Category: Books

"Snowman's 'Noggin and Neck' Award" and the Importance of Wordless Books

12/4/2013

Hi everyone! I saw this whimsical little cover come across my Facebook page. Aren't the snowmen adorable? I am FB friends with the author, so I inquired about it!
"Snowman's 'Noggin and Neck' Award" by Joyce Mitchell is primarily a wordless book. The book is about Prancer and Blitzen (two of Santa's reindeer) go around the neighborhood looking at all the snowmen. The only words are an introduction, an ending, and labels for the home where the snowman was built.
Wordless books like this one have great educational value. It leaves so much for the imagination of young children who can't read. Wordless books get children thinking about the story, by getting them to look at the picture and make up their own story. This leads to using the pictures as cues for figuring out the words as a strategy when they really start to read.
In this particular book, where the images are similar... different looking snowmen in various yards. Venn diagrams can be done on two different images at a time. It is a great book for lessons on similarities and differences. And, the topic of cute little snowmen makes it that much more exciting for the children, especially in the winter months.
"Snowman's 'Noggin and Neck' Award" is currently only available as an ebook at the moment. You can find it on Amazon.com by pressing the title text or the picture image.

You can connect with Joyce on her Facebook page. She has other children's books listed there. I haven't read all of them, but hope you find one that you enjoy!

Notes and Announcements:

*First of all, you may have noticed, but Clarinda Cloud is getting a new cover! Instead of the plain cover that she has now, she is getting the one below. So, if you see it, know that it is the same great story with a different cover. She will be unavailable for a day or two during the switch.
*Secondly, I am always looking for guest bloggers, friendly and inspiring educational sites to visit, etc. I also give shout outs at times...for innovative educational sites and ideas. If you would like to guest blog or if you have an educational site, article, or product you would like me to see... please feel free to contact me.

Here is the last "Clarinda Cloud" contest of the year! This one, everyone can do! All you have to do is answer a couple of questions. You can answer the ones here, the ones at www.ClarindaCloud.com on Clarinda Cloud's Feelings Blog, or at www.AuthorJodiDesautels.weebly.com on my author blog. Of course, answering them at all three is good too! LOL!
A winner will be chosen from all the entries at the end of the month. If nobody answers at least two of the questions, I will find a place to donate a copy. If you want to comment, but would rather donate a book to someone, feel free to do that as well. Thank you!

Here are your two questions for this site:
1. Please explore the site and blog. What is your favorite blog post and why?
2. Please explore the site. What else would you like to see on the site and why? A class? If so, what kind? Another type of activity? If so, what kind? Homework help? More guest bloggers? If so, what kind? More teaching aids? If so, what kind? What would you like to see out of this site? What else would you like to see me offer?

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Sandra Portman Shares her Interactive Ebooks on "Learning the Numbers" and "Learning the Alphabet" as well as Her Thoughts on Learning Those Things When She Was Younger

11/27/2013

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Hello everyone! Today, I have a guest blogger. Please give a warm welcome to children's author, Sandra Portman! She is here to tell us about her educational children's books! And...what caught my eye is that they are interactive! Sandra, please tell us a little about yourself and your books.

Now that I am retired, I get to play and do things I couldn't do while I was raising a family and working. I guess it's not so much that I couldn't do them, but there never seemed to be enough time and I really wanted to concentrate on my children and my husband. I worked long hours and I spent most of my free time cooking and baking fresh food for the family.

Now that I have "all the time in the world," I wanted to explore my childhood love of reading and writing. Back then, I spent a lot of time with friends making up stories and games for our never-ending list of clubs. I don't remember why this was so important to us, but we always had a new club for some new adventure or hobby. We even made invitations for the new club and went through the neighborhood inviting other kids to join.

LOL! That sounds like fun! I wish I was in your neighborhood back then.LOL!

Children love colorful, fun, and silly books. Funny rhymes, silly situations, and the stories that make them laugh need to be in a child's little reading library. With the emphasis on early learning and the fierce competition to succeed today, digital books are an excellent choice for parents who want to introduce concepts to their children.

Children are curious and with the levels included in these books, many children will want to read further. Some will find the buttons and have fun with them, just to see the page move. Other children will be happy to look at the same pictures until they have matured to the cognitive level to learn more. I encourage parents to help their children to learn the joy of reading by interacting with the books they have. At the same time, their children will become curious to learn more, ask questions, and be open critical thinking as they grow and mature.

My second venture into writing for children came with a new series for pre-school children. I wanted to explore the use of interactive functions within digital books. I could just imagine the fun kids would have choosing the correct answer and clicking on a button. All I needed was bright, colorful pictures ad buttons. Starting from birth, these books could start out with just the pictures from which the kids would learn subliminally.

This would have been a nice series of books for each stage of learning up to kindergarten, but I thought it would be much more fun to have all the books in one volume. Each of my children had a favorite book during those years that they wanted to read all the time. As parents, we quickly become bored and tired of the favorite book, but they don't.

To take advantage of this favorite reading habit of young children, all I did was extend the early concepts to take advantage of the levels of learning from birth to age four. This meant children would have their favorite book with all their favorite pictures that grows with them.

There are two books in the series to learn the numbers and the alphabet. Each book has four levels of learning:

Birth to age one: The goal is to respond to pictures by copying sounds and pointing and patting the pictures.
Up to age three: Answer questions, identify pictures, and attempt to read with "pretend reading."
At age three, children are ready to read by themselves, and perform activities for longer periods of time.
Age four is when children begin to recognize familiar signs and labels, and make up silly phrases and rhymes. At this age, most children can count to ten

Developing the Books

I don't use fancy software or tools when writing my books. All my books are written using Microsoft Word. In this series, the first two levels mainly use pictures and pointing to introduce children to the concept of numbers and the alphabet. In "Learn the Numbers," level 3 is used to teach children to point to each number in a collage of numbers and say the number.

In level 4, children are introduced to counting. They are presented with multiple pictures on a page and given a multiple choice answer. To answer the question, they press the correct button that corresponds to the number of pictures. If the correct button is pressed to answer the question, they proceed to the next question. If the answer is not correct, they are given the opportunity to answer the question again.

In my "Learn the Numbers" book, each multiple choice answer must lead the reader to a function; either the answer is correct or it is not. One answer will take the reader to a new section for the next question; the other two buttons will take the reader to the error message section.

Interactive Fiction Books

My new series, "Nathan, Family & Friends" are fiction stories around 2K words. In 2014 I am going to explore the use of interaction to have the reader decide where the story should go. For example, what happens to a character when different choices are made? This simulates real life and will help children learn to think before taking actions which could negatively affect their life.

I have one quick question for you before we reveal your books and sites to people, Sandra. Do you remember what it was like to learn the alphabets and numbers when you were young?

When I was in school, the process of learning the numbers and the alphabet was so tedious. There wasn't much time spent on these concepts before first grade. Once we started learning about them in school, it was very academic, repetitive, and I thought - very boring. I remember using flashcards; they were black and white and strictly used to test our ability to identify what was on the card. I also remember being very shy as a child and how embarrassing it was for me when I couldn't keep up with the flashcards.

Yes, there were quite few flashcards around when I was growing up today. There are still some today and at times, I think they have their place. I think they are better for self-study than group study though. And, I think they are probably better for learners who are older than the little ones who are learning the alphabet and numbers for the first time. But... I agree, I believe that there are far more fun and exciting ways to learn things besides using flashcards! I am all about the fun in learning here! And, I think interactive books are a great way to make learning fun!

Sandra's blog: www.sandralportman.com

You can also find Sandra on her social media sites:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest

Here are Sandra's two educational books. Please push the book cover images for the direct links on Amazon:

Notes and Announcements:

*My character, Clarinda Cloud, has her own blog now! She will be blogging on Wednesdays, just like me. Her blog is mainly about feelings! Please feel free to explore her site at www.ClarindaCloud.com and also visit her "Clarinda Cloud's Feelings Blog."

*There is still time to win a free copy of the "Clarinda Cloud Activity Book." You can find out more information on the contest on this post. Also, there is a list of names of waterfalls that gives you a hint to the answer. And, Clarinda Cloud gives a couple of new hints in her blog post this week. Good luck!

*I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah this week!

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Activity: Bb Bag

7/24/2013

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Before I tell you about this activity... I just want to say that DUO Education has gone .com!!! You may have noticed that the website address has changed. It is now www.duoeducation.com. This is a big step, but.... I intend on doing big things!
Okay, since we are talking about "big" things on this "blog".... I will tell you about the "Bb Bag" activity. This is a cool way to help teach children the "beginning" sounds of objects and the "beginning" steps of reading. It is also quick and can be done at home or at school.
This can work for any letter. I chose "Bb" because I could think of things that started with "Bb" that made a nice display picture... and I could picture one of the "books" I wrote. (And, everyone who has or teaches young children has a copy of "Clarinda Cloud" right...or should?)
Anyway, you give a child a bag and have him or her fill it with objects that start with a particular letter. (Of course there are rules... like... no touching that expensive and unique treasure, no sharp objects, no live animals, etc. We wouldn't want Bobby, the pet boa, in the bag... and Bobby probably wouldn't like it either! LOL! You know what I mean.) The child goes around and collects things in the bag, that he or she thinks start with the letter you chose. Then, he or she brings the bag back and you discuss it together.
In some instances you may question why an object is in there. For example, you might think I placed a stuffed "rabbit" in my bag. But... I consider it a "bunny," so it would fit the category.
I like this activity, because it is partially done independently allowing the child to think and partially done with an adult allowing for some valuable time together. The child also learns or reinforces beginning sounds and the first steps of reading.

*Note: You may use the photo as is. If you use it online, please link back to DUO Education and give DUO Education creative credit. Thank you!

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Kidtales Summer Reading Spectacular

7/3/2013

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Hi everyone. I would like to introduce you to my guest blogger for the week, Candice Simpson. She has an announcement about a wonderful summer program! I am happy to have Candice introduce you to this program, because I feel it is so important for children to have some sort of summer time learning! Welcome Candice!

**** Hi there! Thank you Jodi for this opportunity! I'm Candice and I am a Personal Assistant to Author, Wendy Nystrom. I work on several pages, one being Kidtales.

First-lets talk about Kidtales! Kidtales is a Facebook page that owner, Wendy Nystrom came up with back in 1999. Wendy is a children's author, currently published with Anchor Group Publishing, and she felt there needed to be an outlet to get children's authors together, for readers! Wendy created the page, and has sense shared millions of children's authors and books, along with her own, and her publishing sisters/brothers -Lil'Anchors of Anchor Group.

Wendy felt a strong desire to help children live in a book, have some imagination, and some character. In her books you escape to Iceland and take a journey through a young boys eyes. Friendship, challenges, discoveries, imagination, and secrets are all unlocked. Its something children don't often get anymore. Wendy knew there were hundreds of thousands of other authors out there, starting out right where she was, and Kidtales was the way to get those amazing, imaginative, creative, and fun books into children's hands.

I became an admin not long ago. Wendy and I met through another dear author friend- Christy Sloat (also an Anchor Group published YA/Teen author). I worked for and with Christy for about a year, and I was branching out into learning more about the assistant world and how I could do more for others. I adopted an author- the ever talented, amazingly creative Jodi Stone - and from there, in that group, my friendship grew with Wendy.

While working on Kidtales we brought about Coloring pages for the kids to find and color, some fun new ideas like sharing a kids video once in a while, sharing amazing book tales, and adventures-and ….now the EPIC idea… A KIDS Summer Reading Spectacular!

The spectacular was an idea I was thinking over and over. I work with several authors-both adult and children's writers. I wanted to do something for children to remember to read this summer. Summer reading is something that often falls to the way side with the pool, bikes, games, nights by the fire, and more. I wanted the kids to remember-authors care and education is critical. I have a background in education and I firmly think every child needs an author they love, a book they cherish, and deserve to feel the escape a book can offer!

After speaking to Wendy I started to slowly round up some authors. I knew the Anchor Group authors would all be so generous in donating-they always are. But I was unsure if I had other children's authors who would step forward, want to donate, and help the kids!

To my great surprise, I have many authors, including the ever amazing Jodi Desautels, who've stepped forward.

Here is the layout of what we're doing!

Children sign up for the event on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/538333619558426/

Parents make the commitment to help the children read, document what they are reading and the times they read, and then help teach the children about the importance of a book review!

For every 30 minutes a child reads they earn 1 point. At the end of the event prizes will be distributed, via age category (they are broken down into specific readers), for the most amount of points-but everyone will earn something!

Each week the children report on a Friday how much reading they have done, and post their reviews. Once the children do-Saturday I record the hours, and Sunday I pick a winner for a bookmark, or an ebook, or a bracelet, pencil, something SIMPLE. This allows a child to win every week JUST for reading-not in point order.

The prizes ALL come from donated items from authors and friends of children reading! We are very blessed. What do the authors get, promotion! They get their stories out there, their pages known to families (we have over 70 attending so far), and a weekly feature on each author where we dedicate time and information to them about their book(s) or pages or events, blogs, and things going on for the author! Every author gets featured on Kidtales event, as well as other pages that I belong to and can share on. They also get GREAT joy in helping children read, share, and have fun! We will be offering preferred reading to the kids every week in the age ranges, but the children are free to read anything! If an author is having a sale-we will promote that, and potentially host a giveaway we purchase. It is all about connecting Indie/Small Press Children's Book Authors to amazing children who love to read!

We are still accepting sponsors from authors or people who just want to donate bookmarks, swag, character related toys/stuffed animals, and especially books- e-format or paperback. Please message Kidtales page for more details on how you can help and join in giving back to the children!
https://www.facebook.com/Kidtales

A huge thanks to our Sponsors so far:
The amazing Jodi Desautels (whose hosting me on her blog-YAY-THANK YOU!!!)
Wendy Nystrom
Lil'Anchors
Emily Fogle
Anchor Group
Brandy Herr
Jimmy D (JD Gordon)
Vickie Johnstone
Kelly Preston
Lakshmi Gosyne
Mitzy Tait-Zeller
Brenda Lochinger
Ayana Baugh
Scott Prussing
PJ LaRue
Saoirse O'Mara
Lindsey Parsons
HJ Daly
Author Mary Lee
M.C. Arvanitis
Lori R Lopez
Maureen Larter
Karen Pokras Toz

…………………………….We would LOVE LOVE to add your name to our list!

If your willing to give a little to get a lot, share the love of reading with a child, and have some great summer adventures-please come join us at the Kidtales Summer Reading Spectacular!

**Note: Thank you Jodi for your incredible kindness and sharing this event, and the help we could use, and being there to support the children! Much Lubs from the Kidtales admins!

Kidtales Summer Reading SpectacularJune 20 at 8:00am
Kid tales

I would like to thank you, Candice, for posting today! I wish you, and Wendy, and all involved in the Kidtales Summer Reading Spectacular well! I hope many children have fun with their reading this summer! Reading can be quite an adventure! I am glad I could help in some small way! Please come back and visit again!

Is your child having trouble with summertime reading? Let me help. I provide individualized, online tutoring. Not sure if it is the right tutoring program for you? Contact me. I would be happy to talk with you. Together we can create a tutoring program that is just right for your child, one that caters to his or her learning style!
Are you an adult who would love to read better? Not a problem! I have worked with people of all ages! Just contact me. Take that first step!

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In Honor of Teacher Appreciaton 2013...

5/8/2013

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"If your actions inspire children to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are indeed worthy of the title "Teacher." - Robert John Meehan

This week is teacher appreciation week! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the teachers who have taught me, all of the teachers who have taught my daughter, and all teachers in the world. You are often under paid and under appreciated. Yet, there is at least one who really appreciates what you do!
I hope everyone enjoys the quote I have chosen. I believe it is so appropriate for teacher appreciation week! That is a great way to describe and honor teachers! Great teachers really do all of those things.

In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week... Giveaway!

In honor of teacher appreciation week, I am going to do my first blog giveaway event. Here is how it works: Any teachers who sign up for my blog via email subscription and post a comment will be put into a drawing. The comment must include what level you teach and what you would like to see in an educational blog, educational site, or educational product..... For example... you might say... "hi my name is ..... I teach.... and I would really like to see more workbooks on fractions that specifically address....." Share whatever you would like to see to help you teach... and to help us teach.... and so we can learn and help others learn. I will draw a name next Tuesday! The winner will receive a signed copy of one of my books. (Sorry, this is limited to United States addresses only at this time... as I do not know the mailing costs or limitations to other countries.)

Giveaway Prize Choices

Here are the choices the winner will have to choose from:

Bonus Giveaway

There is another giveaway I would like you to know about. In honor of Mother's Day some other wonderful authors and I will be offering a "Mother's Day Giveaway." My give away will be these books on Kindle. So... these books will also be available on Kindle this Sunday for free. (Links to the softcovers, which will also get you to the Kindle link, are available when pressing on the images above.)
I hope that you will take advantage of my books free on Kindle this Sunday. And, as I said, there are other wonderful authors who will be giving books away on Mother's Day as well. Please go to my other blog site for more information. You can get to SmallReads Book Corner... and more specifically Little Chatter Box by following this link: http://smallreadsbookcorner.weebly.com/little-chatter-box.html.
For those of you who take advantage of my Mother's Day Giveaway: First of all, thank you! Secondly, sign up for this blog by email commenting that you took advantage of my Mother's Day Giveaway... and stay tuned. There will be further details on how you can win a signed copy of one of my books as well.

Please Explore the Site and Please Share!!!

For all of you who are new to this site, please feel free to explore. Also, please feel free to make comments or contact me in anyway. This site is devoted to create a network of resources for people who want to learn, to teach, and to share. It is to empower others to succeed! This site is based not only on my thoughts of education and learning, but also on the needs, ideas, and comments of others.
Today I listed some giveaways. Sometimes I offer thought-provoking blog posts, teaching tips or ideas, etc. Please share this site with others... so our teaching and learning site can grow. I welcome you all! Thank you!

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"Snowman's 'Noggin and Neck' Award" and the Importance of Wordless Books

Notes and Announcements:

Sandra Portman Shares her Interactive Ebooks on "Learning the Numbers" and "Learning the Alphabet" as well as Her Thoughts on Learning Those Things When She Was Younger

Notes and Announcements:

Activity: Bb Bag

Kidtales Summer Reading Spectacular

In Honor of Teacher Appreciaton 2013...

In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week... Giveaway!

Giveaway Prize Choices

Bonus Giveaway

Please Explore the Site and Please Share!!!

Jodi Desautels

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