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    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
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    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
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smart summer challenge fun learning ideas: week 2

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It’s almost week #2 of our Smart Summer Learning Challenge–the campaign we’ve created to let all parents know the important–and totally fun–role they play in their children’s summer learning!

Like I’ve said before, it doesn’t have to be a huge and complicated activity; it can be short, sweet, and meaningful–done in the span of a great game or read-aloud . . .

. . . and even if you missed week #1, it’s not too late to jump on board now.ย  With a calendar full of ideas and prizes every week, there’s no reason not to join us. And you know who really benefits from your participation? You got it–your kids!

 

Here are some ideas for week #2:

  • Ice-cream party: Take a poll about everyone’s favorite ice-cream flavor, and then chart the results
  • Take the ice-cream poll to the pool or at a July 4th picnic–make a poster and then hang it up!
  • On a big sheet of paper or poster board, write every flavor of ice-cream and then have picnic guests or pool friends make a smiley face near their favorite flavor–then tomorrow analyze results!
  • Make your own ice-cream in a ziplock bag–so fun!
  • Clean coins with different solutions and then figure out what works best
  • Skip count using coins
  • Wrap coins and take them to the bank–cash them in!
  • Do a little internet searching about the presidents who live on our coins
  • Collect coins and then decide on a meaningful charity to donate your collection
  • List all of the ways you can use a nickel other than for money
  • Write a story about how someone used a nickel in a silly or unusual way
  • Research the history of the nickel
  • Design your own nickel
  • Read about your country and then write an acrostic poem using the country’s name
  • Visit the library and find books about your country
  • Make an acrostic poem for your name
  • Look at the weather forecast for your area–and compare it to other areas of the country
  • Watch a video about your country
  • Make a list of all of the places you’d like to visit in your country
  • Sit under a tree and read a book with someone special
  • Write a note to someone special
  • Send top-secret happy day notes around your neighborhood
  • Try Skype–talk with someone special on the computer
  • Visit a local government office–post office, county clerk, police station, or fire department
  • Draw a picture for someone who works at a county office–then send it to him or her
  • Discuss strategies for staying safe–figure out your family’s ‘Safeside Adults‘
  • [For parents/ caregivers only] Become aware of safe areas of your neighborhood
  • Play pretend–transform your living room into a fire station, police station, or even the White House

 

Remember, The Smart Summer Challenge is simpleโ€“itโ€™s a challenge for all parents to pledge to incorporate at least one learning activity into their childโ€™s day over the summer vacation.ย  Thatโ€™s it.

The learning activity can be as simple as reading a book or as involved as packing up the crew and taking a hike.ย  Itโ€™s as involved as you want it to be, and our focus is to help parents realize the important role they play in helping their kids avoid the summer learning slump.

Here’s our calendar to print and hang on the fridge:
Smart Summer Challenge Calendar 2011

 

And if you are up for joining us in the Smart Summer Challengeโ€“which we hope you are!โ€“hereโ€™s what you can do:

  • Step 1: The first step is to โ€œLikeโ€ the Smart Summer Challenge on Facebook, if you have an account. Weโ€™ll be using the FB page to share ideas, questions, and successes from challenge participants.
  • Step 2: If you are a blogger, we would love for you to grab our โ€œSmart Summer Challengeโ€ Badge for your sidebar and/or Smart Summer posts. Grab the code on the right sidebar!
  • Step 3: Each week, from June 27 through August 5, we will be posting daily activities on our blogs. We would love if you would blog along as often as you wish (even once a week is great!) and share what you are doing to keep the learning going over the summer.
  • Step 4: On Friday of each of the Smart Summer Challenge weeks, we will post a themed โ€œlinkyโ€ on our blogs where you can share your recent or archived posts. If you do not have a blog, please feel free to share your activities and pictures on the Smart Summer Challenge facebook page! We will highlight posts from participants on our blogs and on facebook.

We hope you will visit and comment on each otherโ€™s posts so we can all learn together!ย  You can find the Smart Summer Challenge linky each Friday here, on teachmama.com or on PinkAndGreenMama or NaturallyEducational.com.

Donโ€™t forget to check out the we teach Summertime Learning eBook for even more cool summer learning ideas on we teachโ€“you can download the whole thing for free and youโ€™ll have a good 30 ideas!


Interested to know what kind of prizes weโ€™re giving away to participants? Here are a few. . .

  • $100 to your local book shop or toy store of choice, thanks to Juice in the City
  • $150 to your local book shop or toy store of choice, thanks to Juice in the City
  • $150 to use at Rosie Hippo
  • $200 gift pack of LeapFrog products
  • $200 to use at Guidecraft
  • and more!

Looking forward to making this a Smart Summer for everyone–and for more ideas, visit my pals, Candace at NaturallyEducational.com and MaryLea at PinkAndGreenMama!

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:super-important inferring during read-aloudsquestioning and connecting during read-alouds
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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
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Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
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Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

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#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
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What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
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(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
View
Open
How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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