Thank you teachers, from Hong Kong to Canada, from Texas to Alaska, for trusting us with your professional development days this summer. And what an amazing three days we had in Portland, Oregon looking at joyful writing-to-read strategies that accelerate literacy and allow us to reach the new high Common Core Standards which begin in kindergarten.
Attached you will find many links to complimentary resources that were referenced during our three seminar days and some of my reflections on our time together.
“Unbelievable, you have changed how I will teach…” |
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The scholarship award essays from new teachers and mentor teachers were delightful to read. “On Monday, I love how Aaron and Tauren bound through the door in the morning with a jubilant, ‘Buenos Dias maestro’ and a joy that cannot be contained.” So began Ana Buthe about her bilingual kindergarten at Barnes Elementary in Beaverton, Oregon. See entire essay.
This thought-provoking question gets to the heart and passion of the profession; consider addressing it as you develop your own philosophy statement.
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This popular book with CD included is now officially available directly from Amazon.com.
ABC wall charts and vertical and horizontal posters are also available. I will continue to provide parent letters, family wall charts, instructional videos and other complimentary resources online. Many teachers are connecting families with the free  ABC Phonics instructional videos even before school starts—how is that for a head start?!
Be looking for the updated ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign and Read! accelerated literacy teachers' guide in September. It will be a free e-book download. |
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By November our kindergartners will have a repertoire of beautiful song picture books that they can joyfully read at some level, from memory reading to independent reading with fluency. Then we will begin our “I Can Read and Sing” Book Club, sending 7”x10” versions of our favorite song picture books home for family literacy. Read our fall newsletters for more details. Visit our bookstore to see favorite
Read and Sing Books if you are not already familiar with them.
(available for distance-learning credit) are available to you through the end of September at half price ($50). This is the original program that features many of our Nellie Edge Read and Sing Big Books™ in sign language, including I Can Read Colors, I Love the Mountains, The Opposite Song, Magic Penny….and thirteen other titles. Magic of Signing Songs Volumes I and II are discounted for all of our friends! (
Participants of the summer seminar received Volume II on Day Three with Diane Larson.) See Online Bookstore
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This will make it easy for you to make your own class book simply by inserting pictures of your own students signing the Pledge. You can then print pages and slip them into clear plastic sleeves to create a beautiful book that will be treasured by your students all year. Enjoy, and consider making copies of your class The Pledge of Allegiance book as a gift to all of your families. Our favorite version of The Pledge of Allegiance
is the beautiful book available from scholastic: ISBN 0-439-39962-9. |
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Don’t miss the opportunity to be in Diane Bonica’s magical kindergarten classroom. There will be songs, inspiration, and many practical organizational and teaching strategies that will make your entire year more successful. Save $40 by registering before September 5th.
Your administrator may appreciate knowing that this is one of Oregon’s highest-achieving kindergartens with a strong parent-involvement program and sheltered English instruction. Our literacy manual (combined with the Diane Bonica website) provides a model of how one master Oregon teacher reaches high Common Core State Standards without compromising joy.
- Please note: We are no longer able to process purchase orders. All registrations are handled online using any major credit card. Your receipt and confirmation are automated.
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The first published version of Katie Nelson’s book, Excellence in Kindergarten Literacy: Joyful and Rigorous Learning Honors Childhood! is now available to you at our Online Bookstore. We will continue to add and enhance the book, but for those of you who don’t want to wait for her Monday, January 30, 2012 in-kindergarten workshop, you are welcome to order the book now. (This is an in-service day for our Salem-Keizer School District.)
Registration will open in November 2011. Please know that this book expands on the principles and strategies shared in Celebrate Language and Accelerate Literacy (updated August, 2011). |
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We have packaged together our Read and Sing Little Book masters and are making them available as sets at our Online Bookstore. We get so many calls and requests for these that we’ve asked our printers to package these separately. |
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I Can Read Colors was one of our first Read and Sing Big Books™. Many of our kindergarten friends begin the year with our I Can Read Colors Big Book. The little five-year old who sings the song on our Music is Magic CD is our youngest daughter Gina.
Daughters grow up… I thought you might enjoy hearing Gina again—this time finishing graduate school in music and songwriting in Bath, England. This music video was made for Mom and Dad back home. May it bring a smile!
http://www.youtube.com/Gina Edge - City of Light
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