There are many ways to teach the alphabet and all Teachers develop their own style over time. For those new at teaching the alphabet here is a basic outline of steps you can follow when introducing a new letter:
1. Hold up an alphabet letter flashcard so all Students can see it.
2. Chorus the letter 3 to 5 times. Then ask each Student individually to say the name of the letter.
3. Teach the sound of the letter (e.g. "B" says /b/ /b/ /b/) along with a hand gesture (for the letter “B” the hand signal is your hand bouncing a ball). Chorus again and check individually.
4. Provide an example of an object that begins with the letter. Flashcards with the letter and a picture are great for this.
5. Do a final check (T: "What is the name of the letter?” S: "B", T: "What is the sound?” S: "/b/", T: "And '/b/' is for...?" S: "Ball!"). Repeat until it is firm.
The ABC song is a nice way to start and finish the alphabet segment of your lesson.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tesselations
Bees provide an excellent opportunity to see math in the "real-world". Bee hives are an example of a transformation using hexagons.
Do you know which type of transformation is shown in the picture?
Do you know which type of transformation is shown in the picture?
Have you ever created a tessellation? What types of shapes allow themselves to be tessellated?
Kari
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Structure of a Bee Hive
Domestic or urban bee keeping is growing in popularity around in around the world. Some experts claim that domestic bee keeping is an effective strategy to counter the 'colony collapse disorder' witnessed in many bee populations around the world.
My father became a bee keeper several years ago. He now has four hives in Orem, Utah and he keeps them in the backyard. He started out with one queen bee and her colony.
During the first summer, his first colony 'swarmed' and created another queen bee. Each passing summer, the colonies may swarm and create a new queen. The new queens cannot live in the same hive as the existing queens and their respective colonies. So, my father has to build separate 'boxes' or hives. If my dad does not build new, empty bee hives, before a colony swarms, the new queens will fly away and find a tree or man-made structure to make a typical looking hive (like the kind Winnie the Pooh looks for to eat honey).
Aaron
My father became a bee keeper several years ago. He now has four hives in Orem, Utah and he keeps them in the backyard. He started out with one queen bee and her colony.
During the first summer, his first colony 'swarmed' and created another queen bee. Each passing summer, the colonies may swarm and create a new queen. The new queens cannot live in the same hive as the existing queens and their respective colonies. So, my father has to build separate 'boxes' or hives. If my dad does not build new, empty bee hives, before a colony swarms, the new queens will fly away and find a tree or man-made structure to make a typical looking hive (like the kind Winnie the Pooh looks for to eat honey).
Aaron
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