The Brain, Baseball, and Geography

I read a lot about the brain because I find it absolutely fascinating.  I also want my students to learn, so I'm always searching for ways to help them remember what I've taught.

I've found that kids learn best when they get a little bit at a time, frequently, rather than one big lesson all at once, then never to see it again.  (Unfortunately, our present Math program does the latter.)

There's plenty of evidence out there to prove that frequent review and practice is the best way for children to remember what they're learning.

There's also plenty of evidence to prove that connecting the learning to the passions of the children help the learning process as well.

So, what does this have to do with baseball?  Come check out my blog at Elementary Matters to find out!

Earth Day Writing Freebie

I'm a big fan of Earth Day.  I think looking out for our world is HUGE and it needs to happen now.  Each and every one of us needs to do what we can to help this place be around for our grandchildren and our grandchildren's grandchildren.

I always celebrate every Earth Day with plenty of good literature.  Here are some of my favorite children's books with an Earth Day theme:

          

Earth Day is an ABC book, and makes a great introduction to the concept of protecting the environment.

The Lorax, is classic Seuss!  He tells about a mystical land of fantasy, which, in true Seuss fashion, a much deeper real story.  Even my second graders understand this valuable lesson.

The Wump World is a fun book to read to the children and NOT show the illustrations (even the cover) until the children have had a chance to show the Wumps and Pollutians that they visualized while listening to the story.  Another great story about a fantasy world with very real lessons!

This one is a new discovery to me, and my new "Earth Day Favorite". 

A River Ran Wild is a story that dates back to the days the Native Americans ruled this area, and respected the earth.  It continues through European settlers, the industrial age, and attempts to clean up the river.  This book is based on a local river, which makes it near and dear to my heart, but it's a valuable message about protecting our world.  My students became very upset when they saw what happened to the beautiful river!

See THIS BLOG POST for more about this book, and an art activity to go with it.

You can click the images above for a link to Amazon, to learn more about these books.

After reading, I intend to have the children do some opinion writing and/ or explanatory/ informational writing based on what they have learned about protecting the environment.

Here's a collection of writing paper with the Earth Day theme that I'll be using.  

Come over to Elementary Matters to download this freebie.

How are you honoring Earth Day this year?

What's up for Spring Games?

I am so ready for Spring!  Here in New Hampshire, the temperature seems to have trouble getting past the 40s, and there are still patches of snow everywhere, including my garden!

But Spring is in my heart, as well as my classroom.  

Games make up a big part of my centers, and I have several spring activities in my classroom!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see some of my Spring Activities!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing

As a blogger, I know the power of the audience.  It's you readers out there that make me want to blog, and make me want to make quality blog posts!  Don't our children need this same sense of audience to motivate their writing?  I think so!

Here are some ideas for celebrating the children's writing:

1.  Share in Class!  Have one child read his/ her story to the class.  Class is expected to listen and ask questions that "prove they were listening."  This works well when the child is "mid-story" in order to get ideas on where to go from this point.

2.  Small Group Shares! Have children work in groups of 2 or three to share their stories as above.

3.  Share Your Best Sentence!  I like this one because there's usually enough time for each child to share one sentence.  If the children know it's coming, that helps motivate the children to work on the quality of their sentences.

4.  Share With Someone Else in the Building!  There are lots of adults in an elementary school who would be thrilled to "play along" with this one!  It's a great motivator to promise a child that he can read his story to the custodian, or the secretary, or the cafeteria workers.  It's a win-win!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more ways to celebrate the writing of your students!

Easter Freebies!

Are you looking for Easter ideas?  Do you have an Easter freebie to share?

I felt it was time for an Easter Linky Party.  I hadn't seen any, so I decided to set one up!

Just hop on over to Elementary Matters, link up, or check out the freebies left from others!  Have fun!

Eggs-cellent Freebie

Looking for some ideas for those cute little plastic eggs you find everywhere this time of year?

I've got a few ideas!  Come on over to Elementary Matters to download this freebie, and check out a few other ideas!

St. Patty's Day Fun and a Freebie

St. Patrick's Day is one of my very favorite holidays of the year!  Why?  Well, I admit, I have Irish blood in me, but I think it's because of the timing.  In New England, the winters are so very long that by the middle of March, we need something fun and silly to celebrate.  So we all wear green and wear silly leprechaun pins and headbands.  It's good for lifting spirits while waiting for those first signs of spring.

Plus, it's a fun way to sneak in extra practice on those important skills!  Below are some free addition and subtraction story problems.  (I don't think they can get enough problem solving practice, and adding stories about leprechauns makes it more fun!)  These are designed for second grade, but would be useful for high first graders or review for third graders.

I always make sure the children recognize the Irish Flag.

And listen to Irish music.

And, of course, books!

      

And books by some favorite authors:

   

Come on over to Elementary Matters to download your freebie and see a "shillelagh full of ideas" for the big day!  (If you're not sure what a shillelagh is, see THIS LINK to Wikipedia!)

Booking Across New Hampshire

Happy Booking Across the USA!  There are over 50 bloggers representing 50 states who posted about their states!  What are we posting about?  Books, of course!  Everyone has found a book that represents their state.

I'm so excited about the book I chose!

Click image for link to Amazon.

A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry is a piece of history, and a lesson about respect for the environment.  Plus, it is a beautiful taste of the state of New Hampshire!

When I first picked up this book, I thought I had a nice picture book about a river that runs through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but it turned out to be so much more!

This book would be a great book to read when learning about Native Americans or when learning about the environment.  It's a great choice to read on Earth Day because of the environmental lesson.  It's also a great book for teaching history as well as the beauty of New England.  

I had many thoughts about activities connected to this book, but settled on one that celebrates the beauty of the clean waters of the Nashua River.

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more about the book, a fun art project to go with the book, and see more books about New Hampshire as well as more books by Lynne Cherry!  (I'm sure you'll recognize a few!)