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Kelly Hunter
Cornerstone Literacy Fellow

 

Are you looking for ways to share what you learned at Cornerstone's Regional Meeting with your teachers and parents? Check out the "Connecting and Extending Students' Learning Goals Home <==> School" power point.

This power point provides hands-on activities connected to students' learning goals of reading comprehension strategies and the writing genre of poetry. Several useful teaching techniques are described such as the tic, tac, toe game, the zone of relevance and how to write a free-verse poem. Parents and teachers will find this one-hour workshop educational and fun!

The workshop activities draw on a new book connected to last year's tsunami, Owen & Mzee: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship told by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu. It is a lovely companion book to the one you received at the Regional Meeting, Tsunami: Helping Each Other by Ann Morris. You don't need the book to facilitate this workshop as the necessary images are embedded in the presentation. However, if you can purchase the book, it is a wonderful non-fiction text that could be used for many other learning goals such as studying geography, animals or friendship.

Amazon.com Book Description of Owen & Mzee
The inspiring true story of two great friends, a baby hippo named Owen and a 130-yr-old giant tortoise named Mzee (Mm-ZAY). When Owen was stranded after the Dec 2004 tsunami, villagers in Kenya worked tirelessly to rescue him. Then, to everyone's amazement, the orphan hippo and the elderly tortoise adopted each other. Now they are inseparable, swimming, eating, and playing together. Adorable photos e-mailed from friend to friend quickly made them worldwide celebrities. Here is a joyous reminder that in times of trouble, friendship is stronger than the differences that too often pull us apart