Back to School!

This blog is mostly for Elementary School teachers. Most of you are now back, busy setting up your classrooms and making plans for the year. This is an exciting time for all of you! I hope to add to your excitement by presenting you with an opportunity that will benefit and provide enrichment for your students.

Many of you will already know about my book call The Storm, a book about a boy named Oliver who is building a castle out of playdough. His cat likes it too and has used it as a plaything, destroying what has already been built. Oliver is devastated when he discovers this and runs headlong out into a spring storm with white-out conditions. He becomes hopelessly lost and is very afraid until he hears a voice calling out to him, a voice that says, "Follow me." He resists at first thinking his mind is playing tricks on him and runs on and on to escape it. The voice calls again and again until Oliver realizes that he must follow it. The sound of the voice leads him back home to safety. Oliver's cat is waiting for him outside and he chooses to forgive him. His mother, anxiety and relief showing on her face offers to help Oliver re-build his castle.

This book is just waiting to be built upon, to explore the emotions of disappointment, anger, fear and hope as well as reconciliation. Students will have much to talk about in discussing these topics. However, as a teacher myself, I like to find interesting ways to enhance learning. Thus, I created a companion text to go with The Storm, called Study Guide and Lesson Plans for Use With The Storm. Along with the Lesson Plans, I have included numerous worksheets that run across the curriculum but particularly in Language Arts, to advance the learning process. There are guided questions, graphic organizers, vocabulary builders, crossword and wordsearch puzzles, images of castles to colour or label. Alongside these, the students will each build their own playdough castles. These lessons are based on Canadian curriculum, particularly Alberta Education.

The book The Storm and the lesson plans are suitable for and individually geared to students from Kindergarten to Grade Six, attending to the particular needs of each grade. They are very suitable for substitute teachers and home-school instructors to use as well. The books are exceptionally useful as Emergency Plans for unexpected leaves.

If you are interested, please go to Amazon.ca and check out these books written by me, Barbara J Mockford. If you need further clarification or have questions, please contact me at barbarasbooks.yeg@gmail.com. I would very much like to hear from you.

Have a great school year!

Blessings,

Barbara