Revisiting Grand River Riverfront Park in Summer: Guide to West Michigan

(Travelogues--West Michigan)

Revisiting Grand River Riverfront Park in Summer: Guide to West Michigan

Video of my previous trip: https://youtu.be/zMXJvPchCr4

Address: 12570 Grand River Dr SE, Lowell, MI 49331

Also includes: Lowell Timber Footbridge and Lowell Area Trailway

This is part of my project to document places of interest in West Michigan.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see the bottom part of this blog post here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2026/01/guide-to-west-michigan.html

Related Playlists:

Travelogues Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x71JnPJ1gs_uaswSALX-7V9

West Michigan Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4D-0HPmovcbB6cCqlVVGEL&si=IEFmZ3UMgJxI0F4F

Kent County Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5EOMa9ZWDBtdpQFwtlk_ev&si=t8952PnDfrJQTvBY

Lowell Township Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4EtIjQDNap8FOdiCWbmdDm&si=TXvlm31f1oeO_Jiq

Rainforest Vocabulary

(TESOL Materials--Animals, Places)

Google Docs Folder HERE

* The Hidden Treasures of the Green Forest--Created from this chat here (Made using Google Gemini Storybook)

* Slideshow: slides, pub

* Write the First Letter: docs, pub

* Coloring Sheet: docs, pub

* Lesson Plans: docs, pub

[Note: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson The Rain Forest p.120-121 from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson.   But I believe this material could also be used independently for any lesson on animal vocabulary, so I'm posting it here.]

Target vocabulary: turtle, jaguar, bat, owl, parrot, dragonfly, moth, spider, ant, orchid, fern, moss.

Content objective: learn the names of the rainforest objects

Language objective: practice spelling and letter sounds

Stage Name	Procedure
Lead-in	Slide 1 on the slideshow.  Elicit from students what the slide is.  (Or if necessary, give answer).  Ask students what animals they think live in the rain forest.  Students talk briefly with a partner about rain forest animals .  (If students have no ideas, you can use slide 2 to help.)  Then whole class feedback.
Present Vocabulary (language from a text)	Gemini Storybook.  Read through the storybook.  As the target vocabulary comes up, check with students to ensure they are noticing it.
Clarification	Slides 14-25: elicit the name of the vocabulary from students.  Confirm by displaying name on the slide animation.  Drill pronunciation
practice	write the first letter: with students, sound out the first letter of each word.  Students write first letter on the sheet.
Time allowing	Display page 120-121 on the white board.  Get students to find and circle the target vocabulary.  (Students can circle on their photocopy as well.) Coloring sheet

Matching Cards for CVC words with -og

(TESOL Worksheets-- -og Word Patterns)

Worksheet: docs, pub

I use these cards in several stages.

I start out with some of the alphabet cards from this previous activity.  I take the "O" card, and ask students what sound it makes.  Then I take the "G" sound, and ask what sound it makes, and then put the two cards together, and try to get students to tell me the sound.

I then take out several consonants, and get the students to tell me the sound, and then put these consonants together with the -OG to make different words, helping students to sound them out.  

At this point I put out the picture cards, and as we do different CVC -at words, I get students to identify the pictures.  

Once all the words and pictures have been identified, then we play a memory card game to match the words and pictures.  

Lastly, I put away the word cards, and just show students the pictures.  The students have to write down the word on their mini-white boards.

bog
cog
dog
fog
hog
jog
log

-og Word Family (CVC words)

(TESOL Ideas and Worksheets Subdivisions)

* Matching Cards for CVC words with -og

See also: CVC Word Patterns

This Week in Booktube: July 12, 2026

(These are the Booktube videos I watched this week. As always, I encourage you also to check out each of the videos I've linked to down below.  Support Booktube.  And let me know what you've watched this past week.)

Google document: docs, pub

Marian H Wuthering Heights: Romance (Chapters 5–9 Analysis)

Book Time with Elvis Why Adults Stop Reading (And How to Start Again)

Abby Reads "Under the Greenwood Tree" by Thomas Hardy | A 5P Review

Steve Donoghue Epic Comic Book Wednesday: Howard the Duck

Reading is a Skill 9 books that convinced me otherwise (than what the author intended)

Steve Donoghue 22K Answers! Plenty of 'em!

Steve Donoghue Rocket Summer 2026: I, Robot

Steve Donoghue 22K Q&A?

Reading is a Skill "Hate speech" is free speech: a defense of American exceptionalism

Bucky749 My he-man figures villains and others

Bradford Dickinson White Nature Preserve, Lowell Township: Guide to West Michigan

(Travelogues--West Michigan)

Address: 12589 36th Street, Lowell, MI

This is part of my project to document places of interest in West Michigan.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see the bottom part of this blog post here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2026/01/guide-to-west-michigan.html

Related Playlists:

Travelogues Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x71JnPJ1gs_uaswSALX-7V9

West Michigan Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4D-0HPmovcbB6cCqlVVGEL&si=IEFmZ3UMgJxI0F4F

Kent County Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5EOMa9ZWDBtdpQFwtlk_ev&si=t8952PnDfrJQTvBY

Lowell Township Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4EtIjQDNap8FOdiCWbmdDm&si=TXvlm31f1oeO_Jiq

Desert Vocabulary

(TESOL Materials--Animals, Places)

* Tico's Desert Discovery--Created from this chat here (Made using Google Gemini Storybook)

* Slideshow: slides, pub

* Write the First Letter: docs, pub

* Coloring Sheet: docs, pub

[Note: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson The Desert p.116-117 from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson.   But I believe this material could also be used independently for any lesson on animal vocabulary, so I'm posting it here.]

Places: Specific Vocabulary Sets

(Specific Vocabulary Sets)

* Vocabulary for Describing Places

* The Ocean

* The Desert

* The Rainforest

See also:

* Vocabulary for Houses

* School Vocabulary

Write the First Letter (for Vocabulary)

(TESOL Ideas--Any Vocabulary Set)

Over the past year, I had been struggling with how to do writing activities with a kindergarten class (who didn't know how to read and write yet).

One idea my mentor suggested to me is instead of having the students write out the whole word (as I had done when I taught elementary school age children in Vietnam), I could have them just write out the first letter of the word.

Below is an example of how this would work.  It was designed for a kindergarten class who already had some exposure to letters and sounds (i.e. a kindergarten class in the spring term, not the fall term).  We did it as an all class activity.  I put the worksheet up on the projector, and elicited from the class what the names of the pictures were.  Then we sounded out the first letter of the word together.  Then the students told me what letter made that sound, and I wrote it down on my copy on the projector, and they also copied down the same letter on their paper.

This is an example for desert plants and animals: docs, pub

nake	izard
awk	abbit
ouse	actus

The Secret of NIMH: Movie Review

(Movie Review--Thoughts after Rewatching)

As I mentioned in the video, I have seen this movie many times before.  (And I've talked about it on this blog before here and here.)  But because I didn't start reviewing movies I was rewatching until 2020, I've never had the chance to talk about it on this blog before now.

The Secret of NIMH: Movie Review  

Links to stuff mentioned:

My review of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien: https://youtu.be/mLlEd5RnLCE

Video comparing the fighting choreography to The Vikings: https://youtu.be/WetvmkuDCiQ?si=WHBt1G0OT1Dnemnt

The Secret of Nimh: Movie Worksheets: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-secret-of-nimh-movie-worksheets.html

Apologies for getting cut off at the end.  The video camera I use automatically stops at 30 minutes.  But I had said most of what I wanted to say.

Related Playlists:

Movie Reviews playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6N06WoIoV2fLb6xRYrepTk&si=EDHi2_Y41ACLnCmA

Movies that I Watched in 2026: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4MSFWzU5IicG0H3orcJ1tV&si=7Xu-ASHaL36-7DER

Thoughts after Re-Watching: Movie Review Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7FpJlwdur1iZDUZJh5xV-u&si=JztauLH1N-x1OaRq

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4G9otcIUy8M_gG9rnJdNvH

Rats of NIMH playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x42fxHw1aiSfXOFrlInW3ud&si=B963_thmFIIuWU3i