What You Need to Know About Reading Comprehension Strategies
Reading is not a passive activity. It is an activity that requires the brain to fully engage and think in order to comprehend the words on the page. When you begin to read, your brain naturally begins to use a variety of reading comprehension strategies to make meaning of the text. The reading comprehension strategies that you use have been developed through years of reading practice. You were either taught them in school or developed the strategies on your own to problem solve your way through the often tricky task of reading.
Successful reading comprehension strategies will result when a child is able to do the following things:
1.) Accurately read the words on the page
2.) Read the words fluently
3.) Comprehend what the words mean.
Understanding what the words on a page are communicating is the main goal of reading. The Thinking through Reading program will introduce children to a variety of reading comprehension strategies that will help them to improve their comprehension of books and other texts. Not only will our strategies help children to think their way through books, our reading comprehension strategies will train them to use a variety of thought processes that can be applied to other areas of their life. Children will learn how to useinferential thinking, ask meaningful questions and learn to communicate their thoughts clearly and effectively.
When you pick up a book, magazine or newspaper, you do more than just read the words. You connect the information on the page to information that you already know. You anticipate events and determine which words are most important to remember. You think about what the author is trying to tell you. All of the thinking that you do while reading, works to help you understand what you read. The Thinking through Reading comprehension strategies are listed below:
- Making Connections
- Asking Questions
- Making Predictions
- Making Inferences
- Understanding Text Structure
- Determining Importance
- Identifying the Author’s Message
Each of the reading comprehension strategies works like a piece in a puzzle. Once a child learns how, and when to use each of the reading comprehension strategies, they will be able to achieve a level of deep comprehension.
In order to comprehend, children must learn how to use each strategy and know when to use each strategy. They will learn to do this through practice. After learning and practicing the strategies a child should begin to read books for enjoyment and not for the purpose of practicing one isolated strategy. The goal is not for a child to pick up a book and think that visualizing is reading or making connections is reading. Instead, the goal, once they learn the strategies, is for a child to automatically use the strategies to deepen their comprehension.
Therefore, remember that the Thinking through Reading and Book Club programs are intended to support readers who are learning to employ reading comprehension strategies while reading. When a child is using the strategy cards, they should be focused on learning and applying a specific strategy. When a child begins to read the independently, they should be focused on reading and using the reading comprehension strategies when needed to deepen their comprehension of the text. Please, never tell a child to go visualize or go retell. That is not the purpose of reading. Rather the purpose of reading is to think your way through the text, and respond to it in some way.
Visit our home page to learn more about reading comprehension strategies or the lesson plan library to select book and lesson plans that will help you teach readers how to effectively comprehend.


GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Marvelous Explorations through Science and Stories project now has teacher’s guides available online through the national Head Start program and at the Florida Museum of Natural History website.
The fun and educational science-centered guides provide a challenging and engaging curriculum for early childhood students and teachers. The guides cover a range of science topics including animals, physical science, the environment and the human body.
Shari Ellis, project director at the Florida Museum’s Center for Informal Science Education, said the curriculum was created for preschoolers, but can be easily adapted for early elementary grades.
“The goal was to provide open and free access to these guides so that more teachers can become comfortable exploring science with young children,” Ellis said.
Marvelous Explorations through Science and Stories was developed by a partnership among the Florida Museum, and Head Start programs and public libraries in Alachua and Marion counties. The guides were field tested in more than 100 classrooms for eight years, and are available on the Florida Museum website, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/education/cise/mess.htm, and at http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/, the Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center website.
“We found that most teachers really enjoy teaching science to young children, but they sometimes lack developmentally appropriate resources,” Ellis said. “Often, teachers find activities online designed for older children and then may give up on science because the activities don’t work well. Teachers who use the MESS guides consistently report they are amazed at what their students can learn, and the children’s parents are, too.”
The goal of MESS is to foster children’s language and literacy development, curiosity, motivation, problem solving and general knowledge through science experiences.
Grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and ChevronTexaco Foundation provided initial funding. Additional funding to expand the program was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families, Florida Museum Associates, Thomas H. Maren Foundation, Sonny’s, Wachovia Foundation and the Alachua County Community Agency Partnership Program.
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Spelling, Handwriting and Dyslexia
Overcoming Barriers to Learning
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This ground-breaking book argues that spelling and writing need to be given more consideration in teaching and remedial settings especially if dyslexic pupils are to be helped back up to grade level, and other pupils are to make more effective, quicker progress. Helping teachers and student-teachers to understand the valuable contribution spelling and handwriting makes to literacy development in primary and secondary schools, this book shows them how to overcome existing barriers to learning. Chapters cover key topics such as:
- the nature of spelling and the impact of the National Literacy Strategy
- the strengths and weaknesses of existing schemes for handwriting
- the definitions of dyslexia and how common spelling errors by dyslexics are made
- making effective links between strategic assessment and strategic interventions in schools
- problem-based learning, underpinned by plenty of casestudies and real life classroom examples.
Written by a well-known author in the field of literacy and dyslexia, this is a core text that will interest teachers, teacher educators, and undergraduate and postgraduate students in education and inclusion.
- Taylor and Francis, November 2006
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- EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM)
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Policy briefs and reports
Wordworks tries to make our key messages on early language and literacy accessible through a range of easy-to-read publications.
Much More than Counting: Mathematics Development between birth and five years
This joint report by Wordworks and the Schools Development Unit describes the different ways in which young children learn mathematics and the main mathematics learning strands.
Narrowing the Literacy Gap Strengthening language and literacy development between birth and six years for children in South Africa
This report discusses why language development in a child’s first years is so important to later reading and writing skills.
Narrowing the literacy gap: Making a case for the importance of early language and literacy development in South Africa
Provides a useful summary of our Narrowing the Literacy Gap report.
Early language, literacy and mathematics learning: Why does it matter and who benefits?
This briefing looks at why the period between birth and five years is such a crucial formative time for a child, setting the trajectory for their school years and beyond. It explains how the benefits of investing in this period are deep and wide, providing the foundations not only for individual flourishing, but also for a successful education system, a stronger society, and more efficient public spending. We also discuss how high quality opportunities for language, literacy and maths learning have been shown to be an essential element of any successful early years programme, and consider how and why language is at the heart of all learning.
Early language and literacy: What skills and understanding do young children need?
This briefing looks at the skills and understanding that young children need in order to learn to read and write successfully. Improving knowledge of what these early literacy competencies are and how they can be nurtured in the home and other ECD settings must be a key part of any strategy to raise literacy rates in South Africa.
Early language and literacy: How do children learn and how can adults support them?
The third in our series of policy briefings looks at the ‘how to’ of language and literacy learning in the pre-school years. As well as considering the question of how children learn, this briefing looks at the vital role of adults, the specific activities that support early literacy, and the key features of an effective learning environment.


Do you remember how you learned to read? Were you in a reading group? Did you use the SRA boxes? Plenty of research tells us what works best for learners who are learning to read and what the best method of reading instruction is.
What we should see in our children’s classrooms when it comes to reading instruction:
Real, authentic books not “decodable” books with controlled vocabulary.
The focus is on meaning not skills.
Kids talk about books and discuss with other readers.
Reader’s Workshop approach
1) Short direct instruction on something good readers do, usually a cognitive skill (5-10 minutes), 2) a long reading time (30 – 60 minutes) in which children read and apply the lesson to their own, self-selected books as well as a time for the teacher to confer with individual students, 3) ends with reading journal writing and a whole-group reflection time (5-10 minutes).
Watch a Reading Workshop in 1st grade. This is what you should want for your child!
Reading comprehension strategies explicitly modeled, taught and practiced.
Strategies that good readers use: use fix-up strategies when comprehension is interrupted, connect to background knowledge, determine importance, make inferences, visualize or make sensory images, ask questions, synthesize, be meta-cognitive about his or her own thinking. Reading strategies printable.
Phonics is a part of a balanced program but shouldn’t be overemphasized. Even in a kindergarten classroom, phonics should be no more than 20 minutes a day. (Phonics becomes unnecessary when children are reading fluently.)
Daily read aloud time.
Individual and partner work.
Whole group, small group and individual instruction.
Variety and quantity.
Lots of books in the room available to children, of different genres, topics.
Teacher models being a reader.
Teacher shares with students what he or she is thinking when she reads, books she or he likes, etc.
Variety of assessments including and especially conferring with students.
Watch an example of a teacher-student reading conference. Love this! This teacher can totally differentiate (individualize) for this reader because he’s assessing the reader and providing individualized instruction.
Reading and writing are connected and taught in cooperation with each other.
Flexible and fluid guided reading instruction.
“The Daily Five” (Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, Word Work)
What we don’t want to see — because it’s not good for learners:
Teacher selects the books for the children to read. Children do not get to choose.
“Decodable” leveled books.
No real books to be found. These books often don’t make sense and aren’t interesting to readers so can be much harder than real books.
Phonics emphasized over comprehension.
Grouping by ability exclusively.
Guided reading programs do this.
No comprehension happening here because students are either planning ahead what they’re supposed to read or worrying.
Assessments are tests only.
Reading does not include writing.
Whole group instruction and activities.
Teacher doesn’t model his or her own thinking out-loud for kids.
Everyone reads the same book or basal reader.
Paper and pencil activities (test prep, worksheets).
Rhodes, Lynn, and Curt Dudley-Marling. 1996 Readers and Writers with a Difference. A Holistic Approach to Teaching Struggling Readers and Writers.
Zimmerman, Susan, and Ellin Oliver Keene. 1997. Mosaic of Thought.
Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde. 1998 Best Practice New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools.
What reading instruction are you seeing at your child’s school?
Anything you’re wondering about you need me to explain?


YOUNGSTERS at a Monmouthshire school turned palaeontologists when they took part in a dinosaur dig.
Year 2 pupils at Gilwern Primary are getting hands-on experience before writing about dinosaurs for this term’s chosen topic.
Using fossils that have been loaned to the school, the pupils set about digging for finds that have been buried in sand in a polytunnel. On discovering a relic, they record the information and relay it back to the classroom using a radio.
Brady Edwards, Year 2 teacher and foundation phase leader, said: “We started learning about dinosaurs at the beginning of this term and have been giving the children hands-on experience before they write about it.
“They are very enthusiastic and are enjoying it.
“Measuring their finds helps to build on their numeracy skills before carrying out the research and writing a diary about it,” added Mrs Edwards.
“They have also created a 3D virtual dinosaur on a computer and are looking at writing newspaper articles after reading about dinosaur footprints discovered in India.”


November 2009 | Seymour Joseph Guy established a reputation in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century as one of the finest genre painters of children. His primarily cabinet-sized pictures were esteemed by his fellow artists and leading collectors of American art. He was widely respected for his technical ability and knowledge of the science of painting, but with the emergence of a younger generation of European-trained artists in the 1880s, Guy’s meticulous and smoothly polished scenes of childhood began to fall out of fashion. In recent decades his art and talent have been reappraised by museums, scholars, and collectors of early American art, but up to now almost nothing has been published about his life and career.
Guy was born and raised in Greenwich, England, a parliamentary borough of London. He was the son of Jane Delver Wilson and Frederick Bennett Guy (d. 1833), and he had two brothers, Frederick Bennett Guy Jr. (1823–1899) and Charles Henry Guy (1824–1861). Following their mother’s death, probably in the late 1820s, the children were raised by their father, an innkeeper and owner of various commercial properties. Upon Frederick’s death in July 1833, the siblings appear to have been raised under the guardianship of John Locke, the proprietor of the Spanish Galleon, a tavern that still stands on Church Street in Greenwich, or John Hughes, a Church Street cheese merchant.1
Growing up, Guy attended a day school in Surrey.2 He developed an early interest in art, and was fond of painting dogs and horses. At the age of thirteen he expressed a serious desire to become either an artist or a civil engineer. His guardian responded by taking away his pocket money in hopes of motivating him to make a different career choice. Undaunted, Guy took up sign painting and earned enough money to buy the supplies he needed to continue his art education. For a brief period in the later 1830s he studied with a marine painter named Butterworth or Buttersworth—probably Thomas Buttersworth (1768–1842), who was a resident of Greenwich and had a successful career as a painter of ships and coastal scenes.
About 1839 Guy’s guardian convinced him to seek training as an engraver, but the expense of placing him as an apprentice with an engraving firm proved prohibitive. Instead Guy began a seven year apprenticeship in the oil and color trade, which entailed making pigments and preparing binders, as well as combining those ingredients to make paint either by hand-grinding or working a steam driven machine.3 The experience led Guy to grind and mix pigments for his own work.
Frederick Bennett Guy had stipulated in his will that his estate be divided among his children when Charles reached the age of twenty-one. This occurred about 1845, and closely coincided with the conclusion of Seymour’s apprenticeship and the death of his guardian, providing him with the freedom and means to pursue an artistic career. An influential friend by the name of Müller asked him if he wanted to study at the Royal Academy in London, but Guy preferred to study on his own at the British Museum. The next day Müller provided him with the necessary permit to set up his easel and copy paintings in the galleries, an opportunity Guy would later recall with great gratitude.4


A trusted guide and companion for current and future art educators, CHILDREN AND THEIR ART presents a professional approach to teaching art consistent with national standards for student learning. This Ninth Edition is targeted at middle level and elementary schools. The authors are experienced as art teachers in the public schools and have a broad knowledge about school art programs. The Ninth Edition provides updated developments in theory, research and practices, with a strong emphasis on how digital technology provides new ways of teaching art. The most comprehensive textbook available for teaching art education methods, CHILDREN AND THEIR ART covers all aspects of teaching art in the elementary and middle school classroom: the basic principles and goals of art education, the characteristics and needs of children as learners, the core principles of art as a subject--aesthetics, principles of design, art history, new developments in art media and technology. It also covers all aspects of instruction--curriculum planning, sample lessons, suggested readings, and internet resources. Among numerous updates throughout the text, the Ninth Edition features a brand-new chapter on new media in art education with 22 new images. It features the use of digital technology in elementary and middle school classrooms and examples of digital art created by students.
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Rent Children and Their Art 9th edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Michael Day. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by CENGAGE Learning.


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Less than 2% experimental error doesn't sound too bad, when Plus thinks back to secondary school science classes, but it was a big cause for concern for the government, when they counted 1 million people fewer than expected in the 2001 UK census.
However, one legacy of this experiment has proved to be an unqualified success. To tie in with the census, the Centre for Statistical Education, in conjunction with National Statistics, set up a project called CensusAtSchool, whereby children would complete a simple questionnaire about their home lives and school experience. The aim of the project was to provide real data for use across the National Curriculum and improve data handling in the classroom: "Real data, real learning" as the CensusAtSchool slogan states.
Over 60,000 children completed questionnaires and the project, originally designed as a one-off, has proved so successful that it is being continued within the UK, and CensusAtSchool programmes are now also being run in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Following on from this success, a similar project entitled ExperimentsAtSchool has just been launched, dealing with experimental, rather than social, data. Students carrying out experiments in their own classrooms are now able to upload their results to a national database, and also download data from students in other schools around the country to use in their analyses.
If it proves as successful as its predecessor, this project has the potential to revolutionise the way science is taught in our schools. In an ideal world, the study of science would involve repeating experiments many times in order to reduce error, but in the classroom time constraints often compel teachers to declare any discrepancy between expected and observed results simply to be "experimental error" before moving on. By using ExperimentsAtSchool children could, in effect, repeat their experiments many hundreds of times.
But the availability of scientific results is only part of the benefit of this project. As with CensusAtSchool, it is the experience of quality data handling and analysis which will perhaps most benefit students. Recent studies have shown that the numeracy skills most often demanded by employers are those concerned with data handling. Innovative programmes such as these might just close the gap between these expected, and observed, results of our education system.


While NAAL does not measure "illiteracy" per se, adults who cannot read well enough to attempt or to correctly answer the minimum number of basic literacy questions in the 2003 NAAL may be classified as not literate in English.
A number of steps were taken to preserve comparability between the 1992 NALS and 2003 NAAL. First, almost half of the 2003 sample questions are taken from the 1992 assessment. Second, the new 2003 test questions are similar to those used in 1992. Third, NAAL uses the same sampling and data collection procedures as NALS to ensure that NAAL participants are similar to those surveyed in 1992. Fourth, 2003 results are along the same literacy scales as those used in 1992—prose, document, and quantitative. Finally, the 1992 NALS data have been reanalyzed along new, 2003 NAAL performance levels.
NCES does not plan to establish grade-level equivalents because they are unsuitable for characterizing the skills of adults (who often have uneven skills across different literacy areas).
NAAL questions reflect the tasks and stimulus materials that adults encounter in daily life. A school-based assessment like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) focuses more directly on a participant's ability to read, and less on a participant's ability to apply what they have read to accomplish everyday literacy goals. Also, NAAL is 100 percent open-ended (requires short-answer responses), and questions are placed before the stimulus material so that respondents have to search the text for information. School-based assessments like NAEP have a percentage of multiple-choice questions and answers, and questions are placed after the stimulus material, so that students have to read the entire text for full comprehension before answering the question.
In terms of scoring, NAAL differs from school-based assessments because it scores responses as partially correct if they lead to partial accomplishment of the task. NAAL offers greater insight into the correlation between participants' skill levels and their ability to function in society than does a school-based assessment.
The same year that NAAL was conducted (2003), the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL) was conducted in six countries: Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. ALL provided comparative international information about the prose and document skills, as well as the numeracy skills, of the adult populations in these countries. For a comparison of NAAL and ALL, please click here.
The most recent international assessment of adult literacy is the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a large-scale international assessment conducted across 24 countries in 2011-12. The PIAAC measured adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments.
PIAAC improved upon and expanded on the cognitive frameworks of previous large-scale literacy assessments, including NAAL and ALL. Some improvements included:
Because of these differences, PIAAC introduced a new set of scales to measure adult literacy, numeracy, and problem solving. Some scales from previous adult assessments, including NAAL and ALL, have been mapped to the PIAAC scales so that performance can be measured over time.


The Correct spelling is: elementary
Common misspellings of the word elementary are:
How do you spell elementary?. It is not elementay or even elimentary for that matter!
elementarily el'eÂ·menÂ·ta'riÂ·ly (-tÄ•r'É™-lÄ“) adv.
- Of, relating to, or constituting the basic, essential, or fundamental part: an elementary need for love and nurturing.
- Of, relating to, or involving the fundamental or simplest aspects of a subject: an elementary problem in statistics.
- Of or relating to an elementary school or elementary education: the elementary grades; elementary teachers.
elementariness el'eÂ·men'taÂ·riÂ·ness n.


The musical instruments kids play in school bands and orchestras are traveling denizens of bacteria and fungi, say the authors of a new study. Music education is great for kids, they note, but please, please wash the instruments!
Researchers at Oklahoma State University bravely examined 13 instruments that belonged to a high school band. Six of the instruments had been played the previous week and seven hadn't been played in a month. Swabs were taken of 117 different sites on the instruments, including the mouthpieces, internal chambers and even the carrying cases.
The results scored high on the yuck factor. The researchers found 442 different bacteria, 58 types of mold and 19 types of yeast. Many of the bacteria were species of Staphylococcus, which can cause staph infection. Most of the bacteria can cause illness, the authors noted. Mold spores can contribute to the development of asthma. Even the instruments that had not been played recently harbored germs galore.
"Furthermore, this study also found that many of these microbes are highly resistant to some or most of the antibiotics normally used in general practice, including methicillin," the authors wrote.


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Laurie Elish-Piper is a Presidential Teaching Professor in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. She also serves as the NIU Literacy Clinic Director and Co-Director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literacy. Her research and teaching focus on literacy assessment, supporting struggling readers, readers’ rights, literacy coaching, and family literacy. She has also co-authored six books including A Declaration of Readers’ Rights: Renewing Our Commitment to Students (Allyn & Bacon, 2008) and Teaching Reading Pre-K — Grade 3 (Kendall/Hunt, 2006). Prior to her current position, Dr. Elish-Piper worked as an elementary teacher, middle school reading teacher, and educational therapist in a clinical setting.
Susan K. L’Allier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. She teaches undergraduate students majoring in Elementary Education and graduate students working toward their reading specialist certification. Her research focuses on literacy coaching, school-university partnerships, and embedding children’s literature into literacy instruction. She has authored and co-authored several journal articles based on her research. Prior to her current position, Dr. L’Allier worked as a preschool and elementary teacher of the hearing impaired and as a principal.
Table of Contents
Teaching Focus 1. Becoming Engaged with Required Readings from Text
Teaching Focus 2. Understanding Phonemic Awareness and How to Teach It
Teaching Focus 3. Developing Knowledge About Phonics and How to Teach It
Teaching Focus 4. Learning About Fluency Instruction
Teaching Focus 5. Examining Vocabulary Instruction
Teaching Focus 6. Learning about Comprehension Instruction


Spider Arachnids – Download Free Science Worksheet Printables for Grade 1 Kids
Spider Arachnids – Download Free Science Worksheet Printables for Grade 1 Kids. This Arachnids spider science for kids worksheet is suitable for Grade 1 – Grade 5 kids. Grammar school kids can use this word search puzzle to gain information about spiders as well as a reading comprehension tool.
Pre-K and Kindergarten kids can use this spider word game puzzle worksheet as a listening comprehension tool while learning to recognize words and letters.
Teachers can use our printable word game puzzle worksheet on spiders for kids to supplement their science lessons.
The Easy Science Kids website is a great teachers resource for science worksheets and online word search puzzle games.
This hidden words activity sheet is designed to teach kids fun facts about spiders. With this spiders worksheet, they can have a fun time learning!
Most people fear spiders, but spiders aren’t that scary. In fact, out of 37,000 species, only 2 species are venomous to humans. What are Arachnids? Are Arachnids spiders or are Spiders Arachnids?
Learn more spider facts and Arachnids Spider information by downloading this FREE printable worksheet.
Spider Arachnids Free Worksheet for Science
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Developmental coordination disorder is a condition in which a person of normal intelligence and physical development has trouble performing motor skills that require coordination, like running or catching a ball. This condition typically begins during childhood and continues into adulthood. A person with the disorder usually simply appears clumsy or unskilled at physical activity, but he or she does not have the motor skill development to improve, even with practice. The disorder may be present alone or in combination with a learning disability.
The symptoms of developmental coordination disorder often begin during infancy. An infant with the condition may have difficulty coordinating his or her mouth to suck on a bottle or breastfeed. He or she may take longer to sit up or crawl compared to other kids in his or her age group.
As a child matures and starts walking and performing tasks, the symptoms may become more obvious. He or she may trip or stumble when walking or running, and may also have difficulty jumping or balancing on one foot. These symptoms are often dismissed as simple clumsiness or lack of grace and may not even be noticeable. Fine motor difficulties may be easier to spot as symptoms of the disorder. These include trouble tying shoes, holding a pencil, operating scissors, or even drumming his or her fingertips together.
Developmental coordination disorder does not have a proven cause. It may be due to some type of physical abnormality that prevents a person from being able to properly execute movements. The disorder may potentially be a result of an issue that caused some type of delay during development that keeps a person from effectively forming motor skills.
The disorder is typically not detrimental to a person’s health, but it can cause some possible complications. Since a person may have trouble performing physical activity, he or she may avoid trying to exercise due to frustration, fear of being ridiculed, or because he or she is afraid of an injury. Children with the disorder may experience emotional stress if they are made fun of due to their lack of coordination and may feel like outcasts if they can’t participate in competitive sports.
Although developmental coordination disorder cannot be cured or treated, a person may benefit from counseling sessions to deal with his or her daily life. A person with the disorder may need guidance on how to perform physical activity without injuring him or herself. A counselor may also be able to give advice on how to best handle the emotional effects of the disorder.
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Brain, Behavior, and Learning in Language and Reading Disordersby Maria Mody
Grounded in cutting-edge research on brainbehavior relationships, this book explores how language and reading disorders developand presents exciting new approaches to examining and treating them. Experts from multiple disciplines investigate how children's learning trajectories in spoken and written language are shaped by the dynamic interplay of… See more details below
Grounded in cutting-edge research on brainbehavior relationships, this book explores how language and reading disorders developand presents exciting new approaches to examining and treating them. Experts from multiple disciplines investigate how children's learning trajectories in spoken and written language are shaped by the dynamic interplay of neurobiological, experiential, and behavioral processes. The volume includes innovative neuroimaging applications and other state-of-the-science techniques that help shed new light on childhood disorders such as dyslexia, language impairment, writing disabilities, and autism. Implications for evidence-based diagnosis, intervention, and instruction are discussed. Illustrations include five color plates.
"This book was a treat to browse, and I don’t think it will spend much time tucked away on a shelf. What a useful and important resource! In many ways, the volume brings the study of language and reading disorders back to its roots, but this time with evidence to show how learning is manifested in the brain. The book is indeed timely in drawing together the relevant findings from the burgeoning research on genetics, neuroimaging, learning, and learning disability. The authors are the right source for each topic, and the educational and practical implications that round out the chapters greatly enrich their value. I could imagine using this book as the focus text for a doctoral seminar on learning disabilities."Rollanda E. O’Connor, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside
"I have always enjoyed the challenges of 'piecing the puzzle together' when evaluating children with language and literacy differences and disorders. Mody and Silliman have gathered together an impressive array of highly regarded researchers from diverse disciplines to provide new, needed pieces of the puzzle. In this fascinating volume, the contributors coherently explain the most current theories on language and literacy development and disorders and present research evidence across domains to support the theories. Using this information, readers can think in novel ways about planning interventions. This is a 'must-read,' cutting-edge book for advanced graduate students and professionals."Carol E. Westby, PhD, Visiting Professor, College of Education, Brigham Young University
"You won't find reductionist models of disabilities here! This book builds the surge toward deeper, richer analyses of language and reading disabilities, providing frameworks for understanding the dynamics of developmental differences. It showcases groundbreaking research leading toward a new level of sophistication in analyzing the development of disabilities and connecting research and practice for children with learning problems. With its combination of frameworks and specific research, this text provides a great resource for helping students to frame learning problems in ways that capture the complexity of human beings."Kurt W. Fischer, PhD, Charles Warland Bigelow Professor and Director, Master's Program in Mind, Brain, and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Meet the Author
Maria Mody, PhD, is a cognitive neuroscientist in the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, specializing in developmental disorders of reading and language. She is a member of the faculty in the Health Sciences and Technology Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also teaches in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Emerson College. Dr. Mody uses a variety of neuroimaging methods to examine the relationship between spoken language and reading in normal and atypical development. Her work is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a past Associate Editor of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research and has published in a variety of journals.
Elaine R. Silliman, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Cognitive and Neural Sciences at the University of South Florida. She is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the International Academy for Research on Learning Disabilities. She also holds the Honors of the New York State Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Dr. Silliman is a past Editor of the ASHA journal Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.. Her research has appeared in a wide variety of journals, and she is the author or coauthor of 18 chapters and coeditor of five books. Dr. Silliman’s current research interests include the development of academic language proficiency in children struggling with reading, writing, and spelling.
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Curriculum and Instruction
Illinois Certification Test of Basic Skills:
This examination must be passed to gain admittance into the Early
Childhood Education program. This test assesses reading comprehension,
grammar, math, and writing.
WIU Technology Competency Assessment:
This online assessment much be successfully completed in order to gain
admittance into the Early Childhood Education program. This assessment
provides information about a candidate's ability to demonstrate
knowledge and application of technology.
Illinois Early Childhood Education Content Test: This assessment must be passed to gain entry into student teaching. There are three subtests:
- Language and Literacy Development
- Learning Across the Curriculum
- Diversity, Collaboration & Professionalism.
Illinois Assessment of Professional Teaching: This assessment must be passed to become a certified teacher and to graduate from WIU. There are seven subtest:
- Foundations, Characteristics, & Assessments
- Plan & Deliver Instruction
- Manage the Learning Environment
- Collaboration, Communication, & Professionalism
- Language Arts
- Education Technology
- Constructed Response Assignments


Homeschool & Science Projects - Environmental Education
Order Code: 3604-01
The LaMotte Acid Rain Study Outfit includes dependable tools necessary to make surveys of acid precipitation, and determine the pH levels of local ponds, lakes, and streams. This complete outfit includes a durable, tapered rain gauge; an easy-to-use pH test kit; study guide; and activity sheets.
Order Code: 3-5886
Students will have fun analyzing sample water for eight different test factors: pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, temperature, turbidity, nitrate, phosphate, and coliform bacteria. This complete kit includes a manual with step-by-step, diagrammed instructions; an easy-to-use laminated color chart, and all the necessary apparatus and non-hazardous TesTabs® to test ten water samples (three samples for coliform).
Order Code: 5911
A modification of the popular Low Cost Monitoring Kit, the Estuary Kit is specifically designed to provide simple, affordable and non-hazardous methods of testing saline and brackish waters for coliform bacteria, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, pH, phosphate, temperature, and turbidity.
Order Code: 5906
Elementary Education Watershed Field Trip helps to explain the Watershed and provides guidelines on taking a field trip, conducting water quality tests, and data sheets for collection and interpretation of data.
Order Code: 5418
The Tapwater Tour is an exciting investigation of water quality examining the chemical properties of water directly from the tap. Each student on the Tapwater Tour completes several units while conducting his/her own water quality tests using safe, simple TestTab® reagent tablets.
Order Code: 5872
Use the CD to plan and implement a special long-term service project, community outreach program, environmental course, and classroom and field trip pre-lab activity to test water quality in rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and other natural bodies of water.
Order Code: 5918
This kit provides a hands-on introduction to the basic concepts of water chemistry and environmental awareness in urban areas. All of the necessary equipment is included to test for the following test factors using our non-hazardous Testab methods - Chlorine, Copper, Iron, Hardness, Nitrate, pH, Phosphates, and Temperature.
Order Code: 5914
Explore what's coming out of your funky faucet! Test tap water for pH, chlorine, hardness, copper, and iron. Learn while you laugh with Just for Fun activities including Make Your Own Lava Lamp and edible experiments like the Pollution Parfait.
It's that time of year again! You have to do a project for the science fair... but don't panic.The Science Project Kits will guide you through the entire project from choosing a subject, doing the research, collecting the data, and finally displaying the results.TesTabs, test tubes, and project ideas are included!
Order Code: 5950
A creepy, crawly, wet investigation of the health of streams, ponds, and other freshwater environments. Following the easy-to-read BUGKIT manual, one to two students learn to collect, observe, sort, and identify aquatic insects as a tool for measuring water quality.
Order Code: 5882
Students will learn to design, implement, and analyze a scientific investigation while discovering the value of aquatic macroinvertebrates as living indicators of water quality. The kit is reusable and flexible, adaptable to varying time contraints, number of students and grade levels, and it is geographically friendly, and complete.
Order Code: 5425-01
The Topsoil Tour is an investigation into the physical and chemical properties of soil. Each student on the Topsoil Tour completes seven units while conducting his/her own soil tests for soil texture, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium using safe, simple TesTabs® reagent tablets.


for Music Education
Block Scheduling: Implications for Music Education is the result of a research survey of "block scheduled" schools in Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan conducted by the authors. Statistics on school music programs are included, as are valuable comments by music educators working in these small-, medium-, and large-sized schools. Percentages and other research findings are followed by information on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of scheduling in sample schools throughout the country. Also included are suggestions on becoming involved and building networks for sharing information.
Inside Block Scheduling: Implications for Music Education
Chapter 1 - Block Scheduling and School Music Programs-Some Background Information. Why Block Scheduling and Why Now?; What Does Block Scheduling Mean to Music Teachers?
Chapter 2 - A Survey of Block Scheduling Implementation on Secondary School Music Programs in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. How We Obtained Our Information; Types of Schedules; Forms of Block Scheduling; Student Enrollment Trends; Scheduling; Scheduling Conflict Potentials; Scheduling Conflicts; Advanced Placement Class Conflicts; Elective Class Conflicts; Conflicts with Upper-Class Students; Balanced Instrumentation and Vocal Parts; Performance Proficiency; Constant Enrollment; Enrollment in More than One Performance Art Class; Block Scheduling and the Success of Performance Arts Classes; Administration Views; Music Teacher Comments
Chapter 3 - Making Block Schedules Work: Sample Schedules
- Alternating Four-Period Day-Eight Classes
- The 4 x 4 Block-Schedule
- Hybrid Schedule-Long and Short Classes
- The Embedded Block Schedule
- Block 8-Eight Periods, Rotating A B Days
- Modified Block Scheduling-"Split Block" Classes
- The Intensive Block Five
- Block 4 Scheduling with an Extended Day Option
- Block 8-7 Credit Schedule, Rotating Days with All 8 Classes Meeting on Friday
Chapter 4 - Making Block Scheduling Work-One Program at a Time 10 Examples of Real Programs!
Chapter 5 - Suggestions for Becoming Informed, Involved, and Building Networks for Sharing Information
- Washington Music Educators Association-Jo and Bruce Caldwell 10 Considerations if Moving to Block Scheduling 6 Important Factors for Music in a Schedule
- Wisconsin Music Educators Association-Kevin Meidl 17 Creative Ways to Help Music Succeed in a Block Schedule
Chapter 6 - Block Scheduling and School Music Programs-Some Closing Thoughts
Chapter 7 - Where to Look for Help-Selected Bibliography for Music Educators
About the Authors
Dr. Larry R. Blocher is Associate Professor of Music Education, Associate Director of Bands, and Director of Music Education at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. At Wichita State, Dr. Blocher conducts the concert band, teaches undergraduate and graduate music education courses, and coordinates the music education program. Dr. Blocher is President-Elect of the Kansas Bandmasters Association, a member-at-large representative for the National Band Association, and a member of the Editorial Committee for the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). Dr. Blocher is active as a guest clinician/conductor/adjudicator and has presented clinic/research sessions at international, national, regional, and state conferences in the area of instrumental music teacher preparation.
Dr. Richard B. Miles is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Morehead State University in Kentucky, and holds a Ph.D. from Florida State University. In addition to the supervision and administration of the MSU Bands, Dr. Miles teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting. Since his arrival at MSU in 1985, the MSU Symphony Band, under his direction, has been selected to perform for conventions of the Music Educators National Conference, College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, and the Kentucky Music Educators Association. Dr. Miles is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Internationally, he has conducted concerts and clinics throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the People's Republic of China.


SUNY New Paltz recently provided two MakerBot 3D printers, on extended loan, to New Paltz High School in hopes of enhancing the hands-on experience students and faculty will have with the cutting-edge technology.
“We are thrilled at SUNY New Paltz to be able to partner with the excellent faculty at New Paltz High School to explore ways that 3D printing can be integrated into K-12 education,” said Dan Freedman, dean of the School of Science and Engineering and director of the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center at SUNY New Paltz.
Because 3D printers can produce virtually any shape that can be designed, and can do so with inexpensive materials, the technology is a natural fit for prototyping—a focus of computer graphics and engineering classes at New Paltz High School.
“This technology brings the ability for our students to be able to see, touch, and refine their 3D modeling design solutions, as well as encourage more interest and expertise in 3D modeling, design, and engineering,” said teacher Jennifer Cone. “We have already printed some bottle designs and will be doing more 3D projects in areas of product and graphic design.”
Other ways of integrating the technology are in the works too.
SUNY New Paltz Assistant Professor (Art Education) Aaron Knochel is interested in bringing high schoolers and college students together to work on 3D-related projects.
“Right now, we are in conversations about hosting high school students in my Learning in Digital Visual Cultures course to create team learning opportunities between university Art Education students and New Paltz High School students. We hope this can build into a fieldwork opportunity for Art Ed students if we can arrange to visit the high school as well,” said Knochel, who noted the technology will fundamentally change how work is done in many fields such as art, engineering, and science.
“Digital fabrication technologies like 3D printing present opportunities to design and engineer in the capacity of leading industry practitioners,” he said. “Rapid prototyping and iterative design practices are important to future design practice and these technologies create design environments where this is possible. On a more basic level the technology is grabbing students’ attention,” explained Knochel, “and introducing them to thinking in 3D may impact their trajectory in future education.”
For New Paltz High School sophomore Darren Tsai the future is top of mind. “I’m looking at going to college for either mechanical/electrical engineering or computer science,” he said. “I am convinced that 3D will become a major tool in every sector of engineering and design, and having hands-on experience with this technology now will help prepare me for a future career.”
“Beyond just providing these machines, the digital fabrication initiative at SUNY New Paltz is about keeping our curriculum relevant and innovative, developing unique partnerships with private industry that can benefit both parties, and seeking opportunities for community-based regional partnerships,” said Knochel. “Supporting the intellectual growth and facility enhancement of regional school systems is ultimately an investment in the excellence of future New Paltz students.”
About the 3D Printing Initiative at SUNY New Paltz
SUNY New Paltz’s 3D Printing Initiative integrates the college’s strengths in engineering, computer science, technology, and the innovation and creativity of the arts. The organizational home of this effort is the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center at SUNY New Paltz. Launched in May 2013, the center brings state-of-the-art 3D printing equipment to the region and a curriculum in Digital Design and Fabrication, giving rise to powerful forces—art and technology, creativity and ingenuity. Additional elements of the initiative include: active recruitment of 3D printing enterprises, with access to venture capital funds and potential for participation in the Governor’s Start-Up NY tax incentive program; and a network of equipment access and collaborative educational programming at Hudson Valley community colleges and select high schools to expand 3D printing capability in the region. In December 2013, the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council and Governor Andrew Cuomo awarded the initiative $1M in state economic development funds. And in February 2014, the College partnered with Brooklyn, N.Y. – based MakerBot, the leading manufacturer of desktop 3D printers, to open the nation’s first MakerBot Innovation Center at SUNY New Paltz.


At the beginning of last school year my then 9 year old son announced that he wanted to play the bass in the school orchestra. He thought the instrument was great and he had the encouragement of the orchestra teacher. At first I thought “WONDERUL”, he is the most musically inclined of my children and this would be something he would enjoy. As he finished his first year of Orchestra, I found this article which further supported my decision to ‘stick with it’.
Researchers out of Canada found that music training in children younger than 7 years significantly enhances the part of the brain that controls sensorimotor abilities.
The study investigators tested 36 adult musicians on a nonmusical movement task and then scanned their brains to look at the area of nerve connections between motor and sensory areas. Half the participants had begun their music education before age 7; the other half had started at a later age. They were compared to a group that had little or no music education. Brain scans showed that the musicians with early training showed more white matter (the sensorimotor part) than the other groups. In addition, the younger the age when they began their training, the greater the nerve connections.
In addition, early music training was found to affect other motor skills. The skill test given to all participants was not related to music or playing an instrument, but those musicians who learned to play before 7 years showed more accurate timing compared with the other groups, even after 2 days of practice.
The researchers say that the findings confirm that brain developments related to music training occur early or not at all, and the years between ages 6 and 8 are when the child’s brain is most sensitive to the music-related boost in maturation of connections between motor and sensory regions.
As the school year is quickly approaching, think twice before denying your ‘young Beethoven’ music lessons. Although my son started ‘late’ (at age 9 years) according to this study, I think I am willing to continue paying the rental of the bass, taking him to and from extra practice and listen to the semi-disturbing sounds that may emanate from his bass every now and then hoping that he is strengthening the sensorimotor framework on which his skills and behavior will grow!
Dr. Abboud is a pediatric intensivist at Dayton Children’s and the mother of three kids. As part of the “Dr. Mom Sqaud,” Dr. Abboud blogs about her experiences as both as doctor and a mom and hopes to share insight to other parents on issues related to both parenting and kids health. Learn more about Dr. Abboud!


Reading For Meaning
Some children go through the motions of reading, apparently oblivious to the fact that the text conveys little or nothing to them. In fact, in every class I’ve known throughout my 20 years in education, there has been a few students who started off the year like this. They read with little or no understanding of the message or storyline in the text.
If your child is like this, I understand your frustration.
The good news is that poor reading comprehension skills are a lot easier to address than you might expect. I’ve learned to overcome this problem very quickly by teaching specific comprehension strategies, and I hope to share them with you.
In this e-book, I show you the easiest and most effective strategies that I use in my own teaching every day. These involve talking just as much as reading, and engage children at a level that ensures their comprehension of the text.
Reading For Meaning shows you how to teach seven reading comprehension strategies that will connect your child with the text in the way you’ve dreamed about. Imagine seeing your child enjoying reading experiences and talking about books and their content excitedly!
The strategies are all fast to teach and fun to do. That plays a large part in their success.
Teach one new comprehension strategy each week, and then deliberately practise with your child so that they are all put to use in real contexts, and become automatic. I explain exactly how to do this in sequence.
I also show you how to choose the correct level of text for your child, and how to teach your child to self-select books at the right level. Children’s comprehension difficulties escalate when they attempt to read a level of text that’s too difficult. This is because their attention naturally focuses on working out the words, and there’s often not enough attention ‘space’ left to think about the meaning. It’s extremely important to get the level right, and you’ll notice an immediate improvement when you do!


From 23/06/2015 to 20/09/2015
This exhibition presents a selection of works by the 143 children aged 6 to 12 taking part in the Learning Through Art education program during the 2014-15 school year.
Led by artists Elssie Ansareo, Naia del Castillo, Ibon Garagarza, Iñaki Gracenea, Maider López and Jorge Rubio, the program uses art-based activities as a learning tool to reinforce the primary school curriculum.
Teachers identify educational goals and skills to work on in the classroom with artists and museum education staff in order to design a series of workshops that meet said goals. Every program is unique and specifically designed to meet the needs of each participant.
Discussing art and participating in the creative process permits schoolchildren to explore curricular subjects in a more imaginative and personal manner.
Art disciplines and techniques, such as photography, painting, sculpture, video, and performance become instruments for discovering, exploring and trying to understand reality, placing emphasis on the value of individual expression and creative freedom.
Newsletter (download pdf)


The disciplines and professions that influence special education know no international boundaries. People committed to enhancing the development of students with disabilities benefit from an awareness of conditions beyond their immediate jurisdictions. American educators express this view through the considerable interest they display in knowing more about the education of Oriental children. Although considerable literature exists on regular education, virtually none examines the development and current status of special education within an Oriental country. This article describes special education in one Oriental nation with which the United States has had continuous and beneficial relationships--South Korea. We present basic information about South Korea before we discuss its special education system.
South Korea, approximately 620 miles long and 134 miles wide, is situated to the east of Mainland China and to the west of Japan. Its population is about 42 million. Elementary education is free and compulsory for children ages 6 through 11. Secondary education usually starts at age 12 and consists of two 3-year cycles. Approximately 93% of children between ages 12 and 18 attended secondary schools in 1986. There were more than 233 institutions of postsecondary education in 1987 (Korean Educational Development Institute, 1987). South Korea has one of the world's highest enrollment rates for postsecondary education (Europa Publication, 1988).
BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECIAL
EDUCATION IN SOUTH KOREA
Protestant missionaries introduced special education in South Korea toward the end of the 19th century. In 1984, Rosetta Sherwood Hall, an American missionary and physician, first taught a blind girl Braille, adapted from the New York points system. Four years later, she founded Pyeung Yang Girl's School for the Blind. In 1903, Alice Moffett, another missionary, founded a school for blind boys in Pyeung Yang. In 1909, Hall established a school for deaf children.
The first public special education institution to educate blind and deaf children was established in 1913. Some special education classes also were provided in regular elementary schools by 1937.
Following the liberation of South Korea from Japan in 1945, education for all students, based on the principle of equal opportunity, was advocated although not always achieved. The 1949 Education Law mandated the establishment of special schools in each province and special classes in regular schools. Despite this directive, the education of students with disabilities has been implemented mainly in private rather than in public institutions because the mandates of the Education Law generally were not implemented. The Five Year Special Education Plan, adopted in 1967, was designed to improve the government's passive role in special education. However, the implementation of the plan was incomplete because the government gave higher priority to promoting the national economy than to developing special education programs. In 1961, programs preparing special education teachers were established in Taegu University in its Department of Special Education.
The 1977 Act for the Promotion of Special Education for the Handicapped signified a turning point for the development of special education in South Korea. This act mandated free public education for children with disabilities and secured related services (e.g., medical examination, physical therapy, and speech therapy) for them. Many of its important features have been implemented.
Although people with disabilities were protected by laws as early as 23 A.D., the public's attitudes toward these people typically showed their indifference, at times even their neglect and hostility. The public often view the handicapped as stubborn, irresponsible, unsocialized, and incapable (An, 1969). Some Koreans believe that, if they encounter a blind person in the morning, they are destined to have an unlucky day. …


With approximately 473,000 public school students, Kansas has plenty of work to go around for educators. The Sunflower State has seen roughly a $10,000 salary increase for classroom teachers in the last decade alone. Becoming a teacher in Kansas is a process much like those found in other states. For instance, as in other states, a Kansas certified teacher must order, complete, and mail back a fingerprint card, a law that has been in effect since August 2011.
To obtain a Kansas teacher certification, students must complete a teacher preparation program in the area they want to teach. Those interested in teaching pre-K through elementary school, for example, need to complete a program that focuses on elementary education. Future middle and high school teachers, on the other hand, must first receive a degree in the subject matter they wish to teach, like math or science, before completing a teacher preparation program approved by the Kansas State Board of Education.
Kansas Teaching Certification
All Kansas educators need a state-issued certification to teach. To qualify for licensure, Kansas candidates must have a bachelor’s degree, complete an approved teacher preparation program, pass the required tests for their licensure area, and submit all necessary licensure forms and fees. Kansas also offers an alternative teacher certification program called Restricted Teaching License Alternative Pathway, which provides accelerated training to college graduates and professionals seeking a career change.
To obtain an initial teaching license in Kansas, all candidates must complete a content knowledge assessment in each subject or endorsement area you plan to teach, as well as a pedagogy or teaching skills assessment called the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT). Kansas educators must receive a passing score from one of the four PLT tests and the content assessment to obtain licensure.
State Certification Reciprocity
All out-of-state applicants who want to teach in Kansas must hold a valid full or standard out-of-state license or certificate and have completed a state-approved teacher preparation program. Licensure to teach in Kansas depends on the applicant’s experience and/or qualifying out-of-state tests. Teachers from all other states will be considered, but additional testing and training may be required beyond a one-year comparable certificate.


From Our 2013 Archives
Will Music Make Your Child Smarter?
Latest Healthy Kids News
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 11, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- If Johnny doesn't take to the violin, don't fret. A new study challenges the widely held belief that music lessons can help boost children's intelligence.
"More than 80 percent of American adults think that music improves children's grades or intelligence," study author Samuel Mehr, a graduate student in the School of Education at Harvard University, said in a university news release.
"Even in the scientific community, there's a general belief that music is important for these extrinsic reasons -- but there is very little evidence supporting the idea that music classes enhance children's [mental] development," he noted.
In this study, Mehr and his colleagues randomly assigned 4-year-old children to receive instruction in either music or visual arts.
"We wanted to test the effects of the type of music education that actually happens in the real world, and we wanted to study the effect in young children, so we implemented a parent-child music enrichment program with preschoolers," Mehr explained. "The goal is to encourage musical play between parents and children in a classroom environment, which gives parents a strong repertoire of musical activities they can continue to use at home with their kids."
Both groups of children later underwent vocabulary, math and spatial skills tests. There was no evidence that the 15 children in the music group had any intellectual advantage over the 14 in the visual arts group.
The researchers then conducted a second experiment that included 45 children, with half receiving music training and half receiving no training. Again, the researchers found that music lessons did not provide any brain benefit, according to the study published Dec. 11 in the journal PLoS One.
While the findings suggest that music lessons won't improve a child's school grades, music education is still important, according to Mehr.
"There's a compelling case to be made for teaching music that has nothing to do with extrinsic benefits. We don't teach kids Shakespeare because we think it will help them do better on the SATs, we do it because we believe Shakespeare is important," he said.
"Music is an ancient, uniquely human activity -- the oldest flutes that have been dug up are 40,000 years old, and human song long preceded that," Mehr noted. "Every single culture in the world has music, including music for children. Music says something about what it means to be human, and it would be crazy not to teach this to our children."
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: Harvard University, news release, Dec. 11, 2013


On view November 16, 2001 to March 17, 2002
Located in the: Special Exhibition Galleries
The tradition of pottery making by Native Americans in the Southwest traces its origins back many centuries. Early generations of Pueblos, Hopis, and other Native peoples dug the fine clay of their villages, sifted and washed it carefully, then formed and fired pots that were used for ceremonial purposes, to carry water, store household goods, and cook food.
With the advent of train travel and the influx of collectors to the Southwest in the late nineteenth century, Native American pottery became a much sought-after art form. Pottery making changed significantly in response to the arrival of these tourist collectors. Pottery production became less and less driven by functional and community requirements, and more and more driven by the art market.
But one thing remained the same: Native American potters creating works of great beauty and imagination. “The exhibition highlights some of the most innovative manifestations in the field,” exhibition curator John Grimes says.
Native American pottery is one of the most sought-after contemporary art forms in the world today. Whereas artists once sold work from blankets spread out along Route 66, now chic galleries stock high-priced Native ceramics in upscale neighborhoods in Santa Fe and Taos. Indian Market, the annual two-day show held in Santa Fe each August, earns esteem and exposure for artists simply by their inclusion. Visitors to Indian Market will often camp out overnight before the show opens to ensure the purchase of a particular artist’s work.
Native American pottery simultaneously looks back to ancient traditions, while vigorously pursuing new forms and expressions. Some artists, like Tammy Garcia of Santa Clara Pueblo and Hopi potter Les Namingha, trace their artistic roots back through many generations. Others, like Lonnie Vigil of Nambé Pueblo, have revived a tradition that had been lost. Whatever their past, contemporary Native American artists are updating their traditions, pushing the limits of artistic expression in startling ways.
The nature of training and educating pottery artists has also undergone change. While some potters continue to learn from their elders, most have had some exposure to formal art education as well. All the artists in Indian Market continue to use the coil method—forming clay into long rope-like strands, and building their work up from bottom to top—rather than throwing pots on a wheel. Visitors to Indian Market will enjoy the variety and artistry of these contemporary potters.
Native American art at the Peabody Essex Museum
The Native American art collection at the Peabody Essex Museum is the oldest such collection in the New World and is recognized for its scores of masterworks from throughout the hemisphere. It totals some 20,000 historic works made between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and some 50,000 archeological objects stretching back ten millennia. In recent years the Peabody Essex has actively collected contemporary works of Native American artists. An exhibition entitled Uncommon Legacies, showcasing outstanding artworks from the museum’s collection of Native American art, will tour the United States in 2002-2003 in a special exhibition developed in conjunction with the American Federation of Arts.


We collaborate with faculty to develop information literate students.
Information literacy is the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively. This set of skills is essential in today's world. Student development of information literacy is a process that spans the four-year college experience.
The library collaborates with instructional faculty to help students develop information literacy at the basic and field specific levels.
Information literacy is integrated into the curriculum of General Education Cluster One (Foundational Skills). The components of the instruction program are:
- Madison Research Essentials Toolkit
The Madison Research Essentials Toolkit was designed to equip students to use and understand the JMU Libraries, recognize that information is available in a variety of formats, determine when information is needed and find it, evaluate the quality of information, and use information ethically and legally.
- Madison Research Essentials Skills Test (MREST)
GenEd students must demonstrate competency in information literacy by passing this online test by the end of their first year. Students take the test in a secure testing lab in Ashby Hall.
Librarians are available to collaborate with faculty to design resource-based assignments that provide students with an opportunity to practice and refine their information literacy skills.
The library liaison program provides a librarian for each academic department to support integrating information literacy into the curriculum of the major. Liaison librarians collaborate with faculty to design assignments, deliver instruction (in person and online), and assess learning.
- Course-related instruction
Liaison librarians will provide course-related library instruction on request. This instruction focuses on helping students learn information-seeking and evaluation skills important to their field of study. Carrier Library and East Campus Library both have library instruction classrooms with computers for hand-on experience. When a library classroom is not available, a librarian can provide instruction in a classroom or campus lab. Contact your liaison librarian to request instruction.
- Subject Guides
The liaison librarians have prepared online guides to key resources in the major and helpful instructional aides.
- Instruction by appointment
Faculty and students may request an appointment with a liaison librarian for assistance in learning new sources and skills.
For more information about the information literacy program, contact:
Director of Library Instruction


With the beginning of a new year, many people set resolutions. Instead of pledging to lose weight or clean out your closet, try a new type of resolution–begin a relationship with Theatre Action Project.
While this may be an unconventional resolution, it will most definitely be rewarding to you. Here are the top ten reasons why you should empower arts education with Theatre Action Project.
1. The Arts Support Academics.
If you are a parent or are involved in the life of a child, you know how important education is to their future. Many studies link arts education to improvement in academic performance. One study conducted by the University of Windsor saw that students who were involved in arts (especially music–oriented) education had significantly higher scores on math tests.
Another study by Edward B. Fiske, shows arts education enables young people to reach for and attain higher levels of achievement.
2. The Arts Build Confidence
One of Theatre Action Project’s goals is to build self-esteem and confidence in children, which will stay with them throughout their lives. All programs are created to further this part of TAP’s mission. Additionally, activities like “ The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble” help young people show their peers how to deal with tough issues.
In the past year, the bullying epidemic in schools had drawn widespread attention. You can help combat this problem by supporting TAP’s programs that work to equip today’s youth with the tools to address these situations.
3. Listening to Music Can Improve Your Health
If you have ever been to a TAP event, you know you will hear lots of wonderful music. According to new research, listening to music can be very beneficial to your health. Just another great reason to volunteer at our events!
The National Center for Biotechnology Information, has recently released research data, which shows music therapy can help lessen the effects of stress-induced asthma.
Another study released by NCBI shows a definite relationship between music and stress relief. The music created by children may not qualify as music therapy, but the music they play combined with their smiling faces is guaranteed to relieve your stress and put a smile on your face.
4. The Arts are Important to Our History
Artwork was one of the first ways our ancestors communicated with one another and kept records of their history. Much of our understanding of past civilizations comes from their artwork. By enjoying the artwork made by TAP kids, you are observing “future” history.
5. The Arts Can Make Better Business People
Our culture values business savvy individuals, and according to Dvora Yanow, Professor at California State University at Hayward, the improvisational skills children learn from theater and music can make them strong members of the work place. Improvisational skills will help them learn to quickly solve problems and think on their feet. (http://class.csueastbay.edu/publicadmin/dyanow/Improv.pdf)
6. The Arts Can Make Better Business People, Part II
Teamwork is a large part of many of TAP’s activities. It is also a large part of schoolwork, and later on in life, the workplace.
7. The Arts are a Significant Part of the United States Economy
Six percent of the United States’ gross national product is based on the arts, which is more than is based on construction (4.8%) and just under wholesale trade (6.9%). What better way to be a patriot than by supporting future artists?
8. Tax Deductions
Remember, any donations of money or supplies are tax deductable!
9. Music Education Enhances Spatial Skills
New studies show a strong link between musical education and spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence is the ability to perceive the world accurately, form mental images of objects, and to recognize when objects change shape. This is crucial for higher brain functions such as mathematics. Progress in science is also closely linked to the development of spatial intelligence because the problems that are encountered cannot be explained verbally.
Studies show that 19 preschool children who received eight months of music lessons far exceeded the spatial reasoning performance of a comparable group of 15 preschool children who did not receive music lessons. In addition, scores on puzzle task tests significantly increased during the course of the period they received the music lessons.
These are some of the kids you will be working with. Isn’t that reason enough to volunteer with Theatre Action Project?


CARLSBAD— Pool floaties and water guns have been replaced with markers and backpacks in store aisles, signaling the inevitable end of summer. With it, teachers are preparing their lesson plans to prepare for incoming students.
The Carlsbad Unified School District took one more step to prepare teachers by hosting a two-day professional development seminar focused on the Common Core State Standards, which were adopted by California in August 2010.
The seminar took place the Wednesday and Thursday before the beginning of the term on Aug. 26. More than 300 kindergarten through fifth grade teachers attended the seminar at Poinsettia Elementary School.
A separate seminar was given to sixth through twelfth grade teachers as well.
Kimberly Huesing, Director of Elementary Education, said some teachers were reluctant to come back a day early but the seminar was well received once it got underway.
Shane Little, third grade teacher at Buena Vista Elementary School agreed.
“I think veteran teachers and new teachers are all benefitting,” said Little.
He thinks of the changes in standards as more of a shift. . “It’s a shift to more critical thinking in both math and reading,” said Little.
Ellie Restivo, Educational Specialist at Poinsettia Elementary School said the strategies the teachers are learning help the students.
“There’s so many new standards,” said Restivo, “All the things that we’re doing in schools that are different help the students become better and deeper thinkers and deeper readers. So it’s good for us to [all have the same] strategies to improve student learning.”
The Common Core standards have been adopted by 43 states. The K-12 standards allow teachers to track the development of their students and ensure they’re on a path to success.
“They took most of the things we were already doing and re-leveled them to more closely match what developmental level students are at,” said Little.
The standards integrate lessons more closely so students learn more subjects at once. Instead of simply learning to read or to write, students learn to read and write about science, said Restivo.
“It’s not that we have a new curriculum, it’s that we’re presenting the curriculum in a different way, which puts the responsibility on the learner,” said Restivo, “so that hopefully they’ll be able to remember and understand the science better and be able to apply it.”
The seminar was paid for by state funds allocated for implementation of the Common Core Standards said Huesing. Each district decides how to spend the funds and CUSD decided to use some on professional development.
It’s the first professional development seminar the district has been able to host in the past few years, because of budget cuts.
“It’s really difficult once the year gets started. You have your roster and you’re focused on your 30 to 35 kids,” said Huesing. “So to start the year out with really strategic professional development, it sets the tone of the conversation for the rest of the year.”
The Common Core Standards rollout in CUSD started with math last year. This year’s focus will be the language arts.
Another follow-up seminar will be held for teachers in January.


Cost benefit analysis and the environment: how to best cover impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services is a 2016 report, published by the OECD.
There are now a large number of valuation studies on the benefits of biodiversity and on ecosystem services, the services provided by different ecosystems (ESS). Both ideas have been used to elicit values from nature but in recent years the research community has focussed on ESS as the main organising framework, with some additional use of the biodiversity concept to value entities that have intrinsic value and are of an extraordinary nature.
Estimates are available for the services from most habitats, by type of ecosystem service, usually expressed in USD per hectare per year. Coverage varies by habitat and region, as does the quality of the assessment, but it is possible now to carry out an estimation of changes in values for a number of ecosystem services a result of the introduction of a new policy or of a physical investment that modifies the ecosystem
Doing business is a database that provides effective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies.
It looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.
It also offers detailed subnational reports which covers business regulation and reform in different cities and regions.
Users can find data on the ease of doing business, ranks of each location and reform recommendations.
(Source: World Bank Group)
This item originally appeared on the MADGICAL Web on May 2, 2016.
The impact of literacy, numeracy and computer skills on earnings and employment outcomes is a 2016 report, published by the OECD.
Using the 2012 PIAAC data, our analysis confirms that there are significantly higher earnings and employment returns to both increasing levels of formally recognised education, and to increasing levels of numeracy, literacy and Information and communication technologies (ICT) skills proficiencies controlling for the level of education.
Unsurprisingly, the labour market returns to changes in formally recognised levels of education in general exceed the labour market returns associated with increasing levels of skills proficiency. In the case of literacy and numeracy proficiencies, improved literacy and numeracy skills narrow the labour market outcomes gap between individuals with different levels of formally recognised education, but do not close it completely.


PDF pending restoration
ERIC Number: ED403011
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996
Reference Count: 0
Head Start Emergent Literacy Project. Training Manual.
Nelson, Carol J.; And Others
This training manual was designed to provide information and support to Head Start teachers, staff, and parents in the area of emergent literacy. The first section, "What is Emergent Literacy and Why Should We Do It?" addresses the concept of emergent literacy, identifying six key elements: (1) learning to read and write begins very early in life; (2) reading and writing develop concurrently and interrelatedly in young children; (3) literacy develops from real life situations; (4) children learn literacy through active engagement; (5) being read to plays a special role in literacy development; and (6) learning to read and write is a developmental process. This section further discusses why emergent literacy should be part of an early childhood program. The next three sections are training modules. The first module, "Working with Families," emphasizes helping parents/families design a home literacy environment, respond to children's literacy behavior, and become comfortable with their own literacy development. The second module, "Classroom Environment and Practices," helps Head Start teachers prepare classrooms to support emergent readers and writers, select materials, and integrate literacy into all the activities. The final module, "Supporting Emergent Literacy Practices at the Local Level," assists Head Start staff and parents in conducting their own workshops. (AA)
Descriptors: Basic Skills, Childrens Literature, Class Activities, Classroom Design, Classroom Environment, Creative Expression, Dramatic Play, Early Childhood Education, Emergent Literacy, Learning Activities, Literacy, Parent Participation, Periodicals, Racial Relations, Reading Ability, Reading Aloud to Others, Reading Instruction, Reading Materials, Selection, Sex Bias, Writing Instruction
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher; Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHHS), Washington, DC. Head Start Bureau.
Authoring Institution: Idaho Univ., Moscow. Idaho Center on Developmental Disabilities.
Identifiers: Big Books; Harste (Jerome C); International Reading Association; Project Head Start; University of Idaho


I am not aware of any neurolinguist who holds this view. I doubt any have held it in decades. The consensus among scientists is closer to what the well-known cognitive neuroscientist Steven Pinker has written: "Language is a human instinct, but written language is not. Language is found in all societies, present and past. . . . All healthy children master their own language without lessons or corrections. When children are thrown together without a usable language, they invent one of their own. Compare all this with writing. Writing systems have been invented a small number of times in history. . . . Until recently, most children never learned to read or write; even with today's universal education, many children struggle and fail. A group of children is no more likely to invent an alphabet than it is to invent the internal combustion engine. Children are wired for sound, but print is an optional accessory that must be painstakingly bolted on. This basic fact about human nature should be the starting point for any discussion of how to teach our children to read and write."
One wonders what the report would have said had it been written not by a mixed group of educators, teachers, administrators, parents and scientists but instead by a group of neurolinguists. Would it have caviled quite so much on the question of whether phonics or whole language is the correct approach, or whether phonics instruction should be systematic and explicit?
It does seem likely, however, that a pedagogy based on hard science would begin from assumptions far different than those of whole language. It has no doubt been disconcerting for the advocates of whole language instruction to find that over the last decade, the better part of expert and scientific opinion has moved against them.
Partisans of whole language pedagogy, dedicated educators to be sure, have been fighting a rear-guard battle, based upon the view that children are not developmentally equipped for the discipline required by phonics instruction in the first grade and that the far greater risk to children's ultimate ability to read is--in a world in which reading must compete with television, video games and a thousand other entertainments--boredom and the inability to see the point of phonics drills. Typically there is resistance to the mandates to teach phonics issued by state legislatures and state boards of education. Though California is a leader among states in the revival of phonics, the effective consolidation of phonics is still a long way off and requires overcoming both the genuine difficulties in promulgating a new and demanding curriculum and the passive resistance of many educators. The easiest path is to teach whole language and call it phonics. Meanwhile some voices have emerged to defend whole language pedagogy publicly and unapologetically; one of the most well-known is the educational psychologist Gerald Coles.
"Defender of whole language pedagogy" is not a characterization Coles would always have accepted. In a 1998 book, "Reading Lessons," Coles rejected as inadequate the battle between phonics and whole language. Instead, he argued, the real issues in teaching reading transcend the mere pedagogy used in the classroom and are best understood in terms of race, equality and inequality of income and political economy and political power. As a consequence, "Reading Lessons" gives brief histories of the phonics and whole language pedagogy only to dismiss them both in favor of a broad discussion about poverty and money in education. As "Reading Lessons" says, drawing on the work of Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky and his followers:
"[The] conception of 'interactivity' emphasizes the importance of societal organization and power for classroom teaching and learning, even when the influences of that organization and power are not readily apparent. This does not mean that societal influences determine smaller units of teaching and learning literacy. Rather, they contribute mightily to, and therefore are inseparable from, the interactivity that comprises literacy teaching and learning."


We show how to build and use strategies in the classroom so teachers will be able to provide students with the foundational skills crucial for reading success.
North Salt Lake, UT (PRWEB) October 17, 2013
Beginning this year, teachers and literacy coaches in the Colonial School District of New Castle, Delaware, will use Reading Horizons reading instruction strategies in all K–1 classrooms to improve students’ reading skills.
The district first used Reading Horizons strategies in reading intervention classrooms to help struggling students develop a strong foundation in phonics. Pleased by improvements it saw, the district eventually purchased components of Reading Horizons direct instruction materials to broaden the use of the strategies into mainstream classes and supplement the core curriculum.
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards, the Reading Horizons program features an explicit, sequential, systematic approach to reading instruction. Students learn to decode one-syllable and multi-syllabic words by analyzing them and applying simple markings. The highly interactive, multi-sensory design of the program accommodates the different ways students learn (by using visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic modalities), so each student can succeed—no matter the dominant learning style.
Matt Crismon, Certified Trainer for Reading Horizons, has helped the district’s teachers and literacy coaches learn the new strategies. He sees a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about this new addition to the curriculum. “By supplementing the core program with Reading Horizons, the district is helping teachers get the instructional support they need.” He adds, “educators really like our professional development because it is not a passive learning experience; it engages them. We show how to build and use strategies in the classroom so teachers will be able to provide students with the foundational skills crucial for reading success.”
The district’s literacy coaches have attended a couple of two-day workshops, and three of the literacy coaches have even gone on to become certified trainers in the Reading Horizons methodology. After the training, literacy coaches can help ensure that teachers fully understand how to teach the strategies and use the materials.
Reading Horizons is also helping the district meet its goal of providing greater differentiated instruction for its students. Because of the flexible program design, Reading Horizons can be taught whole class, one-on-one, or in small groups, so teachers can target instruction in specific skills to just those students who need it. The program is suitable for all levels of student skill and is especially helpful for students with language processing disorders and English Language Learners.
About Reading Horizons:
Founded in 1984, Reading Horizons provides teacher training, teacher’s manuals, and interactive software that empower teachers to effectively teach beginning readers, struggling readers, and English Language Learners. By learning the core of the Reading Horizons framework (The 42 Sounds of the Alphabet, Five Phonetic Skills, and Two Decoding Skills), students have all of the skills they need to read the vast majority of words in the English language. The Reading Horizons program is currently offered in over 10,000 schools across the country. Follow Reading Horizons at http://www.readinghorizons.com.


CORVALLIS - Connections between physics and music as viewed by scientist Hermann von Helmholtz will be the focus of two lectures at Oregon State University next week. A pair of Harvard scholars, one a musician and the other a physicist, will deliver the free, public lectures Feb. 26-27.
A 19th-century physicist, von Helmholtz, was interested in music and sound and is famous for his statement of the law of conservation of energy and the "Helmholtz free energy."
"Reflections on Helmholtz and the Practice of Music" by Elfrieda F. Hiebert will explore Helmholtz's influence on music education theory and his impact on the music world, including composers and piano makers (notably Steinway). Her talk will begin at 4 p.m. in Benton Hall Room 303. She is director of the Chamber Music Program at Mather House at Harvard.
Erwin N. Hiebert will discuss how physicists appraised, criticized and amplified Helmholtz's views on musical acoustics and aesthetics and how his work might relate to future music. His talk will begin at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Union Room 206. He is professor emeritus of history of science at Harvard, where one of his more popular seminars has been "Physicists as Philosophers."
The presentations are part of the 1997-98 OSU Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Endowment in the Humanities, titled this year "The Arts and the Sciences: Interactions and Influences." For more information on the series, call the OSU Department of History at 541-737-3421.
All events in the series are free and open to the public.


ERIC Number: ED396970
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1991
Reference Count: N/A
Moral, Character, and Civic Education in the Elementary School.
Benninga, Jacques S., Ed.
This collection of essays addresses the debate over moral education. The contributors deal with whether educators should influence children's value orientation through a direct program advocating restraint and higher moral standards, or whether educators should teach students to cope and adapt by providing a variety of alternatives from which the students themselves can choose. In "Part 1: Introduction," chapters include: "Moral and Character Education in the Elementary School: An Introduction" (Jacques S. Benninga); and "Doing Justice to Morality in Contemporary Values Education" (Larry P. Nucci). "Part 2: The Developmental or Indirect Approach to Moral Education" includes the following chapters: "Lawrence Kohlberg's Influence on Moral Education in Elementary Schools" (Robert W. Howard); "An Integrated Approach to Character Development in the Elementary School Classroom" (Thomas Lickona); "Democracy in the Elementary School: Learning by Doing" (Ethel Sadowsky); and "Development and Practice of Democracy in a K-8 School" (Robert J. Weintraub). "Part 3: The Character Education or Direct Approach to Moral Education" includes the following chapters: "Moral Literacy and the Formation of Character" (William J. Bennett); "Character and Academics in the Elementary School" (Edward A. Wynne); "Character Development in Small Rural Schools: Grades K-8" (JoAnne Martin-Reynolds, Bill J. Reynolds); and "Character Development at Fort Washington Elementary School" (Richard K. Sparks, Jr.). In "Part 4: Focusing on Citizenship and Social Problem Solving" chapters include:"Promoting Civic Understanding and Civic Skills through Conceptually Based Curricula" (Alita Zurav Letwin); "Educating for Citizenship in the Early Grades" (Carolyn Pereira); "Developing Social Competence in Young Handicapped and Withdrawn Children" (James J. Fox, Mary A. McEvoy, Robert Day); and "Teaching Peace and Conflict Resolution" (Robert E. Valett). "Part 5: Epilogue" contains the final chapter, "Synthesis and Evaluation in Moral and Character Education" (Jacques S. Benninga). Contains an index. (RJC)
Descriptors: Citizenship Education, Civics, Elementary Education, Elementary School Curriculum, Ethical Instruction, Law Related Education, Moral Issues, Moral Values, Social Studies, Social Values, Special Needs Students
Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027 (paperback: ISBN-0-8077-3055-6, $22.95; cloth: ISBN-0-8077-3056-4, $43.95).
Publication Type: Books; Collected Works - General
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers; Administrators; Practitioners
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Peace Education
Note: Foreword by Kevin Ryan.


Wire Sculpture Horse (Calder) | Lesson Plan
from the Lesson Zone Index
Students will be introduced to the art of American artist Alexander Calder, and will create a work of their own after his style. This free lesson plan is in fulfillment of Standard #4: K-4 and Standard #4: 5-8 of the National Standards for Art Education: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.
Medium Gauge Wire
Wire Sculpture Horse Pattern
Tell students, "We will be learning about the art of American artist Alexander Calder. This modern artist became successful as an artist through his sculpture."
Show students images of Calder's circus.
Tell students, "In 1923 Calder spent two weeks sketching scenes from the Ringling Brother's and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This project marked the beginning of his fascination with the circus. In 1926 Calder moved to Paris where he began to build toys that moved. Eventually his collection of toys became a miniature circus which he performed in the USA and Europe."
Tell students, "Our art project will be to create a wire sculpture, like the wire people and animals Calder created for his circus."
Tell students, "At your tables you will find wire, plyers and a wire sculpture horse pattern. Use the pattern to shape your sculpture. Carefully check each bend to make sure it is perfect before trying the next one. If you work on your sculpture with careful attention to details it will be fantastic."
Quiz students on what they learned about Alexander Calder as they work on their project.