I believe it is very important for all of us to talk about and decide what we are truly thankful for in life. There are so many amazing things in the life to be thankful for. I am personally thankful for my health, family, friends, my job, and really just everything! Let children discuss what they are thankful for, you never know what they may say, but it will give you an insight into their lives and what they think is important. It is very pertinant that you take time to learn about your students. I am going to take a few days away from blogging as I have started a new job and I am going to take time to be with my family. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving, and keep enjoying the website! I love sharing my thoughts and ideas with you daily!
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Classroom Library!
It is very important to have a large classroom library! If you haven't started teaching make sure you are collecting books for children. Books need to be very diverse! Think about different places to gather books for cheap or even free: Book Fairs Garage Sales Libraries (they have sales on their books) Second hand stores Friends or family that have children (hand me downs) A new one I fount Books by the Foot you pay 29.99 and get a box full of books And when you get a classroom ask the PTA to help you start your collection. Scholastic Book orders (have children buy and the teacher gets free books) A Teacher's Pledge By Robert John Meehan TO THE DIFFICULT ONES I'll be patient To the Pained ones I'll be concerned To the frustrated ones I'll be committed To the Ignored ones I'll be accepting To the Indifferent ones I'll be caring to the demanding ones I'll be modeling To the Antisocial ones I'll be including to the Unattentive ones I'll be interesting To the Negative ones I'll be assisting! Praising children is an important part of a teacher's day. It is very important for parents too. I believe I have the self-esteem and concept I do today, because my mother always said things to me that have stuck with me through the years.
I caught myself daily praising my students, or giving a high-five, or a hug. Children want the approval of parents and teachers! It is GREAT to Praise children---or even your friends and family! Everyone likes to hear they've done a great job at something! 30 Ways to say "VERY GOOD" Good for you Superb You did that very well You've got it made Terrific Couldn't have done it better myself you're doing fine You're really improving Now you've figured it out Outstanding Incredible Good Work You figured that out fast I think you've got it now Tremendous You did really well today Perfect Nice going Now you've got the hang of it WOW Wonderful You're getting better every day You're learning that fast You make it look so easy Super You did a lot of work today Keep it up Congratulations Exactly right Nice Job! Encourage children in the classroom or at home to use these phrases with their peers! Today I wanted to talk about Environmental Print/Awareness!
Definition of Environmental Print: Environmental Print is the print of every day life: the symbols, signs, numbers, and colors found in McDonald's Wal-Mart, Exxon, Pizza Hut, 7-Up, and on websites. They offer excellent entry points for young children to begin to learn to read, write, and do math! Resources for Environmental Print are: Books, billboards, calendars, catalogs, comics, containers, coupons, flyers, greeting cards, grocery stores, journals, labels, magazines, menus, newspapers, office suppy packaging, posters, recipes, road signs, snack bags, telephone books, and websites. The reasons to use Environmental Print: It is everywhere and because it is part of a natural setting where children live and what they see everyday. It is a great starting point to teach young children to read, write, and do math. Children have a concrete connection to everyday print. They "read" it within the context of their everyday experiences. It bridges the gap between the functional print of school and the print outside. And it is almost FREE TO USE IN YOUR CLASSROOM. Concrete Ideas on homepage under Idea of the day. Click here for the page in this site ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT Ideas for working with Environmental Print: Find Letters-Upper and Lower case Count vowels Sort words Find diagraphs Find Dipthongs Alphabetize the labels Find numbers Shapes Write Stories Next to hugging your child, reading aloud is probably one of the longest lasting experiences that you can put into your child's life. You will savor it long after they have grown up. Reading aloud is important for all the reasons that talking to children is important-to inspire them, to guide them, to educate them, to bond with them and to communicate our feelings, hopes and fears. You are giving children a piece of your time.
---Jim Trelease "The Readaloud Handbook" This is one of the most important sayings I send home to my parents/guardians. I send home something about every week giving them a little "pep talk" from me :). I think it is very important that the parents in my classroom understand that I support them, I know they are busy, and that we both want what is best for their student! I am going to post a few more in the next few weeks. Feel free to type them up on border paper and send them to your families! When I taught, I had a fridge and mircrowave in my room. My students and I were always making something to do with Science or cooking so we could graph etc. I think it is very important to build a classroom community and you can accomplish this through cooking the classroom. If you cook in your classroom every child can be involved in some way. The end product was accomplished by everyone working together.
Cooking with your students takes time and consideration. YOu do have to prepare a little before hand. YOu have to make sure your classroom routine and procedures are in place. Students need to know what to expect. When you cook, decide what you are going to make, make sure you have the ingredients, and make sure everyone is involved in some aspect of the project. Have fun, cooking with your students is about having fun! I am adding new recipes daily to my cooking pages, here is the link COOKING to find recipes to use in your classroom. As we all know, children's first teachers are their parents, and therefore their first exposure to language learning and literacy will occur in the home. Parents who read and talk to their children are providing them with crucial language and literacy activities. As children develop and begin to attend school the importance of this early learning becomes apparent. There needs to be open communication between home and school and make sure parents are supporting literacy activities in the home. A good idea is to make a "Book Bag". A book bag can have a theme or can be about whatever you are learning at school. This book bag should have EVERYTHING in it that children may need to do any activity you give them such as: tape, glue, crayons etc. (Make sure the book bag is explained at your Parent Meeting at the beginning of the school year). Send a letter home with the child in the bag, give a list of materials that need to be returned, and direction of what they should do with the bag. I liked to do theme bags, so right now I would do a Thanksgiving bag. Some books I may include are: Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon 10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing. I may then give a craft idea to make on their own, such as drawing around their hand and making a turkey etc. I would have a sample picture of this in the bag too. Have fun with it! Book Bags are so much fun!
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