Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that

Google Literacy Project

Google, in conjunction with UNESCO, has introduced The Literacy Project, an attempt to use Google's various online tools (video, maps, articles, books, blogging, etc.) to help teachers and parents share ideas and resources for promoting reading skills.  (Lots of news stories on this available here.)  I wandered over to check it out and stumbled upon some great children's stories from a company called BookBox.   

The First Well (in English)

The First Well (in Chinese)

You can also watch it in Spanish, German, and French, and BookBox has stories in what seems like over 40 languages, including Japanese,  available at their  website.  I just downloaded a free story for my iPod video. 

It's an exciting time for learning...so many possibilities!

"I really like the part where the grape smells his armpits"

Check out CNN for some great reviews of recently published children's books by Andrew Oglesby, age 6. 

It's amazing anybody learns how to do it...

...read, that is.

From the American Literacy Council, via the AP, via Yahoo...the 24 ways you can spell the English "oo" (as in moon) sound:

moon (oo) moon

group (ou) groop

fruit (ui) froot

glue (ue) gloo

drew (ew) droo

two (wo) too

flu (u) floo

canoe (oe) canoo

through (ough) throo

rule (u-e) rool

lieu (ieu) loo

loose (oo-e) loos

lose (o-e) looz

pooh (ooh) poo

coup (oup) coo

bruise (ui-e) brooz

jiujitsu (iu) joojitsoo

silhouette (hou) silooet

buoy (uo) booy

deuce (eu-e) doos

maneuver (eu) manoover

sleuth (eu) slooth

rendezvous (ous) rondevoo

mousse (ou-e) moos

Wow...it's enough to make you want to just go nuts and rock out with the Subways on Pancake Mountain.  Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

BTW, for anyone in the Washington D.C. area, where Pancake Mountain is produced, the Post has a write-up worth checking out on where to catch children's artists performing around town.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs!

It's amazing how much confidence children can gain in their reading ability through "reading" signs...and gaining confidence in being able to read is a huge part of the battle.  One way you can help your children/students to read is by making your own book of signs/logos.  Take pictures of all the familiar signs you see around town...the stop sign, the one-way sign, the sign for the street you live on, etc.  Also, collect logos from bags of stores you frequent such as McDonalds or your local grocery store, or cut words out of your cereal boxes.  Or just get online and find pictures of signs and logos your child will recognize quickly (it's much more fun to go on a sign hunt though!)

Paste all of your pictures in a notebook (or better yet creatively design a book with contstruction paper, sparkles, the works) and write the word for each sign in big letters.  Now you are ready to "read" with your child.  At first, they may just recognize the shape or colors of the signs/logos, but they can read this book to you!  Little by little you can start covering up the signs and just have them read the words.  It's a lot of fun and teaches them about the signs and stores in their neighborhood, all while developing reading skills and confidence. 

The Potato Pals series of readers we use with our 4-6 year-old students makes great use of this principle...every sentence has a "memoricon" associated with it so that kids can quickly "read" books on their own, even before they are recognizing the words.  From there, it doesn't take much to have them focus on the words and we find many of our students telling us to cover the pictures because they want to read without hints. 

Signs are powerful helpers in what can be a VERY intimidating activity (reading) for young kids.  Next time you walk outside, notice the signs around you and think of ways you can use them to help teach your children/students.  Be aware that reading is more than simply sounding out words, but involves using a number of clues to help understand meaning, and that the reading of signs should be praised and recognized as an important first step.

Here's a great Electric Company song/video that helps kids to read using signs.  Enjoy!

Update: Unfortunately the video I linked to was removed...so here's another Electric Company clip using signage...not as good as the last one but still fun use of signs.

One last thing...promise.  Watching this video I see the old Walk/Don't Walk signs and it makes me wonder...were those really so difficult to understand?  Did we really need to switch to the symbols? Just wondering...seems like giving up.  Admittedly, I was young, but I don't recall ever seeing someone have trouble at the crosswalk reading the signs!  Bring 'em back!

The Big Sneeze

We were working on reading some s-blends in some of my classes this week (stop, skip, skate, snow, etc.) and then serendipitously (I believe that's the first time I've ever used that word), my fellow teacher Tanja showed me this classic Electric Company clip.

Yep, that's Morgan Freeman way before he became, well, MORGAN FREEMAN.  For any readers outside of the U.S. who may be unfamiliar with The Electric Company, it was a very, very cool educational program that ran on American Public Television in the 1970s.  Mr. Freeman was a regular cast member on the show.

Anyhow, I ended up introducing the word sneeze in a few classes.  Talking about sneezing with my students in Japan is interesting for a c0uple of reasons.  One, they have a hard time believing that Americans say, "Ah-choo" when we sneeze (Japanese  people say something sounding close to "hak-shun" when they sneeze.)  Also, in Japan, nobody says "bless you" or "guzundheit" after you sneeze.  Just silence.  That was a hard one for me to get used to, and it's not easy explaining to adults or young students why people in many western countries say "bless you" after a sneeze.

There is an expression in Japan (not sure exactly how it goes) that says if you sneeze once, it means someone is praising you; if you sneeze twice, it means someone is criticizing/saying bad things about you; if you sneeze three times, it means you are being scolded; and if you sneeze four times or more, well, it means you have a cold.

I wonder what it means if you sneeze like Morgan did.

Update:  Wow!  More serendipity.  I didn't know this when I posted, but it's Morgan Freeman's birthday today.   Happy 69th Morgan!

Update #2:  Mama Lisa has more on sneezing: How do you sneeze in your country?

Green Eggs and Ham

In Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss tells a wonderfully convoluted story while sticking to a simple list of 50 words...(a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, sam, Sam-I-am, say, see, so, thank, that, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, and you).  Just 50 words, but he takes the reader on such a trip with those 50 words.   The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham were statements that books easy enough for kids to learn to read with didn't need to be boring.  The language...simple.  The stories...fantastical.   Compelling enough that I still recommend the book to adults learning English as a Second Lanuage. 

There is a ton to write about Dr. Seuss and Green Eggs and Ham, but Wikipedia has most of the bases covered. 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Two books stand out in my mind as books I loved as a young child...Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and Green Eggs and Ham, by Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. 

The National Education Association conducted a survey of the top 100 books for children, and Green Eggs and Ham finished 3rd in the children's poll (behind Harry Potter and Goosebumps) and in the teacher's poll (behind Charlotte's Web and The Polar Express).  The Cat in the Hat finished 4th on both polls.  Pretty amazing that both teachers and kids felt just as strongly about Dr. Seuss's work.  Several more of the 44 children's books that Mr. Geisel wrote and/or illustrated are on both lists.

March 2nd is Theodore Geisel's birthday and it kicks off the National Education Association's Read Across America... a month-long celebration of reading.  Read Across America started as a one-day event in 1998, and when the NEA decided to start the event, the natural choice was to celebrate it on Dr. Suess's birthday.  Certainly a fitting honor. 

Where did the name Seuss come from?   While a student at Darmouth College, he was the editor of the school's humor magazine. 

From Seussville.com:

His reign as editor came to an abrupt end when Ted and his friends were caught throwing a party that did not coincide with school policy. Geisel continued to contribute to Jack-O-Lantern, merely signing his work as “Seuss.” This is the first record of his use of the pseudonym Seuss, which was both his middle name and his mother’s maiden name. It was a perfectly ingenius pseudonym; it squeaked Ted’s work past unsuspecting college officials, yet clearly identified him as the creator.

For more on Dr. Seuss from someone very close to him, watch an interview with Audrey Geisel, Mrs. Dr. Seuss, over at Reading Rockets. 

Check here and here  for Dr. Seuss learning activities.

More on Green Eggs and Ham tomorrow.