Category: STEM

Expanding our Interests

I’ve organized these groups and clubs throughout my teaching career, and wanted to show their description that I provided to staff and families. Try one at school or home! Please follow my website for updates…Starting a “Top Ten” post soon. 🙂

Author Studies

This group will focus on authors/illustrators of our generation, Nadir Nelson, Jeanette Winter and Jacqueline Woodson (or other authors for younger students) that deliver powerful messages in their literature. We will explore their background, inspirations, other works, websites, and create a biography webpage for each of our authors. Discussion of the theme, time periods, and personal connections are a must. I like focusing on a diverse group of authors and illustrators to broaden the children’s cultural awareness…Kadir Nelson is a favorite of mine….Jeanette Winter (author of The Librarian of Basra and Malala and more) is another FANTASTIC author/illustrator who writes about some pretty powerful Middle Eastern events and gives us the opportunity to learn about and empathize for the thousands of people who are affected by war in their OWN country.

Favorite…

 History Detectives

Have you seen these books by Anne Millard and Steve Noon? They are not the most shiny newly published history books, but as I’ve studied these – I was absolutely fascinated by this compilation of time periods, characteristics and key events in such a FUN format. IT sort of reminds me of a “Where’s Waldo” style where the more you study the picture, the more details and quirks you notice about the characters. Seriously, these books are so fun. This particular group will focus on students pinpointing a period in history/major event, and doing research and exploration to deepen their knowledge of this time period/event. They will become familiar with the culture, traditions, lifestyle, politics, and religions. Evidence of their work will be an interactive poster/lapbook depicting different aspects of their event/time period. A simple Internet image search for “lap books” can provide AMAZING examples to showcase student learning.

 

Please contact Larissa if you would like her to share one of these workshops/programs with your school, library, or small creative writing group! lasantoriello@aol.com

by Larissa Juliano

RALC Writing Workshop

Hosting a workshop for the Rochester Literacy Council at Council Rock Elementary! October 22nd, 2016

Pics to follow!

Participants in this group will be using a variety of children’s literature to spark ideas for writing their own stories or opinion pieces. We will focus on a different types of children’s literature including; current popular picks, silly stories, “Around the World” fiction and non-fiction, thought provoking true stories and more. Participants will gain exposure to a wide variety of children’s authors, styles of writing, and unique illustrations. We will also identify key story elements that make a story memorable, engaging and essential for our own writing! Attendees will also have a“Q and A” opportunity to ask local elementary and library teacher and author, Larissa Juliano, about the publishing process and next steps in making their author aspirations come true. Bring a journal and a favorite children’s book.

Some of my favorites I will be sharing…

Favorite…

 

by Larissa Juliano

Enrich

Small groups & S.T.E.M

I’ve organized these groups and clubs throughout my teaching career, and wanted to show their description that I provided to staff and families. Try one at school or home!

My main focus for the groups (which is not clearly indicated in my descriptions) is to have literature be the primary resource used to introduce our enrichment activities! This allows our kids to see the vast amount of information at their fingertips and more importantly, inspire them in their discovery of topics they love. This also provides more opportunities to tap into sections of the library/bookstore that sometimes get overlooked…i:e: non-fiction math books, medieval century books, gardening books, and more. I also love getting the library kits at the public library and doing a modified version with my own kiddos at home🙂. Space and dinosaurs will be our next focus!

Literature Inspiration a.k.a. ‘What a great book!”

Students in this group will be using a variety of literature to spark ideas for writing their own stories or opinion pieces. Literature will range from silly stories to thought provoking true stories. Students will gain exposure to a wide variety of authors, styles of writing, and unique illustrations. They will also create accompanying illustrations for their writing pieces using different mediums of art. *Presenting at Rochester Literacy Council Writing Workshop October 22nd at Council Rock Elementary in Brighton!

Autumn Investigators

In this science based group, students will investigate different aspects and elements of the autumn season, including a mini pumpkin lab, note-taking using measurement and graphing, experiments and scavenger hunts involving nature, researching autumn related foods and holidays, and creating different visuals to demonstrate their understanding. Students will be enriched in their experiences with various autumn elements, and look at this particular season with newfound knowledge.

Please contact Larissa if you would like her to share one of these workshops/programs with your school, library, or small creative writing group! lasantoriello@aol.com

by Larissa Juliano