Evaluating Children’s Books

Hands down…teaching about literacy and all that it entails is one of my most favorite concepts to teach in child development!  Maybe it’s my love of reading, my love of great children’s books or my love of seeing children engaged in reading great children’s books!  Either way, it’s an engaging and fun unit to teach and share with my students.  In the past I’ve shared many posts about literacy and reading to children, but I have never shared my lesson on evaluating children’s books.  Read on to learn more about this lesson!

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SKETCHNOTES: The “Magnificent 7” Baking Ingredients

After reading Tisha Richmond’s blog & book titled, “Make Learning Magical”, I wanted to give sketchnotes a try. The problem was, finding a good topic. In addition, I wanted to amp up the excitement to get my students to buy into the concept.  Since there are 7 baking ingredients, I decided to call them the “Magnificent 7” because of how well they work together, similar to the characters in the movie of the same name. The first day of sketchnotes was met with mixed reviews….some students grumbled, while others really got into it.  Later, some of the students who were a bit skeptical said they actually liked it and found it relaxing! I loved that my students bought into this concept and I have to admit they were fun to grade!

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A Twisted Love Poem Activities & Updated “No One Would Tell” Resources

Ever feel like you need to breathe new life into some of your units?  That’s just how I felt with some of my dating violence activities! Not that they still weren’t great activities, I was just getting tired of using them and needed something fresher. In this post you will find a few of the new activities and resources that I created that involve a poem, a teen girl visual and an updated movie for use in this unit. So, choose one, two or all three to try out the next time you teach about dating violence!

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Plant Based Proteins Part II: Seeds

If you visited the site last week, you saw that the plant based protein lesson was focused on beans and legumes. This week is a continuation of plant based proteins, concentrating on seeds!

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Plant Based Proteins Part I: Beans & Legumes

I am a big fan of Michael Pollan’s work!  I especially like what he has to say about food in his documentary “In Defense of Food”.  Even if I don’t have time to show my students the documentary in its entirety, I do like to focus on certain parts of it.  One in particular are his 7 words that he uses to sum up healthy eating: “Eat foods–Not Too Much–Mostly Plants”.  It’s a great way to introduce students to different plant based foods!  Read on to learn more about how those 7 words equate to a lesson about beans and legumes.

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Mindful Eating: A Talking Point Lesson & Activity

Talking point lessons may just become a reoccurring series!  I love when I stumble upon a topic that is both interesting and engaging, but doesn’t require a lot of time and effort. These types of lessons are great for sub plans, unexpected assemblies, early dismissals or weather delays that can wreak havoc on keeping classes on the same timeline. Many districts are requiring teachers to present their students with e-lessons on snow days.  What better way to do this than with a talking points lesson that you can cater and adapt to your needs!  This lesson and activity revolve around “mindful eating” because most of us often do the opposite!  So, learn more about how you and your students can become more mindful of your eating! On a side note, if you have a topic that might lend itself well to a talking points lesson and/or activity, please let me know in the comment section below and I’ll see what I can do!

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