MId-week Morsel: Word Frequency Counter

As they say, variety is the spice of life.  That sentiment also holds true our writings.  Whether you are working your way through my Writing for Storytellers program, writing your own blog post, or writing an essay for school, you don't want to be repetitive with your word choice.  It is easy to fall into a rut and over-use words, which can give the appearance that you have a small vocabulary and make your work less interesting.  Write Words, an online writing community, has a simple word frequency counter to help solve redundancy problems.  Simply paste your text into their box and press the submit button.  To show you how it works, I pasted the text of this post into the box.  Here are the result...

6 the

5 your

5 you

5 writing

5 to

4 a

3 into

3 have

3 for

3 and

2 words

2 word

2 they

2 that

2 text

2 post

2 of

2 it

2 is

2 frequency

2 counter

2 box

2 are

2 an

2 also

1 writings

1 write

1 works

1 working

1 work

1 with

1 which

1 whether

1 what

1 way

1 want

1 vocabulary

1 variety

1 use

1 true

1 tips

1 through

1 this

1 their

1 submit

1 storytellers

1 spice

1 solve

1 small

1 simply

1 simple

1 show

1 sentiment

1 school

1 say

1 rut

1 result

1 repetitive

1 redundancy

1 program

1 problems

1 press

1 phrase

1 pasted

1 paste

1 own

1 over

1 out

1 our

1 or

1 online

1 my

1 make

1 life

1 less

1 interesting

1 i

1 how

1 holds

1 here

1 help

1 has

1 give

1 fall

1 essay

1 easy

1 don't

1 do

1 community

1 choice

1 check

1 can

1 button

1 blog

1 better

1 be

1 as

1 appearance

They also have a phrase frequency counter to check out. What tips do you have for better writing? Karissa

Sadie's Interactive Math Notebook

We've completed our first full unit of math using an interactive math notebook.  So far, my daughter and I are both enjoying math so much more than ever before!  It does take me a little bit of time to decide what kind of printable/foldable I want to use for each lesson and get it prepared, but it is so worth it to me to see her actually enjoying math class.

For those of you who aren't familiar with interactive notebooks, they are a way of taking notes for a subject in a creative way that is both visually appealing and...well...interactive.  I usually try to create some sort of printable that contains some of the information, but leaves a space for her to finish the "notes".  I also try to choose a fun way to present that information such as a foldable, and using fun fonts & colors.  Don't know what a foldable is?  It's easier for me to show you than to tell you, but basically a foldable can be anything that opens or can be manipulated by the student. It can be used to divide information into groups, or to help the information flow from one step to the next.  Graphic organizers and minibooks can also be used to hold information.  Let me show you what I mean...

I printed out a cover and inserted it into an old 3 ring binder.

I printed out title pages for each section of the notebook.  First is the Table of Contents.

Very simply, list either the title of the lesson or the topic, and the page number as you complete each lesson.

Next comes the body of the notebook; the actual lessons.

Place Value

 

Estimating

 

How to add, subtract, multiply, & divide.

 

Properties of Numbers

 

 Order of Operations

 

Place Value of Decimals

Comparing & Ordering Decimals

 

 

Front End Estimation

Operations with Decimals

Powers of Ten

Story Problems: 4 step plan

Story Problems: clue words

That is the end of the first unit.  We will continue on with subsequent units so that her entire year of work will be accessible in this one notebook.

The last section of her notebook is for vocab words.

Here she writes simple definitions or examples of terms she is unfamiliar with.

Wow!  That was a lot of pictures.  I hope I haven't overwhelmed you, or bored you to tears.  Since we have started using an interactive notebook, I'm always looking online to see what other people are putting in theirs.  I decided it would be nice to post pics of what is inside ours so that others can see it.  Do you use an interactive notebook?  How do you use it? What is your favorite foldable or mini book?  

Karissa

Use Transparencies to Make Lessons More Clear

There are some times when no matter how you present a lesson, your student just can't see the connection.  One of the tools I use to make lessons more clear is transparency sheets.  They are a great way to not only mix things up a bit, but they can make lessons and lesson planning less wasteful, too.  Just be sure to use mirror images when printing.  Here are a few of the ways I use transparency sheets.

Lesson Planning - As I mentioned in my Workbox post, I use transparency sheets in our Workbox file folders.  Each day I write out instructions for every lesson so that my daughter can quickly see what needs to be done for her classes.  At the end of the day, I wipe them clean and write the next day's instructions.  No paper lists to throw away!  I've used the same sheets for 3 years now, and don't see them wearing out any time soon.

Handwriting - When my boys were little I printed out handwriting practice sheets for each of them.  Having twins, it was easy to see just how many sheets of paper were being used up.  When my daughter came along, I wised up and printed her handwriting pages on transparency sheets.  We used them in conjunction with her Doodle Pro for a no mess way for her practice her letters over and over again.  If you don't have a magnetic doodle board, simply use dry erase crayons or markers.

Science - As my youngest is now in 5th grade, classes are getting more complex.  In science, she is currently studying the body systems of animals.  How better to illustrate how all the body systems fit together than with transparency sheets?! I found images of the systems at InnerBody.com, and printed them on the sheets.  She added them to her science lapbook, layering them so that she can view different combinations of systems together.  (Just ignore the ugly packing tape used to attach the sheets to her lapbook.  Sometimes you just use what you have!)

Maps - Whether the class is U.S. History or Government, transparencies are definitely the way to look at how states vote. I found these election maps at NationalAtlas.gov.  Laying one on top of the other makes it very clear which states are red, which are blue, and which are more of a purple.

Early learning - Although I have not done it myself, as you can see from the purple states, layering colored strips of the transparencies blends the colors beautifully.  Print one sheet with 1/3 of the sheet red, 1/3 yellow, and 1/3 blue.  Cut the three colors apart.  Then, leave them out for your preschooler to discover, and watch the magic of the rainbow light up his face.

How will you use transparency sheets to make lessons more clear?

Karissa

Free Fractions Printable

One of the reasons I love schooling my children at home is because it allows each of them the opportunity to learn in his/her own style.  One of my children is a very kinesthetic learner.  She learns best when I give her a manipulative so she can really experience whatever it is she is learning.  So it was no surprise to me when she learned fractions that the fraction bars provided by her school were just the tool she needed to fully grasp the concept.  They were such an important part of the learning experience that I decided to make my own fraction bars and post them online for free.  Visit my CurrClick store to download your free copy.  Regardless of what type of school your child(ren) attend, having a set of these fraction bars at home can save time and frustration when solving fraction problems.

Karissa

The Bright Ideas Company is Now on CurrClick

The Bright Ideas Company is a project my husband and I started in 2007 as a way to share the teaching aids I created for our daughter.  Our sons are nearly seven years older and were already in school when Sadie was born.  Not surprisingly, by the time she was a toddler she wanted to have school also.  Never wanting to discourage learning, I indulged her, thinking she would loose interest quickly.  Boy was I wrong!  She loved it!  She quickly learned her letters & letter sounds, and was reading simple words by age three.  By four, she was counting to 100; even skip counting by 2's and 5's to 100 before kindergarten.  

Like most people, we have always lived on a budget, and effective teaching aids and easy reader books are not always cost effective.  Neither are they easy to find.  Frustrated, I decided to simply make the materials I needed to teach my daughter at home.  I wrote books, and created printables & games for her.  Many friends and family members had children about the same age, so I decided to give the materials a more professional look and share them with others.  I've always stated on my blog that the good life should be free...and it should.  Unfortunately, the real world is not free at all.  And so, we have listed our products on CurrClick at an affordable price.  However, I will continue to offer freebies and special offers for my blog readers.

Visit CurrClick to check out our product line.  I am currently in the process of reformatting all the materials I've made so that they can be available online, so more materials will be added as I get them ready.  Books are available as downloads to be viewed on your device or printed by you.  CurrClick does offer books as printed materials shipped to you, and I am working on getting that set up as well.  I will update this page when that option is available.  Here is a quick preview of some of our products.  

Available Now

     

Doodle Letters: Printable pages for the beginning writer.  Available in ball & stick print, casual print, and D'Nealian print. 

Sing & Sign: Letter Sounds and Letter Signs: A simple song sung to a familiar tune combined with American Sign Language make learning letters and letter sounds more fun and interactive.