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This popular paperback book is now available as an ebook for $3.99.See excerpts and endorsements.
Enjoy assonance in addition to action and rhyme in a try, try again tale for all ages.
These are some of the words describing the motion of the ocean's waves.
whirling, swirling, curling, twirling
splashing, crashing, dashing, thrashing.
Talk about how the pictures, color, and words help us think about the waves and about the white horses which the child
pretends to see. Ask which words sound most alike in the middle: curling and crashing or curling and
whirling. Ask them to think of more words which are alike in the middle or at the end.
Order the ebook for $3.99.
Order the paperback for $5.95 using a
Check or Purchase Order,
PayPal, or
Amazon.com.
Come! Catch a wave and ride the white horses of the sea!
Mr. Smith – Online at
Creek View Elementary School, Alpharetta, Georgia
This website is designed so that we can share what's happening in our classroom with our family and friends. As you explore our site, you can find our daily schedule, read about special events and learning that is taking place, tour our classroom, view cool projects, meet our teacher, and even watch our class movies. We hope that by visiting our classroom website, you will get a better idea of what we do each day. Enjoy your journey! (Third Grade, David Smith)
I wrote this book after meeting two educators who had successfully self-published their work. Their books were in many of the educational catalogs which were mailed to my office. I knew immediately that I would self-publish educational material. One of the many promotional suggestions was to teach a continuing education class on anything. For several semesters, I taught one about writing children's books and I created my own text. Resources and suggestions in the book can help you get your teaching ideas published!
What should I do about illustrations?
Should I self-publish?
How should I approach a publisher?
These questions and others are covered in my book, A Basic Guide to Writing, Selling, and Promoting Children's Books: Plus Information about Self-publishing. This was published in 2000. I have not updated it because my main focus is on my educational materials. It still has timeless tips about writing and about resources. It is now available only as an ebook from PayPal.
Order now for only $1.95.
See excerpts and reviews
Excerpts, Lessons, Endorsements Pre-primer through first grade Dolch words with English and Spanish on each page
Worksheet #1: Sheet to use for Writing Fables and
Worksheet #2: Free Fables
These are used with
Lesson Plan with Fables and Worksheets. The Lesson also has information to help with using the fables in A Funny Dolch Word Book #2 (with all of the second grade words) and A Funny Dolch Word Book #3 (with all of the third grade words).
See book excerpts.
Worksheet: Different Endings of Dolch Sight Words, Basic and Advanced
These worksheets are used with Albert, the Apple Eating Appaloosa (See book excerpts) and
Similarities - Differences Training Program.
Worksheet: Mind Your p's and q's
This worksheet is used with Lesson Plan: Letter and Word Reversal Correction
Worksheet: Right and Left Links
This worksheet is used with lesson plan, Right & Left Links (The memory strategy of making associations or links is used to remember right and left).
Worksheet: Dolch Nouns (Fill in the Blank)
This worksheet is used with Dolch Words: 95 Commonly used Nouns (Sentences and Stories).
 Order Paperback $6.49 or Ebook $4.49 Practice different endings of some sight words.
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 Order Paperback $5.95 or Ebook $3.99 Book #2 has all of the second grade Dolch sight words.
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Order Paperback $7.49 or Ebook $3.49 from the Learning Abilities Books Catalog.
Frances Strong, has retinitis pigmentosa. She is now almost completely blind. Her new book helps her granddaughter gain a better understanding of her world. Sally enjoys Grandma's recognition of things by smell, sound, and touch. The highlight of Sally's helpfulness is her plan to teach Grandma how to use the computer which the family gave her for Christmas. Grandma's computer has the same software which Frances uses.
Review by Laurie David, special education teacher in SC
This story is one of compassion and kindness. Learning to adapt to life's challenges and accept individual differences remains a theme throughout.
Please visit her website.
A Lucky Pair is a children's book about a horse she rescued when her sight was somewhat limited. Beth's Fella tells of development of her visual impairment from age 12 - 45 during the 33 years her horse, Fella, lived. She also wrote an entertaining story about a cat, Pat the Cat.
Why are these puzzles in lower case letters? Beginning readers and struggling readers benefit most from word recognition exercises using lower case letters because most writing is done with lower case letters. We should avoid puzzles which use only capital letters.
Many children have difficulty remembering to read from left to right and from top to bottom. Word search puzzles which do not follow this pattern can mislead beginning readers and children who tend to write and read words backward. If your children need help remembering right and left, use the Right and Left Links lesson plan.
On this web site, words in the pre-primer and primer word searches are read only from left to right. Words in the first, second, and third grade word searches are read from left to right, or top to bottom, or diagonally from upper left to lower right.
One learning principle is to break information down into small chunks. It often helps to have children learn a few words well then move on to the next group of words. Each list (pre-primer, primer, etc.) is subdivided for the word search puzzles. Subdivisions do not represent order of difficulty. Use the same puzzles several times. The puzzles have all of the Dolch sight words.
Here is a brief non-Dolch summary. The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold. Moral: Be responsible for yourself!
Because my books are for children, I don't have characters die as the result of their behavior. For example in The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey (in A Funny Dolch Word Book #3), the donkey does not drown as a result of the man and the boy trying the impossible task of pleasing everyone.
Voting Caution: "If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." (Mark Twain) Evidently the indifference and deception have been going on for a long time. Let's look at what candidates have done or not done in the last 10 or 20 years about the issues and let's put aside the garbage. We seem to have many strongly involved and well informed voters now. Let's pray for the USA.
Listen to a
Radio Interview as Addie Cusimano talks about practical ideas for helping children that can be found in her revised second edition of her book, Learning Disabilities: There is a Cure. The techniques in this book have been used with consistent success at a private learning center which the author operated for many years. She discusses many overlooked facets of learning, thinking, writing, studying, and reading skills development.
Revised Edition with two new chapters (math and foreign language) and reading updates!
Use your ability to influence your Federal Senators and Representatives to represent your values.
Phone the Senate Message Center 1-800-282-5803 and
House Message Center 1-800-282-5800.
Email senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and
representatives at http://www.house.gov/writerep/.
Contact your state, county, and city governments.
They need respectful reminders that we, the taxpayers, have hired them to work for US. It also helps to give them a word of thanks when we feel they are making the right decisions!
These are permanent links on the American Patriotic Books and Music page of this site. See that page for a free copy of the US Constitution.
Remember, when doing good research (at least on the high school and college level), students are told to use primary sources as much as possible!
Opinions with little or no research are plentiful. The media, politicians, and others are often eager to tell us what to think. Let's do our own research and decide for ourselves.
Description, Endorsements The techniques in this book have been used with consistent success at a private learning center which the author operated for many years. She discusses many overlooked facets of learning, thinking, writing, studying, and reading skills development.
Briefly, the FairTax Act (HR 25, S 296) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes Social Security tax, Medicare tax, estate tax, gift tax, capital gains tax, and many more. Under the Fair Tax, all persons living in the U.S. pay taxes whether they are here legally or illegally.
Regardless of political party, most tax payers are interested the topic. At the time of this posting, I am still learning about the Fair Tax. I'm not saying to support it. I'm just saying we need to find out for ourselves instead of being told what to think about it. I haven't found a good source explaining the current tax system which frequently changes. I suspect there isn't one.
Another customer review includes: "One by one, the questions are answered in a logical, calm manner. The misunderstandings and intentional misrepresentations are taken on by Boortz and Linder in a point by point response. While I do have disagreements from time to time with Mr. Boortz when I listen to him on the radio, I am 100% on the same page with him on the tax issue. His and John Linder's system makes so much sense I can't see how anyone doesn't get it.
Perhaps learning to read was easier when we didn't have so many type styles.
The hand printed or manuscript
"a" and
"g"
are different from the
"a" and
"g" in Times New Roman which is generally used in books.
The Arial font shows little difference in
the capital "I" and the lower case "l." The word "Illness" at the beginning of a sentence can make a good reader take a second look.
The Lucida Console font has a lower case l which looks like a number 7. This is often the default font for notepad on computers.
Different styles of type can cause problems for beginning readers or older struggling readers. We need to determine if a reader has problems in this area. Until readers easily recognize words in one type style (or handwritten), we need to be cautious about inconsistency of fonts in books and on the computer.
1.
Use the complete list of Free Dolch flash cards on this site. They are in Comic Sans MS which most closely resembles manuscript. Print on 8.5 x 11 card stock.
Pre-primer,
Primer,
First Grade,
Second Grade,
Third Grade,
Dolch Nouns
2.
Visual memory and recognition of similarities and differences can be strengthened with flash cards. Visit the page titled
Creating Short Sentences
for one effective use of flash cards.
3.
Changing the default setting to Comic Sans MS on the computer can help.
4.
Let children experiment on the computer with the same words in different fonts.
5.
If the reader is using books or a computer which uses Arial, Times New Roman, and Ludica Console,
compare Dolch flash cards
in Comic Sans MS (manuscript) to Dolch words with a capital "I" and lower case "l" in
Arial, Times New Roman, and Ludica Console.
Also, compare Dolch words with a lower case "a" and "g" in
Times New Roman to Dolch words in Comic Sans MS.
6.
Use this diagram to show how two letters might have progressed from the old Times New Roman font to the newer Comic Sans MS.
7.
Many students improve visual memory for reading and for spelling with the help of
visual memory books.
You betcha! We need to help more kids notice this basic learning strategy which is often used by kids who make good grades. There is a lot of information on my site about learning strategies for all ages.
If you go to this web site, http://www.LetsSayThanks.com, you can pick out a thank you card which Xerox will print and send to a soldier who is currently serving in Iraq and other places overseas. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the US armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.
There has already been a great response to this site. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers continue to receive a bunch of these cards? Whether you are for or against this part of the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we care especially at this time of year.
Lots of fun in many ways! Pre-K - 3 Kinderglynn at Baltz Elementary School, Wilmington, Delaware Welcome to Mrs. Haney's class (second Grade) at Camey Elementary, Dallas, Texas Mrs. Dominy's Dynamites at Eagle Ridge Elementary School, Milledgeville, Georgia He also states that manger scenes and menorahs are fine with him. He shares the feelings of Christians and Jews that we don’t like being pushed around because of our religious beliefs. He has an interesting way of expressing this and relating it to The US Constitution.
By example, let's help students keep in mind that a direct quote of 50 words (or less) does not violate copyright if credit is given; permission does not need to be requested for such a short quote which is indented as a block or put within quotation marks.
Older updates are on appropriate parts of the site, e.g. Bookstore, Articles, etc.
Learning Disabilities: There is a Cure
Special! For a limited time - now it is only $15.00. This was $17.95.
PayPal, check, or purchase order
by Addie Cusimano, Pub: Achieve Publications
NEW BOOKS
on the page for American Patriotic Books and Music
FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics pub. Feb. 12, 2008
This isn't just a rehash of the first Fair Tax book either. [The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS]
There is new information contained in FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics."
LAB Newsletter # 65
The free Dolch sight word flash cards are in an easier format for you to use now.
Other information has also been updated on the page Free Dolch Flash Cards which includes this.
Confusing, Frustrating Fonts
How to Improve Visual Memory of Dolch Sight Words
People made changes as they copied the type style from books. When I was a child, my dad showed me this progression of the "a." This helped me remember it immediately. But I still had a problem with the "g" in books looking different from the way teachers printed it. Sometimes, people might have reversed the "g" leading to the current manuscript style. The diagram is best used just to show the possible progression and comparison. They don't need to learn it. I have no idea how the changes in other letters took place especially the "l" which Lucida Console makes like a seven! I do recall that old typewriters used the lower case "l" as a number one. There was no number one on them.
LAB Newsletter # 64
You betcha! Out of the Mouths of Babes!
I asked a third grader how she made such good grades without spending a lot of time studying. (I had the inside track on the time she spent studying, riding her horse, playing with friends, reading for pleasure, etc.) She said, "I just pay attention when the teacher is explaining and I ask her questions if I don't understand something." Let's Say Thanks
Here is an interesting email which I have gotten from several people. You might like to share it.
The Buggy That Boogied Away
Musician, song writer, and teacher (Judy Bowen) placed this five star review at Amazon.com for one of my books.
This is a delightful book! I love build-upon stories. They are kind of tongue-twisting memory challenges, the pieces of the story adding one upon the other, building, building, building to that final tie-it-all-together line. I shared this book with my 8-year old niece. I read a page aloud and then she read a page. We enjoyed it very much! The illustrations are fun and the layout is great. I like the artwork cumulatively added to each page as the pictures are great prompts and help keep track of events. At the end of the book, the author has included the story in written musical form. My niece and I played the song on the piano and sang the story. Through words, illustration, and music, The Buggy That Boogied Away is clever and a whole lot of fun!
$7.95 Order
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LAB Award
Please visit these excellent award winning sites.
Donna Glynn's kindergarten website offers a variety of resources. She created Scott Foresman printables for the series, as well as many slideshows and movies for the children and parents to display their work. Zero the Hero resources are provided on line both visual and printables. Forms and help for parents so they can provide their children with the best resources on the web. Month to Month pages keep the parents up to date on the happenings in the classroom.
A parent in Mrs. Haney's class gave her the best end of the year gift ever. He is a web designer and he purchased a domain name for Mrs. Haney and tutored her in web design. She has worked hard since this time to continue to update and add information to her website not only for the students and parents in her class, but also other teachers as well. On the student page, students are able to participate in the Super Star Challenge and use the internet as a tool to challenge themselves to learn more about second grade concepts. Parents have access to parenting tips and advice as well as quick links to many district sites. She has most recently added a page for teachers to share ideas.
With the use of teacherweb.com, Mrs. Dominy's Dynamites is a labor of love and it shows with the teacher created powerpoint shows, class pictures updated weekly, class newsletters, and class slide shows. The site is used in so many ways. It is used as a tool for parents to stay connected with the classroom and be a part of their children's fun-filled education. It is also used as a way for the students to practice Georgia Performance Standards by using one of the many standard-based links in reading, math, science, social studies, and writing. For the high-achievers, there is an "Excellers Link" as well. The website is utilized daily in the classroom and in many of the students' homes.
It's OK. Freedom of Speech
This is a direct quote from Ben Stein's site. Visit Ben's House for the whole article which often has been circulated by email.
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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