Welcome Back and Brain Rules...

Welcome back to returning students and "welcome" to our new first grade friends!  I am so excited to see you all and look forward to learning with you this year.  I wanted to share with you some great tips from a book that I enjoyed reading this summer.  The book is called, Brain Rules, by John Medina and I bought it at the airport in Sydney, Australia when my husband and I traveled there in June.  It was a great read and something that has tips from which we could all benefit.  The book actually lists 12 "rules" that relate to how our brains "work".  It combines science with things that we do in our everyday lives and I was very excited to read it.  I am going to list the rules and then perhaps re-visit them in future blog posts.  Also, feel free to contact me if you would like more information about the "rules".

Rule #1
Exercise boosts brain power.
Rule #2
The human brain has evolved over time.
Rule #3
Every brain is wired differently.
Rule #4
We don't pay attention to boring things.
Rule #5
Repeat to remember (to store things in your memory).
Rule #6
Remember to repeat.
Rule #7
Sleep well, think well.
Rule #8
Stressed brains don't learn the same way.
Rule #9
Stimulate more of the senses.
Rule #10
Vision trumps all other senses.
Rule #11
Male and female brains are different.
Rule #12
We are powerful and natural explorers.

I am often reading articles and books about brain research and we all need to remember that just like our physical muscles, our reading and brain "muscles" also become stronger when they are exercised regularly.  Hopefully we will all work hard this year and "grow" our brains as we explore, read, and learn new things.  We also spoke quite a bit during our teacher inservice time about "creativity" which is a passion of mine and I ran across this video which I really enjoyed and wanted to share with you all -

Rules to spark learning video

The countdown begins...

Summer is flying by and I am trying to fit in some last minute fun (going to the beach) and learning (I just attended a terrific multisensory workshop using manipulatives).  I wanted to let you know that I have updated the resources listed at the top of this blog so please check them out (especially the ones on Learning Differences).

The "Math" and "Reading" resources list online sites with activities to help with skill development for students.  I also hope that everyone is finding time to read some good books (I have added a couple to my "shelfari" bookshelf here on the right side of my blog).

Another thing that I have enjoyed doing this summer is adding ideas to my Pinterest boards (mostly food things!), but here are a couple of "boards" that have some great ideas for summertime fun -

http://www.pinterest.com/desertrio/fun-activities-for-kids/


http://www.pinterest.com/sheherrington/~kids-playlearn-grow~/

Summertime family reading

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy" are lyrics from the famous play Porgy and Bess and I hope that this is the feeling you have around your house right now.  Although you are all probably busy still doing "regular" daily things, you at least don't have lots of "homework" added to the schedule.  This is a perfect time to read together as a family and there are several "techniques" that parents can use when reading with their child to improve reading fluency.

Fluency is developed by listening to good readers and by practicing fluent reading.  You and your child can "chorus" read passages together (reading the same thing at the same time) or "echo" read where one person reads a sentence or phrase first and the another person reads it immediately after, like an echo.  As you read together, stop and point out connections to real-life experiences, movies or tv shows, or other previously read books.  Making connections is a good way to build your child's understanding of, and, interest in, a story.  Also, make sure to stop and discuss unfamiliar words and practice sounding them out together.  It is fun to "share" things that you have read with an "audience" (like other family members) as your child improves their reading ability and confidence.

Here is a nice source for ordering books online for specific age groups:

Amazon book lists

Do-it-yourself Summer Camp!

Celebrate "dynamite dinosaur week" this week or any of the other arts and crafts summer camp "weeks" listed at Education.com for some summer learning and fun!  (sorry for the ads but this

is a good website with cute ideas:)

Click here to go to Education.com summer adventures

3 cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!!!

We are getting ready to celebrate America's birthday on July 4th so I wanted to share a few activities with you.  Have fun playing them and have a Happy 4th of July!

Drag and drop online fireworks puzzle (click here)

What is inside a firework? (click here)

Match the color to the firework online game (click here)

US Flag Jigsaw Puzzle (you can choose how many pieces to use)-(click here)


Here are some instructions to make your own fireworks (well, sort of!):
-->For most kids, Fourth of July fireworks are a highlight of the holiday. Who doesn't love those magnificent and exciting explosions of color? This activity is a great way for your child to make her own fireworks, without the danger of course, and celebrate the holiday with a bang!  Your child will have fun and she'll even learn some science too!

What You Need:

• Large, tall clear glass jar filled with water—half a gallon or more works best!
• Blue, red and yellow liquid food coloring
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• Small jar
• Spoon or stir stick for mixing
• Clear Pyrex measuring cup

What You Do:

1. Fill a large clear glass jar—half a gallon or larger—with plain water. Place it on a table where your child can watch it from several angles.
2. Invite your child to pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a clear Pyrex measuring cup. (Remember: measuring is a core science and math skill in elementary school, and there’s no such thing as too much practice.)
3. Now help your child put in about 5 drops each of red, blue, and yellow food coloring into the oil. Stir each color into the oil.
4. Have your child pour the oil onto the water in the jar all at once.  At first, the oil will be spread around in globules, but keep watching: right before your eyes, the oil and food coloring will first float to the top, and then the globs will “find” one another and come together.
5. Now it’s time for even more fun as the “fireworks” begin! The food coloring will begin to separate from the oil and move back into the water, in long streams of each of the three colors. The colors will separate from one another as if they never mixed in the first place, and stream through the water in the three original colors that you began with. For both adults and kids alike, the results can be mesmerizing.

What's Going On:

This experiment is a demonstration of that old scientific truth: “oil and water don’t mix.” Another important scientific property being demonstrated here is the movement of liquid molecules and the effects of "relative density." Oil molecules like to stick to other oil molecules more than they like to stick to water molecules. Likewise, water molecules are attracted to other water molecules more than they are to oil molecules. Left to their own devices, oil and water will push each other away and try to get as far away from one another as possible.

When you pour the food coloring into the oil and shake it, the two will mix briefly, but the mixture is quite unstable at this point. Then, when you pour the oil onto the water, it will break up at first, but as you continue to watch, you'll see the oil molecules find one another and begin to come back together. Finally, the water-soluble (meaning "water-liking") food coloring finds its way out of the oil, and heads back into the water, one color at a time, offering an extra art lesson in the ways that primary colors combine and separate. In the spirit of adventurous scientists everywhere, you can encourage your child to try this experiment several times, with lots of colors!

By Julie Williams -

Julie Williams, M.A. Education, taught middle and high school History and English for seventeen years. Since then, she has volunteered in elementary classrooms while raising her two sons and earning a master's in school administration. She has also been a leader in her local PTA.

From Education.com

the "BIG" shift to "reading to learn"...

A shift in the area of reading occurs when students move from grade 2 to grade 3.  Students move from "learning to read" to "reading to learn".  This means that the students will be reading more non-fiction passages and using strategies to find information in the text.  Some girls love reading informational text (or non-fiction) and for others it can be difficult.  As with any area of reading, it is important to read, read, read to expose yourself to new vocabulary and different types of writing.

Here are some links to online resources that are already on my "READING" tab at the top of my blog that I wanted to point out to you (these sites have both articles and activities):

Time for Kids
Highlights
NWF

You may also want to consider checking out some non-fiction books from either our school library on Tuesday mornings this summer or a public library.

Building Reading Oral Fluency

 I can't believe how much has happened since I last posted on this blog - the 2013-14 school year ended, I traveled to Australia with my husband, celebrated a birthday, and began construction on a screened-in back porch!  It has all been wonderful and I will post some pictures another day.

Today I wanted to remind you to remember to read accurately when you read as well as fluidly and quickly.  Several students throughout the year came to the Think Tank and worked on building their oral reading fluency.  They did this by reading short passages aloud and timing and recording them.  They then went back and listened to them marking the words that they either changed or said incorrectly.  The girls then re-read and recorded the passages.  They did this several times and marked their progress on a chart to show their improvement.  Please don't hesitate to email me if you would like additional help with this process.

This is something that can be done easily without marking the errors - just read a page from any book aloud and record it and then go back and listen to it while silently reading along.  Sometimes we read through things so quickly we don't even realize the mistakes we make!