Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

It's September Teacher Talk Time.....Hopefully everyone is off to a great school year with the best classes ever.  We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.

If you're interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here....The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.
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A Teachable Moment in History

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 I remember September 11 as if it were yesterday. I woke up to a  spectacular morning, not a cloud in the deep blue sky. The day was simply perfect. 

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Finding Life Mentors in Mentor Texts

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

I've been thinking a lot about mentor text lately. Mentor Text. Another piece of education-speak. Sounds official, important, and perhaps a bit daunting for a new teacher or a seasoned one like me, who may not have attended a training or researched  the term. The first time I heard the term, it sent me running to Google for a definition. I found that mentor text is a piece of literature that teachers and students can study, imitate, and apply to other texts and for different purposes.

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Once Upon a Time...Slaying Dragons and Story Problems
By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

Tackling story problems with kids can feel like trying to slay a dragon. This post describes an approach that has worked for me. Get ready to teach math like a reading teacher!
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Info, Info, Read All About It

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Travel brochures highlight the features of each California region. Using researched information, this beautiful project focuses on a specific region.

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The Hidden Power of a Classroom Read Aloud

By Marcy Howe of It's A Teacher Thing

Find the hidden powers of a great classroom read aloud and increase student engagement in reading, writing, and social studies.

Within Within (Words Within Words)

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By Margo Gentile of Margo Gentile

The beauty of spelling with letter tiles is that the “outcome” isn’t permanent. Kids aren’t afraid to stretch their spelling acumen by experimenting with letter tiles. Students hear teachers say “Mistakes are OK, you learn from your mistakes.” We all know that’s true and we wish to impart this wisdom to the children, in the hopes that they will embrace this perspective. However, kids still don’t like to make mistakes. With tiles it’s different. Tile spelling seems more like play, and the letters are easily moved to make adjustments to correct a word.

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Here's Help with Five Confusing Words

By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

The words who's or whose and their, there, or they’re are frequently confused and used incorrectly. Here are some tips to help you use them correctly.

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Sock It Away! What to do with Those Annoying Cell Phones in the Classroom

By Vicki Rauch of Scipi

Most of us can't live without our cell phones. Unfortunately, neither can our students. I teach on the college level, and my syllabus states that all cell phones are to be put on "silent" or turned off when class is in session. Sounds good, doesn't it? Yet, one of the most common sounds in today's classrooms is the ringing of a cell phone, often accompanied by some ridiculous tune or sound effect that broadcasts to everyone a call is coming in. What can a teacher do?

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How Emma Learned to Read

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

Read this different story about Emma's first learning experience.

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Do you know Yuyi Morales?

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachRs Classroom

Get to know Yuyi MOrales! She's an amazing author and illustrator.

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Teaching Children to Help with Household Chores 

By Thia Triggs of PrintPathOT

5 Steps to Embrace Personal Responsibility: 1. Motivating Your Child

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Ultimate Teacher Self Care

By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching

Teacher self care includes physical things like proper rest, as well as financial matters - like saving for the summer. Learn tips to save for the summer.

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Letters Ff, Tt, Rr and Ii of 26 Letters in 26 Days
By Beth Coogle of Coogle It

Take a look inside my kindergarten classroom to see how we are learning the alphabet. This blog shows activities and photos for letters F, T, R, and I. STEM, literacy stations, and small group instruction is included.



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Hop on over and read the blog posts from our group of awesome educators.

An InLinkz Link-up

Fun ways to seize teachable moments this holiday season!

 

This is the season of abundance and gifts, with teachable moments everywhere we turn! From learning about how others celebrate the season, to having a true purpose for writing, discovering math concepts, and for those of us who teach in Catholic and Christian Schools, learning about the Nativity!

Learning about how others celebrate the season:

These photos were taken after kindergarten students read stories with their reading buddies about how different characters celebrate the holiday season. The buddies then found similarities and differences between their own holiday traditions!

 

The big buddies didn't know it at the time, but their little buddies had a surprise in store for them, because the holiday season is also a perfect time to show kids that...

We write for real purposes!

I have dedicated an entire blog post to this topic here, but will emphasize that I think we need to bring back the hand-written Christmas card tradition (or begin that tradition for other holidays). Do you remember the thrill of getting real mail? Writing a card, addressing it, putting the stamp on and mailing it? It meant something. Below are two free samples of Christmas cards with multiple levels of support for your earliest writers!

Math is everywhere during the holidays,

Here's a popular post and product about counting by two's with reindeer. I just added images to create toilet paper roll figures and / or crafts to the Big Christmas Bundle that make ideal manipulatives  acting out the 10 at the Sled Song / Storybook:

 

Santa stood at his sled and then he said "Come Dasher, come Dancer," so along came Dasher and Dancer, too! There were 2 at the sled and Santa said, "Come Prancer, come Vixen..."

Especially in patterns!

 

Ask kids to go on a pattern hunt throughout the classroom, through picture books or at home. Recreating and extending patterns using a variety of art mediums, on shaped paper, or with beads, cubes, building toys, etc. make exploring patterns so much fun!

Here are some fun and easy examples of how students duplicated some of the patterns they found!

Learning about the Nativity

Reading picture books are always a great way to introduce and review content and vocabulary with kids, and there are many wonderful stories about the First Christmas. Having themed costumes, toys, puppets handy are a great way to inspire dramatic play! Check out these amazing Nativity Education Ideas for Young Students on Pinterest!

 

The images used for these figures are a part of my Big Christmas Bundle. I laminated the color ones before taping them onto the rolls for durability, and the kids colored their own to take home! They really enjoy retelling the story of The First Christmas with these figures.

They also just can't believe it when they realize that these are the exact same characters from their very own readers! Little minds blown! lol

Happy holidays, everyone, and best wishes to you and your loved ones!
xo Ida Mae 
aka 

Related:

  

  

This fun cut-and-paste activity involves matching upper case Shepherds and lower case sheep! 

From Nativity: Read and Write and More!