Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Spring is finally here!

After a long, cold winter with oh-so-much snow, it’s time to celebrate spring. Here are some refreshing read alouds to share with your kids:

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
This enchanting book tells the story of one boy’s transformation of one garden from an overlooked corner of the city to a colorful, life-giving place. A great way to promote working towards a greener world!

My Garden by Kevin Henkes
How does your garden grow? Does it grow tomatoes as big as beach balls? Or chocolate bunnies? Now that spring is here, we can dream big! For more fun, follow this link to Kevin Henkes’ website for a search and find activity:
Kevin Henkes' seek and Find activity

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth
This story begins in the spring when City Dog first came to the country, ran without a leash and met Country Frog and so began a poignant tale.

Poppleton in Spring by Cynthia Rylant
Poppleton rides a bike, once again charms readers with his whimsy and lets us in on another quirky adventure.

Listen as City Dog, Country Frog by Kevin Henkes is read to you. Enjoy this sweet yet sad read aloud.

Spring is here! Everyone is so happy, even the cows are dancing! Yup, this video features happy cows on Wyke Farm.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Daylight Saving Spring Forward: Lessons

Paid:
A cute elapsed time packet with activity cards and a recording sheet. Price: $3.00

This packet includes worksheets to help students better understand Daylight Savings Time. Price: $2.00

This readers theater script will help your students better understand Daylight Saving Time. Price: $1.50

Daylight Savings by Empowered by THEM

This is a one page time worksheet on Daylight Saving Time. Price: $1.00

Free:
Daylight Saving Time Badge by Sheila Chako

This freebie includes Daylight Saving Badges for students to wear celebrating Daylight Saving!




Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Daylight Saving Time Countdown: Videos


Daylight Saving Time Explained by CGP Grey:
Sarcastic, informative video explaining Daylight Saving Time. About 6.5 minutes.


Monday, March 3, 2014

Literacy Leveler App Free Today Only!




This is a terrific app for leveling books. Use the camera to scan the bar code on the back of the book and voila the app displays the reading levels for the book. It doesn't seem to have information for every book but it does seem to work on most of the books I tried. According to what I heard, it is free to download for today only! Hope you like it!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/literacy-leveler/id739836039?mt=8

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!


Sorry! I'm a little late posting these resources but hopefully some of you will still find them helpful!

Apps:

Paid

Many of the Dr. Seuss apps are on sale today!!!

Dr. Seuss Bookshelf
While there are many great Dr. Seuss apps, I really like how this one organizes them all in one place. So great for helping students find the app that they are looking for more independently. This app is technically free but almost everything inside costs so I put it under the paid category.

Happy Birthday to You! - Dr. Seuss - $3.99
A lot of Dr. Seuss's books are available in app form but I think that this one is particularly appropriate for today.

Dr. Seuss Band - $0.99
I chose to include this one because it is just so different than the other apps. In this app, the player gets to create and play wonderful Seussical melodies. 


Free

Dr. Seuss Fun Machine Game
While the app is free, this app is meant to go with Dr. Seuss Fun Machine tile game which can be purchased at ToysRUs and other toy stores. This fun app promotes matching, memory, observation, and deduction through the use of the tiles and the interactive app.

The Lorax Tuffula Shuffula
This is a fun game where you try to shuffle the pieces around to get three or more of a kind in a row.

Books:

This time for books there are definitely way too many to list so I'll just list a few of my favorites!

Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss
This book just seems so appropriate to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday!

Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

This has always been a favorite of mine and a very popular graduation gift. I think I own several copies lol. It has a wonderful message about where life will take you, inspiring you through the good times and the bad.

Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss
This is always a student favorite, however it is a pretty long read. I love making Oobleck along with reading this book with my students.

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith
This unique book was started by Dr. Seuss and finished by Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith. It includes a wonderful explanation about how the book was created. 

Your Favorite Seuss by Dr. Seuss
I discovered this book the other day when one of my students brought it in to share with the class. It is a terrific collection of 13 Dr. Seuss books.

Who Was Dr. Seuss? by Janet Pascal
A fabulous biography for kids of Ted Geisel, the famous Dr. Seuss!

Lessons:

Paid

Dr. Seuss "I Have, who has" Rhyming Game by Brittany Fidazzo
A fun "I have, who has" rhyming game to play with your students. For an extra challenge, time your students and try to beat the clock! Price: $2.00

This very versatile craftivity helps students brainstorm the character traits of several of Dr. Seuss's characters. Price: $3.00

This very cute packet includes everything you need to have a terrific Dr. Seuss day, week, or month with activities to go along with at least seven of Dr. Seuss's most popular books! Perfect for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade. Price: $5.75

This huge, 101 page, packet includes a plethera of activities for your students to do in honor of and celebrating Dr. Seuss including writing prompts, graphing pages, and beginning sound matching. Price: $10.00

Very fun Dr. Seuss writing craftivities! Price: $1.00

This bundle includes two very fun Family Feud like PowerPoint Games. Price: $6.00

Free

Adorable noun, verb, and adjective sort with a Dr. Seuss theme! Price: $2.00


This terrific freebie is a great way for your students to keep track of the books they read!

Want to celebrate Dr. Seuss for a week but unsure of where to start? This helpful freebie looks like a great starting point!

Super cute, FREE, bookmarks to celebrate Dr. Seuss!

A wonderful Dr. Seuss research page.

Videos:

Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat provided by Colin Macleod
Original cartoon version of The Cat in the Hat. Time: 25 min.

Dr. Seuss on the Loose (complete - HQ) provided by Cosmic MC
This video is a compliation of The Sneetches, The Zax, and Green Eggs and Ham. Time: 25 min.

Hop on Pop - Dr. Seuss [HD] provided by Elizabeth Buckler
Time: 9:41 min.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss provided by palombab
Time: 7 min.

ABC by Dr. Seuss provided by StoryTime202
Time: 5 min.

Dr. Seuss The Zax provided by Mason Sullivan
Time: 3 min.

Dr. Seuss - The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982) provided by Tanya Toon
Time: 25 min.

Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish provided by Muhammad Waqas
This is a good video but it does have a little bit of a strange intro. You may wish to skip the first 30 seconds. Time: 23 min.

Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who Full Movie provided by TelevisionToons
Time: 25 min.

Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham provided by hooray0008
Time: 8 min.

Dr. Seuss - Halloween is Grinch Night provided by Cosmic MC
Time: 25 min.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss's (1972)WebRiP XviD_X-Release provided by TheXRelease
Time: 25 min.

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss provided by StoryTime202
Time: 7 min.

Five Fun Facts about Dr. Seuss
Five fun, kind of goofy facts about Dr. Seuss. Time: 3 min.

SEUSS - A Dr. Seuss Documentary provided by thereelifeprod
A great, short biography of Dr. Seuss. Time: 2.5 min.

Happy Birthday from The Lorax
Kind of a funny little video clip saying happy birthday. Time: 1:00 min.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! provided Z Bayardo
Happy Birthday song for Dr. Seuss. Time: 1:16 min.

Getting On With Phrasal Verbs


Go out, go by and go with?
Go on!

Phrasal verbs can tangle English learners or literal thinkers up! They just don’t mean exactly what they say. Just like taking a “one a day” multivitamin, teaching and playing around with one phrasal verb a day can untangle the confusion. Check out these resources to help:
·       Usingenglish.com has a quickly referenced dictionary of phrasal verbs as well as verb quizzes students can complete online. Quizzes on 161 common verbs are ready to go!
·        Go on! Give it a go! Print a wordless comic strip and work together as a group, adding sticky notes with phrasal verbs. Working together takes pressure off hesitant students, gives lots of modeling and practice and is fun! Check out “Owly” comics on: andyrunton.com/owly.
·       Tic-tac-toe:  Have students work in pairs, fill in their own tic-tac-toe grid with nine uses of a verbal phrase (go on, go with, go over...) Then they play tic-tac-toe with the addition of acting out or using the verbal phrase in a sentence before they can X or O that square.
·       5minuteenglish.com/apr29.htm gives students eight verbal phrases they are likely to hear everyday and a short quiz with drop down answers to give them a chance to sort out the meanings.
·       To really cover phrasal verbs check out “Really learn 100 phrasal  verbs” by Oxford University Press at issuu.com/thegreenchalkboard/docs/reallylearn100phrasalverbs