Reading/Writing Strategies

Reading Strategies: Please take note of the Alphabox strategy.

Below are Scholastic charts on writing strategies:

Appropriate for grades 3-6, Wishlist: $1.99 each from Scholastic.com

Kapla Toys

Kapla blocks are precisely sized and come in only one form. The precision allows larger buildings to be constructed and can be implemented in the classroom from as early as prekindergarten through high school.  Kapla Blocks range in price from $30.00-$350.00.  Acknowledgment: Professor Davey, Hofstra University

http://www.kaplatoys.com/

Wishlist: 200 piece wooden Kapla building set set $66.0, Item # KPWhite 200

Kapla Books: Red, Tan & Green $19.99 each

 

Bookmarks

Please go to my del.icio.us site to see bookmarks of websites I have collected beginning Fall 2006. http://del.icio.us/jen816ny

Also, please visit the tab at the top of the page to go to see a full description about educational sites I recommend.

Leaf Rubbings

While working at the Franklin Early Childhood Center in the Hewlett-Woodmere School District I had the opportunity to do my small group lesson plan on leaf rubbings.

I read/sang the story: The Leaves are Falling One by One, a Scholastic book by Steve Metzger.

Special Education Observations

I spent 6 hours at UCP in Roosevelt, NY in October 2007. The children placed in the classroom I was in were immobile and non-verbal. There was 1 teacher and 3 aids to 6 children. The children were being taught how to communicate by using Augmentative Communication Devices.

I found this experience to be heart-breaking and I feel that this form of teaching is not something I will be able to pursue as a career. However, from this experience you can’t help but think how lucky you are to be able to walk, and stand upright, and communicate with the world so effortlessly.

The remaining 14 hours of my observation for special education is being spent at the Saw Mill Intermediate School in the Commack School District.  I am working alongside a special education teacher in a resource room from November-December 2007.

The Five Senses

My first experience in the classroom was a noteworthy experience. The first lesson plan I had undertaken in the classroom was on the sense of smell. At the time, the school was spending the month of October learning about the five senses. The day I presented my whole group lesson was during the week that the sense of smell was being discussed.

 

Please Note: My lesson plans are only mentioned, but not explained in full depth due to copyright purposes. If you have any questions regarding the lessons, please feel free to comment.

Prekindergarten Participant Observer, Fall 2007

I spent the fall semester of my junior year September-November 2007 as a participant-observer at the Franklin Early Childhood Center in the Hewlett-Woodmere school District. There I worked alongside a cooperative teacher and teacher’s assistant in a pre-kindergarten class of 18 students: 10 girls and 8 boys. My first experience in the classroom was a noteworthy experience. I spent 50 hours at this school and attended parent-teacher night where I met 15 of the students’ families.

Teacher-to-be? That’s Me!

My name is Jennifer Platt. I am currently going to Hofstra University where I am getting a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education (certification from birth-sixth grade). I will be graduating in May 2009 with a specialization in English and American Literature and a Bachelors in Psychology. I hope to be an elementary school teacher in the public school system on Long Island or New York City. I hope to pursue my masters in Literacy and/or Special Education with a concentration in learning disabilities.

At Hofstra University I am currently a member of Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, Psi Chi Honor Society; HNET, Hofstra’s Network of Elementary Teachers; and on the executive board of ASCD, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, Hofstra University’s Student Chapter. I am a member of the O.C.S., Organization of Commuter Students; and Schools 4 Schools.

I am a graduate of Walt Whitman High School class of 2005. I was a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and President of the Girls Leader’s Organization: the Athletic and Academic Honor Society. I was a member of S.A.D.D., the Interact Club, and was an AIDS Peer Educator where I taught sixth graders at Silas Wood Middle School from (2001-2004).

I was an active member in science research where I participated in Walt Whitman High School’s Science Fairs receiving the awards of: honorable mention, first place, second place, and Best in Fair. I was awarded Highest Ribbon and High Honors Award at the Long Island Science Fair. I also submitted science projects to an Epidemiological Study and the Intel Science and Engineering Fair. My research project was entitled “The Effect of Early Childhood Ear Infections on the Development of Dyslexia.” I hope to continue to expand this research in the near future.