An integral part of any education is hands-on experience, particularly at the university level, where students are preparing themselves for future careers. This hands-on experience can translate differently from field to field, however, any school would seem horribly negligent to offer a major in chemistry without including access to a laboratory, or a medical degree without experience in an actual hospital. For a student majoring in the arts, hands-on experience means access and exposure to art objects. However, often this fundamental access is viewed as merely secondary to other university concerns. In order to correct this, universities must realize what an asset art collections are to their campuses. Where a chemistry lab is only truly essential to a science major, an art museum or gallery may play host to the education of all categories of students, faculty, and the community at large. Exposure to art can inspire persons from all walks of life, and easy access to these objects should be a great concern of the universities.
In educating Art majors, obviously art would play an essential part. Merely viewing works in the pages of a textbook, however, is not enough. To understand the impasto of a Rembrandt, the sheer size of a Gericault, the tactile qualities of an African mask, students must be able to view these items in person. No photograph or slide can due proper justice to the real physicality of a work of art. Student access to art is a necessary practicum, especially in the study of art. The position of an art collection, and the gallery or museum space that holds it must be viewed as an essential part of the university campus. This connection between art object and art education must be respected and promoted. A student researching a work of art has as much right to access as a student researching science or medicine. Any neglect on the part of a university to create such an atmosphere is to seriously impair the abilities of its student, and to limit their educational tools. Art objects are a vital necessity on any liberal arts campus, and access to these objects should be considered in all university development.
Access to works of art should extend beyond art majors and faculty, public access should be guaranteed as well. Football stadiums and basketball courts open the campus up to the surrounding community, but a university art museum or gallery could offer another means of connection. Exposure to special exhibitions, permanent collections, artist talks, and objects on loan opens a gateway to the public, inviting them into the academic side of the campus, and creating a connection to the outside world. Just as the public and the campus may come together to cheer on the university team, so to can they come together to discuss an art exhibition. If a university utilizes these possibilities, the opportunity to establish an open and multi-faceted dialogue between all sides of the campus and the public at large could exist.
It is important to recognize artworks as a vital part of any campus, whether it is a work by a master painter, or a student-created sculpture on the quad. Access should be guaranteed to these objects, and pains should be taken to integrate collections into a more active role in campus life.
by Taylor Horak
B.A. Student, Art History
Virginia Commonwealth University
Department of Art History, School of the Arts


The benefits of music education are far-reaching and well-documented. But like the study of language, the most fertile time to begin that education is early childhood – from birth to age 7. There is a research-based early childhood music program called Music Together® that is designed to develop basic music competence in children by providing an environment that fosters music-making with the whole family. The program views both the body and the voice as musical instruments and integrates the two to develop basic rhythm and tonal competence. If every child were enrolled in such a program we would be on our way to having a musically literate society where all could sing our national anthem (or at least Happy Birthday) in tune while being able to clap and walk along to the beat! We would also be creating a generation of people with stronger more flexible brains.
Because of the efforts of neuroscientists, we know that a brain listening to music lights up all different areas in brain scans. Playing an instrument helps create a stronger bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain. In her TEDx talk, Anita Collins, a music educator, tells her audience that learning disabilities are believed to be a miscommunication between the two sides of the brain and ADHD is believed to be caused by a mistiming between the motor, visual and auditory cortices. Music education that involves studying a musical instrument can help strengthen the communication between hemispheres and, because it involves all three of those cortices, can help keep those cortices in synch.
And all this neuroscience leads us back to early childhood. Dr. Patricia Kuhl, a professor and Co-Director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington explains in her TED talk what she’s learned from her research.
Well, babies all over the world are what I like to describe as “citizens of the world.” They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages, no matter what country we’re testing and what language we’re using, and that’s remarkable because you and I can’t do that. We’re culture-bound listeners. We can discriminate the sounds of our own language, but not those of foreign languages. So the question arises: When do those citizens of the world turn into the language-bound listeners that we are? And the answer: before their first birthdays.
And guess what happens by their first birthdays? They have figured out what sounds are important to the people around them and they “forget” the rest. Babies and toddlers don’t have the fine motor skills to play a musical instrument outside of themselves but they can learn to discriminate more subtlety in sound than they will be able to as adults or even as school-aged children and they can begin to use their own voices and bodies as their first instruments.
What does this means for us as educators and parents? We need to take advantage of these citizens of the world when they are at their most brilliant – when their minds are the most elastic and open. We need to sing to them and with them. We need to play music with unusual tonalities and rhythms and physically demonstrate and reinforce steady beat for them. Listening to music is good but watching Baby Mozart alone won’t cut it. We, the adults who are important in the lives of these children, need to show the brilliant brains of these babies that making music is socially imperative so their brains take note and hold on to all of this amazing ability to discriminate sound. When we spin with them, have them explore all the planes with their bodies as they dance to music, have them cross the midline with finger play and dance movements we are building babies with better brains. Giving adults and their young children the opportunity to attend music class together can help accomplish all of this.
And then, when these children who are now culture-bound listeners reach the tender age of 4 or 5 and are ready to hold an instrument and learn to play it, their ears can better discriminate sound, their bodies can create rhythm and maintain a steady beat. They are ahead of the game as they study that instrument and start fortifying their brains as they add skills and connections that will serve them for the rest of their lives.
Of course it is never too late to pick up an instrument and get some of the benefits and joys of making music, but if we begin that education with babies and toddlers, we will nurture a generation of people who are not only musically literate, but are smarter and able to solve problems more creatively than many of us can. Early childhood music and movement education may help to preserve some of the genius with which these children were born and make music a more integral part of our world.


Post It Notes-available from Dollar Stores or almost any other store. Use them to mark pages in a story, color code important activities or leave reminders for the student, or, if you are the student, to yourself. They make good tabs, too.
Magnetic letters and numbers are great for manipulation, letter recognition, forming words/two or more digit numbers, rhyming, word families, spelling, upper and lower case recognition, simple messaging and almost anything else you can do with letters.
Key Chains-for students who have visual needs and use the aural support. Some also have mini-recorders in them so that simple self-messages can be left. Look for ones with built-in flashlights to be used for highlighting words or images.
Dry Erase boards and markers are available for as little as $1.00 at a Dollar Store. These boards support the need for text creation, repetition, self-correction, highlighting, illustrating, and quick response. Using various colours allows the writer to identify word parts, letters and most word elements.
Magnifying sheets-They do just what they say they will do, enlarge text, illustrations, diagrams, and numbers.
Binder clips can be used as page turners for reading or as page markers to indicate pages where students are to give their attention. You can also use stir sticks lightly taped to the pages to allow readers with fine motor control needs to work with text more easily.
Use a variety of textured and coloured balls for gross and fine motor skill development. I noticed brilliant orange balls in Wal-mart for 97 cents. Balls with holes make them easier to catch and toss.
Shower curtain rods can be attached to items which certain students with grip or mobility problems may have difficulty with. Simply tape the ring to the item so that the student is able to insert his/her finger into the open, allowing the item to be picked up and manipulated.
Electronic student dictionaries can be inexpensive and very useful for word and sentence formation.


We might think that making a plan and working a plan is all about the planner, the app, the method, but the truth is that how we think about our planning going into it matters tremendously.
I remember very vividly being struck by a line of poetry by T.S. Eliot once quoted by Cindy Rollins:
“Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.”
What I really, really wanted was a system so perfect that I wouldn’t have to expend any effort at all, I could just hum along doing whatever I wanted and everything would just work out.
Turns out life doesn’t work that way.
Read the original post: Why do we make plans when they rarely work out?
Clever Curriculum Connection: Latin
Being consistent with Latin over the years has been a struggle – one I have not always won. My oldest began Latin for Children Primer A when he was 8 – four years ago – and he’s now 3/4 of the way through Latin for Children Primer B.
I’m sure glad Dr. Perrin’s favorite motto is festina lente.
In my years of Latin inconsistency, we’ve had to continue to go backward before moving forward, reviewing vocab again, reviewing grammar again, because you can’t build on a foundation that isn’t there. In the end, I think this will actually help their forward progress in Latin, because we ended up not moving forward until concepts clicked rather than getting into a groove and simply moving on when they could give the right answer without understanding. Just as students should be drilled in their math facts until they are second nature – and this might take the entirety of their elementary education – so we keep revisiting what case means, what conjugating means, what declining means, not to mention how to do so.
This year consistency is possible for us, and I spent the first two terms of school focusing on getting our Latin consistent and solid and prioritized. I went through many iterations of weekly Latin assignments before I found one that flowed and worked for us.
I’m not sure this will work for you, but I offer it as a starting place. It’s much more feasible and realistic for a homeschool setting than the schedule offered in the book, I believe. It makes about half the Latin work independent work, which frees me up. This is the routine I use for both my boys, so it works with Latin for Children Primer A and Primer B.
Our Weekly Latin Assignments
- Daily: We listen to one Latin chant track from both Primer A & B most Morning Times for chant & vocab review
- Day 1: Watch a Latin lesson from the DVD, complete the Latin worksheet for that lesson
- Day 2: Practice reading & oral translation with mom, complete the lesson’s derivatives worksheet in the workbook
- Day 3: Fill out a conjugation practice worksheet (homemade), copy the lesson’s vocab into a Latin copywork spiral notebook.
- Day 4: Complete the lesson’s quiz in the workbook, write 2 original Latin sentences that contain at least one word from this lesson’s vocab (Mom has to conjugate & translate them)
- Day 5: Latin translation page (homemade, with sentences from the chapter)
Spread the word!
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We are learning about lots of different exciting topics in Year 2. Please click on our yearly overview to find out more...
Year 2 yearly overview
This term, Year 2 are learning all about explorers and their incredible journeys.
This term, we are discovering about the world around us. Please click the link below
Please click on the link below to see what we are learning about.
Please download the document below to see what we are leaning about.
To discover what your child is learning about this term, please select the curriculum link found at the top of the page on the main menu.
How to help support your child
Phonics is a method of teaching reading and writing by developing the learners' phonemic awarenesss. The goal of phonics is to enable beginning readers to decode new written words by sounding them out, or in phonics terms, blending the sound-spelling patterns.
It is important that children are supported with their phonics at home. We recommend spending 5 - 10 minutes each day working together on the different sounds.
There are some great websites available. Please click on the phonics tab to find lots of links to helpful websites.
Bug Club is a whole-school reading programme designed for use at Foundation, KS1 and KS2. It is the first phonics-based reading programme to join books with an online reading world to teach children to read.
All children at Topcliffe have access to a bugclub reading account.
Please speak to your child's class teacher for their log in details.
Click on the Bug Club image to access the website!
Mathletics is an excellent resource to support your child with their maths work. All children at Topcliffe have access to Mathletics. Please see your child's class teacher for their username and password to get logged in.
Please click the image below to go to Mathletics.
By the end of year 2, children are expected to know their 2x, 5x and 10x tables.
BBC Bitesize offers a fun game to practice times tables with we also have some songs to learn that are very effective.
Click on the Bitesize image to access the website!
ICT games - Please click on the link attached. You will find lots of games to support your child with their Literacy, Numeracy skills.
BBC Games - Full of excellent games that support your child with their learning. The website has three main categories - Literacy, Numeracy and Science.
BBC bitesize - this website is full of video clips that explain how to help your child with aspects of the new curriculum. Select 'KS1' then choose which ever subject you would like to look at.
Woodlands - full of excellent games that are categorised by topic.


Ghanaians are celebrating their 50th year of independence this year on March 6, with festivities set to begin soon. In 1957, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to free itself from colonial rule, with founding father Kwame Nkrumah leading it to independence from Britain. In this first segment of a five-part series, VOA’s Peter Clottey reports on the reflections of a former education minister during Nkrumah’s fledgling administration, K. B. Asante.
Asante said life for the average Ghanaian was difficult prior to independence. While the fortunate few attended school and had access to medical care, most were mired in poverty. Many died of malnutrition and disease, yet people endured and accepted their lot as the “will of God.”
But the groundswell for independence from Britain had started in earnest with Nkrumah’s election in 1947 as secretary-general of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), a party dedicated to self-governance for Ghanaians.
“The leaders wanted self-government; they wanted more self expression, and it coincided with this general need (for freedom).… Kwame Nkrumah (later) formed the Convention People’s Party (CPP) which demanded self-government [immediately]…,” Asante said.
Nkrumah – and by extension, the CPP – grew in stature because ordinary people “loved” him, said the former diplomat.
“Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP won the hearts of the people.… He asked for a constituent assembly to usher in self-government. He then declared ‘positive action,’ which was after (Mahatma) Gandhi (and the push for freedom from colonial oppression in India); that is, oppose a government without any violence, and he (Nkrumah) was imprisoned. While in prison, elections were held, (and) he stood for elections in Greater Accra and won,” Asante said.
Following his election victory, the British rulers released Nkrumah from jail.
“The (colonial) government wisely released him from prison, and he led the government which was then formed. He became the leader of government business,” Asante remembered, and said the expectations of Ghanaians were high at the time of independence.
“Kwame Nkrumah himself was a dreamer. He dreamt of a metropolis springing up in Ghana, centers of learning and culture and happiness for the people. There was euphoria; people thought self-government would bring everything. Nkrumah even said, “Seek ye first the political kingdom and all others shall be added unto you.”
Asante said Ghanaians thought all their worries were “a thing of the past” when the country attained independence.
“People thought with self-government, they could fashion their life – the life as they wanted – and that Ghana would be a haven. As a matter of fact, Nkrumah tried to do that. He found out that [the lack of] education was an impediment (to development), so he instituted free elementary education for all Ghanaian children…. He started more ambitious programs, like setting up an industrial development corporation which would help Ghanaian businessmen.”
With Nkrumah at the helm, Asante emphasized, Ghana became very influential on the African continent.
“Nkrumah…said that the independence of Ghana was meaningless until it was linked to the total liberation of Africa. So the young country, Ghana, set out to try to liberate all African countries … Ghana, under Nkrumah, promoted African unity. In fact, Nkrumah was instrumental in setting up the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU). The African Union of today can be said to be a consummation of Nkrumah’s ideas,” Asante explained. Many heads of state have been invited to attend a variety of activities surrounding Ghana’s anniversary celebrations, which are to begin on March 6.


BIG IDEA: Caring for our many human body systems sustains LIFE!
It’s hard to imagine that less than 30 school days ago we walked into our new second grade classroom excited, yet a little anxious, about our upcoming school year together. Through many cooperative activities and games, we have certainly gone from a classroom of students to a community of learners—ready, and more than willing, to demonstrate our Riverview core values and contribute to the success of each of our individual friends.
Our Daily Five literacy block is now in full swing. The children eagerly bookshop each week to fill their book boxes with high interest, good fit choices. We understand that you can read a book three ways—by reading the words, retelling a familiar story, or even by reading the pictures. While teachers meet with individualized small guided reading groups, other students are practicing the very important 21st century skill of working on productive, independent work choices. Each day students are becoming more proficient in choosing literacy choices on their work plan. These choices include practicing spelling patterns during word sort and word chunk work, sight word work, authentic writing choices, reading to self, and buddy reading.
Our Writer’s Workshop focus has been on crafting personal narratives. The children have soaked up techniques from the expert authors of our mentor texts including Owl Moon, The Leaving Morning, All the Places to Love, Fireflies, My Brother is a Pain in the Backseat, Crab Moon, and many, many more. Our young writers are now experienced in thinking about writing ideas in terms of small, detailed, powerful moments. With all our time to write, they now understand that authors write, write, write, and revise, revise, revise—all before publishing and illustrating!
Our mathematics block, much like our literacy block, is tailored to meeting the needs of individual students in small groups with teacher guided instruction. We usually meet together as a whole class for a mini-lesson and/or game to warm up our mathematical thinking. We then break into small group math exchanges or partner work to practice our skills. When students are not meeting with a math exchange, they are independently or buddy working on math work plan choices. This week we’ve begun the foundational skills of thinking of numbers in terms of 10. This work is a crucial building block needed to be successful with larger numbers—into the thousands and beyond. We will continue this work throughout the year.
We are in the midst of our first integrated unit—The Human Body System. Much like our personal narrative study, the children are eager to talk about and to learn about themselves! We’ve enjoyed numerous experiments, demonstrations, videos, and books pertaining to the main systems of our amazing human body. Over the next few weeks we will be experts on the nervous, muscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems.
We are eager to share our knowledge and work with you during our Fall Portfolio Night on November 10th. Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend!
Writing Personal Narratives
Science: Systems Work Together
Mathematics: Adding and Subtracting with Fluency & Beginning Place Value Knowledge


It’s a fair question for parents to consider: Why should my child learn to master the skills of spelling and handwriting in a world governed by spell checkers and keyboards? Isn’t the mere notion of teaching these skills as archaic as attempting to master trigonometry without the use of a scientific calculator? Edublox reading, maths and learning clinic investigates the importance of handwriting and spelling in the learning process and shares some tips on how to identify problems that children may be experiencing.
Over the last 30 years, we have witnessed many technological changes in the educational landscape. Certain skills, like spelling correctly and being able to write legibly by hand, however, still remain universally relevant. Although spell checkers and autocorrect functions may serve as proofing tools in order to communicate clearer messages, it should not deter children from learning the skills in the first place.
Pens and keyboards bring into play vastly different cognitive processes. Handwriting is a complex task which requires various skills – feeling the pen and paper, moving the writing implement, and directing movement by intent. Children take several years to master this precise motor exercise: you need to hold the scripting tool firmly while moving it in such a way as to leave a different mark for each letter.
If children do not master these skills, their spelling is likely to suffer as a result. Handwriting errors can cause a word look like another word, where slow, laboured writing of letters may cause a student to forget the word they are trying to write.
The skill of spelling embraces many subskills, such as the ability to perceive the whole in its individual parts, auditory perception of letter sounds and auditory memory, and decoding skills. Together, spelling and handwriting are important foundational skills in the learning process.
The problem with teaching spelling in a digital age is that good language and strong spelling skills have become optional in the way that we communicate on social media and through the various devices available to us. Search engines are also incredibly forgiving and simply suggests the correct spelling of search terms without even prompting the user to consider where they went wrong. Traditionally, spelling does not allow any room for ‘creative’ answers or ‘style’ – a word is either spelled correctly or it is misspelled. It’s important that parents encourage their children to learn to spell correctly and to use spelling applications and emoticons as secondary tools in the communication process.
If parents notice that their children are struggling to spell despite an effort to do so without the help of digital tools, there might be underlying shortcomings that a reputable learning clinic can help to resolve. If the problems are caused by poor handwriting, which includes illegible or exceptionally slow writing, a child might be struggling with dysgraphia (a Greek term that encapsulates symptoms like trouble with pencil grip, mixing up cursive and print, and inconsistent spacing between words).
Ironically, there are online programs that are wonderful tools in a reputable learning clinic’s toolkit when it comes to reading and consequently spelling. Parents should look out for programs that aim to resolve learning and spelling problems and not simply enable the child to manage them better. Search for something that is visually engaging and fun to work with and one that tracks progress so that parents are aware of the child’s improvement.
Proper spelling and neat handwriting have definitely not become outdated skills. Especially with the rise of the digital age, parents should pursue solutions if their children are struggling and value these ‘manual’ skills – without it, we may see language take a back seat in years to come.


"Teaching English-Language Learner Students: Professional Standards in Elementary Education in Central Region States"
A new report offers some guidance for classroom teachers working with English-language learners in seven states in the central part of the United States, where the number of students learning English is climbing steadily.
The report, released last week by the Institute for Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, focuses on Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
It spells out what K-8 general education teachers are expected to know and be able to do to teach ELLs and notes where some states' teaching standards fall short in addressing topics that research has shown to be key to improving achievement for English-learners.
The guide was put together for the institute by the Regional Educational Laboratory Central in Englewood, Colo.
Vol. 31, Issue 23, Page 5


What are accountant skills? The page contains a list of accounting skills, duties, and qualifications needed to build a career. The list also is useful to put on a resume, CV, and cover letter.
Accounting qualifications and skills include a wide range of abilities (working with numbers, paying close attention to detail, team working and more) that are required for all levels – junior accountant, senior and accounting manager.
Accounting Skills List. Accountant Qualifications & Duties.
To be an accountant, the minimum qualification required is Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance. The more qualifications and skills you possess, the more opportunities for a good job (with many benefits and high salary) you have.
Accounting skills list is a really long list. Here are listed some of the key and main of them:
- Numeracy Skills
Numeracy skills are basic skills needed for accounting. Numeracy skills are basic mathematical skills that include a range of abilities to understand and analyze numerical information and to make the right conclusions and decisions.
Main numeracy skills of an accountant are understanding relationships between numbers, ability to organize information, argumentation and logical thinking, calculation skills, measurement and data analysis, and more. Many accountant duties and responsibilities include operations with numbers and accounts.
- Attention to Detail
If you want to be a good accountant, attention to detail skills are crucial for you. You have to be able to pay attention to the small things, keep track of tasks that need to be accomplished, and to limit distractions.
- Organization Skills and Time Management Skills
Organization skills required for accounting are some of the most important too. They include focus oriented ability, prioritization, multi-tasking skills.
Time management skills have a crucial role, especially in this hectic lifestyle where we are always busy. Main time management abilities are: setting goals, prioritizing your goals, creating a schedule, using optimization tools, making lists, and breaking large tasks into smaller tasks.
Many accountants undervalue creating a schedule and making lists. But these tools are really very helpful. Definitely, you can’t manage your time effectively if you do not have a schedule.
The schedule should contain all the things you have to do. Every one of us is prone to forget. You can’t remember everything you should do during the day. So do not forget to make lists of your tasks and goals.
- Computer Skills
Here are included not only basic computer skills that are a needed for many jobs and positions. Accounting skills include good knowledge and ability to work with different types of accounting software such as SAP or ERP systems, Excel, Word, and other.
Nowadays, it is a must for accountants to use a wide range of tools such as payroll software, timekeeping software, job management software, resource management software and many other different types of systems and programs.
- Communication Skills
An accountant must be able to communicate effectively, orally and in writing. Main accountant duties are related to communications with other accountants, financial managers, and other people and workers.
Along with accounting skills, there is a long list of qualifications, responsibilities and duties you have to be familiar if you want a successful career of an accountant.
Accountant Qualifications, Knowledge, and Competencies
As we mention above the minimum qualification required is Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance. But there are other important accounting qualifications that bring a great value to your competencies and knowledge. The more accountant qualifications and knowledge you have, the more opportunities for high-paid jobs. Here is a list of qualifications and knowledge you need:
- A degree in Accounting or Finance and related fields such as Business Administration or Public Administration.
- Additional accounting and / or auditing courses.
- A certificate in Accounting as Certified Public Accountant.
- Knowledge of professional accounting principles and practices.
- Knowledge of laws and regulations.
Accountant Duties and Responsibilities
Some of the main accounting duties and responsibilities are:
- Preparation of financial statements and other financial reports.
- Preparation and review of balance sheet reconciliations.
- Prepares asset, liability, and capital account entries.
- Documentation of financial transactions.
- Provides financial information to management.
- Processing of customer payments and balancing accounts.
- Еntering vendor invoices into the system and communicating with vendors.
- Complex research and analysis of specific accounts.
- Providing professional accounting advice and assistance.
- Analyze business operations, trends, and costs.
Good accounting skills, qualifications, knowledge, and competencies are a basis for a successful career of a professional accountant.


Symphony No.40 in G minor (1) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Download 'Symphony No.40 in G minor (1)' on iTunes
Partnerships between Britain’s orchestras and schools are crucial to children’s development, a new report by the Association of British Orchestras has found.
Unlocking Potential, launched yesterday, describes how music can increase children’s alertness, engagement and creativity at school, and how exposure to orchestral music when young can lead to a musical career at the highest level.
More than 300,000 children in England alone now experience an orchestral concert during their time at school. Unlocking Potential details the education work that orchestras do both inside and outside schools across the UK, highlighting over 50 projects.
All Classic FM's Orchestras are praised for their education initiatives. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s Tuning into Children programme is deemed ‘a major success…, making a significant contribution to the personal, social and emotional development of children and of communication, language and literacy skills’. Tuning into Children involves RLPO members delivering child-led music-making sessions for children aged one to five, parents, carers and practitioners in children’s centres in Liverpool.
Unlocking Potential acknowledged that bespoke approaches are necessary when working with very young children. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Monster Music programme, was specifically designed for pre-school children, and has been running for over 10 years. Pre-concert teacher training sessions and resource packs have recently been introduced, so that the children can benefit even more from the concert experience.
Northern Sinfonia’s Voice Over project was designed to encourage older and younger children from various schools to interact with one another. The project explored the orchestra through the human voice and was loosely based on the concept of accessibility.
The Philharmonia, renowned for its digital initiatives, developed Sound Exchange, an online music education resource aimed at secondary school students and beyond. It provides a range of dynamic and interactive music activities including dictation exercises; mini documentaries; podcasts; top tips from orchestral musicians; photos; and sample sequencing software.
The London Symphony Orchestra’s On Track initiative is praised by the report as ‘pioneering’. It gives schoolchildren in 10 East London Boroughs the chance to create live performances. Karen Brock, Head of Tower Hamlets Arts Music Education Service said, “London Symphony Orchestra’s On Track brings professionals from very different music services together to share resources and develop innovative work as we move towards the London 2012 Olympic Games. It will give us a musical focus and an opportunity to work together in a way that is truly creative and supports musical excellence.”
Hon Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries commented on the report: “It is no surprise that seeing and hearing orchestras has such a positive impact on young people. We know that music can make a huge difference to educational success, with behaviour, well-being, confidence, team working and concentration skills all proven to improve with good music provision. I welcome this report, and its finding that British orchestras are reaching young people at every stage in their lives.”


Over the last several years, a number of studies have been published about the many benefits of music education. For the most part, they have focused on how playing music makes students “smarter”; that these students gain a range of academic advantages in logical-mathematical intelligence, resulting in enhanced math and science abilities and increased scores on standardized testing. Recently, however, there seems to be more research and academic focus on the specific benefits of music education in the form of a group of musicians, or a band, highlighting the development of increased social and teamwork skills.
Perhaps one reason for more studies on the link between groups of musicians vs. individual music education is the proliferation of focus on teamwork in the workplace. Countless studies and articles have arisen that explore the importance of leadership vs. democracy; confrontation vs. compromise; and negotiation along with collaboration. These skills are much harder to measure academically, and yet, are shown to be equally critical in the success of employees in the workplace.
While our children explore teamwork and cooperation from the time they are toddlers throughout childhood (on sports teams and school group project work, for example), there is no more focused opportunity to practice and utilize teamwork skills than in the group dynamic of a band. Social and teamwork skills are inherently critical during the process of rehearsing a band. Every session together includes identifying goals (learning a song, preparing for a performance), prioritizing needs (what do we need to work on most), commitment (learning your part, showing up for practice), communication (letting others know what you like or don’t like in a constructive manner), role identification (what is my job for this song, how does my part fit with the whole), social support (complimenting your bandmates’ courage to try something new, or their mastering that tough section of the song), and band identity (the practice of knowing you got through it together and are presenting a united performance) – the building blocks of collaboration and teamwork.
At BandWorks, our sessions are specifically geared towards collaborative creativity resulting in increased social and teamwork skills. Our bands have the benefit of a trained instructor, who is a professional musician, to coach them through the process. Since 1993, BandWorks has been offering rock band workshops and summer camps for kids 8+, teens and adults looking to develop their musical skills in a fun and supportive environment. Our instructors are not only passionate about teaching and dedicated to helping students experience a greater enjoyment of playing music with others, but are also well-versed in the dynamics of creating positive social and teamwork skills. To learn more about BandWorks and upcoming summer programs, find us at www.bandworks.com.


List Price : US$ 27.83 Our Price : US$ 22.26 You Save : 20%
Book ID : 37750
ISBN-10 : 81-8411-247-5 / 8184112475
ISBN-13 : 978-81-8411-247-4 / 9788184112474
of Publication :
of Publication :
Edition : (First Edition)
Language : English
v, 128p., Bib., Index, 23 cm.
CONTENTS:- 1. Introduction. 2. Context of the study. 3. Review of related literature. 4. Design of the study. 5. Analysis and interpretation of data. 6. Summary and conclusion.
The upliftment of a country is inextricably interwoven with quality of life of its citizens, the literacy rate of the country being a parameter of a qualitative life. The more is the literacy rate the more is the political consciousness of the people. Moreover, quality education leaves behind personality development in its trail. Primary education is the very foundation on which the mansion of Secondary and Higher Education can be erected. Emphasizing Primary Education, article 45 of the Indian constitution is intent on making it more widespread. Among various policies of the Indian government the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is meant for achieving the long cherished goal of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE). This aims at providing useful quality elementary education to all children belonging to the age group of 6-14 years by 2010. The SSA, a recent initiative in Orissa, has been implemented from January 2004. Many teachers have been trained to carry out a variety of Academic activities as per the programme the other schemes prior to this are Operation Blackboard (OB), Non-Formal Education (NFE), Teacher Education (TE), Mahila Samakhya (MS), State Specific Basic Education projects like the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project (APPEP), National Support to programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (MDM), District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), Despite all these endeavour hundred per cent literacy in India is an elusive dream--there is still low participation or girls, trials and other disadvantaged groups. still about one lakh habitation in the country lack the facility of educational institution within one kilometer.


Our Creative Curriculum
The Windmills Junior School provides a broad, balanced, and creative curriculum underpinned by a variety of inspiring and exciting learning experiences that ensure children develop a passion and enthusiasm for learning. We priorities the key skills in reading, writing and maths as these underpin all other subjects. We not only teach the children the subjects within the National Curriculum, but also the skills needed to learn well and approach learning and challenges with determination and resilience. We ensure that the children have the opportunity to learn not only what they need to know now, but also to develop the skills and attitudes necessary for the lives they will lead in the future.
Each term is carefully planned to ensure that there is continuity and progression for all our children, our thematic approach ensures that learning is set in a meaningful context taking into account the requirements of the new National Curriculum (September 2014) and other national and local initiatives. Our creative and innovative approach ensures pupils receive a rich and varied experience that develops key skills, deepens their knowledge, broadens their interests, and impacts positively on their engagement.
Through our effective and regular monitoring of pupil performance, we identify successes to build on and areas for improvement ensuring we deliver the best curriculum for all. This is continually reviewed and adapted to keep learning fresh and engaging.
Our curriculum is designed to develop our children as self-assured and confident individuals who are fully prepared for their transition into secondary school and beyond, as well as fully equipped with the literacy and numeracy skills needed for a successful future.
In short, the objectives of our curriculum are:
- To motivate and inspire children to become life-long learners
- To make sure all children make rapid progress in their learning
- To develop our children as independent learners
- To encourage our children to be imaginative and creative
- To develop our children as conscientious global citizens, ensuring that they understand the values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.
This is an overview of the themes that we currently teach. To see more detail on each term please visit the year group page. For more detail still look at the National Curriculum documents below.
|Term 1- Autumn||Term 2- Spring||
Term 3 – Summer
Knights & castles
|Meet The Greeks – Ancient History||Green Fingers – Growing Plants|
|4||Invaders & Settlers-
Iron Age & Roman impact on Britain
|Far Away Places –
India and Polar regions
Core text – The Lion, the Witch and the wardrobe
|Wild & Wonderful –
Living things in their habitats
|5||From Vikings to Venus –
Space and history
Physical geography of South America and Brazil
Core text – Iron Man, Ted Hughes
|Everyone wants to Rule the World – Ancient Civilisations: The Mayan Empire & Ancient Egypt|
Natural disasters and evolution
|We’ll Meet Again –
2nd World War – Battle of
|Up, Up and Away
Transition, growing up, moving on
Key text – Kensuke’s kingdom, Michael Morpurgo


New flash: Kids hate boring phonics videos. So naturally they tune them out—and sadly miss a valuable opportunity to learn. That's why parents are so happy to discover Readeez.
What makes Readeez different?
1. They’re genuinely entertaining. Kids adore the original songs and characters in Readeez. They love watching—and the more they watch, the more they learn.
2. In Readeez, words are the stars. Text is the dominant element onscreen. Big, clear text. In fact, Readeez are more like books than they are like other videos.
3. Readeez use SyllableSync. With this breakthrough technique, kids both see and hear, simultaneously, each syllable of each word.
What is Stealth Phonics? First let’s see what it isn’t. Think of videos that focus on the sounds letters make. An example of this "explicit" phonics teaching would be an announcer saying
"C" makes the sound "KUH," as in "cat"
...which is true—except when it isn't. As in the word "cent."
(And even in cases where it is true, it's not interesting to kids.)
Trying to teach "rules" of English pronunciation involves so many exceptions and variations that the result for most young viewers is confusion.
A different approach—the Readeez approach—is to make phonics instruction continuous and implicit.
In the video below, the word "circle" appears seventeen times. Each time, the word’s two distinct syllables are pronounced at the exact moment they appear onscreen. (That’s called SyllableSync.)
Thus every time the word "circle" occurs, your child learns these facts:
In the context of the word "circle," "c-i-r" is pronounced "SIR" and "c-l-e" is pronounced "KUL."
And guess what: Kids learn similar facts about the words "and," "square," "pair," plus hundreds of others.
Of course, if Readeez were just dull repetitions of facts, no one would watch. Which is why Readeez use the irresistible appeal of music.
The songs are so catchy, one well-known reviewer described them as "Poptacular...worthy of classic Sesame Street."


LOTE – Japanese
Languages – Japanese 日本語
The Box Hill North Primary School Languages program introduces students to Japanese language (日本語 – nihongo) and culture in a fun and engaging environment. The languages program is designed to expand students’ awareness of cultural diversity and develop an understanding of different lifestyles, foods, customs, traditions and writing systems.
Japanese language classes are centred around communicative activities encouraging students to use authentic language in context. Students develop speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy skills and their language acquisition is supported through the use of songs, dance, visual aids, realia and ACTLAN, a method of using intentional gestures developed to match and mirror the target language.
Throughout the program, students are introduced to the three Japanese scripts – hiragana, katakana and kanji, and to various aspects of Japanese culture through ICT, books, magazines, videos, clothing, artefacts and by engaging in traditional arts and crafts such as origami and calligraphy.
Each year, students are encouraged to represent Box Hill North Primary School in the annual JLTAV (Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of Victoria) Junior Speech Contest. Participation in this contest provides students with a great opportunity to use their Japanese language skills outside the languages classroom setting, build confidence and develop public speaking skills.
Last year, two of our students were invited to join Warrandyte Primary School’s inaugural school trip to Japan which included a visit to a Japanese primary school. This was an invaluable experience in furthering our students’ Japanese language and culture awareness both through the first hand experiences the two students had in-country and also post trip via the sharing of stories, photos and videos with the school community. We look forward to providing further opportunities for trips to Japan in collaboration with Warrandyte Primary School.
For further information about what is happening in Japanese classes at Box Hill North PS, please visit the Nihongo@BHNPS blog by clicking here
Japanese classroom and program has been set-up to provide a lively and stimulating environment of:
- Clothing, various cultural artefacts
- Hands-on activities such as origami and calligraphy
In addition to the classroom program, the Language Lovers Club runs once a week during lunch time providing students with the opportunity to further extend their Japanese literacy skills while learning about other languages from other teachers and fellow students.
Over the past 5 years several students have represented our school and our country on cultural exchange in Japan. We are very proud of their efforts to make it through the rigorous selection process and spend time experiencing Japanese daily life, staying in a home with a host family and attending school.


I am in the process of reading Edwin E. Gordon’s Music Theory for Newborn and Young Children. So far, I am most impressed with 2 points that he makes:
- “Children are ill-equipped to learn what most teachers are attempting to teach. Without the same kind of acculturation in music young children receive in language by parents and caregivers during five years or so before they enter school (the first eighteen months being most important), there is little hope for debilitating circumstances in music education to be alleviated.” (Kindle Location 50-58 of 1975)
- “….yet most children have never had a chance to perform music individually before they begin formal music instruction, and once they do begin formal instruction, they are seldom offered or allowed opportunity to perform solo in class. Most formal instruction involves teaching groups of children to sing by asking them to repeat in ensemble sounds a teacher or others make. Yet imagine outcomes in language learning if children were asked to speak only in groups, repeating what a teacher said. They would learn to imitate only what others around them are saying and so would not give meaning to what they themselves said. They might not ever create a sentence of their own to express personal thoughts.” (Kindle Location 212-220)
I am convinced that these two points are connected and will even go so far as to say create a vicious circle. Most children get the idea in their music classes that they are:
- incapable of creating music without very specific guidelines
- not musically talented
As a result, we have parents not singing to their children. Personally, I think it stems from the music elite who think that if someone doesn’t have a “perfect” voice or Mozart like talent, they should not sing or play at all. I have heard this said to music teachers, as well. This kills me. This isn’t to say I support mediocre standards in our field, but there MUST be a middle ground:
- If you teach music, sing with your kids as much as possible. If you feel that your singing needs improvement, get better. Period. Take classes, get a singing teacher, whatever!! NEVER stop singing and making music together. Think about the message this sends to your kids ~ don’t make music unless you are perfect. How many of them do you think, think of themselves as perfect singers? Also, you have absolutely NO leg to stand on when you are encouraging them to participate in ANY activity in which they feel insecure!
- Encourage spontaneous music making and improvising in your class. Continuously send the message that there are times for creating music that may not sound good right off the bat, but it is through this exploration that kids will get to know how music works and will then be better musicians overall.
- And, of course, there are times when accuracy in playing/ singing are necessary. This is important, not only because the situation demands it, but also because this will also help us in improvisations and composition.
In the end, we must empower our students to feel confident enough to create and make music on their own. Only then will they always have some kind of music making in their life.


Miss Priss has a new nightly homework assignment. She brings home sound cards, and we review letter and word sounds with her to practice the phonics instruction she gets at school. Miss Priss thinks it is a little boring since she already knows her letter sounds and has a pretty good reading level for a 6-year old. I am trying to explain the importance of recognizing individual letter sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words and how letters combine to make specific sound patterns in English. My teacher explanation is lost on her.
TheRoomDad actually saved the day on this one because he started creating word games at the dinner table that take care of the sound practice without making it seem like we are running flashcards (point for TheRoomDad). Any child at the beginning stages of reading needs a good foundation of letter sounds and how sounds combine. This will translate into good reading and spelling skills down the road when kids encounter unfamiliar words. Whether your family has actual sound cards or not, play some sound activities at the dinner table, in the car, during bath time, walking down the aisles at the grocery store, or any random free moment to reinforce good reading skills.
Name words that have a particular sound at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
- Give your child a starting sound/letter and call out any words that begin with that sound. If you call out “M” as in marshmallow, name other words that start with the “M” sound (monkey, mountain, moon). Now move the “M” sound to the end of words. Call out any words where you can hear the “M” at the end (home, lamb, room, clam). Don’t worry if the word is not spelled with an “M” at the end. For this activity, children are listening for the sound only. Now, find words with the “M” sound in the middle. This activity is the hardest (lemon, computer, hammer). If you want to throw a little extra challenge in the mix, try to think of words that have the “M” sound in the beginning AND middle (mummy, mermaid).
Create a whole sentence that includes words that all start with the same sound.
- This is harder than you might think. Throw out a sound and see if your child can create a whole sentence with words that start with the same sound. You could also play a game where each person adds one word going around in a circle. Try making a sentence will all “S” sounds at the beginning, for example (Sally swam speedily). See who can make the longest sentence with words that all start with the same letter.
Find pictures in magazines, catalogs, reading books, etc. that have specific letter sounds at the beginning, middle, or end.
Give a category and name any words that start with a specific letter sound for that category (animals, desserts, jobs, sports, etc.).
Not only will these simple strategies build sound awareness, they will also build vocabulary. It may seem super easy to a child to list words that match a letter sound, but it will strengthen phonics skills and contribute to better reading skills in later grades. Anyone have suggestions for other simple word games you can play with children that will have a positive impact on reading and spelling skills?


Wednesday, September 16, 2009
After much testing...DIBELS! I was able to make my small groups. My lowest group needs lots of phonics instruction as most first graders do. These students are more on the kindergarten level, they don't know their letter names and sounds. I hear a song in my head "lets start from the very beginning, a very good place to start..."
We had a half an hour for this group: started with phonemic awareness... air --- plane, what's the word? quick and easy, we want PA to be more of a game. Then we played pass the site words: see and the. Next, we talked about A and the sound it makes /a/ and its spelling. I gave them a card with letters jumbled and had them find the letter a many times by naming things that started with a. I wrote all their names on the board and we circled the letter a in their names. To end and assess, I had them write the uppercase and lowercase a on a small whiteboard and say the sound.
I know this sounds "elementary" BUT, this is where we start with these students.
Posted by Sienna at 1:12 PM
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Testing, testing, testing... it is so tedious and well, annoying. But, let me remind you it is the only way to gauge student learning and understanding of certain phonics concepts. So, make sure you test often and look at the data for every child. Use the knowledge to create a teaching plan to suit each small group. Sometimes I feel like teachers forget the importance of testing and look at it more as an annoying time eater. I know I am a teacher too, but if you look at it in a more positive light it can benefit your instruction.
Posted by Sienna at 9:29 PM
Friday, July 17, 2009
Guided reading or small group instruction is a chance to work one on one with your students. You are able to reach the struggling readers in this 15-30 minute block. This could be the most important 30 minutes of the day for these students. Make it matter! Assessment is crucial in order to place students in the correct group. Once you have assessed their phonics knowledge you can create small groups. You should never have more than 4-5 students in one group. For example if you have four students who are having trouble with the r controlled vowels such as ar, er and ir...put them together, because you have a starting point for them. The placement is all up to the teacher. I like to put at least one higher reader in with a mix of low students to lead the group. The high student should only be a bit higher so you don't hinder that students developement. I like to use the core phonics test to create my small groups. Remember this small group/ guided reading should be focused and intense phonics, fluency and comprehension instruction. It is hard to determine where students are in fluency and comprehension when comparing them to peers. Phonics concept placement is a good start because you have one common ground.
Posted by Sienna at 10:49 PM
I always get questions about the best small group instruction. Teachers are very intimidated by the terms used in current research. I wanted to start this website to break it down and explain how easy it is to teach explicit small group reading instruction. I work with mainly K-2 students, therefore my blogs will be focused on these grades and phonics, comprehension and fluency concepts. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Posted by Sienna at 10:25 AM


Visiting instructional coach and reading specialist Linda Karamatic has referred numerous times to the work of Ellin Oliver Keene. In this Ed Leadership article, New Horizons in Comprehension, Keene takes us on a conferring journey with a young reader to demonstrate how we might move students beyond superficial responses and in doing so, teach them to deepen their own understanding.
“I really want to be an astronaut when I grow up. I know a lot about the space station.” Jacob looks up from his book, Eyewitness: Space Exploration (DK Children, 2004), … I have just taught a lesson in which I explored with students the concept of schema—relevant prior knowledge and experience that readers use to comprehend text more deeply. Now I’m conferring with students individually as they apply this comprehension strategy in their independent reading.
I’m not surprised by the rather superficial nature of Jacob’s response to my question about how the book he’s reading relates to his own life. Several years ago, I might have said, “Great connection, Jacob. Mark it on a sticky note and keep going!” Not any more. Instead, I ask him to give me a moment while I consider how to respond to him. I want to actually teach him something that will be valuable to him as a reader, and I’m going to take my time to consider the most effective approach.”
Read the entire piece, including specific reading comprehension strategies Keene recommends here.


Wednesday, September 16, 2009
After much testing...DIBELS! I was able to make my small groups. My lowest group needs lots of phonics instruction as most first graders do. These students are more on the kindergarten level, they don't know their letter names and sounds. I hear a song in my head "lets start from the very beginning, a very good place to start..."
We had a half an hour for this group: started with phonemic awareness... air --- plane, what's the word? quick and easy, we want PA to be more of a game. Then we played pass the site words: see and the. Next, we talked about A and the sound it makes /a/ and its spelling. I gave them a card with letters jumbled and had them find the letter a many times by naming things that started with a. I wrote all their names on the board and we circled the letter a in their names. To end and assess, I had them write the uppercase and lowercase a on a small whiteboard and say the sound.
I know this sounds "elementary" BUT, this is where we start with these students.
Posted by Sienna at 1:12 PM


Five Tips for Developing Children’s Reading Confidence
Denver, Colorado (PRWEB) April 29, 2013
Reading Eggs, the online reading program for 3 – 13 year olds, has published five essential tips to enhance story reading time and help children gain the confidence to become successful readers.
The article advises parents to designate a regular reading time and place where children can read in comfort and focus without distraction. When reading to a child, modulating tonality and expression to suit different aspects of the story is also highlighted as essential to making reading time more enjoyable and to help instill a positive attitude towards reading.
Parents are also advised to regularly monitor their child’s comprehension of the story by recapping key developments and asking their child questions.
In addition to its comprehensive series of reading lessons and activities, the Reading Eggs program includes a library of over 1,000 ebooks available online and on the iPad. The library includes nursery rhymes, illustrated chapter books, full colour non-fiction books and a range of classics.
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 13. 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. The program has been purchased in over 169 countries.


Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) was an influential German composer who explored the fringes of tonality through his music and who was teacher to many a great name in composition. He grew up and began his career in Germany, but a complicated relationship with the Nazi regime in the 1930s sent him elsewhere. During that period, he was invited to Turkey, where he helped to reorganize the music education system there. In 1940, he emigrated to the United States, where he taught primarily at Yale University. He became an American citizen in 1946, but moved to Zurich in 1953, where he remained for the rest of his life. He developed his own system of tonality that was not diatonic, but which ranks musical intervals from most-consonant to most-dissonant while still relying on a tonal center. While this approach sounds purely academic, it resulted in playful, accessible music in Hindemith’s hands. He was very interested in understanding instrumental technique, to the point that he is said to have learned to play every one of his instrumental sonatas (and there are many, including trumpet, clarinet, trombone, harp, tuba, flute, violin, viola, and bass) on the instrument for which he wrote it.
The Symphony in B-flat is a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire. Hindemith wrote it in 1951 on a commission from “Pershing’s Own” United States Army Band. Its three movements use classical and baroque approaches to form and thematic development in Hindemith’s unique harmonic idiom. Below, I’ll include my thumbnail analysis of each movement above separate videos of each, all by the extremely capable North Texas Wind Symphony.
The Symphony’s first movement, marked, “Moderately fast, with vigor” is in sonata allegro form. Hindemith introduces two themes immediately. The first is lyrical and rhythmically intense, spanning 10 bars. The second, a short burst of five 8th notes, is hidden in the bluster of the first beat of the movement, not emerging fully until the two themes merge. Another pair of themes is introduced at letter D. Together, they grow into semi-climax before being interrupted by another dotted-rhythm theme, which dominates the development until the second initial theme returns. The recapitulation of the first two themes is shrouded by changed textures, but the second pair of themes returns with confidence, ending the movement in a solid B-flat major.
The second movement is broadly in three sections. It begins with a dolorous duet between alto sax and cornet. There are hints of Hindemith’s Weimar Republic roots in the melody, which sounds like the lamentation of a tired cabaret singer. A much more lively middle section features tambourine accompaniment, suggesting some angry dance. The two contrasting feelings are thrown together in the third section.
The “Fugue” is actually two fugues. The first begins after a short introduction in which we hear the first fugue subject stated by itself. The second uses a broader, triplet-based subject. The two come together late in the movement, only to be joined by the first theme from the first movement as the piece heads to its cacophonous closure.


By Valeaira Luppens and Greg Foreman. Creative Standard-based lessons for the music classroom.
A resource for music teachers and substitute music teachers of grades 3-6. Lesson plans specifically target each of the 9 MENC National Standards for Music Education. Each standard is represented by a unit of creative lesson plans that incorporate folk, classical, and original music - 55 lessons in all. Every lesson clearly details the materials needed, introduces the activity, explains concepts, and builds and reinforces students' musical skills. Reproducible student worksheets are included. Songs have the melody and piano accompaniment notated.
For grades 3-6.
Contents: Introduction, Preface, Portfolios, The National Standards for Music Education>
Content Standard 1 - The Name Game, Mystery Meat, Two for the Price of One, Range,
Vocal Production, Can-Can, Battle Hymn.
Content Standard 2 - Ostinato-Ostinato-Ostinato, Wild and Wacky, Kum-ba-ya, Old MacDonald's Band,
Silent Night, Star Harmony.
Content Standard 3 - Vocal Improvisation, Fun with Phrases, Answer the Question, Homework Blues,
More or Less, Shooting Star.
Content Standard 4 - The Symphony and the Magician, You Are Notable, Scary Songs, Television Theme
Song, Commercial Jingle, Star Power.
Content Standard 5 - Drum Tag, Dynamic Dice Game, Keyboard Kids, Secret Code, Handwriting Practice,
Content Standard 6 - Musical Jumping Jacks, It's the Law, "Yankee Doodle," Virtual Reality Sound, It's a
Jungle Out There, And the Winner Is.
Content Standard 7 - Music Survey, Personal Preferences, Concert Critique, Talent Judge, What Makes It
Great?, That's Not Fair.
Content Standard 8 - Sound Advice, Showtime, Say What?, Lesson Plan, Design a Music School, Where in
Content Standard 9 - My Musical Journal, Dear Miss Sharp, Characteristics, Musical Detective, Mozart
Pen Pal, Journey through Time.
Songs: All Night All Day/Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Can-Can, Hallelujah Chorus, Homework Blues, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Kum-ba-ya, Lions Tigers, "Mo Mozart" Theme Song, Mystery Meat, Old MacDonald Had a Band, Ostinato, Scary Song, She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, Silent Night, Student Roll Call, The Toy Store Jingle, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Vocal Production Boogie, Yankee Doodle.


In the music schooling curriculum students pursue licensure for K-12 educating in instrumental/choral/general music. In January 2003, Jason requested who could be inquisitive about being a part of the New Funk Order, a new music order amongst musicians who share a message of revolution, love, peace, change, and correction.” Many artists wished to contribute and shortly it was determined that a compilation of authentic music could be put together, with artists collaborating by way of the internet.
If this Federal Government is actually critical about creative Australia, really critical about education and genuinely serious about literacy and numeracy then it might put its cash the place its mouth was and fund music and arts training as a precedence, taught properly by academics who know one thing about music, lecturers who are critical about music as a subject and never disc jockeys.
Tami J. Draves writes the next concerning the e-book Sociology and Music Education in her review printed in Journal of Historical Research in Music Education: In considering the advantaged and deprived in music education, David Hebert analyzes ethnicity and music training from sociological, musicological, and music training views in chapter 7 by considering which music is taught and to whom.
Keep in mind as properly that although our dialogue will concentrate on modern-day African music and devices that are to be found within the areas contained therein, and the manner through which that music has affected Western music, we is not going to be investigating the actual ancient devices that are the forefathers of their modern relations.


Music and group work might be fun but when it comes to teaching math, basic drills and worksheets may work best. That’s the takeaway of a new study co-authored by UC Irvine education professor George Farkas. He and his colleagues found that first-grade teachers may need to change their approach to improving the math skills of students who struggle with the subject.
The study revealed that teachers in U.S. classrooms with higher percentages of math-challenged students are actually more likely to use ineffective instructional strategies. They tend to employ manipulative/calculator and movement/music activities, which the researchers found do not boost math skills in children at any level of proficiency.
“Math educators have created many competing curricula, and we have very limited understanding of their relative effectiveness,” Farkas said. “However, activities such as routine practice or drill, math worksheets, problems from textbooks and math on the chalkboard appear to be most effective, probably because they increase the automaticity of arithmetic. It may be like finger exercises on the piano or ‘sounding out’ words in reading. Foundational skills need to be routinized so that the mind is free to think.”
The study appears online in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.
The research showed that only frequent use of teacher-directed instruction – focusing on textbooks, worksheets and other tools to convey facts, skills and concepts – is associated with significant gains for students with math difficulties. The most successful methods are routine practice and drill. The results hold true for first-grade students who had either persistent or transitory trouble with math in kindergarten.
The so-called “math curriculum wars” pit teacher-directed and student-centered activities against each other. The latter involves children working together to discover math skills on their own. This is ineffective when students struggle with comprehension, Farkas said: “Not all children achieve understanding in student-centered activities, and many fail to achieve automaticity with basic arithmetic facts and techniques.”
The growing reliance by first-grade teachers on non-teacher-directed instruction is surprising and troubling, he noted, given what prior research has shown about the learning needs of math-challenged students.
For their study, the researchers analyzed survey responses from 3,635 teachers and data from a subsample of 13,833 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, a nationally representative data set maintained by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
It’s important that students with math difficulties be brought up to speed at an early age in order to reach their educational and career potential. Students who complete high school with relatively low math achievement are more likely to be unemployed or paid lower wages, Farkas said, even if they have good reading skills.
Teacher-directed instruction is also linked to gains in children without a history of math trouble. But unlike their math-challenged counterparts, they can benefit from some types of student-centered instruction as well – such as working on problems with several solutions, peer tutoring, and activities involving real-life math.
While previous research has identified instructional practices that increase reading achievement in students both with and without reading problems, few prior studies have examined which teaching methods are best for boosting math skills.
“Our findings provide teachers an indication of what works,” Farkas said. “Students with math difficulties would benefit more from explicit teacher-directed types of instructional approaches rather than from other kinds of approaches that we see teachers using.”
He co-authored the work with Paul L. Morgan and Steve Maczuga of Pennsylvania State University. Funding was provided by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.


What it is: Holy cow, I am SO excited! Today registration is open for World Education Games!! If your students have never participated with World Education Games (like World Math Day), this is the year. They will thank you for including them in this fun world wide contest. February 1st, that’s today, registration is open and the official warm-up training period for students begins. On March 5h students can participate in World Literacy Day, March 6 is World Math Day, and March 7 is World Science Day. March 22nd Global award presentations begin with the Official World Education Games Awards. The World Education Games is an annual global online olympics to get students from age 4 to 18 excited about learning. The fun comes in the friendly competition between countries as students compete to represent their country in the games. There are 3 days of games focused on literacy, math and science. The games are a great way to help students in speed, accuracy and general fluency in core computation, number and spelling skills. World Science Day has been designed to encourage curiosity and excitement in science while helping them answer knowledge, application and reasoning questions. Each game (a competition against other students from around the world) lasts just 1 minute. Students can go head to head as often as they would like, but only the first 50 games are counted toward the competition point tally. World Math Day was launched in 2007 and my students have taken part in this fun competition each year. Since then, Literacy and Science day has been added to the games. SO much fun!
How to integrate World Education Games into the classroom: World Education Games are such a fantastic way to encourage students to practice foundational skills. In the past, I have hosted an “opening ceremonies” at my school and done it up like the Olympics with flags, songs, etc. We go over what the World Education Games are and then make a big deal about the handing out of usernames/passwords (like lighting the torch) and then we kick off our training portion. Students get excited about participating in this fun day and we get lots of “training” in before the big day. On the actual day, we wear red, white and blue and play against kids from around the world. This is great fun in a one-to-one setting or a computer lab where all students can participate simultaneously. Don’t have that option? Because the games are 1 minute long, students can play 5 games each on classroom computers in a rotation.
Since your students are competing against students from around the world, why not use the competition to practice using a map and identifying countries? Since we have a one to one iPad program, we do this digitally with a Google Map. Each time a student competed against a country, they would come up to the board and put a “pin” in the map. Don’t have devices for each student? Use an interactive whiteboard or the paper map and actual pins on a class bulletin board, these options are just as fun!
Don’t forget closing ceremonies at the end of World Education Games. Make up fun medals and give them out to top performers, hardest trainers, etc. Think outside the box on these. Not all kids are speedy in their fact recall…find a way to honor their participation and hard work…did they see huge improvement or growth? Honor those achievements!
The World Education Games are available for free on any internet-connected computer and as a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10 app.
Check out the Resource page for teacher and student guide, a world map, a poster, and for School-in-a-box information.
Tips: Schools participating in the World Education Games can also work toward giving other children the opportunity to start school. World Education Games has partnered with UNICEF to make this happen. During the games, host a fundraiser to purchase “School-in-a-Box” Each $236 donation is enough to send 80 kids to school! What a great way to help kids understand what a privilege education is and model compassion and empathy for others.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using World Education Games in your classroom.


So says MI-Pro website editor, Laura Barnes.
She says that there aren’t many people who would argue against the idea that education is important for not only developing a child’s brain academically, but also helping them understand social situations, express themselves and much, much more.
While we can all agree that it’s important to read and write, understand the science of the world around us, and perform basic arithmetic, it appears to be harder to convince the government why creative subjects are vital to children’s wellbeing in the UK.
She goes on to mention a number of initiatives and reasons why music education should be accessible to each child and concludes:
With all of this information and the abundance of surveys showing how learning an instrument positively impacts children’s lives, to me, it is quite simply astonishing that we are faced with a situation where music lessons are under threat from being reduced, or even removed from school curriculums altogether. If anything, we should be moving in the opposite direction to make learning an instrument accessible for every child in the UK.
Musical Instrument Professional: http://www.mi-pro.co.uk/news/read/opinion-it-is-time-to-make-music-lessons-accessible-for-every-child/022672


Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Daily Fitness Tip: Oct. 9
1. Balance & Coordination: both of which are important throughout motor skill development during childhood, but also for everyday function for adults young and old!
2. Circulation: Think better blood flow to the brain during your student's next spelling test!
3. Mood: Stretching can offer relaxation, but also play a role in stress managment!
Make it a goal to stretch more! Spend a few minutes in the morning before everyone rushes off to school and work or as a family before bed!
Check back tomorrow for 5 news stretches that your family should try!


Front Psychol. 2013 Dec 6;4:855. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00855.
Should music be a priority in public education? One argument for teaching music in school is that private music instruction relates to enhanced language abilities and neural function. However, the directionality of this relationship is unclear and it is unknown whether school-based music training can produce these enhancements. Here we show that 2 years of group music classes in high school enhance the neural encoding of speech. To tease apart the relationships between music and neural function, we tested high school students participating in either music or fitness-based training. These groups were matched at the onset of training on neural timing, reading ability, and IQ. Auditory brainstem responses were collected to a synthesized speech sound presented in background noise. After 2 years of training, the neural responses of the music training group were earlier than at pre-training, while the neural timing of students in the fitness training group was unchanged. These results represent the strongest evidence to date that in-school music education can cause enhanced speech encoding. The neural benefits of musical training are, therefore, not limited to expensive private instruction early in childhood but can be elicited by cost-effective group instruction during adolescence.


To be numerate is to confidently and effectively use mathematics to meet the everyday demands of life.
We all use maths every day. To predict weather, to tell the time, to handle money. Maths is more than formulas and equations. It’s logic, it’s rationality, it’s using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know.
Mathematics provides a means of communication which is powerful and concise. Mathematics is an important element in many other disciplines and fields.
Mathematics at Lowton Church of England High School is challenging and engaging. We aim to make lessons varied and interactive to encourage enthusiasm for the subject.
Alongside the KS3 Curriculum we have dedicated time to concentrate on Numeracy skills. These give students the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge and to extend these skills towards problem solving.
Subject Key Aims
Being numerate and literate are two of the most important skills all future employers want.
Students are to have transferable skills that will enable them to be problem solvers.
To develop the very best Mathematicians towards post 16 study.
A high-quality mathematics education provides a foundation for understanding the world and the ability to reason mathematically.
Pupils are in classes which are set from the beginning of Year 7 to focus learning at appropriate levels and setting is reviewed on a regular basis. Pupils study topics from the following five areas:
Ration and Proportion
Geometry & Measures
Alongside the KS3 Curriculum we have dedicated Numeracy lessons. These give student the opportunity to consolidate their skills and to extend these skills towards problem solving.
Students in Years 10 and 11 follow the GCSE mathematics specification A offered by Edexcel. Students are entered at either Foundation (1-5) or Higher (4-9) level. Topics covered on the specification can tested at the following three levels:
Core Skills – Can the students apply a skill in a conventional way
Fluency – Can the student apply their skill to a given context
Mastery – Can the student choose what Mathematics is appropriate to solve a problem


Education among Dalit girls in Tamil Nadu, South India
Educational support to socially excluded Dalit girls through income generation in Theni District, Tamil Nadu, South India.
We have engaged in a project in Tamil Nadu in South India that aims at providing elementary school to some of the poorest girls in the area, namely the Dalit girls. Each day, millions of Indian children are waking up with nothing to look forward to besides numerous hours of hard labour in jobs where they are being exploited. Children as young as 5 years old are kept from going to school and instead they are being forced to work 7 days a week for up to 18 hours a day, which leaves them with nothing except a less than minimal income, a large amount of injuries, disorders and pain.
This continued exploitation and enslavement of children creates an evil trap where Dalit families are kept in a vicious cycle of slavery, illiteracy and poverty. Dalit families are considered the outkast of the Hindu society, and particularly girls are considered the lowest of all, sometimes regarded lower than animals. They are completely isolated from education, mainly because it is considered a waste of time and money, as the families are exptremely poor due to lack of education, and therefore lack of employment and opportunities.
Poverty and illeteracy are two major problems that are highly concentrated among Dalit families in Tamil Nadu. Education is considered a waste of time and money, and most children grow up in slums where they either help their parents during the day, or wander around the slums getting into trouble or being exploited. These unfortunate children are often left illiterate and are suffering from different types of health problems, and thus, they are found in a cruel twist of fate, since they are not very likely to find employment once they reach adulthood. Free elementary education is constitutionally madatory in India, which theoretically means that children between 6-14 would be able to go to school at no charge.
However, this is not the case for most Dalit children. At many schools, there are certain ”hidden” school fees, that the families are not able to pay, as well as the cost of uniforms, school books, stationary, food, transport etc. Dalit families are traditionally working in the agricultural sector, but the recent rise in unemployment has left many dalit families with little or no income. The unstable weather conditions in South India has made its impact on agriculture and unemployment has risen significantly. This makes it hard for people to secure an income, which makes education an even lower priority.
The project is based on the idea of animal husbandry; the distribution of milk cows. This concept is supported by the indian government as it has proven a succesful tool in relation to income generation for indian families. The families will be trained in taking care of animals and trading milk products. The nutritious fresh milk will also improve the nutrition level of the children in the family. One cow per family can be enough to pay for the education of 2-3 children!As education is one of the greatest tools to reduce poverty, it is important to send more children to school as this will give them better opportunities in order to bring change to their lives and imporve the living standards in the community. It is necessary to support the families in order to prioritize the education of their children. If the level of education rises, it will bring hope in the area, as it will bring new ideas and initiatives.


Using Workbooks Successfully at Home During the Summer
Now that your family is a few weeks into the summer, you may be searching for easy ways to keep your children engaged with some type of educational activities. We love seeing our families hit museums, beaches, zoos, and other area spots for plenty of hands on education and exploration. However, you can also sneak some wonderful school practice into your child’s daily routine with a little help from workbooks.
Benefits of Workbooks
“Using workbooks at home gives students lots of practice on many different school skills,” says Nika Fouquet, Education Consultant at Tutor Doctor Santa Monica. “Kids get the chance to practice skills like attention, concentration, and handwriting, along with subject matter.” Workbooks work well with children of any age, and workbooks are readily available at local bookstores or online. Even better, workbooks are able to be flexible with the child’s current academic level. If your child is performing above grade level and could use a challenge, pick up an advanced book full of above grade level content. Similarly, if your child could use some additional help with foundational skills, choose a workbook that offers practice that will benefit your child when he arrives at school next year.
Using Workbooks Effectively
Workbooks are only effective if your child is using them. One of the best ways to set your child up for success with workbooks is to get them involved with the process of choosing workbooks. Fortunately, there is a variety of content available to choose from. If you can get your child’s buy in from the beginning of the process, you are already winning the battle.
After you have your workbooks, make working in them a part of your family’s routine. Often, carving out time for school work during the summer is a challenge. Consider making workbook time a priority in the morning, before the hustle and bustle of pool visits and playdates begins. Depending on your child’s age and attention, you can encourage workbook time for 15-45 minutes per day, 3-5 days per week. For extra incentive, and to combat the inevitable groans that can happen to even the best student, offer a special treat for every book completed or time goal met. A family ice cream date, extra gas money, or a trip to a favorite beach may just keep your child invested in their school success this summer.
A Few of Our Favorites
Our Tutors and team took some time to put together a list of some of our favorite workbooks. Give these a look before choosing your first few this summer.


Earth Play for Earth DayIt’s Earth Day today, and I decided to share an activity we did last week where we investigated soil properties in our garden and built mini adobe bricks. Of course, this project can be done on any day of the year and can be incorporated as part of ancient civilizations unit. In fact, our own adobe bricks were inspired by our ongoing Mexico geography and history unit and by our recent trip to Mexico where adobe bricks are still widely used in construction.
Adobe bricks are made out of sand, clay, water, and some kind of organic material (straws, sticks, and/or manure). Our goal was to investigate which mud bricks will be stronger – the ones made out of enriched soil, the ones from a dirt pile or the ones where plant material is added to dirt. Smarty also insisted on making mini-bricks out of air dry clay for comparison purposes.
Set Up and Materials:
All you need for this activity is water, mud and something to shape your bricks in. We are participating in the project Recycle and Create, and the theme for April is egg cartons. Egg cartons are perfect for making mini-bricks – they don’t come out perfectly square, but their shape offers opportunities for trying things out, and they dry out relatively quickly (we left ours outside for 2 days). I also threw in some perler beads to decorate our mini bricks, but Smarty didn’t want to use them on the bottoms of the egg carton, since she wanted to make patterns and pictures, not a random sprinkle of beads.
Smarty predicted that air dry bricks will be strongest, followed by enriched soil bricks, and that pure dirt bricks will be “the crumbliest”. She was a little disappointed that she was not allowed to add “manure” to her bricks.
Mud brick building occupied my 7 year old for good 2 hours. It was a deliciously dirty activity with a lot of mixing and picking the best place to dig. In the end, Smarty spent significant time arranging beads on her mud bricks – I hope you can see an American flag on one of her bricks
Do your kids enjoy building and playing with mud?
More Earth Science for Kids?
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Drawing and pedagogy
There are several approaches to drawing that are used within the traditional art school. Over the last few years these have been seriously questioned and the debate as to how and why drawing can continue to be important has been heightened by the need to justify the continuing presence of spaces traditionally regarded as sacrosanct. Spaces such as the life drawing room, drawing studios and spaces and equipment, (such as easels and donkeys) for students, that have traditionally supported drawing practice. The concept of drawing as an expanded field has questioned its relevance in a similar way to how sculpture’s relevance was threatened during the 60s and 70s. Managers have slowly eroded facilities such as metal casting, dedicated sculptural spaces for carving or large scale construction and replaced them with generalist spaces and more access to computer terminals. It would appear that this could also be the fate of spaces for drawing.
This presentation is an attempt to answer the question of a continuing relevance and provides a few suggestions as to how as an activity it can remain truly central to art education practices.
The rise of an interest in Phenomenology has meant that there is a growing awareness of the implications of the embodied mind thinking. In particular I wish to look at drawing as an interface that can lead towards cognitive extension.
Introducing students to drawing as a tool for thinking and processing is a continuing challenge for art and design schools. Each discipline has evolved a set of procedures and types that it accepts as being fundamental to practice, however these ‘tropes’ have been gradually eroded and what were at one time fundamental skills, such as perspective and observational drawing are no longer seen as essential.
However in the fine art area there has been a resurgence of drawing, not least because of its capacity to be used as a bridge between the immediacy of perception and the moment of cognition. It is this moment, this joint between one thing and another that allows for a rich series of investigations and possibilities to be developed.
So what are the new essentials?
Head of Contextual and Theoretical Studies: Leeds College of art and Design
Interested in weaving together the narratives and gaps between being a fine art practitioner, teaching theory, developing educational management and how the construction of a socially responsible art practice can be possible within the parameters of our present society.
Research interests are an extension of both Fine Art practice and pedagogic interests.
The role of drawing as a thinking tool is central to his research within Fine Art practice and reflects a long standing interest in visual education.
The interrelationship between text and visual images, in particular the history of Ekphrasis, or how different art forms can be used to heighten awareness of each other is a more recent interest and stems from the fact that the idea of what it is to be an artist has often developed through contact with fictional narrative.


M.A. in Subject Matter Teaching: Music
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Education
College of Education
Kuhlman, Kristyn L.
Music--Instruction and study; Second grade (Education); Second grade (Education)
Elementary Education and Teaching
The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of rhythm syllable systems in developing students' aural discrimination abilities. The problem was to examine the effect of rhythm syllable systems on students' abilities to aurally identify the meter of rhythm patterns. A secondary problem was to examine the interaction effects of music aptitude and rhythm syllable systems.
The sample for this study included 107 students in second and third grade general music classes. Classes remained intact and were randomly assigned to the control group, the time-based syllable group, and the function-based syllable group.
Subjects were administered the Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation prior to the start of the treatment period to identify level of music aptitude and a student questionnaire to identify prior rhythmic activity experience. During the treatment period, the students learned the same rhythm patterns: instruction differed only in the type of rhythm syllable system used. The time-based treatment group used Kodaly rhythm syllables, the function-based treatment groups used Gordon syllables, and the control group continued to use a neutral syllable.
At the conclusion of the 14 week treatment period, all subjects were administered a Meter Identification Test in which they were expected to aurally identify patterns as being in duple or triple meter. An ANOVA revealed no significant differences among groups with regard to treatment and no interaction effects between treatment and level of rhythm aptitude. The researcher concluded that there were no differences in abilities of subjects who received rhythm instruction that utilized the function-based syllable system and those who used a time-based syllable system. Furthermore, subjects who used either syllable system failed to demonstrate greater meter identification abilities than students who used no syllable system as part of rhythm instruction.
Beckman, Richard D. II, "The comparison of two rhythm syllable systems on the meter recognition abilities of second and third grade students" (2003). Theses and Dissertations. 1259.


According to the NICHCY, "as many as 1 out of every 5 people in the United States has a learning disability," but "there is no one sign that shows a person has a learning disability. Experts look for a noticeable difference between how well a child does in school and how well he or she could do, given his or her intelligence or ability. There are also certain clues that may mean a child has a learning disability."
Most of these clues "relate to elementary school tasks, because learning disabilities tend to be identified in elementary school. A child probably won't show all of these signs, or even most of them. However, if a child shows a number of these problems, then parents and the teacher should consider the possibility that the child has a learning disability."
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