Associated Colleges of Illinois: Mentor Online

Last week Donna Goodwyn posted places where you could purchase books — I’d like to piggy back off her suggestions and add that you could usually find coupons to add to your discount. For example, go to Google and type in Scholastic Coupon Code http://www.retailmenot.com/view/scholastic.com and you will find additional savings! You could do this for all purchases –  just Google the name of the place you are shopping and add “coupon code” to the end — you will be really surprised at your savings!
Judy

Did you know that learning to read is a challenge for almost 40 percent of kids? The good news is that with early help, most reading problems can be prevented. The bad news is that 44 percent of parents who notice their child having trouble wait a year or more before getting help.

Unfortunately, the older a child is, the more difficult it is to teach him or her to read. The window of opportunity closes early for most kids. If a child can’t read well by the end of third grade, odds are that he or she will never catch up. And the effects of falling behind and feeling like a failure can be devastating.

Read on to learn more-

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping Judy Fiene

Check this out — what a great way to get your students excited about learning! Judy Fiene

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Brain-based theory is based on the structure and function of the brain. As long as the brain is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur. Check out this site to learn more about this fascinating theory! http://www.funderstanding.com/brain_based_learning.cfm

This lesson is designed to help first- and second-grade students learn new vocabulary by taking them on virtual adventures that replicate field trips. Students begin by accessing prior knowledge through an initial writing activity. Ensuing discussions, read-alouds, and the creation of a picture dictionary “take students to the moon,” while further building their vocabulary. Students use an online Alphabet Organizer to complete a final writing activity, which they compare to the writing they did during the first session. Although this lesson focuses on the moon, its activities can be used with any content area topic.  Taken from Read, Write, and Think: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=946 - Check it out for the FULL lesson plan!!  Judy Fiene

ReadWriteThink.org is proud to announce that Learning Beyond the Classroom, our site designed to help children and teens continue to build their literacy learning outside of school, is growing.
The site now offers even more activities for children ages 4 to 18. In addition, the site includes booklists, reading logs, book review podcasts, and best practice videos to help caregivers and tutors make the most of summer reading and writing opportunities. To see all of these features and more, please visit www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom/summer.
ReadWriteThink.org is a nonprofit website maintained by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, with support from the Verizon Foundation and in association with the Thinkfinity.org program.
We thank you for your support of the Learning Beyond the Classroom project and hope that you will help us spread the word about this great resource.

Writing can be an exciting adventure, but students need a clear roadmap to guide them, and the right tools. Energize the writing process by providing kids with powerful strategies centered around planning, organizing, writing, editing, and revising. Check out the article - Judy (more…)

Failing to do frequent comprehension checks (every few minutes during most direct instruction situations) to see if students understand can slow students’ learning. Too often, teachers simply plow through a big chunk of the lesson, or the entire lesson, while only assuming that students understand. Or, in the worst-case scenario, teachers rush through a lesson without even seeming to care whether students are getting it. Students are quick to recognize teachers who don’t care or don’t seem to care. What do you think? Judy

Taken from Your First Year of Teaching - Richard D. Kellough

Whether your child is gifted or struggling in school, you will find the children’s learning solutions recommended by this site to be an effective learning supplement to your child’s regular schooling. The recommended resources include math and reading games, special education, and a variety of math and reading tutoring solutions, including after school tutoring. http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/index.html  Judy Fiene

This site contains links to lesson plans and resources for adolescent and young adult (grades 6-12) literature, including short stories, mysteries, and English literature. http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/edadolescentlit.htm