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Fun Classroom Themes

Posted on May 25, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I was teaching younger kids, one of the items that was fun was to pick a unit plan, theme, or other item to cover with the kids. In first grade, this would involve lesson planning across academic areas and lots of items for center activities. One of my favorites was for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and also the Five Senses. Yes, there are days when I really miss that part of being in the classroom.

As the parent of a child in preschool, it has been fun to see what his teachers pick and choose each week to do with kids that are now 4 and 5 years old. Tuesday morning, we walked into the classroom and the theme was very clear.

The details in the classroom were amazing. There were dinosaurs romping all over the place. They were here:

Yes, there were even more dinosaurs over on the other side of the room. The best part: Laurie Berkner’s We are the Dinosaurs was playing as the kids explored the new dinoland.

When JSL went in the next day, I suggested wearing one of his dinosaur shirts. Little did we know that his shirt would be perfect inspiration for a project they were making. Check out their dino hats.

So my question to you week is inspired by my son’s creative teachers:

What theme in school was your favorite as a child? If you can not recall, how about a favorite your child has done or perhaps one you wish you had done.

It's Me

P.S. If you are in a dinosaur dancing mood, here’s a little Laurie Berkner video.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #204

Categories:
Aloha Friday arts and crafts Educational fun interesting jsl me moments photos school

Tuesday Tales – Another Library Card

Posted on May 22, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I love books. Perhaps it is the teacher in me, but it is the truth. We own a lot of books. The boys have a bookshelf that is bursting at the seems, we have one that is packed, and I have boxes of books that were bought for my classroom. I enjoy keeping up on multiple genres of literature. Unfortunately, the reality is I can not afford to buy every single book that we want to read in our house. It isn’t just about money though, it is also lack of space to keep the collection of books growing. These days I am much more selective.

As a home owner, I take full advantage of our local library. The boys and I went to a lot of events last summer, we take DVDs out, books are borrowed, and most recently I get audio and Kindle books. A while back, I wrote about looking to see if your library has eBook lending. Our library has a nice selection, but I was getting frustrated with lack of availability and strange search ability.

A friend of mine mentioned that she uses The New York Public Library to take out audio and Kindle books. I was intrigued and finally went to search how to get my own card (thank you J). If you are a resident of New York State, you can sign up to get your own card. Last Tuesday, I went to their website and filled out the simple online form. Yesterday, this arrived in the mail:

Once I opened the envelope, took a photo, and thanked my friend – I went right to the eBook loan page. On this page, you can borrow eBooks, Audio Books, Music, and Video. What I liked was the search seemed to work better than my local library’s page. Of course, since the NYPL is larger, they had tons more copies of many of the books that I was interested in. A book that I had been waiting for for quite some time had 3 copies available and 25 in the system for Kindle. I am in heaven!

So now I have a new book to read on the go with my Kindle App or Kimberly Kindle – and can sit back at home to read my latest traditional book:

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Update: Please be sure to read over the Terms and Conditions for the NYPL Card. The card that you apply for online will only be temporary. The one that I just received is only good until September. You must validate your card to have it extended for the typical three years. For those outside of the NYC area the instructions are simple (copied from their website):

Cardholders from areas of NY State outside of the Metro NY area as defined above may e-mail scans or copies of the required forms of identification listed to circ@nypl.org. Alternatively, this information may be faxed to (212) 621-0278.

New library card applicants from these areas who applied for their card online and elected to receive it in the mail must first e-mail the above-mentioned form(s) of identification after receiving their card to validate it before full cardholder privileges can be extended. Both the library card number and required identification must be included with any renewal/validation request. Incomplete and/or unreadable information will not be accepted and will delay the continued use of your card.

Categories:
books interesting me moments Phone Apps Tuesday Tales

Walt Disney World Magic at Night

Posted on May 16, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It's Me

Categories:
Disney DisneySMMoms fun interesting Wordless Wednesday

Views from Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

Posted on May 9, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Preview photos of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort scheduled to open in the first phase on May 31, 2012. We had a dinner there on our last evening of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. More coming about this beautiful and magical resort soon!

Categories:
Conference Disney DisneySMMoms fun interesting photos travel vacation Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tales – Meeting Ridley Pearson in Walt Disney World

Posted on May 8, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It’s time to jump around on my timeline from events at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration to share something related to literacy, reading, and books. Nothing could fit in more perfectly than meeting NY Times Bestselling author Ridley Pearson. Since I signed up for his session on Saturday, I knew that Ellen and I would be front and center for his presentation. What I didn’t know is something magical would happen before that.

After the conference session on Friday, TechyDad and I met back up with my parents and the boys. Once back in the room, we debated what to do before the party in DinoLand at Animal Kingdom. We were told that we could head to the Animal Kingdom and exit the park to wait for the group while they finished setting up the area. This seemed like a good plan. On the way out of the Yacht Club to catch a bus to the Animal Kingdom, a person caught my eye. I shrugged it off until I got to the bus area and happened to bump into Ellen and her daughter. I told her that I was pretty sure I had just seen Ridley Pearson in the lobby, but was doubting myself.

After wandering around Animal Kingdom for a few hours, we waited outside the gates, for the rest of the families to arrive. I nudged Ellen and told her Ridley Pearson was walking in with everyone. This is when I mentioned something to my son and reminded him I was going to Mr. Pearson’s session in the morning.

NHL was busy going on ride after ride before eating dinner. Thanks to this, I had to force him to stop to get at least a little something. NHL and I were at one of the then empty buffet lines when I noticed someone come over on my left. I peeked and noted that it was Ridley Pearson. I said hello and wanted to make sure he was Mr. Pearson. He said he was and then I mentioned I was going to his session the next day. Then, I turned things over to NHL. I mentioned that NHL was a fan of the Kingdom Keepers. Without missing a beat, Mr. Pearson started to talk to NHL. He asked him about his favorite part of the book. NHL explained that he loved the scene in Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark when things happen in It’s a Small World. This is when I knew that Ridley Pearson gets his audience. He made small talk with NHL about how that really happened and he liked it as well. FYI, video coming soon from the session about this scene.

The next morning before the session began, I thanked Mr. Pearson. Thanks to this encounter, NHL wants to get back to reading the Kingdom Keeper series. He was excited to let his teacher know that he had met the author and kept chatting all night about the Small World Ride chat. Yes, once again, Ridley Pearson showed how a little magic from him could inspire a reluctant reader to jump back into reading. While others were asking for autographs, I knew that I had to get one for my son (little did I know my almost five year old would be jealous of this – ooops). I even took photos to share with NHL later.

More about the session and tour of Epcot with Ridley Pearson coming soon. Have you ever met an author? Please feel free to share your experience below. What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, we were given an incredible deal from Disney. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event. Meeting Ridley Pearson was just another BIG perk from the festivities. One Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy any of the books through my links.