1.  Preparations for a Circle Time Reading
 
 2.  This idea is to be applied in a student teacher 
 training course.  The student teachers would be either 
 early childhood education or child development majors.  
 
 3.  Often times, reading to young children is a 
 confusing and stressful activity for novice teachers.  
 Preparation is the key to a successful circle time 
 reading which is usually only 5 to 10 minutes long.  
 Therefore, the purpose of this application is to have 
 each student teacher:
 
a.  find 1 classic children's story through the FTP 
 archives and download the story for later use

b.  prepare an electronic notecard and a 3x5 
 standard notecard which includes the name of the story 
 and any possible props, puppets, editing (inappropriate 
 phrasing, stereotypes or shortening the length of the 
 story), acting/dramatic directions, and interactive 
 reading moments or other suggestions that may be needed 
 for an entertaining, meaningful and smooth circle time

 
c.  read the story to the children using the ideas 
 from the notecard

d.  add their electronic notecards to a 
 conferencing newsgroup which can be accessed by the 
 other students for future use.  This notecard file will 
 be one of several resource files that will be created 
 throughout the semester.
 
 4.  Students will be evaluated in terms of 
 
a.  The quality and feasibility of their notecards-  
 the notecards must meet the standards of appropriate 
 readings as well as meet the 10 minute reading limit

b.  Their actual performance in the classroom-  all 
 of the ideas from the notecard should be used and the 
 children should be properly engaged in the reading.  The 
 student teachers will also participate in their 
 evaluation by stating what went well and what could be 
 improved the next time this story is read.

c.  Their successful posting of their notecards-  
 the students must meet the assignments deadline and 
 follow the appropriate notecard template.  The notecard 
 should also be grammatically correct.  The supervising 
 teacher will add suggestions and the student will make 
 corrections if necessary before final posting.  When the 
 supervising teacher posts the student's notecard to the 
 newsgroup, this is the equivalent to a credit for the 
 assignment.
 
 5.  The same type of application can be used for 
 different types of readings  For example, poetry books 
 instead of story books can be located through the FTP 
 archives and a poetry resource file can be created.