Music to my ears

I was exposed to a lot of different books in my children’s literature class but I came across one that became on all time favorite. It is called My Family Plays Music by: Judy Cox. I will definitely use this book in my classroom because it is very educational in a number of ways. It allows the teacher to integrate a number of curriculum ideas together. It is an awesome book that teaches musical instruments, genres of music, and different individuals in a family such as mom, dad, aunt and uncle. I could use this book to teach the sounds of the different instruments and maybe collaborate with the music teacher to see if we could do a joint activity where the children make instruments of their won. I could also make a game of sound bingo where the children match the different sounds with the instruments which are good for phonemic awareness and sensory skills. You can also relate sound to science and do a couple of science exercises. I could use this book to teach family structures as a unit of social studies and have the children write about their families or make a family tree. This could be a thematic lesson that could be broken down into many parts and the children would enjoy it because these activities would be hands on.

South Africa

I have always wanted to study abroad because I feel that it is a great opportunity to expand on my knowledge of different cultures. I am truly excited to have this privilege of studying abroad because I feel that it would be a great experience for me to get away from home and to experience a world that is totally different from my everyday life. I believe that this trip will allow me to understand different aspects of education and welfare in another country. I am so excited to be doing to South Africa this summer for five weeks. I will be staying in Cape Town while learning about the culture and volunteering with young children. I feel that this is a great opportunity to explore different practices on working with children.