Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cotton Seed #13
The Reading Scene
Are there awesome spots in your home to read? Make one! Or make another one!
Set a scene with good lighting and comfortable seating. Pick a basket or a crate and fill it. Filler items include, but are not limited to: highlighters, book marks, magazines, a newspaper, a dictionary / thesaurus, sticky notes, snacks, H2O...
Be c r e a t i v e!
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
Monday, March 21, 2011
College Prep!
The week of blog silence for Japan coincided with Texas Spring Break. I missed you guys! I have a fabulous link to share for parents of prepping for college. It's a jewel!
http://www.mycollegecalendar.org/explore/freshman.aspx
http://www.mycollegecalendar.org/explore/freshman.aspx
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Cotton Seed #7
Play Read
Pick a play, assign parts and perform!
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Cotton Seed #3
The CC Read
Turn on the Closed Caption. Decide on a thirty minute television show.
Turn down the volume. Read
One, Two, Three - GO!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Study Soiree
I love using 'question' instead of 'problem' when talking math. You can build excitement (engagement) around any subject by adding the word 'party' and an exclamation mark to the end.
This works at any age. The Alphabet Party! The Math Party! The SAT Party! The Divorce Party! Not so much on the last one, but the party is better than The Divorce Lamentation Fiasco.
Name a time and a place, grab the tools, incorporate a themed movie and provide snacks. Voila Party!
This past weekend we hosted such an affair, the Second Annual Spelling Party - the weekend before the school's bee. We called the girlfriends at the last minute and asked them to meet us at Barnes and Noble with their spelling list. I thought this would be a great place because it enforces the authenticity of the issue. At any point the girls would be able to look up and see others engrossed in their studies as well. And of course the Starbucks snacks would be close by and on hand.
Before leaving home, I set a timer and asked the hostess (my daughter) to collect the items we could possibly need. She returned with a bag full of dictionaries, thesauruses, paper, pens, index cards and highlighters. I asked her to bring her cell phone and iPad as well. Out the door we raced, after reaching the end of the block, we had to turn around, she had forgotten her spelling list.
The ladies chose the bar in the coffee shop to set up. They studied word rows individually, in pairs, and all together. I let them dictate the event, but I stayed to pronounce words and give tips.
Once I heard that a child’s age is the amount of minutes they could focus. These fifth grade girls are all around ten. Every ten to fifteen minutes they took a break, then began again with another row. I threw in a few scavenger hunt items from the list. I purchased biscotti and challenged each girl to spell the word before they could delight. ‘Auburn’ was another word we intended to search the store for until we found a natural, thankfully, she was sitting close by.
Some of the plans didn't work out. I wanted to have the girls text their spelling words to each other with their cell phones. One didn't own one, one left hers at home (mine), one's was out of batteries. There wasn't a place to show the movie or time. I checked out 'Spellbound' this year, last year we watched 'Akeelah and the Bee'. We watched it at home.
Fabeelous time! Everyone learned a word - even me! I might update you on their performance. From my list they are all first place!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Cotton Seed #12
Stop, Drop & Read Read
thatisall
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Cotton Seed #11
Cover to Cover or the Jacket Read
Grab a stack of books. Read their covers- the titles, the authors, the bios, the book summaries, the ISBNs- whatever is on the covers. What appeals to you?
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Free Cotton / Free Rice
MY Favorite Addiction for ALL ages - Free Rice - Check the Link! Use for MANY disciplines!
http://freerice.com/
http://freerice.com/
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Cotton Seed #10
Parrot Read
Everyone in the room read the same paragraph in rounds the same way! Remember to completely stop at the periods, pause for commas and show w i l d expression with exclamation points! Then continue with the next parrotgraph.
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Free Cotton / Free Rice
MY Favorite Addiction for ALL ages - Free Rice - Check the Link! Use for MANY disciplines!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Cotton Seed #9
Destination Reading
Purchase, rent or borrow an audio version of a book. Listen wherever you travel!
One, Two, Three - GO!
Check the Cotton Seeds Section for Elaboration. Stay tuned. New 'seeds' on Tuesdays & Thursdays!
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