super-important inferring during read-alouds
comprehensioninferringreading

super-important inferring during read-alouds

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama
post contains affiliate links

 

inferring during read alouds

 

Read-alouds are the perfect time to sneak in a little bit of learning, whether you’re talking simple reading comprehension strategies, concepts of print, or word recognition.

Tonight, we rocked our nighttime read-aloud with a few more thought-provoking and difficult strategies than normal. We practiced inferring and drawing conclusions in only ten minutes.

For the last week, Cora has requested the same thing for her nighttime book: Too Many Pumpkins by Linda Arms White and illustrated by Megan Lloyd. Too Many Pumpkins is the sweet story about lonely and cranky Rebecca Estelle who loathes pumpkins only to have her yard taken over by pumpkins one season. In an attempt to rid herself of these pesky gourds, she bakes tons of pumpkin goodies and draws her entire town to her house for a pumpkin party.

My parents bought this beautiful book for the kiddos a few years back, so really, it’s one of those books we’ve read dozens and dozens of times. And it’s one of those books that I enjoy so much I don’t really mind the re-reading (and re-reading, and re-reading).

So rather than zip through the book one more time, tonight I tried to get my little sleepyheads thinking while they listened. . .

  • Inferring During Read-Alouds: Inferring is simply using background knowledge along with text clues to come to a conclusion about a topic or idea. Inferring happens every single day, dozens of times, but for many, inferring as a reading comprehension strategy is more intimidating than it needs to be.
Cora’s book of choice, Too Many Pumpkins,
set the stage for pumpkin talk and inference-making.

Inferring is nothing to be afraid of; rather, it’s something to play with and get kiddos comfortable with early in the game so that they’re able to move to bigger and more challenging synthesizing, determining importance, and summarizing down the road.

So when Cora pulled out Too Many Pumpkins for the 80th time in two weeks, I stepped back a bit and tried to look at the book a little differently than I had before. I pushed Maddy, Owen, and Cora to do a little more ‘reading between the lines’ like Harvey & Goudvis say in their 2000 Strategies That Work.

Inferring is ‘reading between the lines’ according
to Harvey & Goudvis.

When we read on the first page that when Rebecca Estelle was a child, her family ate pumpkins for every meal because ‘money was scarce’, I asked, Rebecca Estelle’s family ate pumpkins all of the time when ‘money was scarce’, so what might that tell us about pumpkins?

A tough, open-ended question for Cora and maybe Owen, but Maddy picked up on it and said, I bet you can get a lot of pumpkins for only a little money. Or something. I said, You’re right. They may have bought pumpkins for only a little money or how else do people get food?

Owen said, They make the food or get it from somebody else. Or grow it like our tomatoes in our garden.

So we ran with that and talked briefly–briefly!–about what we remembered about the veggies in our garden, and then we read on.

We stopped now and again for me to ask questions or to have Maddy, Owen, or Cora talk us through a page here or there, but the end was another great spot for making inferences.

Rebecca Estelle gave away all of her pumpkin seeds and goodies in the end, until ‘all that remained was a handful of seeds’ which ‘she tucked snugly into her pocket where they would be safe until planting time next spring’.

I asked, Why would Rebecca Estelle have kept a handful of seeds for herself if she dislikes pumpkins so much? and we talked about what she might do with the pumpkin seeds next planting season. I asked them to tell me how they knew she’d plant them (after they told me she would) and they came up with some pretty solid answers, even pointing to Rebecca Estelle’s smiling face at her pumpkin party.

It was a pretty cool–quick!–before bed chat, and Maddy, Owen, and Cora had no idea they were making inferences using a book they’ve read a million times.

Harvey and Goudvis (2000, Strategies That Work) say it best when they state, ‘Inferring is the bedrock of comprehension, not only in reading. We infer in many realms. Our life clicks along more smoothly if we can read the world as well as text. . . Inferring is about reading faces, reading body language, reading expressions, and reading tone as well as reading text.‘

It makes total sense. We use what we know to make conclusions about the world around us. Why not practice using a simple read-aloud?

Here are some prompts to consider using when helping kiddos make inferences during (or after) read-alouds:

  • How do you think the character feels about. . . ?
  • Why did the author make the title of the book _____?
  • What does the author want you to know?
  • This character’s actions show me that. . .
  • This character’s face tells me that. . .
  • What clues did the author give you to make you come to that conclusion?

Thanks to Valerie Ellery’s Creating Strategic Readers (2009) and Harvey & Goudvis’s Strategies That Work (2000) for information in this post.

Check out some more fab Valerie Ellery resources for Primary Grades and Intermediate Grades if you’d like more strategy-work freebie ideas.

You may also like every picture tells a story.

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lowercase letter hunt and sort | teachmama.com
alphabet

lowercase letter hunt and sort

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

Our first super crazy fall week has hit us.

Hard.

lowercase letter hunt and sort | teachmama.com

With double Back-to-School Nights, double tutoring, and meetings, on top of a mid-week trip to the Newseum to learn about some pretty awesome new video games, this one’s been a doozey. And there’s only more fun to come at the end of the week.

So we’ve been trying to take it easy and enjoy the last of our really warm afternoons outside, trying to laugh a lot, and in the end, just hold on to our sanity.

But the ole bag of Alphabet Cards have been hanging around. So Owen’s been rockin’ his lowercase letters. . .

Lowercase Letter Hunt and Sort:

The part of ABC Hide-and-Seek that Owen loves most is the seeking. But he also sometimes begs to do the hiding. And even though every single time he hides the cards, he hides them so well we can never find them all, I let him do it once in a while.

lowercase letter hunt and sort lowercase letters teachmama.com

So when he insisted in the middle of this very nutty week–when he begged and pleaded–to do the hiding, I let him have a go.

First he had to count the lowercase letters to make sure there were 26. (We couldn’t remember if the last time we used them we found them all, and a little extra counting never hurts. Luckily, we had ’em.)

And then he hid the cards.

And of course, Cora and I couldn’t find them all.

So what should have taken us about 10 minutes max took us 20 minutes. But it felt like an hour.

lowercase letter hunt and sort lowercase letters teachmama.com

 

lowercase letter hunt and sort lowercase letters teachmama.com

 

So while Cora and I searched and searched and searched and searched, Owen started to put the lowercase alphabet letters in order.

And the job was a little more difficult for him than I anticipated–and hoped. He got stuck on the traditional toughies–b, d, g and p. (Looks like I’ll have to pull out our Fun Font Sort next week!)

And when we finally–finally!–found all of the letters, we did a little jig of joy. And then we ran to let Brady out then ran to get our shoes on then ran to get our water bottles, and Owen ran to get his helmet on then he ran to grab his scooter, and Cora ran to the stroller, and I ran to the pantry for an on-the-way snack so that we could kinda sorta hopefully try to be on time to pick Maddy up from school.

And that was that. A little super-sneaky alphabet learning made for a teeny bit of time but that took waaaay too long for our day.

We should have left the cards hidden, but with our luck, Brady would have found them and called them a snack.

Do you want to grab the Alphabet Cards so you can play at home?

Want a few more alphabet activities? Check out:

And don’t miss our #raiseareader series on YouTube!

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digraphs and blends: search, find, and rhyme game

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

It’s no secret that digraphs and blends are tough for some kiddos to enunciate and hear. These tricky, unique sounds are difficult for little mouths to create, and it’s known that speech sounds come with time.

But if we can find reasons to say words with these sounds, play games with the sounds, and give our kiddos opportunities to practice them, it’s a win-win! (And some seriously sneaky learning. . . )

My two little sweets, Owen and Cora, both have enunciation struggles that I never experienced with Maddy. Although Maddy was over 2 years before she started to talk–seriously!–the words she spoke were as clear as day.

It was like she was waiting until she could say the words correctly before she’d say them at all.

Owen spoke early and quickly, using any word he could any way he could, and to this day, he still has a difficult time with a handful of tricky sounds. Cora followed in Owen’s footsteps, trying to keep up with everyone else language-wise. She’s only three, sure, but contends with a little lisp and often exchanges her r’s for w’s.

My only point in sharing this is to explain why I have been searching for a few new games to get us playing with those tricky, tricky digraphs and blends. This one is a winner.

shower, flower and chain, train cards
(Cora, my little DC gal, called the train the ‘Metro’.)

I used the cards from the Change My Word Game and switched things up a bit, as I know that Owen and Cora like to get up and moving, and they love hide-and-seek.

So after lunch, I said, Who’s up for a new hide-and-seek game? In this one, you have to find secret rhyme cards, though, so it might be too tough for you two. Should I put it away and try it another day, maybe, or are you ready for it today?

They convinced me they were both ready, so I told them what to do: I held up a folded yellow card, and I said, There are a bunch of yellow cards hidden in the living room. You have to find a card, open it, and then find its partner rhyme card. Tough! I know. But each card has a pair. Ready? Find ’em!

Owen and Cora both sped around picking up the folded yellow cards, not opening each one but rather gathering all they could at once. No biggie. (Not what I intended, but it seemed to work for them.)

When they had found all of the cards, I said, Okay, bring all of the yellow cards here, and we’ll find the rhyme partners together.

Owen found the flower.

They unfolded the cards, and they identified the pictures (and here’s my big mistake–I should have said the names of all of the pictures before the cards were hidden!). The pictures could have been different things; Cora called the ‘train’ a ‘Metro’, the ‘shower’ they called ‘water’ and the ‘chick’ a ‘bird’. Not the end of the world, but it may have made their rhyming easier.

So it really ended up as us all matching the rhyming cards together on the table: Hmmm, this is a ‘flower’. What rhymes with ‘flower’? ‘Flower’, ‘train’ or ‘flower’, ‘shower’? Or, This is a ‘sheep’. ‘Sheep’, ‘stick’? ‘Sheep’, ‘sleep’? ‘Sheep’, ‘chick’?

The game cards were found, unfolded, and matched!

Eventually all of the cards were matched. We read through the rhymes together, and they asked to play again. A good sign for a new game, right? Yes!

My goal for this game was not to force Owen and Cora into correct pronunciation of words they already have a difficult time saying; rather, my focus was really just to give them a chance to hear the sounds in words, play with the sounds a bit with rhyming, and give them the chance to try to say the words if they wanted. That’s it. And I wanted it fun, I wanted them up and moving, and I wanted them to want to play.

When Owen or Cora–or any little person, for that matter–mispronounce a word, I don’t make them try and try and try again until they say it correctly. I simply repeat the word the way it should be pronounced in a natural paraphrasing of what they just said.

And if the time’s right, if the kids are in the mood, and if there’s no audience, I’ll maybe explain how they can make the sound if they want to try it. For the ‘th’ sound, Owen and I have talked about where the sound is formed–with the tongue flat on his top teeth, not with the tongue on the roof of his mouth where the ‘s’ is made. And if they get it, great; if not, no worries.

Need some digraph or blend games? Try:

We’ll be doing more blend and digraph gaming in the next few weeks. . . any great ideas? Please let me know!

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behavior managementparenting

quick trick: keeping kids busy in line

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

This Quick Trick is one of those that works only when I use it only occasionally. It’s one that helps every so often to distract Maddy, Owen, and Cora from the actual task at hand–waiting in line.

Whether it’s at the grocery store, at Costco, or the bank, time in line can be brutal for little ones (and okay, let’s admit it–their over-tired parents).

The errands that once took 15 minutes sans kids often takes an hour with little ones in tow, and on days when there’s more than one stop, even the most simple errands can be brutal unless we plan ahead. And everyone knows that’s not always possible.

So while shopping last week for a new loaf pan for our Zucchini Bread, I desperately needed to pull out some tricks for passing time in the long line. Here’s what we did:

  • Find Your (*insert body part*) First: Sounds crazy, a little questionable, maybe even a little inappropriate for passing time in line, but it works for my kids and it teaches them–or reminds them, in some cases–of the parts of their body.

Usually if there’s a half dozen people in front of me and tons of enticing impulse items on the shelves from me to the check-out, I’ll say, Okay, let’s see who really knows the parts of their body. . . find your ankle bone!

And if the items on the shelves aren’t too awesome, if the stars are aligned, and if the kids are listening, they’ll turn to me and really quickly touch their ankle bones. Or they’ll turn and look at me with complete and utter confusion, look at whoever found the said ankle bone and copy that person.

Sure–Maddy and Owen (and Cora mostly) know the major parts of their bodies–the kids are 6, 5, and 3 for goodness’ sakes. But I use the time in line to make sure they know some not-so-obvious parts, the parts that aren’t part of a catchy kids’ song.

I’ve had them ‘find’ the following body parts (and I always throw in some easies along with the toughies just to keep up morale!):

  • ankle, ankle bone
  • elbow
  • thigh
  • calf
  • eyebrow
  • eyelash
  • cheekbone
  • chin
  • earlobe
  • nostril
  • wrist
  • elbow
  • funny bone
  • knee cap
  • nape
  • cuticle
  • biceps, triceps
  • jaw, jawbone
  • joint
  • knuckle

I’ve found that they like to show me they know the ‘tough’ ones and they like to learn new words for parts they already know. I haven’t hit them with ‘gluteus maximus’ yet, but I can imagine the giggles when I do. . .

And that’s that. An easy, spur-of-the-moment Quick Trick that takes no planning, little time, even less brain power, so that we (I) can actually make it from the line to checkout with some of semblance of sanity.

This list is hardly extensive. If you have a suggestion for a part I should add, let me know! Thanks and happy waiting in line!

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coin counting
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coin counting and skip counting

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama
coin counting

Our summer took a crazy turn about two weeks ago when we learned that Maddy needed to have a tonsillectomy before the end of the summer.

With just a few days to shove in all of our summertime fun, poor ole teach mama blog (and many other things!) took a rightful back burner. We barely had time to prepare Maddy for the realization that she wouldn’t be running, playing, swimming, or biking for the last two weeks of her break.

Needless to say, after a successful surgery (woo-hooooo!) our attention was directed toward our brave little 6-year-old, feeding her a lot of ice-cream, playing easy games, reading lots of books, and doing what we could to keep her comfortable.

Counting money–and practicing skip counting–was one activity that Maddy requested and that Owen and Cora were totally up for. For some reason, playing with money has always been exciting for Maddy, Owen, and Cora–cleaning money, singing songs and poems about money, sorting it, and counting it.

  • Coin Counting and Skip Counting: Coin counting is one thing, but ‘skip counting’ is simply the way our school system describes counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, or any set number.

 

Yesterday, Maddy asked if we could count her money to see if she had enough to take to the toy store to buy this stuffed dog she has been dreaming about for months now. After her very lethargic past few days, I jumped on this opportunity to do a little math learning since school is (yikes) right around the corner.

I knew she wanted to add all of her money together, but I wasn’t sure about the best way to keep track of the numbers and addition; sure, I know how I’d do it with the ole calculator, but I wasn’t sure the best way to do it so that she–a rising first grader–would understand. And I wanted it to make sense for Owen and Cora, too.

So we started by sorting the coins–something that Maddy, Owen, and Cora did with ease. They sorted by pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars (thanks to the Tooth Fairy!), and dollars–coins and bills. We had one pile for ‘extras’–anything coin-like that wasn’t really money but that ended up in her jar.

Owen and Maddy skip count by 25’s while counting quarters.
FYI: I was right there as a big, big helper.

After sorting the coins, I had Maddy create a very simple sheet to keep track of what she had and what we counted. She titled it “Maddy’s Money” and made columns for each coin she had.

[Tonight, I created a Money Counting Chart and a Coin Counting Chart that we’ll use in the future. They’re pdf’s that are more organized; the Money Counting Chart can be used to total all of their money, and the Coin Counting Chart we’ll use to practice first-grade math.)

 

Coin Counting Chart by teach mama

Maddy wrote the number value of each coin next to the name of the coin, and then we counted. She, Owen, and Cora put the pennies in rows of 10, and then Maddy skip counted by 10’s to find the total number of pennies.

We did the same thing for nickels–we put them in rows of 10 and skip counted by 5’s to get to 50. For dimes, we put them in rows of 10 and skip counted by 10’s to 100.

We counted the quarters and half-dollars and dollars–coins and bills–and put the total numbers on Maddy’s chart.

I helped with the final adding, and that was it. Did MIaddy have the money she needed for the puppy at the store? I’m not sure.

I think we’ll take an extra trip to the toy store this weekend or next, and maybe with all of the gems from her gem jar along with her own saved money, she’ll be able to buy it. She has been so tough. . .

What I realized is that money counting is hard. Really, really hard. It’s difficult to explain because the concept is just beyond so many young kids at this point. So I think it’s super-important to focus on one or two coins for the younger kiddos and then max out at quarters for kids about Maddy’s age. When you get into decimals and carrying numbers and the dollar bills and dollar coins, it just becomes so much.

Having never taught math to elementary school students myself and having cried my way through most of my math classes throughout school, today was an eye-opener. I’m betting I’ll rely heavily on my pals over at we teach and my husband (who taught grade 5 and high school math) to get the troops through this kind of stuff. . . or maybe I’ll just need to take a second or two to think through things before I move into them. Or maybe I’m just a little more sleep-deprived than usual.

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nonfiction reading and real life learning
comprehensionquestioningreading

non-fiction reading and real-life learning with fish

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

post contains affiliate links

 

nonfiction reading and real life learning

 

We’re pet sitting for the next few days, and Maddy, Owen and Cora are loving it. Nothing cuddly or furry, but these little guys are certainly entertaining if you ask my three kiddos.

We’re fish-sitting, actually, for what may be close to 20 fish.

Two separate ponds with a waterfall and lily pads. And a back yard like you wouldn’t believe that makes me want to get work on my own cruddy back yard like right now and one that Maddy has said is ‘the most beautiful place she’s ever seen’.

Anyway, I’m loving our fish-sitting because sure–I get so see what a yard can look like when the kids are out of college and you have time to into it. But ‘fish-sitting’ has also opened up the perfect opportunity to sneak in a little learning about a topic that is of high-interest, timely, and completely relevant to our lives.

All you need is an open door for an opportunity to get kids more comfortable with non-fiction reading, and this is one of them. Two girls on the Kids Post even had their picture taken with a big ole fish this week. We had to do some research and reading!

  • Real-Life and Non-Fiction Reading: Probably about once a week, we head down the street to our neighbors’ house to feed the fish. But this is the first time ever that we’re in charge of the fish. For several days. So we’ve spent time watching them, feeding them, hanging out with them.

This time, Maddy and Owen and Cora have begun to sit back after throwing handfuls of fish pellets in the water and really look at these guys.

And they’ve begun to ask questions. Tons of questions. And any teacher knows that questions are a great starting point for real-life learning.

How can they see in this dirty water?
Do they close their eyes when they sleep?
How do they swallow without chewing?
Can they see us?
Where are their ears?

I told them that I wasn’t really sure of how to answer these questions but that we had to go to the library that afternoon to return some books anyway, so why don’t we look for some books that may help us? They were psyched.

We hunted down as many fish-related books as we could find, threw them in our bag, and headed back to the home front.

My vision for all of us sitting down and reading them that afternoon fizzled when the sun came out and the kids wanted to run out back when we got home, and that’s fine. Over the last few days, though, we’ve been picking up the books, reading and re-reading, skimming, and looking at the pictures.

The big white guy with black dots vacuums the fish pellets.

Some books Maddy can read herself, and some I’ve read to everyone. I wanted to have a variety. Even if non-fiction texts are above a reader’s own ability, it’s fine; parents or teachers can read the text during a read-aloud and the benefits of doing so can benefit vocabulary, knowledge of informational text structure, content area learning, reading interest and engagement with the topic (from “Informational Text Use in Preschool Classroom Read-Alouds,” by Pentimonti, Zucker, Justice, & Kaderavek in The Reading Teacher, May 2010).

We picked up several non-fiction easy-readers about fish which I didn’t actually love; I found the text features to be really wild and too hard for emerging readers to follow. I am a bigger fan of simple non-fiction texts with basic text features–easy to read Table of Contents, Index, Chapter Titles, photo captions, etc. The reading a-z book I printed was better in that respect (Is That a Fish? by Susan Hartley).

I also mixed some fiction with our non-fiction picks so that we could talk–generally–about the differences between them. Of course, Maddy’s got a grasp on it by now, but it never hurts to review. And it helps for Owen and Cora to have a head’s up on concepts they’ll learn down the road. We read Fishing With Grandpa by Robert Charles (from reading a-z) and A Fishy Story, by Marcus Pfister along the mix of non-fiction.

our pile of fishy books

We’ve read non-fiction books based on topics of interest before, and it is well worth the time it takes to hunt down the books and sort through them with your kids.
It’s so cool to hear kiddos share facts that they’ve learned or remembered, and it makes them feel so proud.

I love it–fish facts, dog facts, caterpillar facts, firefly facts, toad facts, I love, love, love it.

Especially when it comes to science concepts, enjoying non-fiction texts in a read-aloud when kiddos are at an early age, is mucho helpful. In fact, “teacher-led read-alouds can provide the necessary support as children encounter potentially difficult content, text features, and challenging vocabulary” which was definitely the case when we were reading the texts from the library that had text and captions and photos all over the place (from “Introducing Science Concepts to Primary Students Through Read-Alouds: Interactions and Multiple Texts Make the Difference,” by Heisey & Kucan in The Reading Teacher, May 2010).

The National Science Education Standards(National Research Council, 1996) “emphasized the importance of introducing science concepts early on” in children’s lives, and many researchers have started to “acknowledge the power and usefulness of integrating science and literacy instruction” (also from “Introducing Science Concepts. . .”). It makes sense; reading should be–needs to be–integrated with content-area learning. Literacy instruction is just that important. And if we want our kiddos–boys and girls included–to be turned on to science from the get-go; there’s a lot out there to learn and explore!

And that’s that. Happy reading, researching, and learning along with your every day experiences!

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adding practice with street sign math

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

Today, we hit the road a bit, to a new-for-us library to hang out with some friends and learn about 4-H and county fairs and then to (our fave!) Ikea to pass a rainy afternoon. (And the free kids’ meals don’t hurt, either.)

Being on the road gave us a chance to play with numbers in a way that I had never thought to do before. Thanks to Maddy, we threw in a little adding practice on the road today, called it ‘Street Sign Math’, and pretty much had a rockin’ time.

  • Street Sign Math: It began with Maddy calling from the back seat, Hey Mommy! That sign has a four and a zero. Forty. Do you know what four plus zero equals? It’s four!!

Owen said, I know that! It’s four! Maddy do another one!

And so began our Street Sign Math. It didn’t matter if it was a speed limit sign, a highway sign, or a house number; if we could clearly make out the numbers, we added them together.

Speed limit signs that ended in zeroes were the easy ones!
4 + 0 = 4!

If there were three numbers, I’d say, This one has three numbers (rte 495), so listen closely. What does four plus nine plus five equal? Add the first two numbers, four plus nine. (I’d wait for the answer.) Awesome! Thirteen! Now add five. What does thirteen plus five equal? Yes! Eighteen! That was a tough one.

Some were tricky, but some were easier, like the speed limit signs: 35 (3+5), 40 (4+0), 55 (5+5), which led us into some doubling practice.

Nothing was stopping us– 2+6+9?
8+9 = 17!

Maddy and Owen were really revved up about the whole idea, calling out numbers and adding them, checking each other’s work. Cora was yelling out numbers and trying to play along, too, so we gave her the challenge of shouting whenever she saw ‘her number’, number 3 or Owen’s number (4) or Maddy’s number (6).

Owen is pretty quick at adding, so I really had to focus on not making this an adding race and instead making everyone use wait time before they shouted out their answers. For a while Maddy and Owen worked together, then Maddy added the first two numbers and Owen added the third, or vice versa.

It was fun. Maddy, Owen, and Cora said it was fun, and they basically made up the whole game. And that’s probably why they loved it so much and it worked out so well in the first place.

This morning’s Street Sign Math definitely reminded me of the importance of reviewing basic, easy math facts–the ones that eventually need to come quickly and without thought just like the sight words that we practiced in games and cool activities before and throughout kindergarten.

And that’s it. Thanks to Maddy today for getting us going and helping me along in my desperate attempt to get us all to be a little more math-mindful this summer!

Check out getting ready for kindergarten: summertime prep.

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parentingquick trick

quick trick: playing on positive behavior

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

Back in the end of May, our little familia was experiencing a rough patch. Owen finished preschool a few weeks before Maddy ended kindergarten, Cora’s playgroup was still meeting but Owen’s soccer wasn’t over. The pool was open but school was still in session. It was strange.

The schedule we had grown accustomed to for months and months was changing, and we were in flux. And it turned into a big, ugly behavior rut.

I was raising my voice more than I’d liked. Maddy, Owen, and Cora were bickering more than they needed, and we all were just drifting between schedules–waiting for some sort of new summer normal to come in and sweep us into regularity and happiness. (Sigh.)

But I knew things wouldn’t level out again for some time, so I needed something to rope us back in before we were cranky, tired, and unfocused all of the time.

Luckily, I ran across something in the June/ July issue of Family Fun that has helped to put us back on track, and we’ve been using it for well over a month with great success–Our Gem Jars.

  • Gem Jars: Our Gem Jars are just that–glass jars I picked up (on sale) at the craft store and from our recycle bin, and the ‘gems’ are those clear glass beads that we love over here and have used time and time again as bingo markers.

I bought black letter stickers so I could put each family member’s name on a jar. Maddy, Owen, and Cora each have a jar, and there’s even one for Mom, Dad, and Brady.

The deal with the Gem Jars is simple, and it’s one that’s been supported by research over and over and over again: rewarding positive behavior.

After I had assembled all of the ‘pieces’ of this Gem Jar experiment, my husband and I called a Family Meeting just like we do when we have to discuss anything new.

I said, Daddy and I are excited to tell you about a new way we’re going to reward the great things we see you guys doing every day. These are your new Gem Jars, and these are the gems. Notice there are big gems and little gems? I’ll tell you why in a second.

See these two lines on the side of everyone’s jars? There’s one at the top of the jar and one in the middle. When your jar is filled with gems, you will earn a reward. Half-full jars will earn small rewards, and bigger rewards will come when your jars are totally full of gems. And imagine how beautiful your jars will look when they’re filled!

Maddy’s jar is almost full!

I took out a piece of paper and we all brainstormed some ways that we all could earn gems. We came up with:

  • playing nicely with pets
  • being first-time listeners
  • sharing toys
  • keeping a clean room
  • brushing teeth and washing face without being asked
  • flushing toilet and washing hands with soap without being asked (gulp.)
  • using good manners
  • waiting patiently to talk and not interrupting others
  • being extra kind and loving toward each other
  • telling the truth
  • saying “I’m sorry” without being asked
  • being extra helpful to others

We explained the difference between big gems (a pack of fancy diamond-like glass beads I found at the store near the wedding supplies) and little gems (a mix of the smaller glass beads I mentioned above). Big gems could be earned for going above and beyond, but they were very special; it might take time to earn those.

We all also discussed rewards for half-full and full jars, and we wrote them on a list. We decided that a trip to Rita’s, a special trip somewhere with Mommy or Daddy, being able to choose dessert one night, a chap stick (for the girls–I know. . . ), a new book, a pack of silly bracelets, or even a trip to the toy store with a $5.00 or $10.00 limit might be good things to work toward.

The kids seemed excited, and so were we. Anything was better than what we had, and we were all ready for a change.

We’re about six weeks into Gem Jars, and we’re really happy with how things are going. We’ve hit the toy store once about two weeks ago since the jars were close to full, and it helped keep up the momentum. Maddy picked out a dolphin stuffed animal, Owen picked out a Lego set, and Cora also picked out a Lego set.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it fool-proof? Nope.

But what it does do is give everyone something to work toward and it keeps us focusing on the positive: Let’s get this room picked up so that I can throw two gems in your jars! or Thank you, Owen, for letting Brady outside. Put a gem in your jar! or I love the way you’re speaking to each other and sharing toys! Three gems for each of you!

It’s a riot to hear them actually notice positive behavior and say to each other, Maddy, you were nice to help me. I’m giving you a gem, or Mommy needs a gem! She made us a great dinner (okay, so they said that once, but I’ll never forget it!).

On tough days, when kids are arguing, hitting, or are unkind, sure–we count 1, 2, 3 or use time-outs if we need to. But we also remove gems from jars if we need to–if behavior is not what we expect. If they ask for a gem? No way do they get one! The sure ticket to not getting a gem is to ask for one.

In my book, it’s not bribery. It’s incentive, it’s recognizing and immediately rewarding the behavior we want repeated, and it’s simple. No points, counting, or record-keeping. Just beautiful jars slowly being filled with gems that represent love, generosity, kindness, and support. We won’t do it forever, but for as long as we need or want to and until the behavior is as automatic as breathing. Or so we hope.

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to Malissa O’Brian for sharing her family’s idea on Creative Solutions in Family Fun! Love it–thank you, Malissa!

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family funfamily lifeoutdoor activities

coffee can stilts: old school summer fun

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

 

coffee can stilts | old school summer fun teachmama.com

Just for fun, just because I had two empty coffee cans, and just because I remember loving the yellow plastic-cup stilts we had as kids, we made coffee can stilts over here one recent afternoon.

It was a day when we decided we were all pooled-out and we were looking for some out-in-the-backyard excitement. So in between some games of soccer and some sandbox play, I made these old-school toys to challenge my little ones.

Maddy, Owen, and Cora are fairly athletic kids, but this kind of game really tested their coordination and gross motor skills. With help from me–especially at first–they did a pretty decent job and had some fun along the way.

  • Coffee Can Stilts: I literally made these with basic, basic supplies that we had around the house–two coffee cans, yarn, a hammer, and a nail.

I made two holes in the bottom of each can by using a hammer and nail. Then I doubled-up a long piece of yarn (probably more sturdy string would last a bit longer.

Our coffee can stilts required only the basics. . .
coffee can stilts | old school summer fun teachmama.com
coffee can stilts | old school summer fun teachmama.com. . . but they really were pretty fun.

Owen and Cora were the first to give ’em a try, but then Maddy decided to get in on the action. It was much easier for Maddy to understand that in order to make the stilts move smoothly, that she needed to pull up on the strings and have them move along with her step, but Owen eventually got it, too.Even with Maddy and Owen, I was right there, ready to catch them, for fear of their little ankles or arms breaking if they fell the wrong way.

coffee can stilts | old school summer fun teachmama.com

Cora just liked being tall and probably stood still on hers for ten minutes before she felt comfortable enough to move with my help. It was a riot.

Everyone fell, everyone got frustrated, and everyone got back up on the stilts at least once or twice. Whew! It’s always interesting for me to watch how Maddy, Owen, and Cora handle this kind of struggle, and really, I’ve come to the conclusion that their attitude depends on the day, the company, the weather–you name it. It always seems to change.

Anyway, it was just a little stretch–a little old-school game with a bit of learning about how they handle a new physical activity on a sunny summer afternoon.

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july 4th funky sparkle flag pen
holidaysjuly 4th

ringin’ in the 4th with sparkle pens and flag treats

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

This year we didn’t ring in the 4th with our annual July 4th party, and that’s okay.july 4th funky sparkle flag pen

Baby showers, weddings, beach trips, and day trips, have been keeping us busy, so Independence Day was upon us before we knew it. That doesn’t mean that we forgot about our Nation’s Big Day, though.

Here’s how we’re celebrating July 4th, today:

  • Sparkle Pens: I revved up our pen jar a bit and surprised Maddy, Owen, and Cora when they went to write names this morning in their Everyday Name Books.

Inspired by an idea I saw in the July 2010 issue of Family Fun, all I did was cut apart some July 4 bling I picked up at the craft store and taped it to some basic, plain-Jane pens.

july 4th funky sparkle flag pen

I always kept a jar of crazy pens in my classroom when I was teaching–kids love to use them, even if they’re the big guys in high school. When my own kiddos woke up to these at the breakfast table, they knew they were in for a happy, sparkly 4th of July.

july 4th funky sparkle flag pen

 

  • Rice Krispie Treat Candy Flag: We usually stick to our old faithful, Flag Cake but decided to mix it up a bit this year. (And I wanted to get rid of a ton of candy we had in the house!)

I had Maddy, Owen, and Cora separate the red candy from the blue candy while I whipped up the RK treats.

patriotic rice krispie treat flagFirst we separated the blue and red candy from the rest. . .

patriotic rice krispie treat flag

. . . and then we got ready to make our flag!
patriotic rice krispie treat flag

We squished the blue candy in the corner for the stars, and we lined up the red candy–M & M’s, red fish, and red jelly beans–for the stripes.

When we finished, it was one big, beautiful, sweet and totally unhealthy picnic treat in all its glory.

Two easy, fun, and patriotic treats on a sunny Independence Day here at our house, sneaking in a little–and okay, I mean little–writing, sorting, and cooking fun along the way.

Happy 4th!

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make connections with poems we love
comprehensionconnectingreading

making connections– with poems we love

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

post contains affiliate links

make connections with poems we love

 

 

Lately, we’ve been so busy. May flew by, like it always does for us–a blur of end-of-school activities, yard work, picnics, park dates, and now pool time.

So I’ve tried to sneak in what I can, when I can. Most of our learning has been happening through read-alouds, either our newspaper reading at breakfast, or during books at bedtime or before rest time. And believe me, I’m not downplaying it–there’s tons that can be done during those small bits of reading time, and really, there’s not a lick of prep or clean-up involved. Woo-hoo!

And seriously, kids don’t even need to know how to read in order for parents to start teaching reading comprehension strategies; all the parents need are some easy tools up their sleeve.

I’ve been trying to focus on making connections with Owen and Cora:

  • Reading Comprehension Strategy–Making Connections: We always seem to go on poetry-kicks around here, and we’re on one now. Owen, Cora, and I have been reading our favorite poetry books before rest time most days because the poems are short and catchy, and they’re beginning to say them along with me. (And memorizing is super for little brains!)

So what I’ve been trying to do as we read is simply model how a person makes connections with a text. Nothing crazy, nothing fancy, nothing super-wild. I’ll read a poem like “Berry Picking” from Bobbi Katz’s Poems for Small Friends (1989) and say, Oh I cannot wait to go strawberry picking this summer. It’s so hard to put those strawberries in our buckets without eating them, especially when they’re so red and ripe like the ones in this picture. Yum.

Making connections is so easy, but it is muy importante
for emerging readers.

And maybe we’ll chat a little about what we remember from last summer’s strawberry picking at the farm. Just a minute or two–or if they really want to talk, we’ll talk more. Not a big deal. But the time it takes for me to show Owen and Cora that I (and they) have a personal connection to this poem will help them to remember it. It will help them to understand it better, and it will help them to begin making connections to the texts they read (or books they look at) when I’m not there. And making connections is something that all strong readers do naturally.

Because these are rich texts filled with super poetry, I could demonstrate some sort of connection–either to myself, to some other poem we’ve read, or to something in the world around us–for every poem in the book. But I don’t. I don’t want to make connection-making annoying, and I don’t want to make it a pain for them. Every other poem, or every two is fine. It needs to be natural.

Bobbi Katz’s Pocket Poems is full of funny poems–short ones that have silly pictures that make my kids giggle. We often stop at the dog page (go figure!) and talk about Brady when we read “The Dog Show” or “Maggy’s Dog”. I’ll say, Maggy’s dog and our dog have “friendly and waggy” tails. I’m glad that our Brady boy isn’t “vicious and grim” looking from the front. I love our happy-faced dog.


I’ve shared my own childhood dream of squirting out a whole tube of toothpaste into the sink (SO crazy!) when I read “from Toothpaste“: When I was little, I always, always wanted to squirt out a whole tube of toothpaste into the sink. I wanted it to spray it “everywhere except inside my mouth”, too! But even though we want to do things like this, we can’t–or there’d be a lot of wasted toothpaste and one big mess. . .

Connection-making is easy. Essentially, we’re making comparisons between the text and us, between the text and another text, or between the text and some event in the world around us. We can say things like:

  • Hey! This situation reminds me of…
  • This girl is starting a new dance class, and you’re starting new on swim team…
  • I felt the same way as (character) when…
  • Remember reading about the dog in (another book)? They’re alike because…
  • The farmer had bad storm ruin his crops, just like the storm we read about in the paper yesterday…

Really, that’s all there is to connections, at least for these little guys. When students are a little older, I’ll discuss the importance of making distinctions between connections (text-to-self; text-to-text; text-to-world), and I’ll give them the language they need to talk about those connections. But for now, the simple act of me verbalizing the connections we have to the poems we’re reading demonstrates for Owen and Cora that that is what readers do–they read something, and they automatically figure out how it relates to them.

It’s a pretty interesting chain of events: when little ones learn reading comprehension strategies through their parents’ (or caregivers’ modeling), they will naturally begin to practice those same strategies when they begin to read. It’s awesome. They won’t even know they’re doing it or how important it is, but it will help to make them stronger readers in the long run.

It’s no secret that “good readers are active and use a variety of strategies as they read” (Keene & Zimmerman), or students need to be taught these strategies through explicit instruction from day one. By helping to create “active, engaged” readers, “teachers enable them to gain competence and a sense of self-effacy” (Gutherie, 2002). We are able to create active readers even if our kids aren’t decoding on their own. So why not start now?
from Scharlach, T. (2008, September). START Comprehending: Students and Teachers Actively Reading Text. The Reading Teacher, 62 (1).

Still want more? I found Gregory & Cahill’s “Kindergartners Can Do It, Too! Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers” (The Reading Teacher, 2010 March) to be extremely interesting and worth my time–it’s full of ways that one super-cool Kindergarten teacher taught her class the language of comprehension strategies and actions to go along with them!

And that’s it for today. Easy, super-sneaky reading comprehension strategy modeling, and my kiddos didn’t even know they were learning! Happy connecting!

fyi: this post contains affiliate links

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early literacy and math grid games: rainy day
concepts of printreading

early literacy and math grid games: rainy day

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Today, on this rainy, cool, gray Monday, we rocked it with an oldie but goodie:Sunny-Rainy Grid Games. Or Rainy-Sunny Grid Games, depending on how you’re feeling or the weather outside.

We’ve played this game before, but not for a while, and last time we did, Maddy, Owen, and I played; today, Owen, Cora, and I played.

We were feeling tired and lazy after lunch and before rest time, so we plopped onto Owen’s floor, pulled out our Rainy Boards, and got counting.

  • Rainy-Sunny Grid Games: We’ve played grid games many times before, so Owen knows the ropes.

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Cora, on the other hand, is the queen of independent play. She could easily trump Maddy and Owen in time spent alone, playing with dolls, cars, or stuffed animals, so it takes more of an effort for me to ‘reel her in’ and get her interested in the games and activities that Maddy and Owen would drop almost anything to play.

I grabbed our sunny rainy grid games, which can be downloaded as a pdf here. It’s now one document with four boards: Easy Rainy, Tough Rainy, Easy Sunny, and Tough Sunny.

I also chose to use the shiny ‘jewels’ that Cora loves to play with, hoping that they might entice her to join in our game. You can use any markers you’d like–Foamies, Cheerios, stickers, M & M’s, or you could have your little one practice making X’s or O’s.

 

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.commulti-tasking Cora . . .
early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

I said, Cora and Owen, it’s a super day for Rainy Grid Games because it’s just so rainy outside. Let’s take a minute to do some counting and see who can fill their board first! We can use these beautiful glass beads to keep count for us.

With all grid games, the goal is to be the first person to have all of the pictures on the board covered with markers. Players do this by rolling dice, counting the number of dots on the side, and then covering that number of objects on their board. Objects have to be covered from left to right, top to bottom, just like the left-right return sweep in reading.

Cora played with the Easy Rainy board, and Owen and I used a Tough Rainy board. Cora dumped and re-played her board three times before Owen beat me by one, covering his board first. She was only somewhat into it; it took a lot of cheerleading on my part to be more interesting than her Lego guys.

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Hmmmmm. Just when I thought I had things down, my number three throws me for a curve in every which way. I’ll be reaching for all new things to get this little one rolling with us this summer, I can see it now. . .

I’m trying really hard to look back into our game boxes for some activities that will benefit–and interest–Cora, since she is ready to start taking some bigger steps into school readiness. I anticipate having to re-vamp what I have and searching for and creating different ways of getting her moving. What better reason to keep reading and researching on my part!? Give me a hand, my smart friends!

And just a re-posted fyi on why we love grid games:

Grid games as I’ve said before, are a super tool for teaching one-to-one correspondence which emergent readers need to understand that every single number and letter is important and that a group of letters is makes one word. Grid games also work on emphasizing the movement of left to right on a page and the return sweep–reading one whole line from start to finish before moving to the line below.

Math-wise, grid games work on counting–whether it’s dots on a die or a number on a card–and then translating that number to a specific amount on a page, or the number of objects that are covered by a game piece.

(And that’s why I’ll keep trying grid games now and again with my tiniest one!)

Want to throw in a Grid Game now and again? Here are just a few. Read on if you really want to know why Grid Games deserve some love:

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abc exercise cards
early literacyreading

abc exercise cards. . . hooray!

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

Thank you, ABC Exercise Cards, for giving us a fun and burn-some-steam kind of activity this afternoon!abc exercise cards

After a rainy weekend and another rainy–but exciting!–morning at the College Park Aviation Museum with Owen’s class, I found that by the afternoon, my kids had crazy energy to burn.

After playing dress-ups and swinging from the downstairs rings, we used this set of ABC Exercise Cards to keep us busy, make us laugh a lot, and get little brains moving–and reading–along the way.

  • ABC Exercise Cards: These are simple cards each with an uppercase and lowercase letter on them and an action that begins with that letter.

They are similar to our Action, Action 123 Cards, but these cards have the pictures already included and have one action for each letter of the alphabet. And we didn’t use a dice for this game to indicate the number of times to do each action, but you certainly could.

If you’d like to download a set of the ABC Exercise Cards, please visit Homeschool Share, a fantastic site rich with resources for parents and teachers.  I found them under ‘My Body Lapbook‘.

abc exercise cards

Owen’s rockin it out, running in a zig-zag. Obviously.

Owen was in a game-playing mood, so when he suggested we an alphabet board game that we’ve been playing every day (almost for the last two weeks), I said, Hey, I have an idea. I think we have a game that has the letters of the alphabet in it, but it will get us moving and grooving. And I think we all have some energy to burn. Let me get it.

I dumped the bag of cards onto the floor and said, Now here I have a card with an action for each letter of the alphabet. When it’s your turn, you’ll pick a card, we’ll read it, and then you’ll do that action. And what do you think we’ll do with the card after we’re finished?

Owen yelled, Put it in a line! (He has such a good memory from all of our ABC- Style Hide-and-Seek playing. . . )

Exactly, I said. We’ll put the cards in alphabetical order. And if we need to, we can just sing the ‘ABC Song’ to help us. Okay, the first person to spot a circle in the room goes first. Ready, search!

Owen found a circle first, so he led the party, and we went through the entire pile of cards, jumping, hopping on one foot, riding a unicycle (on our backs), waving our arms (like windmills), acting like an inchworm, running in place, and touching our toes–all from A to Z.

abc exercise cards cora leg

Maddy, in her princess shoes, is hopping on one pretty little foot.

When we finished the first time, Maddy and Owen immediately asked to play a second time (Cora was too busy dressing up and playing kitchen). I said, Let’s play tomorrow. Why don’t you go through the pile and read and follow the cards you want? Soon it’ll be dinnertime.

And so they did, and soon it was, and as soon as I slapped my husband five, I grabbed my bags and headed out the door to tutor. A busy, happy Monday it was.

Not only did these cards get us moving, but they also reinforced the all-important letters of the alphabet. Putting the letters in alphabetical order after we completed each card gave Maddy and Owen more practice in understanding where the letters of the alphabet fit in relation to each other, and pictures next to the action instructions made reading easier.

abc exercise cards

Other variations of this activity (that we’ll probably try later this week) include:

  • hiding the cards around the room and having the kiddos find them;
  • trying to do the actions in order, from A to Z and then Z to A;
  • having the kids spell their names with the cards and then complete the actions for their name;
  • spelling our last name and then completing the actions together as a family ‘routine’ (just kidding. . . but not really);
  • giving the kids 3-5 cards and then allowing them to pick an action, demonstrate that action, and then we could guess what letter they had.

Who knew ABC Exercise Cards could be so much fun?

A long while back, I found the ABC Exercise Cardson someone’s website, and (gulp!) I’m not sure whose site it was or who actually created this great resource. However, you can download the same pdf that I downloaded and saved by clicking here: ABC Exercise Cards.

My most sincere apologies go out to the talented creator of these cards, which I did link back to Homeschool Share. I feel strange sharing them without proper linking–which I do feel is extremely important in the world of educational resource sharing–but I am sharing them today because we used them, because I think they’re awesome, and because with rainy spring on its way, I think many others may want to use them, too. Anyone who knows where they originated, please let me know, and I’ll link more properly.

UPDATE, 9/10/11: I did hear back from the sweet Ami, of Homeschool Share, and she asked that I direct readers to The Homeschool Share site, My Body Lapbook, to download this resource. Thank you, Ami, for sharing your incredible work at HSS!!

Happy ABC Exercising and sneaking in a little bit of learning!

Want a few more alphabet activities? Check out:

 

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help kids with letters b and d
writing

help with letters b and d

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

post contains affiliate links

 

 

help kids with letters b and d

As I’ve said very recently, letter reversals are quite normal for emerging readers and writers. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with helping our kiddos remember the tough ones.

Back in January, I saved a Word World episode because I thought that the way it handled the tricky letters b and d was really awesome. Every so often we watch it again, just so I can try to make this catchy little song stick in Maddy, Owen, and Cora’s heads.

Sometimes they need reminding. Tonight was one of those nights.

Here’s the skinny. . .

  • Putting the b- and d- Confusion to Bed: Tonight while I was helping a tired Maddy complete her “Read to Me, Talk with Me” assignment (fyi: these are very simple activities for kindergartners to complete after they read a book with a parent), she paused and looked at me after she wrote a letter ‘p’.

I don’t know if that’s a ‘p’ or a 9, and I don’t really care, she said. I’m going to hope it’s a ‘p’, though, because I’m adding ‘picture’ to my list. (She was making a list of all of the things she could see in Baby Bear’s messy room from the book, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, by James Marshall, 1988.)

I said, Maddy, it’s okay to ask for help, though, if you want some. Yesterday when we started this, you wrote the number ’49’ on the page. Remember, you counted 49 books in Baby Bear’s room? Maybe that will help you. We all need help sometimes.

She looked up and saw 49, and she said, Oh, I remember.

help kids with letters b and d
Maddy was one tired list-writer tonight,
and the b’s and d’s were giving her trouble. . .

But when she got to the ‘d’ in ‘teddy bears’, she looked at me again. She said, I know ‘d’s because they’re in my name, but sometimes I mix them up in other words. I think I need help with d’s.

That was all I needed to bust out with, Liiiiine and circle is the lettaaa ‘bbbbeeeee’, circle and liiiiiine is the lettaaaa ‘ddddeeee’. . .

The episode of PBS’s Word World that I mentioned above contains a crazy-catchy song that helps kiddos remember how to distinguish letters b- and d-. It’s cute. It’s funny, and I think it can help.

 

help kids with b & d practice sheet | teachmama.com by teach mama


Because I know it will come up again sometime soon, I made a b- and d- sheet for Maddy to use–not so much to bore her out of her mind as much as I want to get her drawing and thinking.

It contains the lyrics to Frog’s b- and d- song, a place to practice b’s and d’s, and a place to draw some words just like they do in Word World.

We want our children to write freely, without stressing over whether they are writing the letters correctly. But we also want them to have some tricks up their sleeve to call on when they want or need them.

I’ve always “drawn words” with the students I’ve tutored when they got stuck on g’s, p’s, d’s, or b’s. Whether it’s ‘dog’ with a face in the circle, an ear made out of the line, and a tail sticking out of the ‘g’, or it’s a crazy bug made out of the letters b-u-g, I’ve tried what I can. And the sillier the better.

I really, really like the way Word World handles b’s and d’s with ‘bed’–the song, the picture, the whole thing–works well for little guys; I just wish I could find the song to share here, but my search was fruitless. Bummer.

help kids with letters b and d

Here are the lyrics to Frog’s song, but you really need to hear it to love it:

Which is the ‘b’? Here’s a trick that’s great. First is the line, standing tall and straight.

Next is the circle, like a pillow for your head. That’s ‘b’, the first letter in ‘bed’.

Which is the ‘d’? This trick beats them all.

First comes the circle, round like a ball. Next comes the line, tall and straight. That’s the letter ‘d’.

Isn’t that great? Line and circle is the letter ‘b’. Circle and line is the letter ‘d’. . .
from Word World, season 3, episode 7 (09/08/09).

And that was our later-night b- and d- learning for today.


Update (5/06/10): thanks to @pbsparents, the videos are now on the PBS site!

Thanks, PBS!

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readingvocabulary

farm-full of rich vocabulary words

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

I always cringe when I hear parents talking in baby voices and using baby words when interacting with their not-so-babyish children. Or other people’s not-so-babyish children, especially once those kiddos are out of Baby Bjorns and are walking, jumping, feeding themselves, and hanging up their own coats at preschool.

I usually bite my tongue, but what I want to yell is something along the lines of C’mon, Buddy. Are you serious? Vocabulary is a critical component of reading success! Get crazy–use bigger, better words–they can handle it! And they’ll love you for it later!!

Part of what I love about the rich literature available today is stumbling upon a well-written book that plays with words–one that goes beyond “nice, good, bad”.

One of our old-time favorites, The Farmer, by Mark Ludy is a great piece of literature on so many levels, but I’ve had vocabulary on my mind ever since reading an article on Word Consciousness early this week, so that’s what Maddy, Owen, and I talked about when Maddy chose this at bedtime tonight: vocabulary.

  • Farm-Full of Rich Words: The Farmer is an incredible story about a generous and hardworking farmer who loves his animals and his farm, and even when times are tough, the farmer remains steadfast in his devotion to God and in his kindness to others.

Not only does the story provoke thoughtful discussion, the illustrations are gorgeous. The colors are vivid, and the characters–people and animals–are developed through careful detail and expressions.

The whole work comes together in a really amazing way that makes it hard not to fall in love with the farmer, his animal pals, and okay, even the Frump Family who turns around in the end.

So tonight, when Maddy chose the book, she said, I know you like this one, Mom. She was right.

We read the story, like we usually do, and we searched on each page for Squeakers. But instead of sliding by some of the more challenging words, tonight I stopped–briefly–to chat about them.

The Farmer makes me want to dance.

After the farmer re-plants his crops, I read, ‘He is patient. He perseveres. And when soft rains fall, he kneels in thanks.’ I said, The farmer ‘perseveres’. He worked really hard after the fire; he re-plants his crops, and he doesn’t give up. He perseveres. What do you think ‘perseveres’ means?

Maddy said, Um, maybe that he’s a hard worker?

Owen added, That he is a hard worker, and he’s not crying.

I said, You’re right. The farmer is a hard worker, and he’s not crying or giving up. He’s determined to get his farm growing again. He’s working hard even though things are tough. When you persevere, you work hard even though things are not easy, and you don’t give up.

Maddy said, Kind of like he’s determined?

Yes. Woo-hoo! You got it.

We also talked about “pleasant”, the “mature” garden, and “bounty”. We didn’t talk long; I tried not to break the flow of the story, but we talked long enough.

This was also not our first reading of the book–we’ve had it for years and years, so their familiarity with the text also allowed me more time to stop now and again.

Tomorrow, and for the next few days, I’m going to try to use these words in our every day conversations so that Maddy, Owen, and even Cora can add them to their working vocabulary. We’ll throw around a few high-fives and woo-hoo’s when they use them. And I’ll probably even do a little dance.

fyi: This kind of word consciousness, or being aware of new words, new ways of using words, and talking about those super-cool words we run across every day, is an integral component of language development and one of the predictors of success in reading comprehension.

When children are word conscious, they “are motivated to learn new words and able to use them skillfully” (Lane & Allen, The Vocabulary Rich Classroom: Modeling Sophisticated Word Use to Promote Word Consciousness and Vocabulary Growth, in February 2010’s The Reading Teacher.)

And really, why wouldn’t we want our kiddos to play with words and to develop their vocabulary? Vocabulary knowledge has long been identified as one of the best predictors of reading comprehension, reading performance in general, and school achievement (Lane & Allen citing Davis; Thorndike; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan in the article mentioned above).

another fyi: Not only do I have a secret crush on Mark Ludy (I seriously Googled him years ago because after falling in love with The Farmer; I was convinced he’d be a perfect match for one of my good pals, but he was already married), but now I also love him because his website rocks, he and his wife and three kids run a coffee house in Colorado, he blogs, and he spends time chattin’ with people about writing, art, following your dreams, and faith.

What’s not to love?

(And thanks to Amazon.com for the photos from the book!)

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!
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president's day coin polishing
mathnumbers

president’s day coin polishing

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

No, it’s not President’s Day. But we’re getting close.president's day coin polishing

No, today was just another no-school snow day. And when I walked into Maddy’s room after Cora and I changed everyone’s sheets, I noticed that she and Owen had dumped the contents of Maddy’s piggy bank onto the floor.

They were counting, clinking, playing with the dirty coins. This had to be the perfect time for us to head down to the kitchen for a little coin-cleaning and science experimenting.

So that’s what we did.

  • Coin Cleaning: I grabbed some old toothbrushes, some plastic take-out containers and lids, some towels, and tiny bowls.

Then I found our Baking Soda and vinegar, and I poured some baking soda into each small bowl. I added water to make a wet, gooey, paste, and then I brought them to the table.

Cora’s scrubbing her dirty coins.
And yes, that’s a half-eaten grape on her tray.

Then I said, Okay, are you ready for some crazy, magic, bubbles? Look what this tiny bit of vinegar does to the water and baking soda in the bowl. . .

And on cue, Maddy, Owen, and Cora sent up a collective Wow! Oh my gosh! Ahhhh!
(It really is pretty cool if you ask me!)

I told them that if they wanted to make their gross and dirty coins more shiny, then they needed to use their muscles to scrub, scrub, scrub. And after they scrubbed, they had to rinse their coin in water, then dry it with the tiny towel.

Owen rinses his penny.
He said he really missed his old car toothbrush. It was great reunion.

On this snowy, stuck-inside morning, they did just that: they scrubbed, rinsed, and dried until their little fingers were pruney and their coins were a-shinin’.

While they cleaned, we talked about coins–not as detailed as we did before–but this time for some reason, Owen was really interested in the “guys on the front of the coins”.

It certainly wasn’t a full-fledged history lesson, but we talked a little about George and Abe and about why they’re on the coins.

To make today’s activity all the more worthwhile, right before I made dinner, I went through Maddy’s backpack and found her February Letter from her teachers.

It explained that they were going to chat about presidents! About Abe Lincoln and George Washington! About pennies, nickels, dimes, and their values!
And she had a homework assignment to hunt for pennies–2000 through 2008!

Talk about crazy-coincidental timing (okay, and some major luck).

numismatist sheet

 

After dinner, we searched through our shinin’ gleamin’, gorgeous pennies, found what we could, and taped them to Maddy’s paper.

The cleaning of the coins this morning was really great for Maddy, Owen, and Cora’s little fingers to get moving (como se dice, ‘fine motor skills’?) and for them to practice following a set procedure: scrub, rinse, dry.

The vinegar and baking soda combo–bubbles, textures, you name it–is hands-on science right at your kitchen table.

The hunting for dates (or numbers–however you explain it) is super for practicing number recognition.

And of course, if you get into the heart of why old Abe and George and all of those big-presidentes are on our coins, it’s a history lesson shoved in as well.

Happy snow day, coin-cleaning!

fyi: The Numismatist Sheet is here to download (not great quality, my apologies, since Maddy’s already had most pennies on it by the time I remembered to scan it!). Made by her teachers, and it’s pretty darn cool! Thanks, teachers!

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!
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easy stained glass heart craft
holidaysvalentine's day

easy stained glass heart craft

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

Valentine’s Day is almost here!stained glass heart craft | teachmama.com

You better believe that our house has been heart-happy and all fancied-up in pink and red since last weekend. I’ve always loved decorating for the holidays, and why not? Any reason to celebrate, right?

This is a craft that we made last year but just brought out for our windows again this year: Beautiful Valentine’s Day Stained Glass Hearts.

They’re so easy to make, and the simple cutting of tissue paper, extra plastic goodie bags, and streamers actually might even count as a little fine-motor skill tuning for our little ones!

(fyi: This is basically a re-post from last year, but I thought it was worth sharing! )

  • Valentine’s Day Hearts: I picked up some contact paper this week, and here’s what we did: I taught Maddy and Owen how to make a heart by folding construction paper in half (how fun!), and they cut the hearts I traced.stained glass heart craft | teachmama.com
These beautiful hearts make me smile every time I see them.

Then we cut red, white, and pink tissue paper, leftover plastic goodie bags, and silver sparkles up into tiny pieces. We put the heart on the sticky side of contact paper, then carefully placed the tiny pieces of pretty paper in the center.

stained glass heart craft | teachmama.com

stained glass heart craft | teachmama.com

When we were finished, we put another piece of contact paper over the whole thing and cut around the edges.

We put them on the windows, and they looked awesome, especially against the falling snow. Cora loved picking out which tissue paper she wanted in the center of her hearts, and it was a great activity for scissor practice for Maddy and Owen. All preschoolers need scissor practice. . .

stained glass heart craft | teachmama.com

 

Thanks to the cool ladies in my MOMS group for sharing the idea with me when we decorated NIH last year. It’s a super-easy activity, and it doesn’t take too much time at all. And the holiday possibilities are endless: shamrocks, eggs, pumpkins, fall leaves. . . fun!

This year’s Valentine’s Day craft totally rocks; we’ve been working on it for the last two days, and it’s really cool. Hopefully I’ll get around to sharing it this weekend–

Want a TON of other cool Valentine’s Day ideas?
Check it out:

Follow Teach Mama’s board valentine’s day on Pinterest.

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time to rhyme: play rhyme Go Fish!
early literacyrhyming

time to rhyme–go fish!

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

rhyme go fish Lately all Maddy wants to do is read, read, read, which is fine with me. She’ll read to me, my husband, and she’ll read to Owen or Cora.

She’ll read to anyone who will listen.

And it’s great that she is so willing to do this, because it gives me a chance to hear how she’s progressing. I’m able to give her high-fives for what she’s doing well or sneak in some extra teeny-tiny bits of fun learning in areas that might help.

I noticed that lately she needed more work with short e and short i sounds–reading even simple words quickly, automatically, and correctly–so for the last few days we’ve played with the short vowel families.

The ‘Go Fish’ format works well with anything, so all I did was crank out some easy, short vowel rhyme cards for this simple game.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Rhyme Time Go Fish:

These game contains rhyming words with all of the short vowel sounds. There’s at least two or four rhyming words from the -at, -an, -ot, -op, -og, -en, -et, -ug, -ut, -it, and -in families.

The Rhyme Time Go Fish Cards (okay, actually, they’re just short vowel rhyming word cards, but that just sounds so boring. . . ) are here to download if you’d like.

rhyme go fish

Maddy’s rhyming pairs

The game is verrry simple.

All I said to Maddy, the first time we played, was, Hey, you big-time kindergartner reader. Are you up for beating your old mom at a game of ‘Rhyme Time Go Fish‘? It’s just like regular ‘Go Fish’, but it’s with rhyming words. Some of the words will be easy, and some will be tough. Ready to beat me?

And of course she was. And of course most of the words were way too easy for her. But some of them she had to think about, and that was my goal–to just get her a little more familiar–more confident–with all of the short vowel sounds before she’s introduced to some of the long vowel patterns.rhyme cards

my left-over, un-matched, very lonely cards

We turned all of the cards face down in a pile in the middle, and we each picked six cards.

(She wanted six instead of five, since she just turned six.)

We put down all of our rhyming pairs, face up in front of us.

Then we picked up more cards if we needed to so that we each started the game with six cards in our hand.

Then I said, Okay, when it’s your turn, you say, ‘Mommy, do you have a word that rhymes with–and then you say one of the cards in your hand.‘ Okay?

Like I might say, ‘Maddy, do you have a word that rhymes with ‘dog’? Because right here, I have the word ‘dog’ in my hand. And if you do have a word that rhymes with ‘dog’, you give it to me. If not, you say, ‘Go fish’. Make sense?

So we played. And we played some more.

And the person who has the most pairs at the end wins–as long as she’s able to read all of the words.

Looking back, sure, I could have focused entirely on one or two sounds, maybe contrasting a sound she’s totally got with one that she’s just learning, but I wanted this to be fun and not really that much work.

And the last thing I want to do at the end of a busy day of school for Maddy is to turn her away from these kind of games or give her early school-burnout. I’ve still got to be sneaky, right?

Anyway, this game is pretty cool because it continues to develop and increase the number of known features in the Letter-Name Alphabetic Stage.

The Letter-Name Alphabetic Stage is an early stage of word learning, which is where Maddy–and many of her kindergarten pals–are developmentally.

Do you want the cards? Grab them here:

In an interesting article in the March 2009 The Reading Teacher, Pikulski and Chard recall Ehri’s 1998 study on fluency, saying that when encountering a printed word such as ‘bug’ as few as four times, children come to “accurately, instantly identify the word bug without attending to the individual letters, sounds, or letter-sound associations” (Fluency: Bridge Between Decoding and Reading Comprehension).

This automatic recognition of words makes things easier!! It ultimately increases fluency so students can focus on comprehending the text instead of decoding words. Wooo-hoo! Bring it on, Rhyme Time Go Fish!

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

A few more literacy-related posts worth reading. . . (click on image to read!)
what to say when kids make reading mistakes teachmama.com.png
5 things to never say to emerging reader
literacy terms every parent must know
talk to kids about books
how to help kids choose just right books
Want a little more help with all things literacy?  
Follow Teach Mama’s board literacy on Pinterest.

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”  For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy. 

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disney dollars: kids earn 'money' for their disney trip
parentingtravel

disney dollars: kids earn ‘money’ for their disney trip

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

In early December, I received an invitation to attend a really awesome event this February–

It’s an event created by Resourceful Mommy Media, Mom Bloggers Club, 5 Minutes for Mom, Mom Select, and–of course–the good people at Walt Disney World!The Social Media Moms Conference at Walt Disney World.

disney dollars | save for your disney trip teachmama.com

It is the first-ever event of its kind: a family-friendly social media conference, where participants will be able to hear incredible speakers, participate in relevant workshops, and spend time enjoying one of the greatest theme parks of all time–Walt Disney World!

We are beyond excited; I can hardly wait to meet the many talented planners–and bloggers–who will attend, and it will be my family’s first trip to Disney.

So, in order to control the crazies that seemed to have hit my three little ones as they wait not-so-patiently for this big trip, we’re trying a few things: our countdown calendar and Disney Dollars.

disney dollars | save for your disney trip teachmama.com
disney dollars | save for your disney trip teachmama.comour countdown to Disney calendario

Countdown Calendar: Right after the holidays, I hit a site I love for calendar-creating and made my own. Then I counted backwards to the last week of December and covered each number with a Post-It Note square.

Then Maddy, Owen, and Cora started taking turns tearing off the Post-It Note and putting a big ‘X’ over the day. It’s been easy for Maddy and Owen, but my little Cora is really benefiting from practicing her x’s!

Our Countdown Calendar is here for friends to download and use themselves (even though it’s getting close!

Disney Dollars: Because I remember my Disney-savvy pal, Amy, telling me that her family used Disney Dollars in the weeks that preceded their first trip to the park, I thought I’d totally use her idea for our family. And so far, Maddy, Owen, and Cora are rolling right along.

disney dollars | save for your disney trip teachmama.comsome of our Disney dinero

disney dollars are just pretend dollars I ‘doctored’ a little that Maddy, Owen, and Cora can earn by being caught doing anything super: cleaning up without being asked, helping someone with something, being extra kind to each other, extra patient, extra-special good kids. That’s all.

Want to print them out? Here are the disney dollar sheets

disney dollars | teachmama.com

 

My husband or I hand one of the kids a Disney Dollar, and the ‘money’ goes into their collective Disney Dollars container. This is a group effort; they’re working towards earning a special treat they will all enjoy. It’s not intended to be a competition between siblings.

Once we hit the park, theirDisney Dollars will turn into some sort of special treat at the Park or souvenirs that they can take home.

Nothing big–believe me, this impromptu trip is gift enough. We’re thinking a special dessert one night or something small to take home.

Because our kids are so young, they will not stress over the correspondence of Disney Dollars to real dollars, so we’re lucky in that way. Really, this is just a little something to help the kids behaviorally during these otherwise nutty, stuck-inside-way-too-much, way-too-long winter weeks before our trip.

And who knows? Maybe if the Disney Dollars work, I’ll use doggie dollar sheet (money to go towards our dream dog) and beach buck sheet(leading up to our summertime beach trip) when we return. I’m dollar-doctoring crazy. Unstoppable.

So that’s how we’re passing time until our trip. For all my friends who will not be there this year, don’t be sad!

It looks like they’ll be doing this conference again in the future, so if you’re interested in going, please consider joining one–or some–of the social media networking groups that are hosting the event or join us virtually by following us on Twitter: #DisneySMMoms

And please feel free to leave a comment or contact me to let me know you’ll be there!

Here are a few other ways to countdown or celebrate your own Disney vacation: 

 

fyi: affilliate links used below

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sight word memory
early literacysight words

sight word memory

by Teach Mama
written by Teach Mama

sight word memory

Several times over the last few weeks, Maddy, Owen, and I have played Sight Word Memory. It’s an easy game, fun, and certainly worthwhile. And the cool thing about it is that it can be as long or short as we want, depending on how many word pairs we choose to use.

This is a great game to pick up now and again so that our little ones can work on their all-too-important sight words.

I could tell that finally today, my little “home-sick-for-three-days” Maddy was on the mend, because I think our game this afternoon was the longest on record.

  • Sight Word Memory: All I did to assemble this game was to print two copies of the Early Emergent Words onto cardstock. I then cut the words apart, and the game was ready!

The Early Emergent Word Cards are here to download if you’d like.

To begin, we put all of the word cards face up on the floor, and we decide on a number of words to use. When Maddy, Owen, and I play, we each chose four of our favorite words so that the total for our game was twelve.

our Early Emergent Word cards

We then each read the words we chose, flip them face down, and mix them up. Then, just like regular Memory, we put the cards in organized columns and rows.

Each time a card is turned over, the player who flipped it has to read the word. However, this little rule can sometimes be anxiety-producing for little ones who just don’t know the words yet. So when Owen flipped, I’d read the word for him, or he’d echo my reading.

I’d say, Owen found the word, ‘did’ and . . . . let’s see. What will he find next? ‘Yes!’ ‘Did’ (I’d point to it) and ‘yes’. Two good three-letter words, but not a match. Owen, remind me again–which word was ‘did’ and which word was ‘yes’? (Hopefully he’d point to the correct ones and be able to identify each.)

For Maddy’s turns, she read all of the words. If she made a mistake (like for look sometimes gets her), I’d say, Are you sure? Check all of the letters and try again.

Owen’s testing his memory and his reading skills.


Each time (or every other time so it didn’t get annoying), I would make comparisons between the words:

-Oh! Wow–‘do’ and ‘you’ rhyme, but they don’t look like they rhyme, do they? Or,

-‘No’ and ‘go’! I found two rhyming words, but they’re not a pair. Or,

-‘Are’ and ‘and’. What do you notice about these two words? How are they alike/ different?

When players found pairs, they’d have another turn. Once all of the cards were gone, we’d take turns following two steps: we’d read all of the words on our cards, and then we’d count them. The player with the most pairs wins.

Today, after we matched all of the cards (it was a longgame!), Maddy wanted to make sentences with the words. So she hunted for words and strung them together to make sentences and stories. You can’t do too much with a bunch of sight words, but she stretched her brain, giggled at non-sense phrases, and was finally ready to quit. I think next time, I’ll combine some of the other lists to increase the difficulty level. Today, she was under the weather–I didn’t want it to be too much for my bambina this time.

fyi:
If you’d like to up the excitement level of your game–if your little players are ready and able–then here are other word cards to use:

Or, if you’d like, stay simple:

Playing games and having fun with Sight Words is definitely the way to go. Here’s why:

Emerging readers need to have a solid bank of sight words that they can read automatically so that they can focus their attention on understanding the text and on decoding new words. Reading researcher (and one of the authors of my most favorite teaching tools ever–Words Their Way), Francine Johnson has said that “a large and stable sight vocabulary continues to be the hallmark of a successful reader” (The Reading Teacher, 1998).

And in the September 2008 issue of The Reading Teacher, in a really interesting article about how teachers can help young English-Language Learners acquire a sight word vocabulary, Helman and Burns conclude by saying that “an extensive sight word vocabulary develops alongside and contributes to proficient reading.”

It makes sense. So we’ll play some games, read some words, and hopefully get my kindergartner back to school before the week is over, right? Interesting stuff–and certainly worth sneaking into our little ones’ days!

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!
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