Chicks at Amelia Elementary

Our kindergarteners are learning about chicks and chickens. With special thanks to Mrs. Wells, they were able to witness, first hand, chicks hatching from their shells and were able to hold the fluffy yellow and black chicks.

Onset and Rimes

I've been continuing to listen to the International Reading Association's podcasts. The information they discuss are research based classroom tested strategies. One strategy discusssed today is daily shared reading. This strategy impacts a students ability to use phonics. In addition it reinforces onset and rimes. Going hand in hand with this podcast is a website which I've been introduced - http://freereading.net. This website is filled with ideas relating to these skills: phonological awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency and writing. Each page will give you detailed information (ie: activity type, grade level, group size, length of activity, materials needed and directions on 'what to do'.) In addition, if flashcards are needed, a link is provided to the flashcards for you to just print off and use. There are also educator contributed activities, teacher tips and more! I hope you check out this site...its incredible!

Ten Important Words

In the next International Reading Associations podcast, I listened to a podcast called Teaching Key Vocabulary. This podcast was based on the journal article called "Ten Important Words" in The Reading Teacher. "Learning words is ongoing and fun.....Children need to be given opportunities to learn new words which inspires reading." Check out this website to gather more classroom resources, professional development and homework resources - www.readwritethink.org.

Spring!

It may not be the first day of spring according to the calendar but nature is shouting out that spring is here. I saw my first Robin on the way home from work last night and the insects are chirping away as the sun was setting. This morning I drove along with a glorious sunrise. Enjoy the picture of this beautiful sunrise! Keep an eye out for signs of spring all around you!

NEW Amelia Elementary

WOW!! Amelia Elementary teachers and staff had the opportunity to tour our NEW SCHOOL!! It is totally awesome! It is bright, spacious and innovative. We THANK the voters in the West Clermont School district for making this new school a reality!! Enjoy a few pictures of our first tour!

Literacy podcast

I have been listening to a podcast on literacy called Class Acts: Ideas for Teaching Reading and Writing. This information is presented by the International Reading Association. Today's podcast referred to a publication called 10 Words Plus. The premise is that students need to know words (vocabulary) and understand the meaning of words to give meaning to text. Check it out!