I'm thinking BEACH!

Hello  friends,
It has been quite a busy few days and I have not been able to write you!  I don't know about you but I often find my mind wondering to the beach these days.  With the 80 degree weather, sunshine, and the fact my husband put my hammock up for the season....it is really hard not to go on mental vacays!

Anyways- in keeping with the beach idea I found some treasures at the Target dollar section....you know the one my husband says, "it's not a dollar section when you spend 50 dollars."  Yep that one!  So during my language lesson we use phoneme drill cards/flash cards and have the students trace the letter three times in cursive while saying the sound.  Well to spice it up a bit I took a math beach ball idea and made it into a language idea.  On the ball I put all of the sounds they had learned this year.  Then we take turns tossing, shooting, etc. the beach ball and whatever two graphemes/letters your thumbs land on you have to give that sound.  If it has multiple sounds, for example y that says /y/, /e/, and /i/, they have to give all three sounds.  Of course you then have those times when the thumb isn't exactly on a letter.....just choose the closest one.  Here is what it looks like:

Also in the dollar section, I found a set of plastic horseshoes.  I set these up and have the kiddos break into teams.  I quiz them on a spelling pattern, rule, etc.  If they answer correctly they get to throw their horseshoe.  Pretty cheap ways to have fun and chances to get OUTSIDE!!!! Here is a picture of them:

Anyways hope you enjoy!

Candi : )

Get Your Brain Juices Flowing!

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to give a shout out to my little sister (well 24 year old sister) who created a "Get Ready to Learn" obstacle course for our school.  My wonderful principal partnered with my sister (who has her masters in exercise science) to create these stations to help our students get their brain juices flowing!  We use these during our mini-breaks (kids get a quick snack, water, opportunity for movement).  She researched which specific exercises worked on core muscles and vestibular motion.  Plus it increases their ability to focus on a task following the exercise.  Here is a picture of her modeling a station:

This station is called "Wibble-Wobble" and it is a kiddo favorite!
A book on the market that describes the impact of exercise on learning is:

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by: John Ratey

http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/0316113506

We give our students "Brain Breaks" that are purposefully built into our lessons as often as needed for your particular group of learners.  Other types of "brain breaks" I use are quick and easy yoga moves, humor, music, stretches, and basic plyometric exercises (also known as "superman jumps" to my kids.

Parents:  I would encourage the use of "brain breaks" in homework to minimize the complexity of homework time.  

So go get moving!

Candi : )