Professional

ReadWriteThink

The ReadWriteThink website is an incredible place to find resources for your classroom! They offer lesson plans, student interactives, apps, calendar activities, and printouts. I love how easy it is for me to access lesson plans. I simply choose my grade level, lesson type, learning objective, and theme and it instantly pulls up tons of lesson plans!

Lesson 1:Inspire Healthful Reading Using Unconventional Texts

Grade: K-2
Time allotment: 30 min.
Objectives: The students will demonstrate an understanding of how to read basic information from nutritional labels by differentiating between healthy snacks and special treats.
What you need: magnifying glasses, computers with internet access, interactive board, dry-erase board, and self-stable and refrigerated foods for display.

I absolutely love this lesson! I think it's a great way to teach students about healthy snacks, that also integrates technology. This lesson has students looking at the differences between a healthy snack and an unhealthy snack. The teacher have the students look at the nutrition label, and if there's not one, they are too look up the nutrition facts on the internet. I feel like you could probably stretch out the time or make it into a unit, so your students could really grasp the concept of healthy living!

To access the full lesson, click here.

Lesson 2: Bringing Economic Vocabulary to Life Through Video Posters

Grade: 2-5
Time allotment: three 60 minute sessions
Objectives: 1.The students will demonstrate understanding of economic concepts by answering questions and providing textual examples. 2. The students will create a multimedia product that shows their comprehension of key economic vocabulary.
What you need: Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, Babymouse puppet coloring sheet, computer with Internet access and LCD projector, mobile tablet devices, Chatting About Books: Babymouse Extravaganza, a copy of economics concepts vocabulary word wall cards: Fifty Nifty Econ Cards.

The goal of this lesson is to introduce the academic vocabulary of economics and financial literacy through children’s books. In Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon, there are a variety of economics and financial literacy vocabulary words embedded in the text, which involve a school fundraiser. Through a think-aloud read-aloud, the lesson will illustrate how to introduce key economic concepts/vocabulary through the story. Students use puppets to conduct interviews about economics vocabulary in the story and then create vocabulary cards. As a final project, they create video posters, using either PowerPoint or Glogster.

To access the full lesson, click here.

 

About Me Video

International Literacy Association

I joined the International Literacy Association, formally known as the International Reading Association, this past fall and was overwhelmed with the amount of resources this organization has to offer. From lesson plans and books to standards and conferences, this organization has it all. One particular thing I enjoy about this organization is the reading lists it offers. Children’s Choice is my favorite reading list! The newest books are sent around to schools in a previously selected site, the students get to read them and vote, the votes are compiled, and then ILA produces a list of the top 100 books the children liked best. This is a great resource for teachers to use to select books for their classrooms!

Interested in more? Here's a flier detailing some of the amazing benefits the International Literacy Association has to offer!

 

 

Prezi

My favorite author is Kevin Henkes!
Click here to find out more about Kevin Henkes!

Popplet

In this Popplet I describe some of the uses for technology in the classroom, such as blogs, iPad apps, Graphic Organizer Tools, and Prezi, as well as my favorite aspects of the technology. My favorite thing about Popplet is how easy it is to use. I feel it could easily be used with elementary or high school students. The only two things I didn't care for on Popplet were that it didn't have a way for me to view it without the tabs at the top and if you export it as a jpeg, it doesn't have the title at the top, which I like having.

Project-Based Learning

I, personally, have never had any experience with project-based learning, but the high school I graduated from started a senior project, where the seniors would shadow someone and learn all about their craft, make a project, and present their projects to an audience. Although, at the time I was happy I escaped high school without having to do a major project like that, I now wish I could've experienced it. After researching project-based learning, I think I would like to bring it into my classroom. It seems like it would be difficult to get started, but with the support of my principal, I think it can be done. I would like to have my students choose a problem they would like to look in to, and spend the semester researching and collaborating. It would be so fun to help them explore real-world problems and to watch their passion for learning grow.

 

Oral History