ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative: Teach Mama Joins Us & More Special Announcements

Monday, March 22, 2010

Teach Mama Joins Us & More Special Announcements

Welcome! New to ABC and 123?
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Please help us in welcoming long time contributor and our friend Amy from Teach Mama! She joins us our first regular contributor and will be posting every other Monday as our Literacy Consultant!


I remember feeling completely stumped as a high school English teacher when a 9th--or 10th--grade student sat in my class, reading on a pre-primer or first-grade level. I had no idea what to do to get those kids on track. I could talk about diagramming sentences, teach them how to write an organized, well-supported thesis essay, or facilitate a great discussion on The Lord of the Flies or Romeo and Juliet. But if my students didn't read the text--or rather, couldn't read the text--what could I do?

This dilemma sent me back to graduate school to become a Reading Specialist, and in many ways, I'm glad it did. Although at this point, I cannot help those students who sat in my class unable to read, I am able to help my children, my friends' children, and many other children--and that's why I blog at teachmama.

I know what parents can do to help ready their children for reading, so why not share it? For me, the process of reading acquisition is fascinating, amazing, and incredible. And I know that there are tons of teeny-tiny, sneaky ways that parents can help with this process and support their children's education with games and hands-on learning. I'm doing a bunch of it already with my 6, 4, and 3-year-olds, and I'm sharing as I go.

Here is a sampling of what I do at teachmama:

Tic-Tac-Toe, Owen in a Row

Family Photos + Playing Cards = Three Games!

I'm more than excited to be a part of the ABC and 123 Learning Cooperative as the Literacy Consultant. I totally adore what the very talented Katies are doing over here, and I am grateful to be a part of their team.

As the Literacy Consultant, I plan to write about early literacy and reading-related topics, and I am happy to use my posts as a forum for answering any questions you might have. Please feel free to email me at teachmama@verizon.net and ask away! Just let me know you're coming from ABC and 123, and I will try my best to help.

Please join us in welcoming her! Amy, we are so glad to have you on board and can't wait for you to share your expertise with us all.
Join us at We Teach, the NING Group

Not only is Amy joining us at here on our blog but we are joining her at her NING group We Teach!!! We've even started our own group there, and we're so excited about the possibilities for this way of communicating with you! Please join us at We Teach and then don't forget to become a member of our group there so you can leave us comments and talk to each other.

This is a great way to communicate with others interested in the sharing of educational ideas and it's a fabulous way for nonbloggers to join in on the conversation. There are several different groups all divided by content area and you can share lessons or ask other members for help. It's a great way for you get help and ideas for specific areas, right away.
Introducing: Show & Tell Tuesday

The last announcement is that we're starting our own weekly blog hop! We know that our readers are always doing great lessons and we can't always get to them fast enough. Sometimes you do a great activity and want to show it off immediately. Now you won't have to wait for us to get to a content area that fits you latest and greatest. You can link it up each week!

We'd love to see your "Ah Ha Moments" with your kids, favorite lessons, experiments, learning games, field trips, whatever you're currently working on, and of course your child's fridge worthy artwork and their handmade gifts and cards for all the holidays! We think everyone will have a lot of fun visiting each other's blogs, getting to know each other, and being inspired.

Each week we'll randomly pick three people linked up to feature the following Tuesday.
Please plan to join us starting next week, when we'll also unveil our blog hop's link button.

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