This course continues to examine scientifically based teaching methods, models, strategies, and approaches for teaching oral and written language skills appropriate for K-12 learners. The course content provides a foundation for and discusses strategies for best practices in:
- Teaching the five components of reading: comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, phonemic awareness, and decoding/phonics for promoting literacy in K-12 classrooms content area instruction
- Teaching writing and reading to emerging language learners within the context of reading and writing in the content areas
- Formal and informal assessment strategies and techniques in reading and writing.
The course builds on the content presented in EDU527, Literacy I. Content includes a focus on promoting literacy development in content area instruction. The primary goal of this course is to build a cohesive bridge between educational theory and teaching strategies that can be applied in a variety of classroom settings. The objective is to assist the educator in moving from theory to practice, and to enhance present knowledge in reference to this process.
The course project, Work Sample Portfolio Part II: Designing and Implementing Literacy Lessons, Assessments and Materials Within Content Areas, allows candidates to implement curriculum they design, integrating pre-assessment information and post-implementation reflection within content areas as well as in an individual literacy plan. Candidates prepare literacy lessons using formal and informal assessment, and then implement the lesson with K-12 students.
This course includes field-based activities that take place in a K - 12 school/district setting.
Course Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate understanding of scientifically-based research and effective instructional practices related to K-12 student literacy development in phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, orthography, morphology, vocabulary development, and meaning-based word identification strategies.
- Demonstrate understanding of language development and reading acquisition and the variations related to diverse K-12 student populations.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies readers use to construct meaning from print and monitor their comprehension.
- Demonstrate understanding of how to create a high quality literate classroom environment that includes books, electronically-based information, and locally created materials.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of scheduling designated time for student independent reading.
- Demonstrate ability to choose developmentally appropriate and engaging texts for student use during independent reading.
- Implement lessons that teach K-12 students how to use graphic organizers to develop written compositions for a range of purposes and audiences.
- Implement lessons that provide K-12 students opportunities to develop effective editing practices in the structure of standard English including language usage, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, and spelling.
- Utilize K-12 academic literacy content standards in reading and writing for the improvement of K-12 instruction.
- Utilize a variety of informal and formal assessments to measure K-12 student learning.
- Implement lessons that are designed to address diverse learning needs.
- Use assessment results as a basis for lesson planning and standards-based instruction.
- Incorporate strategies and techniques that integrate research-based literacy components into reading and content area instruction for ELLs and English speaking students.
- Identify and utilize specific technology tools appropriate for reading, writing, and content area instruction.
- Collaborate with a K-12 sponsor to complete a school-based teacher work sample.
Candidates are required to engage in clinical practice for a minimum of 25 hours over the eight-week span of this course (an average of 3+ hours per week for 8 weeks). While certain activities are specified by assignments in this course, it is not expected that these required activities will consume all hours of work in the field.
All JIU clinical practice courses culminate in the mentor completing and submitting a formal Mentor Appraisal on the candidate. This is an essential requirement of this course and candidates must ensure that their mentors complete and submit a Mentor Appraisal to pass this course.
For more information about courses that require field-based experiences and mentors, please contact your Student Solutions Advisor.


Verizon Thinkfinity offers thousands of free K-12 educational resources across seven disciplines for use in and out of school.
Home › Results from ReadWriteThink
1-10 of 64 Results from ReadWriteThink
- Classroom Resources | Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Unit
3-2-1 Vocabulary: Learning Filmmaking Vocabulary by Making Films
Bring the vocabulary of film to life through the processes of filmmaking. Students learn terminology and techniques simultaneously as they plan, film, and edit a short video.
- Professional Development | Grades K – 8 | Online Professional Development | Web Seminar
3 Strategies for Reaching Language Learners in Literacy Workshops
Ideas will be explored and explained that you can use tomorrow to strengthen your instruction of language learners in your classroom.
- Parent & Afterschool Resources | Grades 6 – 12 | Podcast Episode
A Conversation with Matt de la Peña
Tune in to hear Matt discuss some of the thinking behind his newest novel, We Were Here.
- Classroom Resources | Grades 3 – 6 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
American Folklore: A Jigsaw Character Study
Groups of students read and discuss American folklore stories, each group reading a different story. Using a jigsaw strategy, the groups compare character traits and main plot points of the stories. A diverse selection of American folk tales is used for this lesson, which is adaptable to any text set.
- Classroom Resources | Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative
The old cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is put to the test when students write their own narrative interpretations of events shown in an image.
- Professional Development | Grades 6 – 12 | Strategy Guide
Assessing Student Interests and Strengths
In this Strategy Guide, you’ll learn about a number of specific methods that can help you to gain a fuller picture of the interests of your students as well as what your students understand, know, and can demonstrate by doing.
- Classroom Resources | Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Authentic Writing Experiences and Math Problem-Solving Using Shopping Lists
Students use their emerging writing skills to write shopping lists. They work within a budget, use problem-solving skills to create lists, and buy their favorite treats at the class store.
- Classroom Resources | Grades 4 – 7 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Boars and Baseball: Making Connections
In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.
- Professional Development | Grades 5 – 12 | Strategy Guide
Brainstorming and Reviewing Using the Carousel Strategy
This strategy guide introduces Carousel Brainstorming, also known as Rotating Review, and offers suggestions to implement this technique in your classroom for brainstorming about new topics or reviewing learned information.
- Professional Development | Grades 7 – 12 | Professional Library | Book
Bringing Grammar to Life
Seamlessly integrate grammar instruction into your entire language arts curriculum.


Here’s a model for preventing bullying and a whole lot of other problems: a school that promotes social literacy not zero tolerance. At the Boston area’s Charlestown High School, “where many students come from high-crime neighborhoods, an innovative program employs a surprising method to help keep teens in school and out of trouble with the law: Encouraging them to talk to each other,” reports NBC News. The school uses a restorative-justice-type program called “Diploma Plus” that’s “gaining popularity in classrooms across the country,” according to NBC. Restorative justice, which is used in many different programs around the US and seen as an alternative to zero tolerance and the suspension-and-expulsion practice that a 2011 survey of 1 million students in Texas found to create a “school-to-prison pipeline” (see this). Restorative justice, on the other hand, builds “relationships, trust and community,” NBC cites its proponents as saying. That could be seen as social literacy development, a literacy that has been shown to improve academic performance as well as social efficacy (see this).
- The Washington Post noted the decline of zero tolerance in school policy in a thorough trend piece in mid-2011.
- “Zero tolerance is zero intelligence,” a juvenile judge told the Atlanta Constitution in 2009.
- “A Connecticut school to its students: We trust you”
- “All kids deserve the safety & other benefits of social-emotional learning”


- About Us
- Years K-10
- Senior Secondary
- Consultation: Australian Curriculum
- SIRS Information
- Events and Forms
School-based assessment of WACE courses
School-based assessment tasks are developed by teachers and are required to meet the requirements of the syllabus for the course/stage. These tasks are conducted by teachers in accordance with the school’s senior secondary assessment policy. The Authority provides a sample school assessment policy to assist schools in developing and/or reviewing their policy based on the guidelines provided in Section 3.7 of the WACE Manual 2013.
At the end of a unit or pair of units, aggregate marks are used to produce a rank list of the students. The teacher uses the grade descriptions for the course/stage to assign a grade (A, B, C, D or E) to each student. The Guide to Grades package provides the grade descriptions and annotated student work samples.
Year 12 students studying Stage 2 and/or Stage 3 units will also receive a school mark out of 100 for each unit. For courses with a practical (oral/interview, performance, production or portfolio) examination in addition to a school mark out of 100, schools are required to provide a mark out of 100 for the written component and a mark out of 100 for the practical component.
Schools may choose to integrate two or more course units, VET units of competency and/or endorsed programs to encourage greater levels of engagement from particular students and to help improve their literacy and numeracy skills. The Authority provides guidelines to assist schools that choose to use an integrated approach to teaching and learning.
Authority moderation process
The Authority uses several methods to moderate school-based assessments to provide comparability between schools. Details of these methods are provided on the moderation page of the website and in Section 4 of the WACE Manual 2013.
Where the number of WACE examination candidates in a Stage 2 or Stage 3 group at a school is fewer than six, the school is required to form a partnership with another school/s. Information about this requirement is provided on the small group moderation page of the website and in Section 4.9 of the WACE Manual 2013.
External assessment of WACE courses
Year 12 students sit a WACE examination for each Stage 2 or Stage 3 pair of units being studied (unless they apply for and receive exemption). All WACE examinations have a written component and some have a practical (oral/interview, performance, production or portfolio) component. Details about WACE examinations are provided on the WACE examinations page of the website and in Section 7 of the WACE Manual 2013.
A Standards Guide is developed for each course/stage examined in the previous year. These guides provide samples of student answers and question statistics. They are posted on the course page on the Authority's extranet during Semester 1 of the following year.
Combining school-based and external assessments
School marks and WACE examination marks are combined in equal proportion by the Authority when reporting student achievement. This enables both the advantages of the breadth of coverage of school-based assessments and the objectivity of external assessment to be maximised in the final result. It also provides a means of ensuring comparability across schools.
The school mark is combined with the student’s examination mark to produce a WACE course score. Before being combined, the school marks are standardised and moderated using the standardised WACE examination mark so that school marks can be compared State wide. The interactive graphics below allow you to explore the impact of two of the marks adjustment processes.
|Interactive graphics to demonstrate|
Details about the marks adjustment process are provided in Section 4.8 of the WACE Manual 2013.
For university entrance, the school marks and WACE examination marks are used to calculate scaled scores and an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). For details of these calculations go to the Tertiary Information Services Centre website.
Last Updated: 22/05/2013 15:00


Kelly, Elish; McGuinness, Seamus; O'Connell, Philip J., Transitions to Long-Term Unemployment Risk Among Young People: Evidence from Ireland, 2011
ESRI Working Paper;394
Many young people have short spells of unemployment during their transition from school to work; however, some often get trapped in unemployment and risk becoming long-term unemployed (OECD, 2009). Much research has been undertaken on the factors that influence unemployment risk for young people during their school-to-work transition. However, very little is known about the factors associated with long-term unemployment risk for those youths that become unemployed. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by identifying the characteristics associated with young peoples’ long-term unemployment risk in Ireland. The research, which is conducted using multivariate statistical analysis, uses a combination of unemployment register data and information gathered from a specially designed claimant questionnaire that was issued to all jobseekers making an unemployment benefit claim between September and December 2006. The results indicate that factors such as a recent history of long-term unemployment, a lack of basic literacy/numeracy skills and low levels of educational attainment, all have a significant impact on the likelihood that young people will remain unemployed for 12 months or more. A number of attributes are gender specific, such as the presence of children, additional welfare benefits and spousal earnings for females, and apprenticeship training and participation in a public sector job creation scheme for males. Comparisons with the characteristics associated with older welfare claimants long-term unemployment risk, reveal some interesting difference between younger and older unemployed individuals.
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Project Based Learning for ESOL Health Literacy: TESOL Convention 2010
Improve Your Literacy and Numeracy Skills and Transform Your Life Forever
Learning strategies : Literacy and learning strategies
Designing Effective Learning Environments: Cognitive ...
Adult Stem Cells Aid Broken Bone
Strategie issues in preventing cataract blindness in developing countries
SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN MALNUTRITION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
OLDER ADULT GAMBLING IN OREGON
Ethical issues in clinical trial collaborations with developing countries - with special reference to preventive HIV vaccine trials with secondary endpoints
ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE DESIGN AND CONDUCT OF CLINICAL TRIALS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
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In this book, the author shows how teaching staff have much to gain from understanding the role of literacy in learners' lives and focuses on the significance and practicalities of how teachers and ...
Offers a framework for teachers wishing to explore 'science in the media' in secondary schools or colleges. This book suggests how teachers across various subject areas can collaborate to ...
Equipped for the Future: A Customer-Driven Vision for Adult Literacy & Lifelong Learning
Learning a Living: First Results of the Adult Literacy And Life Skills Survey
The Complete Theory-To-Practice Handbook of Adult Literacy: Curriculum Design and Teaching Approaches
Equipped For The Future: How Instructors Can Support Adult Learners Through Performance; And A Reform Agenda For Adult Literacy Lifelong Learning
Improving Adult Literacy Outcomes
Adult Literacy in Canada and Sweden


Imagery and Text
A Dual Coding Theory of Reading and Writing, 2nd Edition
Routledge – 2013 – 155 pages
Imagery and Text, Second Edition extends the first edition’s unified theory of cognition in literacy from the perspective of Dual Coding Theory (DCT), one of the most influential and empirically sound theories of cognition ever developed. This theory provides a comprehensive, systematic account of all major aspects of literacy including decoding, comprehension, and response in reading and composing in writing. The Second Edition updates DCT as a scientific theory, a cognitive theory, an embodied theory, and a constructivist theory of literacy. New content includes a detailed account of the decoding process and its integral connection to comprehension, a new program of research on DCT in composing text, a review of neuroscientific support, and increased attention to multimedia literacy, socio-cultural influences, and recent educational applications. More than any other theory, DCT explains how both verbal and nonverbal cognition are woven together through all aspects of literacy. Written in concise chapters with illustrative examples, Imagery and Text is approachable for both students and advanced scholars in the field of literacy.
"…an important addition to the study of reading and writing theory. It is the first text to present a unified theory consistent with the Dual Coding Theory (DCT) of cognition….Imagery and Text offers readers a concise and useable text. This book is on the 'cutting-edge' and is recommended for graduate classes covering literacy theory, remedial reading, development of assessment strategies, and literacy education in general."
—Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
"…reading the book is a pleasure: It is short, well organized into eight coherent chapters, and well written….Imagery and Text belongs on your bookshelf if you are interested in the cognitive psychology of mental representations and its implications for the educational psychology of reading and writing."
—APA Review of Books
"The strength of this book lays in its precision, accuracy and clarity…It is meticulously researched and logically structured-the treatment of memory and remembering in chapter five is particularly well structured. In writing this volume the authors have chosen to value knowledge that has derived from empirical research…Their focus on reading and writing points to the need for further research in areas such as the use of visual imagery by indigenous story tellers, individual differences in imagery ability including differences in subjects ability to manipulate or think with images, and classroom based research into the role of imagery in language and literacy development…Imagery and Text is a welcome addition to the field of education and psychology. It will, no doubt find a place as a set text for these courses."
—Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal
Preface 1. A Unified Theory of Literacy 2. Historical and Philosophical Background 3. Dual Coding in Literacy 4. Meaning and Comprehension 5. Memory 6. Neuroscience and DCT in Literacy 7. The Reading Process 8. Written Composition 9. Educational Applications of DCT References Index
Mark Sadoski is Director of Educational Development and a Professor in the Department of Humanities in Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and a member of the Department of Educational Psychology and the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University.
Allan Paivio is Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada.


Reach Out and Read
- There is a crisis in the public education system in our country. More than one-third of American children enter kindergarten without the basic language skills they will need to learn to read. Reading difficulty contributes to academic failure, which increases the risk of absenteeism, dropping out, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy – all of which perpetuate the cycles of poverty and dependency.
- BookSpring’s Reach Out and Read program builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age. Children enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills.
- Statistics show that 96% of children under the age of 6 visit their pediatrician annually.
- The Reach Out and Read Program ensures literacy becomes a standard part of a well child check up. Children are given a brand new book nine times between six months and five years of age. Physicians encourage parents to take the time to read to their children. Families learn how sharing books increases a child’s school readiness, bringing the child to same level of readiness as their peers.
- BookSpring supports the Reach Out and Read Program in 24 clinics in the Greater Austin area. All clinics serve Austin’s under insured families, those with Medicaid, Austin’s Medical Assistance Program or no insurance.
Each year over 18,000 children in the Greater Austin area will receive a book through Reach Out and Read. Those children can now participate in the single most important activity for literacy development and success; being read to aloud from their very own book.
Make It Happen
What Can You Do?
You can have a direct impact on the success of students in Austin schools . Providing families with books early on will increase school readiness, reduce poverty and increase the level of education of future employees in your community.


Welcome to HeadsUp! Reading in Nebraska
HeadsUp! Reading is an innovative 30-hour early literacy course designed to help improve children's school readiness. Designed to enhance teaching practices and to improve literacy outcomes for young children, this comprehensive course is for everyone who works with young children birth through age five and wants to improve their school readiness.
If you are taking HeadsUp! Reading for college credit, you must attend at a facilitated site.
About HeadsUp! Reading
HeadsUp! Reading is based on research from the National Research Council about how young children learn to read and write.
Reading is the fundamental building block for learning throughout life. Nebraska's Early Learning Guidelines emphasize the importance of reading as the key to early school success.
In Nebraska, HeadsUp! Reading is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Education, the Nebraska Head Start-State Collaboration Office, and the Early Childhood Training Center with the support of the Nebraska Head Start Association and the colleges and universities offering credit.
HeadsUp! Reading, an interactive re-broadcast or taped series on early literacy development. It will be rebroadcast during the fall and spring seasons at select sites throughout the state. This training can be used to meet the requirement of Rule 11, earn college credit or CEU's. Contact Mary Beth Pistillo for further information at 402-557-6893.


PDF release pending
ERIC Number: ED426353
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1998
Reference Count: N/A
The Keys to Literacy.
Patton, Susannah, Ed.; Holmes, Madelyn, Ed.
This book presents essays that offer a guide to understanding the elements necessary to bring good reading instruction to all children. It includes a list of follow-up actions accompanying each essay to assist administrators, teachers, and parents in applying this knowledge to their own instructional objectives. Essays in the book are: (1) "Overview of Reading and Literacy Research" (G. Reid Lyon); (2) "Teachers: A Key to Helping America Read" (Louisa C. Moats); (3) "Preventing Reading Failure by Ensuring Effective Reading Instruction" (Barbara R. Foorman, Jack M. Fletcher, and David J. Francis); and (4) "Comprehension: The Sine Qua Non of Reading" (Isabel L. Beck and Margaret G. McKeown). The book also provides author biographies and an explanation about the Council for Basic Education (CBE). (Each essay contains endnotes.) (CR)
Descriptors: Beginning Reading, Classroom Techniques, Elementary Education, Learning Strategies, Literacy, Parent Role, Reading Comprehension, Reading Instruction, Reading Processes, Reading Research, Reading Strategies, Teacher Role, Teaching Methods
Council for Basic Education, 1319 F Street, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, DC. 20004-1152; Tel: 202-347-4171; e-mail: email@example.com ($12 plus shipping/handling).
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners; Teachers
Authoring Institution: Council for Basic Education, Washington, DC.


Guidance & Career Studies - Grade 10
GLC2O1 - Career Studies (.5 credit) (You must also choose CHV2O1) - This half credit course teaches students how to develop and achieve personal goals for future learning, work, and community involvement. Students will assess their interests, skills, and characteristics and investigate current economic and workplace trends, work opportunities, and ways to search for work. The course explores post-secondary learning and career options, prepares students for managing work and life transitions, and helps students focus on their goals through the development of a career plan. Refer to Canadian & World Studies section for CHV2O1.
GLE2O1 - Learning Strategies 1: Skills for Success in Secondary School - This course focuses on learning strategies to help students become better, more independent learners. Students will learn how to develop and apply literacy and numeracy skills, personal management skills, and interpersonal and teamwork skills to improve their learning and achievement in school, the workplace, and the community. The course helps students build confidence and motivation to pursue opportunities for success in secondary school and beyond. Placement in this course is usually at the recommendation of a teacher or administrator.


A One Day Unit Study on SNOW! | Bible Based Homeschooling
Snow Science: Prediction and Observation ~ Creative Family Fun
Learn about how animals prepare for winter with these wonderful books & a few fun hands-on activities for kids.
Science for kids - sugar cubes
Interactive Science Notebook animal adaptations
DIY Fun SCIENCE Experiment~ Make "Ice Tunnels" by combining ordinary salt, ice and Liquid Watercolor in an unforgettable art and science experiment. Try this on sunny day with lots of bright sunlight and you'll experience amazing color, light refraction and salt crystallization with the ultimate "hands-on" experience for children of all ages!
Ginger Snaps: Favorite Science Books! Science Week! Tons of topics. Gotta bookmark this woman. Truly WOW!


Ofsted reports in music and materials for schools
- Music in schools: what hubs must do - 15 November 2013. This short survey report challenges all music education hubs to be bold in implementing the National Plan for Music Education and to grasp the opportunity to lead, with schools and other partners, improvement in schools on a major scale.
- Music in schools: sound partnerships - 5 October 2012. This report highlights the benefits and pitfalls of partnership working in music education. It is based on visits to 59 schools by specialist music inspectors between September 2011 and July 2012, together with six further visits to observe good practice.
- Subject professional development materials: Music in schools - promoting good practice - 3 September 2012. These professional development materials have been put together to help to promote dialogue between music teachers, headteachers, and music hub leaders to build their shared understanding about the key features of good teaching and learning by reflecting on the main messages from the music report.
- Music in schools: wider still and wider - 2 March 2012. This report examined music teaching and found wide differences in the quality and quantity of music education in schools across England. One in five of the schools visited were judged inadequate for music. Our report is based principally on evidence from 194 specialist music inspections and good practice visits in schools between 2008 and 2011, including curriculum lessons, additional instrumental and vocal tuition, and extra-curricular musical activities.
- Making more of music - improving the quality of music teaching (secondary) - 17 September 2009.
- Making more of music - improving the quality of music teaching (primary) - 17 September 2009. Two Making more of music booklets – for primary and secondary schools – are intended as discussion documents for staff who are involved in teaching music in schools. They highlight aspects of effective teaching in a chart that describes the satisfactory, good and outstanding features seen in Ofsted’s music inspections.
- Making more of music: an evaluation of music in schools 2005-08 - 4 February 2009. This report is based on evidence from inspections in a range of maintained schools. Part A focuses on inspection findings. They show that there is some outstanding provision and that pupils enjoy music, although they do not always make as much musical progress as they could. Part B considers the essential components of effective teaching in music.
Inspectors visit 150 schools each year to inform Ofsted’s subject surveys in English, mathematics and science. Survey visits for other subjects are less frequent but continue to take place from time to time.
Case studies of good practice in music in schools
Good practice case study Cotham School - 2 March 2012. This good practice film about Cotham School includes teaching and learning using music technology and the use of video and audio recording for assessing students’ work. It illustrates how specialist arts status has been used to build musical links with feeder primary schools.
Good practice case study Whitefield Schools and Centre - 2 March 2012. This good practice film about Whitefield Schools and Centre considers how classroom teaching, music therapy, partnerships with professional musicians and innovative assessment methods can be used to support the musical achievement of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Good practice case study Churchfields Junior School - 2 March 2012. This good practice video for Churchfields Junior School includes ‘Wider Opportunities’ work and singing work in Key Stage 2, including use of the Curwen-Kodaly hand signs.
Good practice case study Flegg High School - 2 March 2012. This good practice film about Flegg High School explains how a rural school has overcome geographical isolation by building networks in the local authority and using technology. It also considers how one headteacher has worked with a specialist adviser to develop his own understanding of key issues in music education.
Good practice case study John Scurr Primary School - 2 March 2012. This good practice film about John Scurr Primary School includes singing work in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Good practice case study London Oratory School - 2 March 2012. This good practice film for the London Oratory School includes a range of curriculum and extra-curricular vocal work.


Reading Comprehension Strategies
· Great compilation of adolescent reading comprehension strategies found under “Classroom Strategies”
· Another website with printables that can be used for any subject: "Reading Quest.org"
· An excellent resource with both printables (under “Classroom Resources”) as well as online interactives with reading comprehension strategies/games: "Read, Write Think" Resources
· A savvy teacher’s manual with techniques to promote error correction, reading fluency, and text comprehension:
· Lots of reading strategies and lessons for high school: More "Read, Write, Think" and Teacher Printouts
· Seven strategies to teach students text comprehension with printouts
· Links to different printables of graphic organizers based on category.
· Lots of articles, strategies, etc. on reading comprehension.
· Reading comprehension worksheet that delineates to students what good reading comprehension means.
· Comprehension strategies broken down by type with a list of books to investigate at the bottom of the page.
· Pre-reading strategies and others.
· The NY Times website with article ideas and ways to used them in teaching
· An article on the Big 7 reading comprehension strategies.
· Popular reading comprehension strategies.
· Tons of additional reading comprehension strategies.
· List of reading strategies by content.
· Resources on reading from Dartmouth, including Six Myths.
· Article on collaborative reading strategies.
· A compilation of multiple reading strategies for comprehension with examples given for reading in the content areas.


Sandwell Adult and Family Learning: Gifted & Talented Project
This project, run by Sandwell Adult and Family Learning in partnership with Christ Church, Harvills Hawthorn and Burnt Tree primary schools, has enabled parents to improve their literacy and numeracy skills by studying alongside their children in the classroom, and boosted pupils’ Maths levels, giving them a firm foundation for moving up to secondary school.
The course is designed to fit in with the National Curriculum. Parents attend the study sessions once a week throughout the academic year, working one-to-one with pupils as young as 7. “Gifted and Talented” has made local headlines as 143 adults and children at Christ Church primary school passed OCR National Adult Literacy and Numeracy exams at levels 1 and 2.
Parents report that the course has helped them with job applications, encouraged some to take further qualifications, and improved confidence in helping their children with homework.
“Stepping back into the classroom and working alongside my son has been, and continues to be, a wonderful experience,” said one parent.


Learn something new every day More Info... by email
There are two basic types of grammar programs for computers: programs that correct the grammar of a document and programs that teach a user how to use grammar. The former is generally not considered a reliable method of editing an article, but the latter can teach a willing student more about grammar. In addition, some websites offer educational newsletter programs that help people gradually improve their grammar. The capability and reliability of each of these programs vary; for example, a poorly funded grammar program might not be very useful or can even be harmful when it comes to correcting an important document or teaching students grammar.
Some grammar programs are designed to analyze and correct a user’s grammar. A program scans a digital document for errors and then lists them with suggestions on how to completely fix or at least improve all incorrect sentences. These programs are usually reliable for novice mistakes, but they may frequently suggest the user fix correct sentences. It is difficult for programmers to code most or even all possible grammar mistakes, so all grammar programs are lacking in some way. The best computer software programs of this kind are usually not free and might even require a monthly subscription.
Other grammar programs are designed to actually teach users how to use grammar rather than fixing the mistakes they make. These computer programs are usually in the form of games and can range in difficulty from elementary education to high school or higher education. In general, there is relatively little demand for computer grammar programs, so the vast majority of the available games are often several years old. In fact, some old grammar computer games are no longer compatible with the latest versions of the popular operating systems.
Besides computer programs, some Internet newsletters give scheduled lessons on grammar. The emails arrive every day or week with a new explanation, tip, or other tidbit on grammar. This can be a slow way to learn more about grammar, but students are less likely to become overwhelmed with new information. A potential downside to educational newsletters is that students may become disinterested after a few emails and end up unsubscribing, not reading the emails, or sending the emails straight to their spam folder. Sometimes these newsletters make money by selling related products to their email list once they have gained the users’ trust, such as selling an e-book on certain aspects of writing.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


Ahmad, Mohd. Sharani (2003) Collaborative Interactions Among Preschool Children in a Computer Environment. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 11 (2). pp. 147-155. ISSN 0128-7702
This paper reports on a study which investigated the collaborative interaction patterns exhibited by five-year-old pre-primary children in an educational computer environment. A case study method was used in one pre-primary centre in a metropolitan city, to examine the patterns of collaborative interaction among young children whilst engaged, in dyads, with the computer within a naturalistic classroom environment. A total of 243 interactions were identified and classified into 16 interaction patterns. Factors facilitating and inhibiting collaborative interaction were identified as: developmental appropriateness of the software; preexisting computer competency and attitude towards computer; mutual friendship between collaborators; children's social goals; appropriate structure of enjoyable learning environment; mutual understanding of the turntaking system; and non-isolated physical settings. In effect, this study shows that early childhood educators will be in a better position to integrate the computer into their classroom and to promote positive prosocial interaction among children whilst engaged at the computer, if it were to be afforded the same status as other traditional early childhood learning materials and activities.
|Keyword:||leT integration, computer supported collaborative learning, early childhood education, multimedia environment, social interaction|
|Faculty or Institute:||Faculty of Human Ecology|
|Publisher:||Universiti Putra Malaysia Press|
|Deposited By:||Nur Izyan Mohd Zaki|
|Deposited On:||26 Nov 2009 00:46|
|Last Modified:||27 May 2013 07:08|
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UNICEF urges access to early learning for the most disadvantaged children
NEW YORK, 25 April 2012 - As the world celebrates Global Action Week for Education, UNICEF calls for attention and investment to provide early learning opportunities to all children, especially the poor and marginalized.
Latest data indicates that more than 200 million children from low- and middle-income countries under the age of five are failing to attain their developmental potential because of poverty, poor heath and limited opportunities to learn.
This year’s theme for Global Action Week focuses on early learning under the slogan “Rights from the Start! Early Childhood Education Now!” Today, more than half of the world’s children remain excluded from pre-primary education.
Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to eight years old. A time of remarkable brain growth, it lays the foundation for future learning and development. In fact, 85 per cent of a child’s brain develops by age five, even before a child enters school.
“Quality early childhood programmes, designed for the most vulnerable and combined with parenting support, have a significant impact on linguistic, cognitive and social skills necessary for lifelong learning,” said Susan Durston, UNICEF’s Global Chief of Education.
“Opening the doors for early learning, also presents a unique opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage for many millions of children, including breaking down gender stereotypes through positive early gender socialization.”
By helping children prepare for school, early learning initiatives also lessen the effects of household deprivation, halt the transfer of educational disadvantage from parents to children and strengthen prospects for economic growth for families and communities.
However, many barriers stand in the way of early childhood learning. Barriers such as the lack of importance and resource allocation given to pre-primary education, lack of annual statistical data, cost of enrolment, limited availability of nearby early childhood facilities and a dearth of skilled educators and teachers persist in excluding children from pre-primary education.
By providing appropriate options for early learning, countries can then decide depending on the situation which strategy and option to implement for maximum result in getting children the opportunity for early learning.
For example, the Getting Ready for School: A Child to Child approach initiative provides a cost-effective supplemental model countries with resource constraints can use, which has shown significant gains in children’s readiness for school as well as get them into school at the right age.
Supporting countries in the development of national policies that support universal school readiness and translating them into action also helps provide this service to young children, especially the most marginalized.
For further information, please contact:
Shimali Senanayake, UNICEF Media, New York, Tel + 1 917 265 4516, email@example.com


Mangion, Carmen M. (2012) The business of life: educating Catholic deaf children in late nineteenth-century England. History of Education 41 (5), ISSN 0046-760X.Full text not available from this repository.
Much of the debates in late nineteenth-century Britain regarding the education of deaf children revolved around communication. For many Victorians, sign language was unacceptable; many proponents of oralism attempted to ‘normalise’the hearing impaired by replacing deaf methods of communication with spoken language and lipreading. While debates on language were raging in late nineteenth-century England, another facet of normalisation, that of occupational training,was being developed at St John’s Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the only Catholic deaf school in England. This school not only functioned to develop the Catholic faith of the deaf, but also expected to improve the social and economic status of deaf Catholics. Elementary education, and particularly occupational training, was meant to transform the deaf child into a faith-filled, respectable, working-class citizen. This essay aims at moving the normalisation debates away from language skills and towards this alternative mode of integration.
|Keyword(s) / Subject(s):||Catholic, deaf, special education, education, gender|
|School or Research Centre:||Birkbeck Schools and Research Centres > School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy > History, Classics and Archaeology|
|Depositing User:||Dr Carmen M. Mangion|
|Date Deposited:||07 Dec 2012 11:58|
|Last Modified:||17 Apr 2013 12:23|
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Digital Citizenship | News
Edmodo, Common Sense Launch Social Learning Digital Literacy Curriculum
A partnership created by Common Sense Media and social learning platform Edmodo is providing teachers with student activities designed to foster responsible use of social media and other technologies. Through the collaboration, Edmodo users have free access to "Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture" curriculum for K-12.
Teachers who use Edmodo, which is free for teachers and students, have access to Common Sense Media lessons on cyberbullying, plagiarism, and Internet privacy. Each lesson provides an overview and objectives for teachers, a list of student activities, information and handouts for parents and students, and homework. Separate curriculum is provided for grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12, and it aligns with International Society for Technology in Education and American Association of School Librarians standards.
The digital literacy curriculum, provided by Common Sense Media, which is a nonprofit organization, is based on the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and studies by Howard Gardner.
According to the project's Web site, "We are investigating the ethical character of young people's activities in the new digital media, including online games, social networking sites, blogs, and other virtual communities. We seek to understand how young people conceptualize their participation in virtual worlds and the ethical considerations that guide their conduct."
"Teaching kids to think critically and behave responsibly in today's fast-paced digital world is essential, and Edmodo is a perfect platform on which to provide these important foundational skills. It's learning about technology by using technology," said Mike Lorion, general manager of education at Common Sense Media. "Giving teachers and students access to our curriculum through a private social learning network is a unique opportunity to put digital literacy and citizenship lessons into practice."
For more information, visit commonsense.org or edmodo.com.
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org and followed on Twitter @editortim.


Jennifer A. Polack-Wahl, Professor of Computer Science, and Jacob Bowman, junior Computer Science Student, iPhone/iTouch app Short Vowel Mahjong is now free on iTunes. In the last three days 109 downloads have occurred. The downloads have primarily been in the United States but they included Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong, France, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Korea, UK, and Spain.
This app was made specifically at the request of Heather Howe a Kindergarten and First Grade teacher at Hartwood Elementary. Heather wanted a game that would reinforce short vowel recognition. Jacob and Jennifer A. Polack-Wahl brainstormed a variety of ideas and decided on a Mahjong style game. The list of words we used was approved by Heather and included approximately seven different words in each vowel (a, e, i, o, and u).
The app is for anyone who wants to help their children or students to reinforce short vowel sounds or start short vowel recognition. You do need either an iTouch or iPhone with IOS 4.0 to play the game. We want to find out how to make it better so we can aid elementary education, we are in it for the kids.
Continue to check out http://hartwood.umwblogs.org/ for more games in education. Our ice cream Math game is our next to be submitted to the app store.


Can you imagine a street child in post-genocide Rwanda sending you an email? RDDC USA is implementing a Basic Computer Skills/IT class for street children in Rwanda who have been forced to live on the street without access to education or technology. These youth will touch computers for the first time, learn the alphabet to type their names, access information, and send emails. Children who spent their days searching for food are learning they have access to the world.
There are no official statistics on the number of street children in Rwanda, but estimates run as high as several thousand. Children are forced onto the street due to poverty, domestic abuse, or parental rejection. On the street, children focus solely on survival: finding food and a place to sleep. Gaining an education and working toward self-improvement are secondary to daily needs and seem unobtainable. Children are illiterate, lack vocational skills, and suffer from a sense of worthlessness.
RDDC IT Centers allow street children to gain vocational skills in an alternative educational environment through a technology-based program. The standardized curriculum includes understanding MS programs, email, and Google searches. Learning these skills builds street children's self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Ultimately, the youth realize their capacity to learn and grow as they build foundational skills in IT, one of today's most useful fields.
Our project will solve the problem of access to education and technology for street children in Rwanda. It will allow 100 youth to have access to a new IT Center while also permitting the top three students to receive stipends for performing simple IT work for RDDC and other NGOs. These stipend positions will demonstrate to other street children how a variety of educational opportunities can lead to employment and the ability to step out of poverty.
Total Funding Received to Date: $9,076
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $924
Total Funding Goal: $10,000
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).


Why practice phonograms?
Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is a key component of effective reading instruction. Knowledge of letters and their sounds is essential.
Research studies report that systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension.
The Phonogram Page, a free service of Johnny Can Spell, is designed to promote phonics and handwriting awareness, parent involvement, and student mastery of the 70 common phonograms of the English language.
N.I.N.E. Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1987 by Alice Nine to support excellence in education. Since then, N.I.N.E. Enterprises has sponsored hundreds of literacy training events nationally and internationally for educators, parents, and interested people.
Alice Nine firmly believes teachers and parents must have thorough knowledge of our language and appropriate strategies to teach our children sequentially the subskills of writing and reading. To that end, N.I.N.E. Enterprises offers training and materials.
For more information, a calendar of training events, and a complete listing of our products, visit us at www.nine-enterprises.com
The next step, SpellDrill.com
Once students have been introduced to the sounds and symbols of English, it is necessary to begin to blending and segmenting by decoding and encoding words. For this reason, N.I.N.E. Enterprises is currently developing SpellDrill.com, a daily spelling session.
Who uses PhonogramPage?
Anyone learning to read, write, or speak English profits. Children and adults alike benefit from the phonics practice provided by PhonogramPage. People around the globe use it daily.
What is Johnny Can Spell?
Johnny Can Spell, a systematic, explicit phonics program, presents the phonograms (the sound-symbol correspondences) initially in isolation but develops mastery through daily application in spelling, reading, and writing. Read more ...
Phone: (800) 791-8962


Morning Academic Program for Grades 2-8
"I just want to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU for all the teachers did for our daughter during summer school. In just 4 weeks, you were able to transform her from a child who avoided reading and math to one who came home excited to tell us she could do multiplication and begging us to read with her.
What a change - she now has confidence that she can learn and we are hopeful she will carry the skills forward to the school year. Thanks for all you did for her!"
- Groves Summer School Parent
Mark Your Calendar for Groves Academy's Summer School in 2014!
On the heels of our most successful summer school program ever, Groves Academy is pleased to announce the dates of our Summer School Program for 2014:
Grades 2-8: June 16 through July 11, 2014
Grades 9-12: July 28 through August 8, 2014
Click here to view the 2014 Summer School brochure, which includes application materials.
Reading and Spelling Overview
Groves Academy teachers use the Wilson Reading System® to improve student reading and spelling abilities. With an emphasis on direct, sequential, multi-sensory instruction, Wilson teachers use a diagnostic prescriptive approach and tailor instruction to the issues and successes of each student. Based on the tenets of Orton-Gillingham instruction, Wilson is a research-based approach designed to help all students become better readers and spellers.
Teachers use the University of Kansas Strategic Instruction Model, or Kansas Strategies, for the teaching of written expression. Like the Wilson Reading System®, the Sentence Writing Strategy and the Paragraph Writing Strategy teach foundational skills in a direct and sequential manner. Students learn to build and expand simple sentences before they learn paragraph organization and essay writing. The goal is to build a strong foundation upon which more sophisticated written language skills can be developed.
Math can be difficult for students who have learning differences because there are two distinct aspects - computation and conceptualization - involved in mathematical processing. Computation is problematic for students with ADHD or dysgraphia because they have difficulty with the details and sequencing of math problems. Students with conceptual math difficulties often have trouble with the language of mathematics.
The Groves approach to math helps students with both types of issues by providing direct, sequential, and multi-sensory instruction. Students learn both the concepts and the processes of mathematical operations. All classes work with applying mathematical principles in problem solving and critical thinking skills involving word problems.
Interested in registering or want more information? Please contact Colee Bean at email@example.com or 952-915-4297 for more information.


Building and Evaluating Effective Music Education Workbooks are now available in two titles (Ensembles and General Music) and two formats—print and downloadable, fillable PDF.
These three-part Workbooks offer teachers, peer evaluators, and administrators clear structure, guidelines, and examples for professional evaluations of music teachers. For each Workbook, an Instruction Manual describes the overall process. An eight-page summary section helps administrators and others choose the most important criteria for evaluation of music professionals. Separate worksheets on areas ranging from content knowledge to professional development offer specific rubrics developed to work within the most widely-used teacher evaluation systems of today.


Student oboes provide an excellent start for the first few years of music education. Oboes designed for students are made of grenadilla wood or plastic. For younger beginners plastic is the ideal material because it is very durable. Grenadilla is great for a beginning oboe player who started on another instrument, such as clarinet. Also student oboes also have fewer keys than intermediate or professional instruments. However, the keys available on a student oboe will not limit the beginner's ability to perform in a concert band when more complicated pieces of music are introduced in high school or college.
Higher quality materials, more keys and some hand refinement separate a intermediate oboes from student oboes. Once a student is established and is learning the fundamentals of good playing, it is important to purchase an intermediate instrument to continue his or her musical growth.
Designed and constructed with professional musicians in mind, professional oboes find favor among more serious students as well. Most professional oboes are made of all grenadilla wood, however, a few feature a crack-proof upper joint made of plastic with a grenadilla lower joint and bell. Professional oboes also feature a system of keys referred to as a full conservatory. The full conservatory is necessary for advanced pieces of music, aiding in access to certain keys and an even dynamic range.
Hand-crafted and true artist quality. Recommended Artisan Oboes
View Recommended Instruments:
Buffet Crampon Model 4052 Oboe
Oboes are made of grenadilla wood or high quality plastics, generally known as resonite. Grenadilla has a long tradition of use by professional oboists worldwide because of its warm, rich tone. However, the quality of non-wood instruments has risen to a highly respected level, making them popular with both students and professionals.
The plastic resin used for manufacturing instruments is highly stable and durable. Plastic oboes require less maintenance and are not susceptible to cracking.
Many of the most respected oboe manufacturers offer their professional model oboes in plastic or with a plastic upper joint in place of traditional grenadilla wood. This is advantageous because the upper joint on the oboe is the portion most likely to experience cracking due to fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
This key extends the range of the oboe to low Bb. Basic student models typically only play to low B natural. Open holes in the bell without a mechanism or key to cover them indicate there is not a low Bb on the oboe.
Left Hand F Key:
This is essential to more advanced players in executing certain passages, and in choosing the desired tone color. The left hand F key allows the player an alternative fingering for playing F. Depending on preference, a forked-F is another option.
Forked F and Bb Resonance Keys:
These improve the quality and pitch of their respective notes. Some basic student models, as well as professional Tabuteau oboes, do not have these resonance keys.
Ab-Bb Trill Mechanism:
This greatly simplifies the fingering of this trill. Without this mechanism, creating a true trill between these two notes is not possible.
G#-A Trill Key:
Depression of this key simplifies the trill and improves the intonation of the A.
Double Ring D#-E:
This mechanism allows an easy fingering for the trill and improves the intonation of the E.
Left Hand C-D Trill:
Provides an alternative to the right hand C-D trill lever.
Auxiliary Low C:
This key facilitates the low C to C# transition and simplifies the trill.
Low B-C# Trill Mechanism:
Allows for a seamless transition in executing this trill.
In choosing an oboe, you need to consider your musician's age and skill level, and the kind of use (school band, marching band, orchestra, etc.) to which they will put their instrument. If for school, consulting with the band teacher is a good idea.
Whatever oboe you select, The Woodwind & Brasswind's 100% Satisfaction Guarantee means you have 45 days to be sure it's right for you. If it's not, just return it for a full refund.* And you don't need to worry about paying too much. Our 45-Day Lowest Price Guarantee means that if you find the same oboe advertised for less elsewhere, we'll make up the difference. When you buy an oboe from The Woodwind & Brasswind, you can buy with complete confidence.
*All returned woodwind and brass instruments are assessed a $10.00 sterilization fee. Instruments priced over $3,000.00 are assessed a $20.00 fee. All mouthpieces are assessed a $4.00 fee.
Download the Product Comparison Charts:


SchoolArts is a national art education magazine committed to promoting excellence, advocacy, and professional support for educators in the visual arts since 1901.
Issue link: http://www.schoolartsdigital.com/i/141598
AdvocAcy First Steps Eldon Katter A s our nation struggles with an unsettling economy, we, as art teachers, need to put our best foot forward and promote what we know to be true: The success of our nation is dependent on all children having a comprehensive education. The following two questions are posed to help us think about our first steps as we put our best foot forward: "How does art education relate to the world of work?" and "How does art education relate to other disciplines?" How does Art education relate to the world of work? Creative collaboration in the artroom is a fundamental first step towards preparing Inquiry: Responsible art teaching children for the real world. encourages students to value curiosity and realize the importance of genHow does Art education relate individuals who create businesses and erating appropriate questions when jobs, it's probably safe to say that most to other disciplines? approaching art- and design-related Among other things, art education contemporary workplaces are depenproblems. Through art studio projects, involves the study of images and students refine and extend their inves- dent on group efforts and cooperation. ideas. Appreciation of art is depenDesigned products are most often the tigative skills by observing details, dent on making connections. Images result of creative comparing qualities, in art—and the ideas that inspire and collaborative analyzing perspecThe works of artists them—present human commonaliprocesses involvtives, predicting reveal a great deal about ties, themes, and concepts that cross ing mediation possibilities, and the human experience boundaries of cultural studies, interbetween individujudging outcomes. personal relations, science, mathematAs they find creative and help us to understand als participating in the human condition. ics, and language arts, as well as other a democratic work and aesthetically traditional areas of study. Skillfully environment. Realpleasing solutions to crafted objects and images confront us izing this, good art teachers cultivate problems, students gain confidence in with multiple perspectives and world their students' sensitivities to work their ability to become successful in views about freedom, responsibility, effectively in groups. the world of work. justice, loyalty, respect, governance, Creativity: Because of the malleOrganization: Even though it is and, of course, beauty. ability of most art materials and the generally believed that art is one of The works of artists reveal a great flexibility of techniques, repeated the few subjects in which application studio practice develops students' abil- deal about the human experience of rules does not always lead to the and help us to understand the human most successful and satisfying results, ities to respond quickly to the unexgood art teachers know that an orderly pected, to deal constructively with the condition. Life-enhancing concepts and skills are as likely to be found element of surprise, and to recognize and safe work environment can by crossing disciplinary boundaries and pursue goals that depart from improve the efficiency and quality of through the meaningful study of art their original intentions and predicted work. With guidance, students learn as by teaching to standardized tests. to take responsibility for the use, care, outcomes. Reflection: As students develop and conservation of tools and matericonfidence in their abilities to adjust als; for respecting safety rules; and for Eldon Katter is co-author of Explorations and refine their goals, they realize the organizing their own systems, spaces, in Art (Davis Publications) and former importance of continuous reflection and ways for working efficiently. editor of SchoolArts. email@example.com on their progress and the quality of Collaboration: Despite the polititheir performance. cal debate over whether or not it is 12 March 2013 SchoolArts


Learn More About FAME
Also, learn why FAME is so important to our communities. Learn why the arts are so important in the lives of our children.
Why the arts are important
"The arts are ... important to American students gaining the 21st-century skills they will need to succeed in higher education and the global marketplace – skills that increasingly demand creativity, perseverance, and problem solving combined with performing well as part of a team.”
Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education
The benefits of exposing students to the arts are well documented. In 1997, the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies published the results of a national arts study in which the following was discovered:
- Students in 8th and 10th grade with "high involvement" in the arts, in and out of class, consistently outscored those with low exposure to the arts in standardized test scores, English grades, and other subjects.
- Students with high arts exposure were also less likely to drop out of school.
As school districts across Indiana and the nation continue to cut funding to the arts, teachers cannot provide many arts experiences to children in school. FAME provides these experiences both in and out of school settings. FAME also works with member teachers to help them integrate arts experiences into the classroom.
Many programs exist to provide at-risk children with positive after school activities with special opportunities to participate in sports. FAME is one of the few programs that serve children through the arts. It serves children who are talented in the arts and actively fosters the creativity of ALL children.
Because of the positive influence of the arts on student retention and academic achievement of all children, it is important that we be good stewards of arts in education, especially now with the shift in focus and subsequent funding for the arts endangered in our schools.
For more scholarly information read, “Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement.”
Download these informative documents:
To understand the importance of the arts in a fun way, visit our Links page.
Attend an event
FAME has many events during the year, for example:
- Art exhibits at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art from FAME’s Fusion of Concert Colors art program
- Music/art and visiting artists at FAME’s regional festivals
- World premier composition performance at the Grand Wayne Center from FAME’s Composition Project program. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the Fort Wayne Ballet Youth Company collaborate in this live performance.
Read the latest news
Stay current with FAME’s news by visiting our News page.
Keep abreast of arts education issues, both locally and nationally, by following the websites on our Resources page.
And, of course, stay abreast of the local, state and national arts news through your favored media outlets.
To provide teachers with resources, joining FAME would bring low-cost resources and tools to supplement art and music in schools, helping children receive a well rounded arts and music education. Join FAME as a teacher and/or a supporter.


I just discovered the Graphic Organizer Maker from Recipes4Success. This is a handy tool for when you find yourself in a bind and need something ASAP for the afternoon lesson. The site is easy to use, with clear directions. Click on the “new” button for a full explanation of how to create a customized organizer.
Use the graphic organizer Maker to create customized graphic organizer worksheets. Choose from concept maps, KWHL charts, Venn diagrams, timelines, cycles, and more. If this is your first time using the Graphic Organizer Maker, click the New button to begin.
I always find myself using graphic organizers in the classroom to teach reading comprehension strategies. I think I’ll use a Though Web or a Five Ws Chart to do some prewriting activities.
Classroom Tip: Make one copy of each organizer on an overhead projector sheet to use for whole group instruction.


Schott Introduction To Music For Children by Wilhelm Keller for OrffSku #H87956000000000 Schott H87956 JTK General Music Collections https://www.esnapw.com/rses/ESnapServlet?MerchantNumberSent=63655
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An excellent teacher's primer for this incredibly popular music education system.
Originally published in German as Einführung in Musik für Kinder as a guide to the original schulwerk for students at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, this work may be used in conjunction with the English-language adaptions of Orff-Schulwerk by Hall/Walter and Murray, and has been translated into English by Susan Kennedy. References to specific exercises in these editions are noted by author, volume and page. It includes diagrams to hammer home his points.
- Composer: Wilhelm Keller
- Width: 6.0"
- Length: 9.0"
Get to know Orff's methods with this introductory book today!


ERIC Number: ED177226
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1973
Reference Count: 0
Domain-Referenced Curriculum Evaluation: A Technical Handbook and a Case Study from the MINNEMAST Project. CSE Monograph Series in Evaluation, 1.
Hively, Wells; And Others
A technology for domain or criterion referenced testing was developed to evaluate the Minnesota Mathematics and Science Teaching Project (MINNEMAST) in grades K-6. The venture was influenced by the low achievement of MINNEMAST students on standardized tests. After instructional objectives were selected and operationally defined, corresponding test items for each course unit were developed. As the collection of items grew, they were arranged in formal tables called item forms. Item forms served two basic purposes: they obviated the need to store individual items, by substituting a set of written rules through which items could be generated when needed; and they enabled the relationships among items to be traced by specifying item characteristics, including stimulus and expected response, and instructions for administering and scoring. The test was actually an ordered set of items administered individually according to a matrix sampling design. Because each child received different item sets, there were as many tests as children sampled. Results were interpreted in terms of patterns of responses to item sets with related stimulus and response characteristics. (Recommendations for curriculum development and evaluation, sample item forms, and a sample interpretation of test results are included.) (CP)
Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Criterion Referenced Tests, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Evaluation, Educational Assessment, Educational Objectives, Educational Testing, Elementary Education, Elementary School Mathematics, Elementary School Science, Evaluation Methods, Evaluation Needs, Experimental Curriculum, Guides, Individual Testing, Item Banks, Item Sampling, Test Construction, Test Interpretation, Test Items
Publication Type: Reports - General; Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: California Univ., Los Angeles. Center for the Study of Evaluation.
Identifiers: Domain Referenced Tests; Minnesota Mathematics and Science Teaching Project
Note: Appended item forms may be marginally legible


The purpose of this project was to develop an instrumental method book which utilizes elements of Kodály, Orff and Dalcroze approaches to music education. The project began with an examination of the educational advantages which exist in the development of such a method book, and culminated with its presentation.
A review of available literature revealed that the inclusion of vocalization, mnemonics, rhythmic movement and improvisation in the beginning band class can heighten musical learning to a significant extent. Beginning flute method books which incorporate these techniques, however, are largely unavailable.
Several beginning flute method books were examined to determine basic skills commonly taught during the first year of instruction. The Draper Flute Method presents a similar first year flute curriculum, but additionally incorporates solfa syllables and Curwen hand signs, singing, a mnemonic rhythm syllable system, large muscle movement, and improvisation.
While this instrumental book is written for the first year flute student, it may be transposed for use with other band instruments. An extension of the project to accommodate the second and third year flute student is also a future possibility.


The Handbook of Family Literacy, 2e, provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of family literacy of any available book. It documents the need for literacy education for children and parents, describes early literacy and math development within the home, analyses interventions in home and center settings, and examines the issues faced by fathers and women with low literacy skills. Cultural issues are examined especially those for Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and migrant populations. Noted experts throughout the United States, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa analyze the commonalities and differences of family literacy across cultures and families. Key features include the following.
Comprehensive – Provides updated information on the relation between early childhood literacy development, parenting education, and intervention services.
Research Focus – Provides an extensive review of experimental studies, including national reviews and meta-analyses on family literacy.
Practice Focus – Provides a comprehensive treatment of family literacy interventions necessary for program developers, policy makers, and researchers.
Diversity Focus – Provides detailed information on cultural and diversity issues for guiding interventions, policy, and research.
International Focus – Provides an international perspective on family literacy services that informs program developers, researchers, and policy makers across countries.
Evaluation Focus – Provides detailed guidelines for ensuring program quality and fidelity and a valuable new evaluation perspective based on implementation science.
This book is essential reading for anyone – researchers, program developers, students, practitioners, and policy makers – who needs to be knowledgeable about intervention issues, family needs, program developments, and research outcomes in family literacy.


The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak was born in the year of 1469 in a village named Rai Bhoen di Talwandi, situated in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan, 65 km west of Lahore. According to some of the scholars, Guru Nanak was born in the middle of the month of Baishakh, Indian calendar on 15th April, 1469. However, his disciples traditionally celebrate his birthday on the full-moon night of the Indian month of Kartik, which falls in the months of October/November. His father`s name is Kalu Bedi and mother`s name is Tripta. His father was a revenue official in the village and a well-known person in the society.
Guru Nanak`s father, Kalu consulted with the village pandit, Hardyal on the horoscope of Guru Nanak, soon after he was born and the pandit was overwhelmed with joy after finding what was there in Nanak`s future. Hardyal told Kalu that Nanak will be revered by both the Hindus and Turks and he will worship and acknowledge none but One Formless Lord. Hardyal added that Nanak will also teach others to do so and consider every creature as God`s creation. Hardyal then named the new born as `Nanak`, which was a much common name of both the Hindu and Muslims.
Guru Nanak led a life much like that of other children of his age, as a child he used to play with children of his age and frolicked around. However, he was not used to share all that he had, like goodies to eat, with his sister and friends, unlike many children. He loved to meet various holy men, like the fakirs, yogis and monks, who passed through Talwandi, during his childhood. At the age of five, Nanak`s father sent him to Pandha Gopal for study. Nanak received elementary education with an emphasis on language and arithmetic from Pandha Gopal and he also impressed Pandha Gopal with his poetic expression of lofty thoughts. A huge change took place in Nanak`s nature after the marriage of his elder sister, Nanaki, and he became sad and withdrawn. The reason was that Nanaki was a confidante of Nanak and she was such a person who provided Nanak the greatest understanding and affection.
After the marriage of his elder sister, Nanak was sent to Pandit Brijlal, known to be a brilliant teacher as well as spiritually blessed, to study for two years. The young Nanak was exposed to the traditional learning contained in Sanskrit classics by this. However, Brijlal did not continues teaching Nanak for long saying that Nanak had learned everything from him and also mentioned Nanak as an embodiment of spiritual wisdom. Then, Nanak went to a local maulvi named Qutab-ud-Din, to learn Persian and Arabic. Guru Nanak has done wonder here also and became proficient enough in the two languages to study their literature, within just two years.
Guru Nanak`s father made elaborate arrangements for giving Nanak janeu, at the age of thirteen. Janeu is the sacred thread, woven of seven cotton strings and it is mainly worn by upper-caste Hindus as a mark of their being `twice-born`. However, Nanak strongly refused to wear the Janeu, when Pandit Hardyal tried to place the thread across his shoulders. Nanak told that he does not believe in differentiating men by such badges (of the `twice-born`). Nanak continued to meet with the fakirs and yogis and also stood against some of the social customs of that period. He left his ancestral village at his teenage and went to live with his elder sister Nanaki and her husband, Jairam in Sultanpur. Guru Nanak never returned to Talwandi permanently, except from some occasional visits.


I’m on a quest for instructional strategies that will support teachers who are trying to increase and improve the types of student talk happening in their classrooms. At least one Avon Maitland Secondary School inquiry group (an English department) will be experimenting with learning conversations. That’s what we’re calling talking for learning.
There are a growing number of resources that outline the importance of classroom talk and the different types of classroom talk. The information below was extracted from David Booth’s work with Me Read, No Way and with the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. To improve and increase learning conversations in our classrooms:
Monitor the ratio of teacher talk versus student talk to ensure as much of the latter as possible.
- Traditionally, the teacher talks for 95% of classroom time. Try timing teacher talk versus organized, purposeful, student talk. Booth recommends that we pay attention to who talks and when.
Model and encourage the use of purposeful and accountable talk.
- David Booth notes that the teacher is modelling talk right from the beginning. We learn the culture of the classroom through demonstration. The teacher might ask: What did you notice about the way I talked? Or the question I asked? Think back to the best question you heard everybody.
- Booth also explains that accountable talk is ‘on task’ talk. The teacher will need to redirect often. No voice dominates. No voice is omitted. No voice bullies. The talk is accountable to the learning community and accountable to rigorous thinking.
Explore different modes of talk with students. Here are a few to consider:
- Social talk (in the halls and at the beginning of class)
- Interactive/dialogic talk
- Accountable talk (there is a right to talk, listen and disagree)
- Role talk (voice is stronger because it isn’t you)
- Digital talk (texting, chatting, etc)
What do classroom learning conversations look like at the most granular level? In the classroom? As part of a lesson? What are the foundational skills students need? What are the barriers we face? Who are the experts among us when it comes to accountable talk? That is where the experimentation begins.
For our teachers, the emphasis is on the classroom as a learning lab where we experiment with instruction, because we can’t possibly know all of the pieces that need to be in place until we try. All we have is theory and research, until we try. We need to learn it for ourselves. We need to learn by doing. And when we do, I’ll share our learning with you. Please share your learning with us.
More Resources on Classroom Talk
Me Read And How: Ontario Teachers Report on How to Improve Boys’ Literacy Skills
Discovering Voice (Video)
Grand Conversations in the Junior Classroom
Let’s Talk About Listening
Year 7 Speaking and Listening Bank (England)
Photo by WaderRead More


When music-making was first introduced to me, I remember thinking, "I want to play the violin."
And so, ever since that summer going into third grade, playing and learning violin has become one of my greatest passions. I cannot imagine my life without that beautiful stringed instrument.
Unfortunately though, due to budget cuts made by schools, some children nationwide will not even have the opportunity to pick up an instrument. This makes me sad.
"I'm going to miss my music," Mathew Whitman, 6, of Staten Island, told the Staten Island Advance in May after budget cuts threatened music classes at his school.
Research shows that music can focus concentration, increase attention, and improve memory.
Think about one of your favorite songs. I bet that you can recall every single word in that song like it was your street address. If you could apply these kinds of memorizing techniques to courses such as history or science, think of how much further students could get in their learning.
From my personal experience, I know that music improves mathematical skills. In music, you must learn how many beats are in a measure, what kind of note gets one beat, how long to hold out a certain note, what speed to mark time, and how to figure out how many notes you can put in one measure due to the time signature. It takes mental stamina to put together all this information to play fluently.
The reasons school boards use to justify cutting music classes -- often the need to put more emphasis on reading and math to boost test scores -- are not good enough.
There is some hope for saving the music.
The VH1 Save the Music Foundation is "a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in American public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education, " according to its Web site.
This organization helps jump-start music programs in schools that cannot afford them. Since 1997, they have provided $43 million worth of new musical instruments to deserving students in more than 1,600 public schools nationwide.
No schools have threatened cutting music locally, but we can't be complacent.
It's time for administrators to listen to musical students for a change.


phonics instruction should develop blending ability. Blending means
smoothly joining phonemes to come up with a pronunciation close enough
to a word to access the word.
Young children usually get their first taste of blending through rhyming. Rhyming is essentially blending a new onset to an old rime. Children should not be expected to produce rhymes until they have a great deal of experience recognizing rhymes. Listening to rhyming stories, reciting rhyming poetry, and singing rhyming songs should be daily activities in the early childhood classroom. Children can first try making rhymes by blending a single onset to a variety of words. For example, they could play a Silly Sally game where they blend /s/ to the rime of each word. This might lead to sense (me, see; hand, sand) or nonsense (mouse, souse; fork, sork). Any phoneme, for example, the sound of the week, could become the onset in such a game (Silly Filly, Silly Milly, etc.).
Another simple prereading blending activity is Secret Code, a guessing game. The teacher could turn an illustrated word face down and name it in phonemes, e.g., /h/a/t/. When a student blends the phonemes and guesses the word, the teacher shows the picture. This game also works well with riddles, which don't require pictures. For example, the teacher could say, "I'm thinking of the animal Bo Peep lost. It's a /shee/ /p/." Secret Code is good blending practice because it works on blending alone without the complications of remembering correspondences.
Where blending becomes crucial is in decoding printed words from their spellings. To simplify blending with printed words, we need to rethink the structure of the syllable. One way to break down the syllable is into onset (everything before the vowel) and rime (the vowel and everything after it). The onset and the rime are parts of spoken syllables, not written. For example, street could be broken into /str/ and /eet/. The onset-rime break seems natural, but it is probably a special case of the salient vowel. The vowel is the loudest part of the syllable and the sound you can always stretch out. It is easy to break a syllable on either side of the loud vowel.
For blending, it is better to divide the syllable a different way. If we combine the onset with the vowel, we get the body of a syllable. Everything after the body is the coda. For example, in dream, /drea/ is the body of the syllable and /m/ is the coda.
There is an important payoff for this new terminology: Body-coda blending is easier than onset-rime blending. This is because onsets are often quite distorted during blending. For example, if we ask a child to blend d-ice, it is very difficult to pronounce /d/ without considerable distortion. Because /d/ involves the vocal cords, it takes some vowel to pronounce /d/ (usually a schwa /u/), and this artificial voicing interferes with blending in the actual vowel. However, there is no distortion of consonants after the vowel, i.e., in the coda. Thus, di-ce is a very easy blend.
In general, the easiest way to blend in decoding is body-coda, e.g., swee-t. Onset-rime blending (sw-eet) is usually harder, but at least there are only two parts to blend. Phoneme blending is harder still, because there may be 3, 4, 5, or 6 phonemes to blend in a single syllable.
Sounding out and blending words in left to right order is usually not the best way to proceed. It is better, at least at first, to begin by sounding out the vowel. For example, with rag, focus first on pronouncing a as /a/. Then blend the onset to the vowel to get the body, e.g., /r/a/, /ra/. Last, blend the body to the coda, e.g., /ra/g/, rag.
One creative way to get children started is with a blending slide. Using an image or model of a playground slide, have the vowel (e.g., short e) climb to the top of the slide, where it calls for help, /e/, /e/. Bring up the onset (e.g., r) to make the body of the syllable (e.g., the letters re, pronounced with a short e). Place letter d at the bottom of the slide to catch re. Stretch the vowel in re until it hits d to make red. Repeat with a variety of bodies and codas to model and practice blending.
Return to the Reading Genie.


Tina Aiko Schaefer
SOC W 513
Provides frame of reference and skills for community-based social work practice. Theories of social change are examined with examples drawn from community organizing and policy advocacy. Offered: Sp.
This is the second of a two quarter course sequence that prepares students for entry-level macro social work practice. Within these two quarters, students using an anti-oppression lens develop foundational skills in assessment, intervention, and evaluation with groups, organizations, and communities; and in policy construction and implementation. These arenas are viewed as both tools and targets for change efforts. This process is driven by the principles of economic and social justice, multiculturalism, and anti-oppression practice and requires social workers to become critical thinkers and reflective practitioners engaged in and capable of facilitating an action-oriented model that reflects social work’s core values. The course will cover the role of social workers as change agents within organizations, critically assess the cultural, functional and structural aspects of organizations, plan and implement interventions at the organizational and systemic levels, and evaluate interventions at the organizational and systemic levels.
Student learning goals
This course targets the following SSW foundation competencies and related practice behaviors: Competency #1: Identify as a professional social worker and conduct one-self accordingly. 1d. Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication. Competency #2: Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. 2b. Apply ethical reasoning strategies to arrive at principled, informed, and culturally responsive decisions. Competency # 3: Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. 3b. Critically analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation, especially in relation to their cultural relevance and applicability, and promotion of social justice. Competency #4: Engage diversity and difference in practice. 4b. Develop and demonstrate sufficient critical self-awareness to understand the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups. Competency #5: Advance human rights and social and economic justice. 5c. Engage in practices that address disparities and inequalities and advance social and economic justice. Competency #7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment. 7b. Critique and apply these theories and frameworks to assessment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple system. Competency #8: Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services. 8b. Collaborate with colleagues, clients/constituents, and other actors to advocate for social and economic justice to effect policy change. Competency #9: Respond to contexts that shape practice. 9a. Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide culturally relevant services. Competency #10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Engagement: 10a. Effectively prepare for engagement with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the context of diverse and multidisciplinary settings. 10b. Use listening, empathy and other interpersonal skills to establish respectful rapport and engagement with diverse populations in diverse contexts. 10c. Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes with clients/constituents. 10d. Affirm and engage the strengths of individuals, families, organizations & communities. Assessment: 10e. Collect, organize, and interpret client/constituent/system data. 10f. Assess client/constituent/system strengths, stressors, and limitations. 10g. Identify and select appropriate and culturally responsive intervention strategies. Intervention: 10h. Initiate actions to achieve client/constituent/organizational goals. 10j. Help and empower clients/constituents to resolve problems. Evaluation: 10m. Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions.
General method of instruction
Class assignments and grading


Study of Teacher Preparation in Early Reading Instruction
Salinger, T., Mueller, L., Song, M., Jin, Y., Zmach, C., Toplitz, M., Partridge, M., & Bickford, A.
A component of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (PL 107-110) is its emphasis on the importance of systematic and explicit instruction in early reading using practices that are grounded in scientific research. The Reading First legislation (Title I, Part B, Subpart 1)1 within NCLB is designed to support state and local education agencies so that they can in turn base their early reading instruction on scientific research and focus on five ―essential components of early reading instruction, as defined by the legislation and informed by the National Reading Panel2: (1) phonemic awareness; (2) phonics; (3) vocabulary development; (4) reading fluency, particularly oral reading skills; and (5) reading comprehension strategies.
The Study of Teacher Preparation in Early Reading Instruction responds to a congressional mandate in the Reading First legislation for ―a measurement of how well students preparing to enter the teaching profession are prepared to teach the essential components of reading instruction‖ (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001, Section 1205(c)(8))3. The study was commissioned by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The study plan included a survey about teacher education programs and an assessment of pre-service teachers’ knowledge about the essential components of early reading instruction.
To view the full report, please click here
1 See Title I, Part B, Subpart 1, Student Reading Skills Improvement Grants – Reading First, especially Section 1208(3). Downloadable from: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg4.html
2 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Downloadable from: http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/
3 See Title I, Part B, Subpart 1, Student Reading Skills Improvement Grants – Reading First, especially Section 1205(c)(8). Downloadable from: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg4.html


Education develops the foundation necessary for an individual to reach their potential. This is especially true for individuals with Down syndrome.
Like all people, individuals with Down syndrome learn and develop at their own rate and in their own way. People with Down syndrome have varied goals for their futures and individual expectations of their roles in the family, school and community. Down syndrome is not a blueprint for potential or a prescription for a given educational or life plan. However, people with Down syndrome often experience mild to moderate delays in their cognitive and physical development and research has shown that educational and therapeutic interventions (such as early intervention services) can greatly benefit learners with Down syndrome. Careful consideration, supports and early planning are often necessary to facilitate employment and community life. Your child’s education begins with Early Intervention and continues through secondary education and beyond. The information we are sharing here is meant to give you a foundation on education, and basic concepts that will help you navigate through the processes to ensure your child receives the appropriate individual support. There are many more resources at both a local and national level which you can access our Links information.
What is early intervention?
Early intervention is a systematic program of therapy, exercises and activities designed to address developmental delays that may be experienced by children with Down syndrome or other disabilities. These services are mandated by a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The law requires that states provide early intervention services for all children who qualify, with the goal of enhancing the development of infants and toddlers and helping families understand and meet the needs of their children before the begin their school years. The most common early intervention services for babies with Down syndrome are physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy. You should work with your case manager and therapist to ensure your child’s goals are documented and agreed upon. Visit our Early Intervention page for additional information.
What is IDEA?
IDEA or The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
In IDEA 2004 Congress defined the purpose of special education: “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living” and “to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and parents of such children are protected”… (Section 1400(d)).
Special education and related services necessary for each individual student is defined by their unique needs and is supported by an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Additional information on IEP’s and Inclusion can be found on our Elementary Education information page.