Mind mapping

What is it? A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.

How to draw a mind map?

· Draw a mind map for your self-study as an elementary school teacher.

Explain: Brainstorming can include note taking, listing, outlining, clustering, free writing.

· Let’s practice:

“What if?”

The class will divide into brainstorming groups. Each group will come up with the most unique "what if" question and answer they can think of. (In other words, start with "what if" and finish with some unusual situation.) Here are some examples: What if people came to my installation to sleep? What if I held a lottery? What if my installation was entirely made from hot dog buns? Groups then share their top 5 favorite scenarios with the class.

“Limited Resources”

We’ll select an object (example: a box of cereal). Everyone will write down as many ways to use the object in an installation as they can in two minutes. Everyone share their answers with the class.

“Breaking the Rules”

Divide into small groups (4-6 students). Each group will make a list of ten unwritten rules that they seem to follow when creating installations. Examples might be “I think about the materials I have at my disposal”, “I think about what I want the end result to be”, or “I think about what I want people to think about it”. Groups discuss why they follow these "rules" and what it would take to get them to break them. Alternative: Try the same sort of activity, this time students list beliefs about art that they accept without question - truisms like "Accept capitalism - your art is only for rich people”, “If you want to sell your art, use lots of diamonds and gold”, or “Anything can be art if it’s in a glass vitrine”.

“Compare It”

The class divides into brainstorming groups. Have each group develop as many clever or unusual analogies as they can related to the installation parameters. For example: “Utopias are like dreams, we can dream whatever our imagination leads us to, but even the most unexpected dream is an omen that hides a desire...”, “Utopias are like clouds, which allow new ideas to fall like rain...”.

Practical lesson #10

· How many children experience difficulties learning to read?

Approximately 20 to 30 percent of school-age children have difficulties learning to read. About 15 million youngsters do not have access to the wonders of books and other kinds of texts for learning and enjoyment. Almost as many girls as boys experience difficulties learning to read. Boys seem to be identified as reading disabled more readily because they tend to be more active and boisterous than their female age mates. While these estimates are alarming, they are on the conservative side.

What is Dyslexia?

· Are there social and emotional consequences of not learning to read?

Indeed there are. If you observe children with reading difficulties, many negative effects become apparent. During the early grades, their difficulties are quite embarrassing to them. This humiliation leads to a predictable decrease in motivation and self-esteem. Children are easily frustrated and ashamed of their difficulties once they notice that many of their classmates read so effortlessly. As the youngsters mature, many of them drop out of school, and of those who manage to graduate from high school, less than two percent attend a four-year college.

· What can parents do to ensure that their children develop a strong foundation for reading?

The most important thing that parents can do is talk and read to their children. During the toddler and preschool years it is critical to provide children with many different language and reading experiences that are playful and fun, to include nursery rhymes and rhyming games to expose youngsters to the sounds of our language, lap-time reading, and bed-time reading. It is critical that young children observe their parents reading and learn why reading is so important in our lives. A major thing to remember is to make all of the language and literacy interactions in the home positive and enjoyable experiences.

Writing is an important part of our daily lives. It is, however, a difficult skill to learn and master. By getting a head start with some simple activities, you can help your child begin to develop her writing skills at an early age. By doing so you will be contributing to her future success as a student and as an adult while teaching her how to express herself.

· Encourage the child to draw and to discuss her drawings
Ask your child questions about her drawings such as:
"What is the boy doing?"
"Does the house look like ours?"
"Can you tell a story about this picture?"
Show an interest in, and ask questions about, the things your child says, draws, and may try to write.

· Ask your child to tell you simple stories as you write them down
Copy the story as your child tells it, without making changes. Ask her to clarify anything you don't understand.

· Encourage your child to write her name
Practice writing her name with her, and point out the letters in her name when you see them in other places (on signs, in stores, etc.). She may start by only writing the first few letters of her name, but soon the rest will follow.

· Use games
There are numerous games and puzzles that help children with spelling while increasing their vocabulary. Some of these may include crossword puzzles, word games, anagrams, and cryptograms designed especially for children. Flash cards are fun to use too, and they're easy to make at home.

· Turn your child's writing into books
Paste her drawings and writings on pieces of construction paper. For each book, make a cover out of heavier paper or cardboard, and add special art, a title, and her name as author. Punch holes in the pages and cover, and bind the book together with yarn or ribbon.

Complete some reading exercises:

1) Read tongue twisters as fast as you can:

ü A big black bug bit a big black bear,

A big black bear bit a big black bug.

ü A box of biscuits, a batch of mixed biscuit.

ü It appears that peers prefer pears particularly if pears are presented in pairs.

ü Tomorrow is the third Thursday of this month.

ü Thirty thousand thirsty snakes thirstily drank three thousand lakes.

ü Whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is hot,
We’ll be together whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.

ü I thought a thought.
But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought
I thought I thought.

ü Flee from fog to fight flu fast!

ü Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

ü ‘Round and ‘round the rugged rocks the raggedly rascal ran.

ü These sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack;
sheep should sleep in a shed.

ü A sailor went to the sea
To see what he could see,
And all that he could see,
Was sea, sea, sea.

ü The sun shines on the shop signs.

ü Swan swam over the sea,
Swim, swan, swim;
Swan swam back again,
Well swum, swan!

ü I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won’t wish the wish you wish to wish.

ü Once a fellow met a fellow In a field of beans. Said a fellow to a fellow, “If a fellow asks a fellow, Can a fellow tell a fellow What a fellow means?”

ü I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

ü Do tongue twisters twist your tongue?

Teaching English language:

QUIZ “DO YOU KNOW FAIRYTALES?”

I. Please choose one variant and circle the correct answer:

1. In the fairytale, [Cinderella] what did the fairy want Cinderella to bring from the garden?

a) Lettuce, Pumpkin, Cheese, and mice

b) Mice, rat, pumpkin

c) Mice, pumpkin, lettuce

2. In which fairytale does a princess find a little house that belongs to seven dwarfs?

a) Snow White

b) Cinderella

c) Sleeping Beauty

3. Who helped the farmer’s daughter turn straw into gold for the king?

a) The evil witch

b) Rumpelstiltskin

c) The hunter

4. In all fairy-tales which princess has very long plaits? (very long, not just long)

a) Snow White

b) Cinderella

c) Rapunzel

5. In which fairytale does an evil queen that has a magic mirror, want to be the prettiest woman?

a) Snow White

b) Cinderella

c) Rapunzel

6. Whohelped Cinderella to change her old clothes to new?

a) Witch

b) Her stepmother

c) Fairy godmother

d) Cloth fairy

7. What did Cinderella eat when she came home from the ball?

a) Pizza

b) Chips

c) Chocolate

d) Marshmallows

8. What happens to "The Ugly Duckling"?

a) He remains ugly.

b) He goes off to live by himself.

c) He meets another duckling.

d) He becomes a swan.

9. Which little pig is the smartest?

a) First

b) Second

c) Third

d) Fourth

10. Who gets Grandma out of the wolf's stomach in "Little Red Riding Hood"?

a) The Woodcutter

b) Grandpa

c) Little Red Riding Hood

d) The Locksmith

11. Which job description would best go with the Seven Dwarfs?

a) Hunters

b) Miners

c) Farmers

12. Which of these proverbs best describes the method the Prince uses to identify Cinderella as his true love?

a) A man's home is his castle

b) A new broom sweeps clean

c) Silence is golden

d) If the shoe fits, wear it

13. The evil Maleficent is the primary antagonist in which classic story?

a) Cinderella

b) Sleeping Beauty

c) Thumbelina

d) Peter Pan

14. Who is known for making an ill-fated trip to his or her grandmother’s house in the woods?

a) Rapunzel

b) Hansel and Gretel

c) Prince Charming

d) Little Red Riding Hood

II. Guess the character from a fairytale:

_________________________

_______________________________

____________________________

___________________________

____________________________

____________________________

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___________________

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III. Read the extracts from different fairytales and write the name of fairytale:

She promised her godmother she would not fail of leaving the ball before midnight; and then away she drives, scarce able to contain herself for joy. The King's son who was told that a great princess, whom nobody knew, was come, ran out to receive her; he gave her his hand as she alighted out of the coach, and led her into the ball, among all the company.

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Once upon a time there was a miller who left no more riches to the three sons he had than his mill, his ass, and his cat. The division was soon made. Neither the lawyer nor the attorney was sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the poor property. The eldest had the mill, the second the ass, and the youngest nothing but the cat.

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One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion, and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it, and had the greatest desire to eat some. This desire increased every day, and as she knew that she could not get any of it, she quite pined away, and looked pale and miserable.

__________________________

'Oh! grandmother,' she said, 'what big ears you have!'

'The better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.

'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.

'The better to see you with, my dear.'

'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'

'The better to hug you with.'

'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'

'The better to eat you with!'

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But he sat quite still, benumbed and cold. Then little Gerda shed burning tears; and they fell on his bosom, they penetrated to his heart, they thawed the lumps of ice, and consumed the splinters of the looking-glass; he looked at her, and she sang the hymn:

"The rose in the valley is blooming so sweet, And angels descend there the children to greet."

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To be born in a duck's nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan's egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.

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But when they had walked on and on, and he was nearly crying with thirst, only that the sun had dried up all his tears and burnt them before they had time to come into his eyes, he saw another footprint. It was quite a tiny footprint, divided in the middle—the footprint of a sheep; and in it was a little drop of clear water, sparkling in the sun. He said nothing to his sister, nothing at all. But he went down on his hands and knees and drank that water, that little drop of clear water, to cool his burning throat. And he had no sooner drunk it than he had turned into a little lamb...

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"Are you warm, little maid?"

"Warm, warm, little Father Frost."

Frost laughed, and came a little lower in the tree and crackled and crackled louder than before. Then he asked,—

"Are you still warm, little maid? Are you warm, little red cheeks?"

The little maid could hardly speak. She was nearly dead, but she answered,—

"Warm, dear Frost; warm, little father."

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At last he clasped his hands in prayer, and in so doing rubbed the ring, which the magician had forgotten to take from him. Immediately an enormous and frightful genie rose out of the earth, saying: "What wouldst thou with me? I am the Slave of the Ring, and will obey thee in all things."

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His sons and daughters, who had been very uneasy at his long absence, rushed to meet him, eager to know the result of his journey, which, seeing him mounted upon a splendid horse and wrapped in a rich mantle, they supposed to be favorable. He hid the truth from them at first, only saying sadly to Beauty as he gave her the rose:

"Here is what you asked me to bring you; you little know what it has cost."

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Complete writing tasks: Didactic cinquain

Structure

1) Topic

2) 2 describing adjectives

3) 3 verbs

4) Your opinion (4 words)

5) General idea (1 word)

For example:

- Snow

- Silent, white

- Dancing, falling, drifting

- Covering everything it touches

- Blanket

Topics for cinquain: rain, weather, Cinderella, Wonderland, family, learning, reading, writing, foreign language.

Practical lesson #11