Teachers Are Divided on Whether Phonics Is Getting Too Much Attention, Survey Says
Literacy educators support a "balanced approach" to teaching early literacy, and are divided when it comes to the importance of foundational skills like phonics instruction, according to a new survey from the International Literacy Association.
The results are from the annual "What's Hot in Literacy" report, ILA's survey of teachers' and education professors' biggest priorities and needs.
The group surveyed 1,443 teachers, higher education professionals, literacy consultants, and administrators from 65 countries and territories between August and September of last calendar year. The survey is administered online through the market research firm YouGov, so the results are not necessarily representative of ILA's membership.
This year, the survey tapped into the ongoing conversation around evidence-based early reading instruction. Here are the five topics that respondents said were the most important in improving literacy outcomes over the coming decade:
Building early literacy skills through a balanced approach that combines both foundational and language comprehension instruction
Determining effective instructional strategies for struggling readers
Increasing equity and opportunity for all learners
Increasing professional learning and development opportunities for practicing educators
Providing access to high-quality, diverse books and content
What a "balanced approach" refers to in this survey is up for some interpretation. In an interview, Marcie Craig Post, the executive director of the ILA, said it refers to teaching foundational skills—like phonemic awareness and phonics—as well as language comprehension instruction. But she noted that some respondents may have read the question as asking about the instructional approach "balanced literacy." This approach often includes teaching "cueing," or asking students to use context clues to figure out words, rather than sounding them out.
Other results make it clear that educators are divided when it comes to foundational reading instruction.
About a quarter of respondents said that explicit and systematic phonics instruction is getting too much attention in literacy conversations. But just under a third of survey-takers said it deserves more attention.
"Isn't it reflective of exactly where we are in this very, very rich discussion?" Post asked. "I would not be in the camp of saying we're talking about it too much." The fact that there's confusion over the importance of foundational skills, she said, "that's an indication that we need to talk about it more."
Post says it's clear that phonics should be taught. But, she argues, there is reasonable disagreement over how, when, and for how long it should be taught. The ILA hopes to be a forum for these kinds of conversations going forward, Post said.
When it comes to the "reading wars," the organization has long attempted to hold this kind of middle ground.
Just this past summer, the ILA put out a brief endorsing explicit, systematic phonics—which research has shown leads to the greatest gains in word reading ability for young children. But later that year, the group released another brief, this time raising concerns that "the current emphasis on dyslexia and direct phonics instruction is far too narrow."
In the interview this week, Post also emphasized that teachers shouldn't just be "recipients of knowledge."
"It's not research telling classrooms what to do. It should never be that," Post said. "At the point of implementation there are realities that come about that inform, validate, invalidate the research."
Teachers Want Support for Evidence-Based Instruction
It's clear that survey-takers, too, were interested in having more conversations about evidence-based practice. The vast majority—89 percent—said that it was their responsibility to stay up to date on research. Still, 44 percent said they needed more support to do this.
And many may be missing out on foundational knowledge.
Sixty percent of all respondents think that teacher-preparation programs aren't preparing teachers to deliver effective reading instruction. These concerns have also been reflected in Education Week's reporting, which has found that teachers often leave their preservice programs without much clarity on evidence-based practices.
ILA asked teachers to select which types of instruction they were introduced to in their preservice programs, and then to note if their programs was "excellent" or "very good" in preparing them to teach those skills, or teach in those methods. Here are the results:
The gaps were largest for teachers working with students under the age of 10. These teachers were less likely than their peers to say that they were prepared to teach phonemic awareness or phonics. They also said they weren't as prepared to teach using whole language, a method that emphasizes immersing children in literature and teaching words as wholes.
For more results, see the full report here.
Image via ILA report.


The marginalization of social studies education in elementary schools has been well documented. To provide meaningful social studies education to elementary students we must find ways to integrate social studies into other content areas. The application of project-based learning complements the process of cross-curricular integration. This article provides a rationale for this approach and a sample lesson to help clarify the process.
"Integration of Project-based Learning in Elementary Social Studies,"
The Councilor: A Journal of the Social Studies: Vol. 79
, Article 4.
Available at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/the_councilor/vol79/iss2/4
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons


This year’s International Literacy Day takes place on Monday, 8 September, and the United Nations has dubbed its theme as: “literacy and multilingualism”, in support of indigenous languages across the world.
This day honours the improving world literacy and numeracy rates
This day is established by the United Nations and celebrated annually with a key aim to highlight improvements in literacy, and numeracy rates while also providing a chance to reflect on the world’s literacy challenges.
International Literacy Day plans to eradicate illiteracy and enables organisations and civil society, an opportunity to appreciate the progress being made to a more literate society.
“On the occasion of International Literacy Day 2019, the main characteristics of multilingualism in today’s globalized and digitalized world will be discussed, together with their implications for literacy in policies and practice to achieve greater inclusion in multilingual contexts.”United Nations
International Literacy Day falls under the International Year of Indigenous Languages
The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has listed literacy as a key element in measuring sustainable development across countries.
This year, International Literacy Day also celebrates the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages and the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Special Needs Education.
The United Nations is set to celebrate linguistic diversity
The United Nations has noted that progress has been made in literacy rates, however, challenges continue to persist as it is distributed unevenly across countries and populations.
Furthermore embracing linguistic diversity in education, and literacy is crucial to tackling the literacy challenges that continue to persist. Literacy development is central to addressing literacy challenges, as the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals are achieved.
This initiative also makes provision for adults to acquire the necessary literacy skills
In 2015, global leaders established Sustainable Development Goals and centred the core values to support universal access to quality education and learning opportunities.
A prevalent target for this initiative is ensuring that all young people achieve adequate literacy and numeracy skills; while enabling adults who lack the basic skills, an opportunity to acquire them.
International Literacy Day: Why do we celebrate this day?
This day was officially established in 1967 and promotes the importance of literacy as it relates to human rights, and moving towards a literate and sustainable society.
International Literacy Day: How can civilians participate?
People can actively engage through:
- donating to local literacy charities,
- participating by joining a book club,
- or volunteering at a nearby library through promoting reading and writing.


Trauma-Informed Training for Youth
About: This training provides you with the tools and understanding necessary to work with those considered “at-risk” due to poverty, violence, marginalization, abuse, neglect and other factors. The majority of these individuals have had significant trauma in their lives, this training focuses on understanding the physiology of trauma and how it manifests in the body and mind. You will learn to incorporate tools from somatic-based therapy practices into a yoga class to help address symptoms of trauma, such as dissociation, anxiety, chronic dysregulation, depression, and addiction. You will graduate from this training with the understanding and confidence to teach yoga in a trauma-informed way. Focus: All Ages Objectives: • Comprehend the physiology of trauma and how it manifests in the body• Understand the benefits of yoga for those who have been exposed to trauma• Design and develop lesson plans appropriate to the age group you are teaching• Create yoga classes to address and support symptoms of trauma What’s Involved: This four-day program will run from Friday, February 14th thru Monday, February 17th. Each day will run from 9am-6: 30 pm with an hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks. CEU + Standards This training is certified by the Yoga Alliance and meets National Standards for P.E. Upon completion of each training, participants are eligible for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the Yoga Alliance, Child Life Council, and select school districts.Recommended Background: No prior background or previous experience is required for our training — only a passion for yoga and/or education, and a drive to support the health and wellness of youth/those considered to be at-risk.Course Materials: To keep the world green, we deliver our course materials digitally. Upon registration for this training, you will receive:A digital copy of our course introduction packetA 250-page curriculum with full-color pictures Trainer: Kate Beckel, E-RYT, RCYT, M.Ed Kate Beckel is a skilled educator and yoga teacher who shares Yoga Ed.’s global vision for yoga education. Inspired by her experience attending international schools in both Paris and London, Kate went on to spend two years teaching in elementary schools in Hong Kong, followed by three years teaching elementary and special education in Istanbul. After remaining in Istanbul for three more years to deepen her yoga practice by teaching to both kids and adults, Kate returned to the United States to bring her worldly experience to teach yoga in a broad range of settings including schools, studios, and prisons in the San Diego area. With her passion for restorative justice, Kate is particularly keen on empowering at-risk youth with life skills through yoga and is interesting in expanding her work both in schools and in juvenile detention centers. Kate holds a B.A. in Elementary and Special Education and an M.Ed. with an emphasis in Math and Literacy Development from NYU.


Albert Claude (24 August 1899 – 22 May 1983) was a Belgian-American cell biologist and medical doctor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with Christian de Duve and George Emil Palade. His elementary education started in a comprehensive primary school at Longlier, his birthplace. He served in the British Intelligence Service during the First World War, and got imprisoned in concentration camps twice. In recognition of his service, he was granted enrolment at the University of Liège in Belgium to study medicine without any formal education required for the course. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1928. Devoted to medical research, he initially joined German institutes in Berlin. In 1929 he found an opportunity to join the Rockefeller Institute in New York. At Rockefeller University he made his most groundbreaking achievements in cell biology. In 1930 he developed the technique of cell fractionation, by which he discovered the agent of the Rous sarcoma, components of cell organelles such as mitochondrion, chloroplast, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, ribosome and lysosome. He was the first to employ the electron microscope in the field of biology. In 1945 he published the first detailed structure of cell. His collective works established the complex functional and structural properties of cells.Claude served as director at Jules Bordet Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment and Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Cancérologie in Louvain-la-Neuve ; Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles, the University of Louvain, and Rockefeller University. For his pioneering works he received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize in 1970, together with George Palade and Keith Porter, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize in 1971, and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with his student George Palade and friend Christian de Duve.


This is one in a series of four articles exploring the use of early childhood development messages in children’s television programming.
Ubongo meets IDELA
As a response to the challenges faced by children entering primary school, Ubongo, a Pan-African social enterprise aimed at significantly improving school readiness and learning outcomes for kids through localized edutainment, developed and tested 52 episodes of a new television series called Akili and Me. Akili and Me was designed in part around the IDELA competencies and covers all four domains measured by IDELA: motor development, social-emotional development, emergent literacy, and emergent numeracy.
Akili and Me now airs on free television in eight countries to a monthly audience of 8.2 million. The show offers several episodes within the motor development domain whereby children learn how to draw shapes and the human body to further develop their fine motor skills and episodes like “Fun Yoga For Kids” for gross motor skill development. In addition to videos, Akili and Me also airs songs like “Touch Your Head/Touch Your Toes” on various media platforms to encourage the development of motor skills.
Why Is Motor Development Important in Early Childhood Development?
Motor development is the process by which young children develop their bones, muscles and the ability to touch and move within their environment. Motor development can be categorized into two groups: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. IDELA assesses both groups in corresponding assessment tasks. Acquiring strong motor skills has been linked to school readiness; preschoolers who performed better on fine and gross motor skill assessments were more likely to have better social behavior, follow directions and pay attention throughout the school year (Oregon State University, 2016). Parents and caregivers can help facilitate motor development by encouraging children to explore, play and interact with a variety of different objects (Bunce, 2014).
Using IDELA to Assess Motor Development for Akili and Me
Using IDELA, Ubongo (alongside research partners from the University of Maryland and Daystar University) conducted a randomized control trail to assess the impact Akili and Me had on pre-primary children in Morogoro, Tanzania. The study took place in 9 government primary schools and involved 568 children between the ages of 4-5 years who spoke Kiswahili as a first language and come from low or middle-income families. Children were assessed using IDELA before and after 4 weeks of viewing the show. The research team concluded that children who watched Akili and Me exhibited a 9% gain in fine motor skills in comparison to children in the control group.
To learn more about Akili and Me’s impact had on child participants, click here
Bunce, P. (2014, November 12). Penfield Children’s Center. Retrieved from http://penfieldbuildingblocks.org/2014/11/importance-fine-motor-skill-development/
Oregon State University. (2016, October 13). Preschoolers’ motor skill development connected to school readiness. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161013155405.htm


This blog series shares lessons from leaders in competency-based education at different levels of leadership: state, district, and school. Each post will highlight the work of several leaders at a given level and will share lessons learned for other educators to consider in their own development of competency-based education.
On May 1, 2014, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education led a question and answer based conversation about the role of secondary school leaders in creating personalized learning environments that are sustainable and increase student achievement.
On a national scale, rural districts face a range of challenges: declining student enrollment, declining revenues, technological disadvantages, trouble recruiting and retaining quality teachers, long student commutes, and at the high school level, providing the general academic core curriculum while also offering robust career/technical education (CTE) and advanced academic options. These challenges likewise play out in dual enrollment opportunities in rural high schools.
This paper examines the results of the study of the Project CRISS efficacy in fostering reading comprehension in grade 9 students. Project CRISS is based on the belief that teachers can become more effective when trained in a standardized method of presenting reading comprehension strategies that eventually are internalized by the students. The comprehension strategies themselves provide an intellectual framework that aims to foster reading comprehension. The study consisted of a randomized trial with pre- and post-treatment measurement of reading comprehension abilities.


Academic achievement plays an important role in children's development because academic skills, especially in reading and math, affect many outcomes, including educational attainment, performance and income at work, health, and longevity. A new synthesis looked at the relation between academic achievement (reading, math) and cognitive abilities (working memory, reasoning, executive function), and offered suggestions on how to improve educational and cognitive outcomes.
The synthesis was carried out by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. It is published in Child Development Perspectives, a journal of the Society for Research in Child Development.
"It's widely thought that being smart helps you do better in school, but does doing better in school make you smarter?" asks Peng Peng, assistant professor of special education at the University of Texas at Austin, the lead author of the synthesis. "Research has long supported the idea that cognitive abilities are foundational, that is, that being smart leads to better academic achievement. For example, students who learn how to solve math problems at school can develop the reasoning abilities to solve problems in real life .We found that sustained and high-quality education directly fosters children's academic and cognitive development, and that it may indirectly affect academic and cognitive development by triggering a sort of bidirectional action that amplifies both."
This bidirectional action is especially important for children with disadvantages, who often lack the resources or foundational skills to trigger and benefit from it. The authors note that short-term cognitive training may be insufficient to improve academic performance. This is because beneficial relations between academic skills (reading and math) and cognitive abilities (working memory, reasoning, and executive function) are modest and take time to develop. However, over time, such modest effects can have large and lasting impacts.
"This emerging field suggests that it's better to think of school-based skills such as reading and math, as well as cognitive abilities such as memory and reasoning, as part a system that has positive interactions among each other and that together, support development," concludes Rogier A. Kievit, group leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, who coauthored the synthesis. "The ultimate hope is to support both cognitive abilities and academic skills by better understanding these processes."
The synthesis was supported by the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom.
Summarized from Child Development Perspectives, The Development of Academic Achievement and Cognitive Abilities: A Bidirectional Perspective by Peng, P (University of Texas at Austin), and Kievit, RA (University of Cambridge). Copyright 2020 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.


Instructional strategies for students with specific learning disabilities free
Specific Strategies for Helping Students with LDs who Experience Anxiety. For students with LDs, negative thoughts and feelings are often their first response to anxietyinducing situations. Thus, the role of educators is to recognize these situations, present strategies, and support students in the use of these strategies in the classroom.
Strategies for Teaching Students with Intellectual Disabilities. Given that intellectual disabilities affect learning, its often crucial to provide support to students with ID in the classroom. This includes making accommodations appropriate to the needs of the student. Other Helpful Links for Teaching Students with Intellectual
A specific learning disability affects a student in one or a few academic areas, unlike intellectual disabilities, which include a low intelligence quotient (IQ) and a ceiling on cognitive abilities.
Learn about instructional strategies for your child with learning disabilities, including reading comprehension strategies and information on reading fluency. Understand accommodations for students.
Guidelines for Educating Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) 5 Introduction T his guidelines document is designed to be a resource for teachers and administrators as they address the educational needs of students with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in Virginia. Parents of children with SLD may find this document useful as well.
Group learning is one of the most effective teaching strategies for students with intellectual disabilities. It is when you bring children together in a group to teach various skills. Children often do better when they are in a group. Behavior difficulties are less, and children motivate each other.
Oct 15, 2013 Start out with the teacher using heavily mediated instruction, known as explicit instruction, then slowly begin to let the students acquire the skill, moving towards the goal of student mediated instruction. Success for the student with learning disabilities requires a focus on individual achievement, individual progress, and individual learning.
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“”I am struck by the fact that the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think that the same is true of human beings.”
The early childhood years (0-7) are characterised by children actively learning through imitation and their own creative experience. The child‘s imagination and sense of wonder is fostered, through stories, songs, creative play, interaction with nature and involvement in everyday human activity. A Steiner early childhood centre is a warm, nurturing environment filled with beautiful, natural play materials and outdoor spaces with animals and gardens to care for. The young child learns through play and structured activities to cook, paint, garden, sew, use tools, share and problem solve.
Children explore their environment, learning important sharing and cooperation skills to enhance their social and emotional well-being, foster positive self-esteem and develop gross and fine motor skills. Foundational pre-literacy and numeracy skills are grounded in the early years through rich oral and practical learning experiences to prepare adequately for the more formal learning environment of Class one.


We’ve been talking about activities that help toddlers and preschoolers develop gross motor skills by exercising the large muscles in the legs, arms and trunk. Today, we continue our list of summer games that parents can play with their children to encourage gross motor skill development:
- Head for the nearest playground for an hour of swinging, climbing and sliding.
- Bouncy houses, ball pits and climbing tubes at indoor play parks also provide good exercise.
- Practice rolling, kicking, throwing and catching balls with your child. Use large Nerf balls or soft, lightweight rubber or plastic balls.
- Play Tag, Follow the Leader, Ring Around the Rosie, London Bridge, Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says and Red Light/Green Light. At toddler and preschool ages, focus on active games where everyone gets to play. Wait until children reach school age to introduce elimination games and games that require children to be still or take turns.
- To practice balancing, hold your child’s hand while he walks along a curb or low wall. Create a balance beam in your yard by laying a 2x4 board on the ground (stake the ends to prevent it from moving). Or create a circus high wire by placing a line of masking tape on the basement floor.
- Ride-on toys, tricycles and scooters provide excellent large muscle exercise.
- Provide your child with toys that can be pushed and pulled, such as large trucks and cars; wagons; and play shopping carts, lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners.
- Engage in imaginary play with your child. Pretend to be super heroes, airplanes, zoo animals, galloping horses, etc.


Foundations develops English language skills by honing and expanding on fundamental early literacy development.
(suitable for N1 and N2 students)
The ability to identify, access and differentiate sounds in words. In Foundations, the focus is on first sounds.
Phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of reading success, and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness fast-tracks the learn-to-read process. This means that children who demonstrate strong phonemic awareness go on to become better readers, sooner.
The ability to comprehend (listen) and apply (speak) a wide variety of words and sentence structures to facilitate meaningful communication.
Students who begin school with a relatively large vocabulary tend to learn more words, more quickly than students who begin school with a poor vocabulary. That is, knowing more words makes it easier to learn new words. Therefore, vocabulary development accelerates your child's comprehension and communication skills.
(Speaking and Listening Skills)
Teachers use extensive classroom resources in delivering the Foundations programme.
Alongside essential pre-reading skills, students develop vocabulary, comprehension and writing skills.
Foundations WorkBooks are designed as a supplementary tool to encourage independent learning while reinforcing concepts taught in the lesson.
Each student's progress is systematically monitored and recorded on a weekly basis to ensure they are on track to achieve their individual learning goals.
Discover the LCentral Experience now
Book a Free Assessment at any of our 12 conveniently located centres


Otto Piene, German artist and co-founder of the postwar art group Zero, died July 17 in Berlin at 86. The cause of death has not been revealed. Piene is known for his technology-based artworks, which often used light in kinetic sculptures. He lived and worked between Düsseldorf and Groton, Mass. He was in Berlin for the opening of “Otto Piene, Open Sky,” a retrospective at the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle (through Aug. 31).
After studying art education in Munich and Düsseldorf and earning a degree in philosophy from the University of Cologne, Piene founded Zero with fellow German artist Heinz Mack in 1957. Zero aimed to reinvigorate Germany’s art scene by creating dynamic, minimalist works using common industrial materials. In the 1960s, the group grew to become an international art movement, with followers like Yves Klein and Piero Manzoni.
Piene’s work often employed combinations of art, nature and technology. Light projected through one of his perforated paintings in 1958 led to a fascination that would last the rest of his career, as Stephen Maine wrote in A.i.A. in 2009. In 1965, he first showed Light Ballet, a kinetic sculpture involving light, metal and glass, at New York’s Howard Wise Gallery; he would create several subsequent versions of the work. In 1972, he unveiled Olympic Rainbow, a sculpture comprising five 1,500-foot-long colored inflatable tubes, which were released into the sky at the close of the Munich Summer Olympics. Piene participated in three editions (1960, 1964 and 1977) of the quinquennial contemporary art exhibition Documenta in Kassel, Germany.
The artist served as director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1974 to 1994.
“[Piene’s] paintings and installations entail extraordinary means and rudimentary technologies,” Cheryl Kalpan wrote in an interview on the occasion of the artist’s 2010 exhibition at Sperone Westwater in New York. “The use of electric light in contemporary art is frequently associated with Dan Flavin’s pulsating, custom-designed flourescents or James Turrell’s believe-it-or-not forms, but Piene offers an early, modest precedent.”


American Sign Language (ASL) Stories/Songs
Center on Literacy and Deafness
Funded by Institute of Education Sciences #R324C120001
Directed by Sandy Huston
Edited by Lindsay Castleberry
We have 35 ASL Stories and 29 ASL Songs that you can view on our YouTube channel:
Center for Literacy and Deafness (CLAD) has created a variety of videos to help young children gain a foundation in American Sign Language (ASL). The short stories revolve around the daily activities of Miss Giggle and her students, while the songs teach vocabulary in a fun context. These videos are part of an early literacy intervention called Foundations for Literacy that builds foundational skills for all DHH children. The videos can be used with all children.


The Endeavour Primary Learning Center Elementary Language Arts Department's curriculum is based upon the Florida State Standards. Reading is taught with a Balanced Literacy approach meaning teachers instruct students through the use of Interactive Read Aloud, Small Group Guided Reading, Shared Reading and Writing, and Independent Reading and Writing.
EPLC’s Elementary Literacy Instruction includes: The five components of an effective reading instruction
- - Phonemic Awareness- Phonemic awareness refers to the student’s ability to focus on and manipulate phonemes in spoken syllables and words.
- - Phonics- Phonics is the relationship between the letters (or letter combinations) in written language and the individual sounds in spoken language.
- - Fluency- Fluency is the ability to read as well as we speak and to make sense of the text without having to stop and decode each word.
- - Vocabulary- Vocabulary development is closely connected to comprehension. The larger the reader’s vocabulary (either oral or print), the easier it is to make sense of the text.
- - Comprehension- Comprehension is the complex cognitive process readers use to understand what they have read. Vocabulary development and instruction play a critical role in comprehension. Here the teacher works on such areas as Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and Integration of Knowledge.
The Literacy Block: The 90- minute literacy block is split between whole group instruction that is devoted to grade leveled instruction and small group instruction that is focused on students’ instructional levels and teaching targets.
Small Group Guided Reading: This portion of the literacy block focuses on remediating, enriching, and/or accelerating literacy skills. The teacher provides small group instruction based upon the students' instructional level determined by the Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) test. While the teacher is working in small groups, other students work independently or in groups at literacy centers designed to support current instruction.
Resources include but are not limited to:
Scholastic Social Studies Leveled Texts- Leveled texts filled with a combination of engaging fiction and nonfiction texts, precisely leveled to meet the needs of all learners. The trade and guided reading books are aligned to the state standards.
HMH Journey’s Series: Journey’s is a comprehensive K-6 English language arts program. It provides an instructional system for reading both literature and informational texts, for acquiring foundational skills, and for developing mastery of speaking, listening and writing.
Ready- Built for the Common Core, Ready is a proven effective instruction and practice program that has the rigor required to raise student achievement on the Florida Standards Assessment, FSA in ELA.
Schoolcity-Provides EPLC with meaningful, timely, and easy to read analytic and assessment solutions that inform decisions and increase student achievement.


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Statistical learning processes–akin to those seen in spoken language acquisition (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996)–may be important for the development of literacy, particularly spelling development. One previous study provides direct evidence for this process: Samara and Caravolas (2014) demonstrated that 7-year-olds generalize over permissible letter contexts (graphotactics) in novel word-like stimuli under incidental learning conditions. However, unlike in actual orthography, conditioning contexts in Samara and Caravolas’ (2014) stimuli comprised perfectly correlated, redundant cues in both word-initial and word-final positions. The current study explores whether 7-year-olds can extract such constraints in the absence of redundant cues. Since theories of literacy development predict greater sensitivity to restrictions within word-final units, we also contrast learning in word-initial and word-final units. We demonstrate that–for 7-year-old learners in two linguistic contexts (English and Turkish)–there is substantial evidence for the learning of both types of restriction.


MCPER is partnering with the University of California, Riverside, on a project to create a reading comprehension intervention specifically designed for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
The project, Reading Enhancements for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders (Project READ), received a $1.5 million federal grant, which will enable investigators to develop and test the intervention at elementary and middle schools in Texas and Southern California over a 3-year period.
The project’s investigators include Sharon Vaughn and Colleen Reutebuch of MCPER and Michael Solis, an assistant professor of special education at UC Riverside, who is also formerly of MCPER.
“The reading intervention takes into account many of the unique challenges of providing reading instruction to students with ASD by using interest-based text,” Solis told UCR Today. “Once students are more motivated to read about their interest area they are much more likely to be engaged and open to learning new skills that will help improve their ability to understand what they read.”
ASD is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, where it affects 1 in 68 children, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014.
Educators and parents have long expressed concern over the lack of proper reading instruction for children with ASD. Solis said he believes the problem stems from inadequate research on the topic, which he found was explored in only 12 studies over the last 3 decades.
For more information, visit Project READ's project page.
Pilot Point Middle School sees significant increase in STAAR scores
September 9, 2016
After working with the Texas Literacy Initiative to set higher expectations and put a greater emphasis on making data-driven decisions, Pilot Point Middle School saw a significant increase in its STAAR scores from 2015 to 2016.
In grade 8, the pass rate for the reading portion of the STARR jumped from 77% in 2015 to 89% in 2016. For students from lower socioeconomic status, the pass rate increased from 70% to 83%. Most notably, however, for English as a second language (ESL) students, the pass rate increased from 30% to 82% (see the table below).
The principal at Pilot Point Middle School, Dustin Toth, credited this increase in test scores to the hard work of his students, teachers, and staff.
In addition, he said, his teachers received invaluable assistance from Regina Wheat, an instructional coach who receives funding from the Texas Literacy Initiative, and Michelle Lambert-Yuhasz, a Texas Literacy Initiative state literacy liaison.
“Each time [Lambert-Yuhasz visited] our campus, I would try to get as much feedback as I could on our programs and identify what changes we needed to make to keep our campus moving forward,” Toth said.
Some of the changes contributing to Pilot Point’s successful test scores included a new campuswide vocabulary initiative, a move away from a pullout ESL program to one allowing students to be in a regular reading class each day, and the introduction of a special STAAR reading class for students in need of more intensive reading support.
“A major key to our success was the collaboration between our students and teachers,” Toth said, explaining how teachers not only took time to review assessments with their students, but also had their students set goals for subsequent tests and develop plans of action to achieve those goals while monitoring progress along the way.
A general education teacher, a special education teacher, an ESL teacher, a counselor, the principal, and an instructional coach reviewed the data and then developed appropriate intervention plans. Finally, identified strengths and weaknesses were discussed at grade-level meetings to look at the ways individual teachers could boost specific objectives and foundational skills in their class.
“Needless to say, we are excited about the direction our campus is headed,” Toth said. “It has been a total team effort and we can’t wait to keep moving forward next year.”
|Limited English Proficient||70||27||0||0|
|English as a Second Language||82||30||0||0|


- Art Education
The foundation of the collection was laid by the donations of the banker and industrialist Barthold Suermondt. In 1882, he donated a collection of mainly Dutch paintings from the 17th century to the City of Aachen. Further donations from Aachen's civic society increased the inventory, which today constitutes a comprehensive spectrum covering European painting from the 15th through to the mid-20th century.
The collection boasts outstanding works of late medieval painting from Germany and the Netherlands, as well as paintings from the "Golden Age" in Flanders and Holland.
In the Cologne Painting since the Early 15th Century section, the Master of the Glorification of the Virgin is definitely a highlight, while followers of Memling and the works of Albrecht Bouts testify to artistic development in the Netherlands. With three works, including the Cherry Madonna, Joos van Cleve represents the Antwerp school of painting. And the absolute masterpiece of the Early German section is Lucas Cranach's Judith with the Head of Holofernes.
The paintings from the 17th century are characterised by the profane iconography of the North, particularly the portraits, with Rembrandt's Portrait of a Young Man featuring prominently. The exhibition also encompasses excellent examples of genre painting like the Dutch painter Esaias Boursse's Boys Blowing Bubbles and the landscapes of the generation of painters following Jacob van Ruisdael. In terms of impressive still life painting, Willem Claesz Heda and Pieter Claesz are certainly the most outstanding masters of their art.
One of the major highlights of the collection is the Fall of the Damned by the Rubens pupil Jan Boeckhorst, a work that alludes to the counter-reformatory vigour of the South in Flemish painting. But there are also less ponderous subjects. For example, two paintings by Frans Snijders are based on books of fables, for example his The Rooster and the Diamond.
Individual masterpieces of Italian and Spanish painting like Jusepe de Ribera's Adoration of the Shepherds bear testimony to a European development, but also to the particular interest of the collector. Together with Dutch works, they characterise the profile of Aachen's Picture Gallery. The 18th century is represented by renowned masters like Januarius Zick.


What is Ukulele ?
Ukulele is a small guitar-like Hawaiian instrument with four strings. Small and lightweight, it is a portable instrument that children can learn to play easily. Ukulele is a kind of instrument that can bring pleasant mood to children.
-Exclusive high-technology interactive multimedia course allows children to learn more happily and lively.
-High quality music education programs tailored for children.
-Gradual leaning pedagogy couple with systematic teaching methods.
-Story and fun game based learning model with attractive illustrations.
-Stimulates full potentials of children's learning through visual, auditory and tactile way.
Pan Jia Jin
'I learned rhythm, beat, and started to recognize notes. I can play children's songs too! When guests come, my mother will invite me to play songs to them, I feel good and satisfied'
Hoe Yu Xuan
'I learned to rhythm, beat, and started to recognize notes. I can play children's songs too! When guests coming, my mother will invite me to play songs to them, I feel good and satisfied'
Phang Liu Qi
'learning music can make her pay attention, thank you for your patience'
Nurin Imanina Lee Binti Roslan
'Sering diberi peluang untuk membuat persembahan'


Brass Instrumental Music in Elementary Schools
Fourth and fifth grade students at six Pasadena Unified schools heard live performances of classical and jazz music, learned about brass musical instruments, and got hands-on experience with trumpets, tubas, saxophones, and other instruments thanks to the Oakwood Brass Outreach Project (OBOP) In-School Instrument Introduction Concerts.
Oakwood Brass visited Willard Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Jackson STEM Dual Stem Language Academy, Madison Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, and San Rafael Elementary in August. Each visit featured a mini concert with music from classical, jazz and media music. OBOP used musical examples showing the history of brass instruments and classical music, such as connecting a Bach Fugue to the children’s round Row Row Row Your Boat. Students learned how each brass instrument works works mechanically and learned professional playing techniques.
The concerts are part of PUSD’s vibrant music education programs. Instrumental music instruction begins in third grade for PUSD students, with whole-class instruction in violin, and band and orchestra options for fourth and fifth grade students. Through partnerships with music education organizations like the Pasadena Conservatory and Education Through Music-Los Angeles, elementary general music is offered to grades K-5 at select elementary schools. After school orchestras are thriving at Field Elementary and Jackson STEM through Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra, and at Longfellow through The Harmony Project.
Chorus, band, and orchestra are offered at PUSD middle and high schools, giving students many opportunities to refine their artistic craft and form. Annual festivals of choral, band, and orchestral music showcase the talents of student musicians from across the district, in grades 4-12.


…to develop the Computing and presentation skills of FE students with learning difficulties and disabilities (LLDD students), aged 18 to 24 years, and of their Learning Assistants
Lawrence Williams, Lloyd Mead, Beth Mead
“Literacy from Scratch” is an international classroom project designed to develop computer coding skills (now a part of the new “Computing” curriculum in England) alongside literacy development, using the MIT visual coding language, Scratch. This project has now been ex-tended upwards from ages 5 to 14, to include trainee teachers at Brunel University London, as well as LLDD students, aged 18 to 24 years, at an FE College in Lambeth, south London. The paper explores the potential for this latter, largely under-represented, group of students to improve their communication skills, while learning elementary coding. In the most recent phase of the project (Spring 2017), we have also included a small-scale study comparing PowerPoint and Scratch as tools for supporting the presentation of these students’ ideas, and their literacy development. Classroom support staff, (called Learning Assistants, or LAs, in England) were also encouraged to develop their teaching and learning skills throughout this project.


Special needs and special education students are becoming integrated into traditional classrooms at a rapid rate. Now more than ever, elementary teachers need credentials and experience in responding to the needs of these students, managing classrooms that are inclusive, and understanding the challenges that are a part of the daily lives of special education students.
In the past, inclusive education with a focus on special needs populations was not a part of elementary education programs. Recent changes by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) have made inclusive education an important component of contemporary education school curricula. Special education studies leading to a second certification in Special Education increases the marketability of practicing teachers who already have received a primary certification in Pennsylvania. Indeed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a job growth rate of approximately 17% for special education teachers between now and 2020. In addition, PDE changed the categorization of Special Education into separate PreK-8 and 7-12 ranges.
Teaching our youngest children requires a special blend of understanding, managerial and interpersonal skills. Early elementary teaching is a demanding but rewarding profession, particularly in a climate in which inclusion is, more and more, the reality of contemporary classrooms.
The Special Education program is designed around four major themes:
Consultation and collaboration
Inclusion and diversity
Each course embeds these themes within the content of the course in the following ways:
Focusing on the necessity of consultation, collaboration, and team teaching to provide effective services that build communities of support for students.
Stressing inclusion as the default option for all students while striving to build communities of diverse individuals.
Designing authentic, meaningful instruction that addresses real needs of students and families.
Engaging in self-reflection and reflection on current practices that fosters growth and visionary programming.
Flexibility with Intentional Design in Fieldwork
Fieldwork is a key component of all School of Education programs. That said, we understand that most of our graduate students work full-time and attend their courses in the late afternoon and evening, and that many are already teachers.
As a result, our policies regarding field and clinical experiences for graduate students are more flexible than those for undergraduate teacher certification students. We provide several fieldwork opportunities that fall outside of traditional business hours (prior to 9 a.m., late afternoon and evening).
Students may also gain fieldwork experience in their own school if they are already working as a general education teacher or reading specialist.
Your Professional Goals Are Within Reach
If you have a bachelor's degree in any subject area, you are eligible to apply to Arcadia's School of Education and prepare for a career in education.
Attend Part- or Full-Time
You can complete the program part- or full-time, with evening classes offered 4:30-10 p.m. Monday through Friday during each 14-16 week semester. There are also a few online courses. Simply choose how many courses you'd like to register for each semester with the help of your academic adviser.
Full-time status for graduate students is nine or more credit hours per semester. Most students register for at least two courses a semester, allowing them to complete a master's degree and/or teacher certification within 18 to 24 months.
Become a Certified Teacher
The master’s degree is not required for certification. Certification requirements may vary based on your academic experience.
For Pennsylvania Instructional Teacher Certification. This program is designed for individuals seeking to add PreK-8 Special Education to an existing Instructional I Certificate in Elementary/Middle School, Reading Specialist or other K-12 Certificate and planning to work in an elementary or middle school settings.
This program is designed for individuals seeking to add 7-12 Special Education to an existing Instructional I Certificate in Secondary Education, Reading Specialist or other K-12 certificate and planning to work in middle or secondary settings.


Integration as an Instructional Practice
Integration as an instructional practice allows for multiple benefits for the student, teacher, and the overall educational system. The flexibility afforded to us in the Michigan Merit Curriculum and our state standards documents provide many innovative, instructionally efficient and effective, and creative possibilities to meet personalized learning goals. For questions related to integration as an instructional practice, contact Megan Schrauben at SchraubenM1@michigan.gov or 517-335-3199.
Integrating content across subjects has been promoted as a productive educational reform across several decades. The knowledge base is extensive and conclusive regarding the benefits for student learning. Therefore, as educators in a new era that expects all students to graduate high school career- and college-ready, we have the opportunity to re-examine productive initiatives as an informational tool to use as we endeavor to support new 21st Century rigorous expectations and student learning. Please see the following document on Curriculum Integration Research:
Curriculum Integration Research: Re-examining Outcomes and Possibilities for the 21st Century Classroom
Model Course Mapping Resource - To help with transitioning to an integrated course sequence, this document was created specifically for 6-12 science departments to encourage research-based discussions and decision-making when planning for future course offerings and hiring decisions.
The State Board of Education's adoption of the Michigan K-12 Science Standards provide a tremendous opportunity in our state not only to improve science learning, but to improve literact and thinking skills of all children. For more information, see the document entitled "Supporting Early Literacy Development and Science Instruction".


THE CBSE CURRICULUM
The curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content which are taught to a learner in the school. In empirical terms, it is regarded as the planned set of educational experiences provided to a learner by a school. It encompasses general objectives of learning, courses of study, subject-wise instructional objectives and content, pedagogical practices and assessment guidelines. The curriculum we follow is provided by CBSE which is based on National Curriculum Framework and seeks to provide the best opportunities for students to achieve excellence in learning.
This Curriculum strives to
The Curriculum aims to:
Our school meticulously follows a systematic process in enabling the learners acquire the multi-faceted development that leads to the formation of a wholesome complete individual.
Curriculum Areas at Secondary Level
The Secondary School Curriculum acknowledges the fact that subjects like language, Mathematics, Science and social science help the cognitive development of the child and, therefore, require a greater academic emphasis. Further, the curriculum also envisions the all-round development of students in consonance with the holistic approach to education and therefore, emphasizes integration of co-curricular domains with curricular activities in an equitable manner. In operational sense, the secondary curriculum is clearly learner-centered with school being a place where students would be acquiring various skills; building self-concept, sense of enterprise, aesthetic sensibilities and sportsmanship. Therefore, for the purpose of fostering core competencies in learners, this curriculum covers major learning areas, from scholastic and co scholastic point of view.
The Areas of learning at the Secondary level are as under:
Languages Scholastic Areas Social Science Mathematics Science Other Academic Elective Subjects
Skill Subjects Health and Physical Education Work Experience* Art Education Co-scholastic Areas* subsumed in Health and Physical Education
Scholastic Areas:-The curriculum envisages individualized learning acumen and seeks to explore the potential of students in acquiring substantial knowledge and skills through academic rigors. With greater academic orientation and research skills in core academic areas, students would evolve as judicious young adults with a sense of real self-estimate having true values and principles. The scholastic areas are as follows


BIG Maths is a teaching approach that makes progress in maths easy and fun. BIG Maths has been extremely successful both nationally and internationally with thousands of children learning through daily BIG Maths ‘CLIC’ sessions and the weekly ‘Beat That!’ challenges.
BIG Maths answers the question, ‘How do we get children properly numerate as they journey through school?’ through its highly effective CLIC (Counting, Learn its, Its nothing new & Calculation) framework and accurate steps of progression (Progress Drives) that make new learning easy and obvious to children by cashing in on the timeless laws of maths.
In addition to this, BIG Maths is perfectly aligned with the new (September 2014) National Curriculum’s heightened focus on core numeracy skills such as learning tables securely, applying existing knowledge to new contexts and developing both mental and formal calculation skills.
Our delivery of BIG Maths provides the school with a clear sequence of progression for every aspect of number, daily dynamic basic skills sessions, a weekly assessment tool and engaging, child friendly resources.
BIG Maths is therefore a rigorous, systematic and structured approach that provides children with a fun and lively experience as they learn through jingles, songs, games and the BIG Maths characters.
What do our pupils think of BIG Maths?


Our curriculum and daily schedule changes throughout the year. We make our decisions around students’ needs, students’ interest, and our own excitement around themes or curricular ideas.
At times, we run a more traditional schedule, with a set time for reading, math, and writing. We often have overriding theme in the classroom, like Forces of Motion, History of Nonviolent Movements, Science Play, Animal Research, and Businesses.
Math: All of our work revolves around helping students develop a good understanding of mathematical concepts and number sense. The strategies and numbers we use in our math work with the kids are all developmentally appropriate.
Reading: We use a combination of phonics instruction and a whole-language approach to teaching the basics of reading. Our older students have access to our large classroom library and participate in book clubs. We strive to foster a love of reading.
Writing: At times, our writing curriculum is embedded in our theme. We also create writing units that focus on helping students develop a unique voice.
Themes: Science, Social Studies, History, the Arts, Conflict Resolution, and Community Development become the focus of our themes in the K-6 Classroom. We have a few themes that we “repeat” by strong requests from the kids!
The social aspect of the K-6 class is super, super important — working together, creating and collaborating, problem solving, taking direction and also leading. It is all important!


Marjon’s Education team is joining forces with 10 partners from six different countries as part of a three year EU-funded project to help improve the numeracy skills of school children through giving teachers more confidence and competence in teaching methods.
The recently released National Numeracy report (2017) ‘Numeracy and Financial Capability: Exploring the links, indicates that 18.5m adults, nearly half the UK working-age population, have ‘poor’ or ‘low’ numeracy and that teaching of the subject needs to be tackled particularly at primary level to buck the trend.
Marjon will take the lead on strands within the Erasmus Plus funded project, drawing on lessons learnt from international comparisons, showing that school environment, professional development and parental engagement are vital to building both teacher and pupil confidence in improving attainment in maths.
Gill Golder explains, “The aim of the project is to provide an innovative approach to the development of the teaching of mathematics which can be applied to initial teacher education and early professional development.
“We’ll focus on supporting teachers in developing these new approaches and develop guidelines for its implementation.
“The ultimate goal is to produce teachers who are confident in teaching maths so they can develop pupils’ fluency in calculating, solving problems and reasoning about numbers.
“This in turn will give the pupils more confidence and allow them to enjoy mathematics more.
“It’s fantastic to be involved in such a far-reaching project which will add up to better maths skills all round, for teachers, pupils and parents.”
Back to Marjon News


Single Subject Acceleration
Single Subject Acceleration is back! The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) Board of Education defines acceleration as allowing a student to move through traditional educational organizations more rapidly, based on readiness and motivation. Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities in either math OR English/language arts.
Is Your Student a Good Candidate for SSA?
- Consider your student's social and emotional maturity. Your student will be taking classes with peers who may be older or your student will be working on their own
- Consider your student's organizational skills and ability to focus
- Your student will be skipping an entire year's worth of content and background knowledge. Your student's AIG teacher and content area teachers are not responsible for covering any content your student skipped as a result of receiving SSA services.
- If your student qualifies for SSA in math or ELA, some courses take place online. During the school day, students participate in these courses. Though they are not self-paced, students work independently during their online lessons.
- In order to ensure your student receives the classes in the area where SSA is taking place, it may result in schedule adjustments where lunch and/or electives may be with different grade levels or classes than what is assigned.
- If you have any school-related questions or concerns, please communicate with the SSA Contact at your student's school to discuss your request.
SSA Assessment Information
Assessment for SSA will include an above grade level comprehensive Acceleration Assessment to establish mastery of the foundational skills and content the course requires. Specifically:
- A 1st-7th grade student in mathematics MUST earn a minimum of 80% accuracy on the Acceleration Assessment. The assessments have open response questions.
- In English/language arts, students MUST earn ≥85% on the Acceleration Assessment AND score a level 3 on a centrally-scored writing prompt for middle school.
- Prior to the exams, students may review the content standards for the course or subject area that they are seeking to demonstrate mastery in.
- Acceleration assessment scores will be reported as "percent correct".
- Due to test security, items on the test will not be able to be reviewed on any Acceleration Assessment. There will not be a breakdown of questions/standards missed available.
ALL DECISIONS ARE FINAL. Eligibility to accelerate is based on meeting the above criteria. Students who do not meet the above criteria for SSA will have an opportunity to test again during the spring of 2021 for the next school year or to participate in the Credit by Demonstrated Mastery process for high school courses.
Test Request Deadlines and Testing Windows
- Test Request Deadline: March 23-March 27, 2020
- No test requests will be accepted after March 27, 2020
- Contact Ms. Bonham West at rwest2@wcpss for a Test Request Form
- Testing Window: April 20-April 30, 2020
- No test requests are accepted during the testing window
Contact your MMS SSA Contact, Ms. Bonham West, at email@example.com with any questions or concerns.


Earn your degree and advance your career through our Social Science and Education area of study. Use methods of science to understand the complex workings of the social world, including how we as human beings behave and interact.
By earning a degree or certificate in the area of Social Sciences & Education you'll be on your way to any of the following career opportunities listed below:
Law enforcement officer
- Bridge to Native Pathways
- Criminal Justice
- Early Childhood Education
- General Social Sciences
- Homeland Security & Emergency Management
No high school diploma?
No problem! Our pathways let you earn a diploma and a degree at the same time.
Education & Social Science Learning Outcomes
- Use written, spoken, visual and symbolic methods of communication to explore and explain how social processes operate.
- Demonstrate the ability to listen in order to gain understanding as it is an essential element of the communication process.
- Use basic numeracy skills to manipulate both qualitative and quantitative data.
- Employ the tools of mathematics to study social processes.
- Recognize relationships – patterns, correlations and causal relationships – in social phenomena.
- Use the scientific method to investigate social phenomena.
- Recognize and formulate an information need.
- Find, access and retrieve qualitative and quantitative information to understand the nature and outcomes of social processes.
- Evaluate the credibility of information and its source.
- Synthesize and apply qualitative and quantitative information.
- Use alternative perspectives – ideas, concepts, theories – to understand social processes.
- Evaluate the scope and limitations of alternative perspectives.
- Apply critical thinking to explore the limits and barriers to understanding.
- Recognize how individual perspectives and values influence critical thinking and the self-reflective process.
Personal & Interpersonal
- Recognize the importance of accepting ownership for one’s own learning.
- Work cooperatively and collaboratively with others.
- Function under conditions of ambiguity, uncertainty, and conflict.
- Understand human interactions in the world using the concepts of inequality, diversity, culture, history, social cognition and political systems.


As technology becomes an ever increasing element of our daily lives, educational specialists will gather to discuss how best to incorporate it in schools. However, technology cannot solve learning problems, caution Edublox.
On Friday 28 August 2015 teachers and education specialists will gather with IT personnel at the Technology in Education Conference in Johannesburg to explore technology in the education sector and discuss ways to improve outcomes in the classroom, particularly for Mathematics and Science.
Edublox Educational Practitioner, Louna Spies will discuss the relationship between technology and cognitive skills in Maths education.
“There’s no doubt that technology is a valuable tool for learning and there are many associated educational benefits, but teachers and parents should be careful to introduce technology as a learning tool at the right time and place according to a child’s needs and ability,” says Susan du Plessis, Director of Educational Programmes at Edublox.
Calculators, considered to be the most basic technology used in classrooms for many years, are not included in Grade 1 or Grade 2 school stationary lists. This, says du Plessis, is because children first need a foundational understanding of numbers, counting, addition and subtraction before technology can be used as a ‘short-cut.’ “Parents and teachers should note that technology cannot replace educational support for children with learning problems,” says du Plessis.
Computer programs designed to improve eye movement are now widely used as an intervention tool for reading difficulties. While eye movements are important for reading, Paarl-based optometrist Lizelle Loock warns that improving eye movements will not solve a reading problem. “Vocabulary, letter sounds and knowledge of spelling rules must first be established before reading can improve; only after these elements have been dealt with can we introduce computer reading programs to increase reading speed,” says Loock.
Du Plessis adds that cognitive skills such as focused attention, visual and auditory processing, memory and logical thinking also need to be developed before effective reading can take place.
Computer-based reading assessments can give parents a false sense of security regarding their child’s reading ability, says du Plessis who has noted that attention and memory have been negatively affected by technology. “Children do not have the memory capability they used to have and technology plays a role in this. Given the ease with which information can be found these days, knowing where to look is becoming more important for children than actually memorising something.”
Studies have found that reading from a book is more beneficial for long-term memory and comprehension than reading off a screen.* “Parts of the brain are developed through handwriting practice, something that touch-screen technology cannot provide. “There is value in writing by hand,” says du Plessis, “it helps fire up our brains to generate more ideas than typing does and it assists with conceptual understanding.”
A $10 million dollar study** involving 15 computer-based reading and Maths programs, 9424 learners and 439 teachers at 132 schools in the United States found no difference in academic achievement between students who used the technology in their classrooms and youngsters who used other methods.
Tips for parents
Do not rely on a computer program to assess your child’s reading ability, speed and comprehension. Look for scientific reading assessments conducted by a qualified specialist.
Ensure your child reads aloud to you regularly from a book they select for themselves. Ask them questions to gauge their level of understanding of what they have just read.
Monitor the time your child spends looking at a screen for educational or recreational purposes, whether it is a TV, computer, iPad or cell phone. School can be very boring for a child who is exposed to technology all the time.
Light from screens in the evening suppresses melatonin levels, a hormone that helps control your sleep and wake cycles. Let your child read an actual, printed book before bedtime.
When your child is a good reader, use computer technology to broaden their horizons and teach them to speed read.
Edublox are leading specialists in cognitive development with 22 reading and learning clinics across Southern Africa. Edublox offers multi-sensory cognitive training, aimed at developing and automatising the foundational skills of reading, spelling and mathematics. For more information about Edublox visit www.edublox.co.za.


SPOR08008 2016 Sport Pedagogy
The aim of this module is to provide a comprehensive introduction to sport pedagogy for those who aspire to offer children and young people high-quality learning experiences and effective programmes in and through sport. The aim will be to provide students with knowledge and understanding about ‘sport pedagogy’, defined as a multidimensional, multi-layered term that represents the complex learning processes in providing for effective teaching and coaching in physical education and youth sport, that meets the diverse needs of children and young people.
On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;
Examine the theory and practice of sport pedagogy.
Understand and demonstrate the key principles of sport pedagogy related to the diverse needs of children and young people.
Demonstrate and evaluate a knowledge of skill related behaviours related to effective
Plan and execute a project that investigates and engages in a problem-based learning
(PBL) group project, through a real-world community context, related to the concept
of sport pedagogy.
Create, compile and write a reflective personal learning portfolio related to teaching
and coaching, in both electronic and hard copy formats.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
Students will be encouraged to reflect critically and reflectively upon their own experiences and those of their peers, alongside theoretical and contextual issues in sport pedagogy, to meet the diverse needs of children and young people as learners. Students will work on a group Problem-based learning (PBL), and an individual ‘Personal Learning Portfolio’, related to the concept of sport pedagogy. These strategies acknowledge the students’ role as co-constructors of knowledge and the expectation that students will take control of their learning to actively foster student engagement, along with active and independent learning, but also to promote the use and value of peer feedback. The portfolio approach to assessment, requires integration, reflection, indexing and mapping of evidence, allows for a diverse set of skills, competencies, knowledge and understanding. Self and peer assessment helps build the students’ understanding of the quality of work being sought, while also building group cohesion and a community of supporting fellow learners, with group members playing to their strengths, and building their expertise alongside supporting one another.
Module Assessment Strategies
Personal Portfolio: Electronic and Hard Copy Formats.
Problem Based Learning Group Project: Poster Presentation: Self, Peer and Tutor Feedback.
1. Pedagogy in physical education and youth sport
- What is ‘sport pedagogy’ and why study it?
- A historical overview of children learning in physical education and youth sport
- Critical health pedagogy: whose body is it anyway?
- Youth sport policy: an international perspective
- Personalised Learning
2. Disaffected youth in physical education and youth sport
- Dissaffection, disengagement and disruption: defining the problem.
- Re-engagement through physical education and youth sport
- Two sport / physical activity re-engagement programmes.
- Implications for programme design
3. Children and young people; diverse learners in physical education and youth sport
- A Pedagogy of Play: Learning through physical play
- Effective Practices for Structuring Early Years Physical Play
- Materiality and the environment of physical play
- Fundamental Motor Skill Development
4. Young people, sporting bodies, vulnerable identities
- Young bodies and identities in sport
- Media as a site of young people’s embodied learning about sporting bodies
- Young people’s embodiment of ‘sporting bodies’: sites of vulnerability.
5. Being a professional teacher or coach in physical education or youth sport
- Effective Teaching, What research tells us.
- Effective Coaching, What research tells us.
- A Community of Practice
Coursework & Assessment Breakdown
|Title||Type||Form||Percent||Week||Learning Outcomes Assessed|
|1||Personal Portfolio||Continuous Assessment||Individual Project||50 %||Week 7||1,2,4|
|2||Problem Based Learning||Continuous Assessment||Group Project||50 %||Week 12||3,5|
Full Time Mode Workload
|Practical||MPC Hall||Teaching / Coaching||1||Weekly||1.00|
|Design Projectwork||Flat Classroom||Project||1||Weekly||1.00|
An Introduction for Teaching and Coaching
Editor Kathleen Armour (2011)
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy
Sport, Education and Society


Wednesday May 15th is National Numeracy Day – the day aims to celebrate numbers and the role they play in everyday life. National Numeracy Day is all about recognising the importance of numbers and helping people sharpen their skills and build their confidence. They have a range of activities and challenges here, that can be used in class or sent home to encourage the conversation around numbers and the importance of them.
LGfL have a range of resources that can complement National Numeracy Day within school, for use in assemblies, in class and for engaging with parents on National Numeracy Day.
Maths at Home is a fantastic resource to share with parents the resource is designed to provide support for busy parents that wish to help their child with their mathematical development at home. A video has been made for every single NC descriptor for the whole of KS1 and 2 as well as an overview video for Early Years. Each video is a snapshot of how many schools may teach the particular strand, and also provides examples of how parents could support their child at home. Where appropriate, video content is reinforced with a selection of downloadable resources.
Maths at home videos are designed to feel like they are taking place on a table at home, encouraging communication, conversation and lots of fun while working on them. The video resources are designed to bring Maths to life, highlighting learning opportunities within cookery, play, decorating and gardening. Most importantly, they are designed to ignite conversations between children and parents, and to make Maths a positive and enjoyable experience outside of school. It would be a great resource to highlight to parents on the day perhaps by inviting parents in for a special number assembly.
BusyThings have a wealth of resources to support Number both at school and at home, from flashcards, to games, printables and interactive worksheets there are over 200 activities that can be used for extend numeracy skills from EYFS to KS2.
j2e Tool suite has a range of maths tools that can be used in class. Why not get your students to use Tt Blast to see who can complete the most games and earn the most points on that day? Or use j2Vote to find out what their favourite number is? j2data and j2measure can also be used during the day to look at measuring distances from school e.g. how many places are with 5cm or 10 cm on a map from school?
For teachers Mult e Maths has both starter and main activities for Years 3 to 6 that can be used on the interactive whiteboard as well as lesson plans and activities that can be used in the classroom. Or why not get the class rapping with Maths Raps from Beam, the children could even create their own number raps using Audio Network as a backing track and then uploading the raps into Video Central HD to share with the wider community.
Maths in the real world – this resources does exactly what its title suggests it put maths into real world problems. The activities are ideal for use either before or after the move from Primary to Secondary, and detailed differentiation ensures there is something for all ability levels. Some of the real-world topics covered in the resource include: Nutrition, Arena and Events and Round the world – perfect to use on National Numeracy day for the children to apply their mathematical knowledge to real life problems. Each topic contains detailed lesson plans and resources, there is also a curriculum mapping tool so that teachers are able to see where the resource relates to both the KS2 and KS3 curriculum.
There is also the Mathematics Shed curated and organised by Graham Andre .The Shed is a collection of videos and resources to help you teach maths in an engaging way, there are a huge number of ‘sheds’ including the warm up shed, addition shed and a maths topic shed to name a few.
CREST Awards aren’t just about Science & Engineering, there are numerous projects you can use to excite your students about maths!
Along with the Star, Superstar, Discovery, Bronze, Silver & Gold projects in the CREST Resources Library, CREST have many accredited resources from their partners. Take a look, download everything you need and start your projects…
IET: IET Faraday Challenge Resources
Maths in Motion: Maths in Motion Challenge for Schools
MP Futures: Pyramids
CITB: Building Bridges Challenge
Canal & River Trust: STEM Programme
Engineering in Motion: F1 in Schools: Development Class – national, F1 in Schools: Professional Class


Lassen Peak is generally known as Mount Lassen. It is a volcanic peak in northern California, United States. It is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It is a part of Lassen Volcanic National Park which is a group of more than 30 volcanic domes.
The peak rises above the surrounding area to an elevation of 10,457 feet. It was thought to be extinct but it erupted without warning on May 30, 1914. These eruptions continued until May 19, 1915. There is a possibility of a periodic cycle for volcanic activity in the area.
Fast Facts: –
- Lassen Volcanic National Park covers an area of 106,452 acres. It was established in 1916.
- This volcanic dome and the national park both are named after Peter Lassen. He was one of the few people to settle in the area
- Peter Lassen also developed two pioneer trails in the area along with William Nobles.
- This national park is home to more than 216 different bird species. They include the peregrine falcon, bald eagles, golden eagles, hummingbirds.
- Luis Arguello, a Spanish officer, was the first European to sight this peak, in 1821.
- Mount Lassen was intermittently active until 1921.
- The first real settlers to the Lassen area came with the California Gold Rush.
- This national park has four shield volcanoes including Raker Peak, Red Mountain, Mount Harkness and Prospect Peak.
- A round trip on the hiking trail takes between 3 to 5 hours depending on level of fitness.
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Declan, Tobin. " Facts for Kids about Lassen Peak ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 21 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/lassen-peak/ >.
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Tobin, Declan. (2020). Facts for Kids about Lassen Peak. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/lassen-peak/
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This set of 31 phonics videos will give your students a comprehensive understanding of everything from letters and sounds, to the "magic e," to some of the most complex spelling patterns in the English language. These songs were piloted with a group of 80 teachers and 1500 students in the year 1999 to ensure maximum effectiveness in the classroom--and I have been modifying them based on action research and responses from other teachers world-wide ever since! The videos are a great companion to the Phonics Time CD-book set, in which children can read words as they sing without video support. I highly recommend getting both if you don't have the CD-book set yet...head HERE for the bundle.
***Note that these files are too large for the TpT site. Everything you need will be in the supporting document. Here are the steps to take:
1. Please download the supporting document, where you will find links to all videos on my private Vimeo site. You can choose to stream or download the videos from these links (for classroom use only).
2. This product also includes a BONUS from me--You'll get access to all videos on one page through a private section of my website. In order to access the site,
a. Please purchase the product and take note of your order number.
b. E-mail me at email@example.com with your order number. Please also write: "I certify that I will only use each license purchased in one classroom or home. If other teachers or parents ask, I will let them know that they are required to purchase a license."
The song titles on this product let you know exactly what students will learn about:
1. If You Want to Be a Reader
2. ABC Fun
3. Letter Sounds
4. All Rhymes End With the Same Sound
5. Beginning and Ending Sounds
6. Build a Word
7. Break It Down
8. The Sentence Song
9. I Know Words: Short Vowel Sounds
10. I Know Words: Long Vowel Sounds
11. Short Vowels
12. Long Vowels
13. That Magic E
14. I Know Vowels
15. Vowels and Consonants
16. 2 Words in 1 Fun
17. Sounds of G (New!)
18. Sounds of C (New!)
19. Sounds of Y (New!)
20. 2 Vowels Together
21. A Vowel Sound in Every Syllable
22. Beginning Blends
23. Ending Blends
24. Letter Tricks
25. Word Family Fun: Short Vowel Words
26. Word Family Fun: Advanced Spellings
27. Who, What, When, Where, Why
29. Compound Word Whiz
30. A Contraction Has an Apostrophe
31. Homework Time
If your students are not quite ready for Phonics Time, you may want to consider the "Early Phonics CD-Book Set," which includes 50 sight word, early phonics, and comprehension musical tracks, lyrics to all songs, and 10 weeks of lessons.
For more advanced learners, please try the "Advanced Phonics CD-Book Set."
***Please follow me at "EduTunes With Miss Jenny."
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***Please also try my theme-based math & literacy products:
***You may also be interested in my addition and subtraction practice pages:
***If you are 100% satisfied with my products, please give them 100% positive ratings. If you are less than 100% satisfied, please contact me first before giving less than perfect ratings. I will either work to meet your needs or give you a 100% refund. ALL of my products come with a 100% money-back guarantee!
Thanks for trying my music. I hope I can make a difference in your classroom!
Search Tags: Common Core Foundational Skills / Silent e / Magic e / First Grade Reading / Kindergarten Foundational Skills / 2nd Grade / Second Grade / Long Vowels / Short and Long Vowels / Phonics / Phonics Songs / Phonics Materials / Phonics Activities / Miss Jenny / Edutunes / Jennys Class / Jenny's Class / Jenny's Class and Edutunes / Kindergarten Phonics / 1st Grade Phonics / 2nd Grade Phonics / First Grade Phonics / Second Grade Phonics / Jennifer Fixman / Jennifer Fixman Kramer / Jennifer Kramer / Jenny Fixman / Jenny Fixman Kramer / Jenny Fixman-Kramer / Jenny Kramer


The course will provide them with the basic skills they need to fulfil their duties as part of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (NI) 1982.
By the end of the course, delegates will have an understanding of how to treat individual injured people in the workplace.
The course covers such topics as how to assess an incident, the defined roles and responsibilities of an Emergency First Aider, the signs and symptoms of injury and illness and how to assist an individual suffering after an accident or illness in the workplace.
More specifically, the course is broken down into the following sections:
In this section delegates will be taught a basic understanding of up-to-date regulations and standards that they will have to adhere to. Potential barriers to treating individuals will also be discussed as well as how to assess an injury in the first instance and what to do when treating a patient who is unconscious as a result of their accident or illness.
This section of the course provides an outline of heart attacks and cardiac arrest and what to look out for in a person who may be suffering cardiac arrest. Delegates will also have explanation and demonstrations for single-rescuer CPR, chest compressions and Two-rescuer CPR and CPR handovers.
General First Aid
The final section of the course covers some other first aid issues that may arise in the workplace. Individuals will be taught how best to deal with choking, seizures and epilepsy, how to act fast when a person suffers burns in an accident, how to cope with spinal injuries and also how to tend to bleeding, wounds and help a person in shock.
The course is taught in a single day through classroom instruction and the participants will be assessed with a series of written and spoken questions, alongside practical demonstrations.
All successful participants will be awarded with the HABC Level 2 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (QCF) and a wallet-sized plastic card detailing this qualification. The course validates successful pupils as emergency first aiders for three years.
Once the HABC Level 2 Emergency First Aid course has been completed, the next steps are varied. There is the option to move up to Level 3 of the same award. Alternatively the next step is on to the Level 2 Award in Risk Assessment or the Level 2 Award in Health and Safety.
Entrants to the course must be a minimum of 16 years of age and be fluent in both spoken and written English. Basic numeracy skills are also required.
Last updated: Tuesday 19 June 2018 15:57:57


Our goal is to be helpful to all music teachers who engage in musical experiences with students every day, in ways that are historically and culturally relevant. It could serve as an undergraduate textbook in music methods courses, or as supplementary text in graduate music education curriculum or psychology of music learning courses.
— Frank Abrahams and Ryan John
With the help of a team of educators with a wide diversity of experience, Frank Abrahams and Ryan John explore how music educators best empower students of all ages to be musical. The goal of Becoming Musical is to ensure that through school music, students respond and evaluate music in ways informed by critical thinking, feeling, and acting.
Written for in-service music teachers, music education students, and practicing teachers, this practical companion to Planning Instruction in Music offers in-depth exploration of musical understanding, musical agency, and learning styles.
In Part I, the authors address global themes that contribute to musical literacy and creativity, including what it means to be musical, allowing for and developing student agency, matching learning styles with pedagogical approaches, and the genesis and implementation of the authors’ highly successful Collaborative Solfeggio.
In Part II, thirteen experienced teachers share approaches to developing musicality, drawing on pedagogical methods by Dalcroze, Gordon, Kodály, Orff, and Suzuki while expanding topics to include music therapy, yoga, composition, improvisation, and using popular music.
In Part III, twelve musicians address the needs of music-makers from the elementary music classroom through adulthood. Adding to approaches discussed in Part II, the authors show how to use social media, music theory, movement, and technology in band, choir, orchestra, and with young musicians. Sample lesson and rehearsal plans make this practical and helpful, guiding students toward Becoming Musical.


Music in India began as an indispensable part of socio-religious life .The music has a lot of varieties such as Indian Classical music, Folk music, Hindi bollywood songs, and Indian Pop.Thus music is an integral part of the curriculum of U. S. Ostwal International School.
The Objectives of Music Club
• Facilitating the basic understanding of the use of technology in music and music education.
• Attainment of basic knowledge of the Keyboard, Guitar, Tabla and Harmonium.
• Providing the basic and advanced knowledge in theory.
• Encouraging the acquirement of the knowledge and the understanding of basic and advanced historical musical styles.


Art at Christ Church
At Christ Church Primary School we believe that teaching and learning in Art is not just important, but a vital part of a child’s education. It helps to stimulate creativity, imagination and inventiveness. Art education gives the children skills, concepts and knowledge and involves exploring the properties of materials and their textures, experimenting with different effects, and having the freedom to create. At Christ Church we don’t focus on the outcome in Art and instead focus on the key skills that the children have learned during the course of a unit that helps to build upon their knowledge and raises their confidence and shows the process and journey that they have been on.
Carly Adkinson, Art Lead


$24.99$35.96 Excl. tax
What were dinosaurs? When did they live? Why don't we see them stomping around today? Dinosaurs: God's Mysterious Creatures answers these fascinating questions and more!
Meet some fun, fierce or frilled dino buddies like Stegosaurus, T. rex, and Triceratops. You'll also encounter some hard-to-pronounce beasts like Parasaurolophus (Pah-rah-sore-o-loe-fus). Read on to discover:
The first book of its kind, Dinosaurs will delight readers with the wonders of God's mysterious reptile creatures.
If you prefer, this resource, Dinosaurs: God's Mysterious Creatures, is also available in digital form as an eBook and can be downloaded now.
Did the universe begin with a Big Bang or God’s creative design? How did we get to the moon? Where are we going next? In Space: God’s Majestic Handiwork, you’ll find answers to these questions and more! Get to know the amazing citizens of our solar system from Mercury to Pluto and uncover their creation clues.
Dive in to discover:
The second book in the Science for Kids series, Space will wow readers with the wonders of Earth, the Milky Way, and beyond!
If you prefer, this resource, Space: God's Majestic Handiwork, is also available in digital form and can be downloaded now.
Fur, feathers, and fins - when did they all begin? Were animals designed by a genius Creator, or did they evolve by random chance?
In Animals by Design, you'll discover what the Bible and science say about the source of all life. You'll also explore the unique features of favorite, famous, and far-out creatures!
You'll find answers to these questions and more! The third book in the Science for Kids series, Animals by Design will leave you in awe of your creator as you study the wonderful creatures in His world!
If you prefer, this resource, Animals by Design, is also available in digital form as an eBook and can be downloaded now.
Though Earth is a familiar place to us, this planet contains many mysteries. What can science and the Bible tell us about its history? In Earth: Our Created Home, you'll explore our world from the beginning of its creation to what it is today. Read on to discover:
The fourth book in the Science for Kids series, Earth will give you fresh eyes to see God's glorious work in our amazing world.
|Titles Included:||Dinosaurs: God's Mysterious Creatures, Space: God's Majestic Handiwork, Animals by Design: Exploring Unique Creature Features, Earth: Our Created Home|
|Publishers:||Institute for Creation Research|
|Publication Date:||May 2017, November 2017, May 2018, July 2019|
|Audience:||2nd - 6th Grade|
|Pages / Run Time:||121 pages, 111 pages, 125 pages, 141 pages|
|Dimensions:||7" x 7" x 3/8"; 7" x 7" x 3/8", 7" x 7" x 3/8"; 7" x 7" x 3/8"|
|Total Shipping Weight:||2 lbs. 8 oz.|
|ISBN-13:||978-19-35587-93-4, 978-1-946246-03-8, 978-1-946246-12-7, 978-1-946246-32-5|


Saxon Math 1 Homeschool teaches basic concepts with fun, effective methods. Saxon Math 1 is an introduction to reading numbers, telling time, counting money, understanding the calendar, and other basic math concepts.
Building directly on Saxon Kindergarten Math, Math 1 establishes a solid understanding of basic math concepts, such as comparing and ordering numbers, mastering all basic addition facts and most basic subtraction facts, adding two-digit numbers without regrouping, naming fractions, and measuring with inches, feet, and centimeters. Your child will also learn to create, read, and write observations from real graphics, pictographs, and bar graphs.
Includes: Homeschool Teacher's Manual
Student's Meeting Book
- 130 Lessons
- Step-by-step instructions and scripts
- Pre-class preparation instructions
- A complete list of materials needed for each lesson
- Spiral-bound to lie flat when open
- 730 pages
Student Workbooks/Fact Cards
- Used for the daily opening exercise
- Provides a colorful way to teach the days, years, and dates
- All necessary student materials
- Bound in two workbooks
- Practice pages, masters, and fact cards
Saxon continues to lead as #1 favorite math program in surveys of home educators! Home school families have told me over and over again how much they love Saxon Math. Mary Pride says “Saxon Math is the best. Period.” Saxon's continual and incremental practice provides the child with opportunity to learn and remember the foundational skills and concepts of mathematics.
Saxon has taken their elementary classroom program and adapted it for homeschoolers.
Saxon Homeschool Math K-3 Manipulative Kit should be purchased along with this kit for maximum results.
Saxon Math K - 3 Placement Inventory
Saxon Math K - 3 Product Sampler
Saxon Math Scope & Sequence Introduction
Saxon Math Scope & Sequence K - 3


Students are involved in learning the Chinese language from Prep onwards, with the subject compulsory up to Year Eight.
The study of Chinese involves learning how to communicate in the Chinese language and becoming familiar with Chinese culture and traditions. Students learn basic Chinese sentence structure and correct character writing, which enhance their communication skills and intercultural understanding, and also improve literacy and numeracy skills. The curriculum includes studying Chinese festivals and other cultural activities and traditions, the development of Christianity in China, and Chinese food, sport and leisure activities. Students in Senior School have the opportunity to study Certificate Two and Three in Mandarin.
French Lessons give students the skills they need to speak and understand simple French in everyday contexts and is offered as an elective from Year Seven upwards. The course immerses students in the vocabulary and grammar of French and takes students through a wide range of practical situations such as socialising, shopping and getting around. The course also explore aspects of French society and culture.