vizlearning

Visual learning, Education, Early Childhood Development, Math,Stuart J. Murphy's MathStart and I See I Learn books: Posts by J.A. Ginsburg and Stuart J. Murphy

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Come visit! 

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My Fabulous Pre-K Morning! A Visit to CCDC (Children’s Care & Development Center)

The morning I walked into CCDC, a preschool in Lincolnwood, IL, I was bowled over. I looked up and saw all the characters from my books! From children’s construction paper cut-outs on bulletin boards to schoolroom doorways decorated to look like the “houses” of the I See I Learn kids: Camille, Percy, Ajay, Freda, Emma and Carlos. In fact, the entire hallway was arranged as a town. It was incredible! It was like See and Learn City came to life! 

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do many school visits any more. (Over the years, I have been to more than 500 schools in 47 states and six foreign countries!) Knowing that I would already be in Chicago, CCDC director Susan Fahey—with whom I have presented twice at the National Head Start Association’s annual conference—asked if I could stop by. I had already digitally visited the school via Skype, but there is nothing quite like being actually in the room with young children reading stories together!

When I pulled out puppets modeled on the characters (prototypes), the children greeted them like old friends: “Good morning, Ajay!” “Good Morning, Freda!” 

I also had the opportunity to read some of my MathStart stories, each of which focuses on a different mathematical skill. That was great fun! The first 21 of the 63 books in the series are for Pre-K and K. Taken separately, they would rank among the largest early math series available. 

There is some interesting overlap between MathStart stories and I See I Learn books. Good social and emotional skills make it easier to learn everything, including math! 

So you see, it all kind of flows together. MathStart. I See I Learn. Young children. And learning. It’s great!

I hope you enjoy the video below as much as I enjoyed my visit to CCDC! 

— Stuart J. Murphy  

* Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest!

* Teachers / Adminstrators: Find out more about I See I Learn at School!

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Creativity and Math? Of course!

People don’t often talk about creativity and math in the same sentence, yet the arts and creativity are critical to the study of mathematics, especially in the early years.

This is at the foundation of the STEM to STEAM movement. Although Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics can open the doors to all sorts of wonderful 21st century careers, our kids need the Arts to help them apply STEM skills creatively.

Our students need to be fully engaged in mathematics. They need to be:

creating math models
 writing math stories
 doodling and sketching about math
 and using multiple representations of mathematical ideas to express their thoughts There are lots of things we can do, both at home and at school, to be creative about teaching mathematics. In the short video embedded at the top of this post, there are several ideas, including some inspired by my MathStart stories. There is also a brilliant classroom activity involving some remarkably talented hamsters (!) courtesy of my good friend, fourth grade teacher Cathy Kuhns.

What are your favorite ways to teach math creatively? Please share! Send me note at [email protected]. I can’t wait to read all about them!

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Thank you, Mrs. (I’m So Techy...) Matthews!

The other day, I saw in my email inbox that a children’s librarian named Amy Kincaid from Frisco, Texas, retweeted a tweet about a FABULOUS blog post by math teacher Natalie Matthews, who used the marvelous DonorsChoose to buy MathStart books!

I don't know how I missed the original post from last year, but WOW! Thank you Natalie! And thank you, Amy, too!

It turns out, Natalie had Googled my website and was delighted to find so much information. The site was updated last year, so it is nice to know it is useful. Did you know that there are FREE pdf activity sheets for each of the 63 books in the series! Spread the word! 

There is a also a wonderful musical based on six of the stories called The Main Street Kids’ Club. It’s a toe-tapping hour of MathStart fun, including a song all about lemonade and bar graphs.... H’mmmm. It’s starting to get warm outside. Do you have your lemonade stands ready?

Did you know you could bring a production to your school or community? Go here to find out more.

Happy Spring!

— Stuart J. Murphy | @vizlearning | http://facebook.com/StuartJMurphyAuthor

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The Story of O’Pickle...

No one knows for sure why Pickle is green—you don’t see very many green dogs! But according to Emma’s grandpa, a very, very long time ago, Pickle’s great-great-great-great-great grandma Gherkin lived with a family of leprechauns in Ireland. Gherkin loved her leprechauns as much as Pickle loves Emma, wagging her tail often and barking a happy “Woof!” Gherkin really really wanted to be green just like her leprechauns and one day, using some very special magic, they turned her green, too!

You can imagine the surprise in the village to see a green dog! Then Gherkin’s puppies were green. And her puppies’ puppies were green…all the way down to Pickle.

If you ever wondered whether there might be a bit of magic to Pickle, wonder no more.

Woof!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Everybody!

— Stuart, Janet, Miss Cathy, the Ready Set Pre-K kids and…Pickle!

* follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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“The Bug Dance,” Bee-Bots & Kinder-Coders!

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I never imagined that Kindergarten students would be able to learn about something as complex as computer coding from my book, Bug Dance, a MathStart story about Directions! Then along came Math Specialist Charyl Hills and a creative team of teachers at Goodnoe Elementary in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Thanks to them—first via Twitter!—I now know all about Bee-Bots, cute robot bees that can be programmed to zoom around the floor moving forward, backward, left and right.

It turns out we have the same dance moves!

To be comfortable with coding requires self-awareness of one’s position in space, explained Charyl. In less time that it takes to say, “Wiggle to your left! Wiggle to your right!,” she enlisted music teacher Christy Milliken to teach the school’s kindergarteners the Bug Dance song and show them the steps. They loved it!

Then, funded by a generous grant from the Council Rock Education Foundation, Charyl and teachers Lauren McCusker and Nikki Birkbeck, taught the children how to teach a Bee-Bot how to groove to the music.

The “kinders,” as Charyl calls them, had to develop an algorithm—a set of instructions—then program the instructions into the Bee-Bot. First they charted out the sequence on paper, then using directional buttons on the Bee-Bot’s back, punched in the sequence: Two taps on the right button, two taps on the left button, one tap on the forward button, one tap of the backward button and soon Bee-Bot was ready to dance up a storm.

“He’s doing it!” exclaims one little girl who can barely contain her excitement (see video above). It is positively thrilling for her—and for me, too.

Bee-Bot-a-do-whop!

Computer coding has been called a new type of literacy. In her grant proposal, Charyl wrote:

“All future technicians, scientists, engineers, and programmers need to start somewhere. Why not in kindergarten? This project will allow robotics to become elementary, while fostering learning in all academic areas. Kindergarteners will jump start their future with problem solving and coding activities.”

The experience of programming Bug Dance is a terrific way to introduce young children basic programming skills, which will come handy when they are a little older and coding computers.

“Through collaboration and perseverance the kinders taught Bee-Bot the Bug Dance. The kinders have loved sharing the dance with visitors, other students. They have even taught their siblings,” says Charyl.

Having the confidence to try—and to try again and again if necessary—is an important emotional skill critical for academic success and success in life, too. It is one the major themes of my I See I Learn stories (Good Job, Ajay!).

•••••••••••••

Charyl and I agree that the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) are more easily learned when “A” for Arts is added, turning STEM into STEAM.

Using literature—stories—to teach young children gives them a sense of context so they can more readily see how different skills are used. It is also important to show decontextualized examples, so that children understand how these skills can be applied in different situations.

The kinders saw that the whimsical bugs in the story needed to understand directions. Then they learned directions so that they could do the dance themselves. Finally, they taught the dance to Bee-Bot!

The story also uses a visual learning strategy to decontextualize the skill: a diagram of the dance steps.  

Visual Learning is made up of five distinct steps:

• Observe • Recognize • Interpret • Perceive • Express Idea

These dovetail the skills needed to master STEM subjects. The last step brings in the Arts: Math concepts can be expressed in all kinds of ways using words, pictures and numbers.

Next up for the talented Bee-Bot team at Goodnoe Elementary?  Treasure Map, my story about mapping, of course!

H’mmmm, there’s a song for that story, too…

— Stuart J. Murphy

RELATED:

Bee-Bot (distributor website)

Teaching Kids to Code: Preschool and Kindergarten (Technology in Early Childhood)

How to Teach Programming to Kids: Pretend to Be a Robot (Make)

This Throwable Computer Teaches Kids How To Code (Fast Company)

Stuart J. Murphy on Stories and Context (video)

Twenty Years of MathStart: Visual Learning, Stories, Music and More! (Stuart J. Murphy)

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To a year full of wonderful adventures!

-from all your friends from MathStart, I See I Learn and The Main Street Kids’ Club!

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Merry Merry, Happy Happy!

- From the kids at Ready Set Pre-K!

(http://iseeilearn.com)

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My Letter to the New York Times!

All the kids in in See-and-Learn City—me especially!—are so excited that my letter to the New York Times was published!

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Helping Our Young Children Prepare for Life

TO THE EDITOR: "Teaching Peace in Elementary School" (Sunday Review, Nov. 15) reinforces the important message that teaching social and emotional skills must begin in the early childhood years.

There is increasing evidence that self-regulation, sharing, cooperation and the ability to interact in positive ways with others in pre-K and kindergarten are among the best predictors of success in school and in life. These capabilities extend well beyond the scope of social-emotional issues and have a positive effect on problem-solving, decision-making and other academic pursuits.

They also help build empathy and character and are critical skills to possess in our ever-changing world.

Parents, teachers and caregivers must make the acquisition of these skills a priority by modeling related behaviors and providing the experiences and tools needed to make this happen.

—Stuart J. Murphy

_______________________________

My I See I Learn books were developed to help parents, teachers and caregivers teach young children these important skills through a combination of simple stories and visual learning strategies. “For happier, healthier, more confident children” reads the tagline. Yes!!!

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It’s Earth Day! Hooray!

Those clever kids from Maple Street School’s Save-the-Planet Club! Have you heard what they did? No? Well, when they cleaned up Gilroy Park, they took all the cans they found to the local recycling center. They also held a collection drive for more cans at school. They collected so many cans, they grouped them in bags of 10, 100  and even 1,000 cans. Can you imagine? Not only did they clean up the park and learn about place value, but they also made enough money to buy flowers to plant! Win, win, win! You can read all about it in my MathStart story, Earth Day—Hooray!

Do you collect cans and recycle paper and plastic bags at your school?  

••••••••••••••••••••••••

Some Facts About Aluminum Cans: 

Recyclers pay $800,000,000 for cans to recycle each year, but nearly a billion dollars-worth still end up in landfills. 

Recycling aluminum takes just 5% of the energy needed to refine aluminum from ore.  Aluminum can be recycled over and over, too!

Nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.

More than 100,000 aluminum cans are recycled in the US every minute.

It takes 60 days for a can to go from store to home to recycler to a new can!

Let’s all do our part and make every day Earth Day. Hooray!

—Stuart J. Murphy

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Making New Friends: My Visit to Beginnings School

I met Dr. Donna Housman, a clinical psychologist and founder of Beginnings School in Weston, Massachusetts, at a public hearing regarding the state adoption of Preschool and Kindergarten standards for Social and Emotional Development and Approaches to Play and Learning. We each gave testimony at the hearing and soon realized that we had many common interests! Afterwards,  we began talking and Donna invited me to visit her school. 

From the moment I walked in the door, it was evident that Beginnings lives up to its motto: “A Child’s Place for Discovery.” The school serves children ages three months through Kindergarten, providing a warm and inviting environment for learning. 

I presented to two classrooms. The children were very good listeners! They loved Seaweed Soup, my Mathstart story about matching sets—and the smelliest, tastiest soup ever! We also read Camille’s Team together, an I See I Learn story about cooperation. They had lots of questions for me, which was delightful!

Donna and I had a chance to visit again after the readings. My visit to Beginnings is clearly the beginning of a wonderful friendship. 

Thank you Beginnings!

— Stuart J. Murphy

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A School Visit in Cuba!

On a recent trip to Cuba, I had the chance to visit the elementary school in Las Terrazas, a sustainable community in the mountains of the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve.  Well-known for its massive reforestation project, Las Terrazas also has an ambitious program that encourages small-scale private entrepreneurship. 

The community is home to just over 1,000 people and maintains a progressive Pre-Kindergarten through 6th Grade school for its families.

We walked into the 3rd Grade classroom at the perfect moment. They were about to begin their English class. I was introduced to the students as an author from the United States. I brought about 25 books with me, a mix a titles from my MathStart and I See I Learn series.  These were given as a donation to the school.

I was asked to read a story to the students. I had both the English and Spanish editions of Percy Gets Upset and selected that as the book I would read. I read a few pages in English, acting out the key words in the story, such as “frustrated” and “grouchy.” I also focused on the strategies to stop being upset, including calming down and counting to ten. As I finished each sequence, the teacher would read the same pages in Spanish.  The students were a little shy at first, but it wasn’t long before they got into the story and had a great time. At the end, I received a big round of applause and I’m sure that Percy will soon be their Best Friend Forever!

— Stuart J. Murphy

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#NHSA15 - Fabulous!

We had a full room for our presentation, What THEY See Is What YOU Get: Modeling Positive Behaviors! 

I started by providing some background, covering the critical topics of Intentional Instruction and and Visual and Contextual Learning. Camille's Team, the I See I Learn story about cooperation, was used to demonstrate teaching social and emotional skills with intent—with specific goals in mind—and utilizing strategies so that young children see and understand how the skills work and can be applied in their own lives.

Susan Fahey, director of a terrific Pre-K near Chicago called the Children’s Care and Development Center (CCDC),  followed by showing those kinds of activities in practice. Through videos, her teachers talked about the power of storybooks to model social and emotional skills, and specifically of the effectiveness of the I See I Learn at School program. Then, we saw video of young students acting out stories, role playing, talking about their favorite characters and describing the skills they had learned.

The session ended with an active Q+A and a plan of action for putting the main points that were presented into action. It was a full, fun-filled hour!

— Stuart J. Murphy

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Now, Who Doesn’t Love Pi?

Pi Day comes but once a year on March 14, which is almost Pi-perfect since a year is defined as the time it takes for one nearly-circular orbit of our not-quite spherical Earth around the giant globe of the Sun. Circles—or almost circles—everywhere you look!

Pi, of course, is the symbol for the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter: 3.14159…. The number is often rounded to 3.14, which is why Pi-Day is on March 14: 3 /14. This year is even more Pi-ful than usual because it works to the fourth decimal point: 3/14/15.

For your Pi Day pleasure, download and have fun!

Here is to circles big and small—Pi applies to them all!

—J.A. Ginsburg / Stuart J. Murphy

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Happy Holidays! Math, MathStart, Macy's, Fun and Lighting the Tree!

The last place in the world that I would have imagined myself on Black Friday was a crowded department store. But, there I was at Macy's Downtown Crossing store in Boston and it was packed! Not only was I there, but I was a featured part of the fun-filled Family Fun Day that lasted right up until the Tree Lighting Ceremony that evening. I was right there with The Elf on a Shelf, clusters of carolers and Santa himself!

In the middle of the massive children's department, between wild shopping frenzies, long check-out lines, promotional kiosks and craft tables was a huge red panel that said "Believe!" A large group was seated in front of the panel awaiting my arrival. I sat at a table, covered in red, and read my MathStart book, Missing Mittens, to the attentive crowd. They seemed to enjoy the reading so much that I asked if they wanted to hear another story. The response was unanimous and I read Less Than Zero next.

Both readings were peppered with questions about odd and even, and positive and negative numbers, and the children eagerly raised their hands to respond. Along with all the Christmas ornaments, their math skills were on full display! After the readings, each child received a free (with purchase) copy of Missing Mittens and I was delighted to personalize their books for them. I then did another reading for a new group of children and their parents.

Yes, Macy's Family Fun Day was lots of fun for me!

So let's continue the fun!

Here is The Missing Mittens Kids' Activity Sheet!

By the way, Less Than Zero's very own Perry the Penguin is one the "stars" in The Main Street Kids' Club: A MathStart Musical!

Happy Holidays and Happy Math Everybody!

—Stuart J. Murphy

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Do the Math! Why Early Math Adds Up!

"Studies find that the mathematics knowledge acquired in early childhood and early elementary grades is a critical foundation for long-term student success. A child’s math ability when he or she enters school has proved a better predictor of academic achievement, high school graduation, and college attendance than any other early childhood skill. Early mathematics competency even predicts later reading achievement better than early literacy skills. Finally, high-quality early mathematics instruction supports later learning of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills U.S. employers are demanding..."

— Unlocking Young Children’s Potential: Governors’ Role in Strengthening Early Mathematics Learning / National Governors Association / October 2014

It is, of course, vital to keep up the good work throughout primary, middle and high school in order to reap the benefits, but a solid foundation in mathematical concepts laid down during the preschool years can make all the difference, providing both competence and confidence. 

Children who grow up thinking that they can master a concept, whether it is math or reading or science, usually can. It may time some time and work, but they will keep at it. That's half the battle. 

Young children are typically pretty good at math. They are accomplished visual learners from the moment they open their eyes. By the time they are toddlers, they have figured the basics of "more" and "less" and "bigger" and "smaller." By preschool, they are ready for counting, matching sets, ordinals  and simple subtraction. There are 21 preschool (Level 1) books in the MathStart series, each focused on a different skill that these budding mathematicians are eager to master. 

The National Governor's Association report makes a good point about STEM careers, but math is also important for everyday activities, whether that is figuring out how much pizza to order for a party or counting change...or votes!

Numeracy—the ability to understand and work with numbers—can also serve as a stepping stone to literacy by providing an example of a symbolic language: 1 + 2 = 3 tells the story of what happens when 1 and 2 are added together, becoming 3. MathStart books take this natural link between math and stories, which children love, and adds visual learning strategies designed to play to the strengths of how young children take in information. 

Early Math is a integral part of a good early childhood education. So do the math! Early and often!

— J. A. Ginsburg

RELATED: 

Mission Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids ( nonpartisan national security organization of over 500 retired admirals, generals, and other retired senior military leaders) 

Turning 3-Year-Olds Into Scientists by Alexandra Ossola / The Atlantic

Studies: Math skills can be predicted, improved early on / USA Today

Math Boring? Not at All! The New York Times Editorial, MathStart and the Importance of Early Childhood Education by Stuart J. Murphy / vizlearning

San Francisco's universal preschool could prove a model for SoCal cities by Deepa Fernandes / KPCC

Long Beach looking to extend its push for college to preschools by Deepa Fernandes / KPCC

Early Math Matters: A Guide for Parents of Preschoolers / Get Ready to Read

Q&A with Deborah Stipek: Building Early Math Skills / Too Small to Fail

The early childhood solution for Colorado's economy by Greg Anton and Burnie Zercher / The Denver Post

Early Math Initiative / The Ounce of Prevention Fund

Early Math / The Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Worksheets for Ordering MathStart Books…Yay! / vizlearning

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Field Notes: Math, Social and Emotional Skills and the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics

 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: November 6-7, 2014

I am feeling very much like Camille when she goes to the beach with her mother in Camille's Team. It's sunny and warm here and I enjoyed a nice long walk in the sand at the end of a busy day yesterday. I am attending the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (SCCTM) annual meeting, where I gave a keynote address yesterday. My topic, "Reading and Math Together: An Equation for Success!", fit in perfectly with the overall conference theme, "Math: Good to the Core." I demonstrated ways in which using stories to teach math reinforces the goals of the Mathematical Practices of the Common Core State Standards and other state and national guidelines.

Inspired by the fact that we have just come through a busy election season, I read my book The Grizzly Gazette to the audience of over 300 educators. The story is about a camp election and includes polls and election strategies as three candidates run for the position of Camp Mascot. In the process, readers learn about percentage and the representation of data. The story ends with a rousing cheer, performed admirably by the entire audience.

Today, I am giving a talk at the closing luncheon event. As it's just a short presentation, I have decided to read a book from my I See I Learn series, Good Job, Ajay! The story has to do with building confidence. When people ask what this has to do with math, my response is, "Everything!" Research shows that social/emotional skills such as confidence building, cooperation and self-regulation are the most reliable predictors of school—and math—success.

The conference is going very well and I am honored to be here.

"Good Job, South Carolina!"...and a big thank you to Joan Stevenson of Turn Kids On! for the book signings!

—Stuart J. Murphy