Projects for Simple Machines You know me... I love science. And science loves me. That's what's cool about it. I always learn something new, usually about how things work. And that's pretty awesome because I'm no spring chicken and you'd think I'd know more about stuff like that by now, but I don't. Now, everywhere I look, I can't help but see simple machines. Like in my bathroom this morning, … [Read more...]
My Character Quilt
(Note: This quilt is not for sale. It was a gift from my mom.) Oh my gosh... can you believe how cute this is? My mom (who is a sewing genius) made this quilt for me. It includes so many of my favorite characters from children's literature... old and new. Do you recognize most of them? Which one is your favorite? The first square on the quilt is special to me. Do you know it? They're the … [Read more...]
The Changing States of Matter
THE CHANGING STATES OF MATTER I think food makes most things better, even science. My now-grown daughter would add that her fourth grade teacher's Munchie Math was her favorite math experience ever, and is apparently the only reason she understands fractions to this day. Clearly food can be a hook. That being said, did you know you can make ice cream in a plastic bag? It's one of those … [Read more...]
How to Use Wordless Picture Books
A book without words? It seems like an oxymoron, right? If there are no words on the pages, is it still a book? Can it be "read?" Will children be challenged to think deeply when they're only looking at pictures? Yes. Yes to everything. I think some teachers look past wordless books because, well, there are no words. They seem like books for little kids... for "kids who can't read yet." … [Read more...]
A Big Bag of Writing Ideas
My last post, Gathering Writing Ideas: 5 Tips to Generate Ideas, really should've been 6 tips because I totally forgot about this idea... A Big Bag of Ideas. This idea is similar to the strategy of using children's literature to generate writing ideas, but instead I use my own personal treasures to stimulate thinking about topics. It's super simple, but very effective. All you'll … [Read more...]
Gathering Writing Ideas
You know, some days are like this... it's just the way it goes. And it doesn't just happen to kids. It happens to me, too. Sometimes, it seems like coming up with a good idea is the hardest part of writing. Our writing workshop is one of my favorite times of the day, so helping kids generate and maintain a wealth of topics is critical to our success. No ideas... no writing. This is what I've … [Read more...]
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