Fall in love

As the leaves fall, I find myself falling in love with Learning. But it's not just that I'm enamoured with - The autumn season has a way of bringing out the best in everything. 

The colours - oh, the colours! The way the leaves change from green to yellow, orange, and red - it's breathtaking. And the activities! From apple picking to hayrides, pumpkin carving to cozying up with a good book, there's so much to enjoy.

I love to learn during this season. The crisp air and changing scenery inspire me to read, write, and speak about all the world's wonders. It's a time to explore, embrace change, and fall in love with everything around us.

Margaret M@NU

Lets get Messy!

Playdough is a great activity for children to use and manipulate in an array of ways. Making playdough with the children not only engages them but gets them learning. The children can help the adults with the measurements and mixing of the ingredients. Once done they can manipulate it in any way they want, whether guided (using the playdough to form letters) or open ended (using the playdough as they see fit). Below is a simple recipe and ingredients to make playdough:

Ingredients:

1.       2 cup flour

2.       1 tablespoons vegetable oil

3.       1/2 cup salt

4.       2 tablespoons cream of tartar

5.       2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. Kneed all the ingredients together until desired texture is achieved. Add more water or flour if needed depending on the texture as needed.

Have fun!

Shona @ NUO

eduTopia Articles

Click on each title to take you to the website to read more A Testing Strategy That Promotes Good Note-Taking By testing students twice, first without their notes and then with them, a high school teacher fosters strong note-taking skills.

The 12 Most Popular Edutopia Stories of 2022 We crunched the numbers to find the articles, videos, and blogs that resonated the most with you this year.

Helping Students Get Beyond Writer’s Block Middle school students may be nervous about writing, and low-stakes activities help them build confidence and get their thoughts on the page.

Building Classroom Culture Through Student Autonomy Students who have a say in creating classroom rules are more likely to abide by them, but getting student buy-in can’t stop there.

A Tech Tool to Engage World Language Students Teachers can use Genially to create infographics, games, and more to boost students’ interest in world language classes.

Using Sensory Experiences to Support Elementary Students Offering a sensory room, and sensory bins in classrooms, to all students can be a great way to support social and emotional learning.

An Authoritative Study of Two High-Impact Learning Strategies To boost long-term retention, research shows that retrieval practice—using quizzes and flash cards, for example—and spacing learning sessions over time can make a dramatic difference.

4 Tips for Making Learning Centers Work in Middle School From making art to coding a robot, learning centers offer students a chance to pursue their own interests in ELA classrooms. Courtesy of Friends@NUO

Culturally relevant literature helps children develop an appreciation for different cultures, identities and perspectives. Reading these books can also promote empathy, inclusion and diversity allowing children to connect with characters from various backgrounds and learn about the world around them.

Here are some great reads that you can incorporate in your classrooms.

1. "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" by Rafael Lopez: A lyrical picture book celebrates diversity and unity across cultures, reminding children that they are part of a global community.

2. "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Peña: This picture book tells the story of a boy named CJ and his grandmother as they take a bus ride through their diverse urban neighborhood, exploring themes of community, beauty, and social awareness.

3. "The Name Jar" by Yangsook Choi: This picture book follows a young Korean girl who moves to the United States and struggles with the pronunciation of her name. It explores themes of identity and cultural acceptance.

4. "I Am Enough" by Grace Byers: A beautifully illustrated picture book that encourages children to embrace their individuality and recognize their self-worth, promoting self-confidence and acceptance of others.

5."The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story" by Aya Khalil: This book explores the immigrant experience through the story of Kanzi, a young girl who wants to fit in at school while maintaining her cultural identity and language.

Culturally relevant literature for kids can inspire curiosity, promote cultural understanding, and foster a sense of inclusivity from a young age. These books are valuable tools for parents, teachers, and caregivers looking to instill important values and broaden children's horizons.

Courtesy of JTaylor@NU

eduTopia Articles of Interest

A Few articles that we found interesting, whether you teach Kindergarten or University:

Using Toys to Comfort Young Students  Teachers can use stuffed animals and animatronics to help students regulate their emotions and prepare for learning.

A Classroom Culture Built on Trust When students feel safe being vulnerable with their classmates, it strengthens their relationships and improves learning outcomes.

5 Ways to Implement Equity-Centered Leadership Practices It’s time for leaders to roll up their sleeves and actively observe, engage with, and validate the varied perspectives within their school community. You know who we are - Friends@NUO

Name Writing Activities

Learning to write your name in kindergarten

One of the main focuses for kindergarten students is learning to write their name. Using their little muscles, fingers and wrist to help them produce letters. While there may be some children who will be able to write their name entering school, the majority of the children coming into kindergarten do not. They may not be ready until the age of 5, which is developmentally normal. 

Writing out their name will also depend on the amount of letters they have in it. For example, a child named Eva will have an easier time writing out their name instead of Theannarasi as it is longer and more complex.  

Tips for helping children to practice writing their name

• Trace over dotted lines. ...
• Display their name on posters and labels. ...
• Have fun experimenting with letter formation. ...
• Grip the pencil properly. ...
• Praise early attempts at writing. ...
• Create a name puzzle. ...
• Start practicing with capital letters. ...
• Provide verbal instructions.

 

Courtesy of Roya@NUO

How Many Apples?

This was a fun Fall activity that I put together last year for the fall.  I cut out the tree template as well as making the tree trunks for the JKS.  The SKS mostly made their own tree trunks and just needed help with cutting the tree part.  Children were then given fruit loops, it took longer to sort out the colors of the fruit loops, but the SKS had a lot of fun doing this as they were able to sneak in a few of the fruit loops that were of different colors such as orange, blue and purple.  Once there were enough fruit loops, I sat with a group of 4 children, and they were able to pick the different colors that they wanted to glue on.  The pinkish red ones were for red apples, the green ones were the green apples, and the yellow ones were the yellow apples.  

Children used their fine motor skills to pick up the fruit loops and glue them to the tree.  Once they had glued enough to their liking, they had to write how many they had of each color.  The JKS required some assistance, however the SKS were encouraged to go one step further and add how many they had all together.  

This fun activity incorporated fine motor skills, math's addition as well as sorting skills.  Children really showed great levels of patience whilst completing this activity.  There were also lots of questions and inquiries about apples and this turned out to be a great way to start our apple inquiry.

 

Courtesy of AmandeepM@NUO

Technology in the Classroom

I am an EA in a kindergarten classroom where I support students diagnosed with varying degrees of autism. I was highly encouraged by the OCT to give my students an iPad during instructional time to keep the students "quiet". 

I believe there is a time and place for tech and it's not always useful or beneficial for all students. In this case I felt it was being used as a "pacifier". Of course, I addressed my concerns and we found alternate activities that are busy work like playdough, slime, oil painting, lacing, cutting paper, stringing cheerios or using tweezers to sort. 

Times where we do use an iPad is for drag and drop activities, reading eggs, virtual calendar and star fall. I believe there is a time and place for its use and depending on the child and their needs. 

Alysha@NU

For more info on APPS for the iPad, click here >>>>>>> Autism Parenting Magazine

Indigenous Learning Tool

https://usay.ca/dellas-story/

I have found a very informative site with an online escape room activity to teach about residential schools. This would be a great learning tool for classrooms and families. By using the resources on this site, you are supporting our indigenous brothers and sisters. The virtual room is free to participate for a limited time.

An Online Escape Room

Della's Story Della's Story virtual escape room allows teams of people to uncover clues while discovering the story of a Sixties Scoop Survivor. The teams are positioned as junior scientists from the future who are tasked with placing memories from a Residential School Classroom, an Old Barn and an Office to unlock a final room.

• Players: 3 to 8 players are recommended; experience can accommodate more

• Classroom formats available for schools

• Cost: Now free for a limited time. Donations accepted

• All times are indicated in Mountain Standard Time

• 
  Each Della's Story played provides an honorarium to her for sharing her story and payment for the youth facilitator.

Brought to you by: Teia@NU

Mindfulness in Kindergarten

I think we can all agree that the first few weeks of school can be pretty overwhelming and stressful for us all. One of the things we do with our little learners to help reduce feelings of anxiety and stress is to practice mindfulness to promote relaxation and a sense of calm periodically throughout the day. Our students love doing cosmic yoga and listening to tranquil music during lunch time. 

For more mindfulness activities you can do with children in the classroom click the link below.

https://www.waterford.org/resources/mindfulnes-activities-for-kids/

Jtaylor@NU

eduTopia Articles of Interest in Education Today

Here are a few more articles that we found interesting ... Click on the title to read more about it.

Tips to Help Students With Their Handwriting These simple tricks to improve motor skills can empower young learners to feel more in control of their handwriting.

3 Ways to Integrate SEL Into the Curriculum To ensure that social and emotional learning has the greatest impact on learning, embed SEL in academic instruction.

A Research-Backed Tool Kit of What Works—and Doesn’t Work—in Education A large-scale analysis of over 2,500 studies separates the wheat from the chaff, highlighting what works, and what’s suspect, in the field of education.

Why Students Should Write in All Subjects Writing improves learning by consolidating information in long-term memory, researchers explain. Plus, five engaging writing activities to use in all subjects.

Making New Tech Tools Work for Your Classroom New technology has a strong presence in today’s educational model, and teachers can use related tools to encourage student voice and enhance learning.

Courtesy of Your Friends@NUO