Susan Hyde's Blog

Posted by Susan Hyde

Most fourth graders would rather have a tooth pulled than study a school subject for fun. Not my son. Like many gifted children, he is intense about his interests. For him, maps, history, landforms and culture rank right up there with race cars, chocolate ice cream and Scooby Doo. In fact, he has enjoyed studying maps, atlases and geological landforms since toddlerhood.

This year he's taking his passion up a notch to prepare for the National Geographic Geo Bee.

It really helps that the "big stuff" -- state capitals, continents, bodies of water, and the locations of the small former Soviet countries that all seem to end in "-stan"-- but there is plenty more to learn. In addition to ever-changing country boundaries, the diverse cultures and terrain in Africa, for instance, make it a particularly tricky continent to study

We're homeschoolers, so he has plenty of time daily to "play" on his computerized Smart Globe, review his atlases and prep guides, and draw maps. While this is fun for him, I try to mix it up a bit with IMAX and National Geographic videos that highlight different areas of the world. We also spend a little time looking at online resources each day. For instance, National Geographic has a great website with daily quizzes.

As a homeschooler my son's first round of competition will be with a Maine Homeschool group will be in December. Regardless of how he does, it is fabulous that he has an opportunity to study something he loves.

Posted by Susan Hyde

Now that Harry's gone, what will you suggest for summer reading? The Harry Potter series appealed the collective imaginations of young and old with adventure, magic, vivid narrative,clever dialogue, and young, clever protagonists. Here are four tried and true series that will keep Harry Potter loving students reading all summer long!

Classic Fantasy Favorites

• The Chronicles of Pyrdain by Lloyd Alexander: Since the The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers of fantasy have enjoyed reading the adventures of the Assistant Pig-Keeper, Taran, as he seeks to become a hero.
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: The recent cinema and DVD successes of Walden Media's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe have brought well deserved attention to this allegorical series. Challenge students to read Prince Caspian before the movie comes out this May!
• The Time Quartet by Madeline L'Engle: The travels don't end with A Wrinkle in Time. Follow Meg Murry and her family as they tesseract through time and space.
• The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien: Your students will journey through Middle Earth with Bilbo,Frodo and their brave companions as they take on the dark elements that plague their world.

Posted by Susan Hyde

What's the big deal with handwriting? A child grabs a pencil, copies letters, and all is well... right? Well, not exactly. With preschool and pre-K becoming more popular, more children are learning to write earlier. While this might be helpful for reading readiness, research shows that a straight-to-the-pencil approach is developmentally inappropriate for many children and may actually cause problems later on.

At a recent two-day Handwriting Without Tears Workshop, Presenter Patty Bunce, OTR discussed the problems that can occur when children begin writing early but without age appropriate guidance. "Preschools," she explained, "shove all of these kindergarten skills into pre-K." Thus, she continued, "Many kids are going into kindergarten with terrible habits."

This is not to say that young children cannot learn letters. Rather, Bunce suggest ed that quality pre-K programs will emphasize informal multi-sensory and developmentally appropriate readiness activities.

For instance, Bunce suggested that young students should spend a lot of time coloring and drawing with crayons. The resistance that a crayon gives strengthens children's fingers and provides tactile feedback in a way that markers and even pencils will not. Coloring with crayons on construction paper will provide even more resistance. Additionally, crayons are small and developmentally appropriate for little hands as children learn a proper tripod grip.

Squeezing and rolling clay or play dough is another excellent readiness activity that strengthens little hands in preparation for handwriting. Teach students to roll dough balls into snakes. The snakes can then be used to create shapes and letters.

Finally, it is also important to include gross motor activities to "wake up" the brain and help students to become more comfortable with their bodies. Dancing and other kinesthetic activities are fun and provide a wonderful foundation for fine motor movements to come.

Posted by Susan Hyde

From snow to rain to sunshine, spring is a time of volatile weather. It is the perfect season to use math and graphing to collect weather data, calculate averages and graph comparisons.

Charting the Weather

First, work with your class to determine what elements of weather are typically charted. Depending on the level, students may suggest high and low temperatures, average temperatures, humidity levels, rainfall amounts or even barometer readings.

Bring in a variety of weather tools (or perhaps create a PowerPoint presentation of weather tools), old and new, and discuss how the tools are used to measure rainfall, temperature and other levels. As an alternative, meet technology standards by retrieving statistics from the National Weather Service website.

Collecting Data

Discuss why it is important to predict and chart weather. What interest would a farmer have in the weather? An engineer? A fisherman? A NASA scientist? How does weather affect other industries?

Break students into small groups for the purpose of collecting daily weather data. While one group determines temperatures, another group might be in charge of measuring rainfall , humidity or water temperatures. Provide data collection worksheets for younger students. Ask lder or more advanced students to design their own.

Graphing Averages

Continue the data collection for one month. After one month, allow students to work together to determine data averages, highs and lows, and extreme weather changes. Ask students to create a variety of graph designs to Compare results with average information from other years. Can students chart trends? Remember to provide students with an assessment rubric so that they know what elements will be graded.

This would also be a perfect time to invite a meteorologist to the classroom or to create a multidisciplinary unit that includes poetry (April is, after all, National Poetry Month!) or Earth Day gardening projects.

Posted by Susan Hyde

Spring brings new colors, sounds and experiences. What better time to use poetic language to celebrate the newness of the season?

Modeled Poetry

Nature poetry invites students to imbibe in the glory of this fabulous season. Provide and discuss daily poetry models, and encourage students to create poetry of their own. Students will enjoy imitating the styles of famous poets as well as hammering out original verse. Here are some examples of lessons that you may want to use in your language arts or English classroom:

• Read William Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey. Challenge students to write a poem that similarly combines nature with themes such as time, imagination or even religion.
• Read Gary Snyder's Pulitzer Prize winning poem, Rip Rap. How does he use natural images as a metaphor for poetics? Ask students to write metaphoric poetry using spring images.
• Play music with nature images in the lyrics such as John Denver's Rocky Mountain High or India Arie's Nature. How do natural images contribute to emotion in these songs? Ask students to create their own lyrics or have them sing together.
• Read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Ask students to use pastels or paint to draw what the images suggest.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn. Allow students to write a poem of their own that uses natural images to mark a historic event.

Allow students to create a portfolio of their best poetry place in the school library or to share during a parent-teacher night.