Blog Archives

Introducing "Jam with Jodi" Monthly Newsletter

1/29/2014

Hello everyone! Today's post is going to be a rather short one. I am introducing my new "Jam with Jodi" Monthly Newsletter. This page is the "DUO Education" page of it. It also has pages for my books, for my author site, for my character site, and for my links. It is a great way to keep up with DUO Education and my other works at a glance. It would be too much to put all the links for every page on every site, so please explore the entire site while there.
Also, to make it easier for you to find the newsletters, I also created a "Jam with Jodi" Monthly Newsletter Gallery. Again, these are only short blurbs of what is offered. So, please explore the entire sites. Thank you.
As always, I would enjoy your feedback on how you like the newsletter as well as any other feature at DUO Education.

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Water Cycle Word Search and Word Searches as Teaching Tools

1/22/2014

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Hello everyone! A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was starting to work on units and themes. I shared a poster I created on the water cycle. If you haven't read it yet, please feel free to do so here.
Today, to add to the water cycle fun, I thought I would share a word search I created using words and concepts often discussed while studying the water cycle.
Some people may feel that word searches are "filler activities." You know what I mean. It is one of those activities when you want to keep the students busy and out of trouble when a substitute is there. It is one of those activities where you don't expect the substitute teacher to do any "real" teaching. And, if you give a word search to the students and say, "Here, complete this word search," that may be what it is… just a filler activity.
Yet, I think word searches can be great teaching tools. As a matter of fact, I think they can reinforce reading skills, spellings skills, and knowledge in various content areas. Word searches helps people focus on the spelling of a particular word, because they are looking at the word and often checking and double checking the word while searching for it. They have to often read it and reread it while looking for the word. Not only that, but, if you talk about the words on the page…or ask students to write the words on the page in a sentence as another activity… it reinforces the content knowledge as well.
So, I guess, as in many other things in life, it is all in how you approach it. To me, learning should be fun. It should be something that people want to do, instead of something force upon them. Finding fun and creative ways of teaching, such as in the use of a word search is a wonderful way to motivate and encourage students to learn.

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Fun & Friendly Dinosaur Assignment

1/15/2014

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Hello everyone! When I was thinking about today's blog topic, I had thoughts of my kindergarten teaching days. Of course, that gave me a wonderful idea for a blog post.
When I was teaching kindergarten, I did a unit on dinosaurs. All of us kindergarten teachers in the school did the same units at the same time, but sometimes put our own spin on it. The students enjoyed this unit. I don't know if I have ever seen a kindergarten student who didn't like the dinosaur unit. LOL!
I don't remember, but I think we did this unit at about the same time that "Earth Day" came about. So, we also talked about recycling and re-using things. Anyway, as a culminating activity to the unit, the students would be asked to create a dinosaur out of regular household items and/or craft trinkets; such as pompoms, pipe cleaners, and the like. They weren't to spend very much, if anything, to create the dinosaur.
It was okay for parents to spend some quality time with their children and help with this project. It was even encouraged, as long as they were helping and not doing it all.
Children had to create a dinosaur, name it, write about it…what it did, what it ate, where it lived, etc. Also, in class, we had a big show and tell, where students told about their dinosaurs. It was fun! Then, we put them on display for teachers, students, and parents to admire.

Okay… here is your "Fun & Friendly Assignment," if you so choose to use it. Give a child the activity as described above. Have him or her create a dinosaur using things commonly found around the house… food, containers, tidbits of craft supplies, etc. This can be a formal assignment at school or homeschool, as well as a fun activity to do at home. It is also great for daycares and preschools. You can help, but please don't do it. Let the child use his or her imagination, not yours. When you are finished, take a photo of the child's masterpiece, and email it to [email protected] as an attachment. In the subject line, put the title of this post. (I will not spell it out here, but you will find it at the top of the page.) Emailing the photo gives me permission to post it on my website. If you want a name or age posted with the picture, please include that as well. Usually, I like to use like first name, age, and maybe the state where the child is from. But… nothing revealing. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Have fun with this!

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Water Cycle Poster and Other New Reveals

1/8/2014

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Hello everyone! It is the first of the year. I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the new year. I have had a lovely start. I am feeling motivated, energetic, and creative. I have quite a few things planned for this year.
The first reveal is the new "Story Starters and Writing Prompts" blog page. Every Monday, I will post some sort of story starter or writing prompt. There is also a "Story Starters and Writing Prompts Gallery," where all the story starter and writing prompt cards will be displayed for the year. The first writing prompt was posted a couple of days ago. I hope you will take a minute to check it out, if you haven't seen it already.
A second change is that there will be more content added more often to this site. I am continually working on educational learning pages and activities. I am also starting to work on units and themes. The water cycle is one of the units that I have started. The water cycle unit will have learning pages for learners of various ages and abilities. I have this lovely, colorful poster of the water cycle for younger students. This 8.5"x11" poster is a great addition to any science class for the younger grades. It can be printed from the "Educational Posters" page. Other educational and colorful posters are displayed there as well!
As always, I welcome your input and feedback. I want you to feel that you can help make this a wonderful educational site for everyone. I want you to feel like a network and community of educators and learners. So, if you have any questions, comments, ideas, or feedback, please feel free to contact me.

Some of you know that I have other websites. My character's site, www.ClarindaCloud.com, is looking for children's drawings that depict feelings. They will be displayed on a blog called "Children's Drawings of Feelings." This blog will be posted every Monday. If you are interested, please contact me and Clarinda Cloud. (The site is portrayed mainly from Clarinda Cloud's point of view.) Also, on my author site, www.AuthorJodiDesautels.com, I am offering "Author/Illustrator Interviews & Book Promotions." I hope you will take a moment to explore all of these sites regularly. Thank you!

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Happy New Year 2014

1/1/2014

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Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I hope 2014 will bring you happiness and good health! My poster says it all! I plan on following my heart in 2014. I hope you do as well!
For me, that means many changes to my sites. I am also planning on posting Mondays and Wednesdays from all of my sites. For this site, it means story starters and writing prompts. There is a blog just for those that I will be revealing on Monday. I hope you enjoy it. It also means many more activities and learning pages.

As always... I look forward to your input. I am still very open to hearing your educational ideas, needs, questions, comments, etc. You can do that by commenting, contacting me, or possibly guest posting.
If you have an educational site or product you would like me to see or possibly review or promote, please feel free to contact me. I am open to chatting.
Have an idea for a new service or product on the site? Please contact me!
There are also more things in the works that I haven't finished yet. I look forward to revealing them as well. Please, explore the site often. It will be adding things quite often this year.

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Introducing "Jam with Jodi" Monthly Newsletter

Water Cycle Word Search and Word Searches as Teaching Tools

Fun & Friendly Dinosaur Assignment

Water Cycle Poster and Other New Reveals

Happy New Year 2014

Jodi Desautels

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