Norah Colvin

Live Love Laugh Learn … Create the possibilities

Tag: Teaching Resources

  • readilearn: teaching resources for celebrating birthdays in the early childhood classroom

    readilearn: teaching resources for celebrating birthdays in the early childhood classroom

    How do you celebrate birthdays in your early childhood classroom? Suggestions from readilearn help you make a birthday a special event in your classroom.

    I’m excited! Today, 24 August 2018, marks readilearn’s second birthday. How quickly those years have passed and how the collection has grown in that time.

    When I started out with the goal of reducing teachers’ workloads by preparing lessons ready for them to teach, I made a commitment to upload new resources regularly, write a weekly blog post focusing on topics of interest to early childhood teachers, including suggestions for teaching, and publish a newsletter on the last day of each month.

    I am proud to say that I have fulfilled that commitment. With more than two hundred resources added to the collection since the launch, that’s an addition of an average of two new resources each week. More than forty resources in the collection are interactive lessons for teachers to teach on the interactive whiteboard, exceeding the ten percent minimum I set as a target.

    Continue reading: readilearn: teaching resources for celebrating birthdays in the early childhood classroom

  • readilearn: Interactive whiteboard resources for kindergarten

    readilearn: Interactive whiteboard resources for kindergarten

    “I’ve got an interactive whiteboard in my room but I don’t know how to use it.”

    “What readilearn resources can I use with my kindergarten children?’

    “Schools have said they want our children to come to school able to listen and follow instructions. What resources can we use?”

    These are some of the statements and questions that teachers of children in their kindergarten year, the year before they start formal schooling, have put to me.

    The main focus of my preparation of readilearn teaching resources is on the first three years of school. I hadn’t considered their application with children aged four to five. However, teachers have assured me that some of the readilearn interactive whiteboard lessons are very suitable for children in kindergarten as one part of a rich play-based learning-focused environment.

    Using readilearn lessons on the interactive whiteboard in kindergarten

    • provides variety,
    • introduces children to the use of technology and some of the skills involved such as drag and drop, and click to select items,
    • provides opportunities for children to take turns, work cooperatively, listen actively to the teacher and other children,
    • encourages vocabulary development – the lessons are intended to be teacher-led and involve discussion with the children.

    readilearn lessons support kindergarten teachers with

    • lessons ready to teach – login in the morning, keep one tab open – stay logged in for the day,
    • opportunities for children to make the connection between print and spoken language,
    • providing children who are ready to read opportunities of doing so.

    readilearn interactive resources and lessons suitable for use in kindergarten:

    Continue reading: readilearn: Interactive whiteboard resources for kindergarten

  • readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?

    readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?

    How do you feel about worksheets? Love them? Hate them? Use them sparingly?

    I would say I’ve never been greatly in favour of worksheets. I’m not saying I never used them, but I used them sparingly. If I could do something as well or better without using a worksheet I would. There were a few reasons for this:

    • I valued children’s own work and didn’t feel the need to “pretty” up their books with the work of others.
    • I always looked for ways to progress children’s learning as opposed to keeping them busy.
    • I liked to reduce our paper usage.

    Available on the internet and in bookstores are oodles of collections of worksheets; worksheets for anything you can imagine. You can spend hours trawling through websites looking for a sheet to support learning or practice a specific concept. Some of that time could be better spent considering other opportunities you could provide children for learning or practice, or even doing something pleasant for yourself for a change. Now there’s a thought.

    When you think you may want a worksheet, or come across a worksheet that you may want to use, stop and evaluate its potential benefit:

    Continue reading: readilearn: What place do worksheets have in your early childhood classroom?

  • readilearn: Learning to be friends – unleash your friendship superpower

    readilearn: Learning to be friends – unleash your friendship superpower

    Sometimes we expect that all we have to do for children to make friends is to put them in close proximity to other children. We may see it happen at the park, in a playground, in a shopping centre, at school. Children are attracted to other children, but it is not always easy for them to make friends. We should no more expect them to get along than we would expect adults thrown together at a party, conference or other social situation to become friends immediately.

    While some children are gregarious and will talk to anyone, others may be more introverted and less inclined to make the first move. But whether extrovert or introvert, children need to learn how to interact with others in ways that encourage friendships to be made. The development of social-emotional skills, including empathy or understanding how others feel, is an important part of becoming a friend.

    Make friendship skills lessons an ongoing part of your program

    Lessons in how to be a friend need to be an ongoing part of any class program. While many teachers allocate some time for getting to know each other at the beginning of the school year, it is important to maintain the focus throughout the year. As children mature and interact with others, they will encounter a greater variety of situations with which they need to deal.

    It is not always necessary to timetable or set up specific lessons. Sometimes the spontaneous discussions before and after break times can help highlight needs and alert you to who is having trouble in the playground. These focused incident-specific discussions can help resolve issues and prevent them from escalating.

    As new children enter the class, they also need to be introduced and made to feel welcome and included. It is important for the introductions to go both ways. New children have many others to get to know; the existing class members have only one, and it may be difficult for a new child to settle into established groups. It is necessary to establish procedures that will help a child settle while more permanent friendships are being formed. For example, friendship buddies could be allocated to show the child around and help them become familiar with school routines and behaviour expectations.

    Establish a supportive classroom environment

    One of the best ways of ensuring that children feel friendly towards each other is by establishing a supportive classroom environment in which children have a sense of belonging, feel respected and valued.

    Previous posts about establishing a supportive classroom environment include Establishing a supportive classroom environment from day one. A search of resources using the words ‘supportive classroom’ will bring up a list of other related posts and resources.

    Continue reading: readilearn: Learning to be friends – unleash your friendship superpower

  • readilearn: Introducing Jennifer Poulter, author of Hip Hop HURRAH! Zoo Dance

    readilearn: Introducing Jennifer Poulter, author of Hip Hop HURRAH! Zoo Dance

    Meet Australian author J.R. Poulter as she discusses her beautiful picture book Hip Hop Hurrah Zoo Dance which is great for reading and getting kids moving.

    This week I am delighted to introduce you to prolific Australian author Jennifer Poulter. Jennifer writes fiction and poetry for children, education and the literary market. She has had over 50 traditional books and thirteen digital picture books published. She writes under the names J.R. Poulter and J.R. McRae and has received numerous awards for both fiction and poetry writing.

    Throughout her career, Jennifer has been employed in numerous roles including Senior Education Officer with the Queensland Studies Authority and Senior Librarian with the State Library of Queensland. She even once worked in a circus. In addition to writing, Jennifer is also an editor and artist. Now, under the banner of Word Wings, Jennifer collaborates with other creatives from over 20 countries.

    Today I am talking with Jennifer about her picture book Hip Hop HURRAH! Zoo Dance.

    What initially attracted me to this book is its ability to get children moving. What a great way to incorporate fun with movement and reading into any day.

    The book also fits perfectly with a dance curriculum that encourages children to become aware of their bodies and how they move in space, to explore and improvise dance movements. Children can be encouraged to move like the zoo animals in the book or improvise movements for other animals and objects that move.

    But Hip Hop HURRAH! Zoo Dance can also find its place in the literacy curriculum. Written in rhythmic verse, it encourages children to join in with the reading. It has a treasure of words to delight and extend vocabularies and add sparkle to writing; words like ‘limber, fandangle, prance and shimmies’. Children will laugh at the hippos with the backside wobbles and be intrigued by the combination of illustrations by Jade Potts and the variety of media used by designer Takara Beech in creating the double page spreads.

    If you throw in some counting of animals and legs, needs and features of living things, and places they live, you can cover almost the entire curriculum with this one little book. But enough from me, let’s find out what Jennifer has to say.

    Continue reading: Introducing Jennifer Poulter, author of Hip Hop HURRAH! Zoo Dance – Readilearn

  • readilearn: A week’s reading instruction with Bullfrog’s Billabong

    readilearn: A week’s reading instruction with Bullfrog’s Billabong

    The readilearn Bullfrog’s Billabong suite of cross-curricular resources can be used as the foundation for planning a week’s reading instruction including lessons with the whole class and small groups and independent work. The activities cater for different ability levels in your early childhood classroom and can culminate in a performance to be presented to other members of the class, other classes in the school, or parents.

    Bullfrog's Billabong, teaching effective reading strategies with covered cloze on the interactive whiteboard

    Begin by introducing the story as a covered cloze activity (a lesson ready for you to teach) presented to the whole class on the interactive whiteboard. Although all children are engaged in reading the same story, the activity allows them to participate at their own level. The teacher-led discussion can be tailored to student needs, allowing each to contribute according to what they already know and extending their understanding by discussing cues for reading and irregular as well as regular spelling patterns. Children learn from each other as they actively participate in the cooperative reading activity. Refer to Covered cloze — teaching effective reading strategies and Bullfrog’s Billabong — Cloze — How to use this resource for suggestions.

    As with introducing all new reading material, it is important to engage children’s interest by making connections with what they already know about the topic and explaining what may be unfamiliar; for example, a billabong, and encouraging them to make predictions about what might happen in the story. As the story unfolds, children may adjust their predictions and thoughts about the story.

    Continue reading: readilearn: A week’s reading instruction with Bullfrog’s Billabong – Readilearn

  • readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can

    readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can

    In Australia, NAIDOC Week is celebrated around the country each July. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. The theme of this year’s celebration, which runs from 8 to 15 July, is Because of Her, We Can!

    The purpose of the week is to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Islander Peoples and acknowledge their contributions to our country. This year’s theme recognises that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played – and continue to play – active and significant roles at the community, local, state and national levels”, roles that have often gone unrecognised.

    The 2018 poster, a painting by Bigambul woman, Cheryl Moggs, from Goondiwindi, portrays the courage and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. You can read, in Cheryl’s own words, the inspiration behind her artwork here.

    While most Australian school children are enjoying their mid-year break during NAIDOC Week, many teachers will be looking for ways to share the celebrations with their students when school resumes.

    Any time is a good time to incorporate learning about Indigenous cultures and histories. In fact, embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures is one of the cross-curriculum priorities in the Australian Curriculum.  Although I provide links to resources and suggestions that Australian teachers can use with their classes when celebrating NAIDOC Week, I’m certain many of the resources will be of interest to others around the world when teaching about diverse cultures and histories.

    The NAIDOC website has suggestions to get you started, and you can download a free copy of the 2018 NAIDOC Week poster from the website too. You can also check out their calendar for events near you. Refer to News for stories of women to celebrate.

    In the following video, Uncle Barry Watson, the Elder in Residence with Communities for Children in Logan City in south-east Queensland, explains the

    Continue reading: readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can – Readilearn

  • readilearn: Help your child read – some strategies

    readilearn: Help your child read – some strategies

    The importance of reading

    The ability to read is one of the most valuable skills we can acquire.  It is a tool for thinking, learning and entertainment. Reading opens doors and minds; it gives us the ability to unlock the secrets of the universe and release our imaginations. It is a skill that many of us take for granted, but without it the world would seem a more unfriendly place.

    No wonder learning to read is a vital part of each and every school day!

    Like everything else —the more you read, the better you get!

    Reading is more than just saying all the words on the page in order. Reading is a process of getting meaning from print. Effective readers use their knowledge of the world and of language in their quest to make meaning from the words on the page. Reading takes place when the reader understands the message of the writer.

    Strategies used by effective readers

    Effective readers use a combination of three cuing systems to predict and check what the author has written. The use of these systems is obvious in the miscues (rather than “mistakes”) that readers make.

    1. The most important cuing system is knowledge of the topic. If you know lots about dinosaurs, you can read those big difficult-looking words and understand what they mean. If you know nothing of legal jargon then even sounding out those big difficult-looking words won’t help you understand.
    2. The second system is knowledge of language and grammar. We expect the words to flow with meaning and not be a jumble of nonsense.
    3. The first two systems combine to predict the words on the page. We then check with the print to ensure our expectations were correct.

    For example, if the story is about a cowboy you may expect that he would jump on his pony, but when you look at the print, you find he actually jumped on his horse.

    Effective readers may say ‘pony’ instead of horse, but they definitely wouldn’t say ‘house’ (which looks similar) as it just wouldn’t make sense!

    Continue reading: readilearn: Help your child read – some strategies

  • readilearn: What do we do when we read?

    readilearn: What do we do when we read?

    Have you ever considered what we do when we read?

    For many of us, reading has become such a natural and intuitive process that we rarely stop to marvel at the way we are able to make meaning from print or to question how one learns to read.

    Although we know that we once weren’t readers, few can remember how we actually made the transition from being a non-reader to being able to read and have been doing it for so long now that it seems we always could.

    Some adult readers have recollections of various instructional methods that were used in school and attempt to engage their own learner readers in similar tasks.

    The recognition that some of the instructional methods did, and still do, equip readers with some tools for reading, does not imply that the use of these methods was the catalyst for learning to read. While they may have contributed to the development of reading, there are other influencing factors.

    Many children learn to read despite the instructional methods, and many others don’t read using them and, in fact, remain non-readers because of them.

    What is reading?

    Reading is more than simply translating letters and words to sound. Reading involves thinking. It is a process of getting meaning from print.

    Continue reading: readilearn: What do we do when we read?

  • readilearn: Teaching about living things in early childhood classrooms – turtles

    readilearn: Teaching about living things in early childhood classrooms – turtles

    Teaching about living things has an important place in early childhood classrooms. In the science curriculum in their first few years of school, children learn

    • What is a living thing
    • Needs of living things
    • Features of living things
    • Life stages of living things

    I have previously written about keeping and observing minibeasts in the classroom, learning about life on a farm, learning about living things – sea turtles, and observing animals in the local environment. In addition to the teaching ideas suggested in the blog posts, there are many resources in the science collection to assist you with your work.

    Let's find out abut sea turtles is an interactive digital non-fiction texts about sea turtles, for children in their first three years of school

    This week, in celebration of World Turtle Day on 23 May and World Environment Day coming up on 5 June, I have uploaded new resources to support learning about sea turtles and the existing non-fiction digital text Let’s find out about Sea Turtles.

    Continue reading: readilearn: Teaching about living things in early childhood classrooms – turtles