Finally, a summary from a fifth grade group (their quotes, unedited by any adult):
To Readers Read, Want to Read, and Help Others Read...
Get rid of levels- can't we just read books that we care about and matter?
Let us talk about the books we read in groups, with other readers. Not just in the groups that are at our level.
Let us talk openly about why we do and do not like reading. When we can share what makes it hard, we have more of a chance to help one another.
Stop making reading a competition. No more points. Readers at Barnes and Nobles don't go there on Saturday because they get 50 points. They go there to meet other readers.
Don't judge people by what they can't read or do not like to read.
Let us help others read. If we had time, we could learn about what we need, and then we could help one another be better.
Let us do more reading and not more worksheets or tests on reading. We could then concentrate on the book, we might even try new books because we just want to read them. We do not want to try to read more books because we are going to have to take more tests then.
Reading helps with our future jobs. It would be great to know what kind of reading doctors or scientist do, so if we wanted to do that job we could start practicing that early.
If you want us to love reading, our teachers have to love it too. When they are exited about what they are reading and learning, we get excited to even if it is not a book we would have chosen.
Give us comfortable chairs. We know that they more we read, the better we will get. That is really hard to do at a hard desk. Have you ever seen desks like that at Barnes and Noble? There is a reason for that!
Wendy Finn on 06 Feb 11Using preschool Italy lessons opens up a whole new world to younger children. This lesson will help them to understand where Italy is on a map and what it looks like, as well as what colors are in the Italian flag. We take a look at learning basic Italian words, that you can use in the classroom, or that the children can use to impress their parents at home - ciao mamma! A preschool lesson plan on Italy, would be incomplete without covering the culture of food in Italy. Italian food is popular among young children, and they are likely to be familiar with many of the food already. An interactive activity on making fresh pasta, or a pizza decorated as the Italian flag, is a good way to ensure the children know what goes into making authentic Italian food. How to assess the children's progress and abilities using this lesson plan is also covered, as well as extension activities on Italian art and architecture - try making a model of the leaning tower or Pisa, or create their own Mona Lisa painting.
