Book Review: Ida B
When was the last time you had a day when things went from righter than right to a million miles beyond wrong? Years ago, my oldest daughter read Ida B… and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World in a book club in elementary school and got to attend a book signing with the author Katherine Hannigan at a local bookstore. Being a teacher, I read the book and instantly fell in love with the story, all the various characters and the strong emotions the story described when Ida B’s life suddenly goes from righter than right to a million miles beyond wrong. I knew it would make a good read aloud book for my fourth grade class launching many discussions, teachable moments, and language arts examples. The description of how much the dog Rufus drools is a great one for figurative language examples. Ida B is just a great book all around. The book is gentle in some areas: very general description of Mama’s illness and strong in others: Ida B’s thoughts on many topics are bold and self-deprecating. Ida B believes that there is never enough time in the world for all the…
Free easy way to improve reading achievement
What is one free and easy way to improve student reading achievement? Many parents want a quick fix and seek tutoring for students who are below reading level. While tutoring is a great option and I can remediate phonic, teach syllable patterns, practice oral reading fluency, and evaluate comprehension, what students also need is daily reading practice to improve student reading achievement. It’s free and easy and yet many parents do not see the value of it. Daily reading of 15-30 minutes can help improve reading achievement significantly. Check out this report for some shocking statistics. According to studies by Renaissance Learning on K-12 reading, “the majority of students spend fewer than 15 minutes per day reading, but increasing their daily reading time to 30 minutes can improve comprehension and boost student achievement.” Summer is a good time to set aside daily reading time where families read a variety of material and model good reading habits. Do not miss out on the benefits of daily reading to improve student reading achievement. Reading should not be confined to fiction! Read an instruction booklet with your child or a travel guide. Read online reviews for a restaurant or a menu. Read…
10 Test Taking Tips
How can you help a student confidently take a test? Fear tends to grip students when teachers, parents or tutors talk about testing or preparing for tests. My 10 free Test Taking Tips will help students so that they can focus confidently on the test, not on their worries. Students and parents can smile more and sigh less! Well prepared students will work to the best of their abilities. Read everything! Read everything on the page including the directions, the passage, the questions, and every answer choice. If time allows, rereading the passage, too. Read the question twice. Sometimes you misread or your brain tricks you into thinking something different than what it’s really asking. Rereading will help you understand what the question is really asking. Underline important words or numbers in the questions. These clues might help determine the answer or eliminate wrong answers. Think about what the answer is. Before reading the multiple choice answers or before writing your answer, think about what the right answer is. Eliminate wrong answers. Cross out wrong answers before selecting the correct one. Even if you can only eliminate one or two answers, you will have a better choice of picking the…
Home for the Holidays
What strategies do you put in place when your college kids come home for the holidays? With spring break just around the corner, here are 4 tips for not just surviving but thriving in the holidays when your kids come home. Whether they are in college or beyond, things are bound to be different when your adult kids come home to visit. Open communication of expectation is key to enjoying time when your kids come home for the holidays, whether it is spring break, winter break, or summer. While it is nice to have help when everyone is home, a short visit probably is not the time to load them up on chores unless it has been stated ahead of time that it is basement cleaning time. Tips to Help Your Family Thrive Schedule some mutually agreed upon family time before the calendar fills up Discuss expectations and respect each other’s space Choose an activity or two to do together (see list below) Get to know each other as adults To balance out the time at home, consider choosing an activity or two to enjoy together. You could even share this post with them and have them pick the…
Table Talk 3 Especially for the Younger Years
When was the last time you had an engaging conversation with a preschooler? It is never too early to begin asking good questions, especially at the kitchen table. I love asking kids questions. My favorite question is “Are you more like a pencil or a school bus?” While that is a great conversation starter, it does not really work with the younger years. They are more inclined to answer “should kids have a bedtime?” or “what does grandma do when she is not at our house?” What you need is a list of conversation starters for preschoolers. I created Table Talk 3 especially for the younger years. Use the 30 printable Table Talk questions at home, in carpool, at school, and just about anywhere. You can ask questions on the list, in any order, or you can print and cut out the cards. You can use one a day or spread a few of them around a table to use as conversation starters at your next party. You’ll be more likely to actually remember to ask good questions if you print them out and put them on the table! When was the last time you had an engaging conversation with…
Christmas Pajamas
Will you be waking up in new Christmas pajamas this year? Somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, the soft package would be delivered in person or through the mail. One look at the return address or the tag, and my girls knew right away what it was. They could hardly wait to open their new Christmas pajamas from our dear friend. I’m not really sure who got more joy out of the gift – my girls or my friend! This sweet tradition continued for years. It really did not matter if they were Christmas patterns or not. My girls got a new pair of pajamas to wear, especially on Christmas eve. It was the gift that kept on giving all winter long. Many families have Christmas pajama traditions, including all the family members. Some wear them to drive around and look at Christmas lights, to sleep under the Christmas tree or for a special movie and hot cocoa night. The Holderness Family even went viral with their first of many Christmas Jammies videos. We did not go this far but certainly the thoughts of Christmas pajamas, hot coffee, and grandma’s special coffee cake brings up many sweet memories. As my…
Four in a Row Game Board
Was Connect Four a favorite game in your childhood? Four in a Row is a simple game where the goal is to score four boxes in a row in any direction, yet it becomes a complex game when you apply strategies to keep the other player from scoring four in a row first! The supplies are minimal – a four in a row game board and two colored pencils. To help one of my tutoring clients be more engaged in reading and comprehending his spelling word patterns instead of just memorizing the letters, I pulled up a four in a row game board and typed in his spelling list. In order to score a box, he had to correctly pronounce the word on the first try. He likes a good competition so this challenge pulled him right in! Soon he was thinking more about a word and sounding out in his head before saying it. Typically I like students to go ahead and attempt hard words and process them aloud and ask for help when needed. However, this was the perfect challenge to push my client to the next level! If he said it wrong, he did not get the…
Table Talk Cards Especially for Advent
What does advent look like at your house? Before we talk about the printable Advent conversation starters, let’s talk a little bit about Advent itself. The word advent means coming or arrival. Advent starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Traditionally each week has a different theme: hope, peace, joy, and love. Many people have different traditions regarding Christmas and Advent. The purpose of Advent is to help us remain focused on the birth of Jesus Christ and our hope in His glorious return one day. For many, it is a joyful preparation for the Christmas season, a season of great hope. You all know I love to ask questions that get people thinking and talking. I especially love to ask questions around the table! I created Table Talk card sets to be advent conversation starters. Let me introduce my newest card set: Table Talk card set 4 – Especially for Advent. You can use the Table Talk questions at home, on a road trip, on a bus, in the classroom, at a family reunion, in line, on a video call, in carpool, and just about anywhere. Most of these questions do not have a correct answer. I always ask people…
20 Read Aloud Books for the Middle Years
What was your favorite read aloud as an elementary or middle school child? Most parents think of read aloud as something you do at bedtime for preschoolers, but read aloud is valuable at any age. It is especially helpful during the middle years as upper elementary and middle school kids are learning to think critically and to make sense of the world around them. Reading aloud and discussing it helps you guide and stretch their thinking. As a fourth grade teacher, my students and I loved read aloud time. It was a great way to teach across subjects and objectives, and it leveled the playing field for the wide range of reading abilities in my classroom. The discussions were rich and the “five extra minutes of read aloud” was a highly coveted prize in my weekly ticket drawing. I often found my parent volunteers listening to it as well. There are so many new books and books lists available by categories online, but I tend to favor older forgotten books that not every kid has read already. I look for books that have a strong character and often a topic that’s a bit of a controversy so we can have…
Bathroom Bags for Travel
What are the advantages of having a bathroom bag that is just for travel? Having a travel bathroom bag has been a big help at our house. Ever since the kids were big enough to have their own travel bags, they have had their own bathroom bags. There are so many advantages to this. When traveling, we have a packing list and instead of listing all the toiletries, it just says “bathroom bag” because we keep packed bags ready to go. We have our favorite toiletries in travel sizes, travel toothbrushes, make up, and so much more. The advantages of having a travel bathroom bag are many. It saves time when packing and unpacking and you are less likely to forget essential items. I typically restock mine when I return home from a trip, so its ready go the next time. Time savers can be bar soap that also doubles as shampoo and clothes wash, such as Dr Bonner’s Magic Soap. We buy small waterproof soap containers and cut a large bar of soap in half. There have been times I have had to pack an overnight bag in a hurry, such as heading to the hospital with a family…