THIS ISSUE'S THEME: The Letter C

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Volume 7, Issue 14
August 31, 2009
Theme: The Letter C

Art by Bobbie Peachey, Web Clipart Guide (about.com) Used with permission

Clever

Cat or circle,
C makes two sounds.
C is so clever --
Let’s keep C around!

This school year, each of our newsletters will bring you and your children rhymes, activities, and resources that feature a different letter of the alphabet. We know that many of you introduce the alphabet to your children one letter at a time by sharing activities that reinforce each letter over the course of several weeks. We hope our year-long format will support your teaching and give you some new ideas to enhance your alphabet instruction.

Susan LaBella
Editor, Early Childhood Education Newsletter

CHICKA CHICKA AND COCONUTS
Read to children the book Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. Let children repeat the phrases and rhyming words. Then place the book in your reading center.
-- Let children use a cookie tray and magnetic letters to show the letters in the story.
-- Help children use magnetic letters to spell out the word coconut. Ask them to see how many small words they can find in the word.
-- Create an outline of a coconut tree. Give children pennies and let them place pennies (coconuts) on the tree for each number you suggest.

COOL CAMPING
Plan a “Camping Day.” Put a sheet over a corner in your room or set up a real tent where children can read or pretend they are camping. Let children wear their camping clothes. Build a campfire with paper towel rolls (logs) and red/orange tissue paper. Children can sing and tell stories around the campfire. Finally make s’mores in a toaster oven for a snack.

CARROTS AND CORN
--Give each child a carrot stick. Make a hole through the carrot and thread a string through the hole. Core out the top of the carrots and hang them by their strings in a sunny place. Let children add water to the cored out area. In a few days, watch for sprouting results!
--Put a small amount of un-popped popcorn and damp dirt into a ziplock bag. Tape these to a window that gets plenty of sunlight. In time you’ll see corn plants grow.

CRAZY CLOWNS
Place a canned pear half on a plate. Add clumps of grated cheese onto the top rounded part of the pear for hair. Use raisins for eyes and a mouth. Add a cherry or gumdrop for the clown’s nose. Make a ruffled collar with some lettuce. Let children enjoy!

CUTTING COMICS
Bring in comic strips from newspapers. Cut them apart into frames. Cut a large C from poster board. Invite children to arrange (a set of) frames in the correct sequence and glue them onto the letter C.

YOUR WORD CORNER
Here are some words you will need.
See them, say them … hey, you can read!!
city
come
car
cow
Write the words on a chart and review them. Read each sentence aloud. Try each word in each sentence. Let children tell you which word fits.
-- We saw tall buildings in the _______________.
-- A _________________says “Moo.”
-- Will you _____________to my house?
-- My mother drives a ____________to work.

Check out the following Web sites for additional background and activities.

Jan Brett’s Calendars
Check out these calendars. What a great way to keep track of children’s birthdays.
http://www.janbrett.com/birthday_calendar/birthday_calendar_main.htm

Coloring Fun
Print out Mr. Crab for some coloring fun.
http://coloringbookfun.com/Color/imagepages/Orange.htm

The Letter C Songs, Poems, and Fingerplays
Try some singing with your children –all about words that start with C.
http://childfun.com/index.php/activity-themes/alphabet/201-the-letter-c-activity-theme.html

Letter C Poem
Print this out to share with children.
http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/c-poem.htm

Cucumber Facts
Learn all about em! Get a book suggestion and recipe too.
http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/cucumber-facts.html

COMING NEXT ISSUE
September 14, 2009
The Letter D

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years
This book from Teachers College Press applies the project approach to teaching, which has traditionally been associated with the middle grades, to early childhood education. This can not only energize and focus early childhood lessons, but also lay a foundation for inquisitive thought that students can benefit from for the rest of their school years, even for the rest of their lives.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Teaching Science for Understanding: A Practical Guide for Middle and High School Teachers
We all know that the United States has to "play catch-up" with science and math teaching, compared to other countries, and this book is a serious attempt to contribute positively to that effort. Science may be especially susceptible to passive, direct-instruction styles, and this author instead advocates active, inquiry-based learning. A unique feature of this book is a set of excerpts from popular science textbooks along with suggestions for making the content contained in those books come alive for students.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING
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First-Grade Proverbs

A first grade teacher collected old, well-known proverbs. She gave the kids in her class the first half of a proverb, and had them come up with the rest. Here are some of the proverbs her students created.

Better be safe than... punch a 5th grader.

Strike while the... bug is close.

It's always darkest before... Daylight Saving Time.

Don't bite the hand that... looks dirty.

A miss is as good as a... Mr.

You can't teach an old dog new... math.

The pen is mightier than the... pigs.

A penny saved is... not much.

Two's company, three's... the Musketeers.

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and... you have to blow your nose.

Children should be seen and not... spanked or grounded.

When the blind leadeth the blind... get out of the way.

Torf Luck

I had an eighth grade student come and tell me that he missed three homework questions because he did not know what "torf" meant. I informed him that I did not know what it meant either. He showed me on the board where he had gotten that word. The board read: T or F.

Bio Fashion

Luis: What do fashionable biology students wear?
Mother: I don't know.
Luis: Designer genes.

Little Johnny Strikes Again

Little Johnny: Teacher, would you punish me if I didn't capitalize letters on my homework?
Teacher: No, I'd just mark you down.
Little Johnny: Oh, I didn't think you believed in capital punishment.

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