Combo Blog Post

Well, I'm slacking again. My free time has been consumed with looking at houses online, so I've sadly pushed the blogging to the side in order to dive into paying attention to details. Good thing for technology and iPad apps, because it makes it easy to flip through. :)

I'm teaming up with Michelle from Big Time Literacy for her Big Time Blogging Challenge.


Sunday's Topic = Travel: recent excursions or future adventures. 

I've always had quite the travel bug in me since I turned 18 and was allowed to adventure out on my own. Having a husband from England, definitely has the bonus of being able to fly back and visit the family. I love Europe, if it wasn't so darn expensive, I would pack and move in a heartbeat. One of my favorites was being able to travel back to London during the time of the Olympics. It was amazing to be able to walk out of my in-laws house and walk down the road to see the bike race. It is something about the atmosphere of London in general, I just feel so relaxed and at home there.

Since we won't be traveling back to London this year, our traveling adventure is house hunting. As many of you know, finding a home on a teaching budget can be quite difficult. Our budget is low, to allow us to hopefully have that flexibility to travel back and visit Europe when we can. However today, we really begin to see the type of home we get for our price tag. House hunting is an exhausting adventure on its own. I know that when it is time the right one will fall into place.

Monday's Topic = favorite read aloud books or novels to teach with

One of the best literacy topics that I love teaching with picture books is figurative language. I just have so much fun with the read alouds and the products that can be produced after.

I really love all of the Tedd Arnold books. Parts, More Parts and Even More Parts. Those are great for visuals and just to give the kids a good laugh. Although, I think I find myself giggling more than them. hee hee

One of the books I really like for onomatopoeia is "The Great Fuzz Frenzy," by Janet Stevens. I bought this on a discount when I worked a book fair once. Every year it is hit or miss with the kids, but my group last year really enjoyed it.

 

Now, relating this back onto the technology side. There are many great apps or programs that you can complete after read alouds on figurative language. Comics are always one of my favorite activities to do. Programs like Comic Life have great templates that are easy to use and that can be done on a laptop or an iPad. Videos or audio recordings using iMovie or Garageband is great for onomatopoeia since it is based on sound. Having students show a visual and describe the sound that it produces. The ideas are quite endless and you would be impressed what the students may come up with on their own if you give them a little bit of freedom!