Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Read a book. Give a book- Combining the joy of reading with the power of helping others





Happy first night of Hanukkah!!  With that, I have a wonderful site to share that just puts a smile on my face, especially during this holiday season. 

We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.
We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.
We Give Books also helps some of the world's best, most inspiring, literacy organizations by spreading the word about their great work and by providing books to the young people these organizations support.

HOW IT WORKS:
We Give Books is a free website that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.
Simply choose the charity you want to read for and then select the books you want to read. For each book you read online, we donate a book to a leading literacy group on your behalf.
The more you read, the more we give.

Choose a title from our growing digital library and start reading. Once you're book is selected you can then choose the organization on whose behalf you wish to read.
The book you select appears in a special reading window, and you can page through it exactly as you would if you were holding it in your hands.
When you finish reading, you need only to confirm your effort to let us know it's time to share another hardcover or paperback book with a child in need. Read as many books as you like, as many times as you like.
Every campaign has its own donation goal. Once a campaign you've supported reaches its goal, we'll send you and your child a personalized email, thanking you for all your effort.

What a wonderful way to give during this joyous time of year.  Please share this and pay it forward. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy holiday and new year!



Saturday, December 17, 2011

Maps and 8 Kinds of Smart- A Portfolio Celebration

This year I was blessed with the BEST student teacher I could have ever asked for.  She has worked incredibly hard throughout the past couple of months.  Miss Goulet has gone above and beyond her responsibilities and has exceeding all my expectations.  Although our first grade curriculum is jam packed, Miss Goulet found a way to integrate her unit of study, Maps, and involve the children in an inquiry project focusing on Multiple Intelligences.  She then coordinated a culminating activity by inviting the parents in to view the children's hard work and to see their 8 Kinds of Smart Portfolio.  Every parent and teacher who was able to see this celebration were completely amazed by all the hard work that had been accomplished over the past couple of months.  I could not be more proud that she was my student teacher, and I give her all the credit to creating such a wonderful learning environment.  The following pictures document all the kids hard work and demonstrates Miss Goulet's ability to plan and implement effective instruction.

 Here are some photos of her Map Unit.  We participated in the Flat Stanley project.  Each child wrote a letter to a family member or friend from another state, country, etc.  The families were to take Flat Stanley on adventures in their community and then send them back to us.  Miss Goulet set up a walking field trip and we were able to go tot he post office and personally send out our letters.  This is a picture of all the places Flat Stanley went.  He even traveled to Germany and back.  Next, Miss Goulet wanted to show the kids how close they lived to each other on a map of Shrewsbury.  Each blue sticky note represents the kids address.  Some of the comments the kids made were; "We all live so close", or "Why does so and so live over their?", and "We should have a play date, we live so close".  They made some great observations!



The next set of pictures show our Me On The Map project.  As you can see, the children were able to see where they were on the map, from their school to their planet!!  They had such a great time doing this.











Finally, here are some pictures of Miss Goulet's final inquiry project and the kids culminating "8 kinds of smarts" portfolio.  She first introduced each type of smart and they graphed their 3 favorite ways to learn.  Miss Goulet emphasized that we are all 8 kinds of smart, but we can choose our favorite ways to learn.



Enjoy the next couple of pictures which shows our Portfolio Celebration before all the parents came!


































Wednesday, December 14, 2011

HURRY UP! DON'T MISS OUT!

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: HD64Z


DUE: DECEMBER 19, 2011

Dear Parent,

There’s no time to lose! In order to make our deadline and have all our books arrive on time, your order to Scholastic Book Clubs is due by the date shown above. There are great Holiday deals and you can also put your child's reading level in and they will give you a list of just right books!  Also, there are alot of $3-5 dollar books. DONT MISS OUT!


I am making it easy for you to just pick out and pay for the books online and then send me your order.

Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and log in using your user name and password.

If it’s your first time ordering online, use the Class Activation Code shown above to get started
  • SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the “Register” button in the “First Time Here?” section. Register for your own user name and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.

  • SELECT the books you’d like to order—choose from thousands of titles—many more than in our monthly flyers.

  • SEND your order to me online by the due date and your child’s books will be delivered directly to my classroom.
Ordering online is fast and easy!

Best of all, we earn a FREE book for the classroom library every time a parent places an order online.*


Thank you!

*Excludes eBooks.
SARA ZAKAR

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I've been given the SUNSHINE AWARD!!!

 

I'VE BEEN GIVEN THE SUNSHINE AWARD! 
YIPPEEE!

Thank you so much Mrs. D
Check our her awesome blog at

The award responsibilities:

1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
 
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. Pass the award to 10-12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs, and let them know you awarded them.

Q and A:

1. Favorite Color?
{Red}

2. Favorite Animal?
{Dogs. I love my Russy!. :) }

3. Favorite Number?
{14. Sports number growing up}

4. Favorite drink?
{Arizona Green Tea}

5. Facebook or Twitter?
{Facebook, but it is getting boring}

6. Passion?
{TEACHING!}

7. Giving or Getting Presents?
{Giving!}

8. Favorite Day?
{Saturday! :) }

Now, I'm passing this award on to the following blogs:
 

Thanks again for the wonderful award!
Happy Teaching!!