Archive | March, 2009

Books That Assist

by on March 15, 2009 in Teaching Aids

The following is a list of read aloud books that are a great accompaniment to many lessons. They are sorted by topic. Check back as the list will grow.

First Days of School:

Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway (Great book to make a point with little ones.)

A Very Special Critter by Gina and Mercer Meyer (The Critter books are great for teaching manners.)

Just Say Please by Gina and Mercer Meyer

Just a Bad Day by Gina and Mercer Meyer

Alphabet:

The Handmade Alphabet by Laura Rankin

Say It, Sign It by Elaine Epstein

The Disappearing Alphabet by Richard Wilbur

Autumn:

A Book of Seasons by Alice and Martin Provenson

Autumn Days by Ann Schweninger

Picking Apples and Pumpkins by Amy and Richard Hutchings

What Happens in Autumn by National Geographic Society

The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston

Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle

Being Brave:

Harriet and the Roller Coaster by Nancy Carlson

Colonial/Thanksgiving:

Turkey’s Gift to the People

Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House #27) by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut

The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson and Judy Schachner

…If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern and Anna DiVito

A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman

Turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indian Corn: The Story of Thanksgiving Symbolsby Edna Barth and Ursula Arndt

Thanskgiving Is…by Gail Gibbons
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas and Shannon Stirnweis

Christmas:

Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico by Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida

What Star is This? by Joseph Slate

Who is Coming to Our House? by Joesph Slate

A Child Was Born: A First Nativity Book by Grace Maccarone

Christmas Stories and Poems Illustrated by Lisa McCue

Classics:

The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson

The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Susan Blaire

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Colors:

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Counting:

Let’s Count It Out, Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom (Rhyming Book!)

One to Ten and Back Again by Ann Ferns (Rhyming Book!)

12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam

The Best Bug Parade by Stuart J. Murphy

Days of the Week:

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Earth Day:

The Earth and I by Frank Asch

Farm Life:

The Little Red Hen

Cock-a-doodle-d00 Barnyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz (Rhyming book!)

The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most

Great Endings:

Doctor De Soto by William Steig

Individualism:

Something Special by David McPhail

Incredible You! by Dr. Wayne W. Dryer w/ Kristina Tracy

Mice:

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Scaredy Mouse by Alan McDonald

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Mother and Child:

Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild! by Mem Fox

Just You and Me by Sam McBratney

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Ocean Life:

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

Life in the Sea by Maris Rius and J.M. Parramon

Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway

Science:

Tadpole to Frog by Elizabeth Roger/Scholastic (Pop-up!)

Silly:

Counting on Frank by Rod Clement

Nobody’s Mother is in Second Grade by Robin Pulver

Mooncake by Frank Asch

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slbodkina

When the Fly Flew In…by Lisa Westberg Peters

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

The ____ from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler (series)

Spring:

The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie

Our Two Gardens by Margaret Hebblethwaite and Peter Kavanagh

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle

Spider’s Babysitting Job by Robert Kraus

Hungry Harry by Joanne Partis

Miss Spider’s New Car by David Kirk (Rhyming Book!)

When Will it be Spring? by Catherine Walters

Weather:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

Living and Non-Living Things Lesson Plan

by on March 15, 2009 in First Grade, Kindergarten, Lesson Plans, Science, Special Education

Subject: Science

Grade: Kindergarten, First

Materials: book What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, small Ziploc bags with 6 pictures (of living/nonliving things) in each (1 per pair of students), Living/Nonliving Things t-chart, Living/Nonliving Things Pictures” worksheet

Objective(s): Students will be able to 1) Identify a set of living things from a set of non-living things and 2) List 3-5 things a living thing needs to stay alive.

Anticipatory Set: With students gathered together, state the lesson objectives. Show students two objects–one real and one artificial and ask what they have in common (e.g. a potted plant and a stuffed animal). Write answers on the board or chart paper future use. Ask students if one of the objects is alive. How do they know? Tell students that there are ways to determine if something is a living thing or a nonliving thing. Write down new vocabulary as it is discussed to solidify concepts taught. Ask students to think about how they know if something is alive.

Direct Instruction/Guided Practice: Introduce students to the book What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. As you read, prompt students with questions to guide their thinking of how living things need certain things that nonliving things don’t need. After reading, return to the two objects. Ask students if they think one of them is alive. How do they know? Students should recognize which one is living. As a group, discuss what the living plant needs to stay alive. Write answers down to solidify concepts. Next, pair students and give each a small bag with 6 pictures (from books, magazines, or Google images) in it. Tell students that they are to look at the pictures and determine if each is a living or nonliving thing. After a few minutes, go through the pictures as a group. Have a “t-chart” available that is labeled living and nonliving. Call on students to place pictures in each category. Discuss why each belongs in the category they are in (because living things need–air, water, food, sunlight and shelter, etc.).

Independent Practice: Students will now have the opportunity to sort pictures by themselves. Provide the “Living/Nonliving Things t-chart” to each student along with the “Living/Nonliving Things Pictures” worksheet. Instruct students on how to complete the activity. Monitor students as they work. Interview each by asking them to identify 3-5 things a living thing needs to stay alive.

Closure: Bring students together to discuss the “Big Ideas” from the lesson. Review key vocabulary. Ask students if they are alive. Have them turn to a friend and tell how they know.

Assessment: Students will be assessed according to their ability to participate in the group discussion and lesson activities. They will also be assessed according to their ability to: 1) Identify a set of living things from a set of non-living things and 2) List 3-5 things a living thing needs to stay alive.

Accommodations: Students that have difficulty with attention or impulsivity should either be kept in close proximity to the teacher during the group discussion/activity or be allowed to stand where they will not disrupt others, but can move rather than sit. Some students may benefit from having the number of pictures in the independent activity decreased. Allow students to refer to the pictures and vocabulary on the board for assistance.

Extensions: 1)Provide students with a small sheet of paper and have them list things in the classroom that are living and nonliving. Tell them to include anything they may see as they look out of the classroom window. 2) As a creative writing assignment and an added challenge, provide students an opportunity to form acrostic poems using the words LIVING and/or NONLIVING. 3) Allow students the opportunity to cut out pictures from magazines of living things and the things they need to stay alive.

 

 

Yes/No Cards

by on March 15, 2009 in Teaching Aids

One tool that I love to use as an informal assessment of understanding is the “yes/no cards”. These cards are simple to use with any elementary age group including kindergarten. I will take a stack of index cards without the lines, and write the word “yes” on one side and the word “no” on the other side. These are great to pass out quickly at the end of a lesson or you can even have kids keep their card in their desks (if you trust them!). I first used this idea when I was introducing my first graders to the concept of what a sentence was. You can access that particular lesson on this site in the section “language arts” under “subjects”.

Community Helpers

by on March 15, 2009 in First Grade, Lesson Plans, Second Grade, Social Studies, Third Grade

Grade Level(s): 1-3

Objective(s): Students will…

  1. Follow directions and participate in the group discussion/lesson activities.
  2. Recognize that community helpers work together.
  3. Identify a “product” and a “service”.

Time Allotment: 1 hour

Materials: socks and T-shirts in various colors, large assortment of crayons with boxes

Anticipatory Set: Begin the lesson by stating the objective. Ask students why we have classroom helpers. Tell students that all communities have helpers-that is what makes them function. Ask students to name some helpers in the communities you have already discussed. Write the students’ answers as they report them. Any pictures you many have available (try Google images) would benefit students’ acquisition of the vocabulary. Emphasize that community helpers can be both male and female.

Direct Instruction/Guided Practice: Tell students that community helpers help in many ways. Many people provide a “product” while others provide a “service”. Write those words down as you explain what they mean. Give an example of each. Have a “t” chart labeled “service” and “product”. Using the list of helpers, sort them as a class according to what they provide-a service or a product.

Independent Practice: Tell students that they are going to work as a community helper. Divide the class in half. Explain that one team will be a group of workers providing a product and the other team will be providing a service. Demonstrate how each team will function-Team “A” will act as an assembly line to produce a box of crayons. Team “B” will act as a dry cleaning service and will provide the service of sorted and folded laundry. Give students approximately 5-10 minutes to complete their jobs. Ring a bell and ask the students to stop what they are doing. Gather the students to discuss if they were able to finish their work, if it was hard, how they felt completing the job, and what could they change to make it more successful. With teacher assistance, students should recognize that communicating and working together is how to get the job done efficiently. Next, have teams swap tasks. Allow students time to work . Gather students to discuss. Did they change how they worked together to make the job easier and get it done?

Closure: With students gathered, reiterate the “Big Ideas” from the lesson. Ask students to give examples of products and services. Finally, ask students what all community helpers have to do to make the community successful (work together).

Assessment: Students will be assessed according to their ability to…

  1. Follow directions and participate in the group discussion/lesson activities.
  2. Recognize that community helpers work together.
  3. Identify a “product” and a “service”.

Monthly Reading Log

by on March 15, 2009 in Reading Tools

This reading log was designed for mature audiences. What I mean specifically is that this log accounts for one month of reading. If I know a student is not organized and can not possibly use and return something at the end of the month, then I will use a biweekly log. This log has space for the date, book title, author, and parent or student comments.