Tags: Enrichment, In This Issue, Infant & Baby, Kids, Parenting, Toddler
Introducing Your Child to the Arts
This summer, 6-year-old Uma Manning and her brother, 10-year-old Jackson, took a week-long art camp at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Uma's teacher was so impressed with Uma's work that she pulled her parents aside to tell them. "We were very pleased with the news, but initially we thought that's what is said to every parent," Uma's dad, Scott, said. "However, when we saw Uma's work at the end of the week, we knew that Uma had a gift. We were aware of her talents as she is always drawing at home, but this was the first time she was able to explore with acrylic paints, and she took to it very well."
Even if your child isn't the next Monet, the introducing them to the arts is still so important. It allows children to flourish, both mentally and emotionally. "Allow your child the freedom to experiment and the ability to express themselves without the pressure to be perfect or to fit into a mold," Carole Eney, preschool mixed media instructor at the Indianapolis Art Center, said.
Visiting museums or other venues that offer arts programs, visual or otherwise, can stimulate creativity and curiosity by encouraging young people to wonder and discover. According to Preston Bautista, Director of Audience Engagement at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, these experiences can provide an early foundation for understanding how the arts and creativity can be a lifelong resource for learning and inspiration.
"I believe that listening to music, attending a play or going to an art museum can inspire children in a way that few other things can," said Hillary Blake, Director of Education at Meridian Music, whose arts specialty is in musical training and performance. "When I ask parents why their child chose to learn a specific instrument, parents will often say it is because the child became fascinated when they saw and heard it being played well live."
There are also ways to introduce children to the arts and express creativity at home. All children have a creative side, so parents should expose them to whatever is available – even if it is dancing around the house or singing in the car. Then observe what children enjoy doing at home so you know which arts-related activities to focus on, suggested Dr. E. J. Choe, director of IUPUI Music Academy and Assistant Professor of music and piano. Do they sing or dance to a beat they hear on a TV commercial? Do they show interest in an instrument by banging on a piano or beating on pots and pans? These are all indicators of potential performing-arts interest!
Stephanie C. Fuhrmann, President of Central Indiana Dance Ensemble Board of Directors, said to expose Kids to as many different artistic areas as early as possible. These could be art classes (playing with Play-Doh, clay, paint), music classes (singing, rhythm, instruments like bells or shaker eggs that are easy to use and grasp), dance and theatre. "You will find that your child will naturally navigate toward and repeat those items that interest them, even at a very early age," Fuhrmann said.
Andy Nathan, father to 4-year-old Jesse and 9-month-old Ian, said he always keeps instruments out at home just so his kids can get their hands on them at anytime. "When our sons see an instrument, they are more inclined to play with it and engage with music," Nathan said.
Lesley Semo, mom of 3-year-old Claire, agrees that it is never too early to start your kids in the arts. "I was still taking ballet class until about a month before I had Claire, so even though she was in the womb, she could hear the music and feel how I moved to it," Semo said. "My friend, who was my ballet teacher during my pregnancy, is convinced that is why Claire just loves to dance. Claire dances in grocery stores, at restaurants, anywhere she hears music. I truly believe it is her first love."
"Having access to art education both in school and at the Indianapolis Art Center has given my children so much joy and helped to build their own confidence," Patrick Flaherty, parent to 6-year-old Emma and 3-year-old Claire, said. "Whether or not they choose to work in the arts or become artists is entirely up to them, but wherever their stories take them, their experiences with art will serve as one of the many foundations on which to build a successful and healthy life."


Who's Who - Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930) succeeded his uncle, Lord Salisbury, who had been his political mentor and champion. However, his initial interests were not political. He enjoyed music and poetry, and was first known as a renowned philosopher, publishing A Defence of Philosophic Doubt, The Foundations of Belief, and Theism and Humanism.
In 1874 he was elected the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hertford. Four years later he became private secretary to Salisbury, then Foreign Secretary in Disraeli's government, and accompanied them both to the Congress of Berlin.
In 1885 Balfour was a member of Randolph Churchill's "Fourth Party" group (distinct from the Conservatives, Libs and Irish Nationalists), which brought down Gladstone's government with a motion opposing the Home Rule for Ireland Bill.
Later, he joined the Cabinet as Secretary for Scotland and then for Ireland under Salisbury. Despite widespread scepticism that he was up to the gruelling job of Irish Secretary, Balfour proved to be a tough incumbent, restoring the rule of law. His land development legislation was considered well judged, and has been credited with calming the Irish conflict for a generation.
In 1891 Balfour became First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the Commons, and gained the same positions again on the Conservatives' re-election in 1895. When his uncle retired, he himself became Prime Minister.
His principal concerns were education and defence. There was, he believed, "no more serious waste than the waste of brains and intellect". He gave local authorities responsibility for elementary education, and set up the Committee for Imperial Defence to ensure readiness for future wars.
But his cabinet split on the free trade issue, and his relations with the king were poor. Defeats in the Commons and in by-elections led to his resignation in December 1905. In the subsequent Liberal landslide, Balfour lost his own seat, but returned via a by-election soon after. He continued to lead his party until 1911.
But despite stepping down, his career was far from over. He became First Lord of the Admiralty in the wartime coalition, and then Foreign Secretary. At this time he wrote the Balfour Declaration of "a recognition of the right to a Jewish state in Palestine". For the greater part of the 1920s he was Lord President of the Council until the Baldwin government fell in 1929. He died the following year.
Article courtesy of 10 Downing Street website.
"Devil Dogs" was the nickname given to the U.S. Marines by the German Army.
- Did you know?


IMPACT Fair Makes Science Fun
How many jellybeans are equal in weight to an apple or a brick? Is your foot longer or shorter than a dollar bill? How many marbles will fill your bedroom?
A new science and mathematics outreach program will be answering those questions and many more beginning on Friday, Oct. 3, with introductory sessions that are expected to bring in hundreds of UWG faculty, staff and students, and more than 600 community teachers, children and parents on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Improving, Motivation, Performance, and Attitudes of Children and Teachers, or IMPACT, is a grant-funded program that offers a wide range of courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to children and educators in grades K-8.
Dr. Sharmistha Basu-Dutt, associate professor of chemistry and Engineering Studies coordinator, and Gail Marshall, assistant professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, wrote a grant proposal for the program and received $100,000 in May from the Community Foundation of West Georgia on behalf of the Alice Huffard Richards Fund for the IMPACT program.
Basu-Dutt and Marshall then spent their summer planning the activities for the fall, spring and summer sessions. “IMPACT will give children an opportunity to experience science, math and engineering concepts in challenging age-appropriate sessions that is beyond curriculum-driven classroom activities,” said Basu-Dutt. “We want the kids to have fun at these sessions and at the same time equip them with valuable problem solving, critical thinking and team skills that will be useful for them in all aspects of life.”
IMPACT also offers elementary school teachers an opportunity to use pre-assembled science kits to engage their students in hands-on science learning in their classrooms.
The children's program is scheduled for six Saturdays throughout the school year and in two weeklong sessions during the summer. The teacher's program includes development of science kits with individual exploration of student interests, teaching tools and learning resources to use in their classrooms.
To kick off the program, there are two free IMPACT sessions scheduled on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Master of exciting demonstrations and professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, will wow the audience.
The remaining sessions have a registration fee of $5 for each child. All registration fees will be refunded in the form of science kit awards during a celebration event at the end of the program.
For more information on IMPACT, please visit www.uwgce.com or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org or call 678-839-6611.
Do you have a comment or opinion about this story's topic? Send your thoughts to West Georgia Voices.


No culture is purely literate. That is, no culture relies entirely on words in print to pass on information. Other media are used to not only convey information, but also to share values, express emotions, proclaim opinions and discuss ideas.
Music, storytelling, poetry, chants, drama and dance.
Film, photo, podcasts, digital recordings and the internet.
Vernacular media specialists help Wycliffe and national translators identify and use media tools that are culturally appropriate for each language group. Video, audio, radio, filmstrips, drama, puppets and flipcharts are just some of the tools used to communicate God’s life-changing message.
These media tools are not meant to replace printed Scripture in minority language communities where Wycliffe serves any more than a portable media player filled with Scripture-inspired music should replace your copy of the Word. But they do enhance Scripture reading and help encourage literacy development and use of the translated Scriptures.
Interested in working in vernacular media?
VMS (Vernacular Media Services, a division of JAARS) exists to enhance and encourage access to Scripture and related materials through usable media that are appropriate for the situation, with a special focus on media that meet the needs of oral communicators. On the JAARS website, you can explore more deeply the world of vernacular media.
Other Wycliffe ministry partner organizations specialize in developing and producing vernacular media. These include Campus Crusade's The JESUS Film Project and Hosanna Ministries' Faith Comes By Hearing.


This powerful book offers a systematic approach to rendering action figures that seem to leap off the page.
About Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth’s (1911–1996) remarkable career spanned over 60 years. He wore many hats in the worlds of fine art, art education, and art publishing. He is most famous for his internationally syndicated Sunday newspaper color page feature “Tarzan” (1937–1950) and for his illustrated adaptations of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels Tarzan of the Apes and Jungle Tales of Tarzan. A co-founder of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Hogarth remains one of the most influential figures in art education today.


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This book comprises a synthesis of current directions in reading research, theory, and practice unified by what has been referred to as the engagement perspective of reading. This perspective guides the research agenda of the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), a consortium of the University of Georgia, University of Maryland, and affiliated scholars. A major goal of the book is to introduce reading researchers to the engagement perspective as defined by the NRRC and to illustrate its potential to integrate the cognitive, social, and motivational dimensions of reading and reading instruction. Engaged readers are viewed as motivated, strategic, knowledgeable, and socially interactive. They read widely for a variety of purposes and capitalize on situations having potential to extend literacy.
The book is organized into four sections representing key components of the NRRC research agenda and the engagement perspective. This perspective emphasizes contexts that influence engaged reading. Accordingly, the first section of the volume focuses on the social and cultural contexts of literacy development, with chapters devoted to examining home influences, home-school connections, and the special challenges facing ethnic minorities. The engagement perspective also implies greater attention to the role of motivational and affective dimensions in reading development than traditional views of reading. Therefore, the second section examines motivational theory and its implications for reading engagement, with special attention to characteristics of classroom contexts that promote motivation in reading. The engagement perspective embraces innovative instructional contexts that address the cognitive, social, and motivational aspects of reading. Thus, the third section includes chapters on current directions in promoting children's learning from text, on the value of an integrated curriculum in promoting reading engagement, and on the challenges of assessing students' development as engaged readers. Finally, the broader conception of reading implied by the engagement perspective requires an expanded array of research approaches, sensitive to the complex and interacting contexts in which children develop literacy. The concluding section focuses on these important contemporary issues in literacy research and educational research, with chapters examining the variety of alternative modes of inquiry gaining prominence in literacy research, teacher inquiry, and ethical issues of collaboration between university and teacher researchers.
Intended for university-based researchers, graduate students, and classroom teachers, this volume brings together researchers who think about students and their literacy development in school and home communities in distinctly different ways. The cooperative and collaborative inquiry presented contributes to a richer understanding of the many factors influencing engaged reading.
|List of Contributors|
|Introduction: Developing Engaged Readers in School and Home Communities: An Overview|
|1||The Influence of Family Beliefs and Practices on Children's Early Reading Development||3|
|2||Connecting School and Home: Constructing Partnerships to Foster Reading Development||21|
|3||Engaging Minority Students in Reading: Focus on the Urban Learner||43|
|4||Alternative Perspectives for Motivation||67|
|5||Children's Motivations for Literacy Learning||89|
|6||Creating Motivating Contexts for Literacy Learning||115|
|7||Beyond Reading to Learn: Developing Content and Disciplinary Knowledge Through Texts||139|
|8||Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction: An Integrated Curriculum to Develop Motivations and Strategies for Reading||165|
|9||Engaged Assessment of Engaged Readers||191|
|10||Perspectives for Literacy Research||217|
|11||Multiple Entries Into Inquiry: Dissolving the Boundaries Between Research and Teaching||247|
|12||The Ethics of Collaborative Educational Research||271|


Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The document expressed the minds and hearts of the American people. The Declaration basically states “All men are created equal and there are certain unalienable rights that governments should never violate. These rights include the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It also states that if the Government fails to protect those rights, it is not only the right, but also the duty of the people to overthrow that government.
Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell on Apr. 13, 1743. Jefferson played a big role in preparing the Declaration of Independence which made him internationally famous. Returning to Virginia late in 1776, Jefferson served until 1779 in the House of Delegates. His bill to create a free system of tax-supported elementary education for all except slaves was defeated just like his bills to create a public library. In the last 17 years of his life, Jefferson accomplished the founding of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1819.
Thomas Paine believed that government's only purpose as to protect life, liberty and property. On January 29, 1737, Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. Jefferson’s father had great visions for his son but when Jefferson turned twelve he failed out of school. He had spent his young life at sea but then became tax officer in England ending his adventure. In 1791-92, he wrote The Rights of Man in response to criticism of the French Revolution. This caused Paine to be labeled an outlaw in England for his anti-monarchist views. It also almost got him arrested but he ran to France to join the National Convention. Paine thought that many problems were mixing his politic views with his religious ones.
Mary Wollstonecraft was born April 27, 1759. Wollstonecraft believed in equal rights for woman she was an inspiration for the nineteenth-century and twentieth-century woman's movements. Wollstonecraft had a rough childhood since hr father was an alcoholic and many times she tried to protect her mother and herself from him. She was a self educated young woman she also supported herself as a lady's companion, seamstress, governess, and schoolteacher. According to Historical society “1792 Wollstonecraft moved to France to observe and write a book about the French Revolution. During part of her residence in France she became the common-law wife of the American writer and adventurer Gilbert Imlay, who some years later abandoned her, causing her to go through a period of despair.” Wollstonecraft died September 10, 1797 giving birth to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
Cesare Bonesana Marchese di Beccaria was born 1738. Beccaria was an eighteenth-century Italian philosopher of law and economics. His education began at the Jesuit College in Parma and ended with his graduation from the University of Pavia in 1758. He did not believe in religion he only curtsied it because he only believed in justice by law. Beccaria died 1794.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland His mother died after his birth. Rousseau left Geneva at 16, wandering from place to place, finally moving to Paris in 1742. During this time he earned his living working as everything from footman to assistant to an ambassador. He concentrated mainly on modern philosophy. According to history.com “Rousseau's general philosophy tried to grasp an emotional and passionate side of man which he felt was left out of most previous philosophical thinking.” Rousseau influenced many modern educational theories he believed on learning by experience.
|I wrote this essay for my US History class...=)|


W81 Graph Theory. This course is an introduction to graph theory, a relatively “young” (after 1890) branch of pure mathematics that has many applications to other disciplines, most notably computer science. The course is primarily a problem-solving class with student work consisting of homework problems, in-class group work, and student presentations of solutions (both written and oral). There is some direct instruction but the most of the learning will be through active participation in problem-solving. Problems will range from relatively concrete (though sometimes difficult) counting and enumeration problems to quite abstract theorems that require careful proofs. Graph theory is a good area in which to develop theorem-proving skills as the objects, though abstract, are finite and relatively easy to understand and the subject matter does not have any particular mathematical prerequisite. Applications of graph theory may be introduced but are not the major focus of this course. Students are evaluated based on their problem solutions and presentations. The prerequisite for this course is at least one of Mathematics 301, 312, 351, or 361. The course satisfies the requirement in the mathematics major of one interim course. M. Stob. 8:30 a.m. to noon.
W82 Curricular Materials for K-8 School Mathematics. This course examines and evaluates K-8 mathematics curricula in the context of the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics . Although the emphasis this year will be on grades 6-8, curricula at all grade levels will be examined. Some of the curricula to be discussed are Everyday Mathematics, Investigations, Math TrailBlazers, Connected Mathematics, MathScape, MathThematics and Mathematics in Context. Students are expected to complete assigned readings, to participate in and lead sample activities and lessons, and to contribute to small-group and whole-class discussions of the materials under consideration. Evaluation is based on in-class participation, presentation of grade-level lessons, several written quizzes, and written projects. Optional K-8 classroom observations can be arranged for the morning hours. Students should arrange their schedules so that they can spend some additional hours in the Curriculum Center . Prerequisite: Mathematics 222. This course may replace Mathematics 110 in the elementary education mathematics minor for students who have completed four years of high school mathematics and who have received permission from their mathematics advisor. J. Koop . 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
MATH-160 Elementary Functions and Calculus (core). This course is a continuation of Mathematics 159. Topics include applications of derivatives, integrals, the fundamental theorem of calculus, and applications of integrals. Grades are based on problem sets, tests, and a final exam. Prerequisite: Mathematics 159. T. Jager. 8:30 a.m. to noon and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.


The foundation of the curriculum is three pronged:
developmentally appropriate practice for all children
scaffolded learning opportunities
research based assessment/screening tools.
Children learn by active involvement in activities.
Routines and classroom structure support learning and development.
Assessment is authentic and documentary.
Children with specific needs are included in all activities and offered support that centers on their strengths
Observation and Screening Tools: Observation and Screening Instruments are utilized to assess children’s developmental progress and ensure teaching practices are implemented that respond to children’s individual growth patterns and learning styles.
COR Observational Assessment Tool: The Child Observation Record (COR) is a research supoorted observation-based assessment tool that includes all areas of development. Children are observed by undergraduate students and teachers. Developmental areas include: initiative, social relations, creative representation, movement and music, language and literacy, and mathematics and science. Observations are ongoing throughout the school year and conclude with a summary at the end of the school year.
Ages and Stages Questionnaire: The CDC uses The Ages and Stages Questionnaire for screening children between the ages of two to five. All children are screened at the start of the school year and then re-screened by the CDC staff during the school year. The ASQ screens children for developmental delays in gross motor, fine motor, personal social, problem solving and communication areas of development. Please see the ASQ Web site for a sample screening.
DECA: For specific social and emotional concerns the CDC utilizes the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA), published by The Devereux Foundation in 2013. For further information, please visit the DECA Web site.
PKBS: : For research and assessment of social and emotional learning the CDC uses the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales. Published 2002 by Pro-ed.
Highscope Educational Research Foundation
Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy panel, 2008. A Scientific Synthesis of Early Literacy Development and Implications for Intervention, National Institute for Literacy.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices, revised edition, 2009
Curriculum Alignments with Florida State Standards for preschool Education:
Common Core Standards alignment:


How to teach your students to be better writers
Know the old saying that “good writers are born, not made”? In classrooms from kindergarten through senior high, instructors prove that’s not necessarily the case.
“Even if you’re not a born Hemingway, there are so many ways you can improve your writing,” says Jeff Martin, who holds a master’s degree in education and is area chair for teacher education at the University of Phoenix College of Education at the Phoenix Main Campus.
Here are six ways to teach good writing skills to your students:
Build students’ self-assurance early.
“From the start, children have to be encouraged so that they have confidence in writing,” says Ginny Read, an instructor in the elementary education program at the University’s Colorado Campus. “The teacher needs to create an environment where it’s OK to make mistakes and where everyone asks questions.”
During more than two decades of teaching pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, Read, who also has a master’s in education, observed that students who were nurtured during their early years of school found it easier to absorb guidance about writing. “Build on their excitement to learn,” she advises. “If they believe they’re not good writers, those skills are much harder to teach.”
Start with conversations.
“We used to learn to write when someone handed us a grammar book and a pencil. Now it begins with a conversation,” Read says. With younger students, teachers can ask a question, transcribe the students’ replies on a board, and then point out the mechanics of the answers, such as spelling or punctuation.
With older students, conversations help develop critical-thinking skills, which contribute to good writing. “I’ll run through what-if scenarios with students,” says Martin, who has taught English in middle and high schools since 1995. “I stress how to evaluate information and how to support opinion with facts.”
Introduce new words.
Good writing depends on a broad foundation of language. “You can communicate your thoughts so much more clearly when you have a rich vocabulary,” Read emphasizes. Teachers should consistently use new words and explain them. “If you see from [your students’] expressions that they didn’t get it,” she cautions, “then pause and make sure everyone understands.”
She encourages teachers to build a vocabulary culture. In two of her previous schools, she started “word walls” in each classroom and in a central school hallway. Every day, staff and students added new words to the walls that were incorporated in daily announcements and class discussions.
Hook students on reading.
Expose students to great writing — whether literature or nonfiction — and they’ll absorb its qualities, Martin and Read agree, from narrative flow to plot pacing.
“Explore what makes the writing good,” Read counsels. “Analyze those pieces and ask, Who is the audience? What is the author’s purpose?”
Make writing relevant.
Choose topics for students to write about that relate to their lives. One option is to focus on shared experiences, such as field trips.
Martin uses current events as starting points for writing exercises. “I find editorial articles about something kids are interested in,” he explains. “We’ll get down a short response [to the editorial], which breaks the ice for writing. … They get used to writing a paragraph or two every day, and writing becomes less intimidating.”
Encourage creative expression.
Good writing isn’t simply grammatically correct — it’s also individualized. “Students can learn a formula,” Read says, “but ultimately, they need to bring in their personality.”
Martin acknowledges that teaching students to add more personal style to their work requires care. “It’s important to encourage the ideas, even if the mechanics aren’t right,” he says. “If a student’s writing is stiff, I’ll say, ‘Just talk to me on paper.’”


CONTENTSConversation and Communication Strategies. Communication Strategies and Conversational Styles. Assessment of Conversational Fluency and Communication Handicap. Communication Strategies Training. Speech Perception. Assessing Hearing and Speech Recognition. Listening Devices and Related Technology. Auditory Training. Speechreading. Speechreading Training. Aural Rehabilitation for Adults. Adults Who Have Hearing Loss. Aural Rehabilitation Plans for Hard-of-Hearing Adults. Older Adults. Effects of Noise on Hearing and Communication. Aural Rehabilitation for Children. Hearing Loss in Children. Intervention Plans for Children. Speech, Language, and Literacy Development. Parent-Centered Language and Conversation Instruction. Management of Cochlear Implants in Children. Glossary.


Math 5 emphasizes the understanding of subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions through the use of manipulatives. Students gain confidence as they develop reasoning and judgment skills through a variety of estimating and problem-solving activities. An optional pre-algebra chapter explores adding, subtracting, comparing, and ordering positive and negative numbers.
Mrs. Melissa Seeling teaches this course.
Recommended Viewing Schedule: five 30-minute lessons a week for a full year; 165 lessons per year
>> Click the Resources tab to learn more about the instructor for this course.
>> If you plan on using this distance learning kit before May 1, 2014, please contact Customer Service at 800.845.5731 to place your order.
Printed Teacher’s Editions are not included with this kit. A complete copy of the Teacher’s Edition (formerly TE on CD) and the Teacher’s Toolkit CD as well as files for printing materials from the Teacher Support Materials CD are available by logging into your account (Available May 1, 2014). If you desire a printed Teacher Edition, please contact Customer Service for special pricing.
All DVD and Hard Drive Distance Learning kits now include a Parent Guide as well as a Student Worksheets Packet which have all of the teacher support materials and answer keys needed for the subject(s). Learn more.
|109249||Math 5 Home Teacher's Edition (2nd ed.)|
|109256||Math 5 Home Teacher's Packet (2nd ed.)|
|268607||Math 5 Student Text (2nd ed.)|
|082891||Math 5 Student Materials Packet (2nd ed.)|
|083014||Math 5 Teaching Charts Flip Chart (for use with 2nd ed.)|
|082909||Math 5 Tests (2nd ed.)|
|082917||Math 5 Tests Answer Key (2nd ed.)|
|363119||DL MATH 5 DVD MOD 09|
Melissa graduated with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education 2008 and a master's degree in Elementary Education in 2010. Shortly after finishing graduate school, she married Hans Seeling. About a year later, she began teaching here at Press Distance Learning. “I am thankful for the opportunities that the Lord has given me, and my desire is that He will use me to impact the lives of my students. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to teach your child and to have a small part in your child's education. ”
Math 5 DVD with Books342212
|Distance Learning Math 5 Teacher Support Materials (printed) (2013) (in stock)||$2.50|


Neuroscience for kids wins Science and Technology Web Award
Neuroscience for Kids, a Web site established and maintained by Eric Chudler of the Department of Anesthesiology, is one of the 50 sites selected for Scientific American magazine's Science and Technology Web Awards 2004. The awards are divided into 10 categories, with Neuroscience for Kids winning in the Science for Kids category.
Chudler established the site in 1997 and has maintained it with support from a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. The site is at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
Over the past year, Chudler, who is a research associate professor of anesthesiology, has been working with the UW TechTransfer's Digital Ventures to license aspects of the site for other purposes, such as print or audio-visual content. The site has been licensed to the Research Center of Learning Science in Nanking, the People's Republic of China, for translation of the site into Chinese and production of a book in Chinese. The center will distribute the book for free in China.
Chudler is working on a book to be published in 2005 or 2006. He is also looking for long-term support for the site, because the Science Education Partnership Award will run out next year.


February 24th, 2012
More Research-Based Strategies to Increase Reading Comprehension
This week's Featured Educators, Paula Landeen and Mandy Boland, help their students create original scripts based on the novel The Three Musketeers (see the video here). This week, we're discussing ways to help secondary-level students engage with difficult texts. You can read part 1 of this discussion here. These strategies are based on ideas found in the PD 360 video "Using Active Strategies For Learning."
Creating concept maps and other pictorial organizers
The brain learns visually, so any strategy that can tap into a visual learning method has a good chance of success. Asking students to create a pictorial or concept map helps them differentiate between main and supporting ideas, and helps them make meaning out of text-dense pages. Make sure to show them examples of these tools before having them create their own. If students struggle, start with a simple bubble map, or allow classtime for students to work on their maps together (lots of images of concept maps available here).
Do your students really know how to summarize? This skill is harder than it seems, and may require some practice. Writing a summary helps students differentiate between main ideas and secondary ideas, and makes them search for meaning. Show students examples of good summaries and practice this skill in class before letting them do it at home.
This skill could be seen as a preliminary step to requiring written summaries, because students work in groups with teacher guidance. After students have gone through an assigned reading, have them close their books and ask them simple recall questions (such as "what were the tests that Penelope's suitors failed?" or "What are the three characteristics of covalent bonds?") Write the students' answers on the board, and then have them check their accuracy in the reading. Then, guide the students in writing a three-to-six-sentence summary of the reading.
Writing margin magnets
Require students to put a sticky note in the margin of their book, next to each paragraph. In this note, students write the paragraph's main idea. Use these margin magnets to help students review what they've read, or to help students create concept maps.
Creating a timeline as a class
Before beginning a large reading, such as a novel, create a large timeline with the beginning and end of the book clearly marked. Post this in the classroom. As students read portions throughout the weeks, have them work in groups to decide the three most significant events in the completed reading section. Then as a class, decide which 3-5 events are the most significant. These get written down on sticky notes and posted on the timeline. You can use different colors based on theme or character. By the end of the novel, this timeline becomes an excellent, group-created summary and can be used to discuss the overall storyline, novel structure, or other elements.
Create a "question parking lot"
To address issues that students may have with the reading, create a spot on the board (like a large circle) where students can write down and post any questions they have via sticky notes. From time to time, check the parking lot and address the questions. Even better: open up a particularly good question to the class, and discuss.
Please try any of these ideas in an upcoming class and let us know how your experience went. Thanks!
Blog Posts03/05/2014 - Common Core Lesson: Investigating Thermodynamics
02/25/2014 - No Strings Attached: Technology in the Classroom Series Student Email
02/14/2014 - Citing Evidence from a Science Text
02/07/2014 - Classroom Management: Classroom Humor
01/31/2014 - Five Principles of Effective Classroom Assessments
01/23/2014 - Classroom Management: A Framework for Student Success
01/20/2014 - Engaging Students in Literacy Development
01/10/2014 - Classroom Management: Narrating Positive Behavior


As Ebooks and Apps Attempt to Teach Kids to Read, Parents Still Most Important Factor
Even as new ebook and app technologies attempt to help solve the nation’s literacy problem, interaction between parents and children remains the most important factor in childhood literacy development a new report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the New America Foundation asserts.
About a third of all fourth-grade students read at what is considered their grade-level and only one in six of those who qualify for free school lunches read at grade-level. Technology is trying to help. About 80% of the top-selling paid apps in the education category in iTunes target children, according to a product scan by the Center, which also cites growth in children’s ebook revenues.
A measurement of these apps and ebooks found that most of them focus on very basic literacy skills like learning letters and basic sounds and relatively few focus on more advanced literacy skills like reading comprehension and grammar.
However, as the report notes, “To ensure strong reading skills for all children in the next generation, it will take much more than a flurry of literacy apps.” The report recommends that parents, teachers and programs designed to help children learn to read utilize technology to their benefit and makes four specific recommendations:
1. Promoting personal connections between parents and educators using social media, cell phones and online learning communities.
2. Make certain apps, ebooks and games that support basic literacy skills available to parents and educators.
3. Provide parents and educators with knowledge about new technologies and services available to educate children.
4. Improve the quality of teachers, librarians and family care providers by connecting them to each other and new resources that promote literacy and learning.
Despite what it labels as a crisis in literacy among U.S. children, the report concludes on an optimistic note, “We are at an opportune moment for harnessing digital media to support parents, educators and children in building the next generation’s reading skills.”
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that promotes childhood education and the New America Foundation is a nonprofit organization that studies challenges facing America.


Share & Connect
When a crowd watches or listens to a musical performance, people rarely wonder about the story behind the musicians who created that ear attraction. What kind of ability and commitment does it take? Are all musicians meant to be talented just because they do things that ordinary people are not able to do? The answer can be both simple and complicated.
Our world evolves every second, whether we notice it or not. In a closer look, music has its own share of evolution from the dawn of time till this day and onwards.
For some, music is a time dimension and for others it is simply instinct. Time-influenced musicians are most likely to be composers or music teachers who have been taught music or gained their musical ability through regular music education. Meanwhile musicians who tend to follow their instincts often end up as Street Musicians, who play music out of purity. But what is the difference? Who would be a better musician? One can never tell, but one can definitely hear the difference.
Calling musicians “talented” because they know how to play an instrument or sing a song well is a stereotype. In a musician’s life everything is a challenge. Musicians who claim to be talented and lay back on their work always tend to fall behind; to be good in music it takes alot of hard work and effort, and one has to be focused and committed in all directions.
With music evolving with the world, eventually the idea of music education has been introduced as another way of gaining a prestigious place in music and improving the economy of the education system. But it seems that musical education methods are being taught by those who have never been taught music by books but by heart and ears. Those pure techniques and melodies have been recorded has been set as an example of musical perfection.
The irony lays when, in some parts of the world, a musician can only be accomplished if he has an acknowledged and approved musical education, else they remain a street musician or an amateur. Street musicians playing on the streets for audiences who spare time for their ears and maybe a coin or two is just more than enough for them. They prove to the world that nothing matters most other than playing that note on that instrument that became a part of them, with nothing but a smile on the face.
When one refers to the music genre of Jazz for an example, we think of a style famous among street musicians and also most famous in modern music education. But what is jazz? Well, no one really knows, and this is where the beauty of jazz lays. So can a music that is not known be taught?
The word on the street is that jazz is a way of music also referred to as “improvisation.” How often do we musicians play their so called jazz music from music sheets, bar by bar, as it was written? Well in a festival that has 8 different groups, at least 4 will. To some, it is not wrong to do so, but it will then be wrong to call it jazz music.
Only because it sounded like a musical piece from an artist who is a jazz style artist it can get categorized under the genre of jazz. This is likely the bad influence of music education: these musicians gain skills and ability to play without the gift of creativity, originality and understanding of the flow of music. Taking this into a wider aspect, the world of jazz will never be the same or will never be the way it meant to be taking out its freedom of improvisation.
This is just one genre. Classical Music is another great genre that could be put into the equation: when was the last time the modern world has been introduced to a new, unforgettable piece? To a new, brilliant composer? To something like “Scheherazade” by Rimsky Korsakov? Chances are slim that our generation ever will and that is because the generation is being taught the works of Rimsky Korsakov and others like him. The outcome is that modern musicians live in the musical sphere of someone else without sharing the same flow of creativity and innovation these artists had.
This does not mean that music should not be taught. It only makes us realize that as we move toward the future, music like it once was will be rare and in time, may perish.
Image Courtesy of National Geographic
Photo Credit: Jim McWilliams


Canadian students are lagging behind when it comes to a couple key educational keystones, according to a new study that measures international success. And that could end up hurting our ability to compete internationally.
Canada was among 65 countries measured as part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its ongoing Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
PISA findings are compiled and released every three years and, make no mistake, Canada ranks high on the list. Just not as high as it used to rank.
The study ranks Canadian students among the best in several key areas but there has been a decline in Canadian math scores – a category seen as integral to future high-tech industries.
The OECD tested more than 510,000 students in 65 countries and economies in math, reading and science. In Canada, around 21,000 students from 900 difference schools were tested. The scores were tabulated and each country was given a score against a baseline of 500.
|Average scores, paper-based mathematics|
1. Shanghai-China – 613
Source: OECD PISA Study
In math, where the average international score was found to be 494, Canada scored 518.
Most notably, Canada dropped out of the top 10 in math. We now rank 13th in the world, down three spots from 2009, and a total of six spots since 2006. Shanghai scored the highest with 613, with Singapore’s 573 and Hong Kong’s 561 rounding out the top three.
Also worth noting is that Canada’s math score has dropped 14 points since PISA began in 2000. This suggests that Canada is not just lagging compared to international competitors, but compared to its own benchmarks as well.
Canada ranked similarly in science and somewhat better in reading, but the OECD put the majority of its focus on math.
"Math proficiency is a strong predictor of positive outcomes for young adults. It influences their ability to participate in post-secondary education and their expected future earnings," the report stated.
Canada's Council of Ministers of Education released its own report on the PISA results, suggesting that Canadian students "show high levels of achievement" in all categories.
A statement from Alberta's Education Minister Jeff Johnson, chair of CMEC, painted the math scores in a positive light.
"Mathematics is an essential requirement for an information- and technology-rich economy and society. Our results show that young Canadians are completing their high-school education with the numeracy skills they need to succeed," he said in a statement.
In an interview with the Canadian Press, Johnson said Canada should increase funding to teacher training and focus on specialized math training.
[ More Brew: Rob Ford appears in U.S. Republican attack ad ]
|Provincial results in paper-based mathematics|
Quebec – 536
Source: OECD PISA Study
Those points were emphasized recently in a speech by John Manley, President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). The CCCE announced recently that Canada’s declining performance in international surveys was a concern, specifically noting Canada’s waning PISA scores.
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto at the end of November, Manley said it raised serious questions about Canada’s preparedness for an increasingly knowledge-based economy.
“[A]s a Canadian, what really troubles me is the growing body of evidence that shows Canada is falling behind when it comes to equipping its citizens with the broad knowledge and cross-cutting skills that are required to succeed in life, and in an increasingly competitive global economy,” Manley said, according to a copy of his speech.
"It's time to stop congratulating ourselves on the quality of our primary, secondary and post-secondary educations systems, and face up to the fact that our performance in international rankings is getting worse, not better."
Lagging behind international competition in a report is one thing, but when the factors that attribute to that cause actual concern for business leaders, it is another story altogether.
The tech industry and knowledge-based economies are growing, and Canada’s mastery of the basics in those fields needs to improve. We may remain near the top of the list, but if we’re not improving we risk being left behind.
Want to know what news is brewing in Canada?
Follow @MRCoutts on Twitter.


Some schools and universities are using art to help students understand science, technology, engineering and math.
In a webinar hosted by Americans for the Arts this week, top art education advocates across the country shared what STEAM involves and why it's important.
First off, let's define what art really means in this context. The "A" in STEAM includes both the integration of arts in other subjects and an emphasis on art forms, said Janis Hill, principal of Quatama Elementary School in Hillsboro, Ore.
The U.S. Department of Education created a broad definition of art so that school districts could build quality programs, said Edith Harvey, director of improvement programs in the department's Office of Innovation and Improvement. That definition includes music, dance, theater, media arts, visual arts and folk arts. She also stressed that it's important to build quality arts education programs and integrate arts with other subjects.
Art and now STEAM powers Quatama Elementary School. The five-year-old school that Hill heads began with a focus on art for every student with the help of The Right Brain Initiative, a program of the Regional Arts & Culture Council that serves three Oregon counties in the Portland Tri-County region.
Last year, artists started working with teachers to integrate art with other subjects including science, technology, engineering and math.
"When you put teachers and artists planning together, that's pretty powerful," Hill said.
First-graders learned how sound waves affect the materials they go through. Second-graders created wire sculpture circuits that lit up. And third-graders made a large mural that showed the life cycle of salmon using different art techniques such as printmaking.
In higher education, theater students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., plan to spend a year performing plays that show the connection between art and science or art and technology, said Kevin Murray, program manager of the School of Theater at the university. The university also plans to host a STEAM conference next fall.
A year ago, the university received a grant from Boeing to figure out how theater techniques could help students retain what they're learning better and prepare them to solve problems creatively once they're in the workforce, Murray said. After receiving the grant, George Mason University started a STEAM Table made up of people involved in arts and sciences. The table members meet three to four times a year to share ideas and resources.
"You can't just live in your own bubble," Murray said. "We have to talk with each other."
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to


No. 312| Understanding Students with Autism through Art
Editors: Beverly Levett Gerber and Julia Kellman
This timely resource, written for preservice teachers and at the request of practitioners in the field, shares the expertise of professionals from the fields of art education, special education, art therapy, museum education, and medical research. Avoiding professional jargon, it highlights teachers’ own stories and provides proven examples of successful lessons and teaching/learning strategies in the classroom and also in one-on-one settings.
The book includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter as well as a helpful guide of annotated resources for inspiration, professional practice, recognition, and funding.
“Understanding Students with Autism through Art is a ground-breaking book that focuses attention on the importance of art education in the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum… Art and drawing have enabled me to have a successful career….”
—Temple Grandin, PhD, Professor of Animal Science,
Colorado State University; internationally recognizedautism
advocacy speaker and bestselling author
View book review by Bryna Bobick, University of Memphis, Tennessee
174 pp. (2010) ISBN 978-1-890160-48-7


Research highlights the importance of systematic, explicit phonics instruction to the development of solid reading and spelling skills. But how can you be sure that your beginning reader is getting the phonics foundation she needs?
- Read class newsletters. Teachers of beginning readers typically include information about their approach to teaching reading and specifically to teaching phonics. If your child’s teacher teaches phonics systematically, he may list the specific phonics skills he is teaching.
- Read curriculum materials. Most schools provide detailed information about their beginning reading curriculum. In addition to informing parents that a particular published program is being used, most schools will list specific skills taught in each grade. Look for evidence that phonics skills are being introduced in a specific sequence as part of a comprehensive reading program.
- Look around your child’s classroom. If phonics is being taught in an explicit and systematic way, you are likely to see wall charts, word lists, and children’s work that reflects this focus. For instance, you may see a wall chart with picture clues for the short vowel sounds (short “e” paired with a picture of an elephant, for example), and your child’s Reading Journal may contain lists of words containing “ai” that she is practicing writing.
- Talk with your child’s teacher. Ask her not only if she is teaching phonics, but also ask her to describe how she is teaching phonics. If she approaches phonics instruction systematically, she should be able to describe a specific sequence of phonics instruction as well as techniques and activities she uses.
- Listen to your child read and look at his writing. If you are concerned that he is not making steady progress in phonics, talk with his teacher. Difficulty with phonics is the most common reading problem among beginning readers, and some children benefit from individualized phonics instruction that is more intensive and in-depth than that provided in even the most exemplary classroom.


ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd||3rd - 4th|
|5th - 6th||7th - 8th|
|9th - 10th||11th - 12th|
|Grades||K – 2|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||Four 15- to 45-minute sessions|
This lesson uses familiar words from The Gingerbread Man to help early readers learn letter–sound correspondence. Students begin with a teacher-conducted shared reading of the story. As students listen, they read the words in the refrain along with the teacher. After the third hearing of the story, students choose their favorite words from the story and identify the sounds that the letters make in the words. Students conclude the lesson by using the newly learned words in an online story of their own creation.
Picture Match: Students can practice their knowledge of letter-sound correspondence with this interactive matching game.
Moustafa, M., & Maldonado-Colon, E. (1999). Whole-to-part phonics instruction: Building on what children know to help them know more. The Reading Teacher, 52, 448–458.
- Context helps early readers make sense of print.
- Familiar language is easier for earlier readers to comprehend than unfamiliar language.
Moustafa, M. (2002). Research on Effective Reading Instruction, K–4.
This article summarizes some pertinent research regarding effective reading instruction.


Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme
As the education policy debate in Viet Nam has shifted from quantity of access to improved quality of learning, obtaining reliable literacy data for evidence-based planning and monitoring has become increasingly essential.
Together with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, the Ha Noi Office is supporting the Ministry of Education and Training to implement the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP), a tool designed to assess literacy skills and to enhance the available body of statistical evidence.
Through an innovative combination of household survey methods and educational assessments conducted on a five- to ten-year cycle, LAMP measures five levels of literacy and numeracy skills and five component skills that underpin fluent reading. The programme has the following objectives:
- develop a methodology for providing quality data on the distribution of the literacy skills of adults and young people in developing countries
- obtain high-quality literacy data and to promote its effective use in formulating national policy, in monitoring and in designing appropriate program interventions to improve literacy levels
- build national capacities in the measurement of literacy, to develop and use LAMP data and methodologies
- contribute to an enhanced understanding of literacy and to engage various stakeholders to take action at the community level
UNESCO began implementing LAMP in Viet Nam in 2007 and by late 2010 the national team completed the field test stage. During this phase, test instruments were adapted to the Vietnamese context, country-specific criteria were developed, the test survey was conducted in 650 households, and data was collected and analyzed.
Based on their assessment of the field test, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has decided to undertake the LAMP main survey. The National LAMP Team, collaborating with UIS and UNESCO Ha Noi, is currently undergoing preparations for this phase, which will be carried out in late 2011 and will produce Viet Nam’s first set of real-test literacy data.


All About Plants
- Agricultural and Food Scientist - Find out the answers to questions about how farms can use less labor, control pests and weeds, conserve soil and water.
- Botany and Horticulture - This site has an amazing list of resources on botany, horticulture, and plant ecosystems.
- Exploratorium: Traits of Life - Take a journey through the Exploratorium's new collection of Life Science exhibits.
- Exploring Estuaries -A wide variety of birds, fish, and other wildlife make estuaries their home; use this web site to explore these unique environments.
- Plant a Garden - Find out how to grow your own garden even in the smallest of places.
- Plant Basics - Learn about the basic structure of plants, photosynthesis, and more.
- Plant Fact Sheet - Information for gardeners about different plants.
- Science Facts - Get the answers to life's most interesting questions through scientific inquiry; it will introduce you to the Library of Congress' rich collections in science and technology.
- Why Leaves Changes Color - This site explains the basics of how autumn colors happen.
- Agricultural Ideas for Science Fair Projects - Here, we've put together a few basic ideas of agricultural science projects you can do. Use these ideas as a jumping-off place for coming up with your own project.
- Agriculture in the Classroom - Kids Zone - Kids Zone is a fun and interactive way to learn and get ideas about science projects, farm and fun food, take virtual tours and much more! (Requires Flash)
- Education (Teachers) Page - National Geographic - Find multimedia activities aligned with national standards, educational projects, and more.
- EurekAlert! Science News and Resources for Kids - The EurekAlert! Science for Kids Portal is a central, online source for kid-friendly news and resources.
- Science and Nature - Smithsonian Magazine - Read these interesting articles on nature and wildlife.
- Space Agriculture in the Classroom - Learn about the space program and the role of agriculture in our economy and society.


Regardless of which languages your child is learning, reading to him is fundamental. It helps build the foundation for language and literacy development early on. Reading books together can also be a fun way to help your child expand his vocabulary and to introduce the traditions and customs of different cultures.
If you're using the OPOL (one parent, one language) method to raise your children bilingual, experts recommend sticking to the language you normally speak. In other words, if you normally speak Spanish to your child, read books to him in Spanish.
"I often hear from Spanish-speaking parents that they've stopped reading at home because they're afraid that reading in Spanish will confuse their children," says Lydia Breiseth, manager of Colorín Colorado, a bilingual website for families and educators of English language learners. "Because parents are their children's first teachers, it's important for them to feel empowered to use their own language and stories."
There are plenty of English-Spanish bilingual books. The advantage of these is that each parent can read the same book in his or her own language.
You may be able to find a wide variety of both bilingual and Spanish books in your local library. But even if you can't, and you're bilingual, all you have to do when reading a book written in English is translate it into the target language as you read. Your child won't know the difference.
When it comes to teaching your bilingual child to read, research shows that it's easiest to use the child's primary language. As a parent, you're in the best position to decide which language that is.
If you're using the OPOL method, one language will always be dominant, typically your community's dominant language. For example, if you live in the United States and you're teaching your child both English and Spanish, it's likely to be easier to teach your child to read in English.=
On the other hand, if you're using the mL@H (minority language at home) method, and Spanish is the minority language, you would teach your child to read in Spanish.
Bilingual books are perfect because they can be read in both the dominant and the minority language. These books usually present the English version at the top of the page and the Spanish at the bottom. Sometimes the different languages are on alternate pages.
Well-known bilingual children's author Alma Flor Ada points out several advantages of bilingual books:
A note of caution: Make sure the translations are up to par. While most publishers take care to deliver bilingual books with accurate translations, some don't. If you're not bilingual, ask someone who is to take a look at the translations.
Another option, particularly if you're not very strong in the minority language, is to use books with Spanish words embedded in the English story. Books like these typically highlight the word in Spanish (usually an important word in the vocabulary of the story) and include a glossary at the end, sometimes with a pronunciation guide.
If you're reading to a very young child, it doesn't really matter what you choose. Picture books, often with little or no text, are perfect for bilingual families because they're open to interpretation. The reader can become a storyteller regardless of the language used.


Bag of Beans is an innovative numeracy and storytelling programme for years 3 and 4 based on Jack and the Beanstalk. It provides opportunities for practising and developing numeracy skills within a stimulating piece of theatre-in-education.
Pupils meet journeying storytellers who have discovered a document which intrigues and baffles them. The book seems to tell a version of the well known story of Jack and the Beanstalk, however it is incomplete and the storytellers need help to unlock its riddles, puzzles and the secrets within its pages.
Pupils will interact with a dynamically designed set which provides the characters with numerous problems to solve and an exciting place to tell their story. The programme seeks to encourage imaginative processes which are at the heart of solving many mathematical problems. Only by making discoveries and building the final parts of a perplexing machine will the true story finally be told.
To create the programme, we have worked with the Artistic Director of HamFisted! Johnny O’Hanlon as creative consultant, designer and maker.
We hope that you find the following resources helpful in terms of further exploring the learning opportunities presented by the programme.
Thanks to he_boden via Flickr for the banner image


(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.


Acting Career Information: Becoming an Actor or Actress
Learn how to become an actor. Research the education requirements, training information and experience required for starting a career in acting.
Requirements for Actors or Actresses
Acting as a career involves more than just performing in movies. Working actors perform in live theater productions, at theme parks, in commercials and on television shows. As actors start their careers, many work multiple jobs, such as working as extras in films or TV, to support themselves financially. While many actors live in large metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles or New York, production companies all over the U.S. hire actors on a regular basis.
The more experience an actor has, the more desirable he or she is to a director. While a degree is not typically required, bachelor's degree programs are available, particularly for those interested in acting on stage. The following table contains the main qualifications and requirements needed to become an actor or actress listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
|Degree Level||Bachelor's degree|
|Degree Field||Theater arts, drama|
|Experience||Successful actors and actresses typically have many years of experience|
|Key Skills||Creativity, speaking skills, memorization|
|Additional Requirements||Physical stamina and persistence|
Step 1: Take Classes
Although no formal training is strictly required to become an actor or actress, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that most professionals in the industry participated in college drama courses or acting conservatories. College degree programs allow students to expand their skills in various acting fields, including impromptu acting, sketch comedy, voiceover work and musical theater, while building their portfolios. An undergraduate degree program in drama or theatre includes coursework such as voice and diction, stagecraft, acting theory and stage management.
- Participate in college productions. Acting in performances while in college in an excellent way to bolster a resume and gain experience on stage or in front of a camera. It is important to keep copies of the recordings of these performances to show potential employers when auditioning for a role.
Step 2: Gain Professional Experience
Actors need whatever experience they can get in order to improve their skills and gain more recognition. Many actors start by participating in community or college theatrical productions. Others may choose to perform publicly at 'open mic' nights. Performing in other public settings, such as nightclubs, dinner theaters or theme parks, can also help beginners get real world experience and help them become comfortable in front of an audience.
- Hire a coach. Many actors choose to enlist the help of an acting coach, who is more experienced than they are. This coach helps them prepare for roles and find auditions, while teaching them tricks of the trade.
Step 3: Acquire Additional Skills
Because endless roles are available, the more an actor knows how to do, the more auditions he or she is able to go on. For example, learning foreign accents or impressions may appeal to a certain market that was otherwise unattainable. Some roles may require that actors know how to dance, sing or both. Taking classes and practicing different skills can help actors prepare to play a variety of different characters.
Step 4: Find an Agent
While it is not mandatory, having an agent can make working as an actor easier. Agents complete most of the business-related tasks involved with acting, such as mailing out resumes, scheduling audition appointments and negotiating contracts. Having an agent completing these administrative tasks provides actors with more time to practice their skills. The majority of agents also have connections with casting directors, which means they can more easily connect clients with regular acting roles.
Actors often have to shop around for agents. Before actors submit resumes and audition tapes to agents, they may want to research each agent. For example, it is important to know the number of clients an agent works with and how much personal time an agent spends with each client.
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Human beings need to express themselves. Art class provides a medium to do so in a beneficial and safe way. There are enormous benefits from a strong art education. Art fosters creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity.
Contemporary art promotes "big ideas" and therefore naturally integrates other subject areas such as science, language arts, math, or social studies. Art offers complementary ways of understanding events or objects. Many large innovative companies agree that fostering creative thinking and creativity is key to innovation.
Nevertheless, art programs continue to be cut and art funding is quickly dissipating
I have been a high school art teacher at Hillsboro High School for 7 years. In 2005, when I started working here, there were 5 art teachers and my class sizes averaged about 25 students. Due to budget cuts we now have 2 part-time art teachers and I am the only full time art teacher.
You might assume enrollment in art classes has decreased, but in fact more students than ever before are signing up for art classes. As a result, my class sizes are enormous this year. My Art 1 and Ceramics classes are up to 44 students, and we are told that next year they will be even higher. National surveys show that class size reduction is the most effective method to improve the quality of education, yet class size continues to rise.
I love teaching art; there is nothing I would rather be doing. However, due to budget cuts I have become increasingly overworked and overwhelmed. I am not the only teacher who is overworked or overwhelmed, and I am not writing to complain. I realize that I am fortunate to have a job. I am writing to inform community members what happens when the art budget is cut.
The following is a list of what I see happening either in my own classroom or other art teachers' classrooms:
Lack of adequate personal attention to the diverse range of students. On average, approximately 35 percent of art students are in special education or learning English as a second language. It is rare that an assistant or aide is assigned to art classes. One teacher cannot possibly give these students the attention they need and deserve with 44 students in the room.
Increase in workload. Art teachers are often assigned 2 or even 3 classes to teach at the same time, further dissipating teacher effectiveness. Although the workload is increased, teachers are not compensated for their extra time.
Safety issues due to overcrowding. Clay contains silica, and with the increase in students there is an increase in clay dust in the air. Over a period of many years, silica can cause health issues. This creates an unhealthy work environment and puts some teachers at risk.
Insufficient storage space. This causes artwork to break, get lost, or forces students to store their clay or artwork on the floor or above lockers.
Lack of equipment. We do not have the budget to buy another kiln to fire ceramic art. Without another kiln, we are forced to either limit the size of the artwork our students create, work evenings or weekends to fire student work, or limit the amount of artwork each student makes.
Lack of supplies. At times we do not have enough money to buy enough clay, glaze, paint brushes, drawing pencils, erasers, or water color paper for each student. This may force us to create work that is smaller or limit what we offer to our art students, reducing their ability to experience a rigorous curriculum.
It is my hope that we can rethink how we go about making decisions regarding budget cuts. Reducing the art budget or cutting FTE staff in art programs is not the answer. High school students need to express themselves. Art class provides a place for them to do so in a beneficial and safe way. Art really does save lives.
Kelda Van Patten is an Art and Ceramics teacher at Hillsboro High School.


Professional Development: SIPPS
Levels of Support
Starting the Conversation
A two-hour engaging workshop at no charge
Developing Fluency Fast
Foundational skills are critical to students developing into independent, fluent readers. Participants explore a comprehensive framework for literacy instruction to understand how the ability to decode fast and well impacts how students of all ages and ability levels are able to comprehend and write. They learn how the research-based scope and sequence of routines in the SIPPS program help students develop the confidence and skills they need to make meaning of increasingly complex texts.
- In-person workshop
Beginning the Work
An interactive introduction to get started
Participants explore the components of the SIPPS program and practice using the placement test and interactive routines to promote fluency and impact comprehension. They examine how the early stages of the program incorporate texts that are aligned with instruction to foster confidence in students as they develop the foundational skills necessary to become capable, independent, lifelong readers.
- SIPPS On-Site Support for beginning instruction or intervention
- Learn how to implement the SIPPS program to support students and their development of the foundational skills. Explore the instructional components of the program along with the supports to assist implementation. Included: print and digital Teacher's Manual, SIPPS Assessment Tool, SIPPS Card App, animations of lesson routines, videos of each instruction routine, and access to online resources.
- Webinar: DSC-hosted
- Introductory sessions can be offered as live webinars hosted by a DSC national education consultant.
Deepening the Practice
Options for taking the work to the next level
- Connecting with State Standards
- Supporting RtI: Prevention and Intervention
- Progress Monitoring and Teacher Decisions
- Routines, Pacing, and Grouping
- Supporting the 4–12 Struggling Reader
- IDR: Path to Fluency and Comprehension
- All-staff sessions
- Topics chosen from the list above
- Classroom observation
- Address implementation issues
- Model lessons
- See DSC pedagogy in action
- Explore facilitation techniques
- Observe conferring with students
- Grade-level team planning
- Powerful lesson planning
- Q+A about lessons, pedagogy, and facilitation


I wasn't sure whether to include this, but in the end thought it a curiosity which might interest a few people; "object lessons" were a staple of the primary school curriculum in Victorian England, and here's the way "The Apple" would have been taught in thousands of classrooms throughout the country:
LESSONS ON OBJECTS
As given to children between the ages of six and eight
in a Pestalozzian School at Cheam, Surrey, 1873 (22nd edition).
Published by Seeley, Jackson and Halliday, Fleet street, London.
It is spherical,
The pips are:
brown on the outside when ripe,
white in the inside,
The core is
REMARKS ON WORDS
|Cosby Methodist Church|
|Links to other sites|


Center for Literacy Around the World (CLAW)
The Literacy Center houses children's books, media and teaching materials in elementary education. These resources expand the pre-service teachers' opportunities for research and familiarization with innovative teaching materials. The literacy center can be contacted at 724-738-2944. The literacy center coordinator is Dr. Heilman-Houser.
The elementary and secondary education science facilities support classroom instruction. One classroom is equipped with a sink and laboratory tables to provide hands on lessons. Additional hardware, software and curriculum material provide highly developed interactive components for the methods courses.
The math laboratory serves as a valuable resource for students enrolled in mathematics methods classes, field experiences, graduate classes and student teaching. It includes computers and instructional software, instructional videotapes of class demonstrations and calculators for elementary and secondary methods courses.
SOCIAL STUDIES LABORATORY
The social studies laboratory was recently expanded to assist in the instruction of social studies methods courses. The mini lab and social studies classroom have numerous hands-on materials such as maps, software programs, and video equipment to conduct micro-teaching lessons
MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE CENTER (CLAW)
The Multicultural Heritage Center provides a large range of resources including books, magazines, kits, games, puppets and posters. The book collection consists of child, juvenile and adult literature. The Multicultural Heritage Center is located in 122A McKay, extension x2892, inside the Literacy Center. The multicultural heritage center coordinator is Dr. Soeder.
Student Resource Room
HICKORY CORNERS SCHOOLHOUSE
The Hickory Corners Schoolhouse is an original one-room schoolhouse. Furnished and donated to the University, it is now used to teach lessons in a historically accurate context. To view the informational movie.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS CENTER
The Instructional Materials Center provides resources and materials to support the education and training of students enrolled in the College of Education. Over 12,000 audiovisual materials and approximately 30,000 children's books can be used for curriculum planning, the preparation and presentation of lessons, and the assessment of pupils. Education databases, including ERIC, Education Full-Text, the Professional Development Collection, and the Curriculum Resource Center are available on the Library's Journal Articles and Databases page.
Instruction and tours are available upon request. Open during all regular Library service hours, the Instructional Materials Center is located on the second floor of Bailey Library. The IMC Desk can be reached at 724-738-6048.
REGIONAL LEARNING ALLIANCE
Slippery Rock University offers a number of classes at the Regional Learning Alliance (RLA) each semester. The RLA is western Pennsylvania's premier site for adult education and career development, located on Route 228, just off Interstate 79 in Marshall Township, Allegheny County. Slippery Rock University led development of the center.
The partnership includes The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Butler County Community College, Carlow University, DeVry University, Geneva College, La Roche College, Penn State University, Pittsburgh Technical Institute, Robert Morris University, SRU and Triangle Tech.
The RLA includes many amenities for working adults, including the Carlow Early Learning Center, the Wellness Center, computer labs, lounge area and a cafe. Its primary purpose is meeting the training and educational needs of employees and businesses within a two-hour radius of northern Allegheny County. For more information, call the RLA at 724-741-1000.


One of our primary research interests is in how we enjoy
the illusion of unified experiences even when presented with
conflicting sensory information from different modalities. Given its
ubiquity and antiquity, music is a particularly interesting domain through which to explore such
questions. For example, we have discovered that expert percussionists use gestures to
control an audience's perceptual experience of their performances.
For more information on how this research applies to music performance and music education, please visit www.michaelschutz.net.
To see Michael Schutz demonstrating the illusion on television, visit the Press Room. To download sample videos to use in presentations/ demonstrations, click here. Please cite Schutz and Lipscomb (2007) as the source, and email us to let us know this was useful for educational purposes!
|To demonstrate this, we recorded a world-renowned marimbist performing
notes using both long (left video) and short (right video) physical gestures. We then crossed (swapped) the
audio and visual components of these gestures, and asked participants
to judge the duration of the sound independent of the image. In a
separate condition, we also asked them to judge note duration when
presented with the audio alone. The results indicate
that although physical gesture length does not affect note acoustics, it does affect note perception. In other words, expert
musicians use this illusion to control an audience's musical experience
beyond that which is acoustically possible!
Duration ratings (y-axis) of
marimba notes presented as audio alone (left) and audio-visual stimuli
(right). Notes produced by long gestures (red) are not rated any
differently than notes produced by short gestures (blue) when presented
as audio-alone. However, they are rated differently when presented with
the accompanying gesture.


|Results-Oriented Schooling: How Technology is Making the Vision a Reality|
Kim Carter (moderator); Mike Ritzius, Rebecca Rufo-Tepper and Arana Shapiro, Mickey Muldoon
Amid changing demographics and expectations, schools have a public mandate to deliver high quality learning for every student. Join our innovative panelists in exploring the ways in which technology-based tools are allowing school communities to meet – and surpass – ambitious goals and create effective learning environments based on pedagogy and purpose.Venturing into the Cloud with Google Apps
Jerry Crisci and Michael Pincus; Rob Miller, Cathy Swan and Tom Honohan
Experts from two districts will discuss the steps involved in formally implementing Google Apps districtwide, explore strategies for using such collaborative resources effectively in schools and classrooms, and address the issues to consider when deciding if Google Apps are right for you and your school(s).
Cells in the Classroom: from Banning to Embracing
Lisa Nielsen and Willyn Webb
94% of Americans under age 45 have a personal learning device known as a cell phone. In this session we'll reveal a sensible and progressive 5-step plan that will enable all stakeholders to embrace this powerful learning tool and discover how doing so can enrich student learning and strengthen the home-school connection.Web 2.0 Smackdown
Judy Salpeter (moderator); David Andrade, Adam Bellow, Howie DiBlasi and Lisa Thumann
Join four education leaders as they take you on a whirlwind tour of their favorite FREE online tools for everything from elementary education to high school research to lesson planning.


The importance of early childhood education cannot be overstated. Mountains of scientific evidence state that the first five years of a child’s life sets the stage for their later development and success at school and in life. Despite this knowledge and the many pre-school programs available, one in four Canadian children is NOT prepared for the first day of school. These children arrive with social, behavioural and learning difficulties already so entrenched that their entire academic experience will be compromised. Research gathered by The Learning Partnership’s Policy and Knowledge Mobilization division clearly demonstrates that children who exhibit learning and social challenges at age five are more likely to drop out of high school than those who come to school ready to learn.
While that question is being discussed by early childhood learning experts and federal, provincial and municipal governments, one thing is clear: parents and guardians have perhaps the most important role in a child’s early development.
The Learning Partnership’s Welcome to Kindergarten program is based on the understanding that parents are a child’s first and best teachers. Every spring, at schools across the country, families attend Welcome to Kindergarten orientations that focus on parents’ roles in preparing young children for school, the importance of making time for play and discovery, talking and listening while playing and discovering together, recognizing and celebrating their children’s successes and reading with their preschoolers in their first language.
So what exactly can parents do to get their little ones prepared for Kindergarten? They can help their children practise the following skills that are the foundation for a successful transition to school.
- Sharing with other children and taking turns
- Enjoying stories and being able to listen for short periods
- Looking at pictures and then telling stories
- Recognizing rhyming sounds
- Identifying some alphabet letters
- Counting to 10
- Showing an understanding of general times of day
- Using safety scissors (hand and finger strength and coordination)
- Holding a pencil and beginning to master basic writing skills such as recognizing and drawing shapes
- Sorting similar objects by colour, size, and shape
- Recognizing groups of one, two, three, four, and five objects
- Bouncing a large ball
At the Welcome to Kindergarten orientations, parents and their children also receive a bag containing magnetic letters and numbers, counting and story books, a CD of songs, crayons, a pencil, a glue stick, safety scissors, coloured construction paper, an activity ball and a parent information pamphlet. Mums, dads and kids then take part in activities using these resources and are encouraged to continue them over the summer. By September, their children’s transition to Kindergarten should be happy, smooth – and successful. The foundation will have been laid for a lifetime love of learning.
Do you agree that more attention needs to be paid to early childhood education? How has your child benefitted from all day Kindergarten? What changes would you like our federal, provincial and territorial governments to make regarding educating the very young? Let us know.
National Program Manager
Welcome to Kindergarten


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Grade 1 Common Core ELA Checklists and Student Rosters! An excellent tool for planning how you will address the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts for Grade 1! There are planner checklists for each standards and Progress Monitoring Student Rosters for each standard. If you are confused where to start with the CCSS, this packet is for you! These charts are great for planning and accountability purposes! Here is what is included:
-Binder Cover for Teacher Use
-Instructions for use
-Checklists for all the Common Core English Language Arts Standards: Reading Literature, Reading Informational text, Reading Foundational Skills, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language.


Posted by shelly on Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 4:47pm.
I am a step mom to 3rd grade twins. One of them is failing her spelling tests repeatedly. I have very limited time with them and don't talk to them very often, nor am I allowed to speak to the teachers. I have looked at the LMC for books on spelling but don't really see any. Does anyone have ideas on how to help her?
you can get her to write the words down ten times each!
I respectfully suggest that since you have limited time with these children, that you spend this time getting to know them and having fun with them. Reading to and with them would probably be the most important thing you can do to contribute to their success in school. The child's mom and dad can work with the school about the spelling problem.
Ask her if she can hear and see the words in her head as she says them. Learning to do this is tremendously helpfull *:D
here is a way to make that fun, start with the word "it" so that way you will be asking "Can you see it?" she will soon be seeing "it" when you ask, then you can ask if she can see any other word, so do funny sounding words like squeegee or boink or tee hee or spongebob :D
i kneed help
ok i'm wonderful at spelling but i feel that I am too good,how do i bring down my highness level in spelling?
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Analyst, Skills Beyond School Division, Directorate for Education and Skills
A few decades ago young people in the United States were among the most educated in the world, but other countries have caught up. Today, despite still being relatively highly educated, the skills of adults lag behind those of adults in many other countries. This has been revealed by the new international Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), which measured the skills of adults in 24 countries.
A newly published report, Time for the U.S. to Reskill?, looks at the U.S. and draws some challenging policy conclusions. One in six adults in the U.S., about 36 million people, has weak literacy skills – they can, at best, read short texts and understand basic vocabulary. In Japan the comparable figure is one in 20. In the U.S. nearly one in three have weak numeracy skills against a cross country average of one in five.
These results are not impressive, but what is really worrying is that there are few signs of improvement. In fact the average basic skills of young adults are not very different from older persons, but if you look around the world you see a very different picture – while the overall results of the U.S. are similar to that of Poland, young Poles have better skills than their U.S. counterparts. That means that if nothing else changes, the basic skills of the Polish workforce will progressively leave the U.S. workforce behind.
Unsurprisingly, the school system appears to be one of the roots of the problem. PISA assessments show U.S. teenagers have mediocre basic skills and these are now reflected in the skills of young adults. Dramatic improvements in initial schooling are needed to turn this around. But the millions of adults have already slipped through the net also need help through effective learning opportunities for young adults, policy measures linked to employability and adult learning programs adapted to diverse needs. Not least, it is crucial to build awareness of the implications of weak basic skills, the costs of inaction and the need to tackle the challenge in the interests of all.
More encouragingly, some of the results point to pathways of opportunity. Participation in adult education is relatively high in the U.S. and many of the low-skilled who for one reason or another did not participate in learning activities express an interest in learning. The results of the survey provide much food for thought and show that this moment is also an opportunity for the U.S. – an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of adult skills, take action and change course for the better.
Time for the U.S. to Reskill? What the Survey of Adult Skills Says
OECD Press release: Concerted Action Necessary to Address U.S. Adult Skills Challenge, says OECD
Presentation: Time for the U.S. to Reskill? What the Survey of Adult Skills Says
OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills (2013)
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
For more on skills and skills policies around the world, visit:
Photo credit: American construction © Shuttersctock