Teacher’s Corner

The prompts below can be used for stimulating imagination.

1.  Have your students read the “My Favorite Things” lyrics below. If able, you could also play this part of the song for them.

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,  Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things. 

(From The Sound of Music: “My Favorite Things” by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers)

2.  Ask your students to think about some of their favorite things. Have them make a list of them.

3.  Assign one on the activities below or have the students pick one of the activities.

• Turn the list into a song, a poem, a picture, or a collage cut from magazines.

• Pick a couple of the things on their list and write a paragraph that explains what it is they like about them.

• Think about one person to whom they would like to give a Holiday gift. Have them make a list of four things that they “imagine” that person would say are some of  their “Favorite Things.”

Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.

1. For middle or high school parenting or child development courses:
   • Use the blog for discussion topics
   • Require students to research the topics and agree or disagree with what the blog is suggesting.
2. For all courses, especially English Language Arts:

• Use the blog for writing prompts for paragraphs, theme papers, journal entries, class starters, etc. Have students read the blog and respond to:
• Do you agree with what is being said about kids? Do kids really act, think or feel that way?
• Do you agree with what is being said about parents, grandparents, teachers and child caregivers? Do or should they act, think or feel that way?
• What would be your advice on this topic?
• What was left out of this article?
• If you were a parent, would you use any of this information? How?

Why can this blog be a useful teaching tool?

• Students that see connections between their coursework and their lives do better in school.
• Most students will either be parents one day or have children in their lives that they care about, so the topical information can help them build their knowledge about children and parenting and develop a positive image of the type of parenting they want to do.
• The new core literacy standards adopted by most states call for frequent writing in all courses.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can think critically. These prompts help students practice critical thinking.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can analyze what they read. These prompts help students practice analysis.