Just wrapped up a weeklong artist residency for Young Audiences at Lincoln Elementary School in Melrose, Mass., titled “Sounds of the Rainforest.” It was a great week, though these kids were so knowledgeable about the rainforest that at times it felt like they were teaching me!
For example, did you know that howler monkeys are the loudest animals on the planet aside from blue whales? Or that only 2% of the sunlight that shines on the rainforest makes it all the way down to the forest floor?
To learn more, and to get ideas for an interdisciplinary, arts-integrated rainforest unit of your own, take a look below at the detailed program notes that we put together for our final assembly “informance.”
Arts-Integrated Music Education
Working with Young Audiences residency artist and ThisWorldMusic Founder Jeremy Cohen, 2nd and 3rd grade students (five classes total) created original pieces of music reflecting the sounds of the rainforest. In an interdisciplinary, arts-integrated experience bringing together social studies, science and music, students explored the rainforest in depth, understanding its importance as an ecosystem. Students were guided through their exploration of the rainforest in the following manner:
- introduction to all four layers of the rainforest (scroll down to see picture);
- explore in-depth one layer of the rainforest (emergent layer, canopy, understory, forest floor) discovering what each sounds like and which species live there;
- create an original “sound scene” which represents that layer;
- rehearse and perform a suite of sound scenes with all participating classes to demonstrate their knowledge and share their creativity.
Today’s “informance” marks the first time students are hearing the music in its entirety, as all five classes have created and rehearsed separately to this point.
Sounds of the Rainforest Program
Layer 1: Forest Floor
Sounds: baby tree frogs (guiros), snakes (maracas), jaguars (hand drums)
Yes, human beings are one of the species commonly found on the forest floor. And one of the signature sounds of our species is music.
Layer 2: Understory
Sounds: baby red-eyed tree frogs (small guiros), snakes (maracas), jaguars (drums)
The rainforest isn’t always the nicest place. Sneaky jaguars pounce on unsuspecting baby tree frogs as snakes hiss with approval. That last frog sure sounds nervous!
Layer 3 (Part I): Canopy
Sounds: toucan and macaw (African bells), adult red-eyed tree frogs (hand drums with finger tips, large guiros), butterflies (triangles)
Can a red-eyed tree frog croak and hop at the same time? These students don’t think so. Listen to the alternation of croaking and hopping as birds and butterflies carry-on above.
Layer 3 (Part II): Canopy
Sounds: crickets (small woodblocks), woodpeckers (large woodblocks), howler monkeys (hand drums), snakes (African gourd rattle)
Did you know that 90% of all rainforest species live in the canopy layer? To be able to represent this layer well, we needed the help of not one, but two classes.
Layer 4: Emergent
Sounds: eagle wings (big hand drums), eagle crying (triangle), rainstorm (small hand drums)
The emergent layer is the highest in the rainforest. As a result, it absorbs the most wind, rain and sunshine and is home to high-flying eagles. But these eagles don’t like flying in the rain, preferring to wait out the storm before taking to the air once more.
This residency was made possible by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. All music and sound scenes composed by the students of Lincoln Elementary.


Clearly an understanding of mathematics is vital to provide the numeracy skills to allow us to get by in everyday life. On another level, there is an inherent beauty and wonder in mathematics which students have the opportunity to discover.
All mathematics rooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards, which allow access to a range of resources including the Internet.
Access to Chrome books allows Mathematics classes to use Hegarty Maths, Desmos! and other mathematics programs.
All students follow the National Curriculum, but are set according to ability, so they are studying at a level that suits them. Set changes can occur at any time, but usually take place once every half term.
Key Stage 3
At Key Stage 3, we have a two year focus on Grade 5-1 topics to link with the new Maths GCSE. Skills taught in primary school are reinforced while new content is introduced and developed over the two years. Our aim is that students get a foundation understanding for low grade topics assessed at GCSE and they are stretched to higher grade topics when applicable. Students will learn topics in the five strands of: number, ratio, algebra, statistics and geometry. Problem solving skills are highlighted as well throughout so students develop a deeper understanding in topics and are better prepared for the more rigorous GCSE exams.
Key Stage 4
At Key Stage 4 we follow the AQA GCSE specification. The examination is assessed at two tiers. The Higher tier assesses Grades 9- 4, whilst the Foundation tier assesses Grades 5 – 1. Our top sets in KS4 have the opportunity to take the AQA Level 2 Certificate in Further Mathematics.
Key Stage 5
At Key Stage 5, our cohort are following the new Edexcel specification where students study Pure Mathematics, Statistics and Mechanics. The course is linear and all three papers are sat at the end of Year 13. We offer Further Mathematics at A-Level where students sit the regular Math A-Level papers as well as further maths papers at the end of the 2-year course.
Throughout the year we have numerous students from all year groups who take part in the UK Mathematics Challenge. We also take part in Mathematics Masterclasses run by the Hillingdon Mathematics society. We are a member of the Further Maths Network and our students participate in competitions and enrichment activities provided through this organisation. Our Year 10 and Year 12 girls regularly participate in events organised by the University of Oxford’s Maths and Computing Departments to encourage girls to continue studying Maths post-16. Year 10 students regularly attend a summer school run by King’s Maths School.
Subject Leader: Hannah Vorce


Photography Lessons for Children and Teens
Parents may have used snapshots to create interest in the first books their children see, and many preschool and primary grade teachers throughout the years have requested photographs that help introduce a student to their classmates and used snapshots to remind students of lessons, field trips and other events.
Because cameras are now incorporated into cell phones, music players and other tech gadgets, and pictures can be easily displayed on computer screens and televisions, printing snapshots is not the primary way photographs are now shared.
Since hundreds of pictures can be stored in a tech gadget or memory card, children and teens are not limited to 12 or 24 opportunities to get a visual representation of an event or person as their grandparents or parents may have been.
Teachers are now incorporating digital cameras into curriculum, parent-teacher communications, and classroom lessons. Teachers and therapists who used to use preprinted cards to explain the order of a story or steps in a science project or lesson can now use snapshots from their communities or students own experiences.
Because cameras can be taken out into the natural world, students who have difficulties drawing, writing or speaking can capture assignments and use their snapshots as visual cues. Sound can be imbedded in pictures so that students with low vision are able to benefit from as well as produce their own visual assignments.
Wireless mobile devices of all kinds can be designed or used for communication and educational purposes that have previously been available only on high priced dedicated devices. Disability advocates look forward to the day when tech devices can be manipulated by the blink of an eye or voice recognition to compose and read messages, comments, articles and books. We are no longer limited to print or voice communication and when enough pictures online are tagged, most efficiently through games or other entertainment, we will see a greater richness of communication from those who may now have no voice.
Local parent support and advocacy groups can sponsor local photography contests showing children with disabilities in everyday life or posed for portraits, open to mainstream classmates, too.
Browse at your public library, local bookstore or online retailer for books like Digital Photo Madness! 50 Weird & Wacky Things to Do with Your Digital Camera, Picture Science - Using Digital Photography to Teach Young Children, The Kids' Guide to Digital Photography - How to Shoot, Save, Play with & Print Your Digital Photos, I Wanna Take Me a Picture - Teaching Photography and Writing to Children, or Kids, Cameras, and the Curriculum - Focusing on Learning in the Primary Grades
A relative or friend who upgrades to a new digital camera may be the best resource for children and teens who have an interest in photography, so your investment may be only the price of a digital memory card. Browse online for
small digital cameras.
Through Jack's Eyes
Artist Mom and Daughter Explore Their Relationship In Photos
" ... The ongoing and collaborative portrait project between Irish artist Emer Gillespie and her
daughter, Laoisha, born with Downs Syndrome, began in 2008 and continues to develop through today.
Photography opens new world for autistic Shoreline man
Shoreline man communicates through photography
Postage stamp campaign features artists with disabilities
Blind photographer Pete Eckert
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Can kid’s music lessons boost brain health?
Musical training in childhood has lasting brain benefits, findings of a new study claim. According to experts just a few years of musical training in childhood could improve the brain response to speech sound in adulthood.
An individual’s brain might be reaping the benefits of that early instruction even if they had abandoned playing the instrument in decades.
Study researcher Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, said it “suggests the importance of music education for children today and for healthy ageing decades from now. The fact that musical training in childhood affected the timing of the response to speech in older adults in our study is especially telling because neural timing is the first to go in the ageing adult.”
Study of 44 healthy adults
The focus of the study was to examine the impact of musical activity during childhood on brain’s response to sound in adulthood. They recruited 44 healthy adults aged between 55 and 76 to participate in an experiment.
None of the volunteers had played a musical instrument in 40 years. As a part of the study, experts measured the subjects’ electrical signals from the auditory brainstem (part of the brain that processes sound) as they listened to different sounds of synthesized speech syllables.
Revelations of the study
It was observed that the neural response to sound of participants with at least 4 to 14 years of music training in childhood was a fraction faster than that of their peers with no musical instruction as kids.
Prof Michael Kilgard, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Dallas, who was not part of the study stated, “Being a millisecond faster may not seem like much, but the brain is very sensitive to timing and a millisecond compounded over millions of neurons can make a real difference in the lives of older adults.”
Details of these findings are published in The Journal of Neuroscience.


By Kira Rappaport, MA Music Education
A baby’s sense of hearing is the first sense to develop, at 17 weeks in the womb. Baby spends the majority of its time in-utero listening to the strong and steady beat of Mom’s heart, as well as the voices around them, whether in speech or in song. When a baby arrives in our world, we coo and hum and sing and sway. Babies sing before they speak and dance before they walk.
Interestingly, it has been shown that Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients may not remember themselves or their loved ones, but they remember the music they have known and loved in their lifetimes. This is because music is the one and only thing in the human experience that uses every part of the brain, something no other academic or artistic discipline does.
Here is a quick and fascinating read on how music accesses every part of the brain: https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/
Music connects us to our past, present and future. The songs our grandparents sang are passed down to us through our parents and we sing them to our own babies, knowing that one day, they will sing them to their babies. Music is found in every culture in the world.
Making music with babies helps them connect to us and to their culture. It can help mark the beats of the day. We can sing a wake up song, a clean up song, a nap time song, a bedtime song. In addition to being a parenting tool, music can calm and soothe our children and ourselves!
I sang “Three LIttle Birds” by Bob Marley during every class I taught at the beginning of the pandemic. Singing, “every little thing is gonna be alright” helped get all of us through the crazy uncertainty of these times.
Perhaps you are one for whom singing doesn’t come easily. You can hum a melody or replace the melody with rhythmic chanting. No matter how much you may not love your voice, your baby does and wants to hear it! It has been my pleasure and privilege to teach Music and Mindfulness on Zoom for Pump Station every Monday and Wednesday at 10:30am since the Stay-at-Home orders began in March 2020. Attending a weekly music class allows parents/caregivers and their babies a chance to come together in community to breathe, sing, dance and connect. For me, when all my in-person teaching completely stopped, these zooms gave me structure and purpose and 13 months later they still do! So, I invite you and encourage all to sing and dance with your children, there truly is no better way to connect!
Trained as a classical flutist, Kira discovered her passion and talent for teaching while living and performing in New York City. She went on to earn a Master's Degree in Music Education with an emphasis on early childhood music. She teaches Parent and Me Music Classes, Preschool Music Classes and workshops to teachers on the use of music in the early childhood classroom. Kira has released 2 CD’s of children’s music:Beautiful Day & Sing Together, which can be found on iTunes. She regularly performs with her band, Kira Rappaport and Friends.
Kira is married with 2 daughters of her own and she is passionate about being a source of knowledge, love and music to parents of young children.


September 8th, 2020
Dyslexia is a brain-based learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to develop word reading and spelling skills. These individuals typically read and spell at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence.
Screening for dyslexia is the act of gauging the long-term risk for poor outcomes of word reading and spelling skills that are considered to significantly impede literacy development in children.
Tell Congress: Pass the RISE Act
We need your help! Ask your member of Congress to support students with learning and attention issues.
Thanks to support from generous partners like you, we are able to create programs and resources to support the 1 in 5 individuals with learning and attention issues nationwide.


Online music education isn’t just about rote learning where your students simply imitate and repeat things. Though planned lessons and practice sessions are an essential part of the learning process, improvisation too should be encouraged. Whether you’re conducting virtual one-to-one classes or online group classes, encouraging your young students to improvise is a crucial element in music education.
Studies have found that the human brain functions differently when someone is playing from memory vs. when he/she is improvising. Wondering how? Certain regions of the brain get activated and deactivated during such actions. And the interesting thing is that these patterns are basically the reciprocal of each other. This means the regions of the brain that get activated during improvisation are deactivated when a person plays from memory.
During improvisation, a region in the brain’s top front section (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), which is believed to help in problem-solving and conscious performance monitoring, slows down. In the meantime, a central region in the brain’s front-most section (medial prefrontal cortex), which plays a considerable role in self-expression and creating a story, becomes more active.
But what do all these mean? It appears that when improvising, the brain’s evaluating and self-monitoring region gets deactivated. This frees up part of the brain to be more creative. This, in turn, allows the person to spontaneously create unique and unplanned musical ideas and gestures that would have been inhibited otherwise.
Some studies even suggest that musicians who’ve been trained in improvisation are likely to be more capable of giving their creativity a free run, in general, as compared to non-musicians or musicians not trained in improvisation.
How your young students can benefit from improvisation?
Being trained in improvisation from a young age would encourage your students to gather, process, and react to music suitably. Additionally, their creativity would be unleashed, which would boost their confidence. Even when these students slip in their performance due to forgetting a particular rhythm or note, they can quickly improvise until they find their way back to something familiar.
Students attending your online group classes must actively engage in the learning process. By encouraging improvisation, you can help them to actively construct and ‘play’ or manipulate this knowledge. This, in turn, will let them master the things taught or shared, thus motivating them to work hard and paving the way for their musical growth in the future. But improvising, especially when performing in a group or in front of an audience, may raise one’s self-consciousness. This could potentially trigger feelings of fear and anxiety. As a music teacher, you need to guide your students the right way to help them overcome these negative feelings to enjoy improvisation.


This Focus On Elementary Geology Teacher's Manual, 3rd edition, will help you to confidently guide your kids in grades K-4 through a 12-week exploration of volcanoes, earthquakes, water, plants, animals, the air we breathe, the geosphere, and Earth's shape, size, parts, layers, spheres & magnetism!
This 54-page manual is an instructional guide with additional information that connects to the lessons in the Student Textbook's 12 chapters and the corresponding experiments in the Laboratory Workbook
Inside, you will find things like:
- background information and tips for teaching each lesson
- a sneak-peek of all needed materials
- material lists for each weekly experiment
- a summary of each experiment's
- step-by-step project instructions (including answers to the workbook questions)
- inquiry-based prompt ideas to inspire critical & independent thinking
Simplify your life by purchasing the Focus On Elementary Geology Set to receive the Student Textbook, Teacher's Manual, and Lab Workbook all in one!
Note: Real Science For Kids Pre-Level 1 has a new name and a new look! While you'll enjoy the same easy-to-teach and fun-to-learn curriculum as before, now it's called Focus On Elementary and is intended for grades K-4.
NOTE: This product may be ineligible for some promotions.
Important Note: To receive the printable lesson plans, send the grade level(s) and subject(s) of your Real Science 4 Kids curriculum to [email protected], and be sure to mention that you purchased this curriculum from Home Science Tools.
- Take a peek at this manual's sample pages near the middle of this preview booklet before you buy!
- Important Note: HST currently only offers the Student Text, Teacher’s Manual, and Lab Notebook. The other items (midterm exams, online course, study notebooks & graphics package) can be purchased directly from the publisher's site.
My Science Perks is FREE! Just place your order while logged in to your Home Science Tools account and you'll automatically earn up to 6% back when your order ships!Learn More


ERIC Number: ED496475
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Apr-30
Nonfiction Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers
Fredericks, Anthony D.
Test scores across the country show American students are far more able to read narrative than nonfiction text. Some research speculates this is due to a great lack in the background knowledge of many children. Librarians are beginning to realize that a unique fit for the school librarian is as a provider of background knowledge materials for teachers to use. Teachers are continually looking for an interesting fun way to input content knowledge to build that background information which will help push up expository reading scores. Nonfiction readers theatre is one way to accomplish this. This book offers 30 short nonfiction readers theatre plays for the young reader (grades 1-3) on topics ranging from earth and natural science to community helpers, holidays and government. All topics are tied to usual curriculum in the primary grades. Reading the plays will expose students to factual, curricular-related information in a fun way, as well as contributing to the student's ability to understand nonfiction text and read fluently. Each play offers an activity or science experiment and a list of further readings and/or references.
Descriptors: Nonfiction, Oral Interpretation, Theater Arts, Reading Instruction, Primary Education, Drama, Reading Fluency, Teaching Methods, Beginning Reading
Greenwood Publishing Group. 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06825. Tel: 800-225-5800; Tel: 203-226-3571; Fax: 203-222-1502; Web site: http://www.greenwood.com
Publication Type: Books; Guides - Classroom - Teacher
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Primary Education
Authoring Institution: N/A


As a universal art form, music is a force that stirs emotions, uncages creativity and educates students on freedom of expression.
Regrettably, there’s been a recent shadow of doubt cast above the availability of music lessons in schools.
From the perspective of Jack Pepper, a composer, broadcaster and writer, music has been drained from state schools in the UK due to “slashed budgets, fewer specialist teachers and a growing focus on STEM subjects”, swaying music education to the sideline.
Offering multiple benefits, Jack believes that music-making provides the ultimate health boost.
“Musicians work the body in the same way an athlete trains a muscle. There are social benefits, meeting new people through the universality of music: the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Cake Concerts, for example, take professional players into care homes. Music improves emotional intelligence, a vital point at a time of growing awareness of mental health. Music is communication, expression and emotion in sound: what would humanity be without these?” he questions.
With growing fears that schools care more about STEM-focused subjects than creative ones, educators around the world are sourcing new ways to merge music with STEM.
Our Year 3 children loved taking part in the ukulele lessons this week with Jam Rock Music School 🎼😊 pic.twitter.com/lEesZXtamy
— St Margaret’s (@St_Margarets_SG) September 19, 2019
The case of the missing music lessons
Last year, the University of Sussex revealed that music in schools is at significant risk of disappearing, as music teaching hours and staff levels continue to decline.
The survey reported that:
- A decline in the number of schools offering GCSE music and other Key Stage 4 qualifications, with some schools only offering it outside of school hours if at all.
- 15.4 percent fewer centres offered A-Level music in 2018 compared to 2016, and a reduction of 31.7 percent in A-Level music technology. This is likely to be reflected in the decreasing number of candidates sitting these qualifications in 2019 and 2020.
- An increase in music teachers teaching outside their subject area – over 70 percent cited often doing so since 2016, and a potential rise in redundancies for music teachers in the next academic year, with some responses noting that music teachers were not being replaced when they left or retired.
Of the 464 schools in England which responded to this survey, 423 were state schools and 41 were independent schools, all of which were feeling the loss of music education.
“Free music lessons in schools are now denied to so many children” – Sarah Williams, music teacher & performer.
If you care, sign up as an MU supporter for free
— Musicians’ Union (@WeAreTheMU) June 30, 2019
Reviving music education through STEM
A study from the University of British Columbia in Canada discovered that students who took music lessons in high school performed better in subjects such as English, science and maths.
Published this year, A Population-Level Analysis of Associations Between School Music Participation and Academic Achievement found that “Highly engaged instrumental music students were, on average, academically over one year ahead of their peers.”
The findings that suggest a “Multiyear engagement in music, especially instrumental music, may benefit high school academic achievement.”
With evidence of a strong correlation between music education and successful STEM results, it would be a shame to eliminate music learning from school students’ lives, especially when merging the two together could work in their favour.
Therefore, at this year’s Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary Collaborations on Educating with Song (VOICES) conference, strategic STEM/music educational strategies were displayed in a bid to revive the declining discipline.
From mathematical poetry to science-themed songs, there were multiple performances of the STEM and music partnership.
Impressed by the VOICES workshops, high school chemistry teacher and conference organiser Tiffany Getty revealed that the “Wide range of perspectives clearly shows that people in STEM are very open to the idea of collaborating with the arts.”
A big thanks to all the presenters today. Join our web conference again on Monday and encourage others to learn more about collaborating with STEM & Music! Go to https://t.co/wyLxt39i0L and click “Watch Live.”
It is Free!
— VOICES: STEM plus Music! (@VOICES_Meetings) September 23, 2019
Motivated by the notion of music education and the way it complements STEM, educators like Getty are giving alternative learning strategies a go.
Whether that equates to Hip Hop in the laboratory or classical sounds in computer labs, there are lots of genius ways to help these two concepts to collide.


Department of Human Development
Department of Human Development
Our department considers the childcare and the education of infants and children crucially important in human development. We aim to train educational experts who can understand and support children’s development. Students, as they become sophomores, choose either elementary education track or preschool education, seeking a teaching license in elementary school and kindergarten in the former, kindergarten and nursery in the latter.
One of the characteristics of the department is that students are given opportunities to go out in the nursing and education field in the freshman year, getting firsthand experiences. Not only through the experiences at the affiliated schools but many others, would students become a teacher with practical leadership.
Another characteristic is our curriculum which enables students to flexibly deal with new needs at worksites. For example, many schools are starting English education. We set up a program in “Teaching English to Children.” Also, there is phenomenon called “grade one problem” caused by the environmental gap between preschools and elementary schools. We provide psychology courses to understand the issues, to train teachers to understand the transition.
The third characteristic is that we train students meticulously so that they would be able to provide meticulous service. In the freshman year, we have courses such as “Introductory Seminar on University Education” or “Comprehensive Seminar on Children,” whose class size is less than ten, and students are given rudimentary learning skills as well as counseling in them. Preparation for teacher employment exams and career improvement are also provided. Those who enjoy working with children, who are willing to get involved in the development of children, will find this department the best choice.
Experts in Child Education and Childcare
We have specialists on primary education, preschool education, psychology, linguistics, and literature. We take a multidisciplinary approach to the understanding and education of children, which is reflected in our curriculum.
Based on Christian love, which is our foundational principle, we seek understanding of human development from early childhood to old age through psychology, education, sociology, etc. and bring up teachers who understand and support others, contributing to the society.
Under the major in Child Development, there are two tracks: Elementary Education Track and Preschool Education Track.
Elementary Education Track
Teaching license in elementary school is aimed at. Meticulous teaching is sought after these days. Through psychological and developmental studies, deep understanding of children is expected. Through many practicums, teachers with practical skills are raised.
Preschool Education Track
Good understanding of child development is required. Courses such as Developmental Psychology or Developmental Disorder will be useful for the purpose. There will be opportunities to get in touch with children starting in the freshman year. We raise teachers who have practical experience and can understand a child’s mind.
- Courses are set so that professionals in nursing and education who can understand and support children’s --especially infants and small children--development.
- There are foundational courses of the department, foundational courses for teaching, courses on the methods of teaching, practicum and internship, related courses and expansive courses.
- Students will choose between the Elementary Education Track and Preschool Education Track, selecting a program in nursery, kindergarten, or elementary school.
- We raise nursery teachers and educators with broad knowledge and cultural understanding through courses on children’s psychology and development or children’s English.
Those who obtain the predetermined number of credits and the following conditions are entitled to degree.
- Knowledge on children’s development and the skills to support them.
- Strong interest in children’s development and passion for their support.
- Practical leadership ability in the field or child care and education, and social contribution through it.


The two best sessions for me at Edubloggercon today at ISTE2010 ended up talking about Networks and teaching how to use networks with students. For lack of a better term we called it “Networked Literacy”
Based on that reading I created this diagram that looks at today’s literacy development.
Networked literacy is what the web is about. It’s about understanding how people and communication networks work. It’s the understanding of how to find information and how to be found. It’s about how to read hyperlinked text articles, and understand the connections that are made when you become “friends” or “follow” someone on a network. It’s the understanding of how to stay safe and how to use the networked knowledge that is the World Wide Web. Networked Literacy is about understanding connections.
After today’s conversation I think it’s pretty close to what we were all thinking. It’s the idea of teaching students that they have networks in Facebook and through other web connections. We need to teach them how to use those networks to spread their message. Today many of us ed tech people do the networking for students via our twitter accounts, our own blogs, and the whole of our PLNs. Students today have networks, the issue is most of them are blocked in schools. We do not think of them as idea spreading networks but instead as social-networks that students must be kept from during school hours.
Learning networks are Social networks.
There is not one of us here at ISTE that does not use Twitter strictly for learning. We share our days, our lives. We share jokes, stay in touch and communicate on things that are personal to us. If we are allowed to use our learning-networks for social connections why can’t students use their social-networks for learning connections?
Of course Facebook is just a popular example. There are many other networks that we should be teaching students to use, networks to help them spread their message.
There’s another part of Networked Literacy that we touched on today. The idea of using social-connections to curate information. It’s asking your Twitter network for resources instead of Google, or asking your Facebook friends dinner ideas rather than looking up a restaurant yourself. Learning when to ask these networks for help and why you would you them rather than Google is a type of Networked Literacy we need to be teaching.
The conversations we had today are just the beginning. I’m looking forward to discussion this idea in the Blogger’s Cafe in the coming days as I think we’re starting to define a new powerful literacy that I hope we will be able to teach our students how to use.


How Long Will it Take to Become a Preschool Teacher With an Elementary Education Background?
Children of all ages learn best from qualified, motivated teachers. But children learn differently at different ages, and an excellent fifth-grade teacher might flounder in a classroom filled with four-year-olds. Some elementary school teachers, however, decide they would prefer teaching preschool. Teachers with a degree in elementary education can make the switch to teaching preschool in a relatively short amount of time.
Elementary school teachers have to have a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. They also have to take a test in order to get certified or licensed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In some states and for some preschool teacher jobs, a background in elementary education qualifies people to teach preschool.
Preschool teacher requirements vary from state to state. Also, some preschool programs within each state have more stringent standards than others. While the BLS reports sometimes the only requisite is a high school diploma and a certificate, the minimum requirement is usually a Child Development Associate Credential (CDA), according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children. NAEYS lists eight subject areas covered by the CDA: planning a safe, healthy learning environment; advancing children’s physical and intellectual development; supporting children’s social and emotional development; building productive relationships with families; managing an effective program operation; maintaining a commitment to professionalism; observing and recording children’s behavior; and understanding principles of child development and learning.
The University of California, Los Angeles' Early Childhood Education, Basic and Advanced Core Certificate program has a typical coursework for this program. Courses include introduction to teaching young children, development in early childhood, the young child in the family and community, curriculum development and classroom management and the role of play in early education, as well as several classes geared toward managing a preschool. If a person takes a full class load, it takes one year to complete the certificate course. For the elementary teacher who does not want to run a preschool but simply wants to work as a preschool teacher, six hours of early childhood education coursework is often sufficient. How long this takes depends on when the required classes are available. It should take just a few months.
Some teachers might want to earn a second BA, a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. To earn a second bachelor's degree, many colleges, such as Eastern Michigan University, require students to take 30 hours of classes. How long it takes depends on when classes are available, if the student is able to take advantage of them when they are first offered and other variables. In most instances, the road from elementary teacher to preschool teacher is not a long one.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Preschool Teachers
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Kindergarten and Elementary Teachers
- Grossmont College: Child Development and Family Studies
- Eastern Michigan University: Second Bachelor Degree Program
- National Association for the Education of Young Children: Suggested Relationship Between the CDA Formal Child Care Education Requirement
Janet Clark has written professionally since 2001. She writes about education, careers, culture, parenting, gardening and social justice issues. Clark graduated from Buena Vista University with a degree in education. She has written two novels, "Blind Faith" and "Under the Influence." Clark has received several awards from the Iowa Press Women for her work.


It is observed that the literacy rate of a country directly has an impact on its development.
- What is literacy?
In this era of rapid growth, literacy can be considered as a key to one's livelihood. Literacy rate of a country directly has an impact on its development. Greater the rate of literacy in the country, greater is its degree of development.
UNESCO (the international organizational body that aims at boosting cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture in various parts of the world) defines literacy as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.
- Why is it important?
Unlike the earlier times, the young generation today needs to transform themselves from just being students to socially engaged citizens. This is where the fine line in education and literacy merge for the social well being.
Literacy means being aware of the current events, effective communication and to understand the issues that are shaping our world.
It’s not the bookish knowledge alone that can help you step out of the well, but the practical use of this knowledge in the crucial moment is what makes it beneficial. However, if one is completely unaware of the existing concept, they are as good as the nomadians.
- How does it impact society and a country overall?
Literacy is a gift to every individual to rise out of poverty. It creates endless opportunities to develop skills that helps them earn their own living.
Improving literacy facilitates employment whereby both males and females can contribute, helping the wider economy and community to thrive.
Educating the people of the contagious, non-contagious, seasonal, virus or any other sort of health problems has proven to decrease the rate of deaths. This has also considerably decreased the infant mortality rates.
Improving literacy not only has a positive impact at a local or community level, but also enhances a country’s economic strength.
- Who is involved in this development?
When it comes to national development, every single resident of the country has to strive to make it a better place.
Developing the skills and knowledge of the labour force has been considered as promoting national economic growth.
On a bigger picture, education can help lead a safe and secure life. Preventing wars and terrorism, enforcement of law and order, women empowerment, encouraging invention, innovation and creativity are just the by-products of the literate society.
- When and where does this happen?
Time and again, the Governmental bodies have promoted the spread of literacy through various actions and schemes. The Midday Meal Scheme (1995), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2001), National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Education (2003), Right to Education Act (2009), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (2015) and many more steps have significantly leveled up India, the developing nation.
The Association for Childhood Education International, Education International, The Global Partnership for Education, Plan International, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNICEF are some international bodies that take initiatives to promote literacy worldwide, hence developing countries, communities and societies.
This article has been written by Pooja Varade for The Paradigm
See you next time...


Literacy and Language
Early language and literacy (reading and writing) development begins in the first 3 years of life and is closely linked to a child’s earliest experiences with books and stories. The interactions that young children have with books, paper, and crayons, and with the adults in their lives are the building blocks for language, reading, and writing development.
Early literacy research states that:
Language, reading, and writing skills develop at the same time and are linked together.
Early literacy development begins in the first years of life.
Early literacy skills develop in real life settings through positive interactions with literacy materials and other people.
Here are ways we build Language at CCLA:
1. Read Together
2. Narrate the day as we go through daily routines
3. Encourage pretend play
4. Make directions clear
5. Help develop and increase vocabulary
6. Respect and recognize feelings
7. Teach non-verbal communication
8. Have organic conversations with children


Alternance Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) HR / Training
Are you interested in a career in Human Resources (HR)? In this section you can find out what occupations in this sector involve along with advice about how to access a career in Human Resources.
Job Description for Human Resources
Human Resources professionals, often known as Human Resources Officers, advise and put in place policies relating to the effective use of employees within an organisation. They help companies employ the correct balance of personnel in terms of skills and experience. HR Officers also ensure that training and development opportunities are available to employees to enhance their performance. The responsibilities of HR Officers revolve around recruitment, pay, working practices and conditions, equality and diversity.
HR professionals must deal with administration, strategy, planning, and be able to come up with and implement policies to select, develop and keep the employees needed in order to meet company objectives. HR professionals work with different departments, helping to implement policies including health and safety, recruiting staff, promoting equality and diversity, advising and reviewing pay, planning training and inductions, and negotiating with staff regarding issues such as salary and working conditions.
Occupations in Human Resources
- HR Officer
- HR Manager/HR Director
- HR Assistant
- HR Administrator
- HR Consultant
- HR Advisor
- Recruitment Manager
- Equal Opportunities Officer
- Employee Relations Manager
- Compensation and Benefits Manager
Skills needed to work in Human Resources
- Organisational skills
- IT and numeracy skills
- Interpersonal skills/Approachability
- Negotiating skills
- Leadership skills
- Business awareness
- Excellent communication skills
Qualifications needed for a career in Human Resources
A career in Human Resources (HR) is open to candidates with any degree background, but having a degree in business, human resources management or psychology could be useful. For higher level HR roles it's advisable to obtain a qualification from the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). It is also possible to access entry-level jobs in HR but there is usually a lot of competition for these roles. Graduate training schemes or working your way up through an HR department starting in an administrative role are alternative solutions.
Top universities in the UK for degrees in Human Resources Management
- London School of Economics
- Imperial College London
- University of Manchester
- Lancaster University
- Brunel University
- University of Leeds
- University of Glasgow
- Aston University
- University of Strathclyde
- University of Durham
Employers of Human Resources Graduates / Main Graduate Employers
HR professionals are required in most organisations, from private firms to the public sector and charities. UK employers offering graduate schemes in Human Resources include: Balfour Beatty, Bechtel, Rolls-Royce, BP, KPMG, Barclays, NHS, GlaxoSmithKline, Civil Service, Tesco and Unilever.
Average UK salary for Human Resources
The average UK salary for Human Resources is £32,500 but can range from £23,000 to £47,500. West London is the highest paying location and Sales is the highest paying sector. HR Assistants will usually have a starting salary of £24,000, whereas HR Directors can earn as much as £98,719 per year.
You can find job, internship and work placement opportunities in Human Resources by creating a profile on Wizbii.
Alternance Vitrolles (Bouches-du-Rhône) HR / Training CDI Saint-Herblain (Loire-Atlantique) HR / Training CDI Orvault (Loire-Atlantique) HR / Training Washington, D.C. (Washington County) HR / Training Lubbock (Lubbock) HR / Training Boston (Middlesex) HR / Training Bengaluru (Bangalore Urban) HR / Training Chicago (Cook) HR / Training CDI Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône) HR / Training Santiago (Provincia de Santiago) HR / Training Petaling Jaya (Petaling) HR / Training São Paulo (Microrregião de Manaus) HR / Training Sydney (Sydney) HR / Training PHILIPPINES HR / Training Petaling Jaya (Petaling) HR / Training Albany (Albany) HR / Training Ottawa (Ottawa) HR / Training Alternance Vélizy-Villacoublay (Yvelines) HR / Training Melbourne (MELBOURNE CITY) HR / Training


The Art Spirit . He was not bothered by the fact that the hills in Turner’s Bolton Abbey had been augmented drastically; Ruskin even defended Tuner’s exaggeration of the natural because doing so … Artists have been shaped by the world, but also through the people inhabiting the world. While artists are often undermined by society in the modern day, I think that without them, … It will be similar to the roles taken in any era. The artist’s role in society is to add a new perspective to life and create a new vision of the parts of life that the spectators are familiar with. Artists play a huge role in the society of the world in a plethora of different ways. Their role in society, or the world transcends tradition. Whether it is through education or self-learning, art and creativity play a role in early education. Art plays an important role in shaping the culture of a society. A artist’s impact is not measured but felt. Turner, may reveal Ruskin’s view of the role of an artist in society. Professors have roles, politicians have roles, speakers in debates have roles. While some say that the purpose of an artist is to express the beauty of the world around them, others claim that real value of an art piece comes from its ability to express truth in a way that influences people for the better. However, despite the value of art remaining intact in society today, art education has become an afterthought. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/what-is-the-role-of-artists-in-society The Four Fundamental Roles of the Artist EXPLANATION EXAMPLE By: Julie Widmer The four fundamental roles are defined by Henry Sayre as follows: Intro "Most artists think of themselves as assuming one of four fundamental roles—or some combination of the four—as they approach their For true artists love society to distraction. No sooner do you clothe an artist in a role than he slips out of it and is skipping away down a … What Is the Artist’s Role in Society Museum of Natural History, Lisbon 2015. There is a unique role for artists, writers, and creative types in this new era, and for anyone who is compelled to become engaged and live as an artist, with open eyes and open hearts, as speakers of truth and beacons of hope. John Ruskin’s obsession with painter, J.M.W. The artist’s role is to inspire change—in the individual and in society at large. In early eras, within the visual arts and sculpting, this came in the form of creating new interpretations of biblical stories, legendary figures and scenes. Art has been created, observed, and enjoyed by ordinary individuals since years ago. https://bigthink.com/videos/what-is-the-artists-role-in-society So Dickens convinces parliament to free child laborers; Turgenev inspires the Tsar to liberate the serfs; de Beauvoir shines an unsparing light on the oppression of women.


The Montessori approach to education, inspires children towards a lifelong love of learning, by following their natural developmental trajectory. Children become confident, responsible, independent learners, who trust in their own abilities. The Montessori approach offers your child the opportunity to develop at their own pace in a stimulating environment where your child can feel safe and have fun learning.
The inclusivity and positive social development facilitated by the Montessori programme forms the basis for a persistent attachment to learning and knowledge. This approach gives children the opportunity to move freely within an environment specifically created to meet their needs. This environment allows children to choose from many activities across the five key learning areas to aid their development and absorption of knowledge and culture.
Our Practical Life area lays a foundation for the child’s introduction to day care, providing a link between their home and our centre. In this area, children learn to care for themselves and also their environment using materials familiar to them. Most Practical Life activities are tasks that children will see done at home and be able to participate in, which eases their transition to day care or school. Some activities include washing up, sweeping, planting seedlings and greeting each other,
In Mathematics, children use concrete (physical) materials throughout their early development years to manipulate equipment and establish number symbols and quantities. As the child progresses, the difficulty increases with a focus on abstract (theoretical) methods. From our experience, a child who can count from 1-9 can easily count from 10-90, 100-900 or 1000-9000. Children are introduced to the decimal system, simple operations and fractions, with all new concepts involving hands on learning. The Montessori curriculum allows variation with careful consideration by the educator, as all children are unique.
Our Sensorial Development area helps to refine all senses of each child as well as to help become more perceptive by categorising each sensory impression. All of the materials isolate a single concept, which allows each child to engage and learn through manipulation and discovery. Every part of our intellect originated from our senses; they play an important role throughout our lives, especially during early childhood. Montessori focuses on ten senses, rather than just five: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinaesthetic, stereo-gnostic, thermic, baric and pain.
Our Culture and Science curriculum allows children to explore their natural curiosity about our world and when nurtured, that interest is permanently stimulated. An informed Montessori educator can enrich this interest with further knowledge and thus provide steps for more advanced development on higher academic levels which the children will rely on well into their adulthood. Through interacting with the materials children will build a global perspective, respect and understanding of other cultures. The cultural area includes elements of history, geography, art, craft, music, botany, zoology, science, drama, language, movement, social studies, health and wellbeing.
In Language Arts, children are able to learn to express themselves and communicate clearly with others. It is important that basic language skills are not just formed from listening, but taught phonetically through touch and manipulation. From as early as the first months, a child’s experience with oral language development and literacy begin to build a foundation for later reading and writing success. Parents and Montessori educators play an important role in ensuring progress during literacy development. Our educators are knowledgeable about emerging literacy and make individual efforts to support it with language development stimulated in all areas of the classroom.


How to Write Reading Comprehension Tests
According to the National Literacy Trust’s first annual survey, students prefer reading text messages and e-mails to fiction and non-fiction, but, the survey shows, those who read technology-based material don’t meet literacy expectations as often as those who read traditional texts. The 2011 ACT report also acknowledged the problem, stating that only 52 percent of high school graduates met the reading college readiness benchmark. To change this, teachers can monitor students’ abilities by giving reading comprehension tests. The results expose students’ strengths and weaknesses, allowing teachers to better meet their needs.
Choose grade-appropriate reading passages. If your classroom has a textbook set, select a short story from it to use for your test. For example, if you teach sixth grade English, choose a story from your textbook like "The Jacket" by Gary Soto or "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. If your classroom doesn’t have textbooks, find age-appropriate reading passages online or at the library. Print or photocopy at least enough for each student.
Read the story yourself, looking for the main idea of each paragraph and of the piece as a whole. Then, write test questions about the main idea of the passage and key paragraphs. This will test students’ ability to focus on the big picture and grasp general themes in a story. According to "The Real ACT Prep Guide," main idea questions are fairly straightforward, sometimes stated as simply as, "What is the main point of the passage?" If you are writing a reading comprehension test for "The Jacket" by Gary Soto, you might ask students, "What is the main conflict of this story?"
Read the passage again, this time noting important details (ones that move the story forward or reveal something noteworthy about a character). Write questions asking students to recall these details. These questions test students' literal comprehension as the answers can be found explicitly in the text.
Scan the passage for difficult vocabulary words. Compose multiple choice questions asking students to choose the best definition for each challenging word. This will reveal students' ability (or inability) to decipher meaning from context clues.
Add a few questions asking students to make inferences or draw conclusions based on what they’ve read. In their article, "Developing Reading Comprehension Questions," Richard R. Day and Jeong-suk Park explain that making inferences involves more than a literal understanding of the text; it requires that readers combine their literal understanding with their intuitions based on what happens in a story. To answer these questions, students will need to use their observations to “read between the lines” and determine, for example, how a character really feels or why a character acts as he does. An inference question about "The Jacket" might ask, "Why does the narrator take off his jacket to play kickball in the seventh paragraph?" Although he never explicitly says, "I played kickball in the cold because I was embarrassed to wear my ugly jacket," the narrator makes other statements that show he feels self-conscious about his outerwear.
Allow a friend or colleague to take your test. Then, ask her to identify any confusing elements that need clarification. Revise accordingly.
- Don't give reading comprehension tests that have too many questions (more than 20 per 500 to 800 word passage). Students might to become bored and frustrated, which won't help their literacy development.
- Don't write any questions that require prior knowledge. All questions should be answerable using only the reading passage. Include a variety of question types, such as short answer, true or false, fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice. If time allows, you may want to add an essay question to the end of your test.
- 1 National Literacy Trust; Setting the Baseline: The National Literacy Trust's First Annual Survey Into Young People's Reading; Christina Clark; 2011
- 2 ACT: The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2011
- 3 “Reading in a Foreign Language”; Developing Reading Comprehension Questions; Richard R. Day and Jeong-suk Park; April 2005
- 4 "The Real ACT Prep Guide"; ACT, Inc.; 2005


Learning and Teaching
At Neston High School, learning and teaching is central to a student’s experience, future happiness and prosperity. Students are encouraged to be independent and creative. Staff expertise is excellent and teachers continue to adapt and apply new and innovative approaches to ensure that students enjoy an enriching range of activities across the curriculum.
Student voice is of great importance to us and we regularly ask students for feedback on their learning experience. Great emphasis is placed on the individual learning needs of each student, and a wide range of strategies are in place to support them and to remove any possible barriers to successful learning. This is supported by an outstanding system of care, support and guidance from the pastoral team.
Strong Literacy skills are the foundation of all learning and at Neston High School. We place an extremely high value on literacy skills for all. Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening skills are crucial in ensuring success within all curriculum areas, but also in our pupils’ lives beyond the school. The ability to communicate is a crucial part of life, and necessary for the work place as well as further education. For this reason, we have formulated a whole school approach whereby all staff are committed to focusing on Literacy objectives as part of every lesson that your child experiences.
Each class room displays Literacy support, such as key words, spelling rules and examples of punctuation. Our aim is to create an explicit focus on Literacy, in order to develop each pupil’s ability to communicate clearly and accurately. This is enhanced further by the Pupil Planner where your child can also reference Literacy support and key curriculum terminology if they need to; whether it is in the classroom or when completing homework.
In addition, all students complete a reading test at the start of Year 7 and then again, each Spring Term until they leave in Year 13, in order for us to establish their reading age and track their progress. This helps the school to identify the needs of all students of all abilities so that we can support each student as appropriate.
Where pupils may require extra support in their Literacy Learning we have created a formalised programme in order to develop specific Literacy skills. Some students whose reading ages fall below their chronological age will be given one-to-one support. This is either in the form of personalised tuition and phonic training or through being given the opportunity to read aloud to a personal tutor and discuss their books.
As well as strong Literacy skills, we are also keen to ensure that students have a thorough grounding in numeracy skills. At Neston High School, we have a wide range of students: some who will go onto read mathematics at University; some who will never need more than a functional application in the rudimentaries of numerate mathematics. The school is proud to cater for all students of all mathematical abilities. If your son/daughter needs extra tuition in maths – there is a formalised programme of one-to-one tuition that will help support progress as well . For those students who are gifted in mathematics, we run a programme of ‘Stretch and Challenge’ that helps to develop the talents of those who will go on to use mathematics in their careers and future lives.
We place great emphasis on the early development of good study habits.
Homework is an essential part of this process. Your child will be expected to record information such as homework, involvement in activities, important dates such as one-to- one tuition slots and break out mornings and sporting events.


Teaching and Learning
Our Teaching & Learning Culture
Learning for life
Our school supports students to be confident, well-rounded individuals who will keep learning throughout their lives. We do this by:
- Developing resilience, striving for excellence and responding positively to challenges.
- Cultivating the habits of independent thought and curiosity of mind
- Emphasising the importance of contributing to the wider community.
- Are engaging, inspiring and challenge every student, in every lesson, every day.
- Are willing to innovate and utilise a wide variety of responsive teaching, skilfully matched to different types of learning, to maximise progress.
- Provide written and verbal feedback that impacts positively on students’ sustained progress.
- Create opportunities to develop students’ literacy and numeracy skills.
- Promote and model a growth mindset, providing opportunities for guided discovery.
Every Learner: develops the habit of independent thought and learning to cultivate a lifelong thirst for knowledge.
- Take responsibility for their own learning and are leaders in the learning process seeking to learn beyond the lesson.
- Evaluate their own and others learning and act on subject and literacy feedback to make sustained progress.
- Strive to consistently give 100% effort to all tasks and take pride in the presentation of their work.
- Embrace a growth mindset and are willing to grapple with challenging learning, showing resilience to difficulty or failure.
Our Teaching and Learning Priorities
The ongoing dynamic process of the school’s development cycle assists with the process of defining our Teaching and Learning Priorities each year and these in turn form part of the process of developing the school’s Continuing Professional Development and Learning (CPDL) offer. Developing the three kinds of professional knowledge: pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.
How do we achieve our aims?
Staff consider how best their needs can be met as part of the performance management process.
If there is no expertise available in school and curriculum developments necessitate the use of external training courses, these are approved and booked following recognised procedures and practices.
A CPDL Strategy group meets regularly to review priorities.
Not all training or development needs are best met through attendance on a training course and staff should consider other options available.
The school closes at 2.15pm on specified Monday Training Days allowing for approximately 16 – 18 hours of additional staff development time each academic year.
The Monday afternoon training programme for takes into account the following:
- The on-going school priorities and training needs
- Staff evaluations and feedback
- Individual training needs analysis
Individual training and development needs are identified through the performance management appraisal process and PLPs. In addition, new staff identify needs during the induction process.
The programme is a responsive framework. Sessions are added or changed as the need arises and we are always open to feedback and suggestions. If staff feel there are any gaps in the programme, these are responded to whenever possible.
Commuted INSET hours allow time for attendance on a variety of training sessions on offer, through The Downs “Pick & Mix”.
All training is evaluated and this is used to ensure that the programme evolves to meet both the needs of the school and individuals.
In certain circumstances, bursaries / sponsorships may be available for particular courses where this is felt to be beneficial to the individual and of particular relevance to the school. These are granted on an individual basis.


The above title is from an article by ‘The Reading Ape blog’ on April 27th 2020, that you can find here.
It was tweeted by Dianne Murphy on 5.8.2020 in her blog ‘The Literacy Echo Chamber’
Here are a few extracts and my comments.
With a quarter of ten and eleven year-olds in England unable to read to the expected standard (DfE, 2018), and with the majority of those children now having had phonics instruction for two years of their initial schooling perhaps Glazzard (2017) is correct when he asserts that if a child has received phonics instruction from aged five to seven and is still struggling to read then more phonics instruction is irrational; something different is needed not more of what has already failed.
My comment: I have stated it again and again on my blog posts that it is the teaching of the pronunciation of phonemes of consonants that is the problem. Obviously if you practice something wrongly for years you will not improve. Practice does not make perfect. I have explained this in my post at https://www.dyslexiafriend.com/2017/08/practice-makes-perfect-really.html#more
Why are these writers not taking off their blinkers and looking at all possible reasons as to why kids are unable to read? In fact, I have already done that and know for a fact that phonics is not working for most kids because the pronunciation of phonemes of consonants are taught wrongly.
Thank goodness that a majority of kids figure out how to read after wasting an inordinate amount of time.
Phonics just doesn't work for some children so something different is needed and the NAHT and other teaching unions were justified in crowing their success in having the year 3 phonics screening dropped (rather than hanging their heads in shame in achieving one of the darkest stains on national literacy assessment- exacerbated by the pilot's conclusions that it was poorer children who fared worse in the evaluation).
My comment: I have had several email exchanges with Dr.Richard Selznick, nationally certified school psychologist, assistant professor of pediatrics, school consultant and Wilson-certified reading instructor. In one of his emails he said that most of the thousands of patients he has examined, who are unable to read, pronounce the consonants with an extraneous sound.
All the so-called dyslexic students I had taught were unable to read in English due to confusion created by teachers who had taught the pronunciation of consonants with extraneous sounds.
I have videos of students currently studying in universities in Australia who managed to learn to read, despite having been taught wrongly, by learning through analyses. They represent a majority of kids around the world who manage to read through analyses.
Summarising research into struggling readers, particularly in later years, Kucan and Palincsar (2011,) conclude that, ‘We need to focus our efforts on minimizing the bottle-neck effects of the decoding problems experienced by some struggling readers…’ (Kucan and Palincsar, p. 354).
My comment: The bottle-neck of the decoding problems are basically 3 problems as detailed by me in my blog post at https://www.dyslexiafriend.com/2020/04/why-many-kids-shut-down-from-learning.html
With the poverty of research into the value of phonics instruction in later years it is apposite to review studies into adult literacy improvement for any clues as to the efficacy of an approach which seeks to advance decoding strategies where some non-phonic compensatory schemas may be established.
My comment: It has been established that the best way to teach is by teaching phonics. So, let us not look for ‘non-phonics compensatory schemas’. Phonics is the sum of two components which are
Sound symbol skills + Blending abilities.
Teach the sound symbol skills correctly and end the reading wars once and for all.


This workbook helps first graders flex their handwriting and composition skills. Students will be asked to fill in the punctuation marks and correct the capital letters, among other writing activities. Sight word tracing and writing stories from prompts are just two of the foundational skills covered in this page workbook. My Education.
Lesson Plans for Second Grade Writing
Being a Writer, 2nd Ed., Student Skill Practice Book, Grade 5 - AbeBooks:
Learn how in 5 minutes with a tutorial resource. Try it Now. At the beginning of each week is an outline of the writing and social development focus. I've also included daily learning targets, snips from the curriculum to use as visuals, and a writing timer during writing time.
Being a Writer, 2nd Ed., Teacher’s Manual, vol. 2, Grade 2
We have designed a new version of Grade 2, Module 2, Unit 3 , which is included on this website and in print materials as of Spring No new trade book purchase is required to replace The Big Dinosaur Dig; we created a new text which can be found in the Lesson 1 supporting materials. The updated Unit 3 is fully optional, and covers the same content and CCS standards as the original unit. Schools that have already purchased The Big Dinosaur Dig can continue to use it along with the original unit, or can switch to the updated version of the unit and use The Big Dinosaur Dig as a supplemental text. If you will be using the new text, please download the new supporting materials for this unit and use the updated lesson plans on the website.
Create a reimagined, rigorous classroom culture of writing and collaboration. Whether implemented as a standalone program or seamlessly integrated as a module in our comprehensive ELA curriculum, Collaborative Literacy , Being a Writer is a proven, research-based writing curriculum for grades K—6. Combining a writing process approach with guided instruction, Being a Writer is student-centered, rigorous writing instruction for students in grades K—6. Being a Writer builds writing skills and competence by utilizing the following principles and structures throughout:. Writing Regularly: Students write regularly and with intent about topics they choose, build an understanding of, and appreciation for, the skills and conventions of writing.


Junior School Academic Program
FOSTER a Love for Learning
Our Kindergarten Program
Intellectual curiosity, confidence, and leadership are nurtured at this early academic threshold along with skills that will enable students to work with others cooperatively. This full and enriched program blends growing literacy and numeracy skills, French and Japanese, physical education, music and technology balanced with supervised play.
Our Primary Years (Grades 1-3)
Primary grades cultivate important foundational skills while providing a sense of belonging in a busy weekly routine. Intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, environmental stewardship and service to others are explored. The development of social and emotional skills are a focus and positive relationships are celebrated.
Our Intermediate Years (Grades 4-7)
Intermediate grades build upon our character during these important confidence-building years. Public speaking, technology, and leadership are integrated into the academic programming which encourages a sense of curiosity as they work toward goals of personal excellence. Students are encouraged to express their ideas demonstrating critical thinking, effective research and presentation skills.
Daily homework is assigned at all grade levels. Skills such as good study habits, organization, decision making, leadership and independence allow students to enter their high school years with confidence.


This super-simple experiment, originally from the Questacon Science Club, might stump even the smartest of adults!
Here’s what you’ll need: a balloon, a 2-liter plastic bottle (I used a 16 oz. bottle, but the 2-liter will work better), a thumbtack, and a nail.
Begin by asking the following question: Can you blow up a balloon inside a bottle?
Try it out…
1. Put your balloon into the top of your bottle and stretch the neck over the bottle opening. Try to blow the balloon up while it is still in the bottle.
Does it work?
Nope, the balloon will barely budge.
Use a thumbtack to puncture a hole in the bottom of your plastic bottle. Use a nail to make the hole larger, to there it is at least 1/4 inch in diameter.
Again, place the balloon in the top of the bottle and stretch the neck over the bottle opening. Try blowing it up again.
The Science Behind It:
In order for a balloon to blow up, you must force air inside it. However, when you try to blow the balloon up inside an “empty” bottle, you can’t because the bottle is actually already filled with air! Our lungs don’t exert enough pressure to force the air out of the bottle. Once you poke a hole in the bottle, some of the air can escape as you blow more air into the balloon!
Find this experiment and many more in my FREE Fascinating Science for Kids eBook!
Download your free Science eBook by clicking below and entering your e-mail address. You’ll immediately receive an e-mail that will have the link to the eBook! If you would rather not be an e-mail subscriber, “like” us on Facebook and then send us a private message to claim your FREE eBook.


Education is defined as the process of acquiring knowledge in any form, whether that be beliefs, habits, skills or values. There are many ways for individuals to pursue and receive education. Some methods might involve teaching, storytelling, open discussions, training and research.
BA Online in Education in North America
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The Psychology major explores multiple perspectives of human thought processes and behavior, biological, behavioral, cognitive, socio-cultural and developmental.
Our elementary education degree program prepares students to teach children from Pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade in Pennsylvania's public school systems — and beyond.


Ms Ashley's Classroom 1
Hello, Classroom 1 families!
I am excited that we have been getting to know each other this last month. I love watching the children grow and learn each day. Last month we were learning about the Early Learning Guidelines: Approaches to Learning. I wanted to learn how each of children approached learning. We used our senses by touching, tasting, smelling, listening, and looking at different things inside and outside the classroom. We did a lot of messy play such as finger painting with different textures, getting muddy outside, and lots of goo in the sensory table. I encouraged each child to join in on learning at their own pace so I could view how each child approached learning.
Now that we are heading into April, and as we are in the midst of the crisis, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I am looking forward to getting back to normal and that this health crisis comes to an end soon. In the month of April, I would like to focus on the Early Learning Guidelines: Communication Skills and Early Literacy (Language Arts). Communication skills and literacy development play an essential role in all domains of learning. Between birth and age three, children begin communicating through sounds, gestures, and emotions and move to convey ideas, thoughts, and feelings through beginning language. An environment filled with spoken and printed language supports building children’s language skills. Some activities we are going to do this month will consist of open-ended questions to promote thinking and communication. We will read lots of books and create other activities that will tailor to strengthening our communication skills. We will be focusing on learning colors and how we pronounce each color word. It is important to strengthen early language and literacy experiences as they are the building blocks for life-long learning.
Ms. Ashley and Ms. Halle


Written by Megan Davenport, FariaPD
THREE PERSPECTIVES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM PLANNING
Even as a lower elementary teacher, lover of language, and avid reader, it is difficult to find words that capture the phenomenon of reading. Watching my students first discover words, then become transfixed by stories, and eventually develop into independent readers and writers for the first time made all of the long hours worthwhile.
The Artistry of English Language Arts
The nature of language has so many layers that complicate curriculum planning and instruction– how can you teach students the many skills it takes to read and write? How can you include everything from phonics to comprehension strategies to sentence structure, grammar, speaking, listening, and more? In what sequence? On top of it all, how do you cultivate a deep love of books and genuine appreciation for literacy?
English Language Arts (ELA) teachers must be incredibly creative and strategic about how to structure instructional time, and therefore units and lessons require thoughtful planning in order to be successful in the long-term. Though we are just skimming the surface with this post, intentionally choosing how to structure your language arts instruction is an important decision that teachers should make in their practice, and their curriculum work should mirror that decision. Consider these three perspectives and corresponding examples developed in the Atlas Curriculum Management System.
1) Keep It Separate: Individual Reading and Writing Units
Rationale: Especially in lower elementary, teachers often have separate reading and writing blocks during their day. Writing may include grammar lessons, sentence structure, recognizing different parts of speech, etc. Reading might include vocabulary, decoding techniques, comprehension strategies, independent reading, etc. Certainly both blocks utilize components of reading and writing, but separating the two may help teachers focus their instruction on the various foundational skills needed to learn the art of literacy.
Keep it Separate! Top: Individual Reading Units. Bottom: Individual Writing Units.
- This approach may best mirror the structure of teaching time if teachers have separate reading and writing blocks.
- It may be easier for teachers to focus on explicitly teaching grammar, sentence structure, and other language skills that are sometimes skimmed over when reading and writing are taught together.
- As students get older, integrating reading and writing instruction becomes more common. Lower and upper elementary teachers may want to choose a consistent format to make connections easier to see within the curriculum.
2) Put It All Together: Integrated Units
Rationale: Reading and writing are closely related, and teaching the two together can help students make connections. Many teachers spiral grammar and writing lessons into their reading time so that students can write authentic pieces that are tied to the reading material. If this is the case, there is no reason to separate the two!
- Integrated reading and writing curriculum can help students connect the information they are reading to their writing. This approach may best mirror the structure of teaching time if teachers have one language arts block of time in their schedules.
- This is the most common format for upper elementary language arts and beyond, so it adds a level of consistency when exploring the curriculum.
- Because lower elementary requires a great deal of specific grammar instruction, in addition to the regular writing instruction, it may be hard to capture all of the necessary information in an integrated unit. If this approach is taken for lower elementary, teachers may want to have more, shorter units to achieve a higher depth of detail.
Put it all together: Integrated Units
3) Compromise: One ELA Course, 2 Sets of Units
Rationale: As we begin to look at vertical alignment, it is helpful to keep curriculum as consistent as possible. In this scenario, lower elementary teachers may separate reading and writing units, while upper elementary teachers might integrate their ELA units. This approach means that every grade has one ELA course that can be compared side-by-side, and teachers can still map with the style that best matches their instruction. Best of both worlds, perhaps.
- Teachers can maintain consistency in their course names across all grade levels, while maintaining the flexibility to choose how ELA can best be instructed and mapped at each grade level.
- Teachers can differentiate student needs based on formative assessments. For example, if results indicate that students need more in-depth, explicit instruction on “conventions,” teachers can revise this unit AND teach it in conjunction with an “opinion essay” unit.
- There will be many overlapping units on the calendar, which may cause some confusion/be overwhelming at a glance.
Compromise: One ELA Course, 2 Sets of Units
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When you think of crustaceans, you probably think of the big lobsters in the tank at the grocery store, but did you know that rolie-polies are crustaceans too? Most crustaceans live in the sea and include animals, such as lobsters and crabs. Two types live on land – rolie polies, also known as isopods, pillbugs or sowbugs, and crayfish.
Rolie polies are covered with overlapping plates. They eat fungus and dying plants. They roll up in a ball to protect themselves. Crayfish look a little like lobsters, but they’re much smaller. They live mostly in fresh water streams and rivers. They sometimes come out at night on land to look for food. They eat plants, bugs and small animals. Both rolie polies and crayfish lay eggs. The mom carries her eggs on her back until they hatch.
Fun Facts about Crustaceans for Kids
- Crustaceans are arthropods. Their skeletons are on the outside of their bodies.
- Crustaceans have jointed parts so they can move. They often have many legs.
- Shrimp, crabs, lobsters, barnacles and hermit crabs are all crustaceans.
- Crustaceans have two pairs of antennae.
- Crabs and shrimp can swim. Lobsters just scuttle about on the bottom of the ocean. Barnacles stick themselves to a hard surface like a rock or a boat and never move.
- Hermit crabs can’t make their own shells. They hide in shells left behind by other animals.
- Overlapping: lay snugly over one another
- Scuttle: move about awkwardly
- Barnacle: hard, shelled animal
Learn More All About Crustaceans
Watch this amazing video documentary about crustaceans:
A documentary video about the lives of crustaceans in the reef.
Question: How do crustaceans breathe?
Answer: They have gills and get oxygen from the water just like fish.
Question: Can people eat crustaceans?
Answer: People all over the world eat crustaceans. The people of the world eat over 1 million pounds of crab every year. People also eat crayfish, lobsters and shrimp. Some people are allergic to shrimp and other crustaceans. They cannot eat these foods.
Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about Crustaceans info? Take the FREE & fun all about Crustaceans quiz and download FREE Crustaceans worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.


It is said that there is a child in every person. The moment you look at the eyes of a child, you see yourself back in time, and you remember both kindness and stubbornness that you’ve shown people during your tender years. Your innocence could be an excuse for your foolishness or a source of anger for those without enough patience to spare. This is basically the reason why children have the right to education, and ideally, no one should be left behind and deprived of instruction that could make him or her a better person. That’s why it is important that the kids go to Darwins leading child care centre.
These are the ideals that Muirhead Child Care Services uphold in their everyday encounter with the playful and noisy tots. Along with patience and dedication for work, they consider every child as their own. And whenever they feel like bursting into anger, they vent it out in a way that still deserves respect and admiration. Children learn from what they see in adults and emulate it as soon as they grow older. The best part of Muirhead Child Care is giving every innocent child the kind of life they want to have in the near future.
What is childcare services?
It is also known as day care services. It involves the care and supervision of a child or in most instances, taking care of and nurturing multiple children at a time. The ages could range from as early as six weeks to as young as a pre-teenaged ten to thirteen years old.
Persons responsible for childcare services
- Nanny(ies) – is a person who provides childcare within the children’s family setting. By tradition, nannies were servants in a large household and reports directly to the lady of the house. Presently, modern-day nannies, like any other domestic workers, may live in or out of the house depending on their circumstances and those of their employers.
- Babysitter (s) – is someone who takes care of an infant or a baby while you are out, usually reporting directly to your home especially when an urgent need arises.
- Daycare centers – comes with a lot of terms like a day nursery or nursery daycare. It’s either an individual or a daycare worker or an institution that provides care for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children, either in their own homes, a relative’s home, a caregiver or a center-based facility.
- Teachers – they are likely individuals who assume every part of the daycare system. More importantly, they teach children good values and character building more than new learning by teaching basic writing and numeracy skills.
- External childcare providers – it’s a good option where parents drop-off their children during the day for care, supervision, and learning. Some centers provide transportation to and from school while others provide transportation for extra-curricular offerings and sports programs.
Essentials of childcare services
- Childcare development – Apart from the home or family as the first school, childcare services in Muirhead is concerned with the biological, psychological and emotional changes. These changes occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence, as the child progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. Daycare centers or workers especially teachers are very much aware of this predictable sequence in a unique and rewarding way of teaching children.
- Early childhood education – does not only focus on literacy and other writing and numeracy skills but also on a gradual understanding of the world. Its objectives were inspired by The Enlightenment period in Europe where children from birth to eight years old should develop holistic learning along the process.


High Frequency Words II. Oklahoma Academic Standards.
Oklahoma Academic Education Standards. High frequency words are those words that a third grader should be able to read quickly, without sounding them out. They appear often in stories and books read by third graders. High frequency words are also known as sight words. Read More...
The resources above correspond to the standards listed below:
Oklahoma Academic Standards
OK.3.2RF. Reading Foundations - Students will develop foundational skills for future reading success by working with sounds, letters, and text.
3.2.F. Fluency - Students will recognize high-frequency words and read grade-level text smoothly and accurately, with expression that connotes comprehension.
3.2.F.1. Students will read high frequency and/or irregularly spelled grade-level words with automaticity in text.
NewPath Learning resources are fully aligned to US Education Standards. Select a standard below to view correlations to your selected resource:


Number Talks Will Deepen Understanding
Reviewed by Jennifer Druffel
Are you a math teacher in grades 4-10? Do you observe students incorrectly applying “rules” to solve mathematical problems?
Do you see students still counting on their fingers or struggling with remembering facts? Do students solve expressions and not even realize their answer clearly does not make sense? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the new Stenhouse book Making Number Talks Matter is for you.
A valuable daily routine
Making Number Talks Matter by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker is a guide to implementing Number Talks (conversations about math) into any classroom, grades 4-10. It focuses on students making sense of numbers and applying strategies to solve/manipulate numbers mentally. Number Talks involve a 15-minute routine where students share how they see and manipulate numbers and reveal what makes sense to them.
Making Number Talks Matter is organized in the following way:
- Chapters 1-3 explain the what, why, and how of Number Talks.
- Chapters 4-7 explain how to implement Number Talks in the four operations: subtraction, multiplication, addition, and division. For each operation, the authors highlight and name strategies, discuss how they work, show examples of student thinking, and list problems to get you started along with suggestions on how to encourage students’ use of the strategy.
- Chapters 8-10 discuss fractions, decimals, and percents, Number Talks investigations, and how to manage bumps in the road.
- Chapter 11 focuses on how to move forward, including quotes from teachers around the country who have used Number Talks.
Just in time – a tool to stop learning loss
I cannot explain how this book came to me at the perfect time. I have been frustrated with student retention in math. As a fifth grade teacher, I notice that once we move on to a new concept, students often “lose” what they learned in the previous units. I see Number Talks as the answer to this problem.
I enjoyed reading the book while trying out the strategies in the operations chapters. I would ask my husband how he would solve the problem, and then would compare his ideas to how I solved the problem, along with the examples from the text. It was fun to see the different thinking and manipulation of numbers.
I learned new strategies I never knew existed. Did you know there is a WAY easier way to do long division? I wish Number Talks had been around when I was in school!
Some of my favorite takeaways after reading this book are:
- If all students solve the problem in the same way ask, “How else could we think about this? Who thought of it differently?”
- Help students express themselves more clearly. Ban “it” from the discussion. Press students to clarify what they mean by “it.”
- “Number Talks (are) not about the ‘best’ way. Rather, they are about encouraging students to think in ways that make sense to them.”
- “Confusion and struggle are natural, necessary, and even desirable parts of learning mathematics.”
A clear, thorough, efficient explanation
I plan on fully implementing Number Talks into my daily math routine. I feel confident that, after reading this book, I will be successful. The authors explained the concepts clearly and thoroughly, but in an efficient manner.
Knowing how important mathematical discussions are and the importance of strong number sense leads me to believe the 15-minute daily routine of Number Talks will be well worth the time required. Although I teach a self-contained 5th grade, I have no doubt that Making Number Talks Matter will also be valuable to full-time math teachers in the middle grades.
Jennifer Druffel is a fifth grade teacher in Spokane Valley, WA. She is endorsed in Elementary Education and K-12 Reading Instruction. She engages students through authentic experiences such as genius hour and blogging at MrsDruffelsClass-2. Being naturally driven to always better her practice and inspire her students fuels her research and connectedness as an educator. Follow her @MrsDruffel and jendruffel.wordpress.com.


THE PUSH has a big challenge today. Are we up to the task? Yesterday we identified 7 excellent music education blogs. Here’s how we’re doing in other areas:
- 13 art education blogs,
- 8 world languages education blogs,
- 10 Social Studies education blogs,
- 14 English / language arts education blogs,
- 24 science education blogs, and
- 27 math education blogs.
Today we focus on PHYSICAL EDUCATION / HEALTH EDUCATION. What are some PE / health education blogs that P-12 physical / health educators should be reading? We need both elementary and secondary examples. If you know of some, please add them to the Moving Forward wiki.
Why are we doing this?
- To identify blogs that P-12 teachers can use to initially seed (or expand) their RSS readers
- To create a single location where P-12 educators can go to see excellent subject-oriented educational blogging
- To highlight excellent disciplinary blogging that deserves larger audiences
- To learn from disciplines other than our own and get ideas about our own teaching and/or blogging
Thanks in advance for helping with this initiative. If we all contribute, two weeks from now we should have a bevy of excellent subject-specific blogs to which we can all point. Please spread the word about THE PUSH!


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