Best Books-

I ran across a couple of book lists that I wanted to share with you in case you needed some suggestions of things to read over the holiday weekend or for your AR contract (and you can "mark" your spot with the new bookmark you made from the instructions in my last blog post!).
These lists are from the Bank Street College of Education in NY and are divided into 5 different age categories.  I would love to hear from the girls if they happen to discover a new "favorite"!

Best Children's Books of 2014

"Marking your place" as you progress!

Now that the 2014-15 school year is fully underway here is an activity that is both fun and useful.  As our students enjoy reading new and different materials (and maybe some old favorites!), they can use a homemade bookmark that keeps their place in a book and guides them to be even better readers.

Make a reading bookmark!

What You Need:

• Any book your child is reading
• “Good Reader Strategies” sheet
• Heavy paper (cardstock)
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Hole punch
• 1/4" lightweight craft ribbon in three different colors.

What You Do:

1. Explain to your child that everyone can become a better reader, even a parent, and that you have some fun, easy ways to help her become a better reader, too.
2. Print out both sides of the reading bookmark (click here for printable version), cut it out, and glue it onto heavy paper that is trimmed to fit the bookmark. (One side of the bookmark will contain word recognition strategies; the other, comprehension strategies.) If you have access to a laminator, you may wish to laminate the bookmark.
3. Use the hole punch to make a hole on the top left corner of your bookmark. Then cut a 20" length of ribbon in three different colors that your child likes. Hold the three strands together, fold them in half, and stick the fold through the hole you have made. You will see that you have made a "loop" of ribbon. Now stick the ribbon ends through that, and pull tight. You will have a bookmark with six colorful ribbons attached.
4. Focusing on one set of strategies at a time (word recognition, for example), have your child read aloud from her newest book. When she comes to a word she doesn't know, help her use the bookmark strategies to figure it out.
5. Continue this process for as long as needed until your child has a good grasp of the strategies.
6. Have your child use the other set of strategies (comprehension, for example) before and after reading their book aloud. Guide her along as she uses the bookmark.
7. When she's ready to stop reading for a while, she can use the bookmark to mark her page...but the ribbons also give her a new freedom with her "chapter" books. She can move one ribbon to the Table of Contents, for example, and another to the title page. Or, if she's reading a textbook (as many second graders will start to do this year), she can mark one section at a time, and not get lost!

Parents, do beware: strategies alone don't make a super reader. Reading is a lifelong skill that takes steady, solid practice. But with tools like this bookmark, along with a joyful, positive attitude about your child's evolving skills, you can be sure you're offering the best support and encouragement possible.

By Laurie Daley

Laurie Daley has been in the educational field for nine years. She has worked as a reading specialist with students from ages 5 through adult. She has also lead training sessions for math teachers.

Lichterman Nature Center Scarecrow Contest

Third Grade Friends and Parents - I am excited to announce that we have begun working on our entry in the Lichterman Nature Center Scarecrow contest!  Here is a link to the Lichterman website that contains examples of scarecrow entries from last year - Lichterman Nature Center  
I will send additional information soon -
Have a great weekend!

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