Great Website for Educators

A to Z Teacher Stuff website includes lesson plans that go along with children's literature books. For example, there are 43 lesson plans that teachers can find on this website to go along with a Dr. Suess book. 

It also allows you to search their lesson plans and activities by topic or themes, such as friendship, counting, or colors.  It then will suggest reading books for you and a lesson and activity to go along with the book. 

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/Literature_Activities/

Support Cancer Research

Just recently about a month ago, we found out my dad has cancer.  I never thought such a tragic thing would strike so close to home.  I have always been aware about cancer and know the effects it has on families, but especially now I understand how terrible it is to be in the situation.  http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp

I am very cautious now and I think it is very important to read up on how to prevent cancer and do all that you can do prevent! Live strong!! 

Visiting My Family

I always love visiting my family whenever I can.  They only live two hours away, but it is difficult to see them as much as I want to.  I recently was able to see them a few weekends ago! Here are is a picture from my visit. 

Read, Write, Think

In previous college classes, my professors recommend visiting http://www.readwritethink.org/index.asp. This website has alot of valuable tools and resources for teachers to conduct a reading and/or writing class. The following is a list of things the website has to offer:

Lesson plans - broken down by grade levels and allows you to view the abstract of the lesson before clicking on the actual lesson with all of the required materials and objectives

Standards - They provide the reader with the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts.

Resources - There are many, many many web links on here that take you to various websites. Some include the following topics: online museums, lesson plans, folklore book websites, and Poetry Archives. The link to view the resources is http://www.readwritethink.org/resources/index.asp

Materials for Students - Here, students can visit different areas to play interactive learning games, read books, and find writing prompts.  

I really think this website is a must for teachers to look at to find information about reading and writing.  It has numerous resources for the struggling reader, ELL students, and students who have a difficulty with writing.  I encourage all educators to use this website in their planning.  

Author Study Unit Plan - SEYMOUR SIMON

I created a Unit Plan on the author Seymour Simon.  I was very interested in his books about science and nature and plan on using this Unit Plan in my future classroom!

Check out the PDF version... click on the link below! 

Introduction:

I was very excited when I saw that I was to compose a unit plan on Seymour Simon.  I have always loved reading his books on science topics.  I remember in elementary school my teachers reading books by him and I would love to check them out from the school library.

Each and every one of his books has wonderful facts about various topics in science and wildlife.  They are great resources to keep handy in the classroom during science lessons.  I think there are many of his books that would be great attention getters for new materials, or even to base an entire lesson around one of the many books he has written.  The aftermath of reading one of his books is to find beauty in nature and to love and respect the Earth we live on. 

Fourth grade students will love the books by Seymour Simon and will learn a lot by reading them.  Some of his most popular books include Earth: Our Planet In Space, The Human Body, Wildfires, The Moon, and Animals Everybody Loves. 

Seymour Simon is a very talented author and I was very glad I had him to be able to read more about his life and the books he has written. 

http://elearning.fgcu.edu/AngelUploads/Content/200905-50190/_assoc/b700ccff18b6e93b82f41fa287800029//fdbk-8AE4F9566BE54FDD865AD6C48CD8DD27/MusickSeymourSimonAuthorSudy.pdf

Annotated Bibliography

Check out the Annotated Bibliography I created for my Children's Literature class! 

Introduction: My name is Kendra Musick and I am an Elementary Education major at FGCU.  I plan on teaching 1-3 grade in the Lee County area.  Currently, right now I am a teacher's aide to a three-year old class at Evangelical Christian School and I work with the 4 and 5 year olds after school at the After-School Care program.  I hope to get a lot of book ideas for my future classroom and hope to gain more information on children's authors.  I research online some books with awards, and I also asked some co-workers at work what some of their favorite books are to read to their students to find which books I was going to read for the Annotated Bibliography.  I think it is important for students to read multicultural books at every level because it opens up their mind to various cultures.   K. Au (1998) states, "The revaluing process includes teachers' acceptance of students as cultural beings.  It also encompasses the manner in which teachers receive and extend students' literacy efforts and encourage students to interact with peers and with texts".

http://elearning.fgcu.edu/AngelUploads/Content/200905-50190/_assoc/54d53cafa3da426b85e94d09d86c1bd7/Musick.AnnotatedBib.LAE.Summer09.pdf

Cultural Influences on Play...

Cultural Influences on Play... 

Research on children's play in other countries around the world in the past has been undertaken to test the universality of stage theories of play development or prevalence or existence of certain play states such as symbolic or pretense play.  

In the American middle-class today, play and the toys that are manufactured to support play of young children are generally thought to be necessary for the stimulation of early cognitive and social development, which is believed to be useful for success in school and later life.  

Pretend play is particularly valued, and such play is seen as particularly appropriate activity for adults to engage in with children.  

(James E. Johnson - Play Development, and Early Education)