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JoyfullyNoisy

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  1. Have you read Make it Stick? It's an excellent (and quick) read that might have some of what you're looking for. How Children Succeed is also a good read, but has less easily applicable ideas.
  2. By the way, for those of you who have used other memory palace type books, do you have any to recommend? I need to stock up on summer reading. :) TIA
  3. The intro (complete in the "try it out for free" portion) of the second book mentioned http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone explains a bit of how and why it works. The jist is that you tap into your brain's highly capable ability to remember spaces and images in order to remember facts and (especially) serial lists like timelines. It's one of the 5 parts of classical rhetoric - usually skipped in rhetoric books. The most complete ancient document that discusses it is the Rhetorica Ad Herennium. Cicero, Aristotle and St. Augustine talked about it too. Other books for reference: Moonwalking with Einstein by Foer and the Art of Memory by Yates These are, respectively, a memoir and a history, not a story that uses one. The composer books basically teach how to use the method by learning the information in the book in that way. You can apply the same method to almost anything. We use it for SOTW, vocabulary, grammar rules, etc. HTH
  4. We'll be traveling this summer, so we're downloading a lot on the kindle app. This made this list today for all to enjoy - and to keep practicing our favorite mnemonic technique in a low pressure, fun way. http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone As read alouds I'm thinking Anne of Green Gables for my rising 5th grader (DD), and maybe Tom Sawyer for my rising 3rd (DS) and collecting for more good ideas for their independent reading. Possibly Tom's Midnight Garden for DS.
  5. Good morning! This cute book is free today. My kids and my music students enjoy these. http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-2&keywords=desiree+scarambone And this one is new - it's much bigger and full of colorful pictures. I think I'll use it as a history supplement. http://www.amazon.com/Sticks-Stones-Hammers-Bows-Antiquity-ebook/dp/B00W42OLBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429099681&sr=8-1&keywords=desiree+scarambone
  6. What an encouraging thread! We're having a good school year so far. There have been a few distractions, but curriculum and subjects we are excited about helps us get back to work after small breaks. Our favorites this year (I have a fourth and a second grader): MCT Town for 4th. I fell in love with MCT at island level, further so after reading the next 2 levels of the poetry books. We finish Caesar's English 1 this week and I've loved every bit of it. Retention has been very good. Beast Academy is a huge hit here Classical Composer's Memory Palace ebook that not only taught composers and eras but how to build memory palaces -which we use for many things now. Music Tree series Music Ace for theory Bernstein Concerts for Young People (series 1 and 2) Lives of the Writers (not curriculum, but we like it as a starting point for literature studies) Adam Andrews videos for me - so refreshing and it makes teaching literature seem so much more in line with teaching poetics
  7. My pleasure. We have had a lot of fun with this book. It's been an unexpected boost and great starting point for several ideas in our school this semester. We're now using what we learned to help with SOTW work (memory palaces, how to remember unfamiliar names and clues for countries, etc).
  8. Ditto about screen time. Ditto about how DH instigates. Ditto about sometimes it just seems to be the best option. For apps my favorites are Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader. The Toca Boca apps are adorable.
  9. We memorize rulers/places/significant detail by building memory palaces. So we use only our text and memorize day by day. It keeps things fun and inexpensive. As well as creative.
  10. The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me would be fun for that young age. I tried out James and the Giant Peach around the same time (K or 1st) and the parents dying was a bit too difficult for my kiddos. They loved it about 18 months later, however - ðŸ˜. The BFG is hilarious and so is The Twits and the one about the turtles (what was that called?). Dahl is my daughter's favorite author and has been for years. I can't blame her. Funny, quirky stuff. Matilda is nice a little later, around 1st or 2nd, and so is The Witches.
  11. Impressive! I wish my 9 dd would read like that. She prefers to be read to and craft as she listens. *sigh* But what she has enjoyed listening to lately are Wind in the Willows Peter Pan Nicholas Benedict series She read Half Magic and Magic or Not (Eager) recently and enjoyed them both. Also Pippi and Tuck Everlasting. On my list (for her to read, not me) for the coming weeks are Mixe up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, Penderwicks, Five Children and It, What Katy Did. She's asked to hear Call of the Wild (maybe not delicate enough for what you're searching for). I don't know if any of those are what you're looking for.
  12. I know this thread is quite old, I hope no one minds my bumping it. As I'm skimming through these great lists of resources I wanted to share one of my own favorites for music history. Classical Composers, a Home in your Head for the Musical Masters - for teaching composers, eras, famous pieces, and how to build memory palaces. My 2nd and 4th graders absolutely loved it and retained the information. http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408972141&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+composers
  13. Once, some time ago, I posted about a really FUN and helpful book for learning classical composers, their eras and some of their famous compositions. The book covers (best of all?) how to construct memory palaces to apply to any other kind of learning. The ebook is on sale today and thought I would share again. http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408972141&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+composers
  14. It sounds like you may be wanting a music appreciation type book. Have you ever seen "Listen to This!"? It's a freshman college textbook but, honestly, if you're reading it aloud an upper elementary level student can get a lot from it.
  15. I just realized I failed to mention art. :) We're going to try (I'm not so artistic when it comes to drawing) to do Drawing with Children. We already use a fun cartoonish drawing book by Quentin Blake. We will do picture studies and individual artist studies with books like Venezia's. Our art studies will be somewhat less formal than music since I have a more limited background.
  16. 8:00-8:45 - morning time. Poetry review, author study (lives of the writers http://books.google.com/books/about/Lives_of_the_Writers.html?id=KckEAAAACAAJ), geography (according to author), classical composer memory palace (amazon ebook http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_?ie=UTF8&k=Classical+composers+memory) and a composer study (Venezia's books http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bookwizard/books-by/mike-venezia#cart/cleanup) 9:00-9:45 - music theory (Theory Time), piano practice 10:00-10:45 -math (c-Rods, TT and BA) 11:00-11:45 - MCT town (home made manipulatives to use with it), Cesar's English, practice town sentence 12:00-1:00 lunch 1:00-1:45 quiet reading for literature 2:00-2:30 - spelling (AAS) 2:45-3:30 - writing (IEW SWI B and Kilgallon sentence writing) 4:00-? - history (SOTW) and project 7:00-7:20- piano Bedtime - 1.5 hours of read alouds with Dad, then silent reading until she's "done".
  17. For poems and little tricks we like these: Thirty Days Has September and its sequel Miss Pell Never Misspells. For learning more about how to use devices there's a cool book called Memory by Herbie Brenan. It's a little difficult to find. My petite pupils learned to build memory palaces from Classical Composers (A home in your head for musical masters). It's an ebook on amazon. We use memory palaces for all kinds of things now.
  18. Oh, my current favorite subject! I'm a professional music teacher (piano) and have taught co-op classes for music appreciation, but always felt that I floundered a bit trying to teach composers because young students have little or NO context in which to put them. Then I started using this http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Composers-Musical-Masters-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00M3PB41O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407094578&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+composers and it has helped immensely. It serves as our foundation (it builds in pegs - composers in sequence and a few facts). Once students have a context, learning MORE about composers, their styles, their forms of music, etc, all becomes easier. So we start with that. Then we move on to one composer study at a time using any number of resources - I like Venezia's books, but they're pricey, so Classics for Kids (online) is a great secondary option. We also use The Story of Classical Music, Beethoven's Wig (very light, but fun), and Classical Kids - but only after the framework is built. Have fun!
  19. Apps: Dragon Box apps Stack the countries app Endless Alphabet (free) Grammar: MCT Math: beast academy History: SOTW CDs Audio books - Jum Weiss - D'Aulaires book of Greek gods - Shakespeare plays Capoeira Lessons This book http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00M3PB41O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1406950593&sr=8-1 Inexpensive already and free with prime. It not only teaches the composers and eras, but also how to use your brain in a new way. IEW for me Teaching the Classics for me Music Ace for music theory Love this thread. So many good ideas.
  20. My children read a lot of poetry on their own, and their favorite books seem to be Talking Like the Rain (compilation) A Poke in the I (concrete poems) If Not For the Cat (haiku) And any Shel Silverstein books. There are some nicely illustrated Emily Dickinson poetry books for young people too. I do love those. There are so many wonderful poetry books out there. I'm sure you'll find some wonderful options.
  21. I see you're in VA. My incredible pedagogy teacher has moved to VA. Perhaps she's close enough to be of help. It's a nice thought at least. :)
  22. Oh, I loved this! My DS 7 and DD 9 watched this with me. It was during DS' "practice time" -music is a big deal in our house, but sometimes after a big (summer vacation) break, it's hard to want to get back to practicing. DS promptly (and happily) sat down at the piano for his practice session after seeing this. Thanks for posting it.
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