This thesis investigates issues of meaning in music and the ways m which music education can be organised and delivered to maximise the experience of meaning for students. Two key questions are pursued within this thesis. Firstly, what is the nature of meaning in music, both as it is reported by educators and students, and evidenced in the literature? Secondly, in what ways can music education curriculum be organised to maximise this experience of meaning for students, specifically in the core areas of listening, composing and performing?
In recognizing the various ways in which concepts of musical meaning are employed within music education and in an attempt to clarify and more accurately define what is intended when referring to meaning in music, three specific terms-signification, responsification and socialification-are suggested. The use of these terms also provides important points of reference throughout the discussion. Employing an autobiographical and phenomenological approach alongside a critical analysis of music education philosophies, this study investigates the lived experiences of teachers and students in terms of meaning in music. The inclusion of personal histories-my own and the stories of the students whom I teach-within the methodological framework provides a unique vehicle for the capture of data given the highly personalised nature of much of the material to hand. Further, a consideration of the lived experience of teachers and students in light of contemporary research and thinking serves to firmly anchor the discussion within the educational context.
This research has found that issues of meaning are layered, multifaceted and interrelated, that there are numerous elements that contribute to meaning and that what is significant in music may be diverse, varying from individual to individual, from group to group. Musical meaning may be highly personalized and /or culturally delineated, and meaning in music may not remain static; it may vary across experiences or over time. This research has identified particular practices and approaches which significantly influence the development of meaning in music; such educative practices are worthy of sustained consideration by those within the field.


How do you go to a keyboard and play a melody you never played before, of a standard song you can hum, the kind of a tune everyone knows? Without the music? You learn to pick out melodies well. That's a skill. It's acquired. It's gained very rapidly, by anyone, with proper guidance.
How do you find just the right chords to go with any melody? That's a skill too. It's acquired. In one way, only - by playing lots of tunes whose chords are given to you until the common chord patterns all songs share become learned, in a very familiar way, to your hands.
How do you arrange chords and melody for a rich sounding song and not a simple-minded child's version? By using simple standard
voicing rules that explain which parts of a chord go in the left hand, which in the right, and how to add
color tones to enrich the sound in wonderful ways.
How do you quickly learn to do all of this, in the most efficient, straightforward way? With the least amount of unnecessary education, and the very best advice on how to develop fine song playing skills as quickly as is possible?
There's not a music education program in the world that competes. Two decades of studies on over 25,000 students prove that no program will have you playing songs well in as short a time.
The Sudnow Method is a recorded seminar. There are over 3 hours of recorded material and over 100 pages of downloads and updates - all in an electronic, downloadable format.
You listen to the recorded seminar right away, with illustrative cards in hand. Then you download course materials from the website and go to the piano to use a program that's laid out in perfectly clear detail. Follow it for a careful half-hour a day and you'll be amazing your friends in just months.
You start on a full blown adult version of a song, notated in an easy-to-follow way. And you gain all your skill inthe context of the kind of music you want to play, instead of working on certain drills just because tradition says they
might help. By tackling adult arrangements, the music you want to learn shows you how to play it.
And in the clearest terms you'll find anywhere, you'll know what you need to: about melodies, scales, chords, voicing, harmony, the development of good technique, and the ingredients of rapid learning.
If you'd really like to play standard songs well, don't waste your money anywhere else.


- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Parents have two basic questions: “How is my child doing as a reader and a writer?” and “What can I do to help?” It's a challenge to answer these questions and explain literacy development in content-packed back-to-school nights or during a thirty-minute parent - teacher conference. Supporting Your Child's Literacy Learning can help. This booklet provides parents with a visual way to chart their child's path as a reader and writer and includes suggestions for literacy activities families can do at home.
With Supporting Your Child's Literacy Learning, internationally known literacy researcher Bonnie Campbell Hill offers an effective resource to hand out during back-to-school nights, conferences, or whenever parents want help understanding how their young readers and writers are progressing. It can help improve family - teacher communication and bolster parent support for your school's literacy program.
Written clearly and without jargon, this parent guide documents the ten stages of literacy learning from the first random markings of a preschooler to the in-depth reflections of a middle school student. On the right-hand pages are examples of student writing and tips for families about ways to support writing at home for each development stage. On each left-hand page the characteristics and types of texts students can typically read at each stage are included, along with helpful suggestions for reading at home. Tucked in the back are bookmarks with developmentally appropriate questions for each stage of literacy that families can ask children as they read together.
Supporting Your Child's Literacy Learning is a helpful resource that gives parents the tools to be better informed, describes the path that students take to literacy, and shows what level of literacy their son or daughter has reached. It's an ideal way to open a new, more effective way of communication with parents than you've ever had before.
Available in Spanish.
Also available with front cover customized with your school's name (minimum order of 300 copies, call 800.225.5800 for details.)


A trio of one-page memos from the Lead for Literacy series examines the importance of using curriculum that is rigorous, cohesive, engaging and builds knowledge as well as decoding skills. The series was produced by HGSE’s Language Diversity and Literacy Development Research Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
As the first memo — The Importance of Using a Literacy Curriculum – notes, “It’s a big job to design cohesive, rigorous literacy instruction, especially instruction that promotes language and knowledge building. Yet many teachers are expected to both design and deliver literacy instruction day‐after‐day, and month after month, throughout the school year.” It offers a rationale for using a comprehensive literacy curriculum:
- “A curriculum provides content and pedagogical strategies educators need to help children meet standards.”
- “A high-quality curriculum is a resource that creates a platform for supporting good teaching.”
- “A curriculum is a tool for institutionalizing professional knowledge and effective practices across classrooms.”
- “A curriculum is a tool for building the kind of instructional cohesion children need to accumulate skills and knowledge over time.”
The second memo — Selecting a Comprehensive Literacy Curriculum – recommends selecting a curriculum through a “team‐based process that is informed by … the needs of the setting’s children and adults, and a pilot phase that enables thorough review.” The memo notes the importance of choosing a literacy curriculum with:
- “Language-rich and content-rich units of study.”
- A long-term plan with daily lesson models and supporting materials to “support instructional coherence and consistency within and across classrooms and grade levels.”
- Engaging approaches to instruction with “literacy enriched learning centers featuring a wide variety of books and visuals” and lessons “that promote interactive play and inquiry.”
The final memo — Implementing a Comprehensive Literacy Curriculum – offers suggestions for putting a literacy curriculum in place. It calls for ongoing professional development, “regular formal and informal observations of educators using the curriculum,” and “conversations about instructional practice and improvement.”
“Curricula are not intuitive and therefore require ongoing training. Continuous training improves implementation quality, builds collective commitment to the curriculum and gets new staff up to speed,” the memo states. “A curriculum [also] provides a shared professional language that enables educators to discuss and refine their instructional practices during meetings and planning time.”
The Lead for Literacy memos are an initiative of the Language Diversity and Literacy Development Research Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The research group is headed by Professor Nonie Lesaux, author of “Turning the Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success,” which we commissioned in 2010 and which informs the memos.


|Physical Science for Teachers|
|PHS FOR TEACH|
|CLASS CODE:||PH.S 110||CREDITS: 4||FEE: $10.00|
|DIVISION:||PHYSICAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING|
|GENERAL EDUCATION:||This course fulfills a General Education - Physical Science requirement.|
|CATALOG DESCRIPTION:||For Elementary Education Majors Only.
A study of the fundamental concepts in physics and chemistry appropriate for preparing Education majors for teaching Physical Science. Includes a three-hour lab per week.
|DESCRIPTION:||A study of the fundamental concepts in physics and chemistry appropriate for preparing Education majors for teaching Physical Science.|
|TOPICS:||Topics include motion, energy, heat & temperature, waves, electricity, magnetism, light, atomic models, periodic table, chemical formulas, acids and bases, and nuclear physics.|
|OBJECTIVES:||To gain an appreciation of the basic concepts and principles of physics and chemistry and show how these come into play over and over again in our lives.|
|REQUIREMENTS:||Homework is assigned from the exercises in the textbook. Everyone will teach elementary school labs to their classmates and will need to compile a lab notebook with at least 30 experiments that can be used in elementary school.|
|PREREQUISITES:||Elementary Education Major
Concurrent Registration: None
Math Level: Moderate use of high school algebra 1.
|EFFECTIVE DATE:||January 2002|


Nick Geranios, Associated Press
Beverly Hills, California is famous for many things, not the least of which is its public schools. The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) is one of the top performing districts in California, and the country. In recent state and national reading and math assessments, the district's students scored in the 80th percentile.
BHUSD students' performance on international assessments is less than impressive. Its students rank in the 53 percentile in mathematics and reading when compared to countries such as Finland, China, Korea and Canada. Poor performance on international exams isn't just a problem in Beverly Hills. Although Americans spend 50 percent more on education than other industrialized nations, they score 23rd in science, 17th in reading and 31st in mathematics of a total of 34 nations, according to data collected by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group that conducts international education comparisons.
American students' lackluster performance on international exams raises concern among economists and policymakers who argue that the U.S. needs to raise its grades or risk economic stagnation. "It is an undeniable fact that countries who out-educate us today are going to out-compete us tomorrow," said President Obama at a White House event last September. Obama's statement is based on the idea that "a greater amount of of educational attainment indicates more skilled and more productive workers, who in turn increase the economy's output of goods and services," said Robert Barro, professor of economics at Harvard University.
In the last ten years, attempts to improve American education have focused on teacher accountability through the high stakes testing mandated by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This strategy appears to have had little impact on student performance, however. Since NCLB was implemented in 2002, American performance has actually decreased. American students ranked 18th in mathematics in 2000 but fell to 31st place in 2009, according to OECD data.
Increasingly there is a push to ditch high stakes testing in favor of the educational strategies used by top performing countries. "To the extent that the U.S. can copy or adapt, and beg, borrow and steal successful practice from other nations, we should do so," said Secretary of education Arne Duncan at an event sponsored by the National Center on Education and Economy in Washington in 2011.
While different countries have different approaches to and attitudes about education, there are things that all high performing countries do. Two of these are paying teachers well and keeping students in school longer.
Some object to these proposals on the basis of cost: adding more school days and paying teachers more will cost states money they don't have. Other objections to the idea of borrowing the practices of other countries are more philosophical. Americans have different cultural values from many top performing countries which may limit the transferability of their techniques, according to James Stigler, professor of psychology at UCLA.
Teach like a champion
Top performing countries share particular attitudes and characteristics, according to U.N. education analyst Edward Fiske. First among these is a national commitment to education, said Fiske. National commitment to education manifests in the way nations recruit and pay teachers, UCLA's Stigler says.
Unlike American teachers who come from the bottom 30 percent of their university classes, in Finland admission to education programs is competitive. Successful completion of a teacher training course is no guarantee of a job, however. There is under a 10 percent acceptance rate into the profession. The situation is similar in Korea. Elementary education majors are recruited from the top 5 percent of their high school classes, according to the Center for International Benchmarking in Education. Moreover, only 30 percent of secondary school teaching candidates in Korea are able to find jobs.
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New School District #47 Early Learning Center
In September 2013 Westview Elementary will introduce Stepping Stones Play Room and the Early Childhood Community Room.
Full School Day Kindergarten
A high quality, play-based Kindergarten program has long-term benefits for children's academic and social skills and helps them to succeed in school and in life.
StrongStart Centres In Powell River Schools
StrongStart Centres are an initiative that supports smooth and successful transitions for children and families into kindergarten, supports families as the primary educators of their children, and makes school facilities and resources available to the preschool population.
StrongStart Outreach program
School District #47 provides a StrongStart Outreach program on the ORCA bus. ORCA stands for "On the Road with Children's Activities"- a mobile preschool activity bus designed to bring exciting preschool learning and resources to remote areas of the community.
Ready, Set, Learn
The Ready, Set Learn initiative provides opportunities for elementary schools to influence school readiness in children through school based community events. It is also intended to facilitate partnerships between schools and local community agencies and early childhood service providers, and is designed to encourage positive connections between families and the school system as well as the participating community agencies.
The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program
The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program is a group experience for parents of young children focusing on the pleasure and power of using oral rhymes, songs and stories. This program promotes the development of early literacy skills, but also empowers parent with tools to encourage positive social development in their children.
Ages And Stages
School District #47 contributes to "Ages and Stages"- an interactive preschool fun day that takes place at the Powell River Recreation Complex. It is a collaborative effort of the Building Blocks Committee 0-5; members are from agencies and services that serve the preschool population.
Young Parent Program
School District #47 offers a young parent program through Brooks Secondary School. This program is offered to young adults who have become parents before they have had the chance to complete their grade 12 education.
EDI stand for "Early Development Instrument" and is a questionnaire designed to measure children's school readiness. Kindergarten teachers participate by administering the EDI to current kindergarten students.
Roots Of Empathy (ROE)
ROE is a program offered in School District #47 classrooms. This evidence-based program has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression among children while raising social and emotional competence and increasing empathy.
Parents As Literacy Supporters (PALS)
PALS helps family members and caregivers support their preschool- or kindergarten-aged children’s early literacy development. Each PALS session focuses on learning through play, and includes time for parents and caregivers to talk with a facilitator, and time for adults and children to learn, play and have fun together.


Many parents want to know how to help their child do well in Kindergarten. In Wisconsin, children are eligible for kindergarten based on their age and not on their skills. Instead of equipping children with specific academic skills before they arrive, most early childhood experts agree that parents can best prepare their child to learn in school by providing frequent opportunities to play, talk, experiment and wonder in a relaxed and supportive environment. Children grow and develop at different rates, but are born with a great capacity to learn. Following, are some useful resources to help parents build a strong foundation for school.
- Helping Your Preschool Child with activities for children from infancy through age 5.
- The Ready for School Checklist can help to guide you as you prepare your child for school.
- Brochure: "Wisconsin's Children Moving Forward, An Introduction to Child Outcomes"
- Today's Play . . . Tomorrow's Success! A chart which emphasizes the importance of play in early childhood as the best foundation for success in school.
- Getting School Ready http://www.gettingschoolready.org/parents-and-caregivers/gsr/English.pdf. A booklet that explains how parents can prepare children for school and how schools can get ready for children. From the Foundation for Early Learning.
- The Truth About Play In this article, the authors offer practical tips on how children learn through play and how parents can make the most of playtime: http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/The_Truth_About_Play.pdf?docID=9381
- The Wisdom of Play: Why Children At Play Are Their Own Best Teachers. Ten renowned early childhood educators explain why play is such an essential part of every child's emotional and physical well-being. (28 page booklet)
- Transition to Kindergarten Parent Guides http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Introduction_Entry/ A series of brief handouts for parents on what to expect and how to help children prepare for and make the transition to Kindergarten. From the Michigan Department of Education.
- General Tips for Preparing for Kindergarten http://www.education.com/topic/preparing-for-kindergarten/. Take the first steps to prepare your child for kindergarten using tips from experts and teachers.
- School Resources for Parents at http://school.familyeducation.com/ includes skill-building ideas for parents of children birth through high school. Check out the Help by Grade Level section for lots of age-appropriate suggestions about what to expect and how to help your child.
- This video for parents, created by a Rhinelander VISTA, emphasizes the importance of reading in a child's life.
- "Tips for Reading with Children" is a single sheet handout for families with young children. Published in 25 languages -- from Amharic to Urdu -- it offers helpful hints for parents to read with children and establish good reading habits. From the Minnesota Humanities Center: http://minnesotahumanities.org/resources/tips.
- Free and Low Cost Literacy Resources offers parents and educators a list of booklets and brochures focused on getting preschoolers ready to read that can be downloaded or ordered at little or no cost.
For Parents of Children with Special Needs
- Preparing for Kindergarten Begins the Year Before from The National Center for Learning Disabilities at http://www.ncld.org/at-school/general-topics/early-learning-aamp-literacy/preparing-for-kindergarten-begins-the-year-before talks about the need for parents to start early and help children learn new skills along the way.
- Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative (WISPEI) at http://sped.dpi.wi.gov/sped_hmparents. A free service to help parents, educators, and others find or create resources and build positive working relationships that promote learning for children with disabilities.
For English Language Learners
- Como ayudar a su hijo durante la edad preescolar (Helping your preschool child)
- Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
- Dane County Cooperative Extension-Family Living
- "On the Go" materials can be downloaded in Somali, Russian, Vietnamese, Spanish, and English. The 14 activities are designed to be used outside the home: in the car, while walking, during bus rides, etc. The activities encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically: http://www.walearning.com/parent-tools/on-the-go/


Blogs About Reading
Sound It Out
Along with her background as a researcher, writer, and teacher, Joanne Meier is a mom. Join Joanne every week as she shares her experiences raising her own young readers, and guides parents and teachers on the best practices in reading.
How important is it to match a reader to a text?
The Common Core Standards are national standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics. They've been adopted by over 45 states and six provinces, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. According to the Common Core website the standards "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers."
The Common Core Standards place a new emphasis on informational text. There's specific wording about the craft and structure of texts, the integration of knowledge and ideas across multiple texts, and a range of reading and levels of text difficulty. Reading Hall of Famer Tim Shanahan (see Shanahan on Literacy) posted recently about an IRA Webinar in which he outlines what he sees as some of the challenges the CCS present for teachers. Among the challenges (and there are many, but that's too long a post): (1) students will likely be taught from texts that are more challenging than in the past, and (2) the emphasis will be on stretching students to meet the demands of the text rather than matching the text to the reading level of the student.
That's quite a paradigm shift for teachers who work in a district where the edict has been on matching a reader with a specific leveled book. Sure, there are scaffolding strategies teachers can use with students, but if the foundational skills and the "cognitive hooks" needed for understanding aren't there, I worry that a lot of instructional time will be wasted using text that is too challenging. What are your thoughts?


The United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) is a registered charity, which has as its sole object the advancement of education in literacy. UKLA is concerned with literacy education in school and out-of-school settings in all phases of education and members include classroom teachers, teaching assistants, school literacy co-ordinators, LEA literacy consultants, teacher educators, researchers, inspectors, advisors, publishers and librarians.
UKLA is developing an exciting range of PD materials and opportunities for UKLA badged consultants to work with individual and groups of schools. Download a flier to find out more about how UKLA could work with you. Visit our publications section to find out more about and purchase PD materials based on UKLA publications.
Further to the success of the UKLA Reading Fact Cards, we have published a new set of Fact Cards on Teaching Writing... Read more>
NATE's latest research paper makes a critical analysis of current approaches to the teaching of reading in the early years, drawing on government documents, professional literature and the views of respondents to the 2013 NATE survey on phonics instruction and early reading...Read more>
We are currently in the process of reviewing and improving the UKLA website, but we can’t do it without you... Read more>
At one of the UK’s newest universities, a passion for children’s literature brought together librarians and academics...Read more>
50 Years of Literacy: Continuity and Change
UKLA and Egmont UK have collaborated to produce high quality professional development and teaching materials with the aim of developing the critical reading of magazines in KS2 classrooms ( although we feel they would be of interest in KS3 and ITE as well). The practical workshops aim to promote the critical reading of magazines in schools, an understanding of why and how magazines are produced, and to emphasise the value of including children’s magazines in an inspiring reading curriculum.
Completing his series of ideas for teaching children how language works, this month's article looks at adverbials and how they can convey attitude.
We are grateful to Helen Hancock for allowing us to offer articles from the Primary English Magazine and the Secondary English Magazine to members.
Log in or register to download the .pdf file
Teaching Grammar Effectively in the Primary School
Why teach grammar? You might as well ask: ‘why teach about the use of language?’ It is important that young...read more
The Handbook of Primary English in Initial Teacher Education by Teresa Cremin & Henrietta Dombey
Now £9 (Members) and £12 (Non Members)


GYPSD has continued to focus on literacy not only within its schools, but also with community partners. During the 2009 - 2010 school year, a Community Partnership Facilitator took on the role of identifying community partners involved in literacy development. This lead to the development of Community Asset Inventories for each of the five zones within GYPSD; each Asset Inventory outline community agencies involved in literacy development, key staff, the primary goals of the community group or agency and resources that they may have at their disposal.
Another task undertaken by the Community Partnership Facilitator was the development of a Literacy Partnership in each zone. The initial literacy partnership meeting introduced community literacy partners (including schools) to each other with the intent of developing comprehensive literacy actions within each zone.
The following quote has guided much of our work with literacy partners: “while we weren’t sure what the plan was going to look like, we knew we had to figure it out as a community- as a group. It was important that we built the understanding of what we were undertaking together.” (Superintendent of Bulkley Valley School District)
Another endeavor undertaken by GYPSD was the investigation of early literacy intervention for students who may struggle with reading in the early grades. A pilot was conducted at five schools. The pilot was conducted with the intention of determining the efficacy of leveled Literacy Intervention in meeting the needs of struggling readers.


(Written by Kristen Thomas and Edited by Elle Yi) Foundational skills are essential in all school subject areas. For preschool children what math skills look like is vastly different from grade level mathematics. Learning at this stage is developing a language, sense of quantity, patterns, and number sense.
Most parents have no issue in naming days of the week, body parts, numbers, and items around the home. An additional layer is needed to develop math language in toddlers. Unless a parent has a job or speaks of common basic math terms directly, a toddler rarely hears math language until they enter a classroom.
A common way to start is when cooking or building a parent can show and name the measurement tools they use. Unless an adult gives it meaning a teaspoon, a cup, or a measuring tape simply look like wonderful toys to examine. A few moments conversation when encountering numbers would make a world of difference. We are surrounded by numbers. Numbers are in our vehicles, on street signs, money, and advertisements. Make it a habit to point out abbreviations, symbols, and meaning of that number in that situation. [Read more...]


In this day of comparing the mathematics achievement of students on an international scale, this book provides a glimpse of elementary mathematics as organized by the Dutch Ministry of Education. Divided into lower grades primary and higher grades primary, the book describes a specific curriculum addressed in elementary school in the Netherlands: “The examples of student behavior and outlines of teaching activities are intended to give a helicopter view of the learning experience that children encounter in primary school.” This book is designed to give a description of learning-teaching trajectories, or what the book defines as the learning process that children follow. These trajectories are not seen as a linear, step-by-step regimen, because that would “not correspond with the natural course of (the) learning process.”
This book illustrates some important points about mathematics education of young students. Many of these points coincide with statements made from the Mathematics Association of America and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. For example, “Apart from developing a critical mind and learning to trust their own thinking power, the students will also need to be helped to discover joy in mathematics.” The ideas presented stress that students need to be confronted with other students’ thinking because alternative solutions can push the student’s own thinking into “new and fruitful directions,” much like the discussions taking place in the United States about students being able to communicate and reason mathematically.
The book is divided into two parts: Lower Grades Primary School and Higher Grades Primary School. Then the sections are further divided by content. In the Lower Grades section, the focus is on calculations and developing students’ number sense. In the Higher Grades, the focus turns to mental mathematics, estimation, as well as the number and number relations that are important to further a students’ number sense development. Within each of these topics there are examples of student work, student discussions, and a discussion of a variety of teaching strategies. In some sections, the author also provides a comparison of “categories” or models of teaching the same concept.
The language of this book is somewhat challenging for the educator outside of the Netherlands because the terminology seems very different. However, once the reader moves past some of the terms and gets to the heart of the book it is very interesting. This book provides several specific examples of mathematics problems and explanations of student and teacher reasoning with those problems. I found the examples and explanations to be very informative about the education of elementary (primary) students.
I think most educators will see that the content in the Netherlands is not that different from the content being taught to students in the United States. This text reinforces the importance of in-depth understanding of mathematics. I would recommend this text to Mathematics Educators. It provides a very good look into elementary education in the Netherlands, while at the same time reinforcing effective mathematics education that could be taught anywhere.
Janet D. Wansick (email@example.com ) is an assistant professor of mathematics at East Central University in Ada, OK. She began her teaching career in the middle school classroom teaching 7th and 8th grade mathematics before moving to the high school and eventually to the college level. She works with numerous classroom teachers at all levels and conducts mathematics partnership workshops. Her research areas of interest include mathematics education, curriculum and pedagogy, and mathematical assessment.


Printing Without A Press Vol. I
(Woodblock Block and Linoleum Block Printing)
This download contains two complete and different art projects. They contain both step-by-step lesson plans and related PowerPoint presentations, along with Digital PDF's, MOV files, and more.
This download contains two complete step-by-step lesson plans and related PowerPoint presentations. Not all schools have a printing press in their art department; but still, the teachers want to instruct their students in printmaking. Here are two different printmaking projects that don't require a printing press. This can be added to your art program. The Woodblock Print and Linoleum Print lesson plans each take an entirely different approach in their printmaking process. They both use water-based printing ink, which will allow for easy clean up.
What does the course contain?
Lesson Plan Pages
Downloads Art Projects Instantly
Click Here to view all the Projects we have to offer your art class!
What do the lesson plans contain?
- Title: Project name
- Idea: A concept or description of the project
- Objectives: Statements in sequential progression for instruction and desired student outcomes
- Activities: Step-by-step procedures to achieve each Objective
- Hints/tips: Highlighted areas that will make the process easier
- Material list: A list of materials needed for the entire project and one is included for each Activity
- Art history: Includes information on art movements, artists and media related to the project
- Vocabulary terms: Terms defined that relate to the project
- Time line: An approximate amount of time needed for each activity, based on a school year of 180 days, with 55 minute class periods meeting 5 days a week
- Written toward the National Art Standards for Art Education: Includes questions, related to the project, for students to answer
What do the PowerPoint presentations contain?
- Title: Project name
- An example of the project: A finished artwork example of the project
- Student artwork examples: Numerous student artwork examples
- Procedures in both written and visual format: Complete step-by-step procedure
In addition to using your PayPal account as payment for our downloads, we are also now accepting a check from either your school or district office (their name must be printed on the check) as payment for our downloads. Do not send a personal check; it will not be accepted. Use only the costs as indicated; no handling fee or extra charges will be added. Mail the school or district office check along with your name, mailing address (include zip code) and your Email address to our business address: Ken Schwab, 5398 Southbridge Court, San Jose, CA 95118.
Make the check out to: Art-Ed Projects with Ease. Upon receipt of the school or district check, we will promptly contact you through your Email address and give you the information needed to complete the download that you have purchased. Be sure to indicate what e-mail address this will go to.


Preschooler: What should you teach your preschooler?
I just graduated with a degree in elementary education. I haven't gotten a job yet and plan to stay home with my children for the next six months. I have a three-year-old son. I can't afford preschool for him because we are a one income family. I would like him to be more than ready for kindergarten when the time comes. We have started with shapes, colors, numbers and letters. Could you please give me some advice on how to proceed.Question:
The most important lessons a child learns in preschool don't concern letters, numbers or shapes. They are social ones: how to follow a routine; how to share and wait your turn; and how to get along with other people, to name the three most important ones.
You can help your child in these areas by taking him to playgrounds or mommy-and-me classes and helping him deal with other kids. At home, you can play games or cook with him, and have him take turns with you as you mix ingredients. You can also make sure that your day has a structure of sorts, such as playtime, reading time (most important for his own future reading), hanging-out time, nap time, etc.
As for teaching your child letters and numbers, it is not important or necessary unless he is interested. And even then, it should be for only as long as he is interested. Three year olds have short attention spans. That's why there is so much to do in a preschool classroom! The children tend to flit from one activity to another, stopping for longer periods at what interests them.
When using intellectual materials with your child, make sure to take your cue from him. If he wants to spend just a few minutes on a task, that's just fine. Do what he is interested in. A good set of building blocks is probably your best investment at this age through six years. Block building teaches proportion, balance, creativity and social compromise (when building with others.) And kids just think they are having fun! These types of toys, called "open ended" because they have no "right answer," are the best thing for your child at this age.Answer:


Classification And Screening For Cervical Dysplasia
Cervical dysplasia is commonly referred to as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). It is often classified by the degree of penetration of abnormal cells into the tissue lining (epithelium):
- CIN I describes the involvement of the basal third of the epithelium.
- CIN II involves the basal two thirds of the epithelium.
- CIN III involves more than two thirds of the epithelium.
A diagnosis of cervical dysplasia does not necessarily mean that cervical cancer will develop. In fact, up to 74 percent of women with mild CIN will naturally regress to normal within five years (Holowaty 1999). Of those cases that do progress, only a minority of women will actually develop cancer.
- Only 1 percent of women with CIN I who experience progression will progress to severe dysplasia or worse (Holowaty 1999).
- Among patients with CIN II, 16 percent will advance to severe dysplasia within two years and 25 percent within five years.
- An overall progression rate of severe dysplasia (CIN III) to cervical cancer has been observed in 12 to 32 percent of patients (Arends 1998; McIndoe 1984).
Pap smears are the standard tool used to screen women for cervical dysplasia or cancer. During a Pap smear, cells are scraped from the cervix and then evaluated microscopically. About 5 to 7 percent of Pap smears yield abnormal findings (Jones 2000).
One major problem with screening is poor follow-up testing among women with abnormal Pap smears. In most cases, an abnormal Pap smear requires a follow-up test in a few months. However, an estimated 10 to 61 percent of women with abnormal Pap smears do not undergo follow-up testing (Shinn 2004). Factors associated with noncompliance include an elementary education, prior surgery, additional diseases, consumption of medications for chronic conditions, and family illness (Bornstein 2004).
In general, according to the American Cancer Society’s 2002 screening guidelines:
- Women should begin cervical cancer screening no later than three years after beginning vaginal intercourse but no later than 21 years of age.
- Cervical cancer screening should be performed annually with regular Pap tests or every two years with liquid-based Pap tests.
- A woman 30 years of age or older with three consecutive normal Pap smears may elect to be screened every two to three years.
- Women who have undergone hysterectomy can elect to discontinue Pap smears if the surgery was not performed to treat cervical cancer or precancer. Women with an intact cervix post hysterectomy should undergo screening until at least age 70.
- A woman older than age 70 may choose to discontinue Pap smear screening after three prior normal Pap smears and no abnormal results in the preceding 10 years.


Frugal Tips for Music Lessons
- Friday, October 04, 2013
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
We know from His Word that music was God’s idea. It’s part of His character, and because we are bearers of His image, music is part of our character too. It’s why He created us with voices to sing, why some of us are gifted musicians, and why most of us are inspired to rejoice, to worship, and to celebrate with music.
Martin Luther made this frequently quoted statement: “Music is a fair and glorious gift of God.” Though styles may have changed since Luther’s sixteenth century and our choices and personal preferences vary, I don’t know anyone who is not grateful for how music enriches our lives.
Instilling an appreciation for music and providing the lessons for developing skills that our children need in order to enjoy and use their natural musical talents is a priority for many homeschooling families, but finding frugal ways and resources to provide that education in music, including private voice or instrument lessons, can be a challenge. A typical half-hour weekly lesson can cost anywhere from $20–$50 per child. Depending on the number of children in a family who want or need lessons, $200 a month per child can be more than our budgets can handle, but the more motivated, disciplined, or gifted our children are, the more likely we will be to find a way to make it happen.
Even if our children are not musically gifted, studies have shown that a music education can help them develop skills in critical thinking and creative problem solving. Children who study music are more likely to achieve success in math and science as well—all good reasons to invest in a music education for all of our children.
One of the ways we can save money in that investment is to begin a music education program with our children at a very young age. This preparation can form a foundation that could reduce the number of private lessons the child will need when he is older and therefore make the financial investment more valuable. The good news is that this early preparation doesn’t cost anything but our time and patience.
My music teacher friend Leslie believes that children learn the disposition and desire to make music from their parents—that they can learn particular skills from a teacher throughout their lives, but that the love of making music comes from their parents, even if the parents have no musical abilities. A love for music will likely motivate our children to be diligent music students when they are ready for structured lessons.
Using free resources from the local library and online, Leslie exposed her son to music as soon as he was born, playing classical music and instrumental music (piano/guitar/saxophone/violin) throughout the day. She sang to him while changing his diaper, during bath time, while getting him dressed, and before bedtime or naptime—songs such as “Jesus Loves Me,” “Eensy Weensy Spider,” “I’m a Little Teapot,” and “12 Days of Christmas.” While he was a baby in a bouncy seat, she played the piano and his daddy played the guitar. When her son was a little older, she began using music websites to play theory and composer games with him.
As a teacher, Leslie also encourages parents to dance with their children and let them enjoy movement and rhythm, gently tapping out the beat on their backs. According to Leslie, research has shown that children who experience rhythm with their bodies can more easily hear it inside their heads.
Leslie insists that young children’s musical growth occurs best in a playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate setting that is free from direct instruction and performance pressure and that they learn best through play and experimentation, which can be accomplished in our own homes at no cost at all.
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But with all this there is, of course, the danger that so much energy may be absorbed in these pursuits that little is left for the ordinary school work. In some few cases, where there is a strong natural bent and the free-time pursuit is a serious object of study, this may be a thing not to be discouraged, as it will provide the truest means of education. But in most cases care is needed to see that the due proportion is kept, and especially that mere amusement is not allowed to occupy the whole of leisure, still less to distract thought and effort from serious work. By making entertainments, which might, if too frequent or too elaborate, have this effect, dependent on the school work being well done, this danger can be minimised. For the rest, if free-time work is found to take the first place in a boy’s thoughts, may not this be a sign that the ordinary curriculum and methods of teaching are capable of improvement, and that more use of these natural interests may with advantage be made in class time as well? Not that work of any kind can be all pleasure or always outwardly interesting; there is plenty of hard spade-work needed in any study seriously followed, in class or out. But if in education keenness is the first essential and personality the final aim, interest and freedom must have a larger place than is usually allowed them in the class-room if the real education is not to centre in the self-chosen and self-directed pursuits of leisure.
One word more. It must not be supposed that all that has been described is only possible, or only needed, in the boarding school or only for a specially leisured class. If, as has here been urged, these activities and interests form an integral part of education in its fullest meaning, they are just as necessary in the day school and cannot be left to chance and the home to see to. And of all the needed reforms in elementary education, amongst the most needed is the greater utilisation of the active interests and instincts of children, in a training that would have a wider outlook and a closer bearing, through practical experience, both on the work of life and the use of leisure.
PREPARATION FOR PRACTICAL LIFE
By SIR J. D. McCLURE
Head Master of Mill Hill School
It is, perhaps, the chief glory of the Ideal Commonwealth that each and every member thereof is found in his right place. His profession is also his vocation; in it is his pride; through it he attains to the joie de vivre; by it he makes his contribution to the happiness of his fellows and to the welfare and progress of the State. The contemplation of the Ideal, however, would seem to be nature’s anodyne for experience of the Actual. In practical life, all attempts, however earnest and continuous, to realise this ideal are frustrated by one or more of many difficulties; and though the Millennium follows hard upon Armageddon, we cannot assume that in the period vaguely known as “after the war” these difficulties will be fewer in number or less in magnitude. Some of the more obvious may be briefly considered.


ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd||3rd - 4th|
|5th - 6th||7th - 8th|
|9th - 10th||11th - 12th|
Reading and Writing Workshop: Freak the Mighty
|Grades||6 – 8|
|Lesson Plan Type||Unit|
|Estimated Time||Ten 50- to 60-minute sessions|
This unit revolves around Rodman Philbrick’s Freak the Mighty. Lessons include teaching and practicing pre-, during, and after reading comprehension strategies. Before reading, students are guided to make personal connections with the story by jotting down words and phrases as they read the back cover. During reading, students make predictions about the text and skim recently read passages to find one sentence that stands out to them. After reading, student discuss why the author chose the title. Students connect the book to their own writing by focusing on the use of voice in one’s writing, figurative language, vocabulary development, and word study. A multiple choice of culminating activities with an accompanying rubric is also included.
Experienced readers use specific strategies before, during, and after reading in order to make sense of the texts that they read. In order for students to develop these strategies, they need to see the techniques modeled and they need to be urged to practice the strategies themselves. Rick VanDeWeghe writes of modeling: "teachers show how they go about the processes of reading and writing-drawing students' attention to the ways readers and writers think and the real decisions they make, especially when they themselves are challenged." This lesson makes extensive use of modeling through a series of activities related to the book Freak the Mighty.
VanDeWeghe, Rick. "Deep Modeling and Authentic Teaching: Challenging Students or Challenging Students?" English Journal 95.4 (March 2006): 84-88
Atwell, Nancie. 1998. In the Middle: New Understandings about Reading, Writing, and Learning. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook.
Robb, Laura. 2000. Teaching Reading in the Middle School: A Strategic Approach to Teaching Reading That Improves Comprehension and Thinking. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, Inc.


ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd||3rd - 4th|
|5th - 6th||7th - 8th|
|9th - 10th||11th - 12th|
All About Our Town: Using Brochures to Teach Informational Writing
|Grades||2 – 4|
|Lesson Plan Type||Unit|
|Estimated Time||Eight 40- to 60-minute sessions|
All communities have their own landmarks, symbols, and people that make them unique places to live. In this lesson, students in grades 2–4 explore their towns using a variety of print and nonprint resources. By looking at brochures and other informational tools, students learn about some of the purposes for which people read and write. They also practice writing for a specific audience, revising their writing, and working collaboratively to create a brochure for new students just moving into town.
New Town Interview Questions: Students will use this handout to ask questions about experiences with moving to a new place and to create a brochure aimed at a student who is new to the area.
Duke, N.K., & Stewart, B.B. (1997). Standards in action in a first-grade classroom: The purpose dimension. The Reading Teacher, 51(3), 228–237.
- Learning that people read and write for various reasons and learning about the purposes for which people read and write are two important-and often neglected-facets in children's literacy development.
- Obtaining and communicating information, responding and interpreting literature, learning and reflecting, and problem solving and applying are the four important parts of the framework teachers can use to think about purposes for written language.
- Teachers should play a role in encouraging students to read and write for specific purposes.


Step 1: Clearly Define Your Research Need
- What do you need or want to know?
- "Is there a connection between global warming
and extreme weather?"
- "Is there a connection between global warming and extreme weather?"
- How much information do you need or want?
- "Information for a 5-8 page research paper"
- Use general library resources, such as encyclopedia articles or books to better understand your topic before you begin your research.
Step 2: Carefully Select Your Search Terms
- Keywords and Search Phrases
Use the most descriptive words and phrases from your topic including synonyms and alternate terms, such as acronyms and scientific terms.
Is there a connection between global warming and extreme weather?
global warming climate change climatic changes greenhouse effect extreme weather
floods flooding hurricanes drought tornadoes connection relationship
- Use Controlled Vocabulary
Many databases and indexes assign controlled words, subject headings or descriptors to database records. This is done to improve access to information. For example, in an education database the phrase "elementary education" would be used as a subject heading/descriptor for all articles about kindergarten through grade six. Using this descriptor will retrieve references to articles on the topic, even if the phrase "elementary education" never appeared in the title or abstract of the articles.
Different databases may use different controlled vocabulary terms. For example, the following terms are used by these catalogs and databases:
ONLINE CATALOGS ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER PSYCINFO Library of Congress Subject Headings Subject terms Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms AIDS (Disease) AIDS (Disease) Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Indians of North America Indians of North America American Indians
Ask the library reference staff for help in finding thesauri.
- Use advanced search techniques
Truncation is used to expand results by instructing the computer to look for the root of the word and all alternate word endings.
flood* searches for flood, flooded, floods, flooding
Truncation symbols may differ depending on the database or engine you are using. Common truncation symbols are:Use Boolean operators to produce more relevant search results by combining search terms.
* (an asterisk)
? (a question mark)
# (the pound sign)
The principal Boolean operators are: AND
- Use AND to combine different concepts together. This will reduce search results.
"global warming" AND "extreme weather"
In search engines use the + symbol (+"global warming" +"extreme weather")
- Use OR to gather references that contain similar terms or synonyms. This will increase search results. Always put parentheses around terms you connect with OR.
("extreme weather" OR flood* OR tornado* OR drought)
- Use NOT to exclude terms. Use this sparingly as it may remove useful search results.
"extreme weather" NOT drought
In search engines use the - symbol ("extreme weather"-drought)
Hint: Some databases, especially online library catalogs, use AND automatically. For example, if you enter global warming, it will search for the words global AND warming, but not necessarily for the words to be next to each other.
Some databases and search engines will allow you to search for an exact phrase. Phrase searching will reduce the number of search results. Use quotation marks to find exact phrases.
Search for a phrase: "greenhouse effect" (use quotations)
Step 3: Start Your Search
Step 4: Carefully & Accurately Record Your Findings
- Take careful notes, or print full references for bibliographies
- Carefully organize your bookmarks within meaningful headings
- Citing Print and Electronic Sources
Step 5: Critically Evaluate the Information You Find
- Is the resource useful, well written, up to date and/or at an appropriate level for your need?
- Is the source credible, authoritative, unbiased, factual?
- Remember the Internet is a self publishing medium and contains a huge range of data, including useless, false, and offensive materials
For more help, see our guide on critical evaluation.
Step 6: Get Help When You Need It!
- Ask for help from your instructor
- Use "HELP" screens and other online help when available
- Ask for assistance from the library reference staff as needed
- Don't waste time or get too frustrated before asking for help


Learning Learning/Parable 3
The QWERTY Story
Is Intel Inside?
The sequence QWERTY on the keyboard symbolizes how technology can serve not as a force of progress but for keeping things stuck. The arrangement of keys we all use has no rational explanation, only a historical one: there are other arrangements that are more efficient and easier to learn. Indeed the QWERTY keyboard (as it is called) was deliberately designed to be inefficient. In the early days of the typewriter fast typing caused keys to jam! The idea was to minimize the collision problem by separating those keys that frequently followed one another closely. Just a few years later, general improvements in the technology removed the jamming problem, keys no longer stuck but QWERTY did.
In my book Mindstorms I introduced the term “QWERTY phenomenon” to describe situations in which a design decision made to solve a transient problem stays with us long after the problem has gone away. The most damaging of these is the design of the school curriculum. Like the QWERTY keyboard, it was designed to deal with problems that were real once upon a time, specifically before mechanical technologies gave way to electronic ones. In those days you could make a case for spending so much time at school programming children to do the kinds of calculations a digital device could do far better. You could also justify making arithmetic a central part of elementary education on the grounds that everyone should learn to understand some mathematics and crunching numbers was one of the few candidates to serve as entry-level mathematics. The computer makes available many more paths into mathematical knowledge. In those days you almost HAD to begin a mathematical education by doing arithmentic, because it was one of the few branches of mathematics accessible to children using pencil and paper technologies. It made no sense to try to teach algebra or coordinate geometry to seven-year olds. The concepts of “variable” and “x-coordinate” were far too abstract.
But this has changed dramatically. All of a sudden the computer gives these concepts a form that is even more concrete than rules for adding multi-digit or fractional numbers. For children who have learned to write a program to draw a shape (which children can do in a well designed programming language), a variable is a way to make the program draw the same shape in many different sizes. For children who have learned to write a program, such as a game, that makes an object on the screen move about, coordinates are a way to control where it moves. These concepts cease to be abstract when they become tools to serve immediate personal purposes. Even at a more advanced age most children take a long time to see the point of algebra as it is traditionally presented – and many never do.
Some people might object that it is useless to have children understand algebra when they don’t know how to multiply 78543 by 17629. I have four answers. Take your pick – each one is sufficient for my point. First, algebra captures a way of thinking that is far more important in life (both practical life and intellectual life) than multiplying big numbers. Second, a calculator multiplies better. Third, if it is necessary to know how to multiply this can be learned far more quickly and far less painfully after learning how to think mathematically. The fourth answer, and perhaps the most important, is expressed in the words of my mentor, the late Bob Davis who used to say: “School math teaches the art of getting the right answer without thinking.” Intensive practice of mechanical skills before one knows enough to fully understand them is a great inhibitor of creative thinking.
Last week I used learning a language as an example of how technology could liberate teaching from limitations of the teacher. I was imagining a teacher who had the wonderful human gift of understanding children but happened not to be able to pronounce English. A very similar limitation prevents dedicated teachers from cultivating in children a genuine understanding and love for mathematics. Many teachers who have a deep love for mathematics, and a deep understanding of how it works, develop the knack of helping children cultivate these habits of mind. But many are unable to do this. Perhaps in the age of genuine digital learning everyone will become a math-lover. But again perhaps many will choose not to do so – just as many may not want to learn English. My point is that in the age of technology whether teachers know how to pronounce English or mathematics need not limit their students’ development either as mathematicians or as English speakers.


Something that's talked about a lot in special education circles is dignity of risk. Basically, that means that everyone must be allowed to make choices—good or bad—within safety limits of course. For example, a child with a full-time school aide one day decides to go to the cafeteria instead of going to class. Should the aide let him?
The correct answer is yes. The child needs to learn that there are good and bad decisions, and that our decisions all have consequences. Any other child would have been punished. The punishment for children with differing abilities should be no different. That’s dignity of risk.
A similar thought occurred to me recently as I watched a video that had gone viral. During the final game of the season, a Texas high school basketball player passed the ball to an intellectually challenged player on the opposing team. People were inspired by this act and left comments in support of both teams. No one seemed to see anything wrong with it—except nearly every disabled person I talked to.
I'm sure that player had good intentions. But that's not how the game works, and to completely abandon the structure of the game just so a disabled player can score smacks of ableism. The message I took away from the video was that the disabled player isn't a real player worthy of competition. If that athlete had passed the ball to a nondisabled member of the other team, he would have been a laughingstock. Why is it different when the receiver is disabled?
There were certainly alternatives. He could've treated the boy on the other team just like any other opposing athlete. He could've even taken it a step further and offered to teach the boy some basketball techniques after the game. That would've demonstrated a quiet respect. It wouldn't have been blaring from the headlines. It shouldn't be. Acceptance should not be noisy. It should happen naturally, without fanfare.
Kids with disabilities need to learn that sometimes they will lose. And there will be things they will not be able to do because of their particular abilities.
I understand that I will never be an Olympic figure skater, and that's OK. I know where my strengths lie. So maybe basketball isn't that kid's strength. I'm positive that he has other areas where he shines. And if that kid really wants to play basketball, don't just let him play on a team because he wants to. Teach him how to play. Have him practice until one day he might be good enough to play competitively. Treat him like a true member of the team.
People with disabilities, parents and professionals alike need to learn a new term that I'm inventing—dignity of loss. Just as you need to let people make their own mistakes, you also need to let them lose—or win—their own games. Let them earn their own victories. Success is so much sweeter when it's earned.
Liebowitz is a college student with several differing abilities majoring in special and elementary education in Pennsylvania.


Tags: Around Town, In This Issue, Local
From the second your child is born, he is learning something new every day that is critical for development. Researchers and psychologists believe children learn significantly earlier than previously believed. For example, infants as young as three months show evidence of being able to accurately identify concepts that are basic to literacy in science, math and language. Research conducted at Harvard University even revealed that babies less than one year old demonstrate the ability to differentiate between good and bad intentions. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis partnered in this National Science Foundation funded research along with MIT and the Boston Museum of Science.
The museum is putting the latest research to good use in the new and completely redesigned Playscape. "When Playscape opens August 31st, it will provide a new research-based interactive setting to address some of the most critical skills for infancy through five years of age," said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, president and CEO, The Children's Museum. "We have listened to parents and researchers and responded with elements to help children develop these cognitive and social skills."
"Every time you engage your baby in play, such as singing, talking, and reading together, you're stimulating neural connections, building skills, and creating a strong parent-child relationship," said Cathy Southerland, Director of Early Childhood Education, The Children's Museum.
This new child-sized environment is both Reggio- and Montessori-inspired and will provide something for each developmental stage of the littlest visitors. Babyscape is a special area for younger infants, crawlers, and toddlers and centers around a "nest" - a protected area for parents to place babies on thick mats for tummy time along with mirrors and age-appropriate toys. Crawlers and cruisers will be encouraged to play with balls and a variety of textures. Toddlers can play on a low-incline slide, try on animal costumes, crawl through a log, and push a button to watch pretend butterflies fly.
Aspiring Beethovens and Picassos will discover materials for creativity in another area. It includes a Music Studio in which little ones can play with sounds and experiment with musical instruments (drums, shakers, bells, rhythm sticks, xylophone, and a glockenspiel). There is also an Art Studio fostering creative thinking with a wide variety of materials (paint, crayons, and clay).
One of the most valuable lessons your children can learn early and carry with them throughout life is that for every action there's a reaction. The inventive space is all about cause and effect and will focus on creative play with objects such as wheels, blocks, balls, and simple machines.
"Play is a critical component of invention. Encouraging your child to wonder, ask a question, form a hypothesis and test it playfully will foster science inquiry and basic math skills," said Dr.David Wolf, former astronaut and the museum's Extraordinary Scientist-in-Residence.
Children can connect with their grownups and nature as they explore a pond, creek and sandbox in another portion of the exhibit. A unique climber encourages gross motor skill development and invites children to pretend swim or climb through a series of lily pad platforms to the "surface." Upon reaching the top, kids discover sailboats for make-believe play. Realistic-looking fish, turtles, frogs, and birds add to the immersive feel along with a soundscape. At the creek children can walk behind a waterfall, launch a fish and follow it downstream, or try catching fish with nets.
Play With Me! Toy Boxes are geared to help adults who have young infants and older children. It will enable parents to play with their baby while watching older kids. And those wondering what to do with those toys that Junior sticks in his mouth and drools all over will find new "Dirty toy" boxes in which to deposit them for cleaning (the toys – not your child).
Nursing moms are sure to appreciate amenities available in the Mothers' Rooms. Inside each of the private cubicles will be a comfortable glider, shelves and hooks for bags, chair for younger child, flat screen monitor with messages from PNC and St. Vincent, adjustable lighting, and electrical outlet for breast pumps. Outside the cubicles, families have a diaper-changing station, sink, hand sanitizer, outlet for bottle-warmer, hot water at the sink for mixing formula, and soap dispenser.
And finally help to eliminate the potty dance run… there are TWO family restrooms inside the exhibit – helping those who are potty training to get there quickly. In addition to a kid-sized and an adult-sized sink, each restroom has big and little manual-flush toilets. As a mom whose toddler practically somersaulted into the toilet basin to figure out what made the loud whoosh, this is one more little thing that could make a huge difference.


Print version ISSN 0104-8333
SILVA, Isabel de Oliveira e and LUZ, Iza Rodrigues da. Boys in pre-school education: the standpoint of educators about gender diversity. Cad. Pagu [online]. 2010, n.34, pp. 17-39. ISSN 0104-8333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-83332010000100003.
Pre-School education, the first phase of elementary education in Brazil, has been slowly consolidating as the entry of Brazilian children in the educational system and as a condition that changes the children's way of participating in the public arena at the very beginning of life. The growing tendency of expanding pre-school education implies a transformation of the moments, places and ways of socializing children early in their lives. This article aims at analyzing the conceptions of pre-school teachers in regard to the education of boys in the institutional sphere. It is based on a standpoint that conceives both the individual as well as the collective experiences in the institutional space as the foundation of the individuals, which involves learning about the self, about others and about the world itself. This article argues that the educators' perceptions of the differences between boys and girls reflect social stereotypes related to gender relations and that the changes in the educational practices inside the schools, however, come into conflict with the teachers' broader social experiences, including those of their family context.
Keywords : Children's Education; Care; Gender; Boys.


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


Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Insecticide
This past Thursday, the NRDC and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to try to force the agency to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate, has been prohibited for residential application since 2001 but is still often used in agriculture. Inhaling the chemical can cause nervous-system reactions such as blurred vision, dizziness and weakness. The groups petitioned the EPA to ban the insecticide three years ago and are suing the EPA for "unreasonably delayed" work on an anti-chlorpyrifos petition, which was opened for public comment in 2007, but never resulted in a final ruling.The EPA moved earlier this year to limit chlorpyrifos use in Pacific Northwest states after the NMFS decided it could threaten endangered salmon species. PANNA and NRDC argue that chlorpyrifos' continued agricultural use exposes farmworkers, consumers, and bystanders to harm from the highly toxic pesticide. A number of other countries have already outlawed use of chlorpyrifos, including South Africa in May.
Pesticide manufacturers and some farmers dispute that there is a human health risk from chlorpyrifos, if the product is used safely, saying that there are no good alternatives. NRDC and PANNA argue that the pesticide causes asthma and developmental problems such as ADHD. When chlorpyrifos was banned for household use nine years ago by the EPA, health effects on children were cited including delayed mental and motor skill development. Chlorpyrifos is still widely used as an insecticide on corn, grapes, oranges, almonds, and other crops, as well as on golf courses and for pest control in urban areas. According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, the pesticide is still in use in all of the nine Bay Area counties. It is most widely used in the Central Valley and is polluting 29 of the state's waterways, mostly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, according to state records. Environmental groups say it can cling to sprayed crops, but is also capable of vaporizing and being carried airborne.
Residents who live nearby crops sprayed with Chlorpyrifos have reported suffering numerous negative health effects. In one instance, Luis Medellin had five times more Chlorpyrifos in his body than the national average. Symptoms of over exposure to Chlorpyrifos are reported to include headaches, nausea, and vomiting.


With the Right to Education Act coming into force, India has joined the league of over 130 countries which have legal guarantees to provide free and compulsory education to children.
According to the UNESCO’s ‘Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010’, about 135 countries have constitutional provisions for free and non-discriminatory education for all.
However, the report says that despite the legal guarantee of free education, primary school fees continue to be charged in some countries.
It also cited a 2005 World Bank survey, which stated only 13 countries impart primary education totally free of cost. In majority of countries, some direct costs have been reported though no tuition fees are charged.
“In reality, free primary schooling still remains the exception rather than the rule,” says the report.
Chile tops the list of countries in providing free education for a period of 15 years to a child. It gives free and compulsory education to children in the age group of six to 21 years.
The Latin American country, where elementary education was among the worst two decades ago, had implemented a special education programme in 1990 which recorded a significant improvement among primary and upper primary students.
There are seven countries such as Germany, Belgium, Italy and Norway that have provisions of free compulsory education to children covering their entire schooling period.
Countries like Britain and New Zealand have made education compulsory and free for children for a period of 11 years.
Spain, France, Norway and Canada are among the 19 nations where education is free of cost for a duration of 10 years, ranging from the age of five to 15 or six to 16 years.
There are 34 countries, including Japan, Finland, Russia and Sweden where a child gets nine years of compulsory education, according to the report.
In India, the Right to Education law, providing free and compulsory schooling to children in the 6—14 year age bracket, came into force yesterday.
With the new education act now operational, India has joined some 20 other countries including Afghanistan, China and Switzerland which have laws guaranteeing free and compulsory education for eight years of elementary education.
India’s neighbours such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan do not have any law providing free education, where as Bangladesh and Myanmar have such provisions for a four-year-period while Nepal has five years of compulsory schooling.
According to the report, there are seven countries, including Romania and Brazil whose laws define seven years of compulsory education for a child, while five countries, including the Philippines and Georgia give children legal right to education for a period of six years.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and eight other countries have the provision of five years of free education for children.
However, there are over 50 countries, including the US, South Africa, Malaysia and a majority of Sub-Saharan African countries which do not have any constitutional provision to provide free and compulsory education to children.
The UNESCO report, however, does not have data about certain countries on whether they have any constitutional provision of providing free education.
The report also states that some countries have achieved extraordinary progress in their education system and the number of children dropping out from schools has declined by 33 million worldwide since 1999.


Sample Demonstrations and Safety Guides
ACS and its members have created numerous demonstrations and other resources for student presentations. Use these ideas, or create your own activities.
- ACS Kids & Chemistry Activity Kids
These experiments have been tested in the classroom by ACS members and student affiliates and optimized for teacher-friendliness, safety, student interest, and ease of use
- Science for Kids activities
Providing detailed instructions, worksheets, discussion topics and safety information, these activities are organized by subject to help you find the right activity for the age and curriculum of the students (grades K-8)
- ChemShorts for Kids
Over 100 child and family friendly activities created by Kathleen A. Carrado of the Chicago Section of the ACS
This sample PowerPoint for high school students introduces career paths in chemistry
Follow Science Safety Guidelines to help you incorporate safe practices into your activity. Use these resources to help you plan a safe and educational presentation.
Want to offer feedback, ask questions, or contact program members?
Back to Inspire Future Generations.


New York, New York (PRWEB) March 21, 2013
Young children can enhance their learning of core literacy skills by playing highly interactive and enjoyable phonics games online. Reading Eggs, the purveyor of a popular online reading program for children aged 3 to 13 has published a new article explaining the effectiveness of learning to read online with interactive phonics games.
The article highlights the fun and motivational elements found in phonics games as the chief reason why they are so effective at teaching emerging readers core literacy skills. Such elements highlighted include highly entertaining visuals and animations, music, sound effects and rewards that make learning fun and highly engaging for young children.
These highly motivational elements, says the article, provide children with a fun incentive to keep playing online phonics games. This extended interplay helps develop a range of early literacy skills critical to their reading development, including phonemic awareness and an understanding of the alphabetic principle. The article further details the highly instructional methods used by online phonics games to teach these skills, including the methods featured in the Reading Eggs curriculum.
About Reading Eggs
Developed by educators with over 25 years' experience, Reading Eggs online lessons instruct children in the five areas crucial to literacy development – phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Reading Eggs focuses on a core reading curriculum of skills and strategies essential for sustained reading success and is suitable for children aged 3 through 12. Since launching in the United States and Canada in 2011, Reading Eggs has signed on more than 500,000 subscribers and presented more than 15 million lessons in North America.


Print version ISSN 0123-4870
MERCHAN PRICE, Carolina. Artistic education cultural management based on performing arts begins when positioning training processes, which are proposed by teachers of performing arts in basic and secondary school. Folios [online]. 2008, n.28, pp. 93-107. ISSN 0123-4870.
The relationship between theater teaching at school and the learning process and child development is a priority area in research in art education. This text will deal with several aspects that due to the inclusion of performing arts as a part of teaching (K-12 level school) open to three levels: macro, meso and micro, which influence the management of the institution. At a macro level, the question is addressed from the perspective of cultural management and public school policy and the dialectic between the school community and its social and cultural environment. At a meso level, the issue will be the need to change teachers/trainers conceptions concerning the relationships between art as cultural objects and its incidence inside the school. At a micro level, the focus will be the positive impact of the "group culture" as a tool for subject construction in many areas: social, axiological and cognitive. A discussion of different clues that guide current research in art/theater education will be proposed in the conclusions.
Keywords : School; performing arts; cultural management; training processes; teachers.


Weinberger, Jo (1993) A longitudinal study of literacy experiences, the role of parents, and children's literacy development. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
This study investigated the literacy experiences and attainment of 42 children aged 3 to 7, who had attended preschool education in a city in the North of England. Data were collected through parent interviews before nursery entry; literacy assessment at school entry, and at age seven; and by parent, teacher and child interviews. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed. Four measures of literacy development at age seven were used: children's reading book level, writing ability and standardised scores for reading and English at seven. Factors before school entry shown to be significant were: vocabulary scores, number of letters known, how well children wrote their name and a phrase, whether they listened to stories at nursery, and how often they were read to at home. This was influenced by earlier home factors; by having access to books, being read to from storybooks, and having books read in their entirety, the age parents started reading to them, how many nursery rhymes they knew, and parents pointing out environmental print. By seven, other significant factors were parents' knowledge about school literacy, and how often children read to parents at home. Several findings confirmed those of previous studies. Others were new: having a favourite book before nursery, choosing to read books in nursery, access to home computers at seven, children storing literacy resources indiscriminately, parents reading more than newspapers and magazines, and parents providing examples of day-to-day literacy. Process variables appeared to exert greater effects on children's performance than status variables, such as social class, mother's employment and qualifications, and relatives with literacy difficulties. Home literacy experiences for the majority of children were barely acknowledged in school, and home learning for children with problems was often unsupported by school. For most children, homes provided rich, complex and powerful environments for literacy learning.
|Item Type:||Thesis (PhD)|
|Keywords:||Reading; Writing; Learning|
|Academic Units:||The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education (Sheffield)|
|Depositing User:||EThOS Import Sheffield|
|Date Deposited:||25 Oct 2012 13:32|
|Last Modified:||08 Aug 2013 08:47|


Demonstration of Kansas Music Teacher Standards
Kansas Music Standard #2: The teacher of music has skills in improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments.
- The teacher understands how to perform written accompaniments on the music keyboard or chord instrument and how to transpose accompaniments to appropriate keys.
- The teacher improvises accompaniments that are stylistically appropriate.
- The teacher improvises original melodies in a variety of styles, over given harmonic progression each in a consistent style, meter, and tonality.
- The teacher uses resources to illustrate and teach improvisation.
- The teacher performs simple accompaniments appropriate for classroom use.
- The teacher transposes on musical instruments at sight.
Engaging in improvisation is important because it promotes creativity and spontaneity in both you and your students. Improving melodies and accompaniments is one way to show students your creative side but more importantly it also provides modeling for your students. Because improvisation is one of the student standards for music education, modeling becomes very important. Improvised piano accompaniments can also be very practical in the sense that you can make private lesson time or ensemble rehearsal more interesting by accompanying your students.
Dominka recording: This is a video clip of a performance I did with the Kansas State University Concert Jazz ensemble. This is an example of an improvised solo over jazz chord changes.
IAJE Outstanding Soloist award: As a member of the KSU Concert Jazz Ensemble I traveled to Greeley Colorado to participate in their annual jazz festival. I was award an outstanding soloist award from the International Association of Jazz Educators, for my solo work at that festival.
|©2008 Kansas State University Music Education • Contact Us|


Online Library sources
Search for books, magazine, journal, newspaper, encyclopedia articles, and other information.
Browse the list of magazine, encyclopedia and journal resources brought to you by the State Library of Kansas.
EBSCOhost Research Databases with magazine, journal and encyclopedia articles, and NoveList with assistance for fiction readers.
Student Research Center where students may search by keyword or by topic to find magazines, reference books, photos, flags, etc.
Learning Express with practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, and information you need to achieve the results you want—at school, at work, or in life.
- Animal Diversity Web everything you wanted to know about animals, including classification
- BJ Pinchbeck started by a kid, very comprehensive help on all subjects
- CIA World Factbook information for 266 world entities
- Citing Sources from Duke University, listing different styles
- Discovery Channel
- Geographic everything geography
- Great Web Sites for Kids from the American Library Association with recommended links to many subjects
- High School Ace homework help
- Kansapedia from the Kansas State Historical Society
- Kansas Book Connect – find books including Accelerated Reader, interest and book level information
- Kansas Kids from the Kansas Secretary of State
- Khan Academy videos and exercises for online learning, especially in math and science
- Kidipede – history and science for kids
- Kids Voting Kansas
- Kids Zone from the State of Kansas
- KidSpace @ the Internet Public Library with recommended links to many subjects
- NASA for Students from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Geographic Kids
- North American Mammals from the Smithsonian Institution
- Quizlet make your own flash cards
- RefDesk almost every subject and news topic
- Science Fair Project Resource
- Shmoop quick study guides
- Sparknotes study guides and practice exams
- Storybird build your own storybook or collaborate with friends
- Teenspace web links chosen by the Internet Public Library group
- World Almanac for Kids


I believe the purpose of school and education is to establish brain circuitry that enables our children to absorb and evaluate information, make choices and act upon those choices. So – does cursive have a role in wiring the brain? If yes, then it likely needs to be taught. If no, then it’s an antiquated tradition. Today, I explored the science, rather than the opinions.
Our local newspaper, SF Gate – the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle, published an opinion blog today on the question of cursive instruction. The problem is the debate is between personal opinions and preferences. Most of the debate is belief-based – ranging from cursive is a traditional part of elementary education to "I hated cursive/ never use it/my child hates it/isn’t typing a better use of time". Full disclosure – I take copious notes in all my meetings and they are all in cursive – it’s simply faster for me.
Andrea Gordon of ParentCentral from the Toronto Star sources some excellent research on the impact of cursive on neurological development. Read her full article.
According to Toronto psychiatrist and neuroplasticity expert Dr. Norman Doidge - When a child types or prints, he produces a letter the same way each time. In cursive, however, each letter connects slightly differently to the next, which is more demanding on the part of the brain that converts symbol sequences into motor movements in the hand.
That sounds like brain development.
In the September 2007 issue of Brain and Language USC Neuroscientist Dr. Joseph Hellige and Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center post-doctoral fellow Dr. Maheen Adamson published a study of "hemispheric asymmetry for native English speakers identifying consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) non-words presented in standard printed form, in standard handwritten cursive form or in handwritten cursive with the letters separated by small gaps".
These results suggest a greater contribution of the right hemisphere to the identification of handwritten cursive, which is likely related visual complexity and to qualitative differences in the processing of cursive versus print.
Also sounds like brain development.
Andrea Gordon sourced another neurologist who ties cursive writing to emotional circuitry as well.
Dr. Jason Barton, a neurologist and Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, whose research focuses on the role of the human brain in vision. Barton's findings, using brain imaging, suggest we recognize handwriting the same way we distinguish faces, triggering similar emotional responses.
His studies, among the first of their kind, show that while the left visual word form area perceives and decodes words for their meaning in written language, the right side is where we interpret the style of writing, allowing us to identify the writer rather than the word, just as neighbouring areas in the right brain play a key role in allowing us to recognize faces.
As soon as that recognition kicks in, it activates what's known as a memory trace – a biochemical alteration in the brain created by something learned – and fans out, setting off other sensory memories.
"Once triggered by perception – whether of a face, a voice or handwriting – memory reverberates through all the senses and in all the corridors of your brain, bringing back emotions, knowledge, all the different facets of information and experiences with that person stored from the past," Barton says.
Our children will learn to type. And email, IM, txt are all very impersonal – wrought with opportunities to be misunderstood. Cursive may be tedious and as adults we may choose not to use it, but it helps our children’s brains develop and it can be fun. It can be taught when they are in pre-school and kindergarten and apparently, it’s better for lefties and children struggling with dyslexia. So I vote for teaching cursive.
My children are excited to learn cursive and our school uses Handwriting without Tears - which seems to be true. They're also learning to type. I don't really care what they use as adults - but I care that they think through what they plan to say and ensure that the reader can understand it (because it's relatively neat and coherent). What do you think – should school make us learn things we might not use as adults because it develops our brain pathways?


UNESCO Arts Education Observatories
Following the UNESCO Expert Symposium on Arts Education in Asia "Measuring the effects of arts in education" held in Hong Kong in January 2004, the Office of the UNESCO Regional Adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific produced the "Asia-Pacific Action Plan" (previously "Action Plan Asia"). This document describes the strategy for establishing Arts Education Observatories in the Asia-Pacific region.
These Observatories act as clearing houses, collecting, analyzing, re-packaging and disseminating resources on arts education, with the objective of supporting advocacy processes and influencing policy making on Arts Education.
In preparation of the 2010 World Conference, they will work on compiling and disseminating information on Arts Education in their country or region.
The Arts Education observatories:
- Melbourne University (Australia)
- National Centre for Research in Music Education and Sound Arts (New Zealand)
- National Institute of Education (Singapore)
- The Asia-Pacific Art Therapy Centre (Thailand)
- The Hong-Kong School of Creativity (HKSAR, China)