Teachable Moments while Reading Books with Small Children (Pre-K-2)

A First Grader Reads No. David!

The Richness of the Experience was to me an Awesome Surprise!

I recently had a tutoring experience that illustrated the power of books and imagination. A first-grader was reading a beginners book about David who always gets in trouble but his Mom always loves him anyway. In having the child explain what had happened and what story the pictures were telling, page by page, I was able to (1) reinforce and teach vocabulary and sentence structure, (2) to check for actual understanding, and (3) get a dialogue going about the child's thoughts, experiences and imagination. We were even able to (4-5) discuss consequences of actions, both in a social sense and in a scientific sense.

Now I know all you elementary teachers know this, but I am more used to working with older kids, grades 7-12. My point here is that just reading the story with a child or to a child provides only half the learning potential of a good book.

Teaching Science in a Reading Lesson

We even got a science lesson out of the book. I asked her what was wrong with how he was standing on the books. We demonstrated the danger with her sitting on her piano bench correctly and sitting on the very edge. I gave the bench a gentle nudge for each position. When the bench began to topple over while she sat on the edge, we giggled and she completely understood the consequences of David's unbalanced position. 

I suppose I could have asked her why the water in the fishbowl was level with the book bottom, but I didn't.

Learn More about David Shannon

Read about Shannon, the author, on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No,_David

I Highly Recommend the David series by D. Shannon

After having my first grade student read and discuss several of these books by David Shannon, I can say that the series is a valuable teaching tool. Each appeared at first glance to be such a simple story with little in it to advance learning. Was I wrong! The child loved the books, the underlying message, the same in each, is essential to a child's emotional development, and the stories are realistic. These are classics, right up there with Dr. Seuss.

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Ebooks make it as School Textbooks

Tablets for School Use

A few years back I predicted that all students would have access to

artist conception of image
on a tablet computer
©Valerie Coskrey

computers. The idea of having rented chapters of textbooks and whole ebooks of textbooks would, to me, have done 2 needed services for kids in junior and senior high schools: reduced the weight of backpacks and given the students a textbook that they would actually take home. Today, the smart phones, netbooks, tablet computers and ereaders are making this idea a reality.

Just yesterday this article was posted to the internet:
Private school’s Chromebook program explains why Google’s laptops have captured nearly 20% of the educational market

I will admit that using an ereader or tablet to read a textbook or magazine has some drawbacks. Not all texts are presented in the same manner as the book. But books cannot easily show videos and photo albums to illustrate the point, either. And there are programs out there that will present a book's page much like the page of a textbook or magazine.

Expense? Well, the books themselves are very expensive. If the tablets were purchased by the schools and rented to students by the year or month, the cost could be recovered. IF textbook publishers do not demand a high price for the ebook, that is.

In public schools, the idea of renting resources might be a problem. Community programs might be asked to supply funds for the poorer kids. Maybe the first tablet could be free with subsequent tablets requiring purchase.

Maybe kids would learn to respect their school supplies if they had to pay for them.

There are many issues to be worked out, but the day of printed textbooks are numbered.

Magnetic Putty and Slime: A K-12 Classroom Idea

What if you could control the flow of slime across a table? What if your Silly Putty could curve toward, then stick to the side of the refrigerator?

I just read about magnetic putty on Instructables, an online network for tinkerers and inventors. Looks like tons of fun. I thought that teachers might want to make some for demos and class activities. Also, the comments at Instructables offer many ideas for potential science fair projects. The link is: http://www.instructables.com/id/magnetic-silly-putty/?skipPro=true&sourcea=comment&newComment=true#replyCN7GBA4GOOP5C7K

Check with a high school chemistry teacher for some safety suggestions, but if the kids do not ingest the putty, wear goggles and masks (bandannas or scarves are fine) so they do not get iron dust in their eyes or breath it in, and you get the coarser powder, it should be plenty safe for elementary and junior high kids. (Read this essay of mine--I taught HS chemistry for years--about Elementary School Science Safety; follow the links to other essays on safety.)
The fractal flame is "White Veil" ©Valerie Coskrey, 2009, all rights reserved.

The need for the safety precautions are especially important if students mix their own. Warning, fine iron dust is flammable and a spark can set it afire. If you buy the iron (II) oxide from a chemical supply company, the finely ground powder must be kept away from an open flame and any sparks. Keep it out of drafts as it blows into the air easily.

In fact, this iron powder is one of the chemicals that teachers blow into candles to make the flame get larger and brighter and sparkly.

I would love it if you, Teachers, had your students suggest experiments with this silicone putty + ferric oxide. Tell me about it in a comment--or have them do so. If you do try it with slime, I would like to know about that, too. I would really like to have a list of science fair ideas in a set of comments.

You can get the needed chemicals from Amazon.com.
Don't forget your safety supplies!

Why Teach with Science Fiction

I have posted 10 reasons for using science fiction to teach science to the blog Reading for the Future Reflections.

The article is based on a paper I co-wrote years ago, but is still relevant today.

There are many books on the value of Science Fiction. Of interest to school teachers are the works of Julie Czerneda that offer lessons on teaching with science fiction.
Search Amazon.com for czernadaStardust: Teacher's Guide (Tales from the Wonder Zone)
also 
Odyssey: Teacher's Guide (Tales from the Wonder Zone) and Packing Fraction &_Other Tales of Science &_Imagination (2002 publication)

More lessons and thoughts on using all types of speculative fiction with students k-12 are presented on the blog Reflections and in my website. Feel free to explore that webpage for more teaching tips.

Try Past through Tomorrow for Heinlein' short stories that are guaranteed to interest youth. There there is Wondrous Beginnings, an anthology of authors' first works. Mostly short stories that should interest your young adult readers. From Piper is Federation and from Asimov is  everything he wrote.

Teaching Science with Theories

Why do we science teachers teach theories in science?

"Facts and evidence" are important for one to know so that students have some practical knowledge about the world. But the meaning of "facts and evidence" is what allows students to predict "what will happen if...?" and how to make and use technology to get the job done. Theories are the framework that give the "facts and evidence" meaning so that predictions can be made more accurately and so that technology that works can be produced.

In modern science, students are expected to learn both facts and theories for a more complete understanding of what we currently know about the universe--especially our world; and to more effectively predict what will happen in our world and be caused by our interactions with it.

Man has come a long way since nature's response to man's activities was considered magic or curse or blessing. It is the theories of science, even the ones that have been replaced with better theories, that have brought us to our current state of understanding of "cause and effect" in all realms of science and human endeavor and to our current state of technological achievement.

Think about the power of the Germ Theory in curing disease. Think about the Theory of Relativity in space travel and faster cars; the Electromagnetic Theory of light in developing lasers; the Atomic Theory is making plastics and MEMS and computers; and, yes, the "Theory of Evolution" in establishing principles of ecology and sustainability and in designing programs that will allow man to maintain society/civilization in response to the changes in the biosphere that are coming as the result of global warming.

I say teaching theories is a good thing.

Read a previous post on theories for a partial list of scientific theories.

Read some of my thoughts on responding to the results of global warming.

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I just read a blog post and its comments. That inspired me to comment back. The above is what I had to say about presenting scientific theories in the science classroom (k-12). Another reader had commented that today "facts and evidence" were being replaced by theories in the science classroom, or something to that effect. So here I am on my soapbox again.

Sci Fi on YouTube

I thought this video was charming. Enjoy.
If the YouTube video doesn't show, use this link: http://www.youtube.com/v/epXvjQcJdrQ

Get these Resources on Global Warming!

The Planet 1-4 are important documentaries showcasing evidence for Global Warming and some of the cultural change that this phenomenon has already wrought. They are useful for high school and homeschool. They do have a political message, but it is one shared by many in the field of ecology and biology today: Global Warming is here.

Link TV is currently showing the 4-part series The Planet, which look for evidence for Global Warming. It airs several times this week including at 12:00 noon EST beginning Tuesday, 3/3/08, with Part 1 and ending Friday, 3/6/08, with Part 4. It is also shown in the middle of the night for those of you who, like me, record things during the sleeping hours; and at other times during the week. Get the schedule.

I watched The Planet 1 this past Sunday. The presentation this week runs 90 minutes because it is interspersed with interviews and Link TV fund-raising announcements.

And such interviews! Peter Coyote interviewed several scientists and authors this past Sunday, including Kim Stanley Robinson and William Steffen. Each have books and talks about the politics and science of Global Warming. The interviews are as interesting and informative as the documentary. I highly recommend that you catch the showing of The Planet this week to be sure to see the interviews.

I tried to locate The Planet documentaries for purchase, but could not find it at Amazon. Maybe later. I did find the books by Steffen and Robinson that are part of the gift package that Link TV was giving for a $300.00 donation. If you want to give less, as I did, but still want the books, they are available at Amazon. I offer them here.

The non-fiction books I recommend as references for student reports. These are the books by Steffen.

Concerning the books by Kim Stanley Robinson, these are fictional accounts of what could happen in the very near future. Robinson offers knowledgeable scenarios of the the individual and governmental responses to this looming crisis. Critiques of the books are on the Amazon pages. I offer links to the more informative ones that I deem useful for teachers and homeschool parents. These critiques mention the concepts covered in the book and will prove helpful in lesson planning.

Furthermore, the book review of one of the books in the trilogy by a school librarian publication, Library Journal Reveiw, indicates that these books are appropriate for use with youth. I haven't yet read them, but I think they will be safe. I believe the ones I have read--Red Mars and Green Mars, both on the terraforming and colonization of Mars by Robinson--are safe enough.

Read these informative critiques on the book that let teachers know what topics are covered so these books can be used in the classroom. The Library Journal review on the book page of Forty Days of Rain implies that the book is suitable for a high school library.

• Discussion of the science, politics, and readabiliy of the book
• Sixty Days and Counting


• Fifty Degrees Below

..

..

Read more about Link TV and some of its offerings at Valerie's Memos later this week and, of course, at the Link TV website itself.

Getting Kids to Read

One of my passions is encouraging kids to read my favorite books: great science fiction.
In fact I even joined a group that facilitates just that. You can visit their website at Reading for the Future, which links to other sites with the same mission.

In the back of my mind for years has been this idea. I present it you today.

Yes, I know that authors do not having their works butchered or censored. However, kids are kids; and there are a few things about adult literature and kids that either are incompatible or intimidating.

I have not checked to see if this is already being done. Is it?

What if we did this to some of the exciting adult science fiction:

1. Make a reading list of the best pages in a long, complex "future history" with many interlacing threads.  What if that list dealt with only one thread and were placed in a mini-story for kids?
2.  What if the stories were illustrated in the same manner as the old Treasure Island and Star Wars books (art rather than photos)?
3.  What if a list of the pages of only one subset of readings were in a reading list or lesson?
4. What if new anthologies were published with certain words removed and story subsets were included--like the old literature books we grew up with but with book passages as well as short stories?

These could be short, 100 pages or so. They could be ebooks. They could be illustrated. They could be packaged as youth books. They could be paperback and library-bound hardbacks. They could have links to author bios, information about the "rest of the story" and lessons online--all those things that would make the book more like a textbook removed from the book itself but made easily accessible.

Teachers and Librarians, would this work?

I have a long list of books--the ones in my bookstore online--that I would love included in such a project. I have another set that I have recently read that I would want included, too.

Yes, I would love to be tagged as an editor for such a project.

The picture at the top is of a slide that is a PowerPoint Template Design. To me this design is a bit other-worldly. I thought it would add ambiance to this post.

Postscript: I reread this page today, 10/8/10, and -- oops! -- found typos.  I corrected several. Hope I got them all! Sorry. --Valerie

Yet Another Reason to Read Science Fiction

"...creative perception often anticipates scientific findings..."

so says Science News this week (2/2/08, v 173, p. 79)when it lists a book called Proust was a Neurologist. The book summary states," Lehrer analyzes artistic discoveries such as (these)...(that) add up to a plea for scientists to pay attention to the arts. The summary lists examples where Lehrer posits a novelist that described in the story a sensation, a cause and effect, or a phenomenological description of a human response or activity that was later studied by scientists.

(Whew. The summary in SN says it sooo much better!! And they use the number of words needed to say it right, too.Me? I once summarized 1000+ years of history into one 4 paragraph answer on an essay test. Think I'm kidding?)

The summary states that "(t)he poet Walt Whitman made consciousness biological before scientists did. He wrote, 'Behold, the body includes and is the meaning, the main concern, and includes and is the soul.' "

Personally I found the book summary to be another argument for reading science fiction. I also found the summary to be another reason for encouraging today's students to read science fiction since they are the scientists of tomorrow.

Visit www.sciencenews.org to read the book summary. Buy the book. If you would rather that your money went to Science News than to me, then go to Science News bookstore page to order the book. Both sources, them and me, will take you to Amazon.com.

Now if I could find the time to actually read the book itself!!

Living Green: Working with Green Power

There are dozens of websites that foster green living; that offer information on practical solutions to living in a world facing global warming and an energy crisis; and that sponsor charitable works to assist the third world in sustainable living.

Earth in Greenhouse
© James Steidl
{Get this picture: greenhouse effect © James Steidl
fotolia_1248622earth in greenhouse.jpg}
© James Steidl - FOTOLIA

Sierra Club and Trees for the Future are concerned with reforestation and using plants to clean the air of pollutants and counteract the Greenhouse Effect. Heifer International, World Hunger, ECLA, and Bread are programs for solving the issue of world hunger and human carrying capacity. Some, like UNICEF and Sierra Club, sell products that educate and raise money for their programs: UNICEF cards and gifts.ORDER today and help UNICEF help children. {This picture is from Heifer International.}

What I find interesting is that businesses are wearing the mantra of green living as an advertising strategy. For every customer who buys this product, the business will give so much to this organization. That works for me. They put forth the effort, get the tax breaks, while I get the product and the easy conscience and great feeling of knowing that I have contributed to the cause.

One might say it's consumerism, capitalism, whatever, at its best. At least the giving gets done--and with minimal pain to me, the customer.

Remember the plan presented to the UN of trading energy credits among nations? Well, the US now has such an energy credit trade for businesses. It's called a green energy credit.
Green energy certificates are purchased through a program called Green Power. Green Power, our government's experiment with energy certificates on the local level, also posts the announcements of local power companies that are seeking power to purchase.

One part of the system works like this. Say a business is established within a regular energy grid, one that rents an office in a bank-owned building, for example. The business gets electricity from the same electrical utility company as the building, namely the local electric power company. Now, the power company works on fossil fuel technology. NOT GREEN. But, the business can calculate the cost of the power it will use and buy green credits for that amount. The green credits should then be used to invest in solar and wind powered electrical generation. The business has contributed to, or participated in, GREEN LIVING.

Such businesses can advertise the fact that they have purchased a green certificate. There is even a button that can be posted on their websites.

But businesses do not stop there. They also join charities that feed the poor or plant trees to clean the air. The plan is to give so many dollars to each charity it supports for each customer that joins its program or buys its product. How many red phones do you see today?

Personally, as an affiliate marketer, my list of charities is interspersed with a few for which I advertise. I have chosen to exchange links with a couple more. Some banners I publish as my part as a volunteer to spread the message. I guess you could say that I, too, am on the bandwagon. Let that not stop you from clicking the links, however. These sites are well worth visiting for information alone, even if you do not donate or volunteer.

Education for both philanthropists and recipients are part of the charities websites as well. I have found K-12 and adult lessons, articles with statistics, articles on sustainability, agriculture, forestry, diet, horticulture, and economics at these sites. These sites are gold mines of information.

For many, the philosophy of giving now carries the principles of sustainability and economic development. It is not enough to give food. Charities strive to educate recipients to grow their own food, to develop communities and markets, and to determine the best resources for continued growth. It is the "Teach a man to fish" practice.

Two organizations that serve as watchdogs on the reputations of charities are American Institute of Philanthropy and Charity Navigator. Each provides their top 10 list of favorable charities, unique lists for how to distinguish good charities from scams, articles on charities and the need for such, and archives of past press releases.

Before you get really confident in choosing a charity based on the rating systems of charity watchdogs, read about a few additional criteria in this critique of simplistic rating systems based primarily on the distribution of funds.

Memes are wonderful things. They convey ideas in multiple layers that branch into other ideas with just a word or phrase. The Living Green phrase is a meme that is rapidly growing branches. It reflects a global concern with the risks of climate change, human carrying capacity, energy crisis, and sustainability. It conveys a national concern with local problems and solutions. It conveys the personal concern of stewardship towards our earth and its peoples. And it has become a mantra for doing business with, at least some, ethical practices.


This article is a copy of one that I just posted on my new blog Valerie's Memos. Already I see that having 2 blogs can be a problem. Which article goes where? Well, if people can use articles from ISnare and such to make a blog post, then I suppose I can get away with a dupe post of my own. What say?