Frequently Asked Questions
- I've got some feedback about the resources on this site. Who can I contact about this?
- Will there be more resources like this produced in the future?
- What is an archive?
- How do you know that these resources actually made a difference to pupils' literacy and numeracy skills?
- How can I get the best from the resources on this site?
- Why was this project developed?
Please contact the archives that worked with the schools to develop the resources. You can feed back directly to the archives by clicking on the "Feedback on this resource" link on the lists of learning resources pages.[ top ]
This is a stand alone project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund; and there are no plans to add more resources to this site at present. However, the archives involved in this project have developed a range of learning resources which can support and enrich the teaching of national curriculum areas. Archives may also be able to identify and select primary source material to suit your particular needs. Please contact the individual archives for more information.[ top ]
An archive refers to a collection of historical records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept.
Archives are made up of records (primary source documents) which have been accumulated over the course of an individual or organisation's lifetime. For example, the archives of an individual may contain letters, papers, photographs, computer files, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries or any other kind of documentary materials created or collected by the individual, regardless of media or format. The archives of an organisation (such as a company or government), on the other hand, tend to contain different types of records, such as administrative files, business records, memos, official correspondence, meeting minutes, and so on.
In general, archives consist of records which have been especially selected for permanent or long-term preservation, due to their research value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines, of which many identical copies exist. This means that archives (the places) are quite distinct from libraries with regard to their functions and organisation, although archival collections can sometimes be found within library buildings.[ top ]
How do you know that these resources actually made a difference to pupils' literacy and numeracy skills?
MLA North East have commissioned an external evaluator to assess the difference the project had made to the pupils' learning in literacy and numeracy as a result of the project. Findings have indicated that there is immense interest in the project from both teachers and pupils and there has been progression in attainment.[ top ]
Detailed lesson plans and activities are available in Word format, so you can adapt them to suit your needs.
We would advise viewing the medium term plans initially in order to get an overview of each topic and also as a source of ideas for planning work over a period of time.
If you are looking for activities to support the teaching of specific literacy and numeracy learning objectives, use the Learning Objectives search function (link) to identify suitable activities and the sources which accompany them.
The resources on this site are organised around topic areas, linked into National Curriculum history units.[ top ]
This project was developed in response to a review of archives education, which MLA North East commissioned in 2004. A number of recommendations were made, including the idea that the archives worked more collaboratively and developed joint regional initiatives. It was also suggested that the archives approach national funding bodies for education projects, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Primary Sources project evolved from these recommendations - developing participatory experiences for children and young people through the use of regional material and skills.[ top ]


The international community has responded generously to the human suffering occasioned by the famine in Somalia. The World Food Program has acted swiftly by providing relief food to millions affected by the famine and vaccines and medical assistance are being offered in Mogadishu and refugee camps to address the spreading cholera epidemic, cases of measles, and acute malnutrition. The response to the famine is not limited to traditional donors such as the United States and European Union; other countries have been generous in their humanitarian assistance, including Saudi Arabia, Sudan and China. With resources continuing to pour in, the long-term consequences of the famine, in terms of the country’s future human capital endowment, must now be given sufficient attention, especially with the limited access to quality educational opportunities by impacted children and youth.
The immediate needs in the region are dire as conditions continue to deteriorate. The consequences of the worst drought in 60 years will extend long beyond the next rainfall. In Somalia, children are among the victims who have suffered the most at the hands of the famine and, without access to learning opportunities, the crisis could set them back for life. A recent study by UNICEF cautions that half of the teachers in southern Somalia will not return to their schools once they reopen due to permanent population movement to the capital and the loss of essential teaching incentives. Additionally, 200,000 children may drop out of school as a result of the famine, adding to the country’s already dismal 33 percent primary enrollment rate.
Severe malnutrition and starvation can handicap children later in life. Research shows that critical brain development occurs from pregnancy to age three and quality early childhood development is a key priority for ensuring that children enter primary school prepared to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills with the rest of their peers. Quality early childhood development opportunities have shown to increase school attendance, lower rates of repetition and attrition, and improve learning achievement. A promising sign in Somalia are the therapeutic feeding centers and supplementary feeding programs. These ensure children receive the nutrients essential for brain development, which will help children not only survive this travesty, but thrive later in life.
Furthermore, children and youth living in conflict and crisis-affected areas often face additional disadvantages and marginalization in accessing quality education. In Somalia, students contend with ongoing security concerns that are now compounded by the challenges brought on by the famine. Together, these conditions have resulted in a massive refugee crisis, with over 400,000 people now living in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, and thousands more outside its gates. Worldwide, a displaced individual lives in a refugee camp for an average of 17 years – a lifetime for those displaced as children or born into refugee camps. Almost half of all children who are not in school live in countries affected by conflict; furthermore, learning outcomes for girls living in conflict-affected regions are among the worst in the world.
In Somalia, emergency assistance to address the famine and health situation is needed immediately and must be the priority of all donors and humanitarian organizations. However, providing education opportunities should also be part of the medium and long-term response to the crisis. Ensuring children have adequate nutrition through school meal programs and receive adequate health care through school-based vaccinations will encourage parents to send their children to school and improve children’s performance while enrolled. Establishing schooling environments – whether formal or non-formal – in refugee camps and providing educators with training and incentives will help create safe spaces for children and youth to receive a quality education. Because of the ongoing conflict in Somalia, some students have already lived in a state of vulnerability for much of their lives. Ensuring youth develop workforce and livelihood skills through opportunities beyond primary school is critical to the development of the next generation of leaders and citizens who can help to stabilize the nation and prevent the next famine. These are all steps that will mitigate the long-term social effects of an otherwise debilitating crisis and help the country rebuild a strong workforce and enhance human capital.


Language(s): English, French
Keyword(s):Music Education , Electroacoustic Devices , Socio-Cultural Aspects of Electroacoustic Music , Electronic Music , Interdisciplinary Artistic Work
Electronic music at Iowa University has been developed through the Electronic Music Studio, the Center for new Music, the Recording Studio, the School of Art, the Department of Speech and Dramatic arts, the Physics Department and the Center of New Performing Arts. The author presents the history, development, most important composers and research activities of these places since 1964.
An equipment list for each of these studios/centres completes this article.


Technology makes life better. It allows people from across the globe to collaborate as if seated around the same table, has allowed 3D printing to become a reality and makes it possible to master Guitar Hero from the comfort, and privacy, of our living rooms. As technology changes the world around us, it is also transforming education. Technology at its best can empower teachers and students, raise standards and improve outcomes for those who learn.
While we have seen youth unemployment dropping to its lowest level for five years, it is still too high. Yet employers with jobs to fill are saying that they are unable to fill entry-level vacancies as they cannot find candidates with the necessary skills. This is damaging to individuals and businesses alike. By harnessing the latest technology, we can develop innovative learning techniques and platforms to ensure those entering work for the first time are equipped with the skills employers need, and that those already in jobs are able to progress through their career.
Better still, evidence shows that the biggest impact of technology in education is on those who need it most. Technology has the power to break open the doors of learning, making education more inclusive and enabling it to embrace those learners that have for too long been marginalised. It is these individuals who can benefit the most from innovation. Traditionally, learning was constrained to classrooms and required students to physically attend set lessons. This immediately excludes those who are unable to make this type of commitment, whether because of disability or due to childcare or other caring commitments. If we take learning out of the classroom and put it online, or indeed make it accessible on a mobile phone, then suddenly those people that were previously excluded are able to make learning a part of their lives.
Encouragingly, innovation in digital education continues at pace. Just recently, online learning company Qualt launched a new platform that allows learners looking to develop their careers to study professional skills Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) via a free downloadable app on their smart phone. This is a prime example of how technology can offer people a flexible, low-risk opportunity to develop in a way that works around them and their lifestyle. This week also saw adult learning charity NIACE awarded ‘App of the Year’ in the Prolific North Awards for their Maths Everywhere app that helps adults build vital numeracy skills.
It’s not just outside of the classroom that technology can make a difference. Technology can be effectively used by teachers to bring subjects to life within schools, colleges and universities. It can also assist teachers with their administrative and planning tasks, allowing more time to focus on inspiring and nurturing pupils.
Through embracing technology, students - whether sat in a classroom or on the sofa - can benefit from a bespoke education tailored to their personal strengths and weaknesses. Digital learning programs can be paced to suit the individual, meaning those who benefit from extra time on key subjects, or indeed those who are capable of racing ahead, are kept on-track and engaged. The digitally enhanced classroom has no disengaged back row, no struggling students too embarrassed to raise questions in front of their peers and no bright stars wasting their potential re-visiting topics they have already mastered. Technology can help keep the de-motivated engaged just as it helps the best to soar.
While technology is a subject to get enthused and excited by, we must not lose our heads. Teachers should not fear technology. But to get the best out of it, investment in learning technology needs to be results driven. Success must not be measured on technical terms or spending commitments, but instead by its ability to drive up standards and outcomes for learners. Embracing technology does not simply mean writing cheques. We have learnt the hard way that brand-new kit is only able to prove its worth if used effectively. This means making smart purchasing decisions and ensuring that staff and users are trained to take full advantage of their new devices.
By harnessing the latest learning technology, we can raise standards of education for everyone. Schools can offer students a more dynamic learning experience catered to their individual needs, employees keen to further their career can learn new skills online, and critically those previously left on the sidelines of education, can benefit from more opportunities to learn than ever before.
Matthew Hancock is Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise


Schooling in USA
Most of the students from different parts of the world who come to obtain a degree in USA believe that studying in a highly ranked school, college or university can prepare them the best to face their future. These universities offer various set of options to international students giving them an opportunity to gain more knowledge. The Education qualification and degree obtained from any of the American universities are highly recognized all around the world. Education in America can be an exciting and rewarding experience but it is hard to finance as it is very expensive compared to the other countries in the world.
The Federal, State and local governments control and provide funds for the education system in United States of America.
Education System in USA
It is very important for every student who wishes to study in USA to understand and be aware of the education system. The system begins with kindergarten followed by 12 years of primary and high school education which is compulsory to get admitted to any graduate college or university.
The children enroll themselves into an education system when they are five or six years of age. A child can choose to study either in private schools, or home schools or public schools.
In America, the school academic year begins in late August or early September of each year and ends in late May or early June.
Primary or Elementary Education in the US
In primary or elementary school education, a student will be completing five grades of education. These five grades of education focus on introducing children to the broad range of knowledge, basic academic learning, reading and socialization skills they will need to perform well in their future. This also includes learning basics of mathematics, English proficiency, science, social studies, physical development and fine arts.
Secondary Education in the US
Junior high school (or middle school) and Senior high school together provides secondary education to the children. Junior high school refers to grade six through eight and high school begins with ninth grade and progresses to twelfth grade. The mandatory subjects which are taught in US high schools include : Science
- biology, chemistry and physics, Mathematics
- statistics, algebra, geometry and calculus, English
- oral languages, humanities, literature and composition, Social Sciences
- history, geography and economics. Most of the states have made health courses mandatory so that the students learn about first-aid, nutrition, sexuality and drug awareness. Art, foreign language and physical education is also made compulsory by some schools in the curriculum.
Undergraduate Education in the US
Undergraduate Schools offer a two-year degree which is called associate's degree or four-year degree called bachelor's degree in a particular field of study. This particular course of study is called major. The most common bachelor's degrees are Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.), Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) and Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) which is awarded after completing five year architecture course.
Postgraduate Education in the US
After the completion of undergraduate courses, the students can continue their studies by pursuing a master's degree which is a two-year degree to specialize in a particular field. After completing the master's degree, the students can pursue their education even further in a particular field with a doctorate degree. Based on the course opted, capability of the student and the dissertation selected, the duration to complete a doctorate degree is between three to six years.
External Link related to Education in USA
A Guide that helps you find the right college, right course, correct under-graduate or a post-graduate program, and information about different colleges in USA
Directory of USA Schools, Universities and Colleges


ECSE 519: Language and Early Literacy Development
Explores the development of language, communication and early literacy in children birth to age five, focusing on both typical and atypical development pathways. Considers how children acquire language in social context and the relationships between communicative skills and literacy. Within a theory to practice framework, the course covers topics that include the family's role in early language development, language socialization across cultures, bilingualism and second language acquisition, speech and language impairments, and the emergence of literacy in both home and preschool settings. The role of early childhood teachers in fostering language and literacy development in children with diverse needs and backgrounds is highlighted. 3 hours lecture.


TAMIU Professor Contributes
to Children's Music Magazine
A local musician and educator is helping children better understand and celebrate Cinco de Mayo around the country through music. Dr. Gilberto D. Soto, associate professor of music education at Texas A&M International University, co-authored a song and developed a lesson plan for the May/June 2006 issue of John Jacobson's Music Express Magazine.
"Viva el Cinco de Mayo," written by Dr. Soto and internationally recognized music educator and clinician John Jacobson, tells of the Battle of Puebla in 1862 where "many lives were changed forever by the courage of a few," and tells the children, "We sing because we're free!" The song also invites neighbors to "rise and sing the glory of heroes in ev'ry tale."
Although the five years of struggle against the French that continued after the Battle of Puebla aren't included in the song, Soto's lesson plan includes the rest of the history lesson in a condensed version for intermediate students to understand. The plan also includes suggestions for materials that are traditional items of the state of Puebla, México.
Music Express, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, is a unique music education resource that supplies five new songs in each issue, provides new activities and teaching strategies and keeps teachers updated on issues facing music educators nationwide.
Soto is author of ¡Fiesta De Canciones! and co-author of Multilevel Strategies for English Language Learners and Spotlight on Music. He teaches courses for music and children as well as being in charge of the guitar program in the department of fine and performing arts and the popular Classical Guitar Ensemble. He received his B.Ed. from Universidad Autonoma del Noreste in México, B.A. from Abilene Christian University and his M.M. and Ph.D. from University of Southern Mississippi.
For more information, please contact Soto at 326.3046, e-mail email@example.com or visit offices in Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, room 216A.
University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests
and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information
Services at firstname.lastname@example.org


Biology | Biological Sci for Elem Teachers
Q201 | 0604-0610 | Hanratty, P
Course Format: Lecture: 9:30A-10:45A, TR, JH A100. Laboratory: one
session/week (3 hours).
Prerequisites: Enrolled in Elementary Education program; Q200.
Course Description: This course is designed to give students
sufficient background in basic biology to provide a starting point –
ways of thinking, vocabulary, overview of various fields of biology –
from which they can operate in elementary school classes. Lecture, lab
and discussion are integrated to give unified but varying learning
Required Text: "Biology: Concepts and Connections", fourth edition by
Campbell, Mitchell and Reece. “Biological Science for Elementary
Teachers” (lab manual), by Bronwyn H. Bleakley and Pamela L. Hanratty.
Weekly Assignments: Readings from the text, some website work, pre-lab
readings and written assignments, weekly lab data sheets, and a
three-hour laboratory experience.
Exams/Papers: Three hourly exams covering lecture and lab material,
one lab report, one independent project, several quizzes in lecture
and in lab, portfolio of experiments for kids, and a comprehensive


- Program Considerations
- Classroom Strategies
- Levels of ESL Literacy
Foundation Phase Theme Unit and Lesson Planning
A theme unit is a series of connected lessons, taught over a longer period (from a week to several weeks) in order to achieve learning outcomes. There are many advantages to teaching in theme units; it is an excellent way to introduce vocabulary and concepts, and it means that the instructor can recycle outcomes without the lessons feeling repetitive to the learners.
In an effective theme unit plan:
- The theme is relevant to learners, and provides the context for language and literacy development.
- Learning outcomes are the central focus. Assessment, resources and learning tasks all relate to the outcomes.
- Connections are made between class work and transferring learning to other contexts (e.g. community, workplace).
- Learning outcomes, content and vocabulary are scaffolded, recycled and spiralled throughout.
In an effective lesson plan:
- Activities take 20 minutes or less.
- More intense activities, such as copying, are interspersed with activities that involve talking and movement.
- The lesson begins with oral vocabulary before moving to reading and writing.
- Vocabulary is recycled several times and in several different ways, giving learners a chance to absorb new words.
- There are directions in the lesson plan for changing activities for lower or higher level learners in the class. Not every learner needs to do exactly the same worksheet or answer exactly the same questions.
Keep current with the Network!
Sample Theme Units
These CLB Foundation to Phase III theme units are designed to highlight key concepts from the ESL Literacy Curriculum Framework. There are three sample lesson plans that connect to each theme unit.
Theme Unit & Lesson Planning Guide (712 kB)
This tool contains a theme unit development guide, as well as theme unit and lesson planning templates. The purpose of this tool is to help instructors plan effective thematic units.A program purpose is a statement that describes the general intent and broad aims of a program. Effective programs have a clear and articulate purpose, which guides all aspects of program and curriculum development.


The Vocaloid singing voice synthesizer software has grown into a pop culture sensation. It created a virtual pop star named Hatsune Miku.
It is now beginning to be utilized in the field of music education in Japan.
In the school year starting next April, Shikoku University in Tokushima Prefecture will open a training course at its two-year music college where students can learn to write songs using the software.
The software allows users to write songs by just typing in lyrics and melody. “At first, I thought Vocaloid was something more childish,” said Atsushi Masuda, an associate professor of popular music at the university.
“I came to realize that creating (a) singing voice with Vocaloid is profound because you can make adjustments to the vibrato tone or the intake of breath,” he said.
Noting that recent Vocaloid songs are very artistic, Masuda said schools should be more serious about using the software for education.
Shikoku University will allow students taking its entrance exams to submit Vocaloid songs for skill tests instead of performing live.
“The thing is, I can’t read music notes or codes,” said Vocaloid music composer Shinjo P, who has released a CD of Vocaloid songs.
“You don’t have to be a professional to enjoy Vocaloid. That’s what makes it attractive. My songs reached many people through the Internet and their comments posted on video sites taught me how I can improve my songs,” he said.
“You can tell who wrote the song just by listening to the singing voice. This shows how much music composers can express their (individuality) by writing Vocaloid songs.”
Musical instrument and electronics maker Yamaha Corp., which developed the software, is providing consultation services for those willing to use Vocaloid for music education, including dispatching instructors to schools.
Fujimura Girls’ Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo introduced Vocaloid for music classes last September.
“Vocaloid can foster creativeness and allows students who find singing difficult to get more actively involved in music,” Vice Principal Shin Yanagidate said.
At the school, 34 students wrote Vocaloid songs in the school year that ended in March and the curriculum will continue in the coming year.
Kazumi Matsushige, president of Shikoku University, said he believes Vocaloid has the potential to let the world know more about Japan’s capabilities to create attractive software.
“Vocaloid is a tool of creation that people of all ages can use,” Matsushige said. In the future, he added, his university wants to offer a Vocaloid course where students can also learn to create videos with computer graphics that go along with Vocaloid songs.


Wednesday September 5, 2012
EVERY child has the potential to succeed despite the learning impairment and physical disability that they may suffer from, said Education Ministry Special Education Division director Bong Muk Shin.
“The society needs to shift its perception to look beyond the condition of children with special needs and learning difficulties.
“Rather, we should be focusing on helping them to achieve their potential,” said Bong.
Every year, the Ministry carries out various outreach programmes to raise awareness on the learning disorders in children such as dyslexia and autism.
“Overall, the general awareness on learning disorders is still relatively low.
“The Education Ministry is working closely with the Social Welfare Department and the Health Ministry to highlight these conditions and provide help to those who are affected,” said Bong.
The programme focuses on remote areas where amenities such as transportation, medical and communications might be limited.
Out of the 2,903 students visited by the outreach team recently, 744 students are identified as having learning difficulties.
Bong also reveals that the number of students enrolled in special education classes has doubled to 54,000 over the past few years, not including students with physical disabilities.
Currently, there are 1,945 regular schools in the country which are running integrated programmes for students with learning difficulties.
Under the LINUS programme, Year One pupils who are identified with learning difficulties are referred for medical assessment after screening.
They are later enrolled in the remedial programme or sent to special education classes for students with special needs based on the outcome of their medical assessment. The teacher factor
Dyslexia Association of Malaysia president Sariah Amirin agrees that the LINUS programme is timely to address the problem of a significant number of children in schools who failed to master basic literacy and numeracy skills.
She believes that the remedial teachers play the most important role in ensuring that the programme achieves its objectives.
“Teachers need to bear in mind that each child is unique so there is no one fits all method to teach the child.
“Most importantly, teachers must be well trained in phonetics to teach the children how to blend the sounds when teaching reading,” said Sariah.
She also points out that a small class size with one teacher to five pupils is most ideal in a remedial literacy programme.
Furthermore, Sariah said screening tests for reading disorders should be conducted earlier at the preschool level.
“By age five, most children are able to recognise letters. Some children can speak very well but have major problems in reading, this is a sign that parents should look out for in symptoms of dyslexia,” said Sariah.
On the other hand, the National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) assistant general manager Osman Teh Abdullah said children with learning difficulties should not be segregated from the mainstream education.
“We believe that it is best for the children with learning difficulties to be placed in regular schools as they will have the opportunity to mingle with their peers and assimilate into the school community.
“It is our hope that more remedial teachers will be trained to accommodate the needs of children with learning difficulties,” he said.
At the moment, Nasom is working with several local universities in a study to design a curriculum for children with autism.


Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
When I was getting my Art Teacher's Certificate, I too was stumped by the
number and variety of lesson plan formats. During my student teaching, I
decided to stick with the best one I had found, making adjustments as I
needed. Keeping essentially the same format helps me a lot. While it isn't
perfect, I do feel comfortable with it because I know it well. When I write
a new lesson, I just open a template and fill it in!
This one is based on DBAE, although I don't always use the Objective format
I hope this helps,
-------------Lesson Plan Template:
5. PLANNING AND PREPARATION:
6a. INSTRUCTIONAL MOTIVATION:
7. ACTIVITY / PROCEDURE:
At 6:50 PM 10/7/97, Amy Newton wrote:
>Hi. My name is Amy Newton. I am a post-graduate (B.S. in Broadcasing)
>seeking an art education teaching certification at Northern Arizona
>University in Flagstaff, AZ. I am currently taking Art in the
>Elementary School and High School Art Teaching Methods.
>The problem that I find is in formulating lesson plans. I have run across
>hundreds of examples. But, no two are in the same format.
>The question I have is: is there a set outline or format for a lesson
>plan that will be easy enough for me to follow while I am still in the
>I appreciate any help. I need to get consistant!
1-8 Art on the Cart
Lee H. Kellogg School
Falls Village, Connecticut 06031
"The object of education is to
prepare the young to
throughout their lives."


Anytime a school board starts discussing budget cuts, the knife is typically aimed at “inessential” programs in schools, a category that usually will begin with the arts. Unlike math, science, and history, curricula for art, music, and drama are considered somewhere between extracurricular and useless by budget cutters in many national, state, and local governments.
But spend 10 minutes with a child of any age who is singing or playing an instrument, and it’s quickly apparent that something a lot more serious than playtime is going on here. “When children learn music it exercises both sides of their brain,” says Mary Ann Cool, a music teacher and chorus director at Mt. Hebron Middle School in Montclair. “Music exercises the right side of the brain responsible for imagination, arts awareness and creativity, and the left side responsible for reasoning, number skills and speech. It’s a discipline that teaches children to focus on a task and master it. It is no surprise children who study music tend to have higher test scores.”
Just as we understand that kids playing sport teaches more than how to score a touchdown (e.g., cooperation, commitment, how to win/lose well, etc.), kids playing music are doing more than trying to be the next Green Day. In other words, some children can internalize more math by moving from a 4/4 to 3/4 time signature than by memorizing a handful of equations.
Leslie Lucas, who is the director of Music Together of Montclair and Summit & Chatham, believes that keeping music in the curriculum benefits everyone down the line. “In his State of the Union speech, the President was talking about how far behind in math and science our country is,” she says. As music and art are taken out of education, “it creates people who don’t know how to use their creative brains. So much of business is about creativity, and if you have been exposed to music, it stimulates your creative brain. In any discipline, thinking creatively can start with music education.”
So if there’s less music in school, what can parents do to make sure their children are thinking musically? The simplest thing is to make family time for music: sing along to your favorite songs with your child, play an instrument for them if you know how, or just sit down and make up songs together. “If we passively put on some music, they won’t learn as well as making the music themselves,” says Lucas. “Sing a song about brushing their teeth…or buy a little drum or some shakers, something so you can sit and make music together. Have a little jam session!”
Every child can get basic benefits from this kind of family-based exposure to music, and over time parents can be on the lookout for signs that a child has a particular interest in or talent for music. “I think when children independently are drawn to an instrument or independently like to sing, that shows an interest to be encouraged,” says Cool. “I also think some children naturally have a musical ear: They are able to follow melodies and sing them back accurately.” Lucas adds that a child around age 5 who can accurately find the beat in a song is showing signs of being musically adept.
But the best sign that you’ve got a child with an interest in playing music is fairly direct: “If someone really has a musical inclination, they’ll usually tell their parents,” says Lucas. “They’ll ask for piano lessons or something like that. I find that you will know if the child is ready for formal lessons.”
The best thing for parents to do is just make sure music is part of a child’s life in one way or another. A pre-verbal baby who sings along with a simple tune to nonsense “doo doo doo” lyrics and claps to the beat is learning essential skills that can carry over to so many other aspects of their educational and social lives. And older children who can make up a song or learn to master an instrument will be tapping into a valuable tradition that dates back to the earliest days of humanity. “In the old days before TVs, people would sit around and make music together,” says Lucas. “It was a basic life skill, everyone knew how to make some music, play some songs as enjoyment. It’s something everyone should know how to do.”
How are you making music a part of your child’s life? And is your child’s school doing enough to provide basic musical education?


The important of CORE instruction before implementing a Response to Intervention Model
As you know I have been implementing an RTI model for two years and the impact on student achievement has been amazing. I wanted to begin posting about major steps we have taken in these last two years and the million dollar question of how do you being an RTI model in a school.
I will be posting information at various aspects of implementation: school structure, academic structure, and communication and collaboration, data informed instructional problem solving, data management and etc.
Today– CORE Literacy instruction How to:
As a schools prepares to implement an RTI model, they must address what is core instruction in each academic area. Why? All teacher needs to be in the same place so that they can ensure their instructional planning address state and district standards, literacy development, and differentiated instruction. So here are a first steps towards doing that:
It is wonderful to hear that the whole school is proceeding on the RTI professional development. It is also great to hear about the conversation beginning around Tier 1. What I would suggest is the following:
teachers at each particular grade level meet and make a list of what they feel constitutes core literacy instruction during the reading block.
Exchange lists and prioritize for the grade level they teach
Come to agreement on how their list meets the literacy requirements in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary and those of the district.
Identify what would constitute a typical week to week schedule of times when each of these areas of literacy will be taught/delivered
Have the team come to agreement that all will do this typical schedule every week. For example:
For Grade 1 at the Gardner- Core instruction constitutes:
Guided reading 3 X per week
Phonemic awareness and phonics/decoding through Fundations Wilson 4 X per week
Comprehension strategies through the Making Meaning curriculum-2X per week
Vocabulary instruction 3X per week.
6. Finally, have the teachers slot out the time it will take them to complete the instruction they proposed
7. Identify the â€œfreeâ€ time available to plan for additional â€œdosesâ€ or interventions that http://www.southfayettenursing.com/directions.html can fit within the regular reading block after the core is completed.
8. Have the teachers do a one week trial and discuss any potential changes to the schedule and verify existing â€œfree slotsâ€
9. Have everyone keep a good record of what they decided for the beginning of the school year and revisit then.
10. You can now plan small group and 1-1 instruction for students at Tier 2 & 3.
I would love some feedback … it has worked real well for this schools and some new ones initiating the process….


But below that surface, the roots of elementary education as an omnibus civic good in American life run very deep, which helps explain why the post-Newtown trauma feels equally so.
“We have our greatest hope. And it lives in the school,” says Carolyn Mears, author and editor of an anthology entitled “Reclaiming School in the Aftermath of Trauma.” Her son was a sophomore at Columbine High School during the 1999 shootings, and the path she followed after that day led her to her current job as adjunct faculty at the University of Denver’s education college.
In “Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory,” Jonathan Zimmerman asserts that the romantic imagery of one-room schools is an emblem of America right up “alongside the flag, eagle and Uncle Sam in the American patriotic pantheon.” The notion of the elementary school itself, he said this week, still serves the same purpose — these schools contain not only our young but the story of us.
“They’ve been this force in defining who we are,” he says. “They were really the first public building in most American communities. Not just a place where kids went to school but where citizens gathered for public purposes — weddings, funerals, religious worship, voting. There was no other place. The school was our place.”
Echoes of that sentiment remain, even though the world today is so, so different. Even as the details and execution of American elementary education divide us, the potent democratic vision of safe, universal public education still unites us.
And when people mourn the fallen young and educators of Newtown — as they did at Columbine, at Virginia Tech, at Jonesboro, at the Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa. — they are mourning, too, another notion: that one more American institution has been, through someone’s ugliness, forever sullied.
When Mears talked to people involved in previous school violence about what helped them recover, she found one very common theme: “that essence of community — the future, society, how we relate one to another.”
“That sense of location, sense of place, is profound,” she says. “And when that is torn away, when we find that we’re not living where we thought we lived, that this world is different, that the future is not what we thought it would be? Well, you have to rebuild it all.”
We like to call such a feeling a “loss of innocence” — and, in the past five days, the country has spoken of that often. But given the school’s place in the national imagination, isn’t it more the wounding of an ideal, of a possibility, of the promise of a bright future? And that, to Americans, is painful stuff indeed.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ted Anthony writes about American culture for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anthonyted


Propellerhead Software announced Teaching Music with Reason, a curriculum for music education based on Reason. Based on a specially adapted version of Reason, the curriculum is designed for use by high school teachers in class music lessons. It can also be used as a basis for college level introductory modules in Music or Music Technology. Teaching Music with Reason is the first combination of software and curriculum combined in order to provide educators with a complete integrated solution.
Teaching Music with Reason is a comprehensive package containing material for two semesters with 21 complete lessons, teacher's lesson preparation material, teaching plans, student worksheets, student 'How-to...' guides, song files in contemporary styles, a full featured Reason version for the teacher and ten Reason Adapted student versions.
The product is designed to allow integration with existing areas of a particular national, state, or school curriculum, covering fundamental skills that include listening, understanding basic musical elements and applying technical knowledge in a creative context.
Teaching Music with Reason will be available during Q1 2004 from Reason dealers and distributors worldwide. Price: TBA.


Primary school pupils should learn how to blog and use internet sites like Twitter and Wikipedia and spend less time studying history, it is claimed.
The British primary school curriculum has undergone review, and the resulting recommendations put greater emphasis on information literacy. The report apparently identifies six key areas of learning:
* understanding English, communication and languages
* mathematical understanding
* scientific and technological understanding
* human, social and environmental understanding
* understanding physical health and well-being
* understanding the arts and design
This is for primary school, but it overlaps quite a lot with what folks like the New London group have recommended for higher education, especially greater attention to design and to ecologies.
It's also significant to remember that British educational innovations have a history of bleeding into composition studies, most notably the work of James Britton and his associates. So perhaps some borrowing might happen again?
(via Heidi on Facebook)


(Photo Credit: www.audio-luci-store.it/Flickr)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education. Their published report, Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments Among U.S. Adults compiles results from an international assessment of adult competencies in 2012. The report includes data from 23 participating countries.
In three basic skills, literacy, numeracy, and problem solving, the U.S. scored well below average. This means that adults in other countries are more skilled in these key areas.
While populations in other countries gaining skill sets is reason to celebrate, our own country lagging behind is cause for concern. If we wish to be competitive in a global economy, we need to educate our students better.
As Rebecca Alber at Edutopia reminds us, literacy is more than reading and writing. Literacy is the ability to understand and communicate with advanced reading, writing, speaking, and listening, all of which are more necessary now for all workers than ever.
Reading, writing, and giving presentations to the class are vital parts of any curriculum. Math, science, history classes, and more may incorporate literacy skills to best prepare U.S. students for the workplace.
Simply put, numeracy is the ability to understand and work with numbers. It is mathematical literacy, and the ability to process, communicate, and interpret numerical information in a variety of contexts.
In a 1997 report, Effective Teachers of Numeracy, researchers in the U.K. identified timeless teaching strategies to increase numeracy skills among students. The most effective teachers used words and visuals to communicate information to students. They connected different areas of mathematics in one lesson, rather than keeping each unit separate. They also made a point of challenging and stretching all of their students, not just the seemingly more able ones.
The most effective teachers emphasized the development of mental skills and mathematical reasoning. In today's workplace, a solid understanding of mathematical concepts and how they relate to each other keeps workers competitive.
Problem solving and critical thinking go hand in hand. Students benefit from creative endeavors and creative thinking. Problem solving may be performed both in groups and as individual projects. Hands-on projects, such as designing a quilt using geometry skills, give students the opportunity to find and solve problems. These habits and skills are then used in the workplace.
What You Can Do
It's never too late to develop additional skills. Taking a class at your local community college may help you achieve more and be promoted at work. The United States should take the worldwide data quite seriously as we think about how we run our schools, but current workers and adults need to continue learning on their own, as well. Education is a lifelong journey.
Tell Us What You Think
Will you start honing your literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.


Students at South Delhi government school study on tabs
Students of class one to three at South Delhi's Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya were thrilled to see a demonstration on their future academic lessons at a workshop today conducted by Qualcomm, Sesame Workshop India (SWI) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
The students were given tablet mobile phones for a trial during the workshop followed by a small Sesame Street puppet show.
The project 'Play 'n' Learn' combines Qualcomm mobile technology and digital content from Sesame Workshop India's Gali Gali Sim Sim to make learning a better experience through Android educational mobile games despite the students' socio-economic backgrounds.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), revealed last year, had found that reading and numeracy skills among Indian students had dropped off in India's rural schools.
Ashish Sood Chairman of Education Committee of SDMC said "there are many elementary education challenges in India such as teachers' leadership skills and drop-out ratio amongst students''.
Sood said that the initiative by Sesame Street's Gali Gali Sim Sim in partnership with Qualcomm would be highly effective and may have international recognition.
The project aims to improve education quality considering the ASER 2013. "According to the ASER, we are working on Hindi and Math concepts that need to be improved amongst students" said Anuragini Nagar, senior programme manager at Sesame Workshop India. She added that the educational mobile games that were in line with CBSE course structure enhance students' learning experiences.
"Our continuing association with Qualcomm Wireless Reach seeks to bring together modern mobile communication technologies and access to high educational content for children" said Sashwati Banerjee, Managing Director at Sesame Workshop India.
Banerjee said in a statement that technology had helped students across the globe in developing skills and that India would definitely benefit from the project.
(Posted on 24-07-2014)
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This is a guest blog post from Marc Sirkin, Autism Speaks VP Social Marketing and Online Fundraising.
I first found out about David Chesney's software engineering class at dinner with Donald Brinkman from Microsoft. We were talking about different ways technology is impacting autism, and introduced us via e-mail. I was intrigued by the idea of students spending an entire semester, hacking and developing games for autism therapies using Microsoft Kinect devices. As a geek, this was just too good to be true!
As it turns out, students in EECS481 Software Engineering class worked hard all semester to develop games for kids with autism spectrum disorder in cooperation with Dr. Jackie Kaufman and Mr. Joe Kryza from Mott Children's Hospital.
Chesney and his class started with 15 "pitches" and narrowed the class down into teams, each focused on a stand-alone game. They worked closely with Mott Children's Hospital and autism experts to identify therapeutic benefits like gross motor skills, facial recognition skills, communications and language skills, tools for caregivers and even analytics. Most importantly they "play-tested" each game at various times with children and people on the spectrum and got real time feedback on what was fun, what worked and what needed improvement.
I had a front row seat as the students demo'd games like "Tickle Monster", a game that allows players to quickly recognize facial expressions. There was a "Flying Objects" game designed to help players improve gross motor skills and recognize facial expressions while playing a fast moving and exciting game.
"Hide & Seek" was designed for facial recognition as well as memory, concentration and recognizing positive and negative emotions. The player assumes the role of the "seeker" and walks through a randomly generated 3D "map" to get clues and to find what they are looking for.
"Path" is a game focused on motor skill development and allows players to follow an on-screen "path" with their hands, legs, and head. The game allows for caregivers to adjust the complexity of the "path" and is designed to be used in both the home and in therapy.
The platform team integrated all the games into one, seamless "main menu" that allowed for players to view their stats, earn rewards and badges and was the interface for the analytics and data generated by game players. The team felt that a rewards mechanism was critical to engaging people on the spectrum to provide motivation and to bring together all the various achievements earned by playing the different games.
There was a lot about the day that really blew me away - in particular the overall collaboration and the smart way they approached building useful games for different targeted therapies. Over time, I hope to see these games fleshed out even further and to perhaps even see them become commercialized and available on the XBox/Kinect platforms and into the hands of game players looking for fun, and therapies to help them manage some parts of their autism.
To learn more about autism and technology, get connected to "Hacking Autism" www.hackingautism.org.


An administrator for a mutual fund management firm, April deals with the written word daily. She loves to write and plans to author a memoir in the near future. April attended Morehead State University to pursue a BA degree in Elementary Education.
Learn more about April...
Gnats are often called fruit flies, and vice versa. While it's true that gnats and fruit flies are both insects, they are not from the same family of insects. Both are very tiny insects, so it certainly is difficult to tell the difference between the two. And both types of insects are annoying because they are so small and difficult to catch or smack with a fly swatter. The easiest way to discern between the two insects is to think of how you might encounter each in nature.
If you have a bowl of ripening fruit on your kitchen counter, and you notice tiny winged insects flying about, then you have fruit flies in your kitchen, and not gnats. And if you've ever taken a walk on a warm evening and spy a swarm of tiny winged insects up ahead, then you're about to walk into a ghost of gnats. Just as congregating geese are named a gaggle of geese, swarming gnats are named a ghost of gnats. Fruit flies feed off of decaying fruit and the easiest way to rid your home of them is to remove their food source—the fruit. But gnats are really small black flies that feed off of carbon dioxide. The next time you visit a pond with sections of stagnant water, you will see small flies—or gnats—hovering above the water's surface, feeding off of the carbon dioxide exuded by the algae sitting atop the water. The larvae of the gnat feed off of the plant's roots and any organic matter near the soil's surface.
Houseplants can become infested with gnats quite quickly. You won't see any plant damage and, instead, will simply see black gnats buzzing about. Gnats will fly from plant to plant, laying as many as 150 eggs at a time, with the eggs hatching in as little as 3 days. And while a gnat's life lasts less than 8 days, an infestation of gnats is not only destructive to the roots of your houseplants, you'll have the constant annoyance of gnats flying about your home.
At the first sing of gnats flying about your houseplants and home, remove your plants to a sunny location to dry them out. Keep the plants as dry as possible without causing damage. Before watering the plant, place sticky strips of tape or fly traps around the base of all of your plants in order to catch the adult gnats, preventing them from laying eggs in the plant soil. After 8 days, you should notice a severe decrease in the gnat population. If you continue to see gnats, repeat the process of drying your plants and applying sticky traps.


Katy Chase has bug viewers, digital microscopes, binoculars and GPS navigation systems at her disposal when she shares her knowledge about environmental science with the community.
Using two recently purchased environmental science kits, Chase is one of 15 University of Mary Washington students teaching local families at the England Run Library as part of a partnership with UMW.
She aims to ignite in them a similar passion and appreciation for science that she holds dear.
“In schools teachers might be a little afraid of science and kids aren’t always exposed to different tools and materials related to the sciences. They learn a lot from textbooks,” said the environmental science and Master of Science in elementary education student.
She’s already spread her love for science to Brazil, where as an intern, she taught environmental science in public schools. After she graduates, Chase plans to continue in the classroom, either home or abroad.
Using the kits, Chase creates lesson plans and uses them in the England Run Library MakerLab. The Lab also includes a 3-D printer, engineering kits and robotics equipment on loan from UMW.
All of this is possible because of Professor of Education George Meadows’ interest in teaching all students about science and technology in cool and creative new ways and a philosophy called place-based education.
“[Elementary] students often will learn about things like the Amazon and very exciting environments like the desert and volcanoes, as well as exotic animals like whales, sharks and tigers,” said Meadows. “Place-based education would say instead of focusing on all of that, focus on what’s local. The animals and plants you see locally and understand how they live, how they interact with their environment, how they interact with one another, understand that first and then you can start learning about the more exotic examples and also have a better grounding to deal with some of the problems like global warming or endangered species.”
Chase and Meadows are both proponents of this teaching philosophy. In fact, Meadows felt that Chase would be the perfect student to implement it and recommended she participate for that reason.
At its core, the idea is to get kids outdoors and learning.
Chase takes students outside to catch bugs and examine them through the bug viewers. Students collect water and dirt samples to study them under the microscope and explore the woods outside of the library using GPS navigation.
Meadows said Chase’s science background gives her an edge.
“That’s a great foundation to build on,” he said. “Adding place-based education instruction will insure that she will be even more dynamic in the classroom.”
Said Chase, “I love the opportunity to get kids interested in science.”


Numeracy Skills for Drug Calculations
Drug Calculations are only a small part of nursing but nevertheless important. These e-learning resources should equip you with essential numeracy skills and help you with exam preparation. The materials have been split into sections so begin by choosing your year and intake and work through the topics you require. Each section has a multimedia presentation followed by example questions for you to practise; you may also check the correct answers.
If you require any additional assistance, free one-to-one appointments are available by contacting the Learning Development Service: firstname.lastname@example.org, 028 9097 3618.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all the best in your studies and your time here at Queen’s.
This resource was created by Tim Crawford from the Learning Development Service. A special thanks to Ciaran McQuade for his programming expertise in creating the randomised question generators, and also to our maths team (Mo, Ryan and Eileen) for their sustained effort in helping nursing students improve their numeracy skills! If you have any comments about how this resource could be modified or improved, use the feedback form to share your views.


Applied developmental psychologist Jan Frijters has a powerful message for teens living with dyslexia, their parents and teachers: don’t give up the struggle to read.
In fact, the International Reading Association - the world’s foremost expert on literacy - is so impressed by the research behind this message that it has granted Frijters and his team its 2014 Albert J. Harris Award for their paper “Evaluating the Efficacy of Remediation for Struggling Readers in High School.”
“This award is an excellent validation of the need to move research-based interventions into the schools,” says Frijters. “It’s a validation not to write off some adolescents who many people think, ‘well, if they haven’t learned to read by now, there’s no hope for them’.”
Developmental psychologist Maureen Lovett, a colleague of Frijters, created a remedial reading program focusing on three areas — word identification strategies, knowledge of text structures, and reading comprehension strategies.
With massive support from psychological and educational colleagues at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the research teamed rolled out the intervention to the most struggling high school students in an entire school district.
The research team worked with 268 students in mostly Grades 9 and 10 who had “very serious” reading delays, mostly due to their struggles with picking up reading skills.” Eighty-three students on the waiting list acted as the “control” group.
“When we talk about reading disability, we talk about children who are just consistently failing to meet the developmental expectations of where they should be for their age,” he says, adding that it includes slow reading, inaccurate reading or reading without understanding what is written.
Participants were assessed on reading and reading-related skills at the beginning and end of the semester, with some participants being assessed one year later.
The researchers found that students who went through the program achieved higher scores on all aspects of reading compared to students in the control group, even one year later.
Frijters says providing adolescents with reading skills has “massive implications” for their lives.
“It has implications for whether an adolescent who turns into a young adult will pick up a health information pamphlet, for example,” he says. “It has direct relations to whether or not they will be able to get a job that depends on them being able to read.”
And it’s a big challenge. In recent years, up to 15 per cent of high school students in Ontario have failed their first attempt at one or more components of the provincial literacy test, which threatens their chances of earning a secondary school diploma.
The development of this intervention is continuing under the umbrella of the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy, on which Frijters is one of five principal investigators. Collaborators at Brock University, the University of Memphis, Georgia State University and SickKids Hospital are building a hybrid reading intervention for struggling adult readers.
Frijters’ and colleagues’ paper, “Evaluating the Efficacy of Remediation for Struggling Readers in High School,” was published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities in 2012.
The Albert J. Harris award recognizes an article or monograph “that makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding of, prevention, or assessment of remediation for struggling readers in high school.”
The 53,000-member International Reading Association (IRA) is a nonprofit, global network of individuals and institutions committed to worldwide literacy. Based in the U.S., the IRA works to improve the quality of reading instruction, disseminate research and information about reading, and encourage the lifetime reading habit.


|By Age||By Brands|
|6-9 Months||Toot-Toot Drivers|
|9-12 Months||Toot-Toot Animals|
|12-18 Months||Switch & Go Dinos|
|18-24 Months||Bath Toys|
|3 Years||VTech Baby|
|6 Years||Electronic Learning|
|7 Years||Little Love|
|8-9 Years||More Ways to Shop|
Fun and interesting sound effects draw baby’s attention to play.
Develops counting and number identification.
Rewards baby as they learn that their actions have reactions
Stimulates critical thinking through memory and logic games.
Encourages social skills like sharing and teamwork
Use imagination in a variety of ways and contexts to communicate ideas
Heightens curiosity and encourages exploration.
Learn about the different areas of the world and their characteristics......
Aiming and concentrating on a target improves hand/eye coordination.
Imagination and exploration through interaction with characters.
Copying observed action encourages social and emotional skills.
Games and voice prompts allow children to control the pace.
Introduces the alphabet, letter sounds and vocabulary.
Teaches letters and their sounds, the building blocks of reading.
Encourages fine motor skill development.
Enhances musical skills with music and sound activities.
Develops logic skills and strategic thinking through memory.
Expand understanding of writing and gather information from text.
Improve speed, fluency and expression when reading.
Develops imagination and encourages cooperation, listening and turn-ta......
Exploration of various environments & associated vocabulary.
A variety of textures, visuals and sounds stimulate sensory developmen......
Mixture of different textures provide stimulation for baby.
Engaging graphics & visualisation activities develop memory.
Expands Vocabulary through age appropriate words.


My ROTC Speech on Human Rights
The Oxford English Dictionary defines human rights as “rights that are believed to belong justifiably to every person.” The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists 30 types of human rights, including rights like freedom and equality, the right to life, liberty and security of person, and the right to free elementary education. To me, human rights are rights that every human needs in order to create peace, success and happiness among people in society. Since I come from Tanzania in East Africa, I’d like to share how my beliefs about human rights have been shaped by the experience of growing up there.
In my country, I’ve seen many examples of what I’ve realized are violations of human rights.
As an example, in Tanzania, many police and politicians are corrupt. Once, when we were driving, a policeman stopped us for no reason and demanded money before he would allow us to leave. Because of this kind of corruption, people are scared of the police instead of trusting them to protect them. Another violation of human rights I’ve experienced in Tanzania is child abuse. In most schools, kids are legally beaten with sticks believing that it will change their behavior. Children get really scared of their teachers and can’t express what’s really inside them. Their right to an education is violated because kids can’t learn well in an abusive environment. The final example I’d like to share is vigilante justice. People can decide to light an accused thief on fire even when he’s not been proven guilty. Innocent people who might have played a good role in the society are killed or punished without even breaking the law.
In my country, I believe that the most important human rights violation is child abuse. Child abuse is cruel or violent treatment to a child. In Tanzania, corporal punishment, a form of child abuse, is legal and encouraged. According to AllAfrica.com, just last year, our Minister of Education, Philipo Mulogo, said that the reason our national exam scores are declining is because teachers are not beating children enough. Child abuse can have a very big impact on a child. It can cause physical and mental damage, low self esteem and also makes you hide who you really are. The reason I believe this is the most significant human rights violation in my country is because it makes children afraid to stand up for their rights from the time they are very young. Adults who have been abused as children grow up being scared to defend their human rights. I believe child abuse is the cause of all human rights violations because it makes even adults scared to defend their human rights. As Nelson Mandela once said, “The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.”
Nelson Mandela also said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” I believe to deny people their human rights is also to destroy the possibility of the world we all dream of. Without human rights, we’ll never have peace, justice, happiness and liberty.


The Dinner Party
Spectators were astounded by the audacity of Judy Chicago's art installation, "The Dinner Party," when it was first exhibited in 1979. It took six years, $250,000 and a number of volunteers to complete this triangular table with 13 place settings on each side.
But what astounded spectators was not the craftsmanship, but the size of the piece. Why would a woman make something so big?
Each place setting at this dinner party is dedicated to a remarkable female figure (fictional or historical), and each features an embroidered table runner with her name and images relating to her accomplishments on it, a napkin, utensils, a goblet and a plate.
The plates are remarkably decorated with a butterfly or flowerlike vulva design. And they progress from flat and round to magnificently full and sculpted as women's rights become more liberated. Along with the 39 tributes another 999 heroic women are honored with their names printed in the "Heritage Floor" tiles.
The three "wings" of the triangle house women from three different time periods: Wing I -- from prehistoric to the Roman Empire, Wing II - from the beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation, and Wing III - from the American Revolution to the Women's Revolution.
In "The Dinner Party: Restoring Women to History" the artist details this installation piece through close-up images and commentary on each of these revolutionary women.
This is the only book in print representing this milestone work. It also features two essays by Chicago and essays by art historian Frances Borzello and historian Jane Gerhard. Director Arnold Lehman of the Brooklyn Museum, where the instillation has been permanently housed since 2007, wrote the forward.
Chicago has learned though her work in studio art education that clarity is as important as message when communicating a political point. Her statement is powerful and layered without becoming ridiculously esoteric. This book is not only a beautiful, hardbound record of a piece of art, it also is a valuable instructional tool for understanding this work, along with the theories of late century feminism.
Everything about "The Dinner Party" compels the viewer inward, but chronologically the piece ends at the beginning of the Women's Revolution. We have to question what, historically, lies beyond this. Because are we not now in a period of post-feminism?
We will not move past feminism as a cause and a goal of artistic expression until we have a "matriarchy" as strong as the "patriarchy" -- or until both of those words have been lost to antiquity.
"The Dinner Party"
The Monacelli Press


Hames, Carolyn [faculty advisor, College of Nursing]
grief, loss, child bereavement, elementary students, feelings, elementary curriculum
“It is only natural that we and our children find many things that are hard to talk about. But anything human is mentionable and anything mentionable is manageable.The mentioning can be difficult, and the managing too, but both can be done if we’re surrounded by love and trust.” ~Fred Rogers This quote could be talking about many different things that parents find difficult to talk to their children about, such as smoking, drinking, drugs, divorce, and sex. I was introduced to this quote as a one about parents talking to their children about death. Death is a part of life, and something that, unfortunately, many children have to deal with. Whether it be a goldfish, dog, friend, sibling, parent, or grandparent, children are likely to deal with some sort of death at a young age. So how do we help these children understand death? Through my experiences as an elementary education major, I have found that teachers do not know how to deal with children in his/her classroom who may have experienced a significant loss. Many teachers expect support to come from school psychologists and other staff outside of the classroom, but it is a child’s everyday life that is most affected by death. Therefore, teachers need something to help them explain death to children and continually support them though this difficult time. Using the experiences that I have had as a volunteer group facilitator at Friends Way child bereavement center in Warwick, Rhode Island, as well as the research that I have done on grieving children, I have created a program for teachers that can introduce death to elementary children. The program is titled Students Sharing Feelings of Grief: An Elementary Curriculum on Loss. The program is designed for all elementary students, not just those who have experienced a significant loss. All students can relate to losing something or someone, and they can use those experiences to contribute to this program. Students Sharing Feelings of Grief is a six-week program run by the classroom teacher for one hour per week. Each week, students will be read books that deal with issues such as sharing feelings, understanding death, remembering someone or something special, helping a friend who has had a loss, and other issues concerning death. They will also be doing activities that relate to the books and having discussions about their own experiences with loss. I hope that this will be something that elementary teachers can use to understand their grieving students and give all of their students to share their feelings and understand death.


This month I’m lending my INK blogspot to Meribeth Schenk, author and librarian. We hear a lot these days about how books, reading, and learning are lighting out for the Territory – new and yet-to-be-discovered Territory. Here’s how one school is doing it.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
We invite second and third graders to choose (from books written and/or compiled by Douglas Florian, Karma Wilson, Jack Prelutsky, Kristine O’Connell George, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Karla Kuskin, Shel Silverstein, to name a few in the Media Center’s collection), practice (at home in front of a mirror) and read (or memorize) a poem to share in front of their classmates. Students are filmed, for later use of combined videos, to create a poetry slam presentation during April -- poetry month -- when students also share poems they have written.
Third, fourth and fifth grade students become familiar with labyrinths by way of stories, and search engines. A labyrinth is a spiral path, leading into the center and back out. Often effective as a meditation tool, a labyrinth can be used for balancing mind, body and spirit. Searching for labyrinths in a country of their choice, students also use globes, atlases, and webquest to discover labyrinth locations around the world. By tracing mazes and labyrinths, students begin to discover differences (mazes have dead-ends and blind alleys to confuse, labyrinths are single paths allowing one to be reflective).
Then, drawing labyrinths using seed patterns, and creating their own labyrinths using the computer program, Paint, extends the experiences in preparation for walking a canvas labyrinth as a culminating event. When students share their impressions through drawings, writings and comments after the labyrinth walk, the insights are often moving, profound, and surprising.
Additionally, fifth grade students use a storyboard template to guide their planning as they prepare to share their favorite book using Frames. This simple program works like a flipbook, as students create an animated movie, generating illustrations, and adding sound and music to enhance their book trailer.
Some examples of the great work our students have done include:
• creating a rap about Accelerated Reader (AR), which they performed, filmed, edited, and presented to their classmates;
• demonstrating for parents the use of a shared wiki from their Egypt project;
• student/ grandparent pairs sharing in an interview -- WIWAB/WIWAG (When I Was A Boy/Girl) -- using questions the students had prepared in advance, talking together on PhotoBooth, discovering each other in new ways, and honoring the legacy of shared experiences.
These few sample activities give a flavor of a new curriculum as it develops: an integration of trade non-fiction and fiction with texts and classroom lessons, supplementing with cameras, internet, and computer programs, helping to expand educational opportunities for our students.
We’re excited by the enthusiasm we see:
• increasing activity in the Media Center;
• more parent involvement with books and computers;
• greater numbers of books checked out;
• deepening interest in non-fiction (especially poetry and folktales, but also sports and animals);
• strengthening teacher use of classroom computers;
• expansion of assignments using both books and computers to maximize learning potential.
Final products are often available on a loop, displayed on screen in the Media Center during parent open house and conference sessions, and at years end. Students regularly bring their families to “show off” the Media Center. They want their families to view what they’re imagining and producing -- a satisfying moment for all participants.
Meribeth Shank is a Florida native who writes for children, reviews children’s books for Family magazine in Miami (www.familymagazine.biz), teaches occasional classes on Writing Books for Children, is a certified Labyrinth Facilitator, and earned her BA in Elementary Education from Goshen College (IN), and MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College. You can also find her on the web at: http://meribeths.blogspot.com


Former TESOL President Dr. Neil J. Anderson and David Nunan have teamed up together to write a book about practical ways to teach the English language. The following is an excerpt from their book talking about how Reading Horizons can be an effective bottom-up resource.
The approach (to teaching reading) that is accepted as the most comprehensive description of the reading process is an interactive approach. This … combines elements of both bottom-up (fundamental basics of letter and sound recognition) and top-down (comprehension is achieved by using background knowledge and making predictions) approaches. The best readers in any language are those who combine elements of both. For example, most readers begin reading by using top-down reading strategies until there is a problem, and then they shift to bottom-up strategies. Have you ever read something quickly and suddenly come to several new words? You are required to slow down your reading to decode the new words. When you do this, you are using bottom-up strategies to understand the words (p. 7)
The best readers in any language are those who use interactive reading, which integrates elements of both bottom-up and top-down reading. In the development of a reading syllabus, it is important to consider the balance that you will give to these processes.
Beginning-level readers should be exposed to a strong bottom-up component. This is perhaps the greatest weakness in the development of many reading syllabi. Little or no attention is given to the explicit instruction of bottom-up reading. A guideline that you could follow in preparing a syllabus for beginning level readers is allocating 50 percent of your syllabus to teaching bottom-up skills, 30 percent to top-down skills, and 20 percent to interactive skills. With a strong foundation in bottom-up skills, beginning-level readers will become more-proficient readers more quickly.
Systematic phonics instruction is a bottom-up approach to reading that should be integrated into reading materials for beginning proficiency-level readers. However, the reality is that most textbooks do not deal with phonics instruction.
There are also effective phonics programs that provide teacher instruction as well as online learning support. Since much of the learning necessary for successful phonics skills is individual, the computer-based learning environment is a particularly good resource for English-language teachers. One such program is Reading Horizons. Reading Horizons consists of 30 lessons. The lessons divide the 42 Sounds of English into four consonant sounds and one vowel sound per lesson and systematically introduce the letters by name and sound. Students then learn how to blend the consonant and vowel sounds. They are then taught Digraphs and diphthongs, followed by Special Vowel Sounds.
Reading Horizons teaches beginning readers Five Phonetic Skills for effectively decoding sounds in English. The Five Phonetic Skills are:
In addition, Reading Horizons teaches Two Decoding Skills:
The program can be accomplished in the classroom with a trained teacher who understands the teaching methodology used by Reading Horizons. In addition to explicit classroom instruction, the lessons can be delivered via computer. The computer program guides the students through the lessons and provides auditory as well as visual input for learning the phonics rules.
Anderson, N. J. (2008)
Practical English Language Teaching: Reading (pp.7, 28-29)
New York: McGraw-Hill


So, you think spelling is hard and boring and there is nothing much anyone can do to make it "un-boring"?
You think the average person can't really ever understand spelling, and "Who needs it?" if you have a spell-checker on your computer!
You need Sequential Spelling
for all these reasons:
Sequential Spelling is
What's more, anyone who wants to learn to spell can. That means:
- incredibly inexpensive
- adaptable to suit your situation
Forget endless lists of words to study for spelling tests!
- Your child or student as young as seven years of age.
- Younger children who have had solid phonics instruction.
- Gifted individuals
- Learning challenged individuals
- People for whom English is a second language
- Teachers who possibly secretly don't really know how to spell because they never learned a logical method.
- Executives, secretaries, authors - just think of the time saved by not having to look up words in the dictionary.
- Even dyslexics! Did you know that the developer of Sequential Spelling is dyslexic and that is how Sequential Spelling came to be developed? Yes, that is a fact!
Sequential Spelling - a new approach
- relieve stress for the student
- build self-esteem
- teach spelling through pattern recognition - the way the brain works best!
that is quick and easy to use. In fact, if you choose the DVD version of the program, you, as the parent or teacher will have very little to do. Let the children learn on their own, quickly and accurately! Read in the Curriculum Overview
all about the exciting features of the Sequential Spelling approach.
Sequential Spelling teaches a logical approach to spelling
Spelling often appears daunting and the rules seem to be endless! Let Sequential Spelling teach you a logical approach to spelling without rules to memorize, word lists to study, and feelings of frustration when you make a mistake. Learn from your mistakes!
The Multi-Sensory Approach
The AVKO name stands for Audio Visual Kinesthetic Oral.
Students learn with Sequential Spelling by:
You need Sequential Spelling. It will help you and/or your students
- Hearing (auditory)
- Seeing (visual)
- Writing (kinesthetic)
- Repetition (oral)
- Right brain approach that makes sense to students.
Additional BONUS FEATURES of Sequential Spelling
- build confidence and self-esteem
- improve their handwriting skills
- develop a love of English and words
Rules, Rules, Rules! Who needs them?
- Big #1 bonus for you, the busy parent or teacher: The program requires no preparation for the teacher and can be very easily customized.
- Big #2 bonus for you, the person who wants to be financially responsible: affordable and economical, no matter which version you choose to use.
Actually, neither you nor your students need endless rules and their exceptions when you learn the logical, patterning approach to spelling.
The rules are followed in Sequential Spelling - you just don't need to memorize them and be bogged down by them to spell correctly. Think of it as freeing up brain space in your grey matter where there are already far too many rules filed away! If you really feel the need to teach the spelling rules, check out Customising Sequential Spelling
for a terrific solution.
Who needs a spell checker when you have Sequential Spelling foundations?
Logic is saying - you need
Sequential Spelling - right now! To confirm that wise choice, read more exciting details in the Curriculum Overview. Who knows, some day you might actually be able to read a newspaper that is not full of spelling errors because your budding writer is the editor. See you at the order page!


Description of Big Kindergarten Workbook - 320 pages
The K in K-12 starts here! From the alphabet to colors and shapes, to the numbers 0-12, math skills 1-20, and reading readiness, this School Zone activity workbook is designed to give your child all the basics he or she will learn in kindergarten and help set the stage for first grade. For ease of use, the Big Kindergarten Workbook - 320 pages is divided into 5 color-coded sections, with a Parent Note page leading into each. With basic skills noted at the bottom of each page, you will be able to guide your child through the challenges of the K curriculum sequentially. Big Kindergarten Workbook - 320 pages from Educational Toys Planet is a great workbook with foundational skills that can lay the groundwork for years of successful learning. Fun features and big benefits of this jumbo kindergarten workbook include: 320 workbook pages of pre-writing practice, dot-to-dots activities; hidden pictures, mazes, and coloring. You will get an access to the Golden Scholar Club Free download gift card. Easy-to-follow directions can be found on every page. The workbook is organized in 5 color-coded sections with Parent Note page lead-in. Lively, colorful illustrations bring the learning activities to life. The Learning Skill focus is listed at bottom corner of each page. There are Parent Guide inside the front cover and Activity Guide inside back. The tear-out pages are great for individual worksheets. The Big Kindergarten Workbook - 320 pages means cost-effective learning!


Mobile Childcare Search - Childcare Search. Math. 5th Grade Lesson Plans - K-6 Elementary Education. Free 5th grade math worksheets. Randomly generated, printable from your browser! Homeschool Math - free math worksheets, lessons, ebooks, curriculum guide, and more. Fractions & Decimals lesson plans for elementary school teachers including activities, programs, thematic units, and skills curriculum resources. Fractions - Teaching all the various facets of fractions, can be very challenging.
This is a collection contains a wide variety of of ideas and printables that teachers can use to help their students more fully understand these concepts. source decimals - I have taught third,fourth, and fifth grades, and They all have learned decimals this one particular way I teach it. Decimals Lesson Plans. Decimals Worksheets and Printables. TeacherTube - Teach the World | Teacher Videos | Lesson Plan Videos | Student Video Lessons | Online Teacher Made Videos | TeacherTube.com.
See All of Our Games | HighlightsKids.com. Kickboard: a data driven instructional application for teachers by teachers. Why send kids to Kumon or other coaching classes? (Fairfax: fit in, buying) Quote: This is where I don't think that Kumon (at least for my nephew's age group) is inappropriate.
He isn't learning calculus but basic math, basic word problems, matching, etc. I have no doubts that older children may be taught more advanced concepts than traditionally for their age group, and grade but the curriculum he is working on is very similar to what should be taught in Pre-K, and Kindergarten. His preschool didn't work on those concepts nor did his parents so Kumon has helped get him to the level he should be at when he starts school next month. I was previously a teacher and I don't feel like he is being pressured or encouraged to go above his age group like the kids in India that I have watched videos on Youtube praising Kumon. Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource.
BetterLesson: Share What Works | Free K-12 Lesson Plans, materials and resources. The Secular Homeschool Community - The Secular Homeschool Community. For our April giveaway, we're thrilled to let you know that Moving Beyond the Page is giving away one full year curriculum package of your choice.
Moving Beyond the Page is a complete homeschool curriculum that covers science, social studies, and language arts. Your children will grow in their love of learning through our literature-based curriculum that encourages critical and creative thinking, provides challenging and engaging projects, and supports different learning styles. All children can benefit from this unique approach to education. Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry. The registry, including the Public Notification Database, is based on the Virginia General Assembly's decision to facilitate access to publicly-available information about persons convicted of specified violent and sexual offenses.
The Virginia State Police has not considered or assessed the specific risk of re-offense with regard to any individual prior to his or her inclusion within this registry, and has made no determination that any individual included in the registry is currently dangerous. The main purpose of providing this data on the internet is to make the information more easily available and accessible, not to warn citizens about any specific individual.
Adult individuals found within the registry are included solely by virtue of their conviction record and applicable state law.


There is little doubt that technology has exponentially increased our ability to share information and collaborate with a global audience. One of the challenges for teachers, however, often lies in finding tools that make this process authentic, user-friendly, and efficient while providing an “environment” that offers the security needed to ensure the privacy and safety of students. One tool I’ve found with the capacity to address many of the aforementioned criteria is Padlet, a free, web-based board where teachers and students can easily communicate, collaborate, express ideas, and share information.
In simplest terms, Padlet is a digital wall where users can post content of their choice, including text, images, documents, and videos. Users can even add their own digital drawings. The use of Padlet is fairly intuitive (see Padlet tutorial video or Padlet Junction) and the interface is very user-friendly. Sharing content is easy as walls can be imbedded into websites, distributed using a link, or posted on multiple social media outlets. One of the unique capabilities of Padlet is that it can be utilized on a variety of devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones. As a result, students can create a wall on a computer at school and can even update content on the wall on the way to soccer practice using a web-enabled phone. Google Chrome users can also access an extension called Padlet Mini. This extension allows users to share content directly with an existing wall or add it to a new one created from the browser without direct use of Padlet. Finally, a Padlet wall can be exported and saved in multiple file formats, including .pdf, Excel, and image (e.g. .jpg), meaning if internet access is not available, there are additional options for users to examine content.
The opportunity for collaboration is enhanced by the fact that there is no limit to the number of people that can simultaneously edit a wall and changes are visible instantly. To ensure privacy, teachers have several options in the settings associated with a wall as well as the ability to provide oversight after content has been published. For example, the visibility of the wall can be customized to the extent that the wall is hidden from Google searches. Access can also be set to various levels, from public to password protected. Finally, comments on walls can be filtered as the administrator of the wall has ability to moderate posts.
Padlet has a variety of uses in the classroom for both teachers and students. Teachers could create a wall with information or resources for parents and students to view at home. Within instruction, a wall could be used as a point of origin to direct students to examine specific resources around a particular topic, including files, links, and multimedia. There are several examples of teachers using Padlet to collect responses and information from students. For students, Padlet walls could be used to showcase digital work, as a digital notebook, as a collaborative space to brainstorm about a topic, or to share resources with each other on a topic. Further promoting collaboration among students, Padlet walls could be used as “location” for students to engage in group discussions as well as for sharing reflections about learning.
Padlet is certainly a tool with a variety of potential uses for both teachers and students. I would encourage you to access the Padlet gallery to see the many examples of how others have utilized it. Afterwards, I am sure you’ll be inspired to try Padlet in your own classroom!
S. Michael Putman, PhD, is an associate professor and interim chair within the Reading and Elementary Education Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His areas of research include the impact of teacher preparation and professional development on teacher self-efficacy, including efficacy for classroom management; middle school student dispositions toward online inquiry; and the effective use of technology within teaching practices and for improvement of student outcomes.
This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association’s Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).


This resource for first, second, and third grade teachers describes best practices for promoting learning and development while helping students meet standards. You will find information, ideas, experiences, and activities that
Written by a teacher for teachers, this practical book offers teachers everything they need to know about what class meetings are, how to get started, and how to adapt the approach to their changing classrooms.
Discover innovative ways to support the many aspects of children’s language and literacy development from birth through age 8—oral language, reading, and writing. The articles in this collection emphasize meeting children’s unique needs, supporting dual language learners, and partnering with families to support children’s development. Also included is a professional development guide with questions and activities.
Both children and teachers will enjoy these ten low-cost or free ways to incorporate fitness into a classroom’s daily routine. This poster (12"x36", laminated) will encourage everyone to have fun moving their bodies and staying fit. The poster is illustrated by Melanie Hope Greenberg and is based on the article "10X. Affordable Fitness Fun," published in the June/July 2013 issue of Teaching Young Children (Vol. 6, No. 5).


(ARA) - What does a tapping foot, a guitar and exuberant dancing have in common? Surprisingly, these factors equal a great start for better learning, stronger social skills and overall improved self-esteem in children.
Music education, both in schools and in private lessons, helps students succeed in many other aspects of life. Performing music is an experience that goes beyond just a performance - it strengthens character, enhances emotions and builds confidence. Additionally, music has been shown to help reduce stress and enhance a child's self-esteem.
Research shows that studying music helps with math, science and language learning and response times - especially in younger children. One study reported by Forbes magazine showed 90 percent of a group of 4 to 6 year olds improved vocabulary skills, accuracy and reaction timing after studying the fundamentals of music for only 20 days. And another study done by the University of California in Irvine showed a 46 percent increase in spatial reasoning IQ in a group of preschoolers after eight months of keyboard lessons.
Even though the research gives good support for music education, it's becoming more and more difficult for school districts to afford music programs, resulting in band, choral and orchestral programs to be removed from curriculums.
Schools districts are also under pressure to improve STEM - otherwise known as science, technology, engineering and mathematics - education programs. The U.S. continues to lag behind a dozen other countries in STEM academic achievement, even after attempts to reverse this trend, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Dr. Milton Allen, an educational consultant for Music & Arts
, the largest band and orchestra instrument retailer and lesson provider in the country, finds irony in the fact that schools are creating a competition between STEM classes and the arts. In fact, music education is just as important to the core curriculum as anything else. It is proven that music and arts improves a child's abilities to learn and problem solve.
"The value of the arts is being placed under increased scrutiny," Allen says. "Given that the impact of music lessons and appreciation on development and academic performance is well documented, why not equip your students to compete by involving them in an arts or music program? From preschool-aged through high school students, it has been established that musical training forms a solid foundation for learning in other areas."
Allen encourages children to participate in school music programs where available, and for parents and educators to take additional steps to nurture an appreciation for music and develop talent in children. Private music lessons can supplement school programs (or provide an introduction when school options aren't available), and costs aren't necessarily prohibitive. Additionally, parents can take an active role in introducing music to children by taking them to free concerts, encouraging them to learn a new instrument and exposing them to a wide variety of music genres, among other things.
Community centers often offer small group lessons at affordable rates. And music stores are a helpful resource in finding local teachers, offering lessons and procuring new or gently used instruments.
Music education is a great tool in helping children perform well in other school subjects, and musical performances are wonderful for encouraging self-knowledge and confidence. A tapping foot to a great rhythm is just one sign of what the power of music can do for an individual.