Category: Strategy

"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?

6 Comments

Where in the World is Clarinda Cloud?

10/9/2013

4 Comments

Hi everyone! I am going to do something a little bit different today! Everyone likes a contest, right? And, everyone likes to get something for free, right? Well, I am going to try this contest monthly for the rest of the year and see what happens. I know what you are saying, "but this isn't educational and you only write about educational things." Right? Well, this is educational!
Treasure hunts and asking probing questions about text or images are effective ways of educating people. Also, they are fun strategies to use in education. I am just modeling this technique. LOL! Also, the books that I am featuring ARE EDUCATIONAL! So, there is education all over this blog post! LOL!
Okay. Here is how it works. I will post pictures each month of a book featuring Clarinda Cloud and ask "Where in the World is Clarinda Cloud?" (That is the name of the contest.) For the first person who comments where it is, I will send a copy of the book featured to the elementary school, library, daycare, or child counselor of your choice. (Only U.S. addresses at this time.)
Want to win the book yourself, that is fine too! Please make your comment on my author blog here! Yes, DUO Education will be competing with my author site, located at www.authorjodidesautels.weebly.com.
Don't know the answer? Comment anyway! If nobody guesses the correct answer, I will put all the suggestions from DUO Education and from my author site in a hat and send it to the elementary school, library, daycare, or children's counselor of your choice. When you make the comments here, please also tell me one thing you think I could do to make this site more effective. Thank you!
I think this is a great educational activity and a great way to get some awareness for Clarinda Cloud and the books in which she is featured. Speaking of Clarinda Cloud, have you gone over to check out her new site yet at www.ClarindaCloud.com?

4 Comments

An ESL Teacher's Resource... and a Resource for all Teachers

7/10/2013

2 Comments

It is my mission to create a network and resource for learning and teaching. Sometimes the resources will come from me and sometimes from others. I believe that we could learn so much from people of different cultures. So, this week, I decided to "Google" the phrase "successful teaching practices around the world" to see what I could find.
I found a wonderful resource at Learnalltheway about teaching English. There are short videos of teachers from around the world teaching English to students. The videos are narrated to explain the various strategies and parts important in teaching language to students. The videos also address what might work or be appropriate for students of all ages. Best of all, they are great practices that can be used in any classroom. Although, it is geared towards teaching ESL (English as a second language), many of the strategies are great for teaching in general.
The videos were apparently put together as a teacher training. And, this is one of the things that caught my eye. I think videos like these make wonderful training aids on any subject. Also, in today's 21st Century classrooms, videos are being used more and more as teaching aids for any age.
I am going to look into how to create such training videos. It looks like part power point and part video. I look forward to my new learning adventure as I try to create such a video of my own.
I hope that you will go on over to Learnalltheway to check out the video modules. They are put together very well and are great resources. I haven't explored their blog yet, but there may be other great resources there as well.

2 Comments

How Many Words in a Word?

6/26/2013

10 Comments

As I have said before, summertime learning is very important. Are you looking for a fun summertime activity to help reinforce spelling, reading, and vocabulary skills? I have one that can be done pretty much any time and any place. Get a piece of paper and put a word or phrase on the top. Then, have your children see how many words they can create using only the letters in that word or phrase.
There are many ways you can vary this activity. You can make it a game. If you have more than one child, you can see who gets the most words. Or, you can do it with your child and based upon age, you have to get double or triple, etc. the amount of words your child creates. Make sure to go over the words with your child and correct (or have your child correct) any spelling errors. That is part of the learning process.
I have used this activity in the classroom as an activity for students to work on if they finish their other work before others. I have also created an entire lesson around it. I have discussed strategies of getting the most words. For example, once you make a word, see if you can add different endings to it like "s," "er," or "ing." Or, another strategy might be to find all the rhyming words to the word you create.

Okay. Here is your challenge. I have a paper, shown to the left, that has the word "transportation" on the top. Using the letters in the word "transportation," how many words can you create? To make this even more exciting, I have another challenge. If you find the most words, you comment, and you have a friend (someone new) comment on the blog, I will send the book of your choice (one of mine) to the school or library of your choice. (Right now, I can only open this to United States' addresses.) Please make sure the person who comments is someone you think would enjoy the site. Thank you.

10 Comments

Tangram Puzzle A and Keeping Your Brain Exercised

6/5/2013

2 Comments

Are you looking for a simple summer time activity? Why not a homemade tangram? They are relatively easy to make and take strategy to solve.
This one is of a rectangle. I just drew the rectangle and split it into other shapes by drawing lines from place to place. Then, I cut out the shapes and taped them on a piece of paper so I could scan it onto my computer and upload it here. (You wouldn't need to do the last couple of steps if you are doing for someone at home to solve.)

I like this activity, because it has so much learning potential. For little ones, you can make tangrams with fewer pieces. It is also a good way to talk about shapes and sizes. For example, you might say, "Which piece are you going to start with: this big triangle or maybe that medium sized rectangle over there?" Or, you might ask as your child touches a shape, "What shape do you have there?"
For older children, maybe make a game of it. Show them how to create tangrams and have them create one for each other. That way, they can see who solves the tangram first. Or, have them create one for you, so you both can be working on tangrams together. It is a nice way to spend some quality time with your children. It is also an activity that can help the child (or adult) keep their brain active.
Activities like this have been shown to curb the onset of things like dementia and Alzheimer's disease. So, it is a wonderful idea to get children interested in keeping their brains active early in life and keep doing brain activities like this into adulthood. Work on them together as a family. You will all be better off because of it. Do what you can to make it exciting!
Feel free to print this tangram out and try it! Let me know if you want the solution! But... then, try your own! Keep exercising your brain!

Summer Time Tutoring

Speaking of keeping your brain exercised, please remember that DUO Education is now offering online tutoring. It is a great way to keep your child's brain exercised during the summer! Summer time learning helps in many ways. Don't miss out!

2 Comments

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

Notes and Announcements:

Where in the World is Clarinda Cloud?

An ESL Teacher's Resource... and a Resource for all Teachers

How Many Words in a Word?

Tangram Puzzle A and Keeping Your Brain Exercised

Summer Time Tutoring

Jodi Desautels

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