Logs and Evaluations are due May 6th

ATTENTION CAREER IMMERSION STUDENTS!

Logs and evaluations are due THIS MONDAY, MAY 6th!!! 

If you have not already done so, please hand them into Sullivan Hall G-06.

If you need more time to complete your hours, EXTENSIONS will be given if you email us ASAP.

If you have any questions or concerns please email career.immersion@gmail.com

Career Immersion Coordinators

Incorporating Literacy Across the Curriculum

Literacy is extremely important. It's starting to find its way into every classroom no matter what the subject matter is. Whether you are a math, English, or art teacher, literacy must be incorporated into the classroom. The misconception is that Literacy is just reading, but it includes writing and speaking as well! The link below will lead you to an article that explains the three different components of literacy and gives a few examples of how to incorporate it into your future classroom.  

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance

Helping Students Choose Great Books

Students usually struggle with reading because they're not interested in the books we choose for them. The link below will lead you to a great article that features 5 tips to choosing a good book. These tips will help not only your students, but you as well. You can choose books that interest them, challenge them, and ultimately encourage them to read more. 

http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/school_stuff/find_book.html?tracking=CL05142010ClassroomTab

Holiday Book Selection: Earth Day

EARTH DAY BOOKS

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Wind

TITLE: Where does the Wind Blow? By: Cynthia A. Rink

SUMMARY: Feel the wind blowing gently across your face. Watch it ripple the grasses, sway the branches, and push the clouds across the sky. Where does it come from? Where does it go? The author wrote this story when her young son lived half way around the world. It is a reminder that some experiences still link us, regardless of distance. The wind is something that connects all of us on this planet we call home.

AGE: 4 and up

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Ocean/fish

A) TITLE: The Rainbow Fish By: Marcus Pfister (board book)

SUMMARY: A beautiful fish finds friendship and happiness when he learns to share.

AGE: 2 and up

B) TITLE: Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea By: Jan Peck

SUMMARY: A little boy describes his adventure into the deep blue sea. He discovers many creatures throughout his adventure.

AGE: 3 and up

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Insects

TITLE: On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects By: Tish Rabe

SUMMARY: This book features many facts about different insects and shows kids the ways that bugs bother and make life better for us.

AGE: 4 and up

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Birds

TITLE: Riki's Birdhouse By: Monica Wellington

SUMMARY: A young boy, Riki, attracts birds to his backyard by building a birdhouse, putting out bird food, and more.

AGE: 3-5 yrs old

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Rocks

TITLE: If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet By: Leslie Mcquirk

SUMMARY: Shows rocks of all different shapes of sizes while going through the alphabet.

AGE: Preschool-Kg

______________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Growing a seed

A) TITLE: How a Seed Grows (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) By: Helene J. Jordan

B) TITLE: From Seed to Plant By: Gail Gibbons

SUMMARY: Both books show students how a seed grows into a plant.

AGE: Preschool-Kg

IEP WORKSHOP

ATTENTION SOE STUDENTS!

The Career Immersion Program has scheduled an IEP Workshop with Professor Bonnie DiFolco. Whether or not you are studying to work in the Special Education field, this seminar will be helpful for all future teachers. Throughout the City, there are a lot more CTT and Inclusion classrooms and it is always good to have background knowledge that can help you meet the needs of all your students.      

IEP WORKSHOP:

APRIL 8TH, 2013

COMMON HOUR, 1:50PM-3:15PM

DAC, ROOM 306

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at career.immersion@gmail.com

 

 

Have a wonderful Day!

Career Immersion Coordinators 

Elementary and Middle School Worksheets for Writing

ATTENTION STUDENTS: 

WRITING PROMPTS

In every grade, students are hesitant to write and as a teacher it is our job to make it more appealing to the students. The links below are filled with writing prompts and worksheets with the appropriate grade levels. This will be an extremely helpful resource for you in the future so take advantage of it. Encourage students to become creative with their writing by starting off with a creative and interesting topic         

Elementary Writing Prompts: http://www.k12reader.com/subject/writing-prompts/

Middle School Writing Prompts: ://my.hrw.com/support/hos/hostpdf/hostmsprompts.pdf

Down Syndrome

Tips for Teaching Students

with Down Syndrome

1) Have high expectations for the student. Be enthusiastic and encouraging.

2) When planning a student's instructional program, be guided by the student's individual ability and needs, and not the label of Down syndrome.

3) If the student is highly distractible, seat the student away from windows and doors to minimize distractions in the environment.

4) Small group instruction may be more beneficial to the student than whole class instruction. Try to also set aside some time for one-on-one instruction.

5) Model the task and give the student many opportunities to perform it. Break down tasks into smaller sequenced steps.

6) Ask the student to repeat or rephrase instructions. Ask the student specific step-by-step question to make sure the student has understood the instructions given.

7) Set aside time for frequent review and practice of tasks.

8) Allow the student adequate response time.

9) Provide consistent positive reinforcement immediately after the student produces a correct response.

10) If the student makes a mistake, do not say "that’s wrong." Ask the student to try again, or provide the correct response and require the student to repeat the correct response immediately. Immediate corrective feedback is more effective than delayed.

11) Give clear signals about the end of one activity and the beginning of the next. Use picture cues or audio cues with young children. For example, use picture symbols representing activities or sing a certain song before a specific activity.

12) Present only a few stimuli or objects at a time. For example, if you are using worksheets, create worksheets that to not have too many pictures or sentences with complicated wording. Highlight or print key words in bold.

13) Use concrete objects/manipulative along with verbal explanations. For example, while teaching counting use manipulatives that are alike in shape, size and color, so that the student concentrates on counting, rather than being distracted by shapes, etc.

14) Be flexible with attaining educational goals. For example, if the student has difficulty writing with a pencil, teach the student to write using a computer.

This information was taken from the Down Syndrome- Aim High Resource Center

For more information, visit the site: http://www.aim-high.org/professional-resources/educators/item/41-tips-for-teaching-students-with-down-syndrome

Reader's Notebook

ATTENTION: GREAT RESOURCE FOR ANY TEACHER!

READER'S NOTEBOOK: The Reader's Workshop is an approach that we learn about in EDU 1004 and other EDU courses as well. This is a great, interesting way to incorporate it into your classroom. On the website below, you will be able to download all of the resources to put into a binder. In your classroom, each student would have their own binder so this will teach them responsibility and organization skills as well, which is great! I hope you will all read this and possibly use it in your future classroom. 

  

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top_teaching/2009/11/readers-notebook

TIPS FOR TEACHING STUDENTS WITH ADHD

It is frustrating when a child won't listen or pay attention and is having difficulty writing, completing assignments, or sitting still every day. However, in most cases, it is inevitable that all of us will experience having a student with ADHD in our classroom. Here are some suggestions to help you accommodate the special needs of those children.


TIPS:

1. Distractions: In order to keep the student on task, it is better to seat him/her near the teacher and away from doors and windows. This helps the student stay focused on the teacher.

2. Tape assignments: Kids with ADHD tend to have trouble remembering spoken instructions and feedback immediately so it is important to tape them so if they forget, they just have to play the tape and listen to them again.

3. Note-taking partner: ADHD-related handwriting problems can make it hard to keep up when taking notes. By providing the student with a partner, they can share notes and the partner can explain them if it is confusing.

4. Giving a lighter workload: This is appropriate for children with ADHD who struggle to get their class work or homework done. The questions are just as hard - there are just fewer of them. Academic assignments should be brief! Longer projects should be broken up into manageable parts.

5. Extra time for test taking: The idea is not to make the exam easier for the child but to level the playing field, by providing sufficient time for the child to show what he/she knows.

6. Run errands for the teacher: It is great to send students with ADHD on simple errands because it can help hyperactive kids burn off some energy.

7. Time limits for task completion: Time limits should be specified and can be enforced with timers.

8. Scheduling: On-task behavior of students with ADHD progressively worsens over the course of the day, it is suggested that academic instruction be provided in the morning. During the after-noon, schedule more active, nonacademic activities.

9. Manipulatives: Presentation of material should include increased stimulation such as different colors, shapes, and textures. These will reduce activity level, enhance attention and improve overall performance.

10. Instructions: Students with ADHD have difficulty following multi-step directions, it is important for instruction to be short, specific and direct. Repeat directions frequently.

11. Productive physical movement: As we all know, students with ADHD may have difficulty sitting still. Productive physical movement should be planned. It is appropriate to allow the student with ADHD opportunities for controlled movement and to develop a repertoire of physical activities for the entire class such as stretch breaks. Other examples might include a trip to the office, a chance to sharpen a pencil, taking a note to another teacher, watering the plants, feeding classroom pets, or simply standing at a desk while completing classwork. Alternating seatwork activities such as rotating stations will also be productive. It is also important to keep in mind that on some days it will be more difficult for the student to sit still than on others. 

Games to Practice Vocab Comprehension

Games are a great way for students to practice and comprehend what we are teaching them. I encourage you to take a look at some of these games pertaining to vocabulary comprehension. Vocabulary practice can often be tedious and time consuming. If we just give the students the words with the definitions and quiz them, we won’t get long-lasting results. With games, students will be able to practice using, identifying, and learning vocabulary in a fun and interesting way. These games could be used for Literacy development or in a Special Education environment. The rules can be changed to meet the needs of your students. It’s always good to have games handy for your classroom.

Enjoy and have a wonderful Spring break!!

GAMES TO PRACTICE VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM

1) VOCAB BINGO:

The students place words in a grid (ie: Tic Tac Toe) of 9 or 16 and I then say the definition of the posted words. The first student (students) to get the words across, down or diagonally, to stand and say BINGO, would have to state the word and its meaning. Winners got tickets to use towards less homework, candy treats, ice cream, free book, etc.

2) BLUFF: 

Students are divided into two teams. A word would be defined. Those that know the answer stand. Those that don't and wish to "bluff" the answer can stand, too. A student is called on to give the definition. If correct, the number of points of students standing is awarded (or deducted if the person called doesn't know the answer).

3) BACK WORDS: 

A vocab term is placed on the back of each student. They then circulate around the room asking YES or NO questions of others to "guess" the word on their back.

4) MATCHING GAME: 

Small groups are given a list of vocab words and a list of meanings. The students shuffle the words on a desk face down and then take turns trying to match the word and its definition.

5) DRAW A WORD:

Students use a word, ie: Open door policy when studying China and try to illustrate the word with a picture. This is kind of like charades or the popular app Draw Something.

6) CAMPFIRE:

*(Create whole sheets, different colors, with the definitions and answers in parenthesis at bottom.) Teams of 4 or 5 would gather around a "campfire" (a box with red fire drawn on outside) and would divide up their set of definitions. In turns, they would say their word and the definition and make sure everyone knows their word. Everyone MUST know the word before it could be balled up and tossed into the "fire.” Once they all knew their sets of words and definitions, they would move to another fireside with the same words, but with different wording of definitions, and the third time it would be the same definitions and words on different colors of paper. This is effective because the students are working together and practicing the words at least three times. By mixing up the paper and the definitions, the students will learn to recognize words even if the definition is different from the specific way it is written in the dictionary.

7) DICTIONARY GAME:

The teacher selects a word from the dictionary that students are sure not to know. On slips of paper, students write what they think is the definition of the word. The teacher writes the real definition on a slip, and then mixes up all the slips. After reading and talking about all the definitions, students guess which ones they think are correct. Students get a point for guessing the correct definition, and also get a point if someone else picked the definition they wrote.

8) BUILD A STORY: 

Hand out a list of the current week’s vocabulary words to each student. The only rule is that the vocabulary words must be used correctly. The first student can say one to three sentences to set up the story, using the first word on the list in one of those sentences. The next student adds to the story in one to three sentences, using the next word on the list, and so on. This encourages student interaction, practice with writing, and practice with vocabulary comprehension.

Make Note of the Upcoming Events for Career Immersion

Career Immersion

Program

Event Calendar

Event	Date & Time	Location
Movie Matinee (Emma’s Gifts)	Feb 7th Common Hour (1:50PM-3:15PM)	Pacini Room
Polar Plunge	March 2nd 9:00AM-12:00PM	North Hempstead Beach
Movie Night (Monica and David)	March 11th 5:00PM-6:00PM	Pacini Room
Reflection #1	March 21st Common Hour (1:50PM-3:15PM)	Pacini Room
IEP Workshop/Seminar w/ Bonny DiFalco	April 8th (1:50PM-3:15PM)	TBA
Reflection #2	April 29th Common Hour (1:50PM-3:15PM)	Pacini Room

Volunteers Needed for CIP!!

Hello Students,

First and foremost, The Career Immersion Coordinators would like to wish you a Happy New Year!

We understand that some of you had concerns about completing all of your hours. This semester, we are offering a convenient way to obtain hours that will count towards your log sheet!!

We are looking for anyone who is interested in volunteering as a coordinator for the Career Immersion Program.

Please contact us at career.immersion@gmail.com if you are interested. 

Career Immersion Coordinators