Education Station Newsletter
Vol. 1 #8 December 2002
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Welcome to the Education Station monthly newsletter! Here we take a look at great teacher tips, useful teaching links to great sites and helpful ideas and activities for celebrating holidays, seasons and special days in your classroom. Our great specials section will help you save money and we have also included articles that look at the latest practices in education. We hope our newsletter will help inspire you to be the best teacher you can be! This newsletter is produced by the Education Station web site, which is located:
http://www.educationstation.ca
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In This Issue
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1. Poem of the Month Molders of the Future
2. Teacher Tips
Sharing the Gift of Reading
Managing incomplete homework
3. Great Links
4. Current Specials
5. Celebrate!
Gingerbread Men
Christmas
6. What's New!
7. Article
60 Ways to Practice Spelling
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1. Poem
Molders of the Future
by Margaret Rorke
Most folks well worth the memory,
have statues carved in stone.
But teachers mold their monuments
in living flesh and bone.
The student who goes out in life
and makes a well known name,
Admits unto the heart of it all,
some teacher shares the fame.
I never hear a pianist
with talent true and rare,
But in the shadows I can see,
a teacher standing there.
No skillful doctor ever saved
the lives of human kind,
Without the seeds some teacher stored
within that fertile mind.
No actor, writer, carpenter,
no boxer you'll allow,
Pursues his chosen field unless
some teacher showed him how.
Lawyers, doctors, engineers,
all who are beloved by men.
Remember what some teacher taught
and quote it now and then.
Yes, teachers mold their monuments.
They build them year-by-year.
Not like the ancient pyramids,
so awesome and austere,
Which time and time will wear away,
but spurning solemn stone,
Our teachers mold eternally
in living flesh and bone.
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2. Teacher Tips
Sharing the Gift of Reading
A fun idea during the month of December is to wrap up your favorite picture
books and place them under a tree. Then invite adults such as the principal,
janitor, or even a lunchroom worker to come into your room, unwrap one of the
books, and read it to the class. You could call this time, "Sharing the
Gift of Reading."
Managing incomplete homework
When a student does not complete his or her homework, I have them fill in a
paper I've already made multiple copies of and are kept in a folder for each
student. The slip of paper is divided into 3 sections: "Date", "Name
of Assignment", and "Reason Why It's Not Done". After 5 repeated
incomplete homework assignments, I staple these slips together and send home
for a parent signature. This usually helps things get back on track again.
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3. Great Links
Poems for the Classroom
This is the BEST site on the web for a great collection of POEMS to use in your
classroom for Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Poetry Folders, Theme Poems, Holiday
Poems, Chart Poems, Fingerplays, Big Books….. ENJOY!
http://members.shaw.ca/henriksent/
Awesome FREE CLIP ART for kids
Here is some Teacher, Student & Family-Friendly FREE clipart, coloring pages,
backgrounds, banners, fonts, icons, lines, worksheets and wallpaper ready to
use in your classroom.
http://www.awesomeclipartforkids.com
Fonts
Here is site full of the greatest FREE fonts ever.
http://www.fontgarden.com/
The Flat Stanley Project
Looking for a way to engage your students in a fun, meaningful reading, writing
and social studies project? The Flat Stanley Project has received worldwide
attention. Check it out here.
http://www.flatstanleyproject.net/
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4. Current Specials
The following products are currently on sale at Education. Check back often as the sale products change every week. http://www.educationstation.ca/index.php
We have a clearance section on our site! Check it out at http://www.educationstation.ca/clearance.php
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5. Celebrate!
Celebrate Gingerbread Men
Here are a few excellent sites to keep you and your students very busy with
a fun Gingerbread Unit
http://www.geocities.com/mrs_pohlmeyer/thegingerbreadman
http://www.kinderteacher.com/GingerbreadManActivites.htm
http://www.kinderkorner.com/gingerbread.html
http://www.teachingheart.net/gingerbreadman.html
http://www.kidzone.ws/thematic/gingerbread/math/index.htm
http://www.kidzone.ws/thematic/gingerbread/index.htm
Celebrate Christmas December 25
FREE Printable Christmas Bingo Game
http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/
A FREE reproducible Class, Big or Mini Book for Christmas
http://teachers.net/gazette/DEC02/images/christmas_book.pdf
An amazing, interactive, on-line reading book about snowmen
http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/snowman/play.htm
Loads of interactive Christmas fun at this excellent website
http://www.claus.com/village.php
Two great Christmas Around the World Units can be found here
http://www.parentpatch.com/Holidays/Christmas/christmas_around_the_world.htm
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/around.html
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6. What's New
We have Charlotte Diamond’s CD’s, tapes, musical treasures book and
Big Books! Just type 'charlotte diamond' into our search
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7. Article
Looking to add some new life to your spelling program? Here are a few ideas…
60 Ways to Practice Spelling
by Michele McCoy
1. Paint with water- Dip a Q-tip in water and practice spelling the words on
a chalkboard. The words will disappear like magic, leaving the chalkboard clean!
2. Shaving Cream Practice- An easy way to clean those dirty work tables clean
is to let the children finger paint on the table tops. Have the students practice
their spelling words in the shaving cream.
3. Scratch n' Sniff- Use a new sensation to teach the alphabet or spelling words.
Write letters with glue on paper, then sprinkle with Jell-O. Makes a super scratch
n' Sniff when tracing over the letters.
4. Adding Machine Tape Spelling- Students get tired of writing their spelling
words the same way every time. Try having the students practice their words
on adding machine tape.
5. Fishing for Words- On 3" x 5" cards print the students spelling
words, fold in half, and fasten each with a paper clip. Place the cards in a
large fish bowl. Using a toy fishing pole or a long stick, place a magnet on
the string. The students go fishing for a spelling word to practice.
6. Finger Paint Bags- Freezer strength zip lock bags and fingerprint make great
writing slates. Place a dab of finger paint (tempera paint can work, although,
not as well. Hey, look! A use for all that semi-dried up paint!) in the zip-lock
bag, tape the bag closed for extra strength. The student then lays the bag flat
on the table and writes the word on the bag with a finger. The word will disappear
like magic.
7. Record a Word- Have students use a tape recorder to practice their spelling
words.
8. Disappearing Act- Help your students perform a real disappearing act. Children
write their spelling words with chalk on black construction paper. Then you
can spray and watch their words disappear and return.
9. Flannel Board Practice- Students use a flannel board and flannel board letters
to practice their spelling words.
10. Scrabble Spelling- Place the wooden letter squares from an old Scrabble
game on the Scrabble rail. Students can use the squares to spell the weekly
words or to write a sentence of words. Incorporate math practice by having them
add the number values printed on the squares to find the week's "most valuable
word."
11. Word Cubes- Write letters on small wooden blocks and have the students arrange
them and to spell their weekly words.
12. Spelling Magic- Try a little magic to teach spelling words! Have students
write words on white construction paper with white crayon. Then have them paint
over the paper with watered down tempera paint or watercolors. Words appear
like magic!
13. Partner Word Step- On large piece of butcher paper print the letters of
the alphabet. Have two partners pair up together to play this game. Have one
student read the word aloud. The other child must step on the letters to spell
the word.
14. Read and Grow- Encourage flash card practice with this growing flower. Cut
a large, colored, construction paper flower with a yellow circle glued to its
center. Use an X-acto knife to make two parallel slits in the center of the
flower. Cut green tag board strips the width of the slits, and insert the strip
though the flower from the back. Write the spelling words on the stem for the
children to practice.
15. Egg Spellers- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on small pieces
of paper and places them inside plastic eggs. (Now you know what to do with
all those plastic Easter eggs after your kids are bored with them. ) Students
pick the eggs from an Easter basket. The students then must write that word.
16. Spelling Keys- The teacher writes the words for the week on construction
paper keys. The keys are placed on a shower curtain ring. The students can use
keys as flash cards to help them practice the weekly spelling words. On Friday,
after the spelling test they can tear off the keys that they learned to spell.
The words that they missed remain on the ring, this allows the student to continue
to practice the words they need help on. If the student can spell these words
on the review test they may then tear off the keys to take home.
17. Take the Pepsi Challenge- For a motivational technique, "Take the Pepsi
Challenge!" Each student has a Pepsi cup. When Friday's spelling test is
returned, he writes words he misses on a card and places it in his cup. When
we have our review test, students are re-tested on the same words. Anyone who
has a perfect score on all the unit tests and keeps his cup empty wins a Pepsi!
Give a Pepsi also for perfect scores on review tests.
18. Spelling Puzzles- Write the spelling words on different colors of tag board.
Cut the words apart in a variety of ways. The students then put the puzzle back
together to form the spelling words.
19. Q-Tip Eraser- Write the spelling words on the chalkboard. The students then
erase the words by tracing over them again and again with a Q-tip until the
words are erased.
20. Block Puzzles- The teacher strings together wooden block beads. Write the
spelling words on the top of the cubes, fill in the other sides with other letters.
Attach a tag to the end of the string of blocks and write the spelling words
on it. The student turns the blocks to reproduce the spelling word.
21. Spelling Bingo- The teacher gives a blank bingo card for a fun activity
to take the place of your traditional pretest. As the teacher reads each word,
students write it in a space of their choice. After giving all the words, I
call words randomly until someone calls, "BINGO!" The winner must
say the correctly spelled words that gave him the win.
22. Spelling Dice- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on dice made
from inverted milk cartons. The student rolls the dice and whatever the dice
lands on they write 5 times.
23. Musical Words- A word skill game that is played like musical chairs. The
teacher places the spelling words on small pieces of paper in a large box or
bag. The children sit in a circle, and start passing the box around while music
plays. Whoever has the container when the music stops must pick out the paper
and read the word. If he can't, he is out. Continue to play until there is only
one person left.
24. Transparency Show Off- The teacher makes a transparency of regular lined
paper. The students practice writing their spelling words on the transparency.
The students then show off their work on the overhead projector for all to see.
25. Individual Chalkboards- Have the students practice writing their spelling
words on small chalkboards. They love it!
26. Tissue Paper Tracing- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on a
large piece of paper. The students then place tissue paper over the words and
trace over them with crayon.
27. Wooden Flash cards- Try using pieces of wood as flash cards. The students
enjoy the change!
28. Contact Paper Chalkboards- The teacher needs to make 5" x 7" cardboard
pieces, cover half the cardboard with the special chalkboard contact paper.
(You can also do this with chalkboard paint!) Then write the spelling word on
the other half. The students look at the word and then copy it on the chalkboard
side.
29. Magnetic Cookie Sheet- The teacher arranges assorted magnet letters on a
cookie sheet. Students use the letters to form the weekly spelling words.
30. Overhead Posters- The teacher makes a transparency of the weekly spelling
words. The list is then shown on the wall. A piece of butcher paper is taped
to the wall. The student then traces the spelling words onto the butcher paper.
31. Hold It- Young children often find it difficult to hold a handful of cards
while playing "Go Fish!" These card holders are really simple to make
and really do the job! Place two plastic lids (Cool Whip lids work great!),
flat sides together. Place a button in the center on each side, and sew the
entire unit together with strong string or dental floss. Children slip cards
between the two lids and hold the card holder. The game is played just like
"Go Fish!" by using a pair of cards for each spelling word.
32. Typewriter Fun- Have the students write their spelling words ten times each
on the typewriter. (Or try it on your classroom computer. If you're brave you
can use your graphics software! Kid Pix is perfect for this.)
33. Paint Your Words- Have the students use small paint brushes to paint their
words 5 times each.
34. Soft Flash cards- Use wall paper scraps to make unusual flash cards to practice
the words.
35. Carbon Paper Practice- Have the students use carbon paper (yes, remember
that stuff?) to help them write their words. I got some old NCR scraps from
a printer that worked great and was a lot less messy. The best part: it was
free!
36. Close pin Spelling- The teacher cuts out articles of clothing, from construction
paper. The spelling words are then written on the articles of clothing. The
students then reproduce the spelling words by hanging them on the clothes line
with clothespins that have the letters written on them.
37. Salt Box Spelling- The teacher pours salt in the lid of a box (approx. 1/4").
The student then practices the words in the salt.
38. Alpha-Bit Spelling- Students use cereal to reproduce their spelling words.
Don't forget to have a snack with the words you make.
39. Pudding Practice- Try using instant pudding as a finger paint to practice
spelling words.
40. Palm Reading- Motivate your students with palm reading. Write a spelling
word with watercolor marker, (you might want to make sure that this is all right
with the parents first. ) on the palm of each student. Have the students try
to spell each other's words. The students can check their spelling by reading
each other's palms.
41. Pyramid Power- Give your students a weekly spelling assignment with a different
twist. Have students write their words in order of difficulty. They write their
easiest word once at the top of the paper near the middle, the next easiest
twice, and so on. Students will have a pyramid shape when they are finished.
42. Portable Slates- Portable slates make a great spelling game. Plastic coffee
can lids and 1 pound margarine tub lids are used as slates. The teacher calls
out a spelling word and the students write answers with crayons, hold up their
slates to be checked, then wipe them off with tissue.
43. Sandy Words- Have students write their spelling words in glue, sprinkle
sand over the glue. The students then trace over the words with their fingers
for practice. They make terrific flash cards!
44. Rainbow Words- Have the students practice words with felt pens, alternate
colors for a rainbow look.
45. Put It In Print- Have the students cut out the letters from a newspaper
to spell the weekly spelling words.
46. Round About Flash cards- Have students decorate a paper pate. Cut a slice
out of the paper plate so it looks like a slice of pie cut out of the plate.
Brad around piece of paper to the back. Then write the weekly spelling words
in the window. The students turn the wheel and practice saying the word.
47. Spell It With Beans- The students use lima beans to spell the weekly spelling
words. The students can also glue the beans in place for a 3-D flash card.
48. Spelling Squares- Students practice their words on graphing paper. The students
use 1 box for each letter. Have the students figure out which spelling word
is in the shortest, longest, etc. . . .
49. Rainbow chains- Rainbow chains are a great way of keeping track of the words
a student knows. The student writes the words he successfully spelled on Friday's
final test on a construction paper chain. The children love to see their chains
grow!
50. Sandpaper Practice-Students write their words on sheets of sandpaper. The
students can really feel their words!
51. Pipe cleaners - Children use these to form their spelling words.
52. Toothpicks - Same as above.
53. Word search - They can pick 10 of their stumper (high frequency) words to
make up a word search.
54. Alphabet Stamps
55. Word collage - They design a collage using all of their words using markers,
colored pencils etc.
56. Design a word - They pick one word and bubble letter it and design it.
57. Magazine letters - They find the letters in a magazine and glue them onto
construction paper.
58. Painting - Paint their words.
59. Playdough - I have cookie cutters that are letters of the alphabet. The
kids also like to form the dough itself into letters.
60. Magnetic Letters - I bought at a dollar store. Twist-Tie Spelling - use
the twist-ties from the store to form letters to spell the words.
This article was originally printed at http://teachers.net/gazette/DEC02/spelling.html
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