Audiobook in the Can!

Yes! My first Narration/Production of an audiobook was approved and will be available on iTunes, amazon.com and Audible.com in about a week! I'll post a sample and link on my Facebook page next week!

Woohooo!

Gaby

Dinosaur Books

Aliki Books:
My visit to the Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are Different
Fossils
Dinosaur Bones

When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach
(story, pictures and names of many different dinos)

Mighty Dinosaurs by Judith Simpson
(pictures and names of many different dinos, cheap, simple)

The Littlest Dinosaurs by Bernard Most

If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most

There are many more, but you have to share!

Dinosaur Ideas

1) Teaching Herbivores
-Song: If you know the letter h/h is for herbivore (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You know It")

Verse 1
If you know the letter h show me now (kids make the lowercase h with bodies)
If you know the letter h show me now
If you know the letter h, and you know just how
to show me with your bodies do it now
(kids sing the song and every time they make the letter h they do it silently or can make the "h" sound)


Verse 2
h is for herbivores, they eat plants
h is for herbivores, they eat plants
herbivores have four legs, armor for safety,
they have flat teeth to eat plants
(variation, you could always substitute "herbivores" for h words that they know. Example, grade K kids can come up with hand, hat, hot, hold, handle)

-Transition: make the letter h with your bodies, use the long part of the h to reach for plants high and low (like an Apatosaurus)

2) Teaching Carnivores
-Carnivore/Meat-Eater Song (to the tune of Tingeleo)
Carnivores! They like to eat meat.
Tyrannosaurus Rex! uh oh! He is a carnivore.
He has sharp teeth, he has sharp claws,
He likes to eat meat.
He has a big head, He has fast legs,
He is a carnivore.

Guarantee, they will know the characteristics of Tyrannosaurus Rex/Carnivores. There are so many ways of substituting Carnivore for T-Rex, Velociraptor for T-Rex, etc. Decide what you need to teach first.

3) Teaching Both Herbivores and Carnivores (taken from a teaching artist's planning form!)
-Read "The Little Stegosaurus" by ?? I'll wait to hear from the TA
-As kids, based on pictures, what do the dinosaurs eat?
-Ask how would an herbivore behave? How would a carnivore behave? Each student acts out either an herbivore or carnivore.
-Students write a short story about something they acted out.

4) Looking at skeletons, differentiating between herbivores and carnivores
They already know the characteristics of each. You have made a chart that you have written herb. characteristics in one column, and same for carnivore characteristics.

-Have printouts of different dinosaur skeletons and paste them neatly onto a bright piece of cardstock paper.

-Break students into groups, each group receives one of these pictures.

-They must decide in their groups if this is an herbivore or carnivore. They then act it out and the other groups have to guess what it is. Show the picture and see who is correctly.

5) Cooking ideas
-Dinosaur Dig (teaches how dinosaurs were found, bones, fossils, paleontologist)
-Omnivore Salad
-Herbivore Salad

6) Adopt-a-Dinosaur
-Look in ALLL CD under Special Projects/Birds/Adopt a Bird; in a nutshell: making a stuffed dinosaur with craypas on brown paper. Kids study their dinos and write about it.

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING, SHARE IT PLEASE! Books, pre- and post activities, songs, process, logistics, tips and tricks, etc. Some people are new, some are just starting, some are finishing.

Thanks.

Ideas for the itsy bitsy visual artists in my class

Any good ideas on how to capitalize on the great visual artists in my classroom? My second class is a bunch of busy-bodies and talkers, but they are amazing visual artists --those kids can draw!!

Any ideas?

Supplies

I would like to plug Gramco as a great place to buy supplies. I needed paint in a bind and they were more than helpful and very reasonably priced. You can have your order delivered to you or pick it up at the warehouse in Sunset Park.
www.gramcoonline.com

2008 Return Date

Hi Everyone!

I was looking at the schedule and saw that we do not resume ALLL until January 7th, although schools are back on the 2nd.  Could someone please confirm this for me?  Thanks!

Happy New Year!

Gaby

Tip of the Week - Sight Word Bingo

I have noticed many are doing great with lots of different activities, but Sight (um, not site...) Words are lacking --help is on the rescue!!

Sight Word Bingo is great for 1) reviewing sight words, and 2) writing development.

1. You or your kids add a new sight word card (or 2) to their sight word envelope.
2. Every 2nd class, play sight word bingo.
3. On your planning form indicate that week's sight words and any others you may have reviewed.

Remember:
- Sight Words are not vocabulary words. We want to expand their vocabulary, but keep in mind that they are tested on their sight words.
- In the past we said use colored cards --if you can figure a good system for that, go ahead. I rather use plain white ones because they're cheaper and you don't get caught up in whether the cards have a particular meaning, etc. They're all sight words.

Got a tip?? Share it!!