Election Day Learning

It's about time, teachers, for Election Day!

Regardless of your political leanings, you will want to share some lessons about this fundamental rite of democracy.

Mock elections are fun, but not always easily understood by children. Most elementary students will find the political platforms of the candidates unfathomable. (Adults, too?!?) In a mock election, then, they will most likely vote for the candidate their parents support. That's fine, just not packed with learning.

There are ways to make it comprehensible, however. Even primary students can grasp the process when you apply the election to a subject they understand. Take ice cream, for example.

(Yes, please!  I'll take chocolate chip mint on a waffle cone.)

Hold an election to determine your children's favorite flavor. Begin by dividing your class into 2 equitable groups. Each group, i.e., caucus, will discuss their favorite flavors of ice cream. Through persuasive discourse, i.e., campaigning, each group will come to consensus about the best flavor, i.e., candidate. If consensus is difficult to achieve, you may even conduct primary elections.

Once the 2 flavors are selected, i.e., nominated, your students can begin trying to persuade their friends, i.e., constituents, to support their flavor, i.e., candidate. Posters, speeches, bumper stickers, etc. are all appropriate.  Rallies might best be saved for recess.

Students will need to register to vote. Election judges will check voters off their lists before giving them a ballot.

Once the polls close, the election judges will tally the votes and declare the winner. A post- election celebration may be in order -- featuring the winning flavor, of course! [If you are able to enlist the help of parents, have them count the ballots and announce the winner by distributing ice cream of the winning flavor.]

Don't you just love all the learning that this experience will bring your students? Maybe the elected flavor is not their very favorite, but they will learn about the art of compromise, majority opinions, and the election process.  

A mock election will have far greater impact when conducted around a subject that has meaning for children. 

Take TIME today to appreciate someone who does something you take for granted.

Columbus Day Poem

I have a poem to share with you, as well as some possibilities for teaching with it.

This poem and its possibilities are from my Poetry Possibilities - Fall Edition.  There are 25 more poems and custom designed possibilities for each one in the unit.

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FLASH FREEBIE

It's about time, teachers, for a FLASH FREEBIE!  

Today, 9.29.16, only!

Feedback & followers are always appreciated.

Alphabet Letter Associations

After several decades of teaching first grade, I became a Reading Recovery teacher. Best. Training. Ever!!!! And, oh so, humbling. It was through that training I came to realize some of the mistakes I had been making as a teacher of emerging readers. And, now, it's about time I share some of those revelations--

Chief among them is the realization that the traditional, alphabet letter associations are fraught with pitfalls, especially for reluctant readers. The first problem comes with the letter e. Common picture & letter associations are elephant and egg. Neither is representative of the letter sounds, despite the fact that they bear an initial e.  

As accomplished readers, we know that there is a short e sound of the beginning of elephant.  For emerging readers, however, it sounds for all the world as if the first sound is L.  

(Elephant was at the zoo.)

Similarly, egg sounds like it begins with a long a, at least here in the midwest. I am fortunate to have an easy solution for this "e dilemma;" my students learned to associate the letter e with Evans, my last name!  That will not likely work for you, however. 

So what's a teacher to do?  My kiddos have grown quite fond of these alternatives:

In RR, we let the child provide the association, which is most likely to be the long sound of vowels.  Of course, if s/he supplies elephant, envelope, egg, elbow, ear, or any of the other "confusing" words, it is just fine. As a classroom teacher, you may want to consider such potential confusions when you select your display posters.

Another consideration when choosing vowel associations, is to avoid r-controlled examples. In my experience, however, this is far less problematic for young learners than the above examples.

With regard to consonants, hard consonants are easier for building associations. Think cow vs. circus; game vs. giraffe. Similarly, consonant blends are less clear than simple, initial consonants. Think grapes vs. gorilla; ship vs. sun; chip vs. cap; three vs. tent. You get the idea.

Time is not measured by clocks, but by moments.

You may be interested in these alphabet posters:

LABOR DAY SALE

It's about time, teachers, for a LABOR DAY SALE!

I've done the labor so you can rest and relax. Shop my LABOR DAY SALE, 9/2/16 - 9/5/16. Everything in my store is marked down to just 99₵ (except bundles).  

With 270 products, you are sure to find something lots of things for your classroom. As the enrichment specialist for my building, I have developed curricula that stimulates critical thinking and requires stamina for all elementary grade levels. Much of my curricula integrates multiple subjects.  

Also trained in Reading Recovery and having worked as a literacy specialist for years, many of my products are focused on early reading skills and language arts in general. Again, the materials span all elementary grades.

Recently, I have discovered the joy of creating classroom decor. Nearly 60 products later, I am just getting started!  Forest Friends is my current favorite.

Take a few minutes to peruse my store. I think you'll like it.  Oh, and have a great, long weekend.

Time spent with family is worth every second.

FLASH FREEBIE!

It's about time, teachers, to wish the National Park Service a happy birthday!  It's 100 years old today.

To celebrate, I'm offering this literacy center as a FLASH FREEBIE!  

As always, TPT feedback is appreciated.

The time is always right to do something right.

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5 Things to Do With Your Class While You Test Individuals

It's a common problem: what can I do with the other students while I test individuals, especially the first few weeks of school? You are still creating your class atmosphere; still figuring out the range of abilities; still learning their names! So what in the world can you do to keep them busy without using copious amounts of coloring sheets? Here are some suggestions --

1. Challenge their critical thinking with Autumn Square Puzzlers. There are 3 levels of difficulty; even the brightest students can be occupied for a very, long time.  No reading is required.

And if your students love square puzzlers as much as mine do, you can satisfy them with LOTS of the puzzles available here.

2. Give them Latin Squares. Like the square puzzlers, these challenges will take time and stamina to complete, but do not require reading. Monkey Squares are also differentiated, giving you lots of options.

3.  Provide tangram puzzles. They are great brain exercise, even for non-readers. My tangrams have multiple puzzle pages that students can share and swap.  And, they are differentiated.

4.  For students who can read, provide Triads. You will need to spend a little time introducing these critical thinking challenges. Then get back to testing as your students take off with Triads. Kiddos LOVE them. These critical thinking cards can be used in small groups for cooperative learning or given to individuals.

5. Combine word work with computation, individual effort with competition, when you engage your students with Scrattle. This FREE product initially challenges students to create words with a specific set of letters. Then they calculate the value of their words using Scrabble™ letter values and linear equations.  Finally, they engage a friend in a battle to see whose words are the most valuable. [Scrattle = Scrabble + Battle] This activity, too, is differentiated, providing recording sheets with equations that require only addition, to complex, multiple operations.

Time is more valuable than money.  You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.

--Jim Rohn