Reading Survey

Challenge: Sometimes writing a blog post can be as simple as asking a question and getting everyone to give a simple answer. Example: What was your favorite part of the field trip? Scott: the giraffes Mary: the elephants or What did you learn today in reading?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Reading Is Fundamental'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42961457@N04/4114564467 by: Troy Holden

My Life As A Reader

Though I am never usually at a loss for words, I came across this Fall Blog Challenge by Melanie Holtsman with topics to write about each week. I really liked the topics so I thought I would join in the challenge. I’m already a week behind so I’m going to start with last week’s topic and then tomorrow, do this week’s topic.

Challenge: What is your life as a reader like? Do you read for work, pleasure, instructions or emails? What is your favorite author and/or genre? What is your favorite reading spot? What did you like to read when you were the age of your students?

I have been reading since I was a little girl. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t read. At an early age, I remember my parents bringing me to the bookmobile that came around our neighborhood every Saturday morning. In fact, I looked forward to that the way most kids look forward to the ice cream truck! Books became my best friend and I could go anywhere in the world through a book and be anything that I wanted to be.

I don’t really have a favorite author or genre. I guess it depends on what mood I’m in and what I’m interested in at the moment. When I need to relax, I usually pick up a romance novel that is easy to read and always puts me in a good mood. At times I love a good mystery and read books by authors like Dan Brown or John Grisham. Sometimes I want to read something off the best seller lists so I can try to figure out what makes it a best seller.

I don’t have a favorite reading spot because I read in so many different places. I read when I eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner when I’m alone. I love to read before I go to bed because it relaxes me. I also like to read in the car when we are traveling. I usually have a book in my bag that I keep close by in case I have an opportunity to read.

When I was a student, I loved to read fantasy books where the hero was usually a person my age. I loved to imagine that I was the hero in the story and could do all that this person was doing. I loved books that took me to places I’ve never been before. Since my sisters were so much older than me, I was on my own at home without playmates so books became my closest friends and I was never bored or lonely.

How about you? How would you answer these questions?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Lost on stairs'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73491156@N00/1435420692 by: Éole Wind

Scream Street: Fang of the Vampire - A Book Review

I recently read the book Scream Street: Fang of the Vampire by Tommy Donbavand which was mentioned on The Picnic Basket. This is the review that I gave the book (I am not being paid to give this review):

This was a great book! I think older elementary students and even middle school students would enjoy this. This would be a great read aloud for a classroom especially with Halloween coming up! It was easy reading and high interest. Right from the beginning, it captures the readers’ interest. I would definitely give this book a 5.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Master Naturalist Class Day 8

(For pictures, click HERE)

Natural Wildlife Trivia Game

Welcome! I’m Olivia Owl, the host of Natural Wildlife Trivia Game. Today our two contestants are Penny the Possum and Wilbur the Woodpecker. Each question is worth one point and each contestant will have a chance to answer the question. If they miss the answer, the other one has a chance to answer it. The winner wins a month’s supply of winter food (their choice). Now we did a coin toss and Penny will be going first.

Olivia: What spider lives in a home that has an opening with a hinge and usually found in the side of road beds?

Penny: A trapdoor spider.

Olivia: Great! That’s one point.

Olivia: What is the largest conservation tract in South Carolina?

Wilbur: The Clemson Experimental Forest

Olivia: Another point!

Olivia: What yellowish stalk is a flower and indicates that beech trees are growing near?

Penny: ummmm, Daisies?

Olivia: I’m sorry, that is not the correct answer. Wilbur?

Wilbur: Beechdrops!

Olivia: That is correct. Now Wilbur it is your turn.

Olivia: What are considered the giants of the forest?

Wilbur: Beech trees

Olivia: One more point.

Olivia: Penny, what is an evergreen ground cover with small red berries.

Penny: Partridgeberry.

Olivia: Good, one point.

Olivia: Wilbur, what is considered the rarest type of habitat?

Wilbur: oak hickory forest?

Olivia: No, I’m sorry that isn’t correct. Penny?

Penny: a meadow!

Olivia: Okay, one point for Penny.

Olivia: What 3 purposes does the Clemson Experimental Forest serve?

Penny: conservation, education, and recreation

Olivia: Great! One point.

Olivia: What kind of pine is good for paper and lumber?

Wilbur: Loblolly

Olivia: Okay, another point.

Olivia: What is the difference between white oak acorns and red oak acorns?

Penny: Red oak acorns have more tannin, more nutritious and are on the ground longer. White oak acorns have less tannin, less carbohydrates, but not as bitter as red oak acorns. Bears love the white oak ones much better.

Olivia: Another point for Penny.

Olivia: The Clemson Experimental Forest was 26,000 acres. Now it is only 17, 500 acres. What happened to the missing acreage?

Wilbur: It is under Lake Hartwell.

Olivia: Another point for Wilbur.

Olivia: The Clemson Forest is broken up into how many parts?

Penny: 2 parts – The North part and the South part.

Olivia: one point for Penny

Olivia: Pine needles grow in bundles called what?

Wilbur: Fascicles

Olivia: one point for Wilbur.

Olivia: Name species that are making a comeback?

Penny: Bald eagle, wild turkey, white tailed deer, beaver, river otter, and black bears

Olivia: Great job! One point.

Olivia: How much were turkeys sold to other states?

Wilbur: $500 for each turkey

Olivia: Great! I wish I had turkeys to sell!

Olivia: What are some common characteristics of an old home site in forests?

Penny: rock piles (usually from the chimney or the footing of the house), daffodils, in the winter, it looks like a mowed lawn, and black walnuts.

Olivia: Good. One point.

Olivia: Why did people plant black walnuts?

Wilbur: For food and dye. And the chemicals in the walnut trees poisoned the area so no other trees could grow.

Olivia: Good.

Olivia: What is the Firewise Program?

Penny: a program to educate homeowners how to prepare for and prevent wildfires in their communities.

Olivia: Good!

Olivia: How many freshwater fish species are there in SC?

Wilbur: 150

Olivia: Great!

Olivia: How many species of crayfish are there?

Penny: 36 and 9 of them are found exclusively in SC.

Olivia: Wonderful!

Olivia: What book did the Stream Team recommend to their audience?

Wilbur: Freshwater Fishes of SC.

Olivia: Good.

Olivia: Well, that ends our game. It seems that we have a tie and we need to have a tiebreaker. Whoever buzzes in first, and answers the question correctly, wins our game and a month’s supply of winter food. What fish is on the forty five cent US postage stamp?

Wilbur: (buzzes in first) The Pumpkinseed Sunfish!!

Olivia: Wilbur wins! Congratulations Wilbur!

Hope you enjoyed our nature trivia game. Hope to see you next time!

(I think putting facts and information in a game form really helps students learn the material. If the facts and information is just given in a list, many students will become bored with the information. Students can be individual contestants or you can put them in teams. I think that many students are naturally competitive and will help their team members learn the material so they can win. You can have a trivia contest like this. Or put the answers on a bingo card and then ask the questions. If they have the right answer, they mark out the answer. There are many ways to play games in order to review information given. If you have any other suggestions for games, please share!)

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Photo credits:

Original Picture by Pat Hensley

US Postage stamp of Pumpkinseed Sunfish

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 10/8/10

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Wordia – “is a high-quality online dictionary: a professional authoritative textual dictionary but with one big difference...Like a traditional dictionary, Wordia allows users to search for the spelling, meaning and etymology of a word but what makes Wordia unique is the ability for users to explore the personal connotation of word through video.”

Wild Sanctuary – hear wild sounds using google earth or google maps

Math Fun Facts – “resource for enriching your math courses and nurturing your interest and talent in mathematics! Each Math Fun Fact is a math puzzle or short article that contains a cool mathematics idea. You'll can learn about the mathematics of things like card shuffling to poker to computer vision to fractals to music, just to name a few. This makes great enrichment material for gifted math students or problem-solving groups.”

Storybird – “Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print.”

Number Quotes – adding scale to a number, great to use with students to help them gain perspective on big numbers.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: Tools by Pat Hensley