A question I am often asked is about the importance of penmanship and handwriting. I have seen many studies that are able to answer this question much better than I will in a blog post. Let me just say, I am grateful that in Ontario, handwriting is back as a focus in the grade 3 curriculum but I am sad that so many students have missed this important skill for the past few decades that it wasn't as much of a focus in our language curriculum.

William Van Cleave - article

Today, in my AQ course with Trent, I was reminded of something. Donna, a fellow teacher in my course wrote about a book called Seeds and Trees by Brandon Walden. She mentioned that this book was about "the power of words and the effects of feelings and emotions." I immediately remembered an experiment that my children and I did in 2015.

In 2015 my children and I conducted an experiment. We heard about the Dr. Masaru Emoto water experiments/study and we wanted to experience it for ourselves. We were amazed with what happened.

First we wrote down the materials we would need. Next we came up with words/phrases that were kind and positive and then we came up with words/phrases that were not.

We didn't cook the rice as the original experiment says to do, but the raw rice worked as well. We put an even amount of rice and water in each jar. We then put words "happy, sad/mean and ignore" on the jars. The whole purpose of this experiment was to see how words and even silent thoughts change water. The relation to human beings is also important because we are about 60% water and if these words and thoughts can affect water in a jar (without emotion or a brain), than just imagine what words and thoughts are doing to us as humans. This awareness can be critical for all of us. I encourage you to try this for yourself - especially if you have children. Allow them to experience this with you. In conclusion, my children learned how important it is for themselves to think good thoughts, say kind words about themselves and others. They also found out that ignoring people is just as damaging as mean words are.

We kept these jars for 7 years (I know seems crazy), but in those 7 years the happy jar stayed very clear with no mold and the other jars continued to grow mold (colours and also blobs of something that looked like slime).

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A printable version of the Language Conventions Continuum from the new curriculum document. (updated this blog, July 12, 2023)

A summary/condensed (at a glance) version of the new curriculum that I was given by a classmate in my Reading AQ course in July. Thank you Renee!

Click here to review some key terms and examples of each as well as other helpful resources that many educators will appreciate.

Welcome to a journey about what literacy is for a grade 3 student. It consists of many steps, puzzle pieces to put together, and bridges to cross. It can seem difficult at times but you are amazing and you can learn as you grow. As you keep practicing and learning, the journey will get easier and easier and you will have more fun too!

Enjoy this journey...be sure to take the steps in the correct order for it all to make sense.
If you would like to simply watch the presentation, you can press play below, or if you would like to click on the steps on your own pace, use this link. 

I really enjoyed creating this resource and I wanted to share it with my teacher friends also. 

I hope that you find it helpful. Would love to hear what you liked best.

This is an activity that I've done a few times with students I work with individually (which makes it easier to have the student follow the instructions), and I tried it with a grade 2/3 class just this week and it was a huge success. *be sure to be very specific about the instructions and do not leave anyone behind or confused (this is key to all students completing the activity). When they are done, they are all so amazed and proud of their creation!

​I made this video to share it with parents and teachers who expressed an interest when I shared it on Facebook. I am also taking an additional qualification course in reading part 1 through Trent University right now and ironically the day after I shared this activity on facebook, I found out that I am required to come up with a lesson plan that:

• I can determine a focus for a small group or whole class lesson
• I can identify the Reading Pillar for the specific lesson
• I can share the Learning Goal for the lesson in student friendly language 
• I can build Success Criteria for the learning
• I can describe the tasks the students will be engaged in
• I can plan tasks that are engaging and have students practicing the skill in meaningful ways

This video shares the major portion of the lesson, but a few other parts of the lesson will be included in my assignment that I don't share here. This video was simply to show how to create these cool booklets (not only to be used for the magic e concept).

I hope that you enjoy. Please leave me a comment if you gave it a go. I'd love to hear!

Helpful resources for you to use at home (grade 1-8 for math, language, science and social studies.
Also grade 9-12 (multiple subjects)

  https://tvolearn.com/