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Paris is my kind of city. The people, the food, the sights live in my memory. When I saw all the locks on the Ponts de Arts Bridge, I thought of all the lovers whose hopes and dreams were placed there, likely with good intent. In my mind I likened the locks to graffiti. While the locks were unique in their symbolism, years later I learned that the weight of the locks caused portions of the linked fencing to collapse. Perhaps simplicity is best.
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Due to the pandemic, teachers and parents are scrambling to provide educational opportunities to children. I compiled a list of great learning apps. It is my hope that they help during this difficult time.
I compiled a list of great learning apps:
Learn With Homer
Price: Free
Grade level: Pre-K, K
Skill: Comprehension, Phonics
Device: iPad
A learn-to-read app for kids ages 3 to 6 that incorporates drawing, voice recording, stories, songs, and more, along with more traditional phonics exercises.
This app can be helpful for kids who have speech production issues and organization of language issues.
The Opposites
Grade level: 3rd, 4th, 4th and above
Skill: Comprehension
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
The Opposites app helps children learn vocabulary and the corresponding antonyms by challenging them to match up pairs of opposing words in increasingly difficult levels. The game also helps children understand the importance of word context, and is an opportunity for them to think about how the words they use oppose other words. The Opposites consists of 10 different levels, each stage with a corresponding level of vocabulary. The app also offers a dictionary option that provides definitions and antonyms in a kid-friendly format.
The Following Apps are for older students:
AnswerGarden – useful for brainstorming
Coggle – collaborative
Edulastic -Formative assessments FREE
Formative – upload content to ask questions
GoSoapBox – for upper grades
Lino – sticky note and photo sharing
Nearpod – interactive formative assessments
Obsurvey – create surveys
Padlet – Sticky notes for responses
Pear Deck – active learning, formative
Poll Everywhere – interactive
The Queue – online survey tool
Remind -communication with parents
Seesaw -ability to write and reflect, sample activities
Spiral -discussions, interact with video
Triventy – for quizzes
Vocaroo -voice recording
Zoho Survey – create surveys
I saw the ad for a used golf cart in my Nextdoor app. There were two available, a red and a blue. The owner was storing them in a horse corral.
I was saving money for a golf cart (even though I don’t golf) because I live in a small beach town with one main street and gorgeous scenery. As a recent retiree, it seemed to be a good idea. I would be one of many golf cart owners in my little town.
I can’t believe I was able to convince my husband to drive out to a horse ranch to take a look. The owner was a gregarious lady who raises thoroughbreds and uses the golf carts to get around her property.
I wanted the red one, but it was out of my budget. The blue one looked like it needed a lot of care, but it was affordable. The owner even delivered it. I couldn’t wait to try it out. It gets plenty of use on weekends and on nice summer days. We have a lot of those.
What joy it brings to take in the often overlooked sights on the way into town. Feeling the air on my face and smelling the salt air while going 22 miles per hour helps me appreciate that I am alive during a pandemic. I realize that a walk would very likely achieve the same results. Yet there was something about saving for a goal, visualizing me riding in it, and then actually finding one.
I know how important it is to slow down. My brain needed to disconnect from the bombardment of negative thoughts that don’t serve me. If a golf cart can remind me to get outdoors, it was worth my small savings. I call it The Bluebird of Happiness.
No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness-or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it. ~Henry Ward Beecher
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This picture brought to mind how my cousins and I would make do with whatever was handy to create our own environment for play. We didn’t need expensive toys or electronic devices to entertain us, our imaginations did the work. Our creativity flourished in our grandmother’s garage that housed boxes of old clothes that we […]
I have put together a list of books for your child’s first day back at school. These books are best for ages 3-8. It’s a good idea to read aloud and discuss with your child their hopes and fears about a new school year. Be proactive and do this before school begins. The books I […]
Guided reading is an instructional practice or approach where teachers support a small group of students to read a text independently. You select books that students can read with about 90 to 94 percent accuracy. Students can understand and enjoy the story because it’s accessible to them through their own strategies, supported by your introduction. They […]
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Close reading is thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text’s form, craft, meanings, etc. It is a key requirement of the Common Core State Standards and directs the reader’s attention to the text itself. The skills gained from close reading help students locate information more easily and develop comprehension.
Strategies for Close Reading:
•Use Think Alouds
•Model it often. For example,
I might say, “I see a word I don’t know. I’m going to circle it or write it in my personal dictionary and find out what it means.”
•Make connections as you read. “I think the Empire State Building must be as tall as a roller coaster I saw once.”
•Ask questions: “What evidence or proof do we have that bats are nocturnal?”
1.Sequence: Which event happened first? Which happened last?
2.Character Traits: Name one character. What is one trait you infer that character has? Explain why you think that.
3.Motive: What is something that person does? Why do you think that person does that?
4.Summarize: Summarize the story in four sentences. Tell about the characters and what they do.
5.Main Idea: What do you think is the main idea of the story? Why?
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The pandemic has made me a shut- in and I hate it. I am a traveler forced to travel only in my mind. Lately I have been dreaming of Costa Rica. I’ve only been there once, but it left such an impression that I find myself daydreaming of being there. I went with 22 avid surfers as part of a travel package. I was a wife tagalong (not an avid or even mediocre surfer), but happy to join the group. I did attempt to surf, but my board flew up and hit me on the nose so hard I thought it was broken (my nose, not my board). I spent the rest of the day laying in a hammock looking up at a sloth in a tree. No complaints at all. A trip to Manual Antonio Nature Reserve taught me about the native plants used to cure a variety of ailments. Our guide warned us of the Howler Monkeys who enjoy warning tourists to keep out of their territory by flinging excrement. Luckily they must have sensed our respect for their space, or they relieved themselves on the previous group. It was almost sunset and I decided to take a raft into a lagoon. The colors of the water were surreal, dark emerald and teal. The sky was on fire. I wanted to stop time. I was certain that this was what heaven looks like. On the way back to our hotel our guide told us about the crocodiles who use this part of the ocean to return to the estuary. I was grateful that I didn’t know that when my nose was gushing blood from my surfboard mishap. Costa Rica is teeming with life, what the natives call “pura vida.” The sunset lagoon is etched in my memory. I revisit it when I need to get away to a place of peace, even if it’s in my mind.
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