun things to add: stickers, magazines, pre-made books, writing prompts, examples of correct writing form

Writing Ideas board-some more ideas of activities, things to do

Do you have anything to add? Did you write a post about writing or a writing station? I'd love to add it to my writing board or come back later and add it to this post.

Technology Tool: hearAll Assessment Recorder {Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Today I would like to introduce you to the hearAll Assessment Recorder from Learning Resources. This tool is perfect for setting up authentic assessment activities with small groups of students. By adding the hearAll Recorder to a small group discussion you, as the teacher, can easily check up on individual participation and skill development.

The hearAll is designed with 4 microphones to capture clear recordings from all sides of the table where students are working. Since there are directional microphones the background noise is dramatically reduced.

Here are just a few of the practical applications I came up with for using the hearAll Assessment Recorder:

~Set up a math center where students have to work together to solve a problem and discuss their process. Record the conversation to assess student understanding of the mathematical concepts.

~Capture students' natural speech patterns and interactions

~Hear which students are invovled, participating, or leading the group

~Record a Reader's Theater read through

~Facilitate passive assessments for students who get nervous talking with an adult present

~In a preshcool classroom the hearAll left in the dramatic play station is a glimpse into the social and emotional learning that is going on while children interact.

~Create MP3 files to upload to your classroom website

~Monitor partner reading for accuracy and time on task

~Pre-record instructions for students to listen to {and review as often as necessary} in station activities.

The hearAll Assessment Recorder will hold up to 4 hours of conversation and the files can be converted to MP3 to be saved and shared with specialists and parents. I found this technology tool to be very easy to use. The hearAll charges when it is attached to your computer; you do not need to worry about batteries. Young students will be able to figure out the buttons and use the tool effectively. I appreciate the size of this tool for easy storage and that the hearAll is lightweight. I believe the quality of the voice recording to be true to life, not stuffy nose or robotic sounding.

This is a fantastic tool for a busy teacher who wants to authentically assess student interaction and group work.

GIVEAWAY:

Learning Resources, a leading manufacturer of innovative, hands-on educational materials for classrooms worldwide and learning toys, has offered our readers the chance to win a hearAll Assessment Recorder (retail value $99)! We are really looking forward to getting this great technology tool in the hands of one of our teaching and learning families here on ABC & 123!

Entry Details:

Add your entries in the Rafflecopter widget. This giveaway will close on Thursday, May 24th at 12:00 EST. A winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter immediately and posted on ABC &123 as soon as possible. The winner's hearAll Assessment Recorder will be sent directly from Learning Resources.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Learning Resources sent us the hearAll Assessment Recorder in exchange for sharing about it here. They are also providing the giveaway product. If you would like to learn more about Learning Resources you can do so by checking out Learning Resources on Facebook, Twitter,Pinterest, and YouTube.

Teaching with Ticia: Louisiana

noreply@blogger.com (Ticia) — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Louisiana is a fun place to study. There is a lot of history, culture, and art to look at there. It's also a fun place to visit, which I discovered last spring when I spent a day or so driving through there.

What's on here:

My plan to save the levies- One of the things we talked about is the devastation Katrina had on New Orleans, and how we can work to prevent that. We talked through it, but since it was mostly talking I don't have any picture to go for that activity.

Down in Louisiana- I discovered a great Louisiana author who has several books set in various parts of Louisiana, this first one is "Down in Louisiana," a twist on a traditional song. The book is made in collage style and I encourage the kids to create a collage of different animals mentioned. They didn't always go with my plans and instead opted to draw their creations.

Chef Creole- This is an imaginative book using food from Creole culture to create a person. Again this book was done in collage style, and many of the kids opted to make collages, however this child did not. So, if you want to see other examples go to the full post.

The Blues music- I found a fun retelling of Bremen Town Musicians as the "Ol' Boogie-Woogie Blues Bayou," and my kids thoroughly enjoyed it. When paired with a blues song from Fantasia 2000, it led to a fun experiment in art. I have to say, any time I get to pull Gershwin music into school work is a win for me.

Other things not included in the lapbook because they were lost or misplaced:

Mardi Gras masks, a great excuse to make costumes. Little Wonder Days also has some fun Mardi Gras posts with a mask idea and a yummy looking cookie.

State symbol book- I had fun pulling some ideas from the state symbols with Louisiana.

Crawfish- I always love to compare what is real in a fiction book with what isn't.

Jean Laffitte and the Big Ol' Whale- This was a fun opportunity to throw in some art projects. There's apparently several tall tales about this pirate, and he also participated in........

The Battle for New Orleans- which features Andrew Jackson from Tennessee. If I was writing this post a week later, I'd have a better post to link to about that battle, but we just finished doing our War of 1812 activity Friday.

And finally, I found this post amongst my pins and bookmarks about Louisiana, All Things Beautiful is working her way through the states and has a different take than I do on it, she does more cooking, and you have to try some of her recipes.

Books Read:

Calendar Time

noreply@blogger.com (Rachelle) — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

I've blogged about my calendar time on What the Teacher Wants, but I wanted to share it with my friends here at ABC and 123!

months of the year and the calendar

Days of the week

Weather

Money and Time

Days of School

I got the calendar from Scholastic
Piggy Bank is from Scholastic
Judy Clock is from Carson Dellosa
Weather cards are from DJ Inkers
Place Value Straws are from ????

If you want to know about my calendar routine and use my freebie printables,

just download them {here}!

Here are some of the items included:

When a student loses a tooth, I give them a toothbrush and they can take home the "Dear Tooth Fairy" writing stationary! :)

Clipart and/or fonts used with permission from DJ Inkers and Scrappin' Doodles

For more math ideas, check out my "It All Adds Up" posts {here}.

Show and Tell #101

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Love and Lollipops got creative and colorful by building a Seussical village using bottle tops.

The Nature of Grace added a toothpaste factory activity to a week of dental activities. My little ones are busy with wiggly and newly pulled teeth this week, so this would be a timely experiment in our house!

living worldsapart put together a tot time quiet bag with many interesting materials for exploring a childhood favorite, Goodnight Moon.

It's your turn!

National Nurse Week & Nurse Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:34:00 +0000

In almost every classroom we celebrate nurses as we talk about community helpers. Nurses are top on our list of those who are willing to help others in the places where we live, work, and play.

Have you thanked a nurse this week?

Have you done something with your students that is out of the ordinary to show your appreciation for those who are trained to care for the sick and hurting?

Well, if you would like to there is still time and here are some ideas to get you thinking.

The TomKat Studio has designed a printable set of cupcake toppers you might want to use when delivering a sweet treat to your favorite nursing staff.

Spell Outload shared a few ideas for adding some hospital related flair to your learning stations.

Nurses are Angels has a collection of poems about nurses that would be thematic to use for reading practice or to put inside a special card.

Danielle's Place provides the printables for making a paper nurse outfit for a stuffed animal.

Search Kids InfoBits or eLibrary Elementar for interesting facts, written for kids, about some famous care givers such as: Florence Nightingale and May Seacole!

Preschool is Fun has compiled a list of nursing related activities for many different subject area. Check it out for some interesting lesson plan ideas.

Show and Tell #100

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

#100! Wow! It seems like this should be a special event or something. One hundred = 2 years of our clever friends and readers sharing their amazing ideas during our weekly celebration of learning. I love it!

SunnyDayToDayMama made a unique bunting out of re-purposed pages from damaged children's books.

The Unlikely Homeschool shared their favorite "go-to" review game idea.

Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational used Lego miniatures to practice spelling words. Who wouldn't want to play along?

In case you may have missed some of our earlier posts in May, we have a couple great giveaways going on right now: Easi-Speak USB Recorder & Elemenosqueeze (Alphabet Blocks). There is still time to enter.

It's your turn!

National Train Day: Coming May 12, 2012 {Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:21:00 +0000

With three young boys in our house we are all...

...Dinosaur Train

...Thomas the Train

..."When can we ride on the train???"

all the time!

For those of you who also understand this type of train enthusiasm, and even those who are not necessarily in that stage yet (or anymore), I wanted to tell you about a fantastic, family-friendly, event.

Next Saturday, May 12th from 11AM-4PM, train stations across the United States are joining together to participate in Amtrak’s (5th Annual) National Train Day.

National Train Day marks the 143rd anniversary of the creation of the nation's first transcontinental railroad. On May 10, 1869, in Promontory Summit, Utah, the “golden spike” was driven into the final tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways, forever transforming the face and character of America.

The National Train Day festivities will feature live entertainment, interactive exhibits, kids' activities, model train, and much more. Families will also be invited to tour Amtrak trains, freight trains, commuter trains, and private railroad cars. Each of the key participating locations (New York, Philadelphia, LosAngeles, and Chicago) will host popular performing guests. Animated characters such as Dora the Explorer will be greeting children and posing for pictures. Children will also enjoy Radio Disney, Wii Games, and craft activities. To tempt your taste buds while you tour the trains, Amtrak is bringing nationally-acclaimed chefs in to the event locations to give samples of their signature recipes.

In addition to the four main event sites, communities all over the US are encouraged to get involved by developing and hosting their own celebration! Share your love for train travel with others in your own town.

National Train Day events offer something special for people of all ages and interests. What a fantastic opportunity for a free, family-friendly plan to learn experience! To learn more about National Train Day check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

From now until next Saturday, get your kids geared up for some National Train Day learning with these thematic ideas:

Visit the National Train Day website to enjoy photos, videos, and stories submitted by train passengers. Your family could also share your own train travel experience for a change to win a prize.

1+1+1=1 offers a free download of a Thomas the Train Tot Book.

Homeschool Creations has a Transportation Preschool Packet that will peak the interest of train enthusiasts.

Crafts~n~Things used the concept of Train Cars to practice counting.

Finally, don't miss this.

One of our favorite companies, B.Toys, is working with Amtrak to spread the news about this great play to learn experience. In fact, they would like to offer one reader of ABC & 123 a gift for spreading the excitement about the event.

Enter to win Elemenosqueeze, a set of soft A-Z blocks featuring a unique animal for each letter. These architectural blocks would be fun to line up train style while practicing the alphabet. One winner will be chosen on the 12th in conjunction with the National Train Day activities!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: B.Toys contacted us regarding National Train Day and asked that we share the information about the event with our readers. We were excited to do so with the opportunity to offer you a giveaway within the post. The giveaway is provided by B.Toys and will be sent directly to the winner from the sponsoring company.

Mother's Day Lessons & Gifts for Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Mother's Day is coming quickly. Next Sunday, right?!!? I have some work to do between now and then. I'd like to think that you are all with me and still need some ideas for preparing to honor the moms in our lives (and the lives of our students), so here are a few things I found. If you've already got your plans all lined up please share links to your projects in the comments we would all love to see them.

Lesson Plans S.O.S. compiled a list of all of their clever Mother's Day lessons in one easy place for you to scroll through and be inspired!

Five Minutes Peace for Mom - Check out this cute book and the accompanying activities, from Teaching Heart Blog, to prepare your classroom for Mother's Day.

Yvonne is offering a Mother's Day Writing Workshop lesson on Teachers Paying Teachers. It is available for download for $2.50.

The kids at Finally in First write and illustrate their own Mother's Day Booklet, If You Give a Mom a Muffin.

Lesson Plans S.O.S. also put together a special Message in the Bottle for moms.

At What the Teacher Wants, Rachelle posted a fun idea for making a Mother's Day poster.

Color Me Kinder has shared a sweet Mother's Day flower craft and writing project.

The Schroeder Page has a tutorial for a heart felt thumb print necklace and poem for your children to create for their mama.

Easi-Speak USB Recorder {Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Did you know there are free text to voice services available online? I usually use Voz.me or Zamzar (if you are curious about checking them out). It is effective for reaching auditory learners, however the voices are robotic and a bit difficult to listen to during long recordings. The Easi-Speak USB Recorder is an amazing alternative for transferring text to voice using an AUTHENTIC voice! Introduce your tape recorder to its’ more efficient 21^st Century counterpart!

Here are just a few of the practical applications I came up with for using the Easi-Speak:

~Have students pre-record their lines for a classroom theatre production and play it back while focusing on the actions during the presentation.

~Record the instructions for your independent work stations for students to listen to on the mini microphone. They can easily re-play the track as often as they need to in making sure they understand the instructions.

~Pair children to read books at their “just write” level and allow other students who are interested in the same books to listen and follow along to their more fluent peers.

~Invite students to record a review of a book their recently finished reading.

~Record a series of count bys (2’s, 5’s, 10’s) as a practice activity.

~Practice and record different tones to make students aware of what they are able to do with their voice (whisper, shout, high voice, low voice, singing, etc.).

~Record a speech sample to share with the specialist when considering intervention for a child.

~Turn it into a fun activity for practicing kind and positive words by passing the recorder around a circle and allow each child to add the phrases that come to their minds.

~Encourage readers to record text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections.

~Share a wordless book and allow students to narrate their own story into the Easi-Speak.

This list could go on and on!!!

My own children are memorizing a passage of scripture each month. They look forward to reciting their passage in whole once they have it down. This month it was especially exciting for them to make a recording of their verse using the Easi-Speak microphone. They also all love to sing along to the radio, so I have many recordings of their karaoke versions of radio favorites sung into the Easi-Speak!

In experimenting with sharing the recordings from the microphone to the computer I was thankful for the simplicity. The Easi-Speak is a USB so it plugs directly into the side of my lap top for charging and for uploading recordings.

This technology tool is a winner for increasing classroom productivity and meeting diverse learning needs. I especially appreciate the potential for encouraging reluctant readers and public speakers, as well as inspiring creativity. Easi-Speak is the perfect size for small hands (about 4" long) and portable. It is incredibly easy to operate for both adults and students. The buttons are self explanatory. The internal chargeable battery is both effort and cost effective.

GIVEAWAY:

Learning Resources, a leading manufacturer of innovative, hands-on educational materials for classrooms worldwide and learning toys, has offered our readers the chance to win a Easi-Speak USB Recorder (retail value $69.99 )! We are really looking forward to getting this great technology tool in the hands of one of our teaching and learning families here on ABC & 123!

Entry Details:

Add your entries in the Rafflecopter widget. This giveaway will close on Thursday, May 11th at 12:00 EST. A winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter immediately and posted on ABC & 123 as soon as possible. The winner's Easi-Speak USB Recorder will be sent directly from Learning Resources.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teachers Take Note:

Learning Resources has also announced the sponsorship of a teacher grant hosted by WeAreTeachers. To apply, teachers must answer this question: “How would you use portable interactive technology to create collaborative lessons?” After the application process concludes, educators can invite colleagues to vote for their favorite lesson ideas. Each of the three top vote getters will win a set of three now! Boards and three GeoSafari Tuff Cams, a prize package valued at $2,000. Additionally, two merit-based winners selected by a panel of teachers will each win one now!Board and one GeoSafari Tuff Cam, a total value of $700. Teachers can apply for the grant online through May 22, 2012. For more information and to apply for the grant, visit http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant?grantId=102.

Disclaimer: Learning Resources sent us an Easi-Speak USB Recorder in exchange for sharing about it here. They are also providing the giveaway product. If you would like to learn more about Learning Resources you can do so by checking out Learning Resources on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Letter Sort: Fat or Thin

noreply@blogger.com (Malia.hollowell) — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

It is a privilege today to welcome Malia, the founder and lead writer at Playdough to Plato, as our newest feature writer. Once a month she will be sharing effective and entertaining reading activities in The Book Nook! Malia has a specialized focus on literacy for PreK - 2nd grade children. Malia adds another highly qualified perspective to our team.

Malia has taught both kindergarten and second grade. She graduated from Stanford University with a Master’s degree in Education and received her Elementary Education Bachelors from the University of Arizona. Malia was selected as a Fulbright-Hays scholar in 2007 and earned National Board Certification from the United States Department of Education in 2011. She is currently enjoying her job as a full time stay at home mom!

We are so excited to seeing the clever and useful reading and writing activities she will share with us here. Enjoy this first post and please leave a comment welcoming Malia and/or suggesting any literacy topics you might love to see her cover!

Children learn to recognize letters by noticing what makes each one unique and sorting is a simple and fun way to make those differences clear. In this sort called “Fat or Thin”, your child will try to squeeze letter cut-outs through a hole to decide if the letter is too fat and won’t fit or if it is thin and easily pops through the other side.

You’ll need:

A medium-sized plastic storage container that you don’t mind cutting.

A pair of scissors.

A set of alphabet letter cut outs.

A sorting mat labeled “Fat” on one side and “Thin” on the other. Make your own or click here to find the free printable on the Playdough to Plato website.

To play:

Cut a hole in the top of your storage container that is large enough to squeeze thin letters including [i], [j] and [l] through the other side.

Invite your child to play along by trying to squeeze each letter through the hole. If the letter is too fat like the [a] shown below, have her place it (or write it) on the “Fat” side of the sorting mat.

If the letter cut-out pops through like this [f], have her place it on the “Thin” side of the sorting mat.

As you play together, be sure to name each letter your child picks up and encourage her to repeat the name after you. If your child already knows the names of the letters, teach her the sounds they make.

When your child is finished, review the letters on each side of the mat to reinforce her learning.

I always love hearing from readers. Please share any comments or questions you have in the comment section below and I'll do my best to respond quickly.

Show and Tell #99

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

It was really exciting to see several new participants in last week's Show and Tell! I spent much more time than normal checking out all of the great links, because once I hit on these great new blogs I wanted to check out their entire archives! Here are three of the sites that were new to me this week. Thank you all for being part of Show and Tell!

Speaking of NEW, be sure to check in tomorrow for our new READING feature with Malia!

The Nature of Grace shared a great post full of ideas for teaching about birds and their habitat.

Reading Confetti showed us several ideas for using I Spy games to sneak in learning.

Adventures in Reading with Kids linked up with a Dirty Harry book activity.

It's your turn!

Interactive Projection Camera {Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Today I would like to introduce you to the Luna Interactive Projection Camera. This three in one tool - video camera, still camera, web cam – simplifies your classroom presentation and increases productivity. The camera is very small and portable – no more bulky overhead needed! The tool easily connects to either your computer or smart board.

Here are just a few of the practical applications I came up with for using the projection camera:

~Use the video feature with narration to explain how to use manipulatives in math and science center activities.

~Project the pictures for your read aloud book so that no one on the carpet can complain about not being able to see ;)

~Take still shots of student writing samples to include in a digital portfolio.

~Project various blank charts and graphs from the computer to the board where the class can work together to fill them in with information corresponding with the lesson content.

~Share a nonfiction text from a book and search together for key non fiction features and/or details vs. main ideas.

~Use the web cam feature to engage the entire class in a Skype conversation with a career professional whose job description weaves in with your curriculum and/or an author sharing tips on quality writing.

I have to say, I even used the camera at home to project one of my recipes onto my laptop screen. As I was cooking I could walk away from the recipe and still see it projected. I never had to touch it with my sticky ingredient fingers.

In experimenting with sharing lesson materials under the camera I discovered that jerky movements projected a bit fuzzy, but with smooth movements and the focus tool it was easy to adjust the clarity of still images.

I think this technology tool is incredibly affordable for all that it is capable of doing. I was really impressed with how easy the camera was to set up and use. I put off getting started with it at first because I thought I would need to read through a manual to figure out all the features, but actually it is self explanatory once the cd is loaded in the computer. There is a helpful button on the camera to project light on dark images that need to be shared clearly. Luna does not require any batteries, which eliminates a maintenance frustration. This is certainly a useful tool for a busy teacher who is looking for fun and effective ways to enhance instruction!

GIVEAWAY:

Learning Resources, a leading manufacturer of innovative, hands-on educational materials for classrooms worldwide and learning toys, has offered our readers the chance to win a Luna Interactive Projection Camera (retail value $199)! We are really looking forward to getting this great technology tool in the hands of one of our teaching and learning families here on ABC & 123!

Entry Details:

Add your entries in the Rafflecopter widget. This giveaway will close on Thursday, May 4th at 12:00 EST. A winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter immediately and posted on ABC & 123 as soon as possible. The winner's Interactive Projection Camera will be sent directly from Learning Resources.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclaimer: Learning Resources sent us a Luna Interactive Projection Camera in exchange for sharing about it here. They are also providing the giveaway product. If you would like to learn more about Learning Resources you can do so by checking out Learning Resources on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Bilingual Wednesdays- Colors in Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Ana) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Spring is here and we can take advantage of this teachable moment to introduce or review some color words in Spanish. I made a domino to review colors with my niece and a set of Spanish colors posters for you!

Tell children they will learn the Spanish form of these words:

Red / rojo

Blue / azul

Yellow / amarillo

Orange / naranja

Green / verde

Purple/ violeta

Light blue/ celeste

Pink/ rosa

To prepare the posters you need to print them onto cardboard and laminate for durability. Then..

*Go for a color hunt around home or class.

*Let kids cut and paste pictures from old magazines and make a collage. Ask them about the colors they can see in their pictures.

*Play "I spy" using the posters.

*Invite children to sort manipulatives according to color.

*Make a mural using their favorite color.

* Ask and answer "How many red/ rojas things can you see?"

* Using commands.."point to a yellow/amarillo flower" "pick up a green/verde crayon"

Show and Tell #98

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Keitha, from Keitha's Chaos, has come up with a clever way to integrate literacy into lunch time with book themed lunches.

Making a plastic bottle guitar, with instructions from Jellyfish Jelly, looks like a musical idea to add to my second grade son's summer fun list.

By the way, if you are dreaming up your "Summer Bucket Lists" you might want to join in with the May 1 Linky Party at Little Wonders Days.

Play, Eat, Grow shows up the step by step directions for making lovely pattern play blocks.

It's your turn!

Movement and Music: Exploring Space!

noreply@blogger.com (Jedda) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Hello again! I'm Jedda, from This Little Project. Today, I'm here sharing some ideas of how to explore SPACE with movement and music!

My kids and I have been studying the planets and one of our {little projects}
was making a solar system.

I wanted a fun way to teach my 4 year-old about the planets. I sang this song (below) with her a few times to help her learn their order.

Then a week later when we went to a planet exhibit at the museum and she sang it by herself all the way there! She remembered it!

Music is a great tool for learning!

This song is about the order of the planets in the solar system:

This song teaches a little bit about each of the planets. It's nice for an introduction to the solar system.

We have also been enjoying the music about each planet that Gustav Holst composed. He composed a piece of music about each of the planets, except for Earth, and I have movies of each of them below for you to enjoy.

It would be fun to read a book about a planet before you listen to the music, so it's fresh in your mind.

It's also fun to dress up in the color of each planet and dance along. Each song in this Planet Suite has a personality and it's fun to move in different ways while you learn about each planet (see the video above).

The Planets Suite by Holst is probably not something that most kids will sit through at one sitting. It's kinda long. But listening to the music of each planet as you learn about each planet is really fun!

Mercury, The Winged Messanger; by Gustav Holst:

Venus, The Bringer of Peace; by Gustav Holst:

Mars. the Bringer of War; by Gustav Holst:

Jupiter, the bringer of Jollity; composed by Gustav Holst:

Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; by Gustav Holst:

Uranus, the Magician; composed by Gustav Holst:

Neptune, the Mystic; by Gustav Holst:

Try drawing a picture about each of the planets as you listen to the music too. If you look at pictures or a book about each planet before doing your art work, it will be fresh in your mind and easier to think and imagine about.

Which planet is your favorite?

I hope you have fun exploring space with music and movement!

For more Music and Movement ideas on this site, click {here}.

And come see me at This Little Project for more kid-friendly learning fun :)

Learning Beyond Limits

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:54:00 +0000

It isn't often here on ABC & 123 that we talk about our personal lives and our families. I was recently asked to write an article explaining our son's journey with Spina Bifida and his success with the specific type of therapy we have chosen. While I was working on the article I enjoyed putting together a video explaining our littlest love, our thoughts on his potential, and his outstanding progress. I hope you don't mind me sharing it with all of you here. If nothing more, at least you will get a brief glimpse into our daily life. However, my hope is that this will serve as an encouragement to you that ALL children are capable of achieving above and beyond any limitations that have been placed on them!

If you are interested in reading more of Gabe's story, have a child with Spina Bifida, or are looking for encouragement and resources for helping your child with special needs I would love for you to visit his site. You can read more there and contact us if you have specific questions.

Disclaimer: This video was my very first attempt at using Photo Story 3, which I am currently exploring in my grad class 21 Things for the 21st Century Teacher. I still have a bit of experimenting to do with getting just the right balance between the recorded sound and the background music. PS3 is easy to use and I am guessing you will all find some great ways to use it to increase your teaching productivity. The Amazon book link is not an affiliate. However, I think the book is amazing and it has changed the way I think about working with all children!

April Showers: Clouds and Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0000

We've all heard the saying...

April Showers, Bring May Flowers

So, let's use this spring board for some rainy lessons.

First Grade Parade shared a wealth of weather related lesson suggestions to make teaching about clouds interesting for young students.

Using the instructions from Apples and Papers your students can create a rainy day person.

Family Education explains the steps to creating rain in a bag.

Tobey Fields shared a thorough lesson plan about weather, focusing on rain and wind. The plans include several books appropriate for teaching about rain.

Teach your children to water their own miniature gardens with a rain cloud like the one on A Little Learning for Two

At Another Day in Pre K the students watched as their teacher created a cloud in a bottle and released it into their classroom.

Somewhat Simple demonstrated the steps for creating a rain stick.

Better Kid's Care has a collection of rainy day finger plays to try with your preschoolers.

Math Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Rachelle) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Rachelle here from What the Teacher Wants!

I just wanted to share some of my favorite online math resources

and the favorites of my Facebook followers.

XtraMath.org"XtraMath is a free web program that teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts which are critical to success in mathematics." -Xtramath.org

If you are looking to help your students memorize their math facts, this is a great FREE website to do so! The kiddos can practice at school or at home and it's easy to sign up.

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abcya.com
"ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn." -abcya.com

My students love this website! We use it during our computer time. I love how the games are all separated by grade-level and then by topic. We use the math section almost every time!

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jmathpage.com"Johnnie's Math Page is the site to find fun math for kids, math games, and even a little math homework help."-Johnnie's Math Page

This site has loads of free games organized by subject! With such fun interactive games, my kiddos are glued to the computer screen!

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Sumdog.com

"Sumdog's math games are always free to play, either at home or at school. They cover 100 numeracy skills, split into 10 levels. Most are multiplayer, so you can play against thousands of students worldwide."-Sumdog.com

This is a site I haven't used, but was recommended multiple times on What the Teacher Wants Facebook Page. The games look just like video games and they can play against other students, all while integrating math! Can't wait to try it!

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Click [{HERE}] for more math ideas from,
"It All Adds Up With Rachelle"!

Visit us at What the Teacher Wants for more tips and free downloads!

Show and Tell #97

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0000

With Earth Day on it's way, several of the natural science related activities linked up in last week's party caught my attention. Did you see these three?

At Creekside Learning they used rocks and chalk to represent the constellations.

Putti Prapancha created a texturized picture of the Earth using paint and salt.

Sunny Day Today Mama built an amazing dinosaur egg example out of paper mache'.

It's your turn!

If you are new to Show &Tell or need a quick recap, here are the rules:

~Post your favorite lessons, crafts, traditions, kid friendly recipes, field trip recap, learning games, experiments, DIY organizational projects, holiday related activities, or Ah-Ha moments.

~Direct link to your post, not your home page.

~Include a link back to us or include our link button in your post or sidebar.

~Each week we will feature three links from the previous week's party. Some weeks these are chosen at random, sometimes by theme, and other times according to linky tools stats.

Teaching with Ticia: Making the Most of Field Trips

noreply@blogger.com (Ticia) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:52:00 +0000

Spring is field trip season. The weather is beautiful, and many of my local area places are best in the Spring. So, we at least in our homeschool go on lots of field trips in this time of year.

Prep work before

1. Look to see hours, distance to travel, and other things of that nature. I've made the mistake a few times of not checking ahead of time and getting there to discover the place we were going closed.

2. Check to see if there's a website. If there is look for any lesson plans to go along with it. Many museums or zoos have lesson plans to go with their museum. They also frequently have picture scavenger hunts for younger kids to complete.

3. Pack all snacks and lunches you plan to bring. Double check if you can bring them in. Some museums allow you to bring small snacks, others do not allow any food inside, but will allow you to leave to eat and come back in.

4. If it's a museum dedicated to someone, or someone's house, try checking out a book about the subject to let them learn more beforehand, and to bring up more questions.

While you're there

1. Take advantage of maps. This is a great chance to have a hands on map skills lesson.

2. Figure out what places are high priority and go there first. For my kids when we go to zoos, their highest priorities are giraffes and lions. Children's Museums, their highest priorities are the grocery stores or towns. Most other museums it is hands on exhibits.

3. I'm sure you all know this, but if it's just your family and you are not on a particular schedule, leave while the kids are still happy. It's so tempting to squeeze out one more activity to "get your money's worth out of it," but every time I've tried that it has not gone well.

4. If it is not a museum geared towards children, try to alternate exhibits that are less hands on and exhibits that are more hands on.

After the field trip

1. For younger kids, have them narrate what happened, and what their favorite parts were. Older kids who are starting to write can write their own summary.

2. Do any follow up activities suggested from the website. Our local children's museum has suggestions of what to do after your visit related to the current traveling exhibit. Depending on the type of exhibit it can be a science experiment, a writing activity, or a building activity.

3. Go to the library and follow up on any topics or questions brought up. We frequently follow up zoo visits by getting more information about animals we saw.

4. Write a story. This is one of my kids' favorites activities to do. They will spend a lot of time making up stories about them and the pictures we took.

Bilingual Wednesdays- Día de la tierra

noreply@blogger.com (Ana) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Word recognition is an early skill that helps your children identify new words, associate words and pictures and consolidate word structure either in English or Spanish. I made this set of letter tiles to practice word recognition with one of my bilingual groups.

In this case you will find some cards and letter tiles to "write" words such as
Earth / Tierra
Tree / árbol
Sun / sol
Water/ agua
Leaf /hoja
Branch/ rama
Flower /flor
Bee / abeja
Soil /suelo
Snail / caracol

Print, cut and laminate for durability. Let children form the words using the tiles.

Show and Tell #96

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Living and Learning at Home has many posts about exploring the 5 Senses. Last week they linked up with a Nature Walk focusing on their sense of hearing.

Small Good Hearth shared many great suggestions for encouraging a young poet.

Preschool Powol Packet will have you searching for ants to try this neat color changing experiment.

It's your turn!