Heather+Styles

=Heather Styles' PLN=

The three additional sites that I found to add to my PLN chart are the blogs titled, “Inspired Apple,” “Chalk Talk,” and “Kindergarten Crayon.” All three blogs are about early childhood education and I thought they were very interesting and informative. Each blog has suggestions that can be used in the classroom, activities to do in the classroom, and great ideas for teachers. The first blog I found and reviewed was the “Inspired Apple” blog that we discussed in class. I enjoyed looking at this blog and I found a lot of great ideas to use in my classroom. I was really interested in the apple unit that the teacher taught to the students. This blog provided the reader with useful ideas to incorporate in a lesson plan about apples. The picture of Johnny Appleseed was very cute and it was creative to write the main idea and details from the story, “Johnny Appleseed” in the actual picture of Johnny Appleseed. The second site I found was a blog titled, “Chalk Talk”and this blog is an excellent resource for teachers working with students in the early childhood years. This blog provides the teacher with tips and ideas that are helpful and can be incorporated into lesson plans. The teacher who writes the blog had great ideas posted about a unit on Christopher Columbus. The blog showed pictures of books, activities, the class bulletin board, and ideas to create a circle map when studying about Christopher Columbus. The third blog I found is titled, “Kindergarten Crayon” and it has wonderful ideas for early childhood teachers to use when teaching young children. The teacher who writes this blog has several previous posts that will be very helpful for teachers. There are posts about the 100th day of school, apple pickin fun, bubble maps, as well as, many other great ideas. The blog provides the reader with activities and information that teachers will find very useful in the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at these blogs and I found a lot of good information that I plan to use in my own classroom. One thing that I discovered through my PLN is that by looking at teacher’s blogs and looking at other early childhood teacher’s websites you can get lots of great information that you can use in your own classroom. I discovered that I can use technology to follow other early childhood teachers and get great ideas to use in my classroom one day.

=Blabberize - "Squirrely Shirley"=

__Resources__ Source for Image [] Source for Poem []

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The “Blabberize” website is a fun and interactive way to teach English and Language Arts. The “Blabberize” videos allow for creativity and are a great way to have the students narrate a poem, story, or sentence that they have written. The students are able to give their writing a voice in a "Blabberize" video and practice using their oral language skills while doing it. The “Blabberize” activity correlates with the second grade English and Language Arts Standards 2-1 and Standard 2-6. Standard 2-1 states that, “The student will read and comprehend a variety of literary texts in print and nonprint formats.” The “Blabberize” activity meets Standard 2-1 indicator 2-1.7, which states that students will “Create responses to literary texts through a variety of methods (for example, writing, creative dramatics, and the visual and performing arts).” Through the “Blabberize” activity students can create responses to literary texts and use a “Blabberize” video to show what they know and understand. Standard 2-6 states that, “The student will access and use information from a variety of sources”, such as, using the Internet to research topics, find pictures, and the use of the website “Blabberize.” The “Blabberize” activity meets Standard 2-6 indicator 2-6.2, which states that students will “Use a variety of print sources (for example, books, pictures, charts, graphs, diagrams, and picture dictionaries) and nonprint sources to access information.” The “Blabberize” activity also meets Standard 2-6 indicator 2-6.5, which states that students will “Use the Internet with the aid of a teacher.” The “Blabberize” activity correlates with the English and Language Arts standards and students will enjoy using technology while also using their oral language skills, writing skills, and reading skills.

 The “Blabberize” activity correlates with the Guiding Principle standards, as well as, the English and Language Arts standards. Guiding Principle 5, states that, “oral language and expression is foundational to literacy learning and development.” Guiding Principle 5 stresses the importance of children developing “oral language and literacy skills” by having “many opportunities to speak and listen.” Through the “Blabberize” activity students will have the opportunity to develop their oral language skills by reading or speaking into the microphone in order to give their video narration. Students will enjoy watching their videos and listening to their own voice while the picture of the person or animal in the video moves their mouth to speak. The “Blabberize” activity will also meet Guiding Principle 8, which states, “An effective English language arts curriculum utilizes all forms of media to prepare students to live in an information-rich society.” This Guiding Principle encourages students to use technology and visual media to help the students learn English and Language Arts. Guiding Principle 9 states that, “An effective English language arts curriculum emphasizes informational text that is relevant to our increasingly complex and technological world.” This Guiding Principle supports the use of technology in the classroom. The “Blabberize” activity allows students to develop their oral and literacy skills while using technology and visual media to learn English and Language Arts, which meets some of the Guiding Principle standards.