Day 26 SoL Story Challenge: The Story of Crafty Bear

Join hundreds of students and teachers as we share stories every day in March!

I sat on the couch with Baby J. in my lap while Little L. built a submarine out of Legos for "Crafty Bear" and "all the chipmunks" on the coffee table. Crafty Bear is the star of a story that Little L. and my husband have been making up for the past day or two. The story basically goes like this:

Once there was a bear named Crafty Bear. He has a friend, Chipmunk, and they find a book that some campers left that was a book of the world with a map of the world. They saw some pictures of a kangaroo and they decided they wanted to see the kangaroo. Crafty Bear happens to be a genius engineer and they decide to build a submarine. His bear friends help him build the submarine, but the bears are too scared to go into the submarine-- except for Crafty Bear. His chipmunk friends are wild and crazy, and they're ready for adventure. So, Crafty Bear designs this amazing submarine that has lots of windows and is the shape of a shark to fool the sharks. It has a big metal tree inside in the shape of a den for chipmunks, so the chipmunks just moved all their stuff in…They go on adventures-- the Marianas Trench, and down in the trench they discover treasure that has four crystals that tell you where the lost city of Atlantis is.

At school, Little L. drew this with Crafty Bear in mind:

"This is the map. There is a red lava pit and a magical blue lake. You have to follow the green trail, then the red trail, then the purple trail, then this trail."

"You follow all the right trails and it leads your o the room full of magic keys. See, there are lots of them."

There's much, much, much more where this came from. Little L. will ask, "Can you tell some more Crafty Bear?" and  my husband will say a sentence or two, and after a few lines, Little L. will take over the storytelling.

I watched while Little L. worked on her Lego submarine. "L., can I videotape the Crafty Bear story?"

"Argh! Let me just tell you. Don't videotape it!"

So… no video tonight. But now you know all about Crafty Bear and his band of adventurous chipmunk friends.

Check Out the We Teach Summertime Learning eBook

Over at We Teach, the amazing leaders put together this beautiful eBook filled with fun ideas for summer learning. Check it out! Baby L and I contributed to it!

Make a Special Reading Spot in Your House

Kids love having their own special spot for reading. Having a favorite place to read helps children build their identity as readers - they can think of themselves as "readers" before they even know the alphabet!

Here are some ideas:

1. Set up a corner with a basket of books, some pillows and some post-its.

2. You could set aside a child-sized rocking chair with a tote-bag full of books resting in it.

3. Keep a basket of books next to your child's bed with a mini-flashlight for reading under the covers.

Here's Baby L's fave reading spot right now:

Use your imagination!

Does your tiny reader have a favorite place to read? Leave a comment and share!

Mark it With a B! For Baby and Me!

It started a few nights ago, in the tub, actually. Baby L pointed to the red foam letter B and said, "Baby."

I really thought it was just a coincidence, but just to check, I said, "Where's the B? B for Baby?" and she pointed to it again. Then she turned her attention to her beloved ducky and the moment had passed.

But the next night, in the tub, it happened again. This time I was singing the ABC song and writing the letters of the alphabet on the wall of tub with L's tub crayons. When I came to the end of the alphabet, I said, "L. where's B for Baby and me?" Again! She did it again! She scanned all the letters - starting at Z and moving backward very methodically, until she came to the letter B. She immediately smiled, pointed, and said, "Baby!"

Still, I thought, maybe just another coincidence. So, just casually, over the next few days, I started asking her to find the letter B. When reading a book with really big print I asked, "L do you see a B for Baby?" When playing with her ABC blocks. When walking down the street. She totally knows the letter B now! AMAZING!! (At least, I think so, anyway...)

Yesterday, I wrote all the letters of the alphabet on a big piece of paper taped on her easel, and she's been going back to it again and again with her crayons and markers, "writing" the letters. She colors and scribbles very deliberately, right on top of each letter. So cute!

She can also tell you where "D for Daddy" is, and "M for Mommy."

Next thing you know, she'll be writing her first book!

I do feel a little bit like I'm playing with fire, here. It is so tempting to go totally overboard. I could start asking her all day everywhere we go to find letters and numbers. Or pull out flashcards or something crazy like that. But obviously she's learning the letters without any particular drill or practice. So I think it's best if I just keep reading aloud lots of great books, talking about books and writing, and giving her lots of opportunity to see letters and numbers in her environment.

Do you have a story or idea to share about learning the alphabet? Please leave a comment and share!

Make March Music in Your House Month

I just learned from another blogger that March is Music in Our Schools Month. Yippee!

Baby L. comes from a musical family - Daddy plays guitar, and so does Grandpa J. (You can hear a clip of Grandpa J. here!) Great Grandpa E. plays the clarinet, and her Great Uncle T. plays drums. There's even a family band and a few albums that Grandpa J. made in his recording studio! Mommy was a band geek in high school and college, and her Grandpa K. knows every piece of trivia you ever could imagine about every jazz, blues, soul, and rock and roll artist ever.

So it's in Baby L.'s blood and it shows. She LOVES music.

To foster her love of music, Baby L. has a box of her own instruments that she often goes to. We always have music on in our house, and she'll often start dancing in the middle of doing something else when she hears a good tune! She'll even pick up her instruments and play along, sometimes she'll even "sing."

Here are some tips for supporting musical kids in your family or classroom:

1. Have music on whenever you can

2. Play lots of different kinds of music, even if they aren't your personal preferences

3. Talk about the music. Name and talk about the instruments you hear if you can

4. Clap, dance, and sing along with the music

5. Make a box of instruments - it's easy! (see below)

6. If you can, seek out music classes in your neighborhood or town. Often the local library, school, or YMCA offers music classes or sing-a-longs for free, or for low cost. It's great for your child to see other kids and grown-ups who like to sing and dance as much as they do.

7. Encourage your child to make up songs! (Even those "songs" that you don't think really sound like songs).

Some instruments you can make:

1. Fill an old plastic bottle with beads, pasta, beans, or coins to make a shaker. Use a drop of glue to seal the cap on so that your baby or toddler can't get it open.

2. Save the tubes from your paper towels. We call them Der-Der Tubes in our house because you can hold them up to your mouth and sing "Der der der der!" An instant trumpet!

3. Cookie tins make great drums - so do oatmeal containers!

4.Good ol' pots and pans are always fun to bang on!

5. You can clap two blocks together to make a great sound along with the beat of a fun song.

6. Your child's baby rattles can go into their instrument box as they get older.

All this music is great for a budding reader or writer, believe it or not. Lyrics to songs build vocabulary, as well as oral language fluency and expression. Clapping, dancing, and playing instruments along to the beat of a song supports phonological awareness - hearing the sounds in language. Just google "music and baby brain development" and a zillion academic research articles appear. Whether you buy into the "Mozart effect" or not, music is a great way to engage your little one in the world of language, words, communication, and fun!

***

Note: (I personal feel that the catch phrase "Mozart effect" it is a bit oversimplified - though it sounds wonderful, and there are some intriguing studies on the short and long term effects of listening to classical music. Some researchers explain that simply playing Mozart to your baby is not going to make her smarter. However, families who provide music, singing, a love of those kinds of things, are likely to be the kinds of families who provide lots of other great support too - books, language, stories, and lots more.)

March is the Month for Text Sets

In first grade classrooms from New York City to Seattle, teachers are about to launch the March Unit of Study for Reading Workshop: Putting Texts Together: Reading Across Genres To Learn About a Topic and

Build Your Vocabulary.

And guess what, you can do the same at home!

Just collect up a whole bunch of books about a topic you and your little ones are interested in. Stick them in a box or a basket and have fun reading!

Baby L and I have been reading our winter books all season long. We've got stories, poems, board books, lift-the-flap books, nonfiction books, you name it. It's so much fun to watch Baby L make a connection from one book to another!

Winter is almost over (hopefully), so soon we'll be busting out a bunch of books about spring! Yippee!

Back to School

Happy New Year!

Time to gear up for the new school year.

It's time to shop for pens and composition books, backpacks, highlighters, post-its, hole punchers and tape-- all my favorite things!

Baby L is too little to go to school. But that doesn't mean she can't still join in the fun while mommy shops for school! Plus you can never start too early when it comes to immersing your little one in the world of lettters and numbers, words and books. So L. has some "school supplies" too.

She has her brand spankin' new alphabet sippy cups:

And her new sign language books:

And of course, foam letters and numbers for the tub!

We're ready for the new school year!

Untitled Poem

* Day 29 of the KidLitosphere Poem-A-Day Challenge for National Poetry Month.

Here A Book, There A Book, Everywhere A Book

Every good teacher knows that a supportive classroom environment reflects the things that matter most to the teacher and the children in that community of learners. When I was teaching, children's writing and books were everywhere you turned in my classroom - on the walls, on the shelves, and at their tables.

Likewise, the environment at home can support what you value most in your child's learning. Numerous studies have shown that kids who grow up in a print-rich environment are at a distinct advantage in school. Not to mention, when you model a love of books, your child learns to love them too! And it's never to early to start.

On the coffee table in our living room, we've got little stacks of board books for Baby L., and our fave magazines and books for us. In L.'s toy bag, mixed in with Sophie the Giraffe and her rattles and shakers, she's got a bunch of cloth books with different textures for her to feel on each page. Her favorite is Good Puppy! On the kitchen counter there's a stack of recipe books, including a homemade one that my mother-and-law and I have been adding to for the last year or so. Our hallways are lined with books. On the bedside tables in our bedroom, there are stacks of parenting books, like Your Baby's First Year, and Baby 411, plus of course-- more board books. In L.'s bedroom, there are always picture books scattered on the guest bed plus more in the basket on her dresser.

Some other ideas for creating print-rich environment at home:

1) Put clippings from your favorite magazines or blogs on the refrigerator, or post them on a bulletin board.

2) Keep your family photo albums out somewhere (yes,

this counts!). Switched everything over to digital? Try ordering a bound book online from services like Snapfish. They have pre-made templates so all you have to do is click & drag your pictures to where you want them.

4) Put a cover on your child's artwork or writing, and then put your child's book on the shelf or coffee table with all the other published books in your home. Staples has lots of options for slip on covers or binders. Or better yet, spend some time with your child doing some book-making!

5) Talk about the every-day kinds of writing you do: post-its and lists, thank you cards, emails. Show this writing to your child and invite them to do it (as best they can) too!

6) Set the family computer's screen saver to some kind of text. A short poem, the lyrics to a children's song, or even a slide show of cool pictures will help immerse your child in a home where pictures and print aren't hard to find.

7) You don't have to spend a fortune on your child's own private library. Visit the public library and sign out some books together. Even your baby can let you know which board books they prefer. Hold the book up to see if she is interested. If not, put it back and try another one. If you keep trying a wide variety of texts eventually you'll figure out your little one's preferences, even if they don't have the words to tell you!

Have fun filling your home with books! Your baby will thank you later!