You know Martha.
Martha lives in a well-appointed house with nicely manicured grounds. Martha is creative, enterprising, and has a way with words. Martha is also quite the gourmand, and knows her way around a tureen of vegetable soup. I’m referring, of course, to the loquacious canine Martha, from Martha Speaks. First introduced in the children’s books by Susan Meddaugh and later turned into an animated TV series by PBS Kids and WGBH Boston, Martha Speaks focuses on vocabulary development for 4-to-7-year olds.
Young learners build their vocabularies in various ways. They listen to adults and other children around them, they ask questions about pictures and objects, they discover the meaning of words in context through watching TV, plays, and other types of media. Reading, of course, is perhaps the most vital component in vocabulary development for children and adults alike. Research has long established a strong link between students’ vocabularies and their reading comprehension.
Developing readers often benefit from peer-based reading activities, where two or more students read together. Many schools have instituted literature circles, book clubs, and other programs in which to encourage book discussion, and the attendant themes and vocabulary highlighted in various literary selections. Some programs include a mentoring component, where older students read to younger students, and vice versa. Such “reading buddies” programs are an effective way to model good reading skills, develop fluency, and enhance student self-esteem.
My picks this week focus on vocabulary development activities offered through the Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Program. These are activities that focus on developing literacy skills and word acquisition for young children. As always, please check our Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the week for additional resources and information on vocabulary development for a variety of ages.
Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Program
This cross-age reading program pairs kindergarteners with 4th or 5th graders to improve their vocabulary and foster a love of books and reading. Buddies watch a brief Martha Speaks episode that introduces new vocabulary words, and Buddies then use a variety of activities to reinforce the new vocabulary, such as reading together, journaling, or playing a game that reinforces the new words.
The Martha Speaks Read-Aloud Book Club
This book club provides a rich environment in which young kids learn to read thoughtfully and discuss books. The central theme is about dogs, where kids view an episode, listen to a book read aloud, discuss the book using new vocabulary, and participate in a hands-on activity. The kids are then encouraged to take library books home to continue learning about dogs.
The Experts Speak: Online Video Tutorials
These video tutorials are aimed at teachers and parents. Renowned literacy experts discuss the importance of teaching vocabulary and how to use up-to-date strategies. Topics include the impact of the vocabulary gap on later learning and how to overcome it; how to expand children's vocabulary; the importance and value of teaching "robust" words; and vocabulary instruction strategies for English language learners.
~Joann's Picks - 9/10/2010~
Showing posts with label PBS.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PBS.. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Word to the PEEPs
As most educators and parents know, finding quality TV shows for young children can be quite a challenge. While there are a number of engaging and even educational shows for kids on cable TV, the numerous commercials are often inappropriate for young viewers. This is one of the reasons why I’m a big fan of PBS Kids. It’s a safe haven where children can watch educational television without being exhorted to buy the latest toy or being subjected to trailers for TV shows or films aimed at a much older audience.
PEEP and the Big Wide World, produced by leading public TV station WGBH in Boston, is a show that focuses on science concepts for the preschool through kindergarten set. In my experience, kids always appreciate the humor in the show, as well as the fact that the questions posed by the show’s characters are ones they’d ask themselves. I especially like that the show includes live segments where kids try out different science experiments that are easily replicated at home or in a school setting.
My picks this week are all science-based resources from The PEEP and the Big Wide World Explorer's Guide, a downloadable guide comprised of six units that offer hands-on activities. Each unit features an animated PEEP story and accompanying live action film clips that discuss various science-related methods and concepts. The units also offer Family Science Letters that include additional activity ideas, as well as Web site and book recommendations to further explore the science topic at hand. Another nice feature is that all materials – curriculum units, videos, and Family Science Letters – are available in both English and Spanish.
Shadow Exploration for Young Children
Subjects: Science
Ages: 4-6
This unit is chock full of activities for children to examine and explore shadows in the world around them. There is a variety of animated and live action video clips that offer activities to further explore shadows, from making shadows indoors with flashlights to creating shadow puppets for a performance. One of my favorites is where kids trace their shadows with chalk outdoors, and then note how their shadows “move” throughout the day – a great way to help illustrate the earth’s rotation in relation to the sun.
Ramps and Rolling: Explorations with Young Children
Subjects: Physical science
Ages: 4-6
This unit offers plenty of hands-on activities for kids to learn about motion via ramps and rolling. Outside, kids can explore various types of inclines such as hills and slides, and discover the best surfaces for rolling. Indoors, kids can build ramps to test the movement of objects that roll and slide.
Water Explorations for Young Children
Subjects: Science
Ages: 4-6
In this unit, young children learn about the basic properties of water by engaging in both indoor and outdoor activities. Here, kids can explore objects that float and sink, make boats out of everyday materials, build dams, and learn about evaporation and water currents. These are fun, low-cost activities that effectively illustrate general and physical science properties such as buoyancy and force. Great ideas for those hot summer days!
~Joann's Picks - 7/10/2010~
PEEP and the Big Wide World, produced by leading public TV station WGBH in Boston, is a show that focuses on science concepts for the preschool through kindergarten set. In my experience, kids always appreciate the humor in the show, as well as the fact that the questions posed by the show’s characters are ones they’d ask themselves. I especially like that the show includes live segments where kids try out different science experiments that are easily replicated at home or in a school setting.
My picks this week are all science-based resources from The PEEP and the Big Wide World Explorer's Guide, a downloadable guide comprised of six units that offer hands-on activities. Each unit features an animated PEEP story and accompanying live action film clips that discuss various science-related methods and concepts. The units also offer Family Science Letters that include additional activity ideas, as well as Web site and book recommendations to further explore the science topic at hand. Another nice feature is that all materials – curriculum units, videos, and Family Science Letters – are available in both English and Spanish.
Shadow Exploration for Young Children
Subjects: Science
Ages: 4-6
This unit is chock full of activities for children to examine and explore shadows in the world around them. There is a variety of animated and live action video clips that offer activities to further explore shadows, from making shadows indoors with flashlights to creating shadow puppets for a performance. One of my favorites is where kids trace their shadows with chalk outdoors, and then note how their shadows “move” throughout the day – a great way to help illustrate the earth’s rotation in relation to the sun.
Ramps and Rolling: Explorations with Young Children
Subjects: Physical science
Ages: 4-6
This unit offers plenty of hands-on activities for kids to learn about motion via ramps and rolling. Outside, kids can explore various types of inclines such as hills and slides, and discover the best surfaces for rolling. Indoors, kids can build ramps to test the movement of objects that roll and slide.
Water Explorations for Young Children
Subjects: Science
Ages: 4-6
In this unit, young children learn about the basic properties of water by engaging in both indoor and outdoor activities. Here, kids can explore objects that float and sink, make boats out of everyday materials, build dams, and learn about evaporation and water currents. These are fun, low-cost activities that effectively illustrate general and physical science properties such as buoyancy and force. Great ideas for those hot summer days!
~Joann's Picks - 7/10/2010~
Friday, July 2, 2010
RELAX!
Stress management is an important lifelong skill we need to encourage and develop in our students. Teenagers and “tweens” face all kinds of different stressors in their lives. Between raging hormones, pressure to fit in with peers, and over scheduling, students need to learn how to relax! Joann mentioned 3 of the activities catalogued on The Gateway that help teach students how to deal with stress and anxiety. These types of activities help students deal with the stress in their lives by teaching them ways to manage and deal with stress.
I was especially intrigued by the scientific approach to the subject taken by PBS in their Scientific American Frontiers shows and activities. Instead of simply teaching students how to decrease their stress levels, these activities for grades 5-8 help students understand what is actually happening to their body in times of stress. The explanation and exploration of the physiological effects of stress and anxiety help students understand how stress-reducing techniques can work. The multimedia activity, “Worried Sick, Temperature and Stress” involves using a thermistor and multimeter to actually experiment with temperature changes in the body in times of stress. This resource includes a printable teacher guide with answers and a link to National Science Standards and curriculum. The hands-on nature of the activity should be right at home in a middle-school science classroom, where a traditional introduction of meditation or relaxation techniques might not be well received.
“Worried Sick, Watch Your Pressure” brings even more activities to the video clip, focusing on the effects of stress on blood pressure. Students learn how to measure blood pressure and how this blood pressure can change with varying stress levels. Before they measure blood pressure, they are prepared with background information on the subject through the video clip and online research. I really like the discussion questions and extension activities included by PBS. Some of the extension activities include designing an experiment to conduct at home and writing a play about stress.
Our focus on stress this week brought me to these valuable resources, but Scientific American Frontiers has a lot more to offer educators. Start here on their website to search for topics that you can use in your class. They aren’t making new shows, but the old shows are archived on the site and can be viewed online. Each show has a quiz and a couple of science activities with teacher’s guides and numerous extension activities. Browse through the site, and maybe you’ll find something that works for you. Good luck!
~Peggy's Corner - 7/2/2010~
I was especially intrigued by the scientific approach to the subject taken by PBS in their Scientific American Frontiers shows and activities. Instead of simply teaching students how to decrease their stress levels, these activities for grades 5-8 help students understand what is actually happening to their body in times of stress. The explanation and exploration of the physiological effects of stress and anxiety help students understand how stress-reducing techniques can work. The multimedia activity, “Worried Sick, Temperature and Stress” involves using a thermistor and multimeter to actually experiment with temperature changes in the body in times of stress. This resource includes a printable teacher guide with answers and a link to National Science Standards and curriculum. The hands-on nature of the activity should be right at home in a middle-school science classroom, where a traditional introduction of meditation or relaxation techniques might not be well received.
“Worried Sick, Watch Your Pressure” brings even more activities to the video clip, focusing on the effects of stress on blood pressure. Students learn how to measure blood pressure and how this blood pressure can change with varying stress levels. Before they measure blood pressure, they are prepared with background information on the subject through the video clip and online research. I really like the discussion questions and extension activities included by PBS. Some of the extension activities include designing an experiment to conduct at home and writing a play about stress.
Our focus on stress this week brought me to these valuable resources, but Scientific American Frontiers has a lot more to offer educators. Start here on their website to search for topics that you can use in your class. They aren’t making new shows, but the old shows are archived on the site and can be viewed online. Each show has a quiz and a couple of science activities with teacher’s guides and numerous extension activities. Browse through the site, and maybe you’ll find something that works for you. Good luck!
~Peggy's Corner - 7/2/2010~
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Walk Like An Egyptian
Whenever I talk to students about ancient cultures, they seem to divide into two camps. There are the kids who find it cool to learn about how ancient peoples lived, and then there are the kids who don’t quite see the point (“hello, they’re, like, dead!”). Generally, though, most students come around to like learning about ancient civilizations, and to see that despite the centuries that separate us, we still share many of the same concerns and problems as ancient cultures.
Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated culture that was, in many ways, light years ahead of its time. Thousands of years before antibiotics were developed, for example, ancient Egyptians treated infections with moldy bread. They also invented calendars, black ink, ox-drawn plows, paper, irrigation systems, locks, and (much to Lady Gaga’s delight) eyeliner. Several millennia later, the ancient Egyptians are still trend-setters.
This week, I’ve selected three resources from Egypt’s Golden Empire, a collection of great materials based on the documentary series by PBS. The lessons include free online video clips from the series, as well as interactive features designed to maximize the students’ virtual immersion in ancient Egyptian life and culture. One reason that I like these lessons so much is their breadth: the inclusion of varied hands-on projects, video clips and interactive maps, writing exercises, and discussions all allow for kids of different learning styles to soak in the content, as well as flex their creative muscle. The lessons also include resource lists for additional information. PBS is the nonprofit public broadcasting service that provides high-quality television programming to the U.S. and beyond. Their companion Web site offers free video vignettes, teacher resources, online games, and more. The lessons below are all aligned to McREL standards.
A Day in the Life of an Egyptian
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.1794667111
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
Just like life in the modern era, the daily lives of ancient Egyptians varied according to their social class. In this lesson, students learn about social orders in ancient Egypt, and the day-to-day responsibilities of the various classes.
The Queens of Ancient Egypt
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.6870685874
Subjects: Ancient history, World history, Women’s history
Grade: 6-12
Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same legal and economic benefits as men. This lesson focuses on some of the great Egyptian queens, such as Nefertiti, Tiy, and Nefertari – all of whom were held in high esteem by their husbands, the pharaohs. Students examine the reasons that these women were powerful, and how they influenced the lives of their subjects.
Architectural Marvels
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.9053693648
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
The ancient Egyptians were master builders and craftsmen. Thousands of years later, we still marvel at the pyramids they created. In this lesson, students study great architectural structures erected by the Egyptians, including temples, obelisks, and pyramids. Students learn how these objects were constructed, the purposes these structures served in Egyptian culture, and what modern day people can glean from examining them.
~Joann's Picks - 5/1/2010~
Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated culture that was, in many ways, light years ahead of its time. Thousands of years before antibiotics were developed, for example, ancient Egyptians treated infections with moldy bread. They also invented calendars, black ink, ox-drawn plows, paper, irrigation systems, locks, and (much to Lady Gaga’s delight) eyeliner. Several millennia later, the ancient Egyptians are still trend-setters.
This week, I’ve selected three resources from Egypt’s Golden Empire, a collection of great materials based on the documentary series by PBS. The lessons include free online video clips from the series, as well as interactive features designed to maximize the students’ virtual immersion in ancient Egyptian life and culture. One reason that I like these lessons so much is their breadth: the inclusion of varied hands-on projects, video clips and interactive maps, writing exercises, and discussions all allow for kids of different learning styles to soak in the content, as well as flex their creative muscle. The lessons also include resource lists for additional information. PBS is the nonprofit public broadcasting service that provides high-quality television programming to the U.S. and beyond. Their companion Web site offers free video vignettes, teacher resources, online games, and more. The lessons below are all aligned to McREL standards.
A Day in the Life of an Egyptian
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.1794667111
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
Just like life in the modern era, the daily lives of ancient Egyptians varied according to their social class. In this lesson, students learn about social orders in ancient Egypt, and the day-to-day responsibilities of the various classes.
The Queens of Ancient Egypt
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.6870685874
Subjects: Ancient history, World history, Women’s history
Grade: 6-12
Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same legal and economic benefits as men. This lesson focuses on some of the great Egyptian queens, such as Nefertiti, Tiy, and Nefertari – all of whom were held in high esteem by their husbands, the pharaohs. Students examine the reasons that these women were powerful, and how they influenced the lives of their subjects.
Architectural Marvels
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.9053693648
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
The ancient Egyptians were master builders and craftsmen. Thousands of years later, we still marvel at the pyramids they created. In this lesson, students study great architectural structures erected by the Egyptians, including temples, obelisks, and pyramids. Students learn how these objects were constructed, the purposes these structures served in Egyptian culture, and what modern day people can glean from examining them.
~Joann's Picks - 5/1/2010~
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