My oldest daughter is in 3rd grade and is working on mastering her times tables. She has a great understanding of the concept of multiplic...
How to make a whirlygig – a free set of printable templates so kids can make a cardboard spinner, or whirlygig, at home. This is a fun, traditional DIY toy!
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation". Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra. Monday Mantra: The world is in you The feeling of gravity keeps us down Deviantart While Secret #1 taught me many things about what I believe and why (and that, currently, I absolutely, positively cannot sit and do nothing for 10 minutes everyday without going crazy), it's time to move on to Secret #2. Secret #2: The World is in You We were taught to follow a set of habits and beliefs that totally disregard the mystery of life. These beliefs are contained one inside the other like nested boxes: There is a material world. The material world is full of things, events, people. I am one of those people, and my status is no higher than that of anyone else. To find out who I am, I must explore the material world. This set of beliefs is binding. It leaves no room for soul-searching, or even for the soul itself…as convincing as the material world looks, to the great embarrassment of modern science, no one has been able to prove that it is real…any neurologist will assure you that the brain offers no proof that the outside world really exists... For all anyone knows, the entire outside world could be a dream. Whoa, what? Did you catch that? The entire outside world may not actually exist?! The idea held within Secret #2 is this: The world you experience is what you create, what you make of it, your perception of everything, good, bad, or otherwise. It is magical and unexplainable and in so many ways, limitless. However, over time we've been taught to isolate ourselves in order to search out exactly who we are and, in doing this, we've separated ourselves. We've lost the connection to the world within us. We've created an Us vs. Them situation in almost everything we do and, by doing that, we've separated us from ourselves. The world is within you. You are not in the world. It's complicated and beautiful and intriguing and, somewhat, overwhelming. To live and learn Secret #2, you're asked to change your reality and bring the world home to yourself. You're asked to look around you and notice how everything you see is a part of you. How your color choice of wall paint is a direct reflection of you and how you feel about your world. How you observe happiness around you and how the people in your life all play a role in that happiness. My favorite exercise is where he asks you to get a rose, hold it in front of you, and understand how this rose is created by you. "Without me, this flower would have no fragrance." Never before that moment had I realized that I give fragrance to flowers, color to walls, vibrancy to the world, just because of the sensations my brain generates. The world is within me. I am not within the world. In an attempt to live this secret, I'm going to start focusing on my surroundings and asking myself how I connect to them, how my perception of them has shaped them. How, if I were to alter that perception, they would completely change. What will you do, observe, notice to uncover the world within you? A shout out to my work hubby, Daniel, for going secret-by-secret right along with me!
A list of the funniest comic strips and cartoons about ebooks, e-readers, and reading in the digital times.
Captured with Snagit
He that knows nothing will believe anything. ― Thomas Fuller
Spanish song to teach some uses of the verb to go with the questions what, where, and when. Kids will also learn to differentiate between who and how.
Why do we consider improper fractions a negative thing?
In the previous post, I talked about using voice cards as visual aids. In this post, I will explain a couple activities that use the visual aids. At the bottom of the post, you can download the pdf and print them for free! Name Game For 1st grade and kindergarten, I always review voices on their first music class of the year when we are doing name games. We do simple echos: Teacher: "My name is Mrs. Dennis" Class: "Her name is Mrs. Dennis" Student: "My name is Joshua." Class: "His name is Joshua." thekinderkid.blogspot.com After we go once around the circle learning names, I introduce the voices with the cards. (I also tie this to our school-wide voice level system. I do not have a picture of our voice level posters, but I found a similar one from The Kinder Kid. Our numbers and levels are the same, but we don't have the cute clipart.) When the students understand the voice levels, we get to go around the circle again saying our name to the beat, but this time each student secretly picks a voice (whisper, speaking, calling, singing). We must echo using the same voice and then I ask the class what type of voice they used. Voice level zero For the past 3 years, since I have been relating these voices to the voice level number, the kids always ask to say their names with voice level zero. We now call it "Magic Lips". Anytime I want the kids to move their lips without making a sound, I ask them to use Magic Lips. I actually use this with all grade levels. I usually ask for Magic Lips when I had the kids patting a rhythm while saying a poem and then I want to hear their patting by itself. I also ask for Magic Lips when students are using Curwen hand signs and I want them to stop singing and focus on the pitch levels. Acka Backa I use the voice cards often in repetitive games, just to break up the monotony. One example is an elimination game: "Acka Backa." Here is the poem if you are not familiar with it: Acka Backa, soda cracker Acka Backa, boo Acka Backa, soda cracker Out goes you! There are many variations to the words; you may know a different version, but this is how we play. This is a simple elimination game. To prepare the students, I have them stand in a circle and pass a ball around to the steady beat. We first practice passing to the beat at different tempos. I usually hold a buffalo drum and stand inside the circle showing where the ball should be. If the ball passes up the drum, they know they are going too fast. When they are focused on the beat, we introduce the poem and the rules. The last person to hold the ball on "you" leaves the circle. The student gets to go to my chair where I have the voice cards laying face down. They pick a card to tell us which voice to use next and then they get to mix them up again for the next person. Elimination games are always tough for the kids who always want to win, but going to select a card seems to ease the disappointment that they are out of the game. Free Printable: Voice Cards (whisper, speaking, calling, singing) I suggest printing them on white cardstock and laminating them.
It seems like every day there is an endless stream of students reporting behaviors or incidents that happen in the classroom. On one hand, we want to help our students feel heard and validated so they know we are a safe person for them to talk to. On the other hand, we certainly don't want to feed into the tattle machine. It's a fine line to walk. So how do we handle tattling in our classrooms?
We’ve created the following 32 characteristics of high-performing classrooms to help you spot the opportunities for growth in your teaching.
Here's another method for cutting glass bottles, by Mike is bored: How to cut a wine bottle with acetone and a string.
It's a gorgeous morning here in our mountain HOME!!! :))) We've been making some plans for the future of things we've wanted to do here for a while, but haven't felt we could. The first big thing on the long list of home remodeling to get done is going to be.... Drum Roll Please... FRENCH DOORS!!! Yes, I have coveted & longed for French Doors here forever & finally I will have One! Now, since my house is no bigger then a cracker box, my door will not be as magnificent as those seen here at the Palace of Versailles, but I will love them just the same!!! So...in honor of the occasion, I am watching Sofia Coppola's amazing 2006 vision of Maria Antoinette! For the past 6 years, I think there has been no doubt that this movie has some of the BEST costuming & set design in movie history. Milena Canonero won an Academy Award for his inspired designs & the magical world he creates for our beautiful young Queen. Simply Scrumptious!!! This movie production was the first time ever that any film crew was allowed to film a movie in it's entirety, at the Palace of Versailles...how cool is that!! I haven't been to France yet, but it is at the top of my To Do List!! Watching this movie gives you such a wonderful glimpse into the Palace of Versailles & the glory & the decadence of the period...it's divine! So, what are some of my musings as I watch this fabulous movie & dream about the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette?? Is it possible that Marie, could have been any where near as stunningly, beautiful as Kirsten Dunst is in every single scene of the movie?? Who's shoes were actually more exquisite... Those that belonged to a Queen... or the Manolo Blahnik's that were designed & created especially for Sophia Coppola's film?? I think it's a toss up for me!!! Were Maria Antoinette's gown's as opulent & extravagant & over the top as history implies?? Looking at this portrait of Marie in her coronation gown & at the exquisite fabric & style of gown below, I'd have to give that thought a BIG, YES!!! Do you think Maria ever made wreaths of flowers for her & all her maids to wear... because... I just LOVE the idea of that! Do you really think that Marie, during a period of time when her country was starving, when they didn't even have bread, said in such a pompous, cruel & uncaring way... "Let them eat cake!"??? It appears now, after a few hundred years, that there is absolutely no evidence of her ever having said this. It was included in a book that was written by Rousseau in 1767 & refers to a 'great princess' saying... 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche'. The common opinion is that, "he invented it altogether." From all accounts, historical & imagined, Marie Antoinette was a doting mother who adored her children. It took her seven years to become pregnant, she had at least two miscarriage & when her eldest son, the Dauphin of France died at the age of seven, she was inconsolable. At the time when the French Revolution began to truly escalate, Marie was in deep mourning over the loss of her son. Marie changed many of the customs of the court, much to the dismay of the older generation. She abandoned the use of heavy makeup & the wide hoops of the day that were so popular, for a softer, simpler look using lighter, plainer fabrics like muslin. During the American Revolution, the French were our allies & if it had not been for their help, I wonder how it could have been possible for a colonial state to fight & win a war against the most powerful nation on earth. France was incurring debt partially from the resources that it used to help in America's independence & who was responsible for this union between our fledgling nation & a supreme power like France?? King Louis XVI & his Queen, Antoinette. {Benjamin Franklin being received in the court of Louis XVI & Marie} So, in the course of my musings, I've come to realize how much I have to be grateful for to the court of Louis & Marie. I want to remember our sweet Marie Antoinette as she was in some of the opening scenes of the movie, full of joy & innocence. Because to think of her any other way is just too tragic. {Marie at the age of thirteen} She was the naive, young Princess of Austria when she first arrived in Paris. She was all of fifteen when she married the future King of France. She could never have known where this new life would take her. She is forever fascinating & forever young. Oh, & by the way, I know the music is a bit crazy, but I LOVE this movie!!! ;) XOXO vintagesusie
This study guide and infographic for Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince offer summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.
Battleship Word Attack Printable - a Free word attack printable plays like the classic Battleship game.
A Practical Compendium of Random Things
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The first time I organized a research session, I was working with Allison’s 6th grade AVID group – A great group of kids who are self-proclaimed talkers. It was clear I had to balance t…
