Every March "Read Across America Day" is celebrated.  On March 2, 2011, the NEA (National Educational Association) is calling for every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult. It reminds us of the importance of reading to children and encouraging them to open up to discover for themselves the love for reading.   

  The event coincides with the birthday of one of our favorite childrens' authors: Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Popularly known as Dr. Seuss, he began his career as a cartoonist before becoming a children's book author and illustrator.

A favorite for beginner readers, The Cat in the Hat has a controlled vocabulary of 236 words.  

Picture books and books for beginning readers by Dr. Seuss continue to be enormously popular. The rhymes, quirky characters, and life lessons make them particularly appealing. The Cat in the Hat is a memorable character and the illustrations are zany and fun.  As Dr. Seuss proved  with his skill, imagination and wit, it is possible to create beginning reader books that are highly entertaining and create a love for learning. 

 "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose."  - Dr. Seuss 

All of the children's books by Dr. Seuss make terrific read-alouds. Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss are particular favorites of beginning readers. Go to Seussville to more activities. A few of our favorite things to do for Dr. Seuss' Birthday in the classroom:

• Read as many Dr. Seuss books as you can!
• Have green eggs and ham for lunch.
• Play a silly rhyming game. Someone say a word and see how many words everyone can think of to rhyme with it.
• Links to other fun activities to help your class celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday in March.  

                    Dr. Seuss bookmark to color  

                     Identify the Dr. Seuss Characters

                     Green Eggs & Ham Placemats to Color

                     Seussville Maze  

                     Make Cat in the Hat Cookies!  

 We encourage you to explore

National Read Across America website for games and ideas to encourage your student's families to read more at home.  

 ESGI Dashboard: 

On average, an EGSI video is viewed once every 15 minutes during a regular school day.

In the last six months, ESGI videos have been viewed over 6,700 times.    

   Resource Spotlight:

Google Calendar: Easily share your calendar with parent-helpers  

by Greg Gorman, Founder of ESGI

Google has revolutionized the calendar and made it very simple to manage.  I use Google Calendar to manage multiple personal and work calendars, some of which I want to share with others. 

One way that I would use Google Calendar as a teacher is to share my "parent-helper schedule" with my parent-helpers. 

This would ensure that they could always access the schedule as they were planning their home-life.  For example - Mrs. Kovak was scheduling a doctor appointment on a Saturday, and needed to check if she was scheduled to work in my classroom on a Tuesday the following month.  Clicking the link I sent her, she was able to check the Parent-Helper Calendar, and schedule her doctor appointment without conflict.  This prevented her from double-booking, and cancelling on me.

Here is the Parent-Helper Calendar I created for this example.   Here is how I did it.

The ESGI team looks forward to meeting you in 2011! We are proud to be sponsors of these upcoming conferences. Look for us at the following events:   
 
 *Southern California Kindergarten Conference
 February 25-26       Pasadena, CA  
 

*Early Bird Registration has been extended until the day of the Conference. Even if you are not registered for the conference, teachers are encouraged to stop by and visit the Exhibit Hall to shop. Products will be available at this event from conference sponsors and other vendors.  

llinois ASCD Statewide Conference for Pre-K and Kindergarten Educators
 March 10-11           Schaumburg, IL

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  Teacher Spotlight: 

Teacher and ESGI affiliate Vanessa Levins uses the Internet to  extend her reach worldwide to other teachers.  Created by a teacher for teachers, many turn to www.pre-kpages.com as a unique resource.

"I quickly realized that I wasn't the only one who was using the Internet to find teaching ideas, I was overwhelmed with the amount of e-mail I received from teachers around the world."  

Although she has taught grades Pre-K, K, and 1^st, most of her 18 years as a teacher has been spent teaching pre-kindergarten in the Texas public schools. Vanessa was inspired to be a teacher that reaches out through the use of the Internet.

"I purchased my first computer in 1999 and I was hooked the minute I turned it on.  In 2001 my school district required every teacher to create their own web page; it was during the creation of that first web page that I became intrigued with the idea of sharing teaching ideas via the Internet" said Vanessa.  

That first experience with web design sparked her interest and eventually led to the creation of her popular website.

"When I receive e-mails from teachers I create content aimed at answering their questions. As a teacher myself I also know what kind of information they are looking for" she explains. Since Vanessa's website went live over nine years ago, she has been able to share with other teachers many things about her own classroom including what it look like and tries to put as many pictures on the website as possible to help teachers "see" her classroom.

Vanessa believes that blogging extends her communication and adds to the reader's experience. Blog posts can be delivered directly to the reader; they also offer opportunities for interaction through the use of comments.  

"Blogging creates a connection between the reader and creator that doesn't exist with a static website," state Vanessa. "I think of those early days of my website like reading a book, people were looking at the information on my website and reading it. When blogs came along they made reading that information more interactive and therefore more enjoyable. " 

Always eager to share her ideas with others, Vanessa's workshops will be available at the following upcoming teacher conferences: 

•  SDE Conference for Arkansas Kindergarten Teachers -February 4, 2011

• SDE Conference for Ontario Junior and Senior Kindergarten Teachers in Toronto, Canada - April 15, 2011
• SDE Conference for Minnesota Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers - June 25, 2011

Visit www.pre-kpages.com  for links to resources, read Vanessa's blog, and learn about additional workshop locations.  

For additional information regarding SDE conferences in your state visit www.sde.com