Writing and Reading

Once children learn their letter sounds, it's fun for them to learn to read and spell CVC words. I enjoy having my students use dry erase markers and picture cards to help them spell. They have fun looking at picture flash cards and sounding out the words. More importantly, I have them act out the word using action. Having the students meow for cat and bark for dog helps them understand and remember the word. The action is what keeps them engaged and fully understand writing a sentence. I always get some great illustrations with their sentences which shows me how well they are comprehending their own writing and reading. Hoping to come up with some more great ideas for next year because there is always something new to be learned! 

Get prepared for Kindergarten!

What should your child know before entering kindergarten? I'm going to share with you some of the most important things that you can be doing at home to help your child succeed in school. 

1. Indentifying upper case letters. 

2. Indentifying lower case letters. 

3. Identifying numbers 0 through 10.

Tip: dollar tree has flash cards for a dollar or you can make your own using index cards.

4. One to one correspondence, means counting the correct number of objects. 

Tip: use objects of interest to your child likes, for example toy cars.

5. Being able to count by one's up to 20 is crucial, being able to count to 100 is great too! 

6. Letter sounds are important. 

Tip: there are some great apps that teach these like Starfall or videos online that are fun to watch as well to make learning fun! 

7. Read plenty of books 

Tip: when reading talk about the author, illustrator, title and new words. This increases vocabulary, which is very important. 

8. Rhyming words. For example box and fox, pig and big, win and pin. 

2014 Reflection

This year was a good year. I started working as a kindergarten teacher, which has been fun. I got my K-12 reading endorsement, this should help open some more job positions in the future. I am almost finished with a masters in literacy, I have four classes to go with a 3.950 grade point (I had one A-). I still work as an accountant for our small family business, tax season is here in a few days so I'll be busy getting everything prepared.

I am looking forward to summer 2015, planning another vacation. I plan to go to a different Wyndham resort in Florida! I loved the Daytona beach resort so much. The beach is calling my name and I plan to meet up with some good friends I have that live there. I still enjoy seeing and traveling to different places, I'm sure that will never change. In 2014, I visited Pittsburgh for my first time and went back multiple times, mostly for dinner at the Grand Concourse and shopping. I enjoyed riding the old inclines as well. 

I always have many projects I would like to do around my house, there just isn't enough time. In the summer I spend too much time outside doing yard work. This past summer in 2014, I sold a ton of furniture, got a new couch and dining room table. I put the house up for sale and took it off the market due to my new job. I plan to paint the inside of house this coming summer in 2015. In 2014, I got my living room ceiling and foyer painted. At least I accomplished some of this painting goal from 2014. Haha!

Instead of having a New Years resolution, I prefer to have plans and goals. I can accomplish more than one thing in a whole year. What are your plans and/or goals for 2015?

Happy New Year! 🎉🎊🎈

Educational resources for literacy

EDUCATIONAL WEBSITES

Florida Center for Reading- www.fcrr.org

NASA- www.nasa.gov

The National Science Teachers Association- www.nsta.org

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- www.noaa.gov

U.S. Geological Survey- www.usgs.gov

American Academy for the Advancement of Science- www.aaas.org

National Council for the Social Studies- www.socialstudies.org

Reading Rockets- www.readingrockets.org

ELA News- www.ELANews.org 

Links to Learning- www.linkstolearning.com

Teachers Pay Teachers- www.teacherspayteachers.com

Vocabulary in Action

Routines are important 

Modeling with a goal

Multiple exposures necessary

Lateral part of instruction

Independent reading is critical 

Word analysis, meta linguistic 

Teacher attitude most important 

Talk is essential 

Networking is important 

Teacher must be decision makers

Context clues are important vocabulary strategies 

Uses gradual release of respectable model

Incorporate prior knowledge 

Teaching vocabulary in meaningful contexts 

Teachers must be life long learners

Listening to vocabulary, scaffolds vocabulary

Vocabulary is...

Importance of bases.

Importance of thinking on their own.

Use at any grade level. 

Prefixes are directional, negation and intensity.

Assimilation (blending) is to ease pronunciation. 

Vocabulary is not logical.

Language operates on 2 levels: literal and figurative.

New vocabulary words for me:

Regalia- a specific robe

Commingling- to come together

Gospel- Christian bible

Replete- filled or filled again

Pervasive- spreading widely through people

Indelible- can not be erased

Veritable- truthful

Sumptuous- fancy

Perfunctory- not much, minimum effort

Adage- famous quote

Vulgate- the common people

The more syllables in each word, the more complicated the word is. All of these ^ vocabulary words are Latin. The vocabulary of school is made up of two syllables or more. It is not required to know every word. Use context cues to figure out words you do not know. Vocabulary knowledge is crucial to reading comprehension and builds from oral language to print. Vocabulary = concept knowledge and is the bridge between phonics (sound) and comprehension (meaning). Knowing a word requires multiple exposures. Word schema builds from multiple exposures. Receptive, we know it when we see it. Productive, we know it when we read it. Effective instructional involves incidental and intentional learning. As teachers we can influence incidental learning. Word reading must occur on a daily basis. Wide range of reading is important for various purposes and different levels of differentiation. Three tiers of vocabulary, aim for tier two. The importance of independent learning strategies are context cues and roots. Aim for word consciousness/curiosity (make students aware). Incorporate technology for students (games, crosswords, word searches, dictionaries). Use technology for struggling readers and ELL students to help them develop more vocabulary. Students should have choice for reading, reading for pleasure is extremely important. Socioeconomic factors affect vocabulary development. They are very low compared to middle class students. Talk is the key!

Online resources for teachers

Vocabulary

Building Vocabulary with Journey North- multiple ways to teach students new vocabulary words using many strategies to reach all students. I love how this website connects to science. Vocabulary is an essential part for students, all while learning about specific animals and nature! http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/tips/Tip0023.html 

Cuesta College- vocabulary words separating compound words, showing roots and prefixes. This website also helps teachers to explain synonym and antonym vocabulary lists. You could use these as part of a power point to use in your classroom to show examples. I would give each child a word and have them go around the room looking for their compound word partner. For example one student had basket and the other would have ball. I would then share the compound partner vocabulary words in whole group for everyone to learn. To extend I would have the students play a pictionary game with the vocabulary words.  http://www.cuesta.edu 

Ixl- an amazing dictionary with vocabulary definitions, it provides teachers with different ideas to use in their classroom. This dictionary is age appropriate for students of any age through college with a dictionary activities to build their vocabulary. http://www.esldesk.com 

Word focus- a list of classic poems for teachers to use with students in their classroom. I live that they have a vocabulary word of the day. I will use this in my classroom to teach new and interesting vocabulary words in a daily basis. I really like how I can have the students engage with the poetry by reading for fluency. I can also use the poems for a guided or shared reading in whole or small group. http://www.wordfocus.com

Discovery school's word search puzzle maker- this is a great website to generate crosswords and word search puzzles for students. It would be fun to have the students use this puzzle maker and make their own puzzles. I would have them switch with partners to complete the puzzle, while learning new vocabulary words. Most likely I would give a list of words to choose from so students can collaborate about the vocabulary they learned. http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp?campaign=flyout_teachers_puzzle_wordcross

Word Central- this is an online create your own dictionary. I love this idea so students can keep adding vocabulary words to their very own dictionary. This can grow with the students. I also like that you can create a small competition with young children, like who can add the most vocabulary to their dictionary in the month of February. I know children enjoy competitions with some positive reinforcement. http://www.wordcentral.com

Little Explorers Picture Dictionary- provides a visual picture for describing vocabulary words for young learners. This also provides other languages to connect to a second language. I like that the vocabulary words are separated by categories that young learners can connect to real like situations using their schema. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html

Is there a new way you could help me use these any of these websites effectively?