Moms Inspire Learning

Friday Photo Fun: Zoom In, Zoom Out!

Zoom in....



Zoom out....

You have to look at life from many different angles in order to see the "big picture!"

These photos were taken in the greenhouse at the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, New York.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Top 5 Rainy Day Activities

©iStockphoto.com/SteveCole www.stevecole.com

Oh, the joy of children singing in the rain....

It's raining here again today. I like these kinds of days once in a while, because it gives me a chance to do some really fun indoor activities with my family. Even though it's obvious that my favorite family activity is reading together, there are so many other fun and subtly educational activities that families can do together.

Moms Inspire Learning: A Wave of Wordless Books, Part 2

After an absolutely beautiful weekend here in the Northeastern USA, today is a cold, damp, dreary day. To some, it would be a great day to do laundry or organize photo albums, but for me, it's a great day to read a book! Of course, it is a work day. This blog is certainly not work to me, though, because I am surrounded by some truly extraordinary picture books!

Tomorrow I will recommend some great rainy day activities. You know that my first suggestion would always be to curl up with a great book, so today I'll tell you about two more wordless books. They both can transform your rainy day into a journey of the imagination!

We Have Some Winners!

It's time to announce the winners of True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet, by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin.

Moms Inspire Learning: A Wave of Wordless Books, Part 1

 

   Front cover of wordless book, Wave, by Suzy Lee

I have to admit that I kind of steered away from wordless books when my own children were younger. I couldn't really say why. Now that I see through the eyes of a parent and a teacher, I see a special kind of magic in them that I wasn't able to see before.

A Parent's Handbook for Raising Readers

Just a quick note to tell you that I've had what appears to be a very special book on my reading list for a couple of months, but have not been able to get to it. It's on my summer reading list, but I just thought I would give you the heads up.

The Reality and Fantasy of Geography

iStockphoto © Rob Friedman at RBFried

I was teaching a 5th grade class one day, when I had the unusual experience of finishing a lesson early and having to improvise to fill in a few minutes. It just so happened that we had the world map out, because students were coming up to point out the countries which were mentioned in a certain piece of historical fiction we had been reading.

I decided to start asking them about places many of them had never heard of. They loved coming up to the front of the room to look for the country, city, or body of water I mentioned, and then pointing out to everyone where it was.  If they were having trouble, I would give them clues as to which continent it was on, or what direction you'd have to go in order to get to it from another country. It was a fun, interactive activity that the students got excited about.

Literacy Lava Newsletter is Coming Soon!

A wonderful group of literacy bloggers is coming together to bring you a free digital magazine with all kinds of reading resources and strategies! For more details, click here and here...

Friday Photo Fun: The Future is in Our Hands

(iStockphoto by panorios )

The future is in our hands... 

iStockphoto © Joseph James Dy (at jayjaydy)

How will you make our world a better place?

(iStockphoto by AVTG)

Which path will you choose? 

iStockphoto © David T. Gomez (at GomezDavid)

Give it some thought....

A Call to Action for Teachers

There's an article that's spreading across Twitter and the Blogosphere today. I felt compelled to address it in my own blog post. While the question posed in the article (Should I read to my students even if my principal tells me to stop?) may surprise many outsiders of the US education world, it certainly does not surprise me.