Sesame Street:  Alphabet Printable Coloring Sheets (and Numbers 1-20)
Credit: Free pictures from acobox.com

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The new eBook library from WordWorld has five great, fun, and educational stories for children.  Linda Labbo, Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia, has great things to say about these books.  She says, “Words come to life on screens in unique ways that invite children to interact with stories, characters, and language. The interactivity scaffolds children’s attention and provides age appropriate prompts that ensure an entertaining and educational experience.”   Scaffolding is very important in the learning process, and WordWorld utilizes that specialized teaching strategy.

In my opinion as an educator, I think Word World is one of the very best children’s educational programming available. The literacy lessons presented in the WordWorld television series are extended in the eBooks.  Kids can either read these eBooks on their own, have someone read to them, or have the stories read to them by the eBook narrator.  A Guide providing strategies is also available to maximize learning.

These are the five eBooks:

• A Smile for Crocodile
• Duck’s First Sleepover
• Snug as a Bug
• The Big Race
• Totally Terrific Duck

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This is one of my favorites and a favorite of nearly everyone who has used it according to the Hap Palmer website.  I used Learning Basic Skills Through Music in my Early Childhood class, and I enjoyed it as much as the children.  These learning songs are great action songs as well that help get out the wiggles out of restless students.   Here is a list of the songs:

• 1. Colors

• 2. Put Your Hands Up In The Air

• 3. The Elephant

• 4. The Number March

• 5. Marching Around The Alphabet

• 6. Growing

• 7. This Is The Way We Get Up In The Morning

• 8. Birds

• 9. What Are You Wearing?

• 10. What Is Your Name?

By the way, Hap Palmer’s first recording of this was in 1969, but it is still as catchy and enjoyable today as it was back then.   Hap Palmer’s songs are timeless!  The songs are easy to learn and help with retention of skills in a musical way.

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Credit: Free pictures from acobox.com

Writing can sometimes be a difficult subject to teach young students.  I have found that when teaching a new concept, it’s good to break it down into several steps.  I taught ESL students plus Gifted & Talented students in the same classroom for many years, and I found that most of them benefited from this.  There will be some students who grasp the concept easily or may already have the concept in place, and those students need to move on to enrichment activities.  But for those struggling with the concept of writing a paragraph, I have broken the concept down into smaller steps:

• PREREQUISITE: The students need to know how to write a sentence.
• DEFINITION: First, a child needs to understand the definition of a paragraph.  When we say that we’re going to write a paragraph, they may have no concept of that.  So, the first step is to explain and give examples of paragraphs.  Here is how I might explain it: “Today, we’re going to learn about paragraphs.   Can anyone tell me what a paragraph is? (I would say “good try” if they totally missed it, and if they got part of the answer then I would incorporate the correct part of their answer into my explanation.)   A paragraph is a group of sentences that tell about one thing.”
  
• EXAMPLE: Let me share some paragraphs with you.

1. Example of one paragraph:  “Kim’s favorite thing was to spend time with her dog. She played with her dog every day after school.  She fed her dog two times a day.  In the afternoons, they would go for a walk together. Kim liked her dog a lot! Questions: What did Kim like? (her dog)  What did she do with her dog? (played with it, fed it, went for a walk with it)  What is the paragraph about?  (Kim spending time with her dog)  This is a paragraph with a group of sentences that tell about Kim and her dog.”
   
2. Give example of a non-paragraph:  “Now listen to this:  Luke liked to play sports.  The tree was green.  The clock stopped working.  Lions like to roar real loud. Questions: What is this about?  (Luke, a tree, a clock, and lions)   Is it a paragraph? (wait for answers)  No, because it’s not about one thing.  It’s about completely different things.”

• WRITE A PARAGRAPH TOGETHER: “Let’s write a paragraph together about our classroom.” Have students tell facts about the classroom and formulate a paragraph on the board using their answers.
• STUDENTS WRITE THEIR OWN PARAGRAPH: Have students pick something of interest to them and write a paragraph about just that one topic.  Make suggestions for those students having trouble thinking of a topic.  Walk around the room and help those students who are getting off topic.

Praise their work and find something positive to say about it.  Make them feel proud and take ownership of their work.   Those who are fearful of writing should eventually get to the point where they can write their own paragraph.

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· Re-programming the app to be compatible with the 4.0 iPhone operating system.

· Randomizing the presentation of the WordFriends for more WordBuilding fun!

· Decreasing the price. You can now purchase the app for the low, low cost of only $0.99.

“The “Build a Word” app is based on the WordWorld television show. Children will shake up this “WordBuilder” to watch letters float across the screen. They can then place letters in the outline provided to build words one letter at a time. By pushing the letters of each word together, words will magically “morph” into WordFriends! DOG, DUCK, PIG, ANT, FROG, SHEEP, BUG, COW, CAT and BEE come to life and help children build early literacy skills.”

You can download the WordWorld “Build a Word” app from iTunes.

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Many of you already know about Starfall.  For those who don’t, it’s an excellent free site to encourage children to learn to read while having fun.  This site is great for children learning their alphabet letters, learning the sounds of letters, and learning how to read words or short stories.

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First, write a short paragraph on the board or overhead such as this one: Michael had fun at the school carnival with his friends.  They ate pizza and then played a lot of games.  They had their faces painted.  They ate popcorn.  Then it was time to go home.

Explain that main idea tells what the whole story is about.  Explain how the first sentence tells the main idea in this story, Michael had fun at the carnival.  Then proceed with the following sentences to show how they support the main idea.

• “Is eating pizza and playing a lot of games fun?”  “Yes.”
• “Do most kids think getting their faces painted is fun?”  “Yes.”
• “Is it fun to eat popcorn?”  “Yes.”

Now show how the supporting sentences would not be the main idea:

• “Is the main idea (the whole story) about eating pizza?”  “No, because they played games, had their faces painted, and ate popcorn, too.”
• “Is the main idea about playing games?”  “No, because they ate pizza and popcorn, and they had their faces painted, too.”
• “Is the main idea about having their faces painted?”  “No, because they played games, and they ate pizza and popcorn, too.”

• Reinforce how the main idea, the whole story, is about Michael having fun at the school carnival with his friends.  And all of these things (eating pizza, playing games, having faces painted, and eating popcorn) are ways to have fun.

Next, give the students a worksheet with no more than four short stories on it.  Make sure the stories are separated with lines so it will not cause any student to be confused.  Make sure the stories are numbered so you can easily refer to a certain story.

• Read the first story together orally with the class and also all of the choices for main idea.  Work through the process in the same way as the above story.  Have the students underline the main idea in the story with a crayon or colored marker.  Then have them mark the answer.
• Read the second story and answers orally with the class, but this time have them choose the answer by themselves.  After they have marked their answers, talk about the correct answer and why it is correct.  Allow students to change their answer, if necessary.  Make sure they underline the main idea in the story.
• Have students complete the third story independently.  Again, after they have marked their answer, talk about the correct answer and why it is correct.  Let them correct their answer.  Make sure they underline the main idea in the story.
• Complete the fourth story in the same manner as the third one.

Give students a similar worksheet in the same format and have them complete the worksheet independently.  Then you can assess how well each student understood the concept of main idea.

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Our two year old grandson loves to play educational games on our daughter’s iPhone.  It’s perfect to keep him occupied when they’re in the car, at the doctor’s office, or up in her office at work.  His favorite game right now is Toddler Teasers.  The games include letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, and it’s available at the iTunes App Store.

It’s amazing to me that our grandson, who is two years and two months old, knows how to play games on an iPhone.   Technology is amazing and such a wonderful tool for learning!.

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