Meet Children's Book Author, Jennifer Maschari

Image courtesy of Open Image Studio

The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price by Jennifer Maschari  

Ever since twelve-year-old Charlie Price’s mom died, he feels like his world had been split into two parts. Before included stargazing and Mathletes and Saturday scavenger hunts with his family. After means a dad who’s completely checked out, comically bad dinners, and a grief group that’s anything but helpful. It seems like losing Mom meant losing everything else he loved, too.

Maschari's first book, "The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price" is a suspenseful, amazing journey about finding the balance between remembering and moving on. It is a combination of fantasy and realistic fiction that pulls in all readers, but rings especially true for those children who find themselves in the same situation. 


If you have been looking for an author to Skype with, you can't do better than Jennifer Maschari! She offers a FREE 20 minute Skype session to classrooms, after school clubs, Girl and Boy scout troops, and book groups. If you are interested, click on this link to reach her blog and get all of the information you need: http://jenmaschari.com


The idea for the book came from her own experience. When she was in fourth grade her father became ill and passed away when she was 16. Her experience working through grief gives the book its authentic feel.

Students will be very interested in the editing and revising process authors go through. Her book went through many drafts. Maschari says that she found the job of the copy editor very interesting. It is the copy editor's job to sort through all of the little details, and make sure everything makes sense. She reports that the copy editor pointed out that Charlie had on three different outfits during one short period of time, so that had to be corrected. The copy editor also checks details like the time it takes to go from one place to another, and grammar.  Maschari is currently working on her second book, and has already rewritten all of it expect 12 pages. Revising is not easy! That book will be out sometime in 2017.

Jennifer Maschari started writing when she was four years old. The first book she remembers writing was based on the book "Corduroy" She remembers that her mother put plastic wrap around the first and last pages, so it looked like a book. She continued writing in elementary school. She wrote poems in the style of Shel Silverstein, and lots of stories. She has one book that she wrote, but has not been published that I personally have read. It's hilarious, and one I hope will be published at some point.

For those teachers who have their own book they would like to publish, Jen reports that the most important factor in getting published for her was joining an on-line writer's class through Media Bistro. It helped her become a better writer, and helped her make important connections. She also suggests reading lots of current children's books to see what is going on in publishing. She says that it is important to focus on improvig your craft.

If you have read "The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price" be sure to leave a comment below! It is remarkable indeed!

Rounding Freebies, plus Links and Games!!

Here I am in Ohio in April looking at snow.  Sigh.  I decided to cheer myself up by making a couple of buggy rounding printables that kids will really enjoy. The first one is for tenths and hundredths, the second is for hundredths and thousandths. Both include a grading key...it saves valuable time when grading! Students can color the pictures once they have finished answering the questions. Thanks to Ron Leishman for the terrific clip art! Now, if we can only get a few real bugs here in Ohio, I will not complain!! Just click on the link below the printables.

Click Here for Freebies

Games are always a fun way to reinforce rounding skills. Here are a few of my favorites!

This site has a number of fun rounding games for third and fourth grade, correlated to the Common Core!

Click Here

This fun games is correlated to the Common Core for third, fourth and fifth!

Click Here

LOVE this one because you can choose to use decimals or not!

Click Here

Hope these resources are helpful! Rounding takes a lot of practice, might as well make it fun!

Need a great rounding resource that your kids will love? Check out: 

Follow me on Pinterest to get LOTS of great ideas and freebies! https://www.pinterest.com/janbernard10/

25 Way to Use Newspapers to Teach Informational Text!

Newspapers can be a HUGE asset to teachers as an informational text teaching tool.

Why are they helpful?

1. Students who regularly read the newspaper show greater interest in local, state and national affairs.

2. Students who read the newspaper in school have less trouble reading it on their own, and have a more positive attitude towards the newspaper.

3. People who read newspapers regularly are more likely to become regular voters.

4. Reading the newspaper helps to raise reading scores according to research done by Dr. Dan Sullivan of the University of Minnesota.

5. Newspapers are more timely than text books

6. Newspapers are models for clear and concise writing.

7. There's something for everyone in a newspaper

Here are just a few of the ways to use newspaper to teach informational text!

1. Choose one main article and copy it for the class. Discuss the lead sentence. That is the "Hook" to get readers to continue reading the article. How does the lead sentence in this article grab the reader's attention? How would students make it better?

2, Discuss the 5 w's used in newspaper writing. (who, what, when where, why).  Go through one article and point out how each of these questions is answered. Ask students to write their own article following the 5 w's about something going on in school.

3. Get into groups of three. Ask them to skim a newspaper section within a specific period of time, then do a short report about what is in the news today.

4. Writer a letter to the editor on an item of interest.

5. Cut out pictures from a newspaper and ask students to write a story to go with the picture in the form of a newspaper article. What happened just before the picture was taken?

6. Ask students to write a new headline for an article of interest.

7. Look for articles that show the different types of writing (narrative, persuasive, expository). Write each heading on the board. Cut out articles and put on the board under each heading. 

8. Group students into groups of two or three. Ask students to take 10 to 15 minutes to make up a ten question quiz on a newspaper article. Ask them to focus on who, what, when, where, why. Swap quiz with another group to answer. Discuss what makes a good question.

9. Ask students to take a particular article and make a list of key vocabulary words used in the section. Ask them to then write a defition for each of these words, and draw a small picture to illustrate it. 

10. Ask students to cirlce all of the store ads in a section of the newspaper. Ask students to discuss what makes an appealing advertisement, and what does not. Ask students to explain what text features in the add were especially appealing, and made them take interest in the add. Ask students to create their own that will be appealing to readers.

11. Ask students to read the pets section of the classified ads. Which add makes them want to see the pet, and maybe adopt or buy it? Ask students to pretend they work at the local pet store. Their job is to write an add of their own selling a pet at the local pet shop. 

12. Assign students a particular article from the newspaper. Asks them to do a mind map of the article on a piece of paper. Draw a rectange in the middle of the paper, then write the main idea in that rectangle. In circles around the rectangel, write supporting details that support the main idea. 

13.  Use the site: AllYouCanRead.com to choose and print an article from any country in the world on any subject! Compare how the article compares with the local newspaper.

14. Keep an eye out for articles in your local newspaper that may be of interest to your students. Bring them in and read to students, then discuss, or write a short paragraph to summarize the article.

15. Ask students to skim articles in the main section of the paper. Newspaper editors must decide which article is worthy of being their lead front page article. Ask students if they agree with the editor's choice. Why? What other article might deserve to be the headline article instead?

16. Use the newspaper to compare your own weather to that in other parts of the country. Discuss the map features used that help in understanding the information. 

17.  Choose an article that students may not be too familiar with. Do a K-W-L chart with students. First show the article, discuss the headline. Then ask students to write under the "K" what they already know about this subject. Then under the "W" what they want to know, then read the article and under the "L" write what they learned.

18. Teacher chooses an interesting article for students, reads it to them as they draw a picture of what the article causes them to visualize. After sharing pictures, discuss the word choice in the article that prompted pictures to be drawn in such a way. Add a caption to the picture to explain what it is about.

19.  Ask students to find one word for which they do not know the meaning in a newspaper article. Ask students to figure out the meaning by using context. Share definitions.

20. As a homework assignment, ask students to read an article in the paper or online at home. Draw a picture to summarize the article, and write a two sentence summary.

21. Do a short research paper on one person discussed in the news.

22. Look at the opinion section of the newspaper. Underline facts, and circle opinions.

23. For a center, cut out about 10 headlines, and the ten articles that go with them. Students must match the headlines to the article.

24. Make a list of ten questions and pass out to groups of students. Post the different articles the questions come from around the room. It is best to put them on construction paper so they are obvious. Students go around the room reading the articles, then answer the questions on their paper. 

25. This is easiest as a center: Give students a number of old newspapers. Then give them a page with the following things to look for: some good news, some news about a different country, some bad news, something about a famous person in politics, news about a Hollywood star, news about a sport. Students write a short sentence about what they found, and give the date of the newspaper it was found in. 

Tips for using the newspaper in your classroom:

Before starting explain how each section of the paper works, and what the focus is for the section.

Look for vocabualry words that could cause difficulty, and go over 3-5 of them that students will see.

Give kids time to do the reading.

Use one section at a time. Too much is well, too much!

Newspapers can be cut-up, marked on, whatever is needed...kids love that!

Hope you enjoy using those newspapers! If you have any other suggestions that you have used in your classroom, please add it below!

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How Do You Create Decimal Super Heroes?

Decimals can often be one skill that makes a lot of  kids cringe. Teaching it sometimes made me cringe too. It seems like they just "get" fractions, then I would need to throw decimals at them. I'm not gonna lie! When it was time to teach decimals, I heaved a heavy sigh.  So, the hunt was on to make it more understandable to all the kids, and more fun for me to teach. What I was looking for was "Pizazz" to give life to my lessons.

It starts with a "Hook".  

I think some of the lessons on-line are pretty darn awesome. They need to be well under ten minutes and to the point to use them as the "hook" for the lesson. What I've found, it a good hook makes all the difference. It wakes everyone up and makes them ready to learn. Check out the ones below:

This is a great one!  It's a freebie from Brainpop!

Reading decimals can get a little tricky. This video is clear, and easy to understand. It is almost seven minutes, but it's worth it. 

To include with your lesson on putting decimals on a number line, don't miss this one! It's fun, and to the point.

          

Some Interesting Lesson plans...We don't always have to reinvent the wheel!

One of my favorite lessons for when it is time to teach how to write a decimal from a fraction, is called "Decimals, Fractions, and Percentages" by Math is Fun. The pictures are very good, and it breaks everything down in easy-to-understand pieces.

Click Here

Be sure to check out the lesson "Rockin' Fractions" if you teach 4th or 5th grade. It is a song plus lesson plan for teaching decimals. Includes worksheets and more.

Education World's "Rockin' Fractions"

When you want a great, easy and fun game to reinforce the concepts, try Decimal War! It can be adapted for any grade teaching decimals. It's a fun activity to either add at the end of a lesson, or even use for game-day. 

Decimal War

I found a few pre-made worksheets that might be helpful.

This site has amazing worksheets for all areas of decimals. Each download includes the grading key.

This site is a treasure!

Click here

This site has a lot of short little practice sheets. Nice and short. Great for a quick check. They start easy and get harder. Great for differentiation.

Click here

One last one that is pretty nice.

Click here

The next step is LOTS of fun practice. Worksheets have their place, but fun learning is learning that lasts!

Fruit splat is like Fruit Ninja and is sure to be a kid-favorite!
LOVE that it has five levels of difficulty. Good for 3rd through 5th grade!

Click Here

This game site has great games for review, plus this game on converting fractions to decimals, don't miss this fun site!

Click here

Now for the great review game! This is a Jeopardy game on decimals, fractions and percents that the whole class can play in teams.

Click here

Kids will love this one! They can play on their own, but are playing against other online players. It's called "Puppy Race".

Click Here

Don't miss this book for teaching fraction, decimals and percents! Get it at your local library, or ask your librarian to order it. 

I hope the lessons, ideas, worksheets and games are just what you need to round out your decimal lessons. After all, decimal Super Heroes don't just happen, sometimes it takes a little "Pizazz"!  If you have more ideas for other teachers, please add them below!

Do you need a fun game to help your students practice those tricky decimals?  Check out: 

For more ideas and freebies, follow me on Pinterest at: https://www.pinterest.com/janbernard10/

Why Reader's Theater Works!

Reader's theater is a little like magic!  It can make even the most reluctant readers come alive. What about that student who hates to read orally?  Well, reader's theater can turn them into a real ham.  Actually, if you're looking for a way to get kids to read aloud, improve expression, grow fluency, and just plain have fun reading, you can't do better than reader's theater!

Why does reader's theater work so well?

1. First of all reader's theater is all about active involvement. You can't just sit or stand there letting the rest of the group do the work when you have a script in your hands. Your turn is going to come!

2.  Reader's theater combines practice with performing.  In short, it makes reading practice fun.

3.  Since there is usually very little in the way of props, the impromptu nature of reader's theater makes it seem less intimidating.  Find a spot in the classroom to be the "stage", hand kids the script, assign parts and off you go!

4.  Reader's theater helps to develop a sense of community in the classroom.

5. Reader's theater gives kids a real reason to read. This is particularly important for reluctant readers!

What to do?

a.  Find scripts that gives each speaker a few lines. Avoid scripts that give one or two speakers most of the lines to read. That makes everyone else wait too long to read.  Find good scripts that are fun to do. A boring script is no better than a boring book.

b.  Allow students to practice their parts so they feel comfortable. This is not memorization, just practice getting the words right.

c.  Encourage students to act out the part

d. Give kids the opportunity to love the story. Allow them to act it out many times. Too often our students are assigned a story, then move on to the next. With reader's theater, they live the story. Every time they act it out, they get more reading practice. Rereading is key to reading fluency!

e. Always go through the script at least twice. The first time there will be mistakes. Explain that the first reading is like rehearsal.  Mistakes? No biggie!

f.  Reader's theater works best in small groups. It's less intimidating. If the group gets really good, and wants to preform for the class, that's great.

g. When you first start reader's theater, be sure to find short, easy scripts with high interest. The first time can be a bit intimidating. Make it fun by making it easy.

With that...how about some great FREE links to reader's theater scripts! Enjoy!!

1. Education World  Scroll down the page to find a list of LOTS of script links that include new takes on old tales, holidays and many more.

2. Dr. Chase Young  TONS of scripts in alphabetical order with the number of parts in parenthesis.

3.  Reader's Theater Scripts and Plays  Lots and lots of great storys, includes a section on tips, evaluation and more.

4.  Reader's Theater Editions  Each scripts gives a short synopsis, the number of readers, age, and approximate length of time to do. There are special features available for some scripts that include color posters, and more. Most scripts are based on books or traditional stories.

5. Readeer's Theater  This site has information on how to do reader's theater with lots of great helpful tips, then goes into great readers theater scripts, most based on books.

6. Whootie Owl's Reader's Theatre Scripts  This site gives the number of roles. I like it because all of the scripts are classic stories/folktales from other countries.

7. Zoom Playhouse  This site has some great scripts, to get the printable version look on the upper left hand side.

6 No-Fail Lessons to Teach Students How to Write Fantasy

Kids love fantasy! So do I! I'm a big urban myth fan myself. But if you ask those same kids to write a fantasy story, they don't know where to begin. Oh yea, it all starts with excitement, but goes quickly downhill into the land of  frustration.  If there isn't an intervention, that student (who could be the next Jim Butcher or J.K. Rowling) never gets the courage to tackle fantasy again. So, my strategy is to take the genre students love, and use the writing process as a scaffold to teach them how to build a good fantacy story. Writing a good fantasy story is like writing any good story. It must have good characters, a plot that makes sense and be entertaining. But fantasy takes even more thought and planning. That really puts an emphasis on the prewriting stage. In my experience, that's the stage most kids want to skip over, or give very little thought to. That's not possible with fantasy!

My favorite way to teach fantasy is in a series of high interest lessons. After 6 short pre-writing  lessons, students are not only proficient in fantasy, but have everything they need to write their own fantasy story!

Over the six days of lessons, students should keep each assignment in a writing notebook, folder, or some other way to keep them handy. Students will be referring back to previous lessons often and building upon them.

Hook: Show this clip from Harry Potter: Harry's First Quidditch Match
Discuss how Harry's world is different from our world. Is there magic? How would you describe the world of Harry Potter? Does the magic have limits? How would you describe the characters in this clip? End by telling students that the Harry Potter books and movies are examples of fantasy. Like all genres, fantasy has certain elements. That's what they are going to learn about over the next few days, and even get the opportunity to write their own fantasy story.

Lesson One: Create a Magical World

1. First we brainstorm elements of magical worlds that the students have seen on TV, movies or read about.
2. List on the board what the world looked like, who lived there and how it was different from the real world.
3. Discuss the rules of magic found, what the limits of that magic was. All magic has limits! Without limits, the story ends before it starts.  An all-powerful wizard fixes all problems. Story over.
4. Next, students write three paragraphs about their own magical word. One paragraph is what it looks like, the second is about the characters that live there, the third is about the magic found there, or how it is different from the real world.
5. Students might enjoy drawing a map of their world if time allows.

Lesson Two: Describing the Magical World

1. Explain that the reason people love reading fantasy is that the writer gives details that help the reader feel like he/she is a part of the story. Fantasy is rich in details.
2. Pass out a number of fantasy books/stories (see the list below) and ask students to partner up and find one really good description of the magical world. Share each description with the class and discuss what makes the descriptions work in the story.
3. Individually, ask students to write one paragraph to describe a small aspect of the magical world from lesson one. Remind students that there should be enough detail in their paragraph  to make the reader feel like he/she can see, hear, and feel what it is like to be there. Note: this paragraph should focus on one particular aspect in the magical world, for example the trees, the clouds, the buildings etc. This will help students write about a small idea well, rather than a big idea badly. It is only one paragraph.

Lesson Three: The Characters

1. Choose a story/book or movie (Harry Potter, Frozen, Alice in Wonderland etc.)
As a class, write a list of the main characters from one or more stories/books/movies. Then list characteristics of each one. What is their strength, weakness, etc. Is this character the hero, villian, sidekick?
2. Next ask students to list three characters that would appear in their magical world from lesson one and two. Under each name, draw a picture and give at least three characteristics. Note: Students often enjoy being creative with names. For example Harold O. Gar might be the name of an ogre.

Lesson Four: The Hero's Quest

1. As a group, list all of the fantasy books/stories/movies the class can brainstorm on the board.
2. Under each write what the hero was required to do. (Lord of the Rings, destroy the ring,  Harry Potter, defeat Voldemort, Alice in Wonderland, get back to her own land etc.)
3. Ask students to go back to the sheet from yesterday with the three characters, and under the hero write his quest.

Lesson Five: Magic

1. The magic in a fantasy story needs to be believable. This is done by giving magic limits. Without limits, the story is over before it begins. Will there be magical objects, animals, people? As a group, think about the stories discussed in earlier lessons, What was the magic? Were there magical objects? Could people or animals do magic?
2. Ask students to decide the magic in their magical land. What are the limits of that magic? Ask students to write a paragraph or two about the magic in their land.

Lesson Six: The Hook

1. Grabbing a reader is the number one task of any writer. Read the first paragaph of a number of fantasy stories.
2. Discuss with the class what makes that first paragraph a great hook (or not). Did that first paragraph throw the reader into the action? Is it a set-up for strange things to come? etc.
3. Next ask students to write the first paragraph of a fantasy story using the magical world that they have created in the last five lessons.

Time to Write!

Prewriting and planning are finsihed at this point. The next step is to set students loose to create their own fantasy stories using the sections they have already created and thought through. When the story is finished, ask students to get with a buddy and read the story aloud. Discuss revisions and changes needed to make the story more clear and flow better. Next ask students to edit their own work, then get with a buddy and edit each other's work.

My favorite part of writing is the publishing process. Kids love the opportunity to draw pictures and turn their work into a real book. There are many ways for kids to make their own books. Check out the site below for a great idea.

The most simple idea is to ask students to draw and color a cover, and important pictures that will help their reader understand the text better. Staple when finished. Simple, but it works.


If you have a great site for book making please note in in the comments section below. There's a lot of good ones out there!

Fantasy books for upper elementary:

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
A wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
James and the Giant Peach by Rohald Dalh
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Septimus Heap by Angie Sage and Mark Zugy
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
So you want to be a wizard? by Diane Duane
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Rohald Dalh
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Fantasy Story Starters

Fantasy story starters really ignite the imagination. They are great to use during the days you are teaching the six lessons, maybe as morning work, or homework. 

Write an email to a dragon
Write a help wanted sign for a village that needs a hero to rid them of the Ogre.
Write a story about how your fairy godmother became the queen of the fairies.
You find an egg at the beach. It looks like a dragon egg.
Write a journal entry from a fairy who can't learn to fly.
Harriet receives a shinny stone in the mail with a note that says, "polish me".
Cathy looked carefully at the snowglobe, She was sure the people were moving.
Pete touched the mirror carefully, but his hand went through, and seemed to disappear.
The egg I found started to hatch. Why does it look so much like a dragon?
The man at the door smiled at me. "Do you know you are a wizard?" he said.

If you would like to read my other post that focuses on using magic in writing, check out:  

Click Here

If you are looking for just the right resource to help you test and evaluate your students' writing using Common Core Standards, check out: 

Making Simple Machines Simple

Kids love learning how things work! That means the simple machines unit is perfect for them. The best thing about it is, they have to use reading, often math, and critical thinking skills as they learn about each of the six simple machines. 

What are the simple machines?

1.  Pulley

2.  Lever

3.  Wedge

4.  Wheel and Axle

5.  Inclined Plane

6.  Screw

A great way to introduce simple machines is through great teaching web-sites and then lots of hands-on activities.  Here are a few of my favorites sites:

Ed Helper

This site has tons of worksheets, reading material for kids about simple machines.

Simple Machines from COSI

You can NOT do better than COSI for simple machines. This is a great site for kids to use to learn how each of the machines work. It's perfect for getting them ready to make their own machines!

Click Here

Neo k12  Simple Machines

14 short videos that are really good are on this site!

Click Here

From Super Teacheer Worksheets

You can get this free mini-book. For most things on this site (and there are tons) you need to be a member, but the mini-book is free.

Click Here

Explorit

This is a real find! It's an entire teaching unit with everything you need, plus investigations kids can do to learn about simple machines. Don't miss this one! 

Click Here

Aspire

This is a terrific site for kids to explor how simple machines work, with teacher lesson plans.

Click Here

I'd like to give a shout-out to a STEAM Club member who sent me some GREAT links you are sure to LOVE!  Enjoy, and many thanks to a fellow science nerd!!!!

If you want to see the simple machines that help your car run, don't miss this site!

Teachers!  Don't miss this great site filled with worksheets, games and activities!

If you want to see a great video on simple machines, don't miss this one!

If you need resources to teach your simple machine unit, don't miss these task card and PowerPoint resources in my store:

I hope these sites help out with lesson plans, computer activities and hands-on activities! Enjoy!!

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