2011 ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings — Nominated Titles List

2011 ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings — Nominated Titles

All of us here at BillyGorilly.com are proud and honored to have
Billy Gorilly – Rockin’ the SchoolHouse, Vol.2 included as part of the ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings Nominations Discussion List for 2011.

We’d like to thank and praise all the committee members for their tireless work auditioning countless submissions and compiling the list. We would also like to congratulate all the winners.

We look forward to 2011 being another year filled with educating and engaging children through our recordings and encouraging them to reach their full potential by becoming life-long learners.

We’re also very happy to announce that we’ve added Follett Library Resources/Book Wholesalers Inc. as one of our official distributors.

If you have any other questions or need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us here.

Sincerely,
Tamara Maellaro

Gobble Gobble – Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Card

I needed to send out a few Thanksgiving cards so I decided to make them myself. I love making cards. I wanted it to be very simple and I could only use things I already had at home. I had no time to go to the store.

I decided to put a simple turkey picture on the front and say Happy Thanksgiving. So original, I know. I did not have a picture of a turkey. so I used my high tech skills and used my finger on the mouse pad to draw a turkey. Gasp, I even used MS word instead of a fancy drawing tool. Well, I did clean-up and color the turkey in photoshop.

Anyway, let me show you my Quick and Easy Card. If you need a card to make I give you the link to the template below. Just because I like you. Oh, and this would be so easy to have the kids make. Grandma’s and Grandpa’s love that kind of thing.

Scrapping Crafting Tools of the Trade

Supplies for 2 Cards:
1 – Piece of 8.5″ x 11″ white card-stock to print images or use plain printer paper
1 – Piece of 8.5″ x 11″ color card-stock
Tape or glue
Scissors or paper cutter
Embellishments as desired. I know you scrappers out there have tons of embellishments sitting around in those fancy boxes. I know I do, LOL.

1. Print images on card-stock

2. Cut out turkey card images

3. Cut 8.5″ x 11″ coordinating color card-stock
in half horizontally to make
two 5.5″tall x 8.5″ wide pieces

4. Fold color card-stock in half.
Score paper first if you have a scorer.

5. Tape or Glue Turkey to front of card and your done

Pretty easy don’t you think?

Maybe you want to color your own, add glitter, tags, and gems.

Here is one where I used water color pencils.

Click Here To Get Thanksgiving Card Template Now

That’s it, now you can make your own Turkey Card. If you have young children you might be interested in a card card template made just for kids to color Get it here

Cheers,

Guest Post: Teaching Children Through Music and Song

When I was approached about the possibility of a guest post I was hesitant. After reading the content I happily said, YES.

Guest Post by: Angelita Williams

Ever get a song stuck in your head and couldn’t get it out? Wouldn’t it be great if the material your children learn in class got stuck in their heads as well? Music is a great way to teach school lessons to young children. Why? Because the rhythmic melodies help otherwise boring facts and figures get “stuck” in their young brains right alongside the catchy tune. Truth be told, it would still work quite well in high school if most teens weren’t suddenly too cool to sing in class.

Music has long been called a mnemonic device, which is just a fancy word for learning aid. Other common mnemonic devices have included poems (think: “I before E, except after C” or “Thirty days hath September, April, June and November”). Growing up, I learned the 50 U.S. states through a long and clever song that I can still recall word for word today as an adult. When I went to a private religious school, I was made to memorize the books of the Bible in order (there are 66) using a song, which also remains in my head as an adult. Since then, I have learned that students have memorized all of the U.S. presidents, the Preamble to the Constitution and numerous other bits of educational information through song. Who would have thought?

After doing a little snooping around on unique ways teachers are using music and song to aid in the learning process in school, I stumbled upon an excellent Scholastic article where one teacher said she was even able to use songs to aid in the memorization of mathematic principles! Students would find themselves humming to themselves during tests in class, something along the lines of “mean, median, range and mode.”

Turns out that in their training, teachers had been encouraged to use songs to teach mathematic principles that must be committed to memory. Reading this took me back to third grade, where I remember struggling a great deal to memorize the multiplication tables as my teacher drilled me over and over. I would have loved to use a song to help me learn.

I wonder why our educational system widely embraces the use of song for pre-school aged children and kindergarteners (think: “Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes”), but abandons the concept when children progress to higher grades. I couldn’t help thinking about how beneficial learning through music and song could be for children beyond elementary school. It could also work wonders for parents who are travelling professionals with children in tow and have chosen to home school their children on the road.

How do you use music and song as an educational tool for your children?

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online college courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

How To Make A Five-Point Star With 1 Cut

Hello friends,

I found this in my files and I thought it would be perfect to share with you today. I created this how-to awhile ago for a newsletter I sent out.

I show you how to make the star just like they say Betsy Ross did many years ago. This would be a great thing to show the kids. String a bunch of them together and you can make a decoration to hang across the room as you celebrate July 4th.

Have fun making your Stars!

Click on image to download the pdf file

★★★★Then make a bunch of Stars ★★★★

I hope everyone has a fun, safe holiday weekend with family and friends.

Cheers,

Great Teaching Resource for Kids ages 3-6

Billy Gorilly Podcast For Kids
episode 18

We’re sorry  this episode is no longer available. To listen to New Episodes go here

Are you trying to teach a child the colors in a rainbow

or Letter sounds?

or maybe the concept of

Big, Small, or Hardly There At All

• COLORS OF THE RAINBOW
• BIG, SMALL, OR HARDLY THERE AT ALL
• LETTER SOUNDS (J-R)

Listen on your computer right from Billy’s website or download the podcast to your iPod. You can let your child listen any time they want. Play it in the car and you have a rolling schoolhouse. No boring sleepy songs here.

Billy Gorilly also offers worksheets and activity pages to go along with each segment of the podcast.

In very simple terms a podcast is an audio file that is transferred over the internet for your listening pleasure.

Billy’s podcasts are FREE, less than 15 minutes long, and feature 3-4 songs and or stories. You may even hear some of Billy Gorilly’s pals from the Candy Appletree Woods on the podcast.

Sorry this podcast no longer available. Get Billy Gorilly’s new podcast here

I would love to hear how you use music or this podcast to help educate your kids.

Please feel free to leave me a comment or share this post.

Warm Regards,
Tamara Maellaro
Flying Kitten Music

Educational Songs for Kids preK-1st

Billy Gorilly’s podcast for Kids

I just wanted to send out a little reminder about Billy’s Podcast 17. If you have not listened yet come on over and check it out. This podcast will teach children the  letters sounds of (A-I)  as they sing along with Billy and his pals from the Candy Appletree Woods. Kids will also learn the parts of a house as they make a list. The kidlets will be sure to have a smile as they learn to count by fives. You can also get free printable worksheets to go along with each segment. You can listen right on you computer or download to your iPod. If you subscribe on iTunes you will get updates automatically. It doesn’t cost a thing so you have nothing to lose.

We are currently working on Podcast 18. We will have it ready for you to enjoy around Sept. 5. Maybe a little sooner.

Until next time…

Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
and you can make everyday
Simply Splendiferous!

Don’t be shy and leave a comment. If you have a great way you use the podcast to entertain and teach your child or class tell us about it. We would love to hear.