Our New Classroom Management CD Is HERE- and Some Free Printables to Go With It!!!!!!

Well, we finally did it - our new Music for Classroom Management CD is finally here, and it's posted on the website!  I am so excited, because the kids and I are LOVING this CD!  And, as fate would have it, I wound up with a very difficult class this year, so having songs to review the rules has really been helpful.  God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He?  I have encountered one classroom management problem after another, and have tried to solve them musically.  The list of songs kept on growing and growing throughout the year, as I plowed my way through different situations and tried to solve them by writing songs and teaching the children to sing them.  Now I am going to tell you about a few of them!  We also are working on some visual aids to go with this CD, and we are providing you with some free downloads from it for your kids to color, just for fun!

Nobody Likes a Tattle Tale!
Is there any good solution for solving the never ending problem of tattling?  Well, my friend Tammi that I teach with told me once that when her children tattle for non-emergency reasons, she would sing out, "Nobody likes a ...." and the kids would fill in the end of the sentence with the word "tattle tale!"  So I developed that idea into a full song, and I am finding it EXTREMELY effective!  The children absolutely LOVE to sing it, and they actually seem to sometimes use that song as a weapon, I'm afraid!  As soon as somebody announces, "I'm telling!" a child will begin the chant, "Nobody likes a tattletale, Nobody likes a tattle tale!  If you tattle every day, nobody's going to want to play!"  That usually stops the tattler in his or her tracks!  Once a child made it all the way across the room during playtime while this chant when on, and then stood in front of me, ready to tell his story.  And then he stopped.  And I waited... and waited....  And then I asked him if he had something to tell me.  He said, "No, I guess not," and walked away.  Problem solved!  Gotta love it!
Here are the words to the song:

The Tattling Song

Nobody likes a tattle tale!
Nobody likes a tattle tale!
If you tattle every day,
Nobody’s going to want to play!

Is it dangerous?  Do tell us!  (Sung by soloist)
Is it dangerous?  Do tell us!  (Repeated by kids)
Is someone hurt?  Tell for sure!  (Sung by soloist)
Is someone hurt?  Tell for sure!  (Repeated by kids)
An emergency?  Tell us please!  (Sung by soloist)
An emergency?  Tell us please!  (Repeated by kids)
But if it’s not, be a friend!
Zip it up and that’s the end!

I have to say, that I personally would buy the CD for this song alone.  It's that effective.

Because the limbs are narrow, the kids enjoyed using colored pencils more than crayons.

Is It a Question or a Story? 

Few things drive me crazier in teaching than having a child interrupt a smoothly flowing lesson to tell me a story about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.  And the problem is that as soon as you give any positive reinforcement at all to the child for telling that story, you can count on at least three more hands going up to tell another.  And while those children are telling their stories, more hands go up to tell theirs.  Soon we are so far off of the topic that even the adults in the room don't remember what the objective of the lesson was supposed to be!  No wonder they want us to post it somewhere.  (Not that many children can actually READ that posted learning objective, of course, but that's another discussion!)

Enter, stage left:  my class this year, filled with very talkative children that love to tell stories and tall tales, such as, "My little sister got eaten by an alligator."  So, as I was showering one morning, it hit me:  why not make up a song to help kids decide if what they want to say is a question or a story?  (These crazy ideas for songs and activities always seem to pop into my head during the most menial, repetitive tasks of the day!)   And then the song itself also popped right into my head!  So after I got out of the shower and dried off, I wrote it down on a post-it note, and then later recorded a voice message to myself on my iPhone so that I wouldn't forget the melody.

The song goes like this: 

Question or a Story?

Is it a question or a story?
Question or a story?
That’s what I have to figure out!
Before I raise my hand!

Is it a question or a story?
Question or a story?
That’s what I have to figure out!
Before I raise my hand!

A question’s what I ask to find something out!
Find something out, find something out!
A question’s what I ask to find something out,
That I don’t understand!

A story’s what I tell about something I did,
Or what happened here,
Or what happened there!
O story’s what I tell about something I did,
When there’s extra time!

(Spoken:)  “Okay, let’s try some examples, and see if YOU can figure out if it’s a question or a story!”
(Child:)  “Can you explain that again?  I don’t understand!”
(All:)  “Question!  That’s important!”
(Child:)  “I saw you at the grocery store yesterday!”
(All:)  “Story!  That can wait!”
(Child:)  “What does that word mean?  I don’t know it!”
(All:)  “Question!  That’s important!”
(Child:)  “Today, um, is my little brother’s birthday!”
(All:)  “Story!  That can wait!”
(Child:)  “Can you help me with this?  I’m confused!”
(All:)  “Question!  That’s important!”
(Child:)  “Once I went to the zoo and I saw a tiger.”
(All:)  “Story!  That can wait!”

(Repeat from the beginning, except for the spoken middle section.)

We used Crayola Twistable pencils to color most of these!

My kids responded AMAZINGLY well to this song, and it was incredibly effective!  Now, after teaching the song, the children themselves do not let others just tell stories when they raise hands, unless I designated it as a good time to do that.  For example, I asked the children the other day if anyone had ever been to the zoo and seen an elephant, so they raised their hands and told me about it.  

Otherwise, if someone tells a story, I don't give them any positive reinforcement for it at all.  All I say is, "Story."  And then the children all say, "That can wait!"  Many times, a child will beat me to saying that, too!  But one thing that ALWAYS happens is that they all chime in with "That can wait!" no matter what!  It amazes me that it works that well.  And, often when a child asks a question, I will say, "Question!"  and the kids chime in with "That's important!"  

The only negative effect has been that the children are now thinking of unnecessary questions to ask me in the middle of lessons, just to get a chance to talk, LOL!  So I am getting questions such as, "What time is it?" in the middle of reading a book.  Or, a child will raise his hand, and then hesitate for a moment while he tries to formulate a question to ask; but the problem is that he really doesn't need to ask anything!  Argggggh!  If a child keeps doing that, I just tell the child that he is wasting our time with unnecessary questions, and I am not going to call on him or her anymore.  Some kids will do ANYTHING for attention, won't they!  (Even learn how to formulate a useless question!)

I Can Follow the Rules!

This song is for teaching the basic rules that are usually taught in an early childhood classroom.  I found it very helpful as a review of the rules, but I wish I could have taught this song in August and September! The lyrics are below:

I Can Follow the Rules

I can follow the rules, 

I can follow the rules, 

And we'll have a good day,

When we follow the rules!

I can listen to my teacher,
Listen to my teacher,
Listen to my teacher,
And I follow the rules!

I can follow the directions,
Follow the directions,
Follow the directions,
And I follow the rules!

I keep my hands to myself,
Keep my hands to myself,
Keep my hands to myself,
And I follow the rules!

I’m always nice to everybody,
Nice to everybody,
Nice to everybody,
And I follow the rules!

It gives us more time to learn,
And more time to play,
More time for fun stuff every day!
It gives us more time to learn,
And more time to play,
More time for fun stuff every day!
When we follow the rules at school,
Oh, yeah!
When we follow the rules at school.
OH, YEAH!

When I first wrote this song, I hadn't thought about including the reasons for following the rules.  But I do have a couple of little ones with very late fall birthdays that have had a difficult time internalizing and following the rules.  I began to wonder if the children really understood the reasons why we have rules at all, other than to spoil their fun!  So that's when I changed the lyrics and threw in the words, "And we'll have a good day, when we follow the rules!"  I also added the ending section about having more time for learning, playing, and having fun when we follow the rules.  Ironically, I now have a video tape with one of my little cuties being VERY naughty during this song, LOL!   Too bad I can't show you that one, ha ha!  One thing for sure is that the children need to be motivated (and able!) to follow those rules, or the song itself isn't going to help very much!  And it sure doesn't turn a child that is four and a half years old into one that is six!  (Okay, if we can't medicate the children, then how about ME, LOL?)

Here are some quick notes on the other songs, just in case you are interested!

The  Backpack Boogie

This song is for teaching the procedures for coming inside in the morning, putting things away, and getting settled.  This has been a challenge for my group this year, since many of them would much rather socialize and wander about the classroom rather than put their things away and have a seat!  Unfortunately, this song came too late in the year for it to really do me much good.  I think it would have helped a lot more at the beginning of the year.  I am looking forward to starting out the year with it in August.

When the Bell Rings, Freeze!
My kids adore this song!  It's fun and quick, and they LOVE to dance and then freeze when the bell rings!  It's a great way to reinforce what we do when the bell rings- FREEEEEEEZE!  Stop!  Hands up!

Interrupting

This is one of my personal favorites!  In fact, I'm thinking of writing another Wiggles book that deals exclusively with interrupting, using this song as a refrain in the book!  It goes, "Interrupting is very disrupting.  Don't start squawking when someone else is talking!"  And that's the whole song!  We just sing it several times through.  Now when my kids interrupt in class, I often just start singing this song, and the rest of the class joins in.

Outside Voices, Inside Voices
I have to say, that I have never had a LOUDER class in all of my teaching career!  One child's voice elevates, and then another, and then another, and then the whole class is louder than a circus!  So this class was the TOTAL motivation for this song:
Outside voices inside make it hard for us to learn!  Screaming’s not okay!  Screaming’s not okay!... The song goes on to have the children practice using outside voices, inside voices, and whispers, so that they can hear and feel the difference.  

Cover Your Mouth and Blow Your Nose

These two songs are wonderful for teaching kids these basic skills for hygiene that will all NEED in order to stay healthy.  I particularly like the "Blow Your Nose" song because it not only addresses why to blow, but HOW to blow your nose, (by taking a breath, closing the mouth, and blowing the air out through the nose like a dragon!)  The kids like it because it is "The Dragon Song," to them!

Potty, Potty, Flush, Flush... & The Potty Dance!

At the beginning of the school year, I was trying to get the children to follow the rules in the restroom (without a lot of success, I might add!)  Later on, I came up with this little song, and the kids now LOVE to sing it together during their playtime, LOL!  Then a co-teacher mentioned that she simply couldn't believe that a five year old child could be standing there- doing the potty dance- and not know that he needed to go to the bathroom!  So I came up with The Potty Dance, which reminds them that "When you're doing the potty dance, it's time to go!"  They all find that hilarious!  And I really love watching them enjoy it!  They are just so stinkin' cute (pun totally intended!)

Snap That Cap

This song is for reminding children to replace the cap on a marker when they are done using it.  Enough said?  :)

The Smarty Pants Dance

This song is a "victory dance" for when kids finally "get it!"  My students simply LOVE it for the catchy beat and the opportunity to shake their little booties!  Just check out how much fun we had recording it in this video clip of the "HeidiSongs Singers" in the recording studio!  It was SOOOO much fun!

Line Up

This song is for teaching the rules while walking in line.  My kids love to chant it while we walk to lunch and the library.  That doesn't mean that they actually follow those rules while they chant it, but hey- I can keep trying, right?

We Don’t Fight!

This is the same song that is on Sing and Spell Vol. 5 as the "Fight" spelling song.  The lyrics were designed to be used as either a spelling song or a conflict resolution song.  So this one serves a dual purpose!  Use it well.

 

And I think that the rest of the titles speak for themselves!  

If you would like to download the full lyrics and handmotions, please click here and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

Please and Thank You
Right Hand, Left Hand
Red, White. and Blue
The Days of the Week
Months of the Year
Criss Cross, Applesauce
The Tracing Song
The Cutting Song
The Glue Song
Just Try Your Best
I Love My Lunchbox

Making LIFE SIZE Zoo Animals- and a HeidiSongs Promo Code!

The snake was so long that it was difficult to photograph!

These are the completed snakes.  You can see the loft stairs below!

This week, I created some giant zoo animals out of butcher paper for my kids to paint!  So I am going to tell you a little bit about how I did that, and then let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Meanwhile, here is a HeidiSongs promo code for Teacher Appreciation Week!  The code Teach20 will get you 20% off of a purchase of $20 or more.  I hope that this will help a few of you out!  It expires on Sunday, May 13, 2012 at midnight.

To create the animals, I just took the patterns from the Zoo Book that is on our website and basically multiplied the size times five!  So if the pattern called for a five inch square for the head of an animal, I cut out a 25 inch square, and then cut off the corners as usual!  As far as the patterns were concerned, such as for the head of the alligator, I had to just sort of sketch it out myself because I couldn't possibly enlarge the pattern on the xerox machine to that size!  So I just "eyeballed it" and took my best guess, figuring that it needed to look a little childish anyway, and it worked out just fine!  When I was finished putting the animal together, I took another look at it, and if a body part appeared to be a bit too large, I trimmed it down a bit until it looked right.

This is how I cut out the leopard.

Once I had all of the animals cut out, I taped the pieces together with scotch tape!  I was able to glue some parts, but I taped others, depending on what I thought would hold the best.  Also, I doubled the smaller pieces for strength and durability because I wanted to be able to hang these animals up on the classroom walls.  So I doubled the pieces for the legs, ears, and tails, etc.

I folded and doubled the paper for the legs, ears, and tails.

My classroom has some VERY high ceilings, so it can be tough to try to cover all of it for Open House, so these giant animals come in very handy for covering large spaces in one shot.  But I also value them because they require that the children work together nicely to paint the animal.  Most of them require some persistence, too, because it can take a while to paint a large animal shape, and it can be a little tiresome for them when it is all one color!  So they have to really stick with it and work together to finish it.  That's hard for some of them!

The kids painted the background color, and then added the details when it was dry.

I painted the face for them, but the children painted the claws and spots.

Overall, this was a really fun project for them, but it took me quite a while to cut out the animals and tape them together.  It took me about a half an hour per animal from start to finish just to cut them out and get each one ready.  The snakes took much less time, though, because they are simpler.  We did pencil in the lines so that the children would know where to paint, and then assigned each child a color to paint.  Sometimes we just write the color word right in there so that they know exactly where to paint!  The other animals were harder to cut out, but simpler to paint because they were all one color, such as the crocodile below.

Pin me to Pinterest!

A great book to read with this is Actual Size.  It is also a great time for the children to measure the animals and discuss if we really managed to make the animals close to their actual size.  (Hint:  Most of them were still too small!)

This a great book to read to the children with this project!

Here's some management tips for you, if you decide to do this project.
1.  Have an extra volunteer or two on hand to help.
2.  Tape down the animals outside on the concrete so that you can let the children paint them freely, and then they can go right off the edge without worry.  It leaves an interesting painted mark on the concrete that tends to look a bit like a zoo animal crime scene, LOL!

Monster Teeth Subtraction! And a Brand New HeidiSongs Subtraction Book!

Today I am going to tell you about a resource that I have really fallen in love with... our newest creation, called Counting Creatures Subtraction Worksheets!  And one really fun part of this book is the part of it that is a lot like my recent post on Loose Tooth Subtraction, except this one has the loose teeth on MONSTERS! 
By the way, since Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up so soon, we are giving you a promo code, good just for the week on our website!  The code Teach20 will get you 20% off of any order of $20 or more!  That's better than a free shipping code for the larger orders, and just about the same as a free shipping code for the smaller ones.  This offer expires at midnight on Sunday, May 13, so enjoy!

We have been working on developing this new subtraction book over the last couple of months, and I have been trying it out in my classroom, of course.  The children really love the monster theme of these worksheets, and they love coloring in those monsters when they are done with their work!  But the BEST thing about them is that my kids passed their official subtraction test for the report card this week with flying colors, and I would have to say that these are the best results on a subtraction test that I have had in years!  I think it is because they are so excited about the activity, and got so much good practice doing it.

Roll a die to figure out how many teeth to black out.

 
This is how the Monster Teeth Subtraction activity works.  There are six different monsters, with a different number of teeth in each mouth.  You roll a die or spin a spinner to see how many teeth you will black out, and then write an equation to match the picture.  For example, in the picture above, the monster had eight teeth.  The child rolled a die that came up with a number four, so he colored in four teeth.  Then he wrote the equation, "8 - 4 = 4."

For my class, we had been doing subtraction for a while, and I decided that the children were up for a little bit more of a challenge than just having all of the children do the very same monster and equation at the same time.  SO.... I decided to try it this way:  I gave each child in the group a different monster, (with a different number of teeth in each one.)  Then someone in the group spun a spinner, and everybody in the group wrote a different equation based on that number.  So if we rolled a two, then a child with a monster that had seven teeth would write "7 - 2 = 5."  But the child next to him had a different number of teeth in his or her monster, so his first number would be different!  If he had a monster with ten teeth, then his equation would be "10 - 2 = 8."  The only number in common was the minuend (the second number in the equation.)

As a follow up, each child did the corresponding worksheet on the back.

The reason why I like this as a small group activity is that it is impossible for the children to copy each other's equations!  They HAD to think for themselves and write their own equations.  It really was a wonderful activity!  As a follow up, the children then flipped their dry erase sleeves over and did the worksheet that corresponded to their own monster.  Later on, I gave the children an opportunity to do the worksheets again with crayons, with plenty of time to color them as they liked, since this was such a favorite activity. 

Here are some examples of the children's work done with crayons.

There is another great thing that I really like about the subtraction book in general.  Each page is marked with a guide that says, "Differences from 7" or "Differences from 10," etc.  That tells me exactly what types of equations I will find on each page.  I discovered this week that I could give them a whole variety of monster worksheets to pick from, and still have them essentially be doing the very same worksheet!

Here's what happened:  Since we were at the end of our subtraction unit, I knew that I had more worksheets than I would ever truly need.  So I decided that I would go through the workbook pages on my computer and just print a variety of worksheets- just maybe three or four of each one, but stick with differences from nine, for example.  That way, everyone would be getting the same equations, but would still feel like they had some control over what they were going to work on, and what they might like to color if they finish it in a timely manner.  I just made sure that I printed enough for the whole class, plus a couple of extras.

When I was printing them out, I had the feeling that it was going to be a little bit "risky."  What if one child wanted one that ran out?  Would he or she have a little "fit?"  I was pleased to find that none of that happened!  The children were exceedingly happy with the idea of actually getting to CHOSE what they were going to do in math, because that NEVER happens, LOL!  WOW.  I can't believe that I had never thought of that before!  (Duh!)  I really should have done that with the Counting Creature Addition Worksheets, too, since they are set up exactly the same way!  (Double Duh!)  I don't know why I never thought of that before.  It's the perfect solution for children that need to feel that they have ownership in their day, and who like to believe that they are in control- but they're not!  :)  By the way, if you missed my blog post on the Counting Creature Addition Worksheets, along with the free sample for that package, click here. 

The other thing that I think really helps about these worksheets is that there are usually only about six equations per page, and there are never more than ten!  That means that the average child can easily finish their work on these pages in a reasonable amount of time without becoming overwhelmed.  If you would like to try a few of these subtraction worksheets FREE, then click here.  If you want to purchase a just some of them or all of them, click here.  They are sold in downloadable packets of about 15 worksheets each for $3.00, (except the last packet has 27 pages and it is $5.00).  Or, you can get all 85 pages as a download for $12.00.

Want some music to go with this?  The Addition and Subtraction Songs on the Musical Math CD and DVD are really fun ones that my kids love!  Check it out here. 

Earth Day Projects!

It's an Earth Day Car!!!!

Earth Day Cars!
During the month of April, we started working on some Earth Day projects, and we only just finished them, so I thought I would take the time to share a little bit about them with you today.  By far, the most fun project for the children was our Earth Day Cars!  The BOYS were absolutely thrilled with the idea of building their own car out of recycled materials, and were practically giddy with delight when I suggested that they might enjoy painting some lightning bolts on the sides of their cars, or some tiger stripes or leopard spots!  The girls were happy about the project too, but not as excited as the boys, of course!

My Earth Day Car Sample

By far the hardest part of this project was trying to collect all of the lids that we needed for the wheels!  I started MONTHS in advance, and sent home a paper asking for lids of any size or color, and I stated that I needed two lids per child.  I also suggested that parents send in extras if they had any, just in case we ran short.  I think that most of the lids came from just a few families!  I also should have explained that I needed ROUND lids, because I did get one rectangular lid- even though the note said that they would be used as wheels for cars!  (Oops!)  I had originally planned this project to be part of my unit on Simple Machines for science, but it took such a long time to collect the lids that they became Earth Day cars instead.  :)

Some children painted leopard spots on their cars!

Stripes were also a popular design choice!

 We also needed one empty child's milk carton per child, so I just asked the cafeteria ladies to save me some.  That was fairly easy!  I had a volunteer wash them and leave them to dry overnight.  Then my aide and a volunteer helped to cut the tops off of the cartons.  We then measured and cut the paper to fit the cartons and just taped it on.  I really didn't think that glue was going to stick to the wax covered carton, so we just decided to go with tape.  Once each child's carton was covered with construction paper, then the bodies of the cars were ready to paint.  I bought some bamboo skewers and cut them in half, and also cut the pointed end off of them for safety's sake.  This formed the axle of the wheel.

We set the cartons on the window sill to dry.

Painting the body of the car took some children VERY little time to complete, so I also provided some blank paper for them to paint an extra picture of their choice if they wanted to, just to keep them busy at the art center until the rest of the groups were done with their activity.  The volunteer at the art center had to put their names on the bottoms of the cartons with a permanent marker.

Write names on the bottoms of the milk cartons with a permanent marker.

Once the painting was done, it was just a matter of finding the time to help each child put their cars together!  All would have gone as planned, but then a couple of days went by without some key volunteers that I had been counting on.  So we had to set the cars aside until more volunteers came.  Finally, on Friday I had an extra person that could call each child back one at a time to help him or her poke a hole in the lids with a push pin, and then widen it a little bit with a ball point pen.   We found out the hard way that if you widen it too much, the wheels fall right off!  So if you do this project, make sure that you don't poke a very large hole in the lids for that reason.  Also, have a few extra lids on hand, just in case some of the lids fall off anyway!  It is very frustrating for the kids when their wheels fall off of their cars!

Here are all of our completed cars.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, the big moment finally came!  We all got to play with our cars!!!!!!  I turned the kids loose with their cars and let them roll them all over the room.  A few of the kids were saying things like, "Uh... how is this a car?  There are only two wheels!!!"  I just said, "Well, it's an EARTH DAY car!  You only NEED two wheels, so that's all you have!"

The cars with the medium sized wheels with the thickest plastic worked the best.

 The kids had a ball rolling their little cars all over the place, although some of them were a little disgusted with their wheels, since the kept falling off.  The children whose cars had better wheels really lucked out, and many of them were bringing me their cars and asking for "better wheels."  A bunch of them wanted me to tape the wheels on, but it took a real demonstration of why that wasn't going to work before anyone was convinced that it was a bad idea!  It was actually a pretty good problem solving opportunity!

Of course, AFTER we finished all of this, I found a much better design for a car made out of recycled materials in Family Fun magazine!  Check out the "How To" video that they posted on www.youtube.com!

Earth Day Trees
I originally got this idea from http://ApplesAndABCs.blogspot.com.  I liked the idea so much that I decided to try it myself and see how it would come out!  My aide and I decided to modify it a little bit, though, to make it work for us.

Earth Day Trees, made with cardboard tree trunks and branches.

 I am not sure if the author of the original post pre-cut the tree trunks and branches, but we decided that our kids would need help with this, so we decided to do that for them.  We also glued down the tree trunk in the middle of the page to get them started in the right place.  To prepare the cardboard,  try to peel off the top layer to expose the corrugated part of it.  Then cut it into strips, cutting one long strip for the trunk and some smaller strips for the branches.

Peel back the top layer of a piece of cardboard and then cut it into strips.

You'll need some bottles from the Pepsi company if you want them to leave a print that looks like flowers!  Otherwise, you can use any type of bottle.  But we really liked the bottles from the Pepsi company in particular.

Glue down the tree trunk for each child, and let them glue down their own branches.

Once the children finished gluing down the branches above their tree trunks, the brought their papers over to the painting station to do the painting.  I put pink paint on some paper plates, and showed the children how to dip the bottles into the paint and then use them to stamp the blossoms on to the tree!

The only thing I would do differently next time is perhaps add some thing green to use to stamp on some grass, and maybe a construction paper sun in the sky.  They just need a little bit more to do to fill the entire 20 minute time block that they have at the art center. 

Pin me to Pinterest!

My Review of Talk Blocks from Learning Resources

 I was excited to be given a set of these Talk Blocks to try out and review about a month ago by the good folks at Learning Resources! Talk Blocks are blocks with a removable cover and a little recorder inside, so that you can record anything you want on it! Then, all you have to do is push the button and listen to it!

I decided to use my Talk Blocks for language arts instruction; specifically, I used them at the writing table as a supplement to my word wall! I just printed out some words that the children were likely to need, and cut them to the correct size of the top of the block. Then I recorded my voice saying the word by changing the slider button in the back to "record" and pressing the button down. You continue to hold the button down as you speak, and then let go when you are finished. Then slide the button back again to "play" and then listen to your recording! If you like it, you're done! If not, then just slide that button back to "record" and try it again! No erasing needed; the recording automatically erases when somebody slides to button back to "record."

 My kids really LOVED to record their own voices, so I had the whole class say the word that I had written on the top of the blog! Then we all listened to it to check and see if it was alright. The only thing I found out that was necessary was to cover the slider button on the bottom with duct tape, because if the students start to "explore" the unit and sliding buttons around, the recording is instantly erased! I found this out the HARD way, LOL!

We used the Talk Blocks for several different lessons, but my favorite use so far was in conjunction with a writing project. I recorded and wrote on the tops of the blocks several words that I thought would be useful for the children, and laid them out on the table and let them use the Talk Blocks in conjunction with the Word Wall. If they weren't able to tell the difference between the words "they" and "that," for example, they could press the button on the Talk Block and listen to the word! Lots of children used the blocks for this purpose, and it really did help them complete their writing.

We brainstormed what we knew about flamingos first!

In case you are interested in the lesson that they were doing, we first read a non-fiction book about flamingos.  Then we made a list of things that we learned about them, and I taught them how to draw the flamingos in their journals.  The next day in small groups, I had them write a "big idea sentence" to get themselves started in writing about flamingos, such as, "I like flamingos," or "Flamingos are birds," or "Flamingos are cool."  Then they had to write at least two more "little idea sentences (or detail sentences) regarding something they had learned about flamingos.  This lesson follows the "Step Up to Writing" format that we are using in my district.  When I modeled what to do, I also marked my topic sentence with a green dot, and the supporting sentences with a yellow dot.  This is supposed to help the children organize their writing.  

The blocks themselves can, at times, be distracting from the task at hand.

 The idea of starting with a "big idea" rather than a supporting idea can be a tricky on one for the little ones, and I often had to help them erase and restart their little paragraphs, unfortunately.  My high group got it right away, other than being rather distracted from the task and preferring to talk and push the buttons on the blocks instead!  So I took away the blocks until they were needed and then gave them back when the time was right.

I also created a Sight Word Dice game, and had them roll a sight word, push the button, and color in a box for each time they rolled the word!  They had a good time with it, but on that particular day, my class was very rowdy and would not cooperate with playing the game nicely and sharing the blocks, so they unfortunately had to be taken away from some groups.  :(

We also used the buttons to record the children cheering, and then let them press the button when they turn in their homework for the week! It's very motivational, and the uses are really only limited by your own imagination. But watch out! To keep the noise level low, just make sure that your recordings are a bit "soft spoken," because if you have the children all shout something, then it will be recorded and play back VERY LOUD!!!!! 

I think that these blocks could also be used for dictation practice in a learning center.  You could record some sentences and have the children try to write them exactly as they hear them.  They could also be used to record the directions for a learning center, so that the children could hear the directions that they cannot read!  They could also be used for reminding kids of letter sounds, or the name of a number, etc.  Basically, you are really only limited by your imagination here!  Really, the only drawback to them is that the children just LOVE to push those buttons, and so they may choose to continually push the button rather than complete their work.  If so, you will probably hear it in the classroom and will need to have them bring you the block so that you can remove it.

This is a nice tool to have in your classroom or home school! The children love it and it's a fun addition to nearly any lesson. Just remember to save some money for batteries, because each Talk Block needs THREE AAA batteries! And because of that, I always turn the buttons to "off" when we are not using them.

Learning Resources Facebook Page - Click "Like" for give aways and grant info.
@LearningHandsOn - Follow Learning Resources on TwitterLearning Resources YouTube Channel - Subscribe for videos on products and "How To" videos submitted by teacher reviewers
Learning Resources on Pinterest- Good ideas and photos of products on Pinterest

Originally submitted at Learning Resources

These Talk Blocks record and play back 30 seconds of sound. With a removable clear top you can create pictures, symbols, numbers or letters to match your recording. The large size is ideal for young children.

Talk Blocks: A Wonderful Classroom Tool!

By Heidi of HeidiSongs from La Verne, CA on 4/28/2012

Pros: Creative, Easy To Assemble, Durable, Fun, Sturdy, Colorful
Cons: Battery Expenses
Best Uses: Lessons, Educational Games, Special Needs, Young Children
Describe Yourself: Parent Of Multiples (Twins etc), Working Parent, Education Oriented, Parent Of Two Or More Children, Kindergarten Teacher
Was this a gift?: Yes




By the way, Are you interested in applying for a Grant for a Now! Board from Learning Resources?

Learning Resources announces the sponsorship of a teacher grant hosted by WeAreTeachers. To apply, teachers must answer this question: “How would you use portable interactive technology to create collaborative lessons?” After the application process concludes, educators can invite colleagues to vote for their favorite lesson ideas. Each of the three top vote getters will win a set of three Now!Boards and three GeoSafari Tuff Cams, a prize package valued at $2,000. (The Tuff Cam is a video camera that is sturdy enough for little hands to use without fear of breakage from drops, etc.!)  Additionally, two merit-based winners selected by a panel of teachers will each win one now!Board and one GeoSafari Tuff Cam, a total value of $700. Teachers can apply for the grant online through May 22, 2012.

For more information and to apply for the grant, visit this link.