The Elementary School has many programs to extend and enrich learning.
The Responsive Classroom approach is a widely used, research-backed approach to elementary education that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to more high-quality instruction. Furthermore, this instructional philosophy is designed to develop a climate of trust and set the tone for respectful learning throughout the day. In the Responsive Classroom children’s needs are addressed and a sense of significance is built while social, emotional and intellectual learning are merged.
Reading is very important to our Tabernacle Kids. Furthermore, our students are involved in a variety of school wide activities during the Read Across America celebration. Our Media Center features a guided reading room so our teachers can differentiate their reading instruction for their students as well as hone in on their students’ instructional reading level. Last year we added a variety of rich math literature to our guided reading room so our teaching staff can use that literature for their anticipatory set to get their students interested in a wide range of math topics. Lastly, we were able to expand our parent/child literature by adding on to our “We Both Read” Program with more non-fiction books in our Guided Reading Room.
High School Math Mentors
Seneca High School math students volunteer twice a month to meet with fourth grade students for 1 hour after our school day to strengthen the younger students’ math skills. Students work together to strengthen math facts and to solve problems similar to those found on the NJASK. In addition to providing positive mathematical support and increasing math sense, this program has proven to be motivational for all participants.
Student needs are met in the Elementary School by providing differentiated instruction in the classroom, in addition to Basic Skills instruction, Tier 3 support, gifted and talented programming and enrichment classes. Each level of assistance is designed to meet the specific educational needs of the individual student.
Gifted and Talented
The PERC curriculum enhances and extends specific content areas at each grade level. Science and mathematics are the areas of concentration in third grade and language arts is the content focus for fourth grade. Creative thinking, higher order thinking skills and problem solving activities expand the classroom program for qualifying students.
Third and fourth grade students practice weekly and present 2 performances a year for students, staff, parents, family and friends. The performances are exceptional. Please call the office (609) 268-0150 for further information.
Beautiful sounds are heard from the TES hand chimes group each year. This musical opportunity provides fourth graders with a unique experience at an early age and is continued in the Middle School.
It is amazing each year how our fourth grade students get their musical instruments for the first time in September and are accomplished enough to perform in December of the same year. Students are provided small group and individual lessons during school hours, practice at home and practice after school as a band to prepare for winter and spring concerts.
Grade levels and classrooms join hands to make fruit baskets, buy turkeys, collect canned food, collect toys for those less fortunate than they during the holidays.
Fourth Grade Camping
Fourth grade students enjoy 3 exciting days of environmental studies at Camp Matollionequay in Medford. Students are involved in a hands-on activity-based curriculum in the out-of-doors. For more information, please touch base with one our our 4th grade teachers.
Our safe school environment is enhanced by the efforts of the TES Safety Patrol. Fourth graders are selected for the patrol by their classroom teachers. Our safety patrol members serve as role models for the entire student body. Therefore, these students are expected to demonstrate responsibility, trustworthiness, honesty and respect for others at all times. Our patrol members meet the buses in the morning to ensure students enter the building safely, assist in monitoring the lunchroom and monitor dismissal at the end of the day.
Jump Rope for Heart
February is the month when our thoughts turn to our hearts. Tabernacle Elementary School takes this one step further and, through the efforts of our physical education department, has conducted a Jump Rope for Heart event to raise money for the American Heart Association for the past 22 years. We are very proud that the district has raised over $188,000 for this worthwhile organization.
Ronald McDonald House
TES students collect pennies, paper and cleaning products and aluminum pop tabs annually for Ronald McDonald House. This effort began as a philanthropic project 14 years ago and has continued every year since. TES students have collected over $4,000 and countless supplies in our Kids Helping Kids campaign. This effort began as a fourth grade project and now includes the entire student body and the community. Representatives from each fourth grade classroom make the trip to Ronald McDonald House each March to tour the facility and present a check, supplies and the pop tabs. This year we are going to conduct a school-wide tab counting event. How many tabs can we collect???


Prof. Dr. Lars Oberhaus
Phone: +49 (0) 441 - 798 2080
Music pedagogy defines itself as a collective term for all practical and theoretical efforts around music-referred processes of appropriation and mediation, which are important for education, culture, teaching, learning and tuition. The relationship between humans, music and music-bonded experiences occupies center stage.
The Music didactics subject is the teaching and learning of music in terms of instruction. Its purpose is most of all the development of justifiable and verifiable decisions for teaching practice. Music pedagogy and music didactic build a scientific perspective on music lessons together, that explains the common ground of music teaching and learning with different focusses of research and teaching.
The music pedagogy at the university Oldenburg boasts a strong experience- based and socio-critical tradition and a specific profile, by addressing listening habits, dealing with electronic media, or the appropriation of reality. In keeping with this last aspect, a highly topical goal of music pedagogy is to understand the development of musical appropriation to appreciate the present education reality against the backdrop of an alternative horizon of meaning. This high ideal of music education requires a constant analysis of music-referred perspectives in life that are connected to guiding principles such as humanity, freedom, tolerance, self-determination, critical ability, emancipation and democracy.
Historic- hermeneutic (“systematic”) as well as empirical projects in the area of music pedagogic researches are being pursued. Herein lies the aspects of the teaching- and learning research, the aspects of the transcultural pedagogy as well as part of the philosophy of music education.
The music pedagogy is organized highly interdisciplinary. This affects school learning areas, such as music and sports (dance), music and german (literature/ language) or music and history (eras, composer). Interdisciplinary paths are also adopted in the area of research, for example in music psychology (cognition), music history (biography) or in the area of music and media (media competence). In the future, this research will be used to strengthen the area of early childhood music education. Particularly in view on the acquisition of elementary music-referred competences and the education of preschool teachers.


Make Your Very Own Rainbow
(Physics for ages 5+)
Have you been lucky enough to spot a rainbow in your life? Usually they come out on rainy days while the sun is shining bright, but maybe you’ve seen one while running through the sprinkler on a hot summer day. But how do rainbows happen? The video above shows how you can create your very own homemade rainbow. Here’s what you’ll need:
White sheet of paper
Clear glass or plastic cup
Sunny day (or a flashlight)
Adult supervision (Adult supervision at all times please)
- Fill your clear cup about half-full with water.
- Find a sunny spot in your home, usually near a window or door.
- Place the white sheet of paper flat on a table or the floor. Make sure it is in the sunlight.
- Now, set your cup of water on the sheet of paper so that the sunlight hits it. Do you see the rainbow yet? If the sun is shining bright, you can usually see a small rainbow reflected on the paper.
- If you cannot see the rainbow, try moving the cup. Lift it a few inches off the paper or move it closer to the window.
- If you are still having trouble spotting a rainbow, try using a flashlight or another source of light. Set your cup in the middle of the paper and shine the light on one side of it. The rainbow should appear on the paper on the opposite side of the cup.
Sunlight may not seem very colorful, but it is actually made up of many colors even if we can’t see them all the time. When sunlight hits the water in the glass, the light rays are bent and separated based on their wavelengths.
This bending is called refraction and it happens anytime light passes through water. When we see rainbows outside, they happen because of water in the air that is refracting the light and creating a large, colorful spectacle.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Make Your Very Own Rainbow - Physics Experiment for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Oct 2020. Web. 20 Oct 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/make-your-very-own-rainbow/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Make Your Very Own Rainbow - Physics Experiment for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/make-your-very-own-rainbow/
We've recently added
- How To Build a Winogradsky Column and Learn About Soil Science
- Potato Light Bulb Experiment
- How To Use Friction to Pick Up Bottle of Rice
- How To Make Popcorn Dance
- Vinegar and Baking Soda Fire Extinguisher
- Power of Bleach
- Comparing Surface Tension of Liquids with Pennies
- Ice Cream Chemistry
- Using Distillation to Purify Water
- Filter Water with Dirt
- Build a Balloon Barometer
- Build Your Very Own Seismograph
Sponsored Links :


Arts in Education Program
Barbara N. Howard, Teacher-Artist
Mrs. Howard is eager to bring elementary students into the twenty-first century using a unique combination of educational experience coupled with twenty years of professional performance experience. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a Master's Degree in Elementary Education.
She is dedicated to enthusiastic and dynamic teaching as a means of nurturing a lifelong love of learning in children. She has produced and directed special musical and oratorical programs performed by students for special assemblies and graduation ceremonies which include, poetry slam competitions, African-American Historical Performances, storytelling, and Teaching Tolerance Programs.
She received numerous accolades over the years from public school administrators, faculty and parents for producing successful performances with students and raising students' self-esteem and school morale. She believes that with hard work and a belief in our abilities to effect change in the lives of our children, and by helping children gain a strong sense of their worth and strengths; students can learn how to be invested in their own education.
Programs adhere to Common Core standards:
Reading Standards for Literature K-5
Concentrating on key ideas, integration of knowledge and ideas, Speaking and Listening Standards K-5
Aids in developing Comprehension and Collaboration;
Helps develop skills to read on-grade level and beyond with purpose and understanding;
Helps students read poetry orally with accuracy, at an appropriate rate, and with expression.
PROGRAMS OFFERED BY BEN PRODUCTIONS
Read and Shine | Table of Brotherhood
Read and Shine
Sessions: Offered all year round
The Read and Shine Series, blends music and storytelling to create an interactive educational experience. The teacher-artist presents multicultural stories, which are brough to life in the form of dramatic engagement. Read and Shine is a way for students to find themselves "absorbed by an aesthetic experience." Students become engaged in a multi-layered, positive literacy experience. Performances run between 35 to 45 minutes, depending upon the needs of the organization.
Suggested events or themes that can be enriched by Read and Shine Productions:
Beginning of the Year Literacy Kick-off
Open House Literacy Campaigns Celebration
African-American History Celebrations
Table of Brotherhood
Sessions: Offered in January or April
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. promoted non-violence and tolerance. The purpose of the Table of Brotherhood program is to help students embrace their individuality, while also celebrating and respecting the differences in others. Different does not mean deficient! Teacher-Artist visits classrooms once a week over a four-week period for a 45-minute session. During the sessions, Mrs. Howard introduces students to poetry by authors such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou and Mattie Stephanek, to name a few. Students are given background information on the author and are expected to discuss the meaning of the poetry. Next, the students are engaged in a choral recitation of the poetry. Mrs. Howard also collaborates with Music and Art teachers to help students engage in a cross-curriculum theme of teaching tolerance. At the end of the four-week period all grades involved in the program present music, visual art and choral performances for the entire student-body at their Table of Brotherhood Assembly.
GREEN TECH HIGH CHARTER SCHOOL
The students were immediately engaged and connected with Mrs. Howard and have since expressed their
regrets that the program is over.
The program was 100% aligned to our novel/character study and helped the students make a deeper
connection to the main character and theme of the unit (identity)
— Sara Kobel, 9th Grade Honors Teacher


At Learning Tools, we use the Davis® Methods. The programs utilize methods that match a dyslexic’s strengths. Hands-on, three-dimensional, and creative activities guide the student to gain significant improvement.
All program work with a student is conducted one-on-one with the facilitator.
Throughout the programs, the students are given tools to assist them. The tools, techniques, and procedures are unique and differ from traditional classrooms so students find these fun to do.
Clay is one of the main mediums used, allowing the student to use natural strengths of creativity, artistry, and visual-spatial thought process. Clay provides the ability to create and explore experientially, their own 3-dimensional pictures for unclear or unknown words and concepts.
- Davis® Dyslexia Correction Program – Language arts concentration Language Arts concentration
- Davis® Math Mastery Program – Math computation and concept concentration
- Davis® Attention Mastery Program – Focusing attention, executive functioning
- Davis® Reading Program for Young Learners – Foundational skills for reading development with parental participation commitment
An in-person screening assessment can be done in North Seattle (Haller Lake Area). Assessments cost $175 and are about 90-minutes. The testing includes reading, writing, spelling, math, and attention.
Online screening from the Davis Dyslexia Association is available through this link: Dyslexia Test/Online Screening.
An in-person assessment and screening is done at the first meeting to ensure that a Davis Program will be appropriate for the student.
Sophia provides Dyslexia Coaching as an hourly consultant to parents, grandparents, teachers, and coaches. The coaching is a separate and distinct offering from any Davis® Programs.
Parenting Skills Course
Sophia offers a 7-week Parenting Skills course designed by Beth Currie-Shier to parents who have had children participate in a Davis® Program in the past. This course is a separate and distinct offering from any and all Davis® Programs but does utilize skills and concepts the children have already learned during their programs.
The Davis Autism Approach® is a non-invasive, gentle approach that can be tailored to address the varying degrees of need. Ron Davis, an autistic genius, developed these incredibly powerful interventions to help transform the lives of autistic people and their families.
Student learns simple, highly effective self-regulation tools and practices for stress management, energy regulation, and enhancing focus.
All of the programs have a core component of actively creating important life concepts out of clay and explored in the surrounding environment enabling the student to integrate their experience and build a framework for understanding the world around them.
- Davis Autism Approach® – for ASD individuals 8+
- Stepping Stones: Beginning Steps to the Davis Autism Approach program – for ASD individuals under 8 or with low/no verbal ability
- Stepping Stones 2 – for those your have completed Stepping Stones 2, but not yet ready for the Davis Autism Approach program
In response to the COVID-19 restrictions worldwide, I am able to offer web-delivered Davis Programs. This is a pilot program that will last through June 30, 2021.
Intrigued? Contact US!
Wondering if this program the right fit?
Call for a free phone consultation 206-451-7102 or email to schedule an appointment firstname.lastname@example.org. Assessment includes separate time with both the student and the parent(s) and determines needs, goals, and compatibility with a potential Davis® program.
In addition to contacting me directly you can read the following books to learn more:
The Gift of Dyslexia, by Ronald D. Davis: Better understand the dyslexic learner (or visual-spatial)
The Gift of Learning, by Ronald D. Davis: Outlines dyslexic (or visual-spatial) learner and handwriting, math, and attention deficit issues.
Autism and the Seeds of Change, by Abigail Marshall with Ronald D. Davis.
Professional services described as Davis®, Davis Dyslexia Correction®, Davis Symbol Mastery®, Davis Orientation Counseling®, and Davis Math Mastery® may only be provided by persons who are employed by a licensed Davis Specialist, or who are trained and licensed as Davis Facilitators by Davis Dyslexia Association International.
Davis®, Davis Autism Approach®, Davis® Stepping Stones, and Davis® Concepts for Life are trademarks for Ronald D. Davis. Commercial use of these trademarks to identify educational, instructional, or therapeutic services requires licensing by the trademark owner.


Designed by experts in elementary education, Complete Math is thorough and comprehensive. This step-by-step guide helps first-grade Canadian students develop essential mathematics concepts and strategies. Students will also develop skills in addition and subtraction practice, place value of numbers, classifying, and test practice. Complete Math is the most comprehensive workbook that offers:
- Activities designed for Canadian school children.
- Challenging, motivating lessons in patterns, numbers, addition, subtraction, shapes, fractions, money, and other grade-appropriate math skills.
- Drill and practice in basic math concepts, skills, and strategies.
- Word problems that encourage critical thinking.
- Test practice section with tips and example tests.
- A glossary of math terms for easy reference and understanding.
Complete Math for grade 1 also features step-by-step instructions and straightforward, easy-to-understand, directions to support independent learning and thinking. 352 full-colour perforated pages and an answer key.
- Answer Key


An exciting classroom tool integrating all the Pip’s Phonics teaching and learning materials into a single format to facilitate lesson-planning.
It contains the Student’s Book, Teacher’s Resource Book, interactive flashcards and pop-outs as well as the readers.
Audio material and teacher’s notes are available at the click of a button.
Quick links to video material clearly illustrate how to pronounce each sound, and animated grapheme guides provide the perfect visual aid to support your phonics teaching.
The Pip’s Phonics Action Frieze is a useful tool to help children remember the sounds using TPR (Total Physical Response). The actions presented on the Pip’s Phonics Action Frieze are based on the course jingles and promote fine and gross motor skill development, as well as serving as a fantastic mnemonic for learning the sounds in a fun way. It is downloadable from the Pip’s Phonics website.


Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 19 January 2016.
Using screen-capture software to create feedback videos for students is creating substantial interest in the educational community. Screen-capture software is a simple technology that records both the user’s voice and their on-screen activity, and the user can easily share the video via a link. Here’s an example of video feedback I provided to a student recently using Jing: Screencast feedback example
Several studies have found that students perceive video feedback as useful and preferable to written feedback. However, there is little research on how using screen-capture video as a method of providing feedback influences what educators choose to comment on and how the feedback is communicated, as well as whether it leads to better understanding and uptake of the feedback by students.
My PhD research, undertaken at Western Sydney University, investigates how screen-capture video feedback affects the provision and uptake of feedback compared to written comments. I am examining formative feedback provided to 20 undergraduate students at the Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP). Each student submitted two draft assignments to a Student Learning Support Advisor for formative feedback. One text received written feedback and the other text received screen-capture video feedback.
Over the next few months, I will be analysing the advisor’s comments and the students’ revised papers to discover how the feedback method affects the content, wording and uptake of the comments. In my earlier study (Cavaleri et al., 2014), the analysis revealed that:
- 89% of the video comments led students to make a ‘successful change’ compared to 72% of the written comments regarding content, structure, academic writing style and linguistic accuracy.
- Written feedback had a greater focus on linguistic accuracy and contained mostly directive comments.
- Video comments were more likely to respond to meaning and the logical development of ideas and contained more suggestions, explanations and praise.
- The students preferred video because, in their opinion, it was easier to understand, had more depth and included explanations about why changes are necessary and how to improve their work.
These findings indicate that video feedback may help us implement feedback good practice principles, such as those suggested by Straub (2000) including ‘avoid taking control of the student’s text’, ‘prioritise giving comments on content and structure’ and ‘praise writing often’. The findings may also support Clark and Mayer’s (2008) claim that a multi-modal approach to learning is more effective than a mono-modal approach.
Cavaleri, M., Di Biase, B., & Kawaguchi, S. (2014). Academic literacy development: Does video commentary feedback lead to greater engagement and response than conventional written feedback? The International Journal of Literacies, 20(3), 19-38.


Download our FREE smartphone app today!
Our aim at the Academy is to develop and extend the Numeracy of all students in every area of the curriculum so that they become increasingly competent in number skills, problem solving skills and handling data skills. All students should be given opportunities to extend their Numeracy skills in a wide range of different contexts across the curriculum, such that they can transfer these skills to other subject areas and into the world of work. We recognise that all staff are teachers of Numeracy.
Numeracy Policy can be found here
What is Numeracy?
Numeracy is a proficiency, which is developed mainly in mathematics but also in other subjects. It is more than an ability to do basic arithmetic. It involves developing confidence and competence with numbers and measures. It requires understanding of the number system, a repertoire of mathematical techniques, and an ability to solve quantitative or spatial problems in a range of contexts. Numeracy also demands understanding of the ways in which data are gathered by:
- counting and measuring
- presented in graphs
- charts and tables.
We believe the development of numeracy skills is a basic entitlement for all pupils. Poor numeracy skills can hold back students’ progress, not just in Mathematics lessons, and can lower self-esteem. Improving these skills is a whole-academy matter.
Why is Numeracy important?
Everyone needs to be numerate to maximise their life chances and to make a positive contribution to society.
We want every student to reach a level of numeracy that allows them to follow the career or further education path of their choice when they leave us. We want them to reach a level of numeracy that enables them to realise their full potential and carry out day-to-day numerical tasks with ease.
Students at the academy experience numeracy in a range of subjects, not just Maths. From weighing ingredients in food technology to calculating average times in PE, all subjects aim to give students a grounding in numeracy.
Mathematics teaches us how to make sense of the world around us through developing a child’s ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. It enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and pattern in both number and space in their everyday lives.
Our Numeracy policy has been developed to inform both teachers and parents about strategies used for teaching key topics within the Mathematics Department.
Other departments and schools within the Academy use this policy to understand how topics are taught in Mathematics, meaning that the teaching of topics is more uniform and thus makes students learning easier.
It is hoped that the use of the information provided in the links below will help you understand the way a number of key topics are taught to your children, making it easier for you to support them with their homework and, as a result, improve their progress.


At Shuttleworth College we recognise the importance of ensuring all students make expected levels of progress.
This is achieved through a number of different strategies and is funded through a number of different channels; one of which is ‘Catch Up Funding’. There is often a link between catch up and Pupil Premium funding as a high proportion of students fall into both categories.
The aim of catch up funding is to help schools to minimise the gap between students eligible for funding and their peers. It also assists in removing the barrier that literacy and/or numeracy creates for these students which could otherwise prevent them from properly accessing the wider curriculum around school.
A large portion of our funding is spent on literacy & numeracy catch-up.
Year 7 are asked to complete a Literacy Passport over the summer holidays, encouraging them to maintain their literacy skills over the long summer break. The Literacy Passport also promotes links with local libraries which we hope will continue throughout students’ school lives at Shuttleworth College and beyond. Year 7 enjoy weekly English lessons scheduled in the library to help improve students’ reading stamina. Students complete a range of engaging activities in the library including accessing a personalised reading package called Accelerated Reader. Students who haven’t reached the national standard for English at Key Stage 2 will also receive additional support tailored to their individual needs which helps to bridge the gap between primary and secondary school.
Across the whole curriculum, aspects of numeracy are needed in a variety of subjects such as Science, Geography and Technology. The mathematics faculty work hard to ensure that these aspects of numeracy are taught consistently across all areas of the school. For Year 7 students who were initially identified as having a scaled score from primary school of below 90 for mathematics will take part in our Passport Maths scheme. This provides an additional 2 hours per week of targeted intervention following a programme of skill builder activities/ specific teaching and focussed learning for students in Years 7 and 8. Their progress is measured via online assessments at the end of each topic. Students whose numeracy skills and Key Stage 2 results mean they require additional support also follow a slightly different timetable which means that that they can practice their numeracy in form time lead by a specialist Maths teacher.
Review of Catch up Funding Strategy 2018-19
|Precision Teaching – Numeracy
|Identify missing key numeracy skills and narrow the gap of vulnerable groups.||Lisa Harrison|
|Lexia – studied for 10 months||Increase students’ reading ages at least in line with chronological age or better and narrow the gap for vulnerable groups.||Y7 – students’ reading ages progressed by 26.1 months
Y8 – students’ reading ages progressed by 10.1 months
Y9 – students’ reading ages progressed by 13.1 months
Y10 – students’ reading ages progressed by 13 months
|Literacy form (11)||Identify and address barriers to learning to increase engagement in lessons and narrow the gap for vulnerable students.||Y11 students’ revision activities impacted positively upon performance in exams; key PP students moved from grade 3s in mocks to 4s in the terminal exams.|
|To provide an effective intervention for weak readers and encourage independent reading skills.||At the end of 2018-19 students on average made progress to bring their reading age in line with their chronological age.
|Identify and address barriers to learning to increase engagement in lessons and narrow the gap for vulnerable students.||Sally Sagar|
|Small groups with TA support||Support weaker learners to develop independence and literacy/numeracy skills. Raise self-esteem for students who find it challenging to work in a large group.||Sally Sagar|
Catch up Funding Strategy 2019-20 – Literacy
|Lexia||Increase students’ reading ages at least in line with chronological age or better and narrow the gap for vulnerable groups.|
|Literacy form (11)||Identify and address barriers to learning to increase engagement in lessons and narrow the gap for vulnerable students.|
|To provide an effective intervention for weak readers and encourage independent reading skills.|
What is Catch Up Funding?
Catch up funding is a one off payment from the Department For Education which provides additional funding to support pupils.
Who is eligible for Catch Up Funding?
Catch up funding is received for all pupils who did not achieve national standards in Maths and/or English at the end of Key Stage 2.


Help your child thrive academically with the engaging Learning At Home Skill Sharpeners Bundle. The easy-to-use activity books provide valuable skill practice at home and include a parent guide with teaching tips and fun learning activities!
Perfect for children who need additional practice or want to advance their skills, these activity books help children practice important grade-level skills and stay on track while they are learning at home. The colorful and clever activities motivate children to engage with the lesson and become active learners!
Each at-home-learning bundle is aligned to current standards and includes:
- Four full-color Skill Sharpeners activity books that practice essential subjects such as math, reading, language and science. (144 full-color pages each)
- A downloadable parent guide packed with tips and teaching support, including organizing a daily schedule, fun hands-on activity ideas, and suggestions for helping children manage stress and share their feelings. (13 pages)
- Assessment pages to build test-taking skills and confidence.
The Learning at Home Skill Sharpeners Bundle, grade K, includes:
Skill Sharpeners: Reading, Grade K
This kindergarten activity book touches on vital reading foundation skills, including phonological awareness, phonics, and word analysis. Each letter of the alphabet serves up a fun story that is followed by research-based activities designed to build critical reading skills. Activity pages include listening for beginning sounds, matching words and pictures, cut-and-paste activities, sentence completion, and following directions.
Units are organized into one-page stories for each letter of the alphabet such as:
G—Good and Bad
N—The New One
P—In a Puddle
Skill Sharpeners: Math, Grade K
The 10 theme-based math units practice foundational skills. Each unit ends with a “Test Your Skills” activity that gives children a feeling of accomplishment. Designed to practice skills that have already been introduced and mastered, the kindergarten lessons include:
- read numbers to 20
- write numbers to 10
- count objects
- add and subtract numbers to 10
- add and subtract doubles to 20
- sizes and numbers
- identify and continue patterns
- give the value of a set of pennies
- recognize pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
- solve simple word problems
- identify basic shapes
Skill Sharpeners: Grammar and Punctuation, Grade K
This visually engaging activity book makes learning grammar and punctuation fun! Each theme-based unit includes reading selections, activities, and word games that will motivate your child to practice and learn essential grammar and punctuation skills. Plus, a Language Handbook and Dolch Sight Word list provide you with a quick reference of the concepts covered.
The concepts and skills practiced include:
- upper- and lowercase letters
- question marks
- exclamation points
Skill Sharpeners: Science, Grade K
Songs, rhymes, and hands-on projects motivate children to learn science concepts that are based on the most current science standards. Each lesson focuses on one science concept and provides engaging activities to help children learn basic science concepts.
Kindergarten topics cover:
- Physical Science: Size and Shape, Position, Solid and Liquid, Liquid and Gas, Magnets, Wheels and Motion
- Life Science: Living or Nonliving?, Parts of the Body, Trees, Parts of a Plant, Animal Parts, Life Cycles, Animal Babies, Homes and Habitats
- Earth Science: Land and Water, Rocks, Day and Night, Four Seasons, Weather


Music Is Feeling
Music Is Feeling
Riley sits cross-legged on the floor, banging a big, round drum. It’s the beginning of his music therapy session with Noreen Donnell, Clinical Director of Music Therapy at blueballoon Health Services. Riley has been doing Music Therapy with Noreen since he was 3 years old. Riley, now 15, is asking questions as he bangs out a rhythm on the large drum. “What’s your favourite movie?” he asks music therapy intern, Natalie Laughton.
Music acts as a foundation for Riley to learn other important life skills, such as: conversation, problem solving, language, and social skills. Later, Noreen holds up a book which lists the days of the week, and the activities Riley does each day and at what times. Riley has a busy weekly schedule that includes school, yoga, drama, swimming and music therapy. As Natalie strums a guitar and sings a song about daily routines, Riley correctly names the times and matches a small Velcro-card, depicting his daily activities, with the correct time in the book. The music therapy card is placed at 5:30pm on Thursday.
Leanne, Riley’s Mom, says, “Music engages Riley’s interest and allows us to apply all of the concepts that we are trying to teach him. Riley has reached many speech goals through music, it helps organize his brain for learning, and it’s a free form of expression where no one is judging him.”
Noreen says that Riley has developed many skills with music, and that there has been a shift from learning external, basic concepts as a young child, such as following instructions (reach up high, touch your toes etc.), to more complex internal concepts, such as dealing with difficult emotions. Music therapy can help to get difficult feelings out in the open because different instruments, sounds, and melodies can represent various emotions: the therapist plays what sounds like sad or angry music, and then they can begin to label those emotions. This has been helpful for some children, like Riley, who have difficulty with emotional processing.
Throughout her 20-plus years experience, Noreen says that she has noticed children with Down Syndrome appear to have an affinity for music, and music therapy seems to be particularly effective for helping them learn. She points out however, “For children, anytime you can make learning more enjoyable, such as within a musical context, there is bound to be more involvement, attention, and response. If a child isn’t responding to their name, for example, try singing it. Chances are they’ll look right at you!”
Blueballoon Health Services specializes in pediatric assessment and treatment for children and young adults (ages 0-18) with mild to severe delays or difficulties, including, physical, behavioural, social and emotional challenges, those with learning disabilities, situational challenges or children who simply learn differently. blueballoon has an interdisciplinary team with several regulated healthcare professions under one roof including: speech/language pathology, occupational therapy, music therapy, physiotherapy and psychology. There are four clinics across Southern Ontario – in Toronto, Burlington, Aurora and Waterloo.
- Music: Breaking Down Boundaries and Uniting People
- How to Use Music to Bond with Your Child and Help Them Reach Developmental Goals
- Emerging Through Autism Through Jewish Music
- The Sensational Musical Magic of Paul McCartney
- Mallory’s Music Champion Donny Osmond
- Making Music with Your Child – Fun Activities for Motor Skill Development
Visit us at: www.facebook.com
This post originally appeared on our July/August 2012 Magazine


Research and Impact
The Soar with Reading initiative has been committed to developing a scientific research-base to better understand and promote early literacy development and family reading engagement, particularly among under-resourced communities. Briefly, this accumulated evidence suggests:
Many of our young children live in communities that can be identified as “book deserts.”
In this work, we examine the growing economic segregation of neighborhoods for people living in privilege (1%) and those living in poverty or near-poverty (20%). The analysis reveals striking disparities in access to print even between the families who may live in borderline poverty compared to concentrated poverty. For these children living in poor communities there are virtually no books to be found during the summer months when schools are closed. To give evidence of the extremity, 830 children in one of these prominent communities would have to share 1 book in order to read. Book deserts seriously constrain young children’s opportunity to learn and have an unfortunate consequence in their school readiness.
Employing an innovative strategy, JetBlue’s Vending Machines promotes early literacy development, reaching families where they are.
Traditionally, reading scores for children go down in poor communities during the summer months due to lack of cognitive stimulation and activities. The vending machines were successful in alleviating this problem. Vending machines helped stymie the traditional summer slide that has plagued children’s achievement in poor communities. Giving children and families access to print, with books that are of high interest helped to improve children’s school readiness scores and comprehension skills.
Providing a rich array of high interest narrative and nonfiction books that reflect cultural diversity promotes reading interest and family engagement in reading.
Families in communities are diverse and have diverse interests. To better ‘reach families where they are,’ JetBlue’s vending machines include a rich array of historical, biographical and narrative books which include multicultural themes and topics that are designed to attract young audiences and keep them reading. Tracking these selections, the research team found that the most popular books were TV- or movie-related, often tied to favorite characters and super-heroes. Although often dismissed as ‘poor quality,’ these books seemed to promote a ‘reading habit.’ Repeat visitors to the vending machines often turned to books with similar characters, building their reading stamina throughout the summer.
However, there was also a serious side to some of the selections. Among the most popular nonfiction books were recent and historical figures of heroes, reflecting the culture of the community. This research highlighted the importance of connecting the selection of books to local community interests.
Creating a close connection to the local library
These results suggest that the libraries and the librarians who so carefully work with young children are the best way to sustain this summer initiative. With great collaboration, JetBlue’s initiative and public libraries team up to create a literacy culture.
Spreading the word through social media
This phenomenon provides a vivid counterpoint to the view that low-income parents are less inclined and less interested in their children’s early education. Rather it shows that providing access to resources–reaching families where they are—is a key enabler toward enhancing parent engagement and children’s early literacy development.


Kindergarten engages children in the world of curiosity and wonder while building academic and social skills. Through a variety of structured and open-ended activities, Kindergartners learn how to verbalize and modulate their feelings as well as relate to one another in a classroom community. The class begin the year in social studies by examining “ourselves, our family and our community,” moving to thematic units in the second half of the year. In Language Arts, students learn the foundational skills needed to become good readers, writers, and communicators. Kindergartners develop the habits of mind to support growth in math throughout school, connecting with the world of numbers and number sense. They take advantage of both indoor and outdoor ‘classrooms’ for hands-on learning; favorite elements of the curriculum include self-directed play with math manipulatives and nature play, nature class, field trips, baking, and relationship-building (and building listening skills) with Fifth Grade “Reading Buddies.”
Area of Study
Kindergarteners are becoming aware of the connection between “math” and their everyday lives; explorations stimulate their math reasoning and create opportunities for critical thinking. Learn more.
An integrated and recursive approach to Language Arts fosters learning in Kindergarten. Learn more.
Thematic social studies units allow Kindergartners to expand their knowledge of the world while exploring themes they are interested in. Learn more.
Students develop self-awareness, self-regulation, self-direction, and relationships in the context of routine, practice, and play in Kindergarten. Learn more.
Some Kindergarten Central Experiences
Reading Buddies – Each Kindergartner is partnered with a Fifth Grader. As they meet weekly with Fifth Graders to read books, Kindergartners feel part of a bigger community and Fifth Graders get to become mentors. The relationship is fostered throughout the year by writing letters to each other, a shared field trip, small presents for one another, and more.
Baking Class – Measuring, mixing, tasting, and sharing can be witnessed every Friday in the Kindergarten classroom! Students treasure their cooking abilities and their recipes, compiled in the Kindergarten cookbook for many years.
Nature with Sarah – Kindergartners look forward to studying the Mary tree in different seasons, traipsing through the woods to find treasures to catalogue, classify, and display, and finding excuses to get outside to notice and explore.


There is always so much beautiful work that is created in color that it sometimes overshadows the incredible work that is created in black and white. the following post is a shout out to all the artists at South B that are focusing on line and value.
Above: This is an engraving, scratched out of plastic and run through the print roller thingy. Yes, that rolly thingy serves a purpose besides crushing crayons.
Pencil drawing with both some nice line as well as shading being added.
This work was probably created as a sketch for a future color piece but there enough good stuff going on to stand alone.
This drawing (still in progress) is part of a concentration work about answering questions. The question was, what would you keep or change about yourself?
This is another engraving. the artists swapped out the faces of Mount Rushmore for the students in her art class. This is a photo of the plastic sheet, not the final printing.
its a drawing of an apple. Only one apple. not like that book where the art teacher makes the students draw an apple every day for a hundred days. I would never do that ;)
Stencil of a wolf, spray paint on paper.
Art of South B
Artwork by students at
Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) is a student-directed art education pedagogy that directs students to think and work as artists.
Making Artists picks up where The Open Art Room left off, covering issues and situations choice teachers encounter as they design their program.
The Open Art Room provides a student-centered approach to art instruction that is inspirational, practical, and classroom-tested.
Click Here to read the March SchoolArts Article, Student-Directed Answers to Five Frequently Ask Questions
Click Here to Read the April SchoolArts Magazine Article Tracking Student Progress with the Burn Book!
Click Here to Read the February SchoolArts Article, Build A Dynamic Art Program with Modular Teaching!
Art Teacher : Ian Sands


Literacy Milestones: Birth to Age 3
Identifying a reading problem is a challenge without a sense for what typical literacy development looks like. Find out what language accomplishments are typical for most children from birth to age three.
Most children learn to read by age 7. Learning to read is built on a foundation of language skills that children start learning at birth — a process that is both complicated and amazing. Most children develop certain skills as they move through the early stages of learning language.
The following list of such accomplishments is based on current research in the field, where studies continue and there is still much to learn. As you look over the list, keep in mind that children vary a great deal in how they develop and learn.
If you have questions or concerns about your child's progress, talk with your child's doctor, teacher, or a speech and language therapist. For children with any kind of disability or learning problem, the sooner they can get the special help they need, the easier it will be for them to learn.
- Make sounds that imitate the tones and rhythms that adults use when talking
- Respond to gestures and facial expressions
- Begin to associate words they hear frequently with what the words mean
- Make cooing, babbling sounds in the crib which gives way to enjoying rhyming and nonsense word games with a parent or caregiver
- Play along in games such as "peek-a-boo" and "pat-a-cake"
- Handle objects such as board books and alphabet blocks in their play
- Recognize certain books by their covers
- Pretend to read books
- Understand how books should be handled
- Share books with an adult as a routine part of life
- Name some objects in a book
- Talk about characters in books
- Look at pictures in books and realize they are symbols of real things
- Listen to stories
- Ask or demand that adults read or write with them
- Begin to pay attention to specific print such as the first letters of their names
- Scribble with a purpose (trying to write or draw something)
- Produce some letter-like forms and scribbles that resemble, in some way, writing
Click the "References" link above to hide these references.
AMERICA READS CHALLENGE: Read*Write*Now Partners Group (1997). Checkpoints for progress in reading and writing for families and communities. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.
Barr, R., Kamil, M.L., Mosenthal, P.B., and Pearson, P.D. (Eds.) (1991). Handbook of reading research: Volume II. New York, Longman.
Burns, M. Susan, Griffin, Peg, Snow, C.E. (Eds.) (1999). Starting out right: Guide to promoting children's reading success. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Clay, M.M. (1979). The early detection of reading difficulties (3rd Edition). Heinneman, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hannon, Peter (1995). Literacy, home, and school: Research and practice in teaching literacy with parents. Falmer Press, London, England.
Hiebert, E.H., and Raphael, T.E. (1998). Early literacy instruction. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX.
International Reading Association (IRA) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (1998). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children--A joint position statement of the IRA and NAEYC. Washington, DC.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (1996). Technology and young children ages 3 through 8--An NAEYC position statement. Washington, DC.
National Center for Education Statistics (1999). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)1998 reading report card. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.
Snow, C.E., Burns, M. Susan, Griffin, Peg (Eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Teale, W.H., and Sulzby, E. (Eds.) (1986). Emergent literacy: writing and reading. Ablex, Norwood, NJ.
Excerpted from: DeBruin-Parecki, A. with Perkinson, K. & Ferderer, L. (January, 2000). Helping Your Child Become A Reader. U.S. Department of Education.


Composing creativity: Children benefit from new painting materials
New research out of the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) uses digital image analysis technology to shed light on some of the challenges children face when representing their imaginations through the medium of paint. The research also offers concrete insight into the development of children's psyches, and importantly, offers suggestions for educators to improve children's cognitive, spatial, and artistic abilities.
Painting is a recreational and creative activity enjoyed by children across the world. However, children's paintings also serve as crucial artifacts of their perceptions, as they contain the sum of what children see as "essential." The spatial relationships between objects in paintings represent painters' experiences and technical prowess, and tend to indicate shortcomings of either. These are often perceived by viewers of paintings, but until now, detailed evaluation and analysis of children's art has been subjective, relying on the trained eye of an artist or critic.
JAIST researchers Lan Yu and Yukari Nagai have developed and tested a digital analysis process by which children's paintings can be digitized, categorized, and then thoroughly analyzed. Content, scale, patterns, details, and the relationships between objects in the paintings are objectively quantified and calculated.
Trends identified among the subjects sampled, 182 girls and 234 boys in the Republic of China, indicate that children who have not received instruction display poor abilities to recognize and emulate spatial relationships. The younger the painter, the less likely that he or she will have developed these cognitive abilities. Lack of detail and inability to imitate objects is identified as common to children's painting. Statistical analysis of the boys and girls in this study indicated that they have different attitudes toward painting; girls preferred participating in painting more than boys did. It was also apparent that girls were more able to accurately imitate real objects when representing them in their paintings.
This research has implications in art education, suggesting that art teachers focus on several key elements which are useful to the cognitive development of young painters. Guiding children to paint objects outside could enhance their awareness of their natural environments. Focusing instruction on object size, and the ability to recognize and control it, could remedy this crucial deficit in children's paintings. Specifically training students to imitate objects could show significant results in the overall quality of children's paintings. And finally, instruction in composition and creative methods is correlated to increasing the enjoyment and reducing children's perception of difficulty toward painting as a creative process.


5 Ways Learning Through Play Improves Early Development in STEM Subjects
The U.S. arose as a global leader due to its innovation in science and technology, and to maintain its competitive position in the world, this country is depending on the future innovations of upcoming scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. These innovators study in STEM: an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines in academics.
But unfortunately, the number of students in STEM majors are decreasing. Compounding that issue, the number of teachers who are competent in these STEM subjects are also lacking. The good news is, for qualified job candidates, this shortage of viable candidates to makes STEM industries great opportunities to find jobs. It's bridging that gap between open positions and qualified candidates that can be an issue. So how to get kids on a track to a solid job that makes a difference?
The answer may be: start them early, and make it fun.
In a study from the National Center of Education Statistics conducted on 7,750 children from kindergarten to the end of eighth grade, researchers found that the amount of general worldly knowledge in kindergarteners were a strong indicator of their science achievements and knowledge in later grades. These achievement gaps begin at a very early age and stabilize from third to eighth grade. As such, there is no such thing as beginning to learn too early. The earlier a child engages him/herself in STEM, the more likely they are to continue to stay interested and excel in it.
One of the primary ways to acquaint a child with the underlying foundational concepts of STEM subjects is by playing. It exercises problem-solving and creativity, two characteristics that are crucial in STEM. Playing is very important for a child’s early learning in physical, sensory, social, and intellectual development. Playing allows children to learn by doing and directly experiencing the real world around them and sates their curiosities through investigation. For teachers and parents who wish to encourage and nurture these foundational skills, below are five ways to learn through play:
In order to teach physics to fourth graders, Hot Wheels created a classroom kit featuring their signature Hot Wheels car toys, to recreate situations of real-world problem-based learning. In a two week-study involving 1,800 fourth graders in 59 classrooms, they found that girls had decreased negative emotions about science and math, higher performances in students who participated in Speedometry, and greater engagement and positive emotions during these play-based lesson plans.
In structured block play, a child must draw on skills that are crucial in many aspects of STEM subjects. Unsurprisingly, many current engineers fondly remember how construction toys, such as Legos, have inspired them to enter their field. Children observe and analyze the whole object and then how individual pieces join together to create the finished product. With this understanding, they should be able to recreate the object. Legos are a great way to practice structured block play, which offer bricks of different colors, sizes, and shape, further challenging children and adults alike.
Through the use of role playing and imagination, students immerse themselves in a scenario which exercises various skills heavily used in STEM subjects. An example of this is S.E.E.D. (Story Engineering and Enabling Device), an immersive role playing simulation created by Game Changer Chicago. In the scenario, students wore lab coats and pretended to be a group of scientists who were traveling to the future. Check out their blog for other projects and news.
Despite the vast offerings of complex toys and educational tech tools that are being introduced into the learning sphere, the good old basics may still be the best choice. These open-ended toys, such as a rubber ball or wooden building blocks, allow for children to command the toy rather than the other way around. They’re cheap and can be used for multiple types of play, requiring more imagination to bring these simpler toys to life. Check out these eco-friendly sustainably-harvested wooden toys from Bella Luna Toys!
Though we don’t think about it, cooking and baking is just a series of chemical reactions. Actions such as measuring out a tablespoon, mixing ingredients together, and watching something brown in the oven are small, but powerful steps in conducting daily science experiments at home. Approaching cooking from a scientific standpoint is not only fun, it also allows children to think about other everyday objects and activities from a scientific standpoint as well. Check out these Kitchen Science Experiments from Buzzfeed!
--Sarah Liu, Teach.com


One-to-one instruction based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is provided in the home to:
- Foster skill generalization across home and school
- Train activities of daily living in the natural environment
- Prevent residential placement
- Promote maximal independence
Skill building programs are designed using traditional behavioral interventions such as discrete trial training and naturalistic teaching methods to teach foundational skills such as joint attention, imitation, and communication. Once the foundational learning skills are in place, more advanced skills such as academics, play skills, leisure skills, social skills, pre-vocational skills, and daily living skills are targeted.
Click here to apply for home-based services.


In 2050, 40 per cent of all young people under 18 will live in Africa, rising to half by 2100. The world needs to invest in this young future so that Africa can cash in on its demographic dividend, says Sandie Blanchet.
She is the head of the UNICEF office in Brussels, the organisation which produced the study “Generation 2030: Africa 2.0”. She presented the study in November 2017 to the EU Committee on Development, at the start of the EU’s African Week, and one week before the 5th EU Africa Summit at the end of November in Abidjan in the Côte d’Ivoire.
The demographic dividend is the potential of a young population living in good health and stable conditions that can bring vast growth to the entire continent. If the programmes fail, there will be growing poverty and pressure to migrate. News coming from the African continent is often bad, but Sandie Blanchet also has positive stories to tell.
Niger is one of the poorer nations in Africa, but in the past 15 years the percentage of elementary school pupils has risen from 20 per cent to 69 per cent. “This is simply incredible,” Blanchet says. Even with little money, the country has been able to make this leap. The share of the budget spent on schools and teachers was raised steadily from 17 per cent to 22 per cent, doubling the number of schools and tripling the number of teachers. Families without elementary education generally have between six and seven children. With primary education the number drops to an average 5.8 children, and with a secondary education it drops again to 3.6 children.
Investment in education has lowered both the fertility rate and the number of child marriages. According to Blanchet, Niger shows what is possible with a consistent policy and partnership with the private sector.
The focus of the Abidjan summit is on working with young people. The UNICEF report shows what needs to be done. The health care and social system must be systematically expanded in Africa. Education and vocational training is needed in order to meet the challenges. For this, Africa’s children and young people need to be protected against violence and exploitation.
Work is needed on the fundamentals of development. 49 per cent of children live on less than USD 2 a day, compared with 38 per cent of adults. “Children suffer more from extreme poverty,” Blanchet comments. Malnourishment keeps them mentally and physically below their potential. Children who have to walk up to ten kilometres every day to the nearest well have no time to go to school.
The issue of children and young people is very complex. Even so, Blanchet talks of a “moral imperative” for the industrialised nations to help these children. Without Africa, the Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved.
Roland Krieg, journalist, Berlin/Germany


Forests Worksheet – Free Word Game to Print
The Forests Worksheet – Download our fun, educational science FREE word game to print. Our fun facts about forests worksheet for kids has a fun word seek game and a find-the-hidden words game. You are allowed to download, print and use this types of forests worksheet for kids unlimited times at no cost.
This free word game to print about forests is suitable for Grammar school kids in Grades 1 to 5 as well as younger kids in Kindergarten and kids in Preschool.
Our worksheet all about forests for kids is a fun way to get your kids interest in learning about forests during homeschooling science activities or after school science lessons. Parents can use our fun forests worksheet to teach kids fun facts about forests and the importance of forests in the world.
Kids in Elementary school from Grade 1 to 5 can use our facts about the forest worksheet as a reading comprehension game.
Kids shall learn well about types of forests, as they will probably need to re-read several times the forest facts to find all the missing words.
This exercise will not only enhance children’s knowledge about forests, but also enhance their reading skills.
Younger kids in Kindergarten and Preschool who don’t yet know how to read and write, can enjoy this free worksheet about forests in the world as a fun and educational listening comprehension exercise. Parents and Educators can read out loud to the kids the forest trees fun facts and then ask the children what were the missing words. After your kids have remembered what the missing words are, you can play the hidden words game with them by helping them find and recognize the hidden words.
Parents can use this free word game science worksheet about forests to interest their kids in science and spend educational time teaching them about the importance of forests.
Our free to print word game can be used for early learning science games, homeschooling kids activities and after school science activities.
Teachers can use this free to print words game to make learning about forests interesting for kids and engage their interest during science classes.
Educators can utilize our fun forests worksheet for after school science activities or extra-curricular child enrichment programs.
EasyScienceforKids.com is the best place to learn easy facts about science for kids. We offer many fun free word games to print and free science worksheets for kids. Use our fun science activity sheets to make learning science fun!
Forests are very useful. These places provide shelter and homes to animals. Forest trees also give the world clean air to breathe. Many forest trees are chopped down and used to build wooden furniture from. What kind of forests are there in the world?
Learn more fun facts about forests by downloading the free forests word game to print!
Free to Print Forests Worksheet for Science
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Forests Worksheet - Free Word Game to Print - ." Easy Science for Kids, Oct 2020. Web. 22 Oct 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/forests-worksheet-free-word-game-to-print/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Forests Worksheet - Free Word Game to Print -. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/forests-worksheet-free-word-game-to-print/
We've recently added
- How To Build a Winogradsky Column and Learn About Soil Science
- Potato Light Bulb Experiment
- How To Use Friction to Pick Up Bottle of Rice
- How To Make Popcorn Dance
- Vinegar and Baking Soda Fire Extinguisher
- Power of Bleach
- Comparing Surface Tension of Liquids with Pennies
- Ice Cream Chemistry
- Using Distillation to Purify Water
- Filter Water with Dirt
- Build a Balloon Barometer
- Build Your Very Own Seismograph
Sponsored Links :


What does an economist do?
Economists research and analyse aspects of economic and financial policy, and advise businesses, banks, and governments on statistical data, trends, and investments. You will produce detailed and economic analysis to inform business’ strategic decision-making, and may be involved in:
- collating and interpreting complex information and data
- analysing past and present market trends
- creating mathematical models to predict future economic developments
- writing briefing reports
- analysing market share and size of companies
- advising on economic impact and effectiveness of current policies
You will need to work with complex information and statistics, so good maths and numeracy skills are vital, as well as being a strong problem solver. You may be self-employed as a consultant, or you may be directly employed by a company or government.
What do I need to do to become an economist?
You will need a good degree in economics or a related subject, such as statistics, maths, or business studies. A postgraduate degree in economics is highly desirable.
To start an economics-based degree course, you usually need at least five GCSEs (A-C), plus three A levels (or equivalent), including maths or economics.
- Three A levels, including maths or economics, or equivalent relevant Level 3 qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in statistics, maths, business studies, or economics
- Postgraduate degree in economics
Where to find out more
Where could I be working?You will be working indoors and may be self-employed as a consultant, or directly employed by a company or government.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0


The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2010 guarantees children their right to quality elementary education
The first six years of a child’s life are globally acknowledged as being the most critical years for lifelong development, since the pace of development during these years is extremely rapid.
Recent research in the field of neuroscience, particularly of the brain, has provided very convincing evidence of ‘critical periods’ located within these early years for some specific competencies, which are of importance for life-long learning and development in this context the early experiences of children and the stimulation they receive are very important for the forming of synaptic connections in the brain in these early years and for the full development of the brain’s potential.
Mr. Robin Roberts, Innovation Leader, GEMS Education, Dubai, regarding the same, he said,” In the last 10 years, we have learned more about the human brain than in any of the previous centuries combined. Brain Mapping and Brain Scanning technologies are now Information Technologies. We are learning massive amount of things about how the brain work, at every age and most importantly, it’s impact on the field of Education.”
History of Early Childhood Education
Universal early childhood education in India is a relatively recent development. Throughout the history of India, formal education was limited to only male members of the high caste groups. Mass illiteracy among children of low caste families and female children has had a cumulative effect of unequal distribution of educational opportunities among the population.
The preschool sector in India poses great opportunities, but at the same time there are the challenges too. There are Leaders from Preschool discussing on various opportunities and challenges in Preschool in India.
Experts speak on the Childhood Education in India
Sharing her experience in the childhood space, Dr. Anita Madan, Head Content, Euro Kids, said,” Working in the childhood space, we have come across many questions from the parents that demanded our attention like what is the right age, which school should we prefer, and why does a child need a play school
“We believe that early childhood learning starts between 0-8 years. It is majorly what the child learns during this time span and at this age, the entire emphasis is on the child, be it socially, emotionally, intellectual development. The brain is the most deceptive, and a child learns the most during this age”, said the Content Head of Euro Kids.
She further stressed the importance of play and learning at the same time and remarked,” There is continuous learning happening from 0-8 years. It is not play versus learning but play and learning jointly because children learn only through play. The first opportunity that a child gets to discover the world that he is living in. He gets socially connected to its peers, finds out from playing about the social development. They learn in the environment that we give them.
Providing the right environment is our job along with the right exposure and the experiences that they need which is only possible through the environment that we give them, said Ms. Madan.
The Associate Professor, Center for Early Childhood Education of Development, Ambedkar University Delhi, Dr. Sunita Singh said,” We know from evidence of neuroscience that early childhood is a critical year for learning and development to know how children grow up in the later years. Learning cannot happen by itself and an effort has to be made.”


Engaging Learners Through Artmaking, written by Katherine Douglas and Diane Jaquith, addresses the idea of student choice in the art room. In 2014, my department hosted a consultant who came in to speak with us about curriculum matters. It was an awesome time of being stretched and challenged on a variety of topics related to art education.
During our discussions, I learned informally about art education pedagogies throughout the twentieth century. Choice in art was one of the topics covered. This topic hasn’t gotten away from me as I continue to read about it online through sites such as The Art of Education and others on the Web. Just do a search on “Teaching Artistic Behavior” or “Choice-Based Art Education” and you will find a host of results that will keep you busy for days.
About the Book
The authors view this as a seminal resource detailing “the philosophy, rationale, and implementation of choice-based authentic art education in elementary and middle schools.” To facilitate this the authors believe children need opportunities to think and act like artists. In fact, you will find the role of children always elevated to that of artist in this book. They provide a substantial, though not exhaustive, list of artistic behaviors including things like problem finding and solving, constructing knowledge, experimenting, reflecting, connecting and representing. Douglas and Jaquith ask art educators to identify what artists do and how that can inform a studio space. On page 3, they point out that adult artists:
- Play with materials
- Dream and mentally plan
- Conceive and expand ideas for artmaking
- Risk false starts, abandon failed attempts
- Utilize materials in traditional and idiosyncratic ways
- Combine materials and genres (e.g., sculpture with painting)
- Complete several pieces in a very short time or work for weeks on one piece
- Pursue multiple works at the same time
- Follow a particular line of thinking over time,c sometimes repeating as tries so similar works
- Accept mistakes as the springboard for new directions
- Comment on one’s life, beliefs, popular culture, politics, and history
In my next post, I’ll go into more details related to the contents. The above concepts are woven throughout the work at both and intricate as well as high level. Therefore, to do the book justice, I will do a couple of posts to explore the ideas more fully and how these concepts of choice-based art making can benefit me in my own classroom.
New to The Poetry of Seeing?
Stay in touch! Click “Follow My Blog” at the top left to receive an email when new articles are posted. You can stay current with a “Like” on my Facebook page: Facebook.com/ThePoetryOfSeeing.


As students of all ages head back to a very different school year, parents and educators may be looking for support their kids with print disabilities. Here are our top 5 tips to set kids up for success:
Choice is key
Giving kids control over their reading choices allows them to find materials that connect with their interests. Researchers Guthrie and Humenick found that the two most powerful factors for improving reading motivation and comprehension were student access to many books and personal choice over what they can read. CELA’s collection has more than 800,000 titles, including fiction, non-fiction, classroom favourites, magazines and newspapers. There is something for every age and every interest. And it is all available for free.
Make it fun
Engaging in reading in creative ways is an excellent way to give kids opportunities to think about and discuss what they are reading. Awards programs and reading challenges like the Forest of Reading or Canada Reads should be fun for kids to participate in, but if reading print is a barrier it can discourage rather than encourage student participation. CELA works with major awards and reading challenges to ensure we have accessible formats of the featured books available in plenty of time for students to read and participate.
Programs we work with include:
- Forest of Reading
- Canada Reads
- TD Summer Reading Club
- The Festival of Literary Diversity
- Canadian Children’s Book Week
Reinforce that ear reading is reading
Sometimes there are questions about whether ear reading provides the same benefits for education and literacy development. Thankfully, there is evidence that the brain responds to hearing and reading information and stories in very similar ways. Studies published in 2019 and 2016 have studied how the brain reacts to listening and reading. In both cases the studies concluded that there were no significant differences between ear reading and eye reading on the reader’s comprehension or retention and that the way brains map the info is virtually identical. For more information see the following studies (available in English):
Use technology to support fluency
EasyReader is a free app developed by Dolphin that can sync audio files and highlight text so that students follow along as they hear the words. This process can help students develop their vocabulary and fluency skills. The app also allows you to adjust the reading speed so it can work to support all readers.
Reach out for support
There are a number of organizations which provide support, resources and available to families navigating the world of print disabilities. CNIB, Dyslexia Canada, and provincial and local learning disabilities are excellent places start.
Info for Parents
If you have a child with print disabilities, including dyslexia, and are looking for ways to support reading and learning through the coming school year, we invite you to learn more about the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) which offers more than 800,000 books in accessible formats, for free, to those with print disabilities. Find more on our website.


Your Child With Music tm
Step Up to Quality Every Day in a Musical Way
Welcome to Arm Your With Music tm on the web.
* Promote Language and Literacy Development and
* Address one or more of the following
Five Official Domains for “Birth through Kindergarten Early Learning and Development Standards.“
1. Social and Emotional Development
2. Physical Well-Being and Motor Development
3. Approaches Towards Learning
4. Language and Literacy Development
5. Cognition and General Knowledge – including Math Science and Social Studies
According to the United States Education Department, Music is a part of the Core Curriculum of academic subjects. As a result, it remains a powerful tool for teaching.
CD is loaded with many ways for children to benefit from musical experiences.
- Kindergarten Readiness Songs of different musical styles, beats and tempos that focus on Language and Literacy Development and General Knowledge
- Music that encourages Physical Well-Being and Motor Development and Approaches Towards Learning. Pay Attention Learn To Listen
- Introductions to Physical Science concepts like Colors in Nature These Bones Under My Skin and Body Parts
- Social and Emotional concepts, All My Friends Are Different, Look A Special Mirror
Keith M. Jackson, B.A., M.S., Creative Director for Arm Your Child With Musictm company, is a professional musician, composer, educator, entertainer, and published author. A native of Ohio, Keith has performed his musical programs throughout the United States and abroad for over 25 years. They include Arm Your Child with Music workshops, jazz and gospel concerts, plus other popular music forms. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in vocal music, Masters of Science degree in Education Administration and a current prek-12 Principal’s license for the state of Ohio. He continues to teach music and technology, serves as minister of music and a community mentor.
Keith is listed with the Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association (OCCRRA).
He is a Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) trainer for the following O A (Ohio Approved) workshops:
- Exploring Music With Young Children- Focus on the five Domains
- Using Technology in the Early Childhood Settings
- Family Engagement
- Leadership Module
- CDA prep courses 1 -9
As a professional musician and educator, I enjoy teaching Early Childhood educators:
- How to have fun daily teaching in the classroom.
- How to infuse music across the curriculum
- How to look for creative ways to keep families engaged in their child’s ongoing development in the program.
- How to integrate music across the curriculum to address Standards and Enhance Character Development.
The Arm Your Child With Music program offers a wide range of music styles. The Songs promote school readiness skills, multicultural awareness and how to recognize signs of child and family abuse. YouTube videos of songs
Performances in school settings include teaching the music from the CD, as well demonstrating for teachers effective ways to incorporate songs into lesson plans to address the target learning skills.
Get the block to fall into the square hole to progress to the next level…
|Play this free game now!|
Check out the other career involvement at Keithmjackson.com


How to Free Your Students' Aural, Improvisation, and Performance Skills
Hear, Listen, Play! is a book for all music teachers who are unfamiliar with, yet curious about the worlds of ear-playing, informal learning, improvisation, and vernacular musics. For decades, or even hundreds of years, a divide has slowly been developing between the realms of notation-based musical transmission, and aural/oral methods. Yet that divide is by no means a necessary aspect of music learning, and musicians who are lucky enough to dwell on both sides of it count themselves as so much the richer for doing so. This book aims to provide a door into those other worlds for any teacher who would like to open it. Starting with a brief discussion of how popular musicians learn in the informal realm, the book then applies many aspects of their learning practices to three main areas within music education. Firstly it tackles the one-to-one specialist instrumental lesson, then ensemble work such as band and orchestra; and finally the generalist or specialist classroom. The methods within each section have been systematically tried and tested in research projects spanning more than a decade, yet the book is written in simple, non-academic language which teachers will quickly find applicable to their working lives. Vignettes from the research participants themselves provide color throughout the book, and give illustrations of how both teachers and learners have experienced the methods themselves. This book is not a prescription for one particular way of teaching or learning; it does not aim to critique, replace or change the excellent practices that are already on-going in the diverse world of music education and pedagogy. It simply offers something which is likely to be new to many teachers, and which they can, if they so wish, add in to the mix. The professional judgment and expertise of the teacher is surely the lynch-pin on which all good teaching relies; and the open nature of this book, along with its frequent calls for teachers to not only adopt, but adapt, its methods according to their own and their students' needs, is a testimony to that.


September 8th, 2020
Dyslexia is a brain-based learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to develop word reading and spelling skills. These individuals typically read and spell at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence.
Screening for dyslexia is the act of gauging the long-term risk for poor outcomes of word reading and spelling skills that are considered to significantly impede literacy development in children.
Tell Congress: Pass the RISE Act
We need your help! Ask your member of Congress to support students with learning and attention issues.
Thanks to support from generous partners like you, we are able to create programs and resources to support the 1 in 5 individuals with learning and attention issues nationwide.


We foster an appreciation of the importance of all individual subjects highlighting links and connections to other subjects studied. Each subject provides a narrative or journey of study detailing the what, why and how of its content and assessment. Subject delivery is collaboratively planned by our expert subject directors and academy department teams. Content is mapped to the National Curriculum and for older students mapped to examination specifications etc.
Our schemes of work are structured to build subject knowledge and skills, revisiting and recapping information to enhance recall and help all students to learn well. In lessons teachers share with students what they are learning, how it will be learned and why it is important. We believe knowledge is powerful when remembered as it enhances our students’ understanding and application of subject specific and transferable skills. Our curriculum prioritises strong literacy and numeracy skills as all children require these core skills to achieve. We operate a knowledge engaged curriculum approach believing subject knowledge supports and strengthens the application of subject skills.
Year 9 planning is currently under review. GCSE and Level 1 & 2 courses will no longer be studied within Year 9. Year 9 schemes of learning will be adjusted to reflect this and aligned to age related expectations for 2021 Year 9 cohorts moving forward.


Resources › For Educators Miss Nelson Is Missing Lesson Plan A Language Arts Lesson Plan for Approximately Second Graders Share Flipboard Email Print Martin Barraud / Getty Images For Educators Assessments & Tests Becoming A Teacher Elementary Education Secondary Education Special Education Teaching Homeschooling By Beth Lewis Education Expert B.A., Sociology, University of California Los Angeles Beth Lewis has a B.A. in sociology and has taught school for more than a decade in public and private settings. our editorial process Beth Lewis Updated May 30, 2019 MISS NELSON IS MISSINGSubmitted by Beth This lesson uses the book Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. Instructional Objective: To increase the children's appreciation for literature, foster vocabulary growth, practice prediction skills, practice speaking to groups, develop creative writing skills, and facilitate group interaction through discussion. Target Vocabulary: misbehaving, unpleasant, ruler, missed, detective, wicked, discouraged, ceiling, whispered, giggled. Anticipatory Set: Ask the children to get into pairs and discuss a time when they lost something. Then, display the cover of the book and ask for ideas on what might happen in the book. Statement of Objective: "As I read the book, I want you to think about what's happening and consider how the story might end. Imagine how you would feel if you were a student in Miss Nelson's class." Direct Instruction: Read the book while clearly showing the pictures to the class. Stop the story in the middle. Guided Practice: Ask the class to use a piece of paper to write or draw (depending on level) about how they imagine the story will conclude. Another possible guided practice activity for this book is Reader's Theater. Closure: Group discussion where individual students volunteer to share their conclusions with the rest of the class. Then, the teacher proceeds to finish reading the book so that the students can see how the author finished the book. Extension Activities Here are a few extension activities that you can do with your students. Miss Nelson is Missing Poster - Have students create a missing poster for Miss Nelson. Then, have them post their artwork in the hallway.Predicting - Have students predict what they think happened to Miss Nelson. Have each student write a brief paragraph and take turns reading it aloud to the class.Compare and Contrast - Have students create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Miss Nelson to their own teacher.Video - Have students watch an adaptation of Miss Nelson is Missing on YouTube.Character Traits - Have students create a Popsicle stick puppet with Miss Nelson on one side and Viola Swamp on the other. The teacher holds up a character trait and reads it. Then, the children decide which character they think that word describes and flip their Popsicle stick to the appropriate face. Examples of the words you can use are: cranky, creepy, cruel, strict, sweet, kind, loving, etc.Book Activity - Have students write their own story but this time the students are the ones who are missing, not the teacher. In a brief essay, they have to write what happened to the class when the teacher came to school but the students did not.


Summary: Download of 3 games that encourage gross motor skills and learning
LIST PRICE: $0.99
Shipping: FREE – once payment is made you will receive an email with a link to download the book. You will need Adobe Reader to open the book.
Summary: Pair of Shoes electronic download is 3 fun activities that promote gross motor skill development, encourage physical activity and practice math skills. You will need one brad to make the spinner.
The three activities included are:
- Pair of Shoes: Spin the spinner, put on your imaginary shoes and try to win the game by getting 4 pairs of shoes.
- Pair of Shoes Memory Game: Match up pairs of shoes and act out movements.
- Shoe Store: Spinner the spinner, put on your imaginary shoes and graph the shoes.
- Hang up poster in classroom: Point to visuals to pretend walking in different shoes for a quick, simple physical activity break in the classroom.
Remember this is an electronic activity. Following payment you will receive a link to download the activities. You can then print the activities from your computer.


Common Core Standards
Provides clear expectations for students, with information for teachers and parents on how to help them.
Illinois Learning Standards
Defines standards for all Illinois public schools in seven core areas.
National Education Technology Standards
Standards for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age that are widely recognized and adopted worldwide.
ECAP hosts research, technical assistance, and service projects that focus on educating and raising young children.
Best practices, hot topics, and news in the world of education.
Professional development tools, lesson plans, technology, and news.
This site provides teachers with teaching resources, blogs, publications, technology integration & development.
Common Sense Media
This site provides trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.
This site provides teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum.
Read Write Think
This site provides proven instruction and Internet technology to deliver powerful online tools for teaching reading and language arts in grades K-12.
Discovery Education Teachers
This site provides free resources to teachers across grades and curriculum supported by the Discovery Channel.
International Reading Association
This site promotes reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction and research worldwide.
National Art Education Association
This site provides tools for visual arts teachers from lesson plans to professional development opportunities.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
This site provides support for early childhood programs and professionals working with young children.
National Association of Special Education Teachers
This site provides support to special education teachers and those preparing for the field of special education teaching.
National Council of Teachers of English
This site provides supporting tools to improve teaching and learning English and the language arts at all levels of education.
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
This site provides resources for teachers and those seeking accreditation.
National Council for Teachers of Mathematics
This site provides tools for mathematics teachers to ensure equitable mathematics learning of the highest quality for all students.
National Council for the Social Studies
This site provides resources for social studies teachers including lesson plans, publications, professional development, and grant opportunities.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
This site is a national source of information on disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth.
National Education Association
This site provides teachers with information on current issues, lesson plans, and teaching resources.


CYNTHIA ALLEN: The opportunity to learn from play
What's the best way to help your child gain the skills she needs to reason through and overcome the various challenges she will face growing up?
How can you best prepare her for adolescence? For college? For adulthood?
Conventional wisdom might lead you to conclude that sending her to full-day prekindergarten beginning at age 3, filling her days with work sheets, flashcards, reading and tests would be the most effective preparation.
Perhaps not. Instead, you might try less school, less structure. And more time to play.
It may sound counterintuitive. How could more time running around outside, making believe, swinging from the jungle gym, far away from the classroom and textbooks, lead to smart, capable and well-adjusted kids?
The answer is quite simple. A growing body of research strongly suggests that children absolutely need play for learning, growth and development. Children learn how to interact with their environment through play. It's essential to developing social and emotional ties, first with family, then with peers.
Playing enhances language skills, risk management and problem-solving, significantly affecting emotional and mental well-being in ways traditional learning simply cannot address.
Unstructured playtime also provides opportunities for children to develop complex cognitive skills; they learn how to negotiate with other children; they learn how to self-regulate and manage their emotions.
And our cultural shift away from play is probably causing our children significant harm. A new book from researcher Erika Christakis encourages teachers and parents to rethink what young children require for learning and development.
The problem, Christakis says, is that 'the distinction between early education and official school seems to be disappearing.' It may not sound like it, but that is a potentially dangerous thing.
Our current emphasis on early childhood learning in structured, school-like environments is 'adultifying childhood' and leaving kids without uninterrupted stretches of time to engage in fantasy play that is crucial to their growth and development.
You might even say that some kids are moving right from infancy to forced adulthood, skipping a stage of life they need to experience for future success.
During a recent interview with NPR, Christakis explained how building a fort 'activate(s) more cognitive learning domains' than a typical classroom assignment, like a work sheet or a quiz.
'If you're building a fort with your peers, you're talking, using higher-level language structures in play than you would be if you're sitting at a table,' she said. 'You're doing math skills, you're doing physics measurement, engineering — but also doing the give-and-take of 'How do I get along? How do I have a conversation? What am I learning from this other person?' And that's very powerful.'
And Christakis isn't alone in her thinking. Debbie Rhea, a professor at TCU, is a longtime advocate of unstructured outdoor play. She is the founder and director of the LiiNK Project (Let's inspire innovation 'N kids), a research-based initiative whose goals include increasing the time public schools allot for physical activity and creative play.
Several years ago, Rhea's team conducted a study in two Texas private schools, weaving several unstructured outdoor play breaks and character development lessons throughout into the daily schedule, without extending the school day.
In only two years, the results were clear. Children who participated were more disciplined, exhibited more focus and performed better academically.
With studies consistently showing that American students are falling behind their global peers in basic skills, knowledge and job readiness, state and local governments are grappling with ways to improve academic outcomes, including universal prekindergarten and, in some cases, even extending the school day.
But policymakers should not ignore the research that confirms the obvious: There's as much to be learned on the monkey bars as there is in the classroom.
Our kids need more time to play.
Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Contact her at firstname.lastname@example.org.