Google Class on Power Searching

Help your students become better searchers

Web search can be a remarkable tool for students, and a bit of instruction in how to search for academic sources will help your students become critical thinkers and independent learners.

Help your students and yourself become skilled searchers- whether just starting out with search, or ready for more advanced training.

I just signed up for this free class from the web-search giant Google Inc:

Google Power Searcher

Hone your search skills and become a Google Power Searcher. Sign up for our Power Searching with Google class - a free, online, community based course that starts on July 10 and runs until July 19.

This is the address: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/

They have a series of lesson plans posted on the site too such as: picking the right search terms, understanding search results,narrowing a search to get the best results, searching for evidence for research tasks, and evaluating credibility of research sites.

I know that I've learned about searching by the trial and error strategy, and I'm betting that I can benefit from these classes. What about YOU?

Deborah

     

 

Learning Through Observation

This child is learning through observation.  He is noticing many things about the scorpion as he draws his own model.  He is only 5 years old now, but someday he might see an illustrated model drawing like this:

He can then think back to his own drawing he made this summer during summer school and make connections to what he already knows and the new information presented in the drawing.  That is how children learn through play.

As an educator, you might suggest to parents that they can take a simple drawing made by their child, and add words and arrows just like the drawing above shows.  When a parent works with their child in  this way they are increasing their child's vocabulary. 

Of course, in your own classroom you might do the same thing as a classroom activity and add this note directly to the drawing:

Click Here to obtain a copy of the letter from my Google Documents file.

Deborah Devine

I'm the Greatest Five Frame Game

2 Students are playing this game together.
1) Each student gets 1 set of five frame cards. ( It might even help if each game card is a different color to sort them into 2 sets at the end of the game.)
2)Then each student turns over the top card of their pile and names the number it represents.
3)The student with the greater amount take both cards.

Since I suggested a second color card set, I made them to share with you.

Click on the top red five frames to obtain your own copy from my Google Documents File

The school year is ready to end tomorrow, but I still have a lot of work to prepare for PreKindergarten Summer School :)

Deborah

Five Frame Activity:Ordering 0 - 5

Students receive 2 sets of five frame cards.(You can obtain a set from yesterday's post.)

Next, they must sequence the set of five frame cards in order from 0-5. Students check their sequence with a teacher.

Extend:  After the teacher checks the student's number sequence, turn over one card in the sequence and ask the student to tell you what number was turned over.

Deborah

Five Frame Cards

Today I'm sharing a set of five frame cards with you.
I made them for our summer school program with the "almost Kindergartners." As I made them, I was trying to think about how the teachers could cut them out the easiest.

Click here to download the five frame cards.

This is one of the activities that we will do with the students that will utilize the cards.

Five Frame Show    (Materials: large five frame cards)

Show a five frame card to your students and ask them to identify how many dots they see. To challenge students ask them to identify one more or one less than the amount of dots. To extend, have them tell you how many empty spaces there are or how many more are needed to make 5.


Deborah Devine

Multi-grade Choices

Today I was visiting a 5/6 MULTIGRADE classroom during a math lesson.  The teacher divided the class into the two different grade levels and taught a separate math lesson for each grade level.  While teaching one grade level, the other level was purposely working on their assignment, seeking help from their classmates if they needed it. It was calm and the slight noise from the grade level NOT receiving instruction did not disturb the students who were working on the lesson with their teacher.

Curious, I asked one student why he was playing a math game on the Xoom tablet instead of completing his worksheet like so many of his classmates.

"Mr. ___ trusts us to know that if we work on the Xoom instead of doing our homework, we will need to do it at home tonight. I don't have a computer at home, so I would rather do this."

"What happens if you don't complete your homework?"I asked.

"Well, the you lose the chance to use the computers," he smiled, "and I wouldn't want that to happen."

So that's the WONDERFUL thing I saw today...students knowing they have choices, and realizing their responsibilities in order to make those choices.   I also saw a teacher who trusts his students to make good choices and provides a consequence if they don't live up to their responsibilities.
Trust + Responsibility = Self Directed Learning

Deborah

Deborah

"Almost Kindergartners" Summer School

What other resources do I plan to use with the kindergarten summer school students ?  These magnetic ten frame boards from EAI Education are on my list. They cost about $5.00 a board, but I think they will be of great value in whole groups to gauge the level of student understanding and to keep the students engaged in the lesson.  Each of the circle counters is magnetic, and I like that each counter can show a yellow or red circle. That would be useful in decomposing a number like "How many ways to make a 5?"  1 + 4, 2 + 3, 3+ 2, 4 + 1, 5 + 0.
 These  flip flop painters

will be a fun way to explore and create patterns (Lakeshore). 

Yesterday, I bought 14 blow up swimming pools to be used in the reading/library section of the room. I can envision the students lounging in the pool while paging through alphabet and counting picture books.  The overall theme of our summer school program for the "almost" kindergarten students is summer and making a family connection with school.  I'm creating a blog just to enhance communication between the summer school families( 240 of them!)  and our school district.  One of the pages on the blog will feature useful internet links.  

Do you have any suggestions for internet sites that you find helpful for prekindergarten students?  Please share them with me in the comment section. I would appreciate your help.  Thanks....  

Deborah