tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post7479299422759391108..comments2016-02-29T06:07:05.288-08:00Comments on Exploring America: Picture Book Teacher's Guides: Conestoga Wagons (Richard Ammon)Christy G. Keeler, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12090510919477425733noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-74609459308378894582008-11-21T17:02:00.000-08:002008-11-21T17:02:00.000-08:00I thought that all of your lessons very very thoug...I thought that all of your lessons very very thought out and would be a lot of fun to do. I would think it would be hard to make corn fritters with a class. Would you have a lot of it done? How would you manage this in the classroom? Also, a lot of the lessons for science and social studies seemed very time consuming. Would you do these in class or outside of class time. Overall, I thought it was very well planned and thought out.Sarahd64https://www.blogger.com/profile/04513872997048973575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-78497783181068895232008-11-21T15:47:00.000-08:002008-11-21T15:47:00.000-08:00What a wonderful description of the book. Made me ...What a wonderful description of the book. Made me want to reread it again. My heart is that you added so much for the writing activity. It was very thoughtful and a great lesson plan for a substitute too. My wish is that there were science lessons included. Another heart was the incredible amount of detail of the themes. That iwll really help teachers tie this book into other lessons.RJ Mallienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12368823470600587797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-35062350558285134982008-11-21T11:32:00.000-08:002008-11-21T11:32:00.000-08:00Great job integrating so many skills with the Lang...Great job integrating so many skills with the Language Arts activities. Administration loves it when we use Circle Maps!:) I especially liked the letter to friends and family describing life on the Conestoga Wagon. It relates their own lives to the experience. When researching how certain wagons are alike and different, you could develop, or perhaps find, a WebQuest or Trackstar track to make the research easier on them and you. Your awesome cooking activity was also engaging and a great cross-curricular connection. They have fun and learn. Everyone wins!Jamie A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16303694716775942162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-83058444953083868102008-11-20T17:01:00.000-08:002008-11-20T17:01:00.000-08:00What a wonderful collection of book themes! You ma...What a wonderful collection of book themes! You make it clear that there are many, many directions teachers could take when using this book instructionally!<BR/><BR/>I appreciate the detail you include in your activity suggestions. I could follow your suggestions and have little else to do in preparation for my lessons relating to this book. Thanks for making it easy!<BR/><BR/>Nice use of higher level thinking with your wagon comparison social studies activity. One difference I would make is having all students (not just those with writing deficiencies) use Inspiration (or another concept mapping tool) to complete their activity. This brings in more 21st century skills without taking additional instructional time.Christy G. Keeler, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12090510919477425733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-87867128436093202042008-11-19T23:14:00.000-08:002008-11-19T23:14:00.000-08:00I loved your math activity “Cooking Corn Fritters....I loved your math activity “Cooking Corn Fritters.” I always forget that cooking with the students is an option. It really gets them involved and excited and is something that a lot of students don’t get to participate in at home. As a extension activity, you could have the students to a comparison chart of how cooking now is different from the pioneers. I also liked your “Making a Covered Wagon” activity. I love anything that is hands-on and really open the student’s minds in different ways. As a suggestion for even higher level thinking, you could go as far as having the students make a packing list for their family with on a limited number of things they can bring. Once they really get into it, they would have to problem-solve the situation. Great activities!Lisa Shiremanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06200645932182058099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534098419256433512.post-71964233574931044602008-11-19T20:42:00.000-08:002008-11-19T20:42:00.000-08:00I really liked your activities, and what is even b...I really liked your activities, and what is even better is that many of them could be interlinked with one another. They didn't seem like separated, isolated skills, but activities that could be combined for use with the book. <BR/><BR/>In offering a couple of suggestions, I would want to know more about the calculation activity. I went to the website to find it and downloaded the PDF file, but I would have liked to have had a description of the activity in your guide, so I knew what I was going to find. Also, there were a few formatting problems (though I know this may not be your fault; I can't tell you how much time I spent on formatting) with extra bullets and the recipe not hyperlinked. These are just a few minor things, but I think they could add to your teacher’s guide.<BR/><BR/>Overall, nice job. I think you had a good variety to keep students engaged.Neil Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04731775787142918231noreply@blogger.com