Step Up Books Save A Want-to-be-Reader

The want-to-be-reader in my daughter disappeared, somewhere between simple short vowel words and complex sentences. Just like that, gone. In desperation (if you know us you know we love books) I went to the home library shelf. There before my eyes appeared, George Washington. The title invited me in- Meet George Washington.

I pulled the book off the shelf and thumbed through the pages. PERFECT! Large type. Pictures on every other page. All nestled in chapters between two hard covers. THIS book had the look and  feel of a book an "older" child would read. I beckoned my want-to-be-reader and proposed we sit together as I read. That is all she needed. A book that felt like a "real" book. Not just some story printed in a graded reader, but a real book. Motivation returned.

So often want-to-be-readers are lost when fluency and practice are needed to feed the reading process. Reading can be just plain hard for some. Lots of practice. Lots of encouragement. Lots of interesting "real books" needed to make it through that tough time when a young child is building vocabulary and fluency to become an proficient reader.

We started together. I read to her. The content was intriguing, interesting, something she wanted to know more about. I read the entire book. She listened. She wanted another. I had no idea where I had gotten the only one we owned. Where to look? The library? No, not there. Google saved the day. Within a short time, I was able to locate another, then another. I read a page. Then she read a page. Soon, she read a chapter, then I read a chapter. Dad was invited to read. Before long (maybe 2 months) she was reading, independently on her own with enthusiasm. The want-to-be-reader had been transformed to the I-gotta-read reader. Currently, she wants to read every book in the series. In fact, the now fluent reader won't move to another series until she reads them all (or at least the ones we can find). Step Up books are that interesting to her. Interest is the prime motivator. It's internal. It's powerful.

A map for reference while reading. Yes! Geography and Reading!

In the process of finding other books in the series, we have acquired "extras" of some of the titles (because we had to buy them in lots). If you have a want-to-be-reader who has gotten lost between simple words and complex sentences, perhaps these high interest books will motivate your child as they have ours. If so, let us know. We know how you can add them to your library.

Gettysburg Resources

Studying the Civil War? If you are attending the Living History Performance Gettysburg: The Second Day presented by Bob Farewell at Killarney Baptist Church, October 20, you might find you will be soon if your children carry their curiosity home with them. If you aren't attending you may still find these resources helpful for future Gettysburg or related studies. There are Internet links, living books and biographies. Please understand I am not endorsing a viewpoint on the Civil War and I would encourage parents to view, read or do research about the resources below before placing in the hands (or eyes and ears) of your child(ren).

Biographies

• Meet Robert E. Lee by George Swift Trow (Vintage, so you might have to hunt for this book. Great for emerging readers, family read-aloud and discussion) 
• Meet Abraham Lincoln by Barbara Cary (Vintage, so you might have to hunt for this book. Great for emerging readers, family read-aloud and discussion.Newer versions available though content may not be same as original) 
• Abraham Lincoln, Log Cabin to the White House by Sterling North (Newer Landmark series)
• Gallant Christian Soldier Robert E. Lee Sower Series
• Mary Todd Lincoln by Katherine Elliot Wilke (Childhood of Famous Americans series)
• Boy of Old Virginia: Robert E Lee by Helen Monsell (Childhood of Famous Americans series)
• A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln by David A. Alder
• Abe Lincoln, The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winters 
• Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner

Living Books

• 
• Gettysburg by Mackinlay Kantor
• Lincoln and Douglas, the Years of Decision by Regina Zimmerman Kelly (Vintage Landmark series, so you might have to hunt for this book. Great for family read-aloud and discussion.) 
• Mr. Lincoln's Drummer by G. Clifton Wisler 
• Red Cap by G. Clifton Wisler
• The Drummer Boy at Vicksburg by G. Clifton Wisler 
• Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith 

Informational and Activity Books

• If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War by Kay Moore
• A Soldier's Life in the Civil War (Dover History Coloring Book)
• History Pockets: The American Civil War (Evan-Moor Publishers)
• B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet Book by Patricia Baur
• Welcome to Addy's World (American Girl series) 

Internet Resources

• Sleeping Bear Press Unit for B is for Battle Cry by Patricia Baur
• Civil War Unit Study
• Civil War Lapbook Templates 
• Compare Two Worlds Scholastic study

Sticky Letters Become Words

"Mom! Can I have these!" 

Our youngest, a budding emergent reader, emergent speller happened upon a large sheets of 2-inch peel off brightly-colored sticky letters. A gold mine! Within 40 minutes she had completed the equivalent of a month's worth of spelling lessons, without tears, without coercion. Best of all, she remembered the words she spelled, days later. A win-win-win situation. Learning, fun, retention. That is what I call a productive day!

New Mama-Made Game

Mama-made games are becoming very popular at our house. And, we are learning!

Here is the latest mama-made game at our house (a small sampling of about 30 abbreviations in a variety of colors). We were struggling with abbreviations and multiple worksheets...well, that wasn't the answer. So, I took learning off the page and put it into their hands. What happened? They loved it! We matched the abbreviations and learned how to spell measurement words.

Side note: the visual-spatial child ordered the color shades (not shown here). Very cool!

Maybe there is a concept you can pull off the page for your child. Doesn't have to be fancy to be fun.

Here Chicky, Chicky!

(An exciting adventure for all ages, those who want to bring some country home.)

Our recent adventures began with a home school evaluation. Families come to us to discuss and review work samples from their year's accomplishments. In addition to paperwork, we often see models, dioramas, crafts and artwork. This particular family brought live items to document their school year.  In a cardboard box were two, eight-hour-old chicks. These puffs of black fuzz quickly attached to one of our daughters.  The mother who brought the chicks taught my daughter what imprinting meant and fast friends were made.  The result was "Can we keep them?"

Daddy gave the affirmative, highly-hoped-for answer and the chickens came to live with us, under the condition they had to go back when they became adults because the neighbors may not be so appreciative of our latest home school "project". 

The next day, initiated by an innate curiosity, we hunted books from our personal library, researched the Internet and called local feed stores.  We watched an Internet video of a hen laying an egg. 

On day two, we took a "field trip" with grandpa to the feed store (that was a sensory experience!) for chicken mash. We saw baby animals including pigeon chicks, compared the many kinds of feed, watched the man weigh the mash on the big scale, enjoyed the smell of the live tackle and took a stroll through the garden plants. 

Day three we read and compared several versions of The Little Red Hen. Later in the day we discussed diagrams of the 21-day embryo growth inside the egg, amazed by the transformation. We discussed why the eggs in our refrigerator would not become chicks, greeting us the next time we opened the door. This sparked a conversation about how many eggs are in a dozen and a half-dozen. We figured out egg carton multiplication and enjoyed egg salad for lunch. One daughter suggested we make a chicken book, a novel idea! We made the book over several days and then headed to the library used book store to find an old magazine with chicken pictures to cut out.

Internet Resources:

• 21-day embryo growth http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/explore/embryology/
• All kinds of fun from The Exploration Station http://theexplorationstation.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/chicken-life-cycle/
• Fun from Delightful Learning http://delightfullearning.blogspot.com/2010/04/chicks-and-chickens-unit-sudy.html
• Chicken life cycle http://www.vtaide.com/png/chicken.htm
• Chicken lapbook http://www.homeschoolshare.com/chicken.php

What a wonder we have experienced! We watched the baby chick's wings grow and then add feathers. The chicks chased us across the tile floor. We watched, amazed, as they took to flight for the very first time. We have learned that chicks need to have their bedding changed everyday or the house begins to smell like grandpa's farm. And alas, our chicks are now looking like miniature chickens. They will be heading back to their original family soon. 

We wanted to pass on what we have learned as well as the books we read, in case, by some circumstance, chickens appear on your doorstep. 

Chicken/Farm Books:

Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown 

Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming

The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone

The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pickney

Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Philemon Sturges

Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri

Field Guide to Chickens by Pam Percy

Chicks and Chickens by Gail Gibbons 
The Chicken Book by Page Smith and Charles Daniel
Where Do Chickens Come From by Amy E. Sklansky
Chickens by David M. Schwartz

Building Vocabulary with Vocabulary Workshop

For years our children have benefited from using Vocabulary Workshop published by Sadlier-Oxford. The paperback workbooks teach new words through definitions, antonyms, synonyms, word associations, and reading comprehension exercises. Repetition allows students to achieve success and higher retention.

Students, elementary through high school, needing additional practice can access additional online review activities for every level workbook. Auditory recordings of the word pronunciations and definitions are available. These online exercises are especially helpful for students who need auditory input for optimal retention. 

Online link http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/iwords.cfm?sp=student&level=A#unit2 

Learning and Paper Trails

Learning is often measured in paper. Thirty-problem speed drills. Handwriting practice sheets. Standardized tests. Lab reports. In and of themselves, these items aren't terrible. They have their place. However, valuable learning also takes place when there is no visible, tangible trace.

We have had one of those weeks, weeks where most learning will not be measured in paper. Stellar, life-impacting learning occurred, but we didn't have sheets and sheets of paper to prove our efforts. During the course of the week, we had the opportunity to:

• learn number recognition while playing BINGO with Great-grandma
• counted and rolled coins (collected in the family change jar)
• played Pizza Fraction Fun 
• weighed produce with a kitchen scale
• made figures with tangrams
• wrote letters on the driveway with sidewalk chalk
• retold a story we heard someone else tell and then discussed how point of view and experiences determine potential bias
• read a recipe, followed directions, and measured ingredients
• listened to Jim Weiss stories on CD

• spelled three- and four-letter short vowel words on a white board
• listened to The Tale of Two Cities and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (books on tape)
• reviewed state abbreviations while driving to Grandma's house
• assembled a floor puzzle of the United States
• listened to mom read Meet the Pilgrim Fathers by Elizabeth Payne
• learned body systems and their functions while listening to Lyrical life Science: Human Body
• listened to the Biology audio text while creating pencil drawings
• discussed the nutritional content of three types of cereal
• cared for the neighbor's dogs

Children were engaged. Learning occurred. No paper trace for these activities. The evidence resided in the minds of the young learners. How did we document our learning? We kept a resource list and took pictures of the white board, tangram creations, and completed puzzle. The rest...you will have to ask the children. I am sure they would be more than willing to share their adventures!