A practice report of students from a school for the blind leading groups of younger mainstream students in visiting a museum and making multi-modal artworks.
Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, 3
What can a visually impaired student achieve in art education? Can visually impaired students teach sighted students about elements of perception that sighted students would not normally consider? Are the legal moves towards rights to equal access for visually impaired people useful in asserting that visually impaired students can gain as much from gallery exhibits as sighted students can? In this article, these questions are studied in a practice report of a course involving visually impaired and sighted students working in groups, studying in a museum and creating art work at schools for the blind (i.e. schools maintained for visually impaired and blind students). The study found that by arguing that sighted and visually impaired students can learn about each-others’ perceptual similarities and potentials by working together, and that art is a particularly effective medium for developing this understanding. Furthermore, it is observed that the visually impaired students discussed in this article had as much potential to develop art works as their sighted counterparts.
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"Why Our Children Can't Read" is not without its controversies and weaknesses. McGuinness overstates matters, for example, when she argues that dyslexia is not a "causal" diagnosis but simply a description. She says, repeatedly, that what is called dyslexia is nothing more than bad instructional methods and that teaching the alphabet code would cause the problem to disappear in toto. The hard science on that issue does not permit a firm conclusion, as Coles correctly points out in "Misreading Reading," although McGuinness is surely right that it has become the label of choice when whole language programs fail children. An honest observer must admit, however, that dyslexia will regrettably become the explanation when one system or another of phonics, whether badly designed or badly implemented, fails children. Faced with a diagnosis of dyslexia or, more generally, a learning disability, too many parents fail to ask the school an important question: "Well, what, exactly, did you teach my child?" (Parents who can afford remedial tutoring would be well-advised, before accepting a diagnosis of dyslexia in an otherwise normal child, to read McGuinness' chapters on remediation and work with a competent tutor using a method that systematically teaches the full alphabet code, from sound to alphabet, building up from the level of individual phoneme.)
The risks of today's passion for phonics instruction are threefold. First, as McGuinness demonstrates, phonics as currently disseminated is by no means as effective as it could be and, in some cases, is probably not effective at all. Second, the phonics movement risks promising more than it can realistically hope to deliver, especially to poor children. (Phonics systems such as Open Court, for example, have delivered promising results thus far in disadvantaged school districts, such as the Inglewood Unified School District in L.A. County, but it is much too early to extrapolate anything but hope from those preliminary samples. An equally important test of phonics as a curriculum will come in California's suburban middle-class schools, where the slide in reading scores has also been serious.) Third, critics such as Coles are right to say that no mere curricular reform by itself can compensate for the effects of deprivation on poor children. Phonics risks selling itself as a panacea for poverty.
Reading is both an acquired taste and an acquired skill. Taste is fed by skill, and skill requires discipline in acquisition and discipline in teaching. Discipline is at issue in the reading wars; those who insist on seeing the reading debate as more than merely a matter of the most effective pedagogy and instead as something as personal as one's values, are not wrong. One pedagogy requires intellectual discipline as a condition for learning, while the other denies that this discipline is necessary and sees it as harmful to young minds. Yet as McGuinness makes clear, discipline is pointless unless used in a technically effective manner, and we must learn how to teach the sounds of the language as an alphabet code that will give children the tools necessary to read, write and spell.
The National Reading Panel, for its part, has done the public no favor by bestowing its blessing indiscriminately on reading programs that are fundamentally at odds with one another and by refusing to recognize that, when reading philosophies are radically, structurally opposed, one will necessarily assume priority over the other in the classroom. Coles and his colleagues in the education establishment may believe that the debate is still between "flexible, democratic, and creative" whole language and "rigid, authoritarian, and mindless" phonics, but for the rest of us, the facts of the world and human nature teach that a measure of intellectual discipline--sometimes rigid, sometimes authoritarian, sometimes even mindless--is no bad thing, and that in teaching the young to read, it turns out, is a very necessary thing.


A website for educators and teacher education students.
Developed to be used with the second edition of Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching.
About this book…
Find out the latest research and and improve your understanding of children’s literacy development through practice here.
Online support materials and videos enable students to practise assessment tasks in Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching.
Students can practise online or in face-to-face workshops.
Watch real-life videos of children reading to enhance your understanding of children’s reading behaviours without venturing into a classroom!
Students can learn about phonemic awareness, concepts of print and reading fluency, and taking records of reading behaviour.
Videos with support material available


Record Keeping and Reporting
Three ways to track student progress.
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5
A portfolio is an accumulation of student work that can accompany the student from grade to grade or be sent home at the end of the school year. To evaluate student progress effectively, you must have a good understanding of what each piece of student work displays in terms of learning so the portfolio grade is meaningful, useful, and easily explained to parents and students.
Three types of portfolios are:
• The Collection Portfolio: This portfolio contains a wide variety of student work completed over a period of time. It could include a piece of writing taken through the entire writing process, writing samples, showing different parts of the process, writing from content-area assignments, writing rubrics attached to a piece of writing, a daily journal or writing notebook, notes from student interviews or conferences, reading inventories or checklists, book reports or reviews, taped recordings of oral reading, video tapes of skits, photographs of projects or activities, mathematics checklists, math problem-solving Think Alouds, and student explanations of criteria for selection.
• Student Showcase Portfolio: This portfolio includes carefully selected artifacts (chosen by teacher or student) that represent the student's best work or work that shows growth over time and is intended to be publicly displayed (at open houses, parent-teacher conferences, report-card time, or once a month). The Student Showcase could include student reflections on the selections and student self-assessments.
• Assessment Portfolios: This portfolio contains teacher-selected items, including student work documenting tests and test scores, anecdotal notes of observations and conferences, and records of other assessment tools, such as interest inventories, student evaluations, and goal-setting forms. This type of portfolio is typically used by the teacher to inform students and parents rather than for public display.
You may choose to use one, two, or all three of these types of portfolios, depending on your needs and the requirements of your school. Items from the Collection Portfolio can be included in the Selection Portfolio and the Assessment Portfolio. Consider your record-keeping needs and the purpose of each portfolio carefully before you begin collecting documents.
Creating portfolios is easy. The portfolio container can be as simple as folded construction paper or a manila folder. You can also use pocket folders, three-ring notebooks, or even empty cereal boxes. Portfolios may be created for any subject and integrated or kept separately. They should be easily accessible to students, teachers, and parents for quick filing and reference.
Grading of portfolio contents and other student work is a highly personal task; each school and even each teacher approaches it differently. Check with your administrator for site grading guidelines. Also, locate a copy of the report card for your grade level early in the fall. The report card will be very helpful in setting up a grade book and determining which grading scale(s) is required.
Rubrics allow teachers to put a number to the knowledge and skill level for individual children. They break skills and concepts into increments for easy evaluation. You can use rubrics for specific assignment or to evaluate a student's overall performance in a content area.
To be effective in reporting progress, do it often and as positively as possible. A weekly progress report helps parents not be surprised by the actual report cards. As with student conferences, select one area in need of improvement. Occasionally, have students identify the area to be improved, and write it on the weekly progress report for self-assessment purposes.


Writing annotations of five research articles throughout the semester
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection
This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This page first made public: Jul 11, 2011
Used this activity? Share your experiences and modifications
Pre-service elementary school teachers have a critical need to be aware of the importance of scientific literacy and the variety of Earth-science related alternative conceptions (AKA misconceptions) that their future students will bring to the classroom. These future teachers also need to be aware of their own alternative conceptions. This semester-long activity is mostly conducted outside of class time. However, if time is available, it is worthwhile to have a class discussion about what students took away from each article.
Throughout the semester, students read five Earth-science related journal articles and write an annotation for each one. The information in the articles encourages an awareness of scientific literacy and leads students to become aware of their own alternative conceptions related to the Earth sciences.
This activity is used in a 100-level Earth science course for pre-service elementary education teachers.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Students are expected to possess basic writing skills.
How the activity is situated in the course
Students work on this activity outside of class time. They are expected to read and annotate one of the articles every third week throughout the semester.
Content/concepts goals for this activity
I target two main themes as I select the journal articles: research on alternative conceptions of geoscientific concepts and articles that discuss scientific literacy
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
My goal is to make students aware of how widespread alternative conceptions are among students and to make them aware of their own alternative conceptions.
Other skills goals for this activity
Students practice their writing skills while repeatedly receiving feedback throughout the semester.
Description of the activity/assignment
Students read journal articles on alternative conceptions and science literacy and write an annotation for each article.
Determining whether students have met the goals
I use a rubric that has 3 scoring options for each of three graded components. The rubric is included in the assignment file.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.
Download teaching materials and tips


Judith Kaplan celebrates first American Bat Mitzvah ceremony
Judith Kaplan, at age 12, became the first American to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah on March 18, 1922. Judith was the oldest daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. Believing that girls should have the same religious opportunities as their brothers, Rabbi Kaplan arranged for his daughter to read Torah on a Shabbat morning at his synagogue, the Society for the Advancement of Judaism.
The Kaplan Bat Mitzvah marked a turning point for Conservative Judaism in America. Always torn between tradition and modernity, the movement struggled for many decades with women's roles in the synagogue. Judith Kaplan herself did not read from the Torah scroll, as modern Bat Mitzvah celebrants do; instead, she read a passage in Hebrew and English from a printed Chumash (the first five books of the Bible) after the regular Torah service. Still, Rabbi Kaplan's innovation gained followers. By 1948, about a third of Conservative congregations had conducted Bat Mitzvah ceremonies. By the 1960s, Bat Mitzvah was a regular feature of Conservative congregational life; today it is a mainstay in synagogues from Reform to Modern Orthodox.
After her ground-breaking Bat Mitzvah, Kaplan Eisenstein (she married Ira Eisenstein who became Kaplan's successor in leading the Reconstructionist movement) went on to a successful career in Jewish music. After studying at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Julliard School) in New York, she attended the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Teachers Institute and Columbia University's Teachers College, where she earned an M.A. in music education in 1932. She later earned a Ph.D. in the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR).
Kaplan Eisenstein taught music pedagogy and the history of Jewish music at JTS, HUC-JIR, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College for many years. She also created the first Jewish songbook for children, Gateway to Jewish Song (1937). Her other published works include Festival Songs (1943) and Heritage of Music: The Music of the Jewish People (1972). In 1987, she created and broadcasted a 13-hour radio series on the history of Jewish music. In 1992, at age 82, Kaplan Eisenstein celebrated a second Bat Mitzvah, surrounded by leaders of the modern Jewish feminist movement. This time, she read from a Torah scroll. Kaplan Eisenstein died on February 14, 1996.
To learn more about Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, visit Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia.
See also: JWA's Go & Learn lesson plan "Taking Risks, Making Change: Bat Mitzvah and Other Evolving Traditions"; "Bat Mitzvah Revolutions and Evolutions", Jewesses with Attitude; Highlighted Judiths; Conservative Judaism in the United States.
Sources: Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, pp. 126-128, 370-371; New York Times, March 19, 1992, February 15, 1996.


Fri January 18, 2013
Kids And Race
Martin Luther King, Jr. said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." There is evidence that children form attitudes and opinions about race as early as six months old. In a recent study by our guest Dr. Melanie Killen (commissioned by CNN), a white child and a black child look at the exact same picture of two students on the playground and see very different things. How do children interpret our differences and form racial attitudes? We'll find out how to talk to kids about race with a researcher into children's social development and the author of a children's book about race.
Dr. Janaka Bowman Lewis - Assistant Professor of English at UNC Charlotte, also teaches Africana Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and American Studies. Author of Brown All Over, a children's book described as a "celebration of colors, including the colors of our skin."
Dr. Tehia Starker - Assistant Professor of Reading and Elementary Education at UNC Charlotte
Dr. Melanie Killen - Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland. A developmental psychologist who studies children’s and adolescents’ social development, including issues related to prejudice and bias, as well as moral judgment and peer relationships.


Shirley Chisholm biography
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, Shirley Chisholm is best known for becoming the first black congresswoman (1968), representing New York State in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms. She went on to run for the 1972 Democratic nomination for the presidency—becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to do so. Throughout her political career, Chisholm fought for education opportunities and social justice. Chisholm left Congress in 1983 to teach. She died in Florida in 2005.
Early Life and Career
Famed U.S. congresswoman and lifelong social activist Shirley Chisholm was born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924, in a predominantly black neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Chisholm spent part of her childhood in Barbados with her grandmother. After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1946, she began her career as a teacher and went on to earn a master's degree in elementary education from Columbia University.
Chisholm served as director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959, and as an educational consultant for New York City's Bureau of Child Welfare from 1959 to 1964.
Political Career and African-American Firsts
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm made history by becoming the United States' first African-American congresswoman, beginning the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives. After initially being assigned to the House Forestry Committee, she shocked many by demanding reassignment. She was placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, eventually graduating to the Education and Labor Committee. In 1969, Chisholm became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Chisholm went on to make history yet again, becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to make a bid for the U.S. presidency when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. A champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm was also a vocal opponent of the U.S. military draft. After leaving Congress in 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke College and was popular on the lecture circuit.
Personal Life and Legacy
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She wed Arthur Hardwick Jr. in 1986. She authored two books during her lifetime, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973).
Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, at the age of 80, in Ormond Beach (near Daytona Beach), Florida.
"She was our Moses that opened the Red Sea for us," Robert E. Williams, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Flagler County, said of Chisholm in an interview with The Associated Press (January 2, 2005). William Howard, Chisholm's longtime campaign treasurer, expressed similar sentiments. "Anyone that came in contact with her, they had a feeling of a careness," Howard said, "and they felt that she was very much a part of each individual as she represented her district."


Treasures of Music Literacy: Addressing Music Concepts Through Children's Literature
Through the generations rhymes, poems, and stories have been treasures of literacy. This course will demonstrate how to address musical concepts and music literacy through singing games and movement activities that engage students. Using teaching methods such as body percussion with poetry, Orff with children’s literature, and movement with listening selections, students will learn how to choose children’s literature selections that connect to the musical concepts taught.
Instructor: Thom Borden
Thom Borden has a B.S. in Music Education and an M.A. in Education. He completed Orff Levels at UNLV and an Orff Master Level at the University of Memphis under Jos Wytac. He studied music and movement in Europe. Further studies include Kodàly training from Colorado State University and completing his certification at Silver Lake College with Sr. Lorna Zemke. . He is past-president of the Chicago Orff Chapter and has presented at numerous AOSA and OAKE Conferences in the US as well as in Australia. He has spoken at the 2010 International Early Music and Music Conference and served on the International Early Childhood Music and Movement Board of Directors. Currently teaching PreK-5 in Las Vegas, Thom has published Orff arrangements in the McGraw-Hill series, Spotlight on Music™ and has published several books on using manipulatives in the music classroom.


Instrumental Music Education
Teaching with the Musical and Practical in Harmony
Contributors: Mitchell Lutch
Routledge – 2011 – 398 pages
Instrumental Music Education: Teaching with the Musical and Practical in Harmony is intended for college instrumental music education majors studying to be band and orchestra directors at the elementary, middle school, or high school level. This textbook presents an extensive look at the topics most vital to running a successful instrumental music program, balancing musical, theoretical, and practical approaches. A central theme is the compelling parallel between language and music, including "sound-to-symbol" pedagogies. Understanding this connection improves the teaching of melody, rhythm, composition, and improvisation.
An enclosed CD contains over 50 tracks of acoustically pure drones and demonstration exercises for use in rehearsals, sectionals and lessons.
The companion website, available January 2011, includes over 120 pedagogy videos for wind, string, and percussion instruments, performed by professional players and teachers, over 50 rehearsal videos, rhythm flashcards, intonation software, and two additional chapters, "The Rehearsal Tookit," and "The Job Search."
Unit 1. A Philosophy of Teaching: Sound-to-Symbol 1. An Introduction to Sound to Symbol 2. Teaching Rhythm & Rhythm Reading 3. Tonality, Melody, and Singing 4. Teaching Improvisation and Composition 5. The History Instrumental Music Education and Its Philosophy 6. Special topics: Two Models of Instructional Design Unit 2. Directing Bands and Orchestras 7. Classroom Management 8. Curriculum, Assessment and Grading 9. Repertoire 10. Score Study 11. Large Ensemble Set-Up 12. Rehearsals - (in 3 Parts) 13. Intonation 14. Directing Other Ensembles 15. Special topics: Motivation Unit 3. Administrative Issues 16. Recruiting, Organizing, and Starting the Band & Orchestra 17. Planning and Managing a Concert/Concert Etiquette 18. Promotion and Advocacy 19. Communication 20. The Music Budget 21. Copyrights 22. Managing Sound Levels 23. Special topics: Leadership, Mentors and Professional Development References Additional Chapters for the DVD/Website: The Job Search & Interview The Rehearsal Toolkit


Psychologists have discovered that musical training not only changes the way young children’s brains respond to sounds – it also boosts their memory performance.
Takako Fujioka and colleagues looked at how the brains of 12 children aged between 4 and 6 years responded to two sounds – a violin tone and a burst of white noise. The children were tested on four occasions over the course of a year, during which time half of them received Suzuki music tuition.
Our brains show a characteristic wave of activity in the auditory cortex when we hear a sound. Using magnetoencephalography, the researchers found that in the children’s brains, this pattern of activity changed over the course of a year, probably reflecting the maturation of their brains. But crucially, there was an aspect of this changing brain response – between 100 and 400ms after hearing a sound – that distinguished between the groups. In the untrained children the altered response was observed in both cerebral hemispheres and after hearing either the white noise or violin. But in the musically trained children, the change was localised to the left hemisphere and was specific to the violin.
“Musical training resulted in specific changes in the responses to musical sounds but not to responses to noise stimuli, probably reflecting the development of neuronal networks specialised for important sounds experienced in the environment”, the researchers said.
Moreover, from the beginning of the year to the end, the musically trained children, but not the untrained children, showed an improvement in their memory span for numbers. “It suggests that musical training is having an effect on how the brain gets wired for general cognitive functioning related to memory and attention” said co-researcher Laurel Trainor. “It is clear that music is good for children's cognitive development and that music should be part of the pre-school and primary school curriculum” Takako Fujioka added.
Fujioka, T., Ross, B., Kakigi, R., Pantev, C. & Trainor, L.J. (2006). One year of musical training affects development of auditory cortical-evoked fields in young children. Brain, 129, 2593-2608. Open access.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.


History of the Peace Corps in Zambia
From Peace Corps Wiki
|History of the Peace Corps|
|Since 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries, more than 182,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in 138 countries all over the globe.
In April 2004, the Peace Corps celebrated its 10th anniversary of service in Zambia. Following the formalization of a country agreement in 1993, Peace Corps/Zambia opened its program in 1994 with a first group of water and sanitation/hygiene education Volunteers. In 1996, the program expanded to include projects in community action for health and rural aquaculture. The project expanded again in 2001 to encompass an income, food, and environmental project. In 2003, a new education project was launched and a fifth program is underway. Using emergency HIV/AIDS funding, a separate HIV/AIDS project will begin in the summer of 2005.
Since the first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived 1994, approximately 600 Volunteers have served in Zambia, which is now one of the larger Peace Corps programs in Africa. Volunteers live and work in eight of Zambia’s nine provinces.
 Rural Aquaculture
Volunteers are helping the Department of Fisheries to develop fish-farming projects that will improve livelihoods in rural communities. After determining rural farmers’ needs and resources, Volunteers provide technical assistance in establishing dams, furrows, fishponds, and integrated agriculture. In addition to providing an excellent source of nutrition for rural families, surplus fish and agricultural products are sold to provide substantial supplementary income. Volunteers provide training in small agribusiness skills to assist farmers in applying a business orientation toward their farming activities. Volunteers also help build the organizational development capacity of fish farming associations.
 Learning at Taonga Market (Education)
One new Peace Corps’ education project builds on the initial success of a national radio education program called “Learning at Taonga Market.” This interactive program, produced by the Ministry of Education, is broadcast over the national radio station and covers the primary school curriculum in a fun, engaging way. The program helps deliver education that does not require a trained teacher or a school building, allowing for improved access to basic education in Zambia’s rural areas.
In early 2007 this program was renamed as the RED (Rural Education) program. The name change reflected a broadening of scope for efforts made by RED volunteers, emphasizing various means of training counterparts in rural areas rather than focusing solely on the LTM IRI (distance learning via radio) approach.
 Linking Income Food and Environment
In 2000, the Zambian Wildlife Authority invited Peace Corps/Zambia to join a new environmental initiative to help communities living near national parks gain an economic stake and a voice in managing protected areas. Working in six provinces, Volunteers help strengthen the civil participation of rural communities in natural resource management and economic resource allocation. Volunteers have assisted community groups in developing the decision-making skills necessary for this new responsibility and have provided education on environmental and conservation issues. Volunteers have also worked in schools to enhance environmental education curricula and deliver lessons to pupils in schools near national parks. Other significant Volunteer activities address food insecurity and livelihood diversification of these communities, thus reducing pressure on parks’ resources.
 Community Action for Health
Volunteers work with counterparts from Rural Health Centers to build and strengthen the capacity of neighborhood health committees to address health problems at the village level. Volunteers share leadership and organizational skills and strengthen communication skills. They also facilitate better links among the committees, the Rural Health Center, and district health management boards. Additionally, Volunteers help communities implement cost-effective, sustainable health interventions.
Using HIV/AIDS emergency plan funding, Peace Corps/Zambia is developing and implementing a new project focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Twenty trainees will be invited to join the LIFE training program in May 2005, becoming the first full-cycle Volunteers to participate in this project. The program, delivered at the district and community levels, focuses on awareness, education, prevention, and nutrition as a means of reversing the tide in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.


Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com.
was the lawsuit that birthed the location and name of our fair city and how it took two elections to finally settle the location of our county seat. During my research I stumbled over the fact that the very month and year Douglas County was birthed in October, 1870 our state legislature passed the Common School Act statewide.
Prior to 1870, the state allocated monies to academies in various counties. The academies were more like higher education institutions since they taught Latin, Greek, English literature and higher forms of mathematics. The students at the academies tended to be members of the wealthier families since tuition might be as much as $10 for the year, an exorbitant amount in those days. Poor rural children rarely entered a classroom. The Common School Act began to change that, but the change occurred slowly, and other forms of legislation had to be passed before large majorities of Georgia’s children were being educated.
As far back as 1818 money from land lotteries was invested in bank stock and interest was used to pay the tuition of indigent children for a period of three years. In order to get the tuition families had to claim pauper status. Times were different back then. Families shied away from a label like that, and many Georgia counties chose not to apply for monies since this early system made no provisions for elementary education. It wasn’t until the Common School Act was passed in 1870 that the system began to straighten out, but again progress was slow.
W.A. Candler, President of Emory University, gave a speech in 1889 where he stated, “how far [the common schools] fell short of reaching all the people, may be inferred from the fact that in 1840 when they reached the number of 176, they had an aggregate attendance of only 8,000 pupils, though the children of school age then in the state numbered not less than 85,000.”
Yes, there were children across the state not being served, but I’m so pleased to report that as early as our first year of legal existence the children of Douglasville were being served by a common school and the building is still standing today.
The first public school in Douglasville stands at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Strickland Street. Today the building is a private home. In 1870, the structure was built by the townspeople and bricks that were made right here in Douglas County covered the exterior of the building. Today the red bricks are covered with stucco and other changes to the structure include additional rooms, a second floor, and a porch.
There was no Board of Education in 1870. Common schools would be organized in various neighborhoods by the parents. Fannie Mae Davis’ history of Douglas County advises, “The parents of a community would acquire a site and construct, often by their own labor, a one-room schoolhouse. Parents routinely performed janitorial duties and maintained the building and grounds. As trustees of the school, they paid the teacher a salary based on a specified fee per child, per household. The ‘contract teacher’ often lived in the homes of students, spending a week at a time in each household. The benefits of this system were mutual–the teacher received free room; the host household had a periodic captive after-hours private tutor, and no one family had to carry the economic burden of another mouth to feed.”
Davis also publishes a handwritten list of school rules from 1870 she found written by Lambert, a teacher somewhere in Douglas County in 1870. She published the rules just as Lambert wrote them including spelling and grammatical errors evidencing the fact that teacher education requirements were far different than they are now.
Rules of School 1870
No laughing and talking in time of school
No rastling nor scuffing
No taging or throwing rocks
No climbing trees
No cursing nor swearing
No using by words
No lyeing in school
No telling tales out of school
No making fun of each other
No playing in the road to and from school
No fiting or quarreling
No student will be allowed to go out more than one time before recess and once after
No one is allowed to go out without my leaf
No play in the house nor on the benches
No playing about the [well?] Illegible
No student will be aloud to leave the play grown at Recreation without my leaf
No disputing about playing
I don’t want any student to go inside of any other enclosures in going to an from school without leaf
While educators today formulate their classroom rules and procedures a bit differently, it would seem that at the most basic level children haven’t changed that much since 1870. Most teachers today would recognize at least one scenario in their classroom that would fit Lambert’s rules.


An orchestra is a community where the essential and exclusive feature is that it is the only community that comes together with the fundamental objective of agreeing with itself. Therefore the person who plays in an orchestra begins to live the experience of agreement. And what does the experience of agreement mean? Team practice – the practice of the group that recognizes itself as interdependent, where everyone is responsible for others and the others are responsible for oneself. Agree on what? To create beauty.
– JOSE ABREU, Founder of El Sistema
In 1975, Venezuelan economist and musician Jose Antonio Abreu founded El Sistema , originally called Social Action for Music, and became its director. Abreu has navigated the program for the past 36 years through ten different administrations, based on his unorthodox belief that what poor Venezuelan kids needed was classical music. The Venezuelan government began fully financing Abreu’s orchestra after it succeeded brilliantly at an international competition in 1977 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
When its network reached 102 youth and 55 children’s orchestras (numbering approximately 100,000 youngsters) it came under the supervision of the Ministry of Family, Health and Sports. As El Sistema, its goal is to use music for the protection of childhood through training, rehabilitation and prevention of criminal behavior. Children as young as 3 or 4 years old begin music training at one of 180 community-based centers, or nucleos, located throughout the country. Through rhythmic movement, chorus, and other activities, they learn basic musical concepts and literacy; by age 5, they play recorder and percussion instruments, and at age 7 the children choose their first wind or string instrument. From the outset, ensemble work and performance is emphasized, and children learn teamwork, responsibility, and mutual respect. School-age children typically train six days a week after school and quickly gain habits of discipline and perseverance.
The program is known for rescuing young people in extremely impoverished circumstances from the environment of drug abuse and crime into which they would likely otherwise be drawn. Participants of the program who have begun international careers include Gustavo Dudamel, the Conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic, among others.
An important product of El Sistema is the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar). In 2007 the orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall and at the BBC Proms début under the baton of Dudamel, receiving enthusiastic reviews.
Tavis Smiley aired a series on music education in the United States, called “Dudamel: Conducting a Life.” The report includes a spotlight on Conservatory Lab Charter School the first El Sistema-infused charter school in Massachusetts. Conservatory Lab elementary school students receive free orchestral instruction for three hours each day, integrated into their academic program.


Math…Science…Literature…History…Art? Is art really necessary in K-12 education? Well, according to the Welch Medical Library, when asked, 41% of students who nearly dropped out of high school reported that the arts were what kept them in school. Many would also say that the arts are a way to bring people together to work towards a common goal or to find common ground. It often times speaks where words cannot.
For example, visual arts can be many things; an expression of someone’s views of the world, an interpretation of life, or simply a random creative illustration. Theatrical arts can be the ultimate imitation of life, history and emotion. And music is a universal language that anyone can understand no matter their sex, race, religion or cultural background.
Yet the arts are at risk. With budget cuts in schools all over the country, art departments are among the first to be sacrificed. In many schools where classroom space has become limited, art “studios” have to be wheeled around from classroom to classroom, which ultimately limits art education.
Studies conducted by The Arts In Action Committee have shown that arts education actually fosters brain development, especially of the creative and intuitive right brain functions. It also has been shown to improve communication, cognitive skills, and academic study in other areas such as math, science, literature and history. Art can enhance learning in core subjects? How?
For one, math is everywhere in music. A student needs to know how to count, keep a beat, read time signatures, quarter notes, eighth, sixteenth and even thirty-sixth notes. When making a painting or sculpture, an artist needs to have exact measurements as well as the ability to identify patterns, angles, and make lines of congruency. A musician or actor also needs to have a clear understanding of acoustics which are essential for projecting sound on stage, which can relate to science. There is also biology in music. Musicians must use techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing and relaxing the larynx to improve resonance, pitch and tone quality.
Literature - it is pretty obvious how literature relates to the arts. Almost every song written is or was a poem at one time or another. It is through the riddles and metaphors that some of the strongest messages have been formed. Whether it be in music or translated through a story. This is extremely useful for an actor in the performing arts. An actor needs to be able to read and comprehend the context of a story, such as understanding the plot, the build, the conflict, climax, resolution, characters’ motivations and various methods of foreshadowing. Therefore, the theater is the place where a student is able to apply all the things they’ve learned in English classes on the stage.
All in all, art is essential to human development. It is a release for some and a way of life for others. It has transcended through time and is constantly evolving. It’s often what brings people together even in the roughest of times and has proven over and over to be necessary to create a more well rounded education and individual.


Ontario students are lagging behind their peers across the globe in math and science, international test scores show.
The newest provincial test results released by the Educational Quality and Accountability Office come as sobering news to an education system struck by labour disputes.
While Grade 4 students have maintained their high achievement levels in reading, scores in math and science are being surpassed by other countries.
Internationally, Ontario’s rankings are at a standstill or losing ground, the report shows.
Last year’s test scores in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study show Ontario students’ marks haven’t improved since studies in 2003 and 2007. Ontario’s Grade 4 students are being surpassed by 20 other jurisdictions, while Grade 8 students are lagging behind 10 other jurisdictions.
In science, Ontario’s Grade 4 and 8 test scores have been dropping over the past three tests.
EQAO’s CEO said the results highlight a growing trend over the past few years.
“They provide yet another piece of evidence that we need strong action to improve math and science achievement while we maintain our focus on literacy development,” said Marguerite Jackson in a statement.
Dr. Brian Desbiens, chair of the EQAO’s board of directors, said while the results are good overall, they aren’t strong enough to place Ontario as a leader in education.
“Not for a school system that aims to position its students among the best in the world,” he said in a statement.
“Countries across the world are focusing their efforts on improving the educational outcomes of their students. Ontario too must reach for higher achievement to keep pace.”
Dalton McGuinty said in August the Putting Students First Act was put in place to fortify the province’s gains in education by making class sizes smaller and protecting the jobs of 20,000 new teaching and support staff jobs.
The EQAO is an arm’s-length agency of the provincial government that has administered provincial assessments annually since 1996.


Jewish Women's Lives in the Muslim World
Part II: More Marriage, Divorce, Work and Education
Religious Education and Observance
The incident raises questions about Jewish women’s educations and their involvement in Jewish communal religious life: our schoolmistress had certainly received an elementary education from someone, possibly from her own unworthy husband, perhaps in her childhood home. Nor was she unique in her leaning, however limited.
A twelfth century Jewish traveler from Spain reported that a community leader in Baghdad, Samuel ben Ali, had no sons, but had a daughter who was an expert in the Scriptures and Talmud. He wrote that “she gives instructions in Scripture to young men through a window. She herself is within the building, whilst the disciples are below outside and do not see her.”
On the whole, however, in line with traditional rabbinic norms and the practice of the surrounding Moslem environment, significant learning among women was rare. In all of the Cairo genizah there is not a single piece of writing, religious or otherwise, that may be attributed to a woman.
Yet despite their general lack of learning, reference in genizah documents report that Jewish women were pious in their observance of the home-based laws incumbent upon them, and there are many indications that their attendance at synagogue was regular. Moreover, women also donated Torah scrolls for the service and oil and books for study and left legacies for the upkeep of the synagogue; and it is not farfetched to interpret these activities—found among Jewish women in Christian Europe, as well—as female strategies for imprinting her existence on a communal religious life from which they were otherwise barred. Still, it was as a mother of sons learned in Talmud that the Jewish woman in the Islamic world earned her spiritual reward in the eyes of her family and her society.
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To follow up on Judy Kaplan’s post “We are not alone,” I want to spotlight a blog post by Principal Jan Iwase. Ms. Iwase is the principal at Hale Kula Elementary School in Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii. Last year on her Collaborating, Communicating, Critical Thinking, and Creativity Blog she posted “It’s more than a place to borrow books.”
There are so many kernels of wisdom in Jan’s understanding of how a state-certified professional school librarian makes a positive impact on the academic program in her school. Here’s a brief summary:
• Planning with the principal for a library vision • Instituting a flexible schedule in order to provide resources and serve students and teachers at the point of need • Modeling the use and integration of technology into the curriculum • Changing the mindset of classroom teachers for how the library and librarian should be used
And what I especially appreciate about this post is Jan’s summary of what a school librarian contributes in terms of helping students navigate electronic resources:
“Just because information is readily available electronically does not mean that students know how to choose the right resource, how to skim and scan to find answers, how to take notes and organize them in a meaningful way, and how to summarize and share that information with others. That is why the librarian is an important resource in the school.”
This list of information literacy strategies is also a list of reading comprehension strategies. It is not surprising, then, that when school librarians and classroom teachers collaborate for instruction, students’ reading proficiency improves. When classroom teachers, school librarians, and principals work together, students benefit. Classroom-library collaboration for instruction is a win-win-win-win opportunity – Collaborating, Communicating, Critical Thinking, and Creativity – for all.
Collaboration Scrabble Tiles Photo by Judi Moreillon


The Master of Science in Education is an online degree program that has the goal of contributing to the professional growth of teachers and encouraging them to be reflective, competent, and dedicated educators of children. It is designed for persons who have an undergraduate degree in education from an accredited college or university. Upon successful completion of the graduate program, students are awarded the Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) degree.
Students in the program choose to focus their studies in one of four areas of emphases – Instruction, Leadership, Special Education, and Educational Technology.
The program design contains the following.
- A core of courses relating research to the principles and practices of elementary education.
- An emphasis choice in one of three areas.
- Instruction: the development of general understandings and skills of a master teacher
- Leadership: a focus on the roles and functions of a leader in schools and that person’s responsibility for the supervision and improvement of instruction
- Special education: a focus on the curriculum, instruction, and assessment specific to children with special needs.
- Educational Technology: a focus on curriculum integration of technology, school technology leadership, and employing technology to expand educational offerings
- Successful completion of 36 credits that include a capstone option for either 3 or 6 credits or a comprehensive examination.
Program Plan sheets are available for each emphasis.
- Instruction Program Plan (pdf)
- Leadership Program Plan (pdf)
- Special Education Program Plan (pdf)
- Educational Technology Program Plan (pdf)
Note: The master's degree program is not intended to fulfill state licensure requirements in any state for any purpose, however (D)MLC graduates between the years of 1970 and 2001 can enroll in the post-baccalaureate licensure program and earn their master's degree and K-6 Minnesota state teaching license simultaneously. The purpose of the special education emphasis is to help the generalist teacher work with children in the regular classroom.


A History of Westchester Community College Center for the Arts
In 1925, a woman named Chester Geppert Marsh was hired to be Westchester County’s first Director of Recreation. An accomplished craftsperson, she accepted the position with the understanding that she would be allowed to develop an arts program. In 1926, activities began in the Court Street School in White Plains, and quickly became the focal point for the Westchester arts community.
Mrs. Marsh became the first director of the Westchester Workshop at the County Center when the building opened in 1930. The Westchester Workshop was devoted to broadening the study of the arts and sciences. Courses were offered in a wide range of subjects, from the visual and performing arts to international relations and astronomy. At that time, Columbia and New York Universities offered academic credit for some of the Workshop’s classes.
In 1930, the demand for fellowship among Workshop artists was so great that students and instructors created the Westchester Arts and Crafts Guild. The Guild’s purpose was to promote and organize high-quality art educational opportunities, including exhibitions and lectures in the arts.
The1930s brought so much growth to the Westchester Workshop that programs were held at both the County Center and the Court Street School. In 1934, the Workshop became the center of the Westchester County WPA Federal Arts Project, and in 1939, works from more than fifty Workshop artists were accepted for exhibition in the World’s Fair in New York City.
During World War II, the US Navy appropriated the County Center building. Essential components of the Workshop program—such as the production of camouflage gear and art therapy for returning veterans—moved to the lower level of the County Office Building in White Plains.
The Workshop program resumed in 1946, after modernization of the County Center facilities. Once again, the program expanded so dramatically that it outgrew the building. Between 1950 and 1956, there were several proposals to move the Workshop to the John Hartford Estate in Valhalla (the present location of Westchester Community College).
Recognizing that the Workshop had become a school exclusively devoted to the visual arts and crafts in the postwar years, Westchester Workshop changed its name to Westchester Art Workshop in 1966. The Arts & Crafts Guild became its Student/ Faculty Association. The Art Workshop flourished throughout the sixties, becoming known for countywide art lectures and community service.
In the 1970s and 80s the institution became financially more autonomous supporting itself through professional fundraising efforts, including craft fairs, commercial graphic services offered to non-profit agencies in the county, a consignment gallery selling original works of hand-made arts and crafts, and student/faculty art shows.
In 1981, The Center took another leap, joining Westchester Community College, thereby gaining accreditation for its program. While maintaining a relationship with the Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, affiliating with the college made The Center eligible to receive support from the State University of New York.
In 1986, the Center celebrated a move from its original County Center Building location to the bright new east wing of the building, gaining modern headquarters from the sixteen million dollar building renovation. The renovation resulted in beautiful, large new studios that were among the best designed in the state. With a space expanded to 26,000 square feet, boasting large windows, high ceilings, color corrected lighting, individual exhaust, air conditioning and heating controls in every studio, and state-of-the-art equipment, the new facilities were highly conducive to art education.
In 2009, Westchester Art Workshop officially changed its name to Westchester Community College Center for the Arts. The name change was intended to reflect the increasingly ambitious and comprehensive scope of the Center’s programming, its affiliation with Westchester Community College, and its evolving role as THE CENTER for art education in Westchester County.
Today, the original Westchester Community College Center for the Arts in White Plains serves 4500 credit enrollments a year, more than 600 children a year in the pre-college and youth programs, and thousands more through its special educational events and exhibitions. These public programs continue to grow, including collaborations with other county agencies and with area public schools.
From a few borrowed rooms in a school house in 1926, to its own exclusively designed space with state-of-the-art studio facilities, Westchester Community College Center for the Arts has continued to evolve throughout the years. Over these eighty-plus years of history, the Center has always remained true to its core values and beliefs: creativity is essential to life, and accordingly, art education is an essential aspect of our culture, to be made available to as wide a community as possible.


Preschool tied to higher math skills
Study boosts case for universal early education
NEW YORK - Children who went to preschool perform better in math at age 10 than classmates who didn't get the early education, according to a study in the United Kingdom.
An average child of that age who attended preschool scores 27 percent higher on a standard math test than a comparable pupil without the preparation, said researcher Edward Melhuish, a professor of human development at the University of London, in an e-mail on Tuesday.
The finding may buttress the case made by advocates of universal preschool education in the United States, where the federal government provides such programs only for children from low-income families. By contrast, the UK has paid for preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds since 2004, regardless of their parents' earnings.
"Universal preschool would mean higher test scores, less school failure, and probably also increased high school graduation and college attendance," W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, a program at Rutgers University, said in an e-mail.
Barnett wasn't involved in the research by Melhuish and others.
Melhuish was the lead author of a study, reported in yesterday's edition of Science, of preschool influences on math achievement. The article doesn't specify the gain for children from preschool, as Melhuish did in the e-mail.
The UK scientists said they analyzed data on more than 2,500 children. The subjects had attended preschool for 18 months on average, and also had five years of elementary education by age 10.
"Preschool boosts the child's cognitive language and social development," Melhuish said. "Therefore when the child starts school, the child benefits more from the school experience and many aspects of development are better, including math scores."
A study by Georgetown University released in June found that students who had completed Tulsa, Okla.'s state-funded preschool program exceeded peers who did not attend in reading, writing, and math skills. Oklahoma is one of only three states that fund public preschool education.
According to NIEER, US states have been increasing funding for preschool. In the 2006-2007 school year, 38 states spent $3.72 billion on preschool programs, an increase of 14 percent from the previous year.
What children learn at home is most important in determining how well they perform in school, the authors said. Another factor greater than preschool is the quality of the elementary school itself, they wrote.
"A child who has a good home learning environment, good preschool, and good primary school will do better than a child with only two," Melhuish said. "The difference between a child's development with all three compared to none is very great."
Preschool provides an educational foundation, said Anna Jane Hays, the author of "Ready, Set, Preschool!" .
"An experience . . . of going into a classroom with other children the same age is something that is really invaluable," she said.


Conducted by: Paul E. Barton, Richard J. Coley, Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Policy Information Center, Educational Testing Service
Released: September 2007
Download PDF: (pdf)
Overview: Families play a critical role in the education of their children. This report, an update of one done in 1992, notes that although state and national efforts to raise student achievement and reduce achievement gaps has intensified, there has been little in public policy that addresses the role of the family.
This report highlights some of the important family characteristics and home conditions that research has found makes a significant difference in children’s cognitive development and school achievement. The focus of the report is primarily on the family. The authors recognize that schools play a key role in their improvement however, raising achievement and closing gaps is the work of both schools and outside forces, including the family.
Children’s family and home experiences are examined, particularly those factors that influence learning. The report looks at differences in these critical experiences, often by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. Statistics and findings are provided from many sources including: research studies, national census and data bases, and international surveys.
The report is addresses the following topics:
- The Parent-Pupil Ratio
- Family Finances
- Literacy Development
- The Extended Family: The Child Care Dimension
- The Home as an Educational Resource
- The Parent-School Relationship
- Putting It Together: Estimating the Impact of Family and Home on Student Achievement
- Gaps in critical home experiences mirror the gaps in early school achievement – gaps that persist through the end of high school.
- Parent involvement in children’s learning and school and good communication between parents and school staff improves students’ success in school.
- The uneven distribution of income and wealth in the United States is intertwined with the huge disparities in the literacy and academic achievement of students.
- The quality of child care is most important during the first three years of life, when child-parent verbal interaction makes a critical difference in language development.
- Parents need to be informed of what they can do to support school achievement including: getting students off to school, establishing rules for viewing television and reading/talking with young children. Parents who are willing, but unable to do these things will need support.
- Parents, educators and policy leaders need to fully understand that raising student achievement involves much more than improving what goes on in classrooms.
- Addressing these issues is a shared responsibility amongst a wide range of leaders and decision-makers including: elected officials, community leaders and school system administrators.


Reflecting on Your Viewing Experience
Review your notes on Thalia's progress throughout the year. Consider the following questions for discussion:
- In what ways does Thalia develop as a reader and a writer over the year? What would you tell Thalia's first-grade teacher about her abilities at the end of kindergarten?
- What classroom practices and home experiences contributed to her progress in literacy? What goals does Mr. St. Clair set for Thalia during the year? How does he support Thalia in her reading and writing? How did his instruction influence her ability to focus on "the details"?
- What other classroom practices would you plan for her? What questions do you still have about Thalia's knowledge and use of reading and writing?
- How does the instruction Thalia receives in Spanish support her language and literacy development in English, and vice versa?
- How has this video influenced your teaching practices? What segments affirmed what you already knew and had been doing? What will you do differently as a result of watching this video?


We all know there are lots of online resources out there, but often we can’t afford to comb through it. Very useful pages are out there that we never hear about. I know I’ve made some very useful resources on my own site, including online tunelearning pages, and the people who know about and use them are mostly students, because it’s hard to let the right people know about it, and expensive to advertise. Perhaps you’d like to share in the comments below some of the ways you like to get the word out about your offerings?
One ever-changing music site with a lot of useful information, especially at a more basic level, is the about.com website. For ideas related to music education, go to http://musiced.about.com and you will find descriptions of various music methods (such as Kodaly, Orff, Suzuki), quite a few lesson plans for elementary school music ranging from Beethoven to Duke Ellington to folk songs; lesson plans that integrate music into language arts and other subjects; also reading lists, ads, biographies of composers, timelines for different periods of music, ads, discussions on music history, music theory with fairly thorough basic descriptions you can use or refer students to, ads, information on various musical instruments and how to choose and maintain them, ads, info about taking lessons, practicing, camps, schools, ads, online lessons and games for all ages, descriptions of about 40 careers in music, and ads.
Oh, and did I mention there are a lot of ads? Sometimes you have to look carefully to distinguish them from the articles, but many of the ads are actually pretty relevant and useful in themselves. For example they might refer you to music schools, commercial teacher resources, free online worksheets, and so on.
For specifically classical music, you can go to http://classicalmusic.about.com for
basic info about the music, an introduction to well-known performers, styles, lists of the top 5 or 10 selections in each style of music, bios of popular composers…oh yes, and ads.
There’s also a music teachers’ forum, called the Music Teachers Lounge, at this link, in case you’d like to post a thought, help others, or read other teacher comments.
You can also sign up to get a weekly article on music emailed to you.
About.com was owned by the New York Times for about 7 years but recently was sold to IAC, which runs many popular internet sites, such as dictionary.com, thesaurus.com, match.com, tutor.com, ask.com, and yes, usually with lots of ads!


- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
'There are several aspects of this book that will make it a stimulating and useful read for many teachers: the exposition of psychological research that demonstrates many of the processes underlying word reading and text comprehension; the focus on reading for meaning and reading behaviours; the inclusion of case studies, which demonstrate Colin Harrison's philosophy in practice' - Journal of Research in Reading
'It is a great text for literacy researchers, for education students in masters programmes, and for teachers wanting a more advanced knowledge and understanding of reading processes and what it means to develop reading comprehension. Colin Harrison provides strongly stated opinion that is well-grounded in an understanding of the literature and linked to political, educational and social contexts. A scholarly work in the truest sense! He is able to discuss and yet not get caught up in debates surrounding children's reading development, and he is not afraid to articulate his position based on the best evidence and experience'- Childforum, New Zealand
'Colin Harrison's knowledge of the research on reading processes and comprehension is encyclopaedic.... Compared to word-level factors, especially phonics, comprehension has been the poor relation in both research and teaching, so this book is just what is needed to redress the balance.... This is essential reading for all those committed to improving literacy attainment at all levels' - Professor Greg Brooks, University of Sheffield
This book focuses on how to understand reading processes and what it means to develop reading comprehension. With a wide-ranging theoretical basis, the author makes new connections between work in critical theory, cognitive psychology and literacy.
Key features include:
} how and why we read
} evaluating response to reading
} a whole-school approach to developing reading.
This book is highly recommended to teachers, literacy coordinators and students and lecturers of masters and doctoral programmes with a reading or literacy focus.
What Does Research Tell Us About the Reading Process and the Early Stages of Reading Development?
Understanding Understanding - Colin Harrison and John Perry
Developing Reading Comprehension - How We Learn from Texts
What We Have Learned from Research
Literacy Development in the Primary Classroom - Colin Harrison with Geraldine Kotsis
Fun, Phonics, Fluency, Fantasy and Developing Reading for Meaning
Case Studies of Reading Development at Secondary Level - Colin Harrison, Alan Dewar and Steve Willshaw
Developing Critical Literacy
Text, Discourse and the Collaborative Construction of Meaning
Evaluating Response to Reading
Can There Be Such A Thing As Postmodern Assessment?
A Whole-School Approach to Developing Reading
Policy Staff Development and Evaluation


Pre Primary School education is the foundation for the lifelong learning experience and starting point for formal education. Primary school curriculum is planned as an extension of pre primary with focus on all the developmental areas. The curriculum ensures that learning of the students is developed through building up on what they have learned earlier.
The syllabus used in the primary school is as per NCERT / CBSE while the curriculum framework is as provided by Cambridge International Primary Programme (CIPP) of the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE, Cambridge Board). The NCERT and CIPP syllabus maps very closely and in any case CIPP is very flexible in the choice of syllabus that a school makes.
The curriculum is designed to be trans disciplinary, this helps the students to correlate the learning to the real world creating relevance to the learning process in our schools. Focus is also on developing the skill of self-study, which is essential for middle and high school.
In our primary schools the focus is on learning the concepts in core subjects (English, math sciences, art, music and physical education) through activities, projects, and work-sheets.
At Education Active Website, the English curriculum has been divided into four areas.
- Listening & comprehension
- Speaking & comprehension
- Reading & comprehension
- Writing & comprehension.
This has been done to create clear objectives of developing language skills in students. It enables the students to have competence and confidence in using language.
In our primary schools the tools that we use to enable this learning are guided reading program, show & tell, Role play, drama, songs, poetry story-telling, writing of short stories, essays etc. language development is a continuous process happening across all the subject classes. Participation in the classroom discussions is a very important tool for language development and it is highly encouraged in our school.
In Education Active Website Math is taught in a way that is relevant to the children. They are encouraged to apply the concepts taught to real world problems. Math is taught in traditional schools as formulae with no relevance to their application, Education Active Website intends to change this and teach concepts only after explaining their relevance to solving practical problems. By the end of the primary school, children will be very comfortable in handling problems pertaining to numbers, shapes, measurement and data analysis.
Study of self and human surroundings is covered under social studies in our primary schools. The child becomes aware of the community and nation around him and the various roles (s)he and others play in this setting.
In our schools a lot of emphasis is laid on experimentation to teach science, as science is understanding of the interrelationships that exist in the material world. Children spend a good amount of their time in the lab to test out and build their hypothesis about the world around them. Education Active Website is dedicated in bringing out the best of your children at this delicate and important primary school level.
Curriculum builds on the familiarity of child to computers and progresses it to teach basic programming and manipulation using the power of the processor. By the end of the primary school years the child learns to use computers to tabulate data, test hypothesis, run basic programs, make documents and presentations, use design software to express his creativity and surf the internet to find material for his project work. At Education Active Website, a specialist teacher runs the well-equipped computer lab and guides the children in their technological inquisitiveness.
Curriculum mandates each student to spend a certain amount of time playing sports and doing physical activity. At Education Active Website, various sports are introduced to students where they get to develop different aspects of their physical and mental strengths. Sports are used to develop team spirit and a sense of participation and not just winning. Big play grounds and sports arena in both the schools provide the perfect pitches.
Art, Music and Drama activities also have been designed with the objective of inculcating the art of expression using different forms. Curriculum has been designed in our primary schools to nurture imagination which is an innate quality present in all children.
Implementing the best teaching methodologies, Education Active Website aims to be the best school in India.


The path to becoming an art teacher can have several entry points. Some begin by earning a bachelor's in education, while others choose to earn a degree focused on the arts. Whichever path you choose, you must earn a minimum of a bachelor's degree, and in some cases, a master's degree may be necessary.
All potential art teachers are required to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree. Teaching art at the elementary school level usually involves obtaining a bachelor's degree in elementary education, augmented by classes in the arts. At the high school level, many teachers opt for obtaining a bachelor's degree in the arts, augmented by classes in education. In both cases, the teaching and art classes can be taken simultaneously and incorporated into the degree program. Successfully completing an internship is also part of the degree requirements. Teaching art at a college or at a professional level requires further education, typically a master's degree.
To work as a teacher in the public school system, as well as many private institutions, a state teaching certificate is necessary. The basic requirements typically involve earning an approved bachelor's degree, logging in a specific number of hours in an internship, and passing a series of examinations on relevant subject matter. Prospective teachers are generally tested in areas such as classroom management, lesson planning and teaching methods.
Some public schools, as well as many colleges and universities, require art teachers to have a master's degree. Even if a master's degree isn't required, some teachers choose to further their education to enhance their chances of career advancement. Students with a bachelor's degree in education may choose to earn their master's degree in the arts, while students with a bachelor's degree in the arts may choose a master's in education.
Even though national certification isn't necessary, some art teachers decide to pursue art teaching certificates through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or NBPTS. The NBPTS offers certificates focusing on early and middle childhood or early adolescence through young adulthood. Candidates must have a minimum of a bachelor's degree, a valid teaching certificate or license, and at least three years of teaching experience. In addition, candidates must compile a four-part portfolio and pass a series of examinations.


Israeli Music History
Music in modern-day Israel has a rich history reaching back to the years before the founding of the State.
The second generation, most of them direct and indirect students of the first, have worked towards a musical expression which integrates the Hebrew language, with its consonants and intonation, its relevance to Jewish liturgy and tradition, and its incorporation into the Eastern world. The third and most recent group of composers manifest a desire to participate in international composition with no national profile, to grapple with the Holocaust through music and to break down barriers within music, merging Eastern and Western traditions and incorporating some innovations from popular music genres.
Talented young Israelis begin their training by attending one of the many conservatories or by studying with one of hundreds of private teachers; many gain experience by joining one of the country's youth orchestras. Further study is provided at the degree-granting academies for music and dance in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Master classes for singers, instrumentalists, and chamber groups are frequently conducted by visiting international artists at the academies, as well as at the Jerusalem Music Center.
Music education and research at institutions of higher learning were inaugurated at the beginning of the 1960s with the establishment of the Artur Rubinstein Chair of Musicology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since then, musicology departments have been added at Tel Aviv University and Bar llan University. Two major areas of specialization are offered: Jewish music and the music of Israel's various ethnic groups, with particular emphasis on the music of the Eastern/Sephardic communities.
"The songs and I are friends for life" is not just a line in a lyric, but expresses the proprietary attitude of Israelis towards their songs.
The early pioneers brought their songs with them, translating the original lyrics into Hebrew or setting new Hebrew words to treasured tunes. Since then, thousands of songs have been written, with melodies incorporating elements of the musical styles brought by consecutive waves of immigrants, ranging from Arab and Yemenite traditions to modern rock and pop, sometimes set to biblical or traditional texts or to the modern verses of Israeli poets and lyricists.
While it is difficult to define a typical Hebrew song, Israelis differentiate between songs written in Hebrew, on various themes and in a variety of styles, and the Shir Ivri ("Hebrew Song"), whose words transmit the voices, values and moods of the country and whose melodies are dominated by Slavic influences.
Accompanying the major historical events in the national life of the Jewish people over the past century, these songs have recorded the nation's dreams, pains and hopes. While expressing universal sentiments like all folk songs, they also articulate strongly Israeli feelings such as love of the country and its landscape. These are the songs everyone knows, the songs which have become an integral part of the nation's cultural legacy.
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Benefits for music education in schools extend to academics
There are many benefits for music education in schools. The importance of music in education to support brain function and memory in academic subjects adds to the value of music education in schools.
In the public school music room, children learn to appreciate music and to move to the beat. They learn to feel the rhythm in their bodies which is very important because the brain, too, has a rhythm of its own as blood is pumped by the steady beating of the heart muscle.
Beyond the music room the benefits for music education are often overlooked.
Music and Academics
As a vehicle for memory, music just can't be beat. It is one of the greatest benefits for music education. If you ever learned something using a song, you know that once you have learned it, it is almost impossible to forget. The song gets stuck in your head and stays with you forever.
The tune to Frere Jacques makes learning the quadratic formula a snap ("Negative b, negative b, plus or minus square root, plus or minus square root...."). So why don't we all use songs in our classrooms to help children with the task of remembering?
Is there a better way to study poetry than through the lyrics of songs? It is the best way I have found for teaching figurative language. I had to screen the songs carefully, of course, but I always managed to find songs from every genre for illustrating simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and personification. I've shared some suggested titles in the right column.
Children learn whole/part relationships and fractions when studying music since two quarter notes typically equal one half note, two half notes (and four quarter notes) equal one whole note, and so on.
In addition, songs and chants can be used as memory aids for key vocabulary, concepts, and procedures. My sixth grade math students say they can't get our current song about decimals and percents out of their heads! (I have to admit, I find myself humming it, too!)
The song, along with the fact that there is a letter "l" in the word decimal (for "left") and an "r" in percent (for "right") should provide a vehicle for memory as we learn the true relationship between the two.
Decimal to Percent, Percent to Decimal Song
Tune: I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart
If you want the decimal, hop to the left, hop to the left, hop to the left.
If you want the decimal, hop to the left, hop to the left today!
And if percent is what you want then you must hop to the right, hop to the right, hop to the right.
If percent is what you want then you must hop to the right, hop to the right today!
The entire history of the world could be taught through its music. Every culture has its own music, and since mothers everywhere sing lullabies to their children in many different languages, a sense of the oneness of mankind could be instilled in our youth by teaching children how we are the same rather than focusing on how we are different.
Adding music to any PE program makes it more fun. Carrie Flint, a leader in the field, offers tips and suggestions at her website,
Musical PE Plus.
Music for Stress Reduction
The brain does not function well under stress. As a matter of fact, it "shuts down" and switches to survival mode at these times. So anything we can do to limit
is going to help the children in our classrooms.
One of the most important ways we can reduce stress and create the optimum learning
for our children is by using music for stress reduction.
It is well-documented that music can lower blood pressure and promote healing. Listening to favorite songs can elevate the mood and foster a sense of well being.
There is power in music, no doubt about it. Most relaxation techniques used in yoga and meditation involve music, and it is what I believe to be a largely untapped resource in our schools.
Return to Use of Music from Benefits for Music Education
Go to Learning Environment from Benefits for Music Education


National Association for Music Education
The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States. Founded in 1907 as the Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC), the organization was known from 1934 to 1998 as the Music Educators National Conference (origin of the MENC acronym). From 1998 to 2011 it was known as "MENC: The National Association for Music Education." On September 1, 2011, the organization changed its acronym from MENC to NAfME, and in March 2012, Professor Glenn Nierman was elected President-Elect of NAfME. On March 8, 2012, the organization's name legally became National Association for Music Education. The acronym "NAfME" is used. With more than 130,000 members, NAfME headquarters are located in Reston, Virginia.
NAfME functions regionally through more than fifty state (or state-level) affiliates. These federated state associations include: organizations representing each of the fifty U.S. states; the District of Columbia; and a single affiliate for Europe.
As of May 1, 2010 NAfME staff members are led by Michael A Butera. Previous to that, staff was led by John J. Mahlmann who retired in early 2010.
- "Press Reslease: Building on the Past to Shape the Future of Music Education". NAfME official website. NAfME. 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- "New NAfME President Seeks to Restore Trust". Sociomusicology blog. David Hebert. 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- "NAfME Federated State Associations". NAfME official website. NAfME. 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- NAfME: The National Association for Music Education
- Affiliated organizations
- MENC Historical Center - archives at the Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland


|Product #: OTM18108_TQ|
Sight Words and Phonics Book 4 (Resource Book Only) eBookKindergarten|Grade 1
Please Note: This ebook is a digital download, NOT a physical product. After purchase, you will be provided a one time link to download ebooks to your computer. Orders paid by PayPal require up to 8 business hours to verify payment and release electronic media. For immediate downloads, payment with credit card is required.
Unique resource designed for emerging readers and readers having difficulty or requiring review at any level. Designed to assist educators and parent to build and improve reading skills through the introduction of the fourth set of 50 Dolch Sight Words and the reinforcement of important Phonics skills. At the same time vowel combinations are introduced and reinforced. There are six units in the workbook. It is easy to use and proven method for improved reading! Each unit introduces 10 sight words that are broken up into 2 lists of 5. In between each list a short vowel is introduced. Sight Words and vowels are then reinforced through short sentences and revision activities that follow. To end the unit the student reads a short story that only contains words they have learned and practiced. Flash cards for Dolch Sight Words taught are included on card stock. Simply cut and use! Supports Common Core Standards for Reading, Foundational Skills, Phonological Awareness and Phonics and Word Recognition.
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Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
June 7, 2013
Beginning June 10, close to 200 young students will pack the classrooms of Miller Middle School in San Marcos and move toy cars, hop frogs along a number line and play with mathematics as part of the 18th annual Mathworks Junior Summer Math Camp sponsored by Texas State University.
Through those activities, the students will build foundational skills related to negative and positive integers, fractions, graphing and advanced problem solving. The 2013 JSMC will be held June 10-21, Mondays through Fridays, with classes running 8 a.m. to noon.
Mathworks, a center at Texas State, has partnered with the San Marcos school district to provide bus transportation for district students. In addition, all camp students will be provided breakfast, a snack and lunch. Parents are invited to attend a "Parent Open House" the morning of Wednesday, June 19, and learn more about the math concepts their students are learning during the two weeks.
Mathworks strives to engage students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, and this summer close to 50 percent of students will be attending the program on a scholarship. The impact of Mathworks' summer math program is reinforced year after year as students are able to attend for five consecutive summers, learning new concepts as they move through the levels of the camp. Students take what they've learned in the summer and enter the school year with increased self-confidence and abilities.
By providing high quality math programs in June, Mathworks plays an integral part in addressing the challenge of disparity in summer learning opportunities. A 2010 Wallace Foundation report said, "More than half of the achievement gap present in ninth grade between lower and higher income youth can be explained by summer learning loss that disproportionately affects low-income children. It is a significant part of the reason that low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college."
The vision of serving students of all backgrounds is also a key reason behind the Mathworks Legacy Campaign, which has a $6 million dollar endowment goal. Having an endowment would enable Mathworks to serve all students for the foreseeable future and not deny any child the opportunity to maximize their potential.
Held in conjunction with the day camp at Miller Middle School is a residential JSMC for 40 6th-8th grade students, who will live on the Texas State campus. New for this summer will be a 50-student day camp in north Austin, held at the university's Round Rock campus.
For more information about any Mathworks program, please call (512) 245-3439 or e-mail email@example.com.


About the Program
One Book, Every Young Child
Up, Down, and Around, a beautiful picture book by author Katherine Ayres and illustrator Nadine Bernard Westcott for children ages 3 to 6, is Pennsylvania’s One Book, Every Young Child 2008 selection.
This is the third year of this important program to highlight the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers. In its inaugural year, the One Book, Every Young Child program won a coveted national John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award.
The collaborating agencies all believe strongly in supporting early literacy efforts. They are working together to develop a multifaceted program accessible to all areas and populations of the state. There are 560,000 children in the target age group, many of which are in the state’s childcare facilities, Head Start programs, licensed preschools or kindergartens.
Adults with preschoolers in their lives will learn how they can support the development of literacy in preschool children. Because it is important for children to be prepared for school, One Book, Every Young Child will provide opportunities for adults to read aloud, share books and stories and related activities with preschoolers. These activities have been shown to be crucial to early learning.
The One Book, Every Young Child program goes far beyond just giving parents and caregivers a book to read to preschoolers. The program’s design is based on studies showing that simply reading a book is not enough. Adults must find ways to engage children in activities like talking about a book’s cover and illustrations, discussing the action in the book and favorite parts, pretend play related to the book and more.
Information and program ideas have been developed by librarians and museum educators from across Pennsylvania to promote the value and benefits of reading early and often to preschoolers and to encourage family bonding through books and reading.
Throughout the year, there will be local events supporting the One Book, Every Young Child reading initiative, including 20 days of author visits across the state; library and museum programming for families; activities for parents, early care providers and educators on the Web site www.paonebook.org; and state government VIPs across the state reading to children in libraries and other sites.
There also will be 65 traveling trunks developed by museum educators to help expand upon the concepts in Up, Down, and Around. Each trunk is filled with fun book-related puppets, games and manipulatives for young children. In addition, each trunk includes a guide for librarians and educators that encourages use of the trunk contents in activities that are aligned with the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards.
One Book, Every Young Child is made possible through a collaboration of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Please Touch Museum, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Public Television Network, Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, The Pennsylvania Child Care Association, PennSERVE, HSLC/Access PA and Verizon. This program was supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by Pennsylvania’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
Previous selections of One Book, Every Young Child are:
- 2007 Book Selection
A Splendid Friend, Indeed by author and illustrator Suzanne Bloom
- 2006 Book Selection
Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse by author and illustrator Lindsay Barrett George


May 14, 2013
Dig Into Reading at your local library
Reading and math summer programs aim
to keep children learning this summer
Colorado Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond and the Colorado State Library are urging educators and families to help students retain and develop academic skills by reading and practicing math skills during summer vacation. For Colorado's students, summer is a time of fun, but those months away from school can result in a loss of knowledge and reading ability. Summer reading and math programs include additional offerings to keep students engaged and excited about learning.
“Reading and mathematics are foundational skills our students need to be productive, successful citizens,” said Gene Hainer, assistant commissioner of the State Library. “Participation in these programs will help students retain and develop academic skills, so they are well-prepared to return to school in the fall.”
Public libraries across Colorado will encourage children, teens, and adults to read this summer through Dig Into Reading, this year’s summer reading program. The program invites people of all ages to explore everything underground while reading, attending fun events and engaging in activities like making your own fossils. Visit your local public library for more information and to register for the free program.
In addition to the summer reading program at public libraries, Find a Book Colorado is a tool that enables students and parents to create personalized reading lists to match a reader with books that interest them and provide the right level of challenge to support reading growth. It includes books for children in grades K-12 and books in Spanish. Parents can access Find a Book Colorado online from home.
New this year, is the Summer Math Challenge, a program that helps prevent summer math loss for students entering grades 3-6. Once signed up, parents can get daily emails with fun activities and resources. The program begins on Monday, June 24 and runs for six weeks. Enroll at quantiles.com/accounts/registration/.


We must ensure that fine and performing arts are an integral part of everyone's education. That's the proposition advanced by two national commissions on the Arts in Education on which I've served - one sponsored by the Education Commission of the States, and the other, by the College Board.
In this era of severe "reductionism" - of taking everything down to its presumed basics and single-mindedly focusing on the most important of these - education in the arts has suffered. Yet there is so little that many non-arts educators and education policy makers really understand about the importance of arts education.
Art education is about far more than learning to draw or play a musical instrument. Numerous research studies have found that kids who are engaged in arts courses do better in their other courses - including the "all important" mathematics and English language arts - than those who are not. But more, arts education develops abilities that aren't addressed in the "core" academic subjects. An 11-minute video prepared by the Arts Education Partnership for its 10th Anniversary in 2005 offers some observations by knowledgeable educators and policy makers on this importance (I'm honored to appear a few times):
So why study the arts? Continuing on the hierarchy of learning lists that I started in Why Study Algebra? and Why Study History?, education in the performing arts develops students' abilities in coordination, teamwork and harmony, and interpretation. The fine arts develop abilities in depiction, dealing with differences, creativity, and emotion. Or, as a professor at the Columbus College of Art and Design once suggested to me, the arts teach us about our soul. And for those who no longer pursue the experiential education of creating art, we can certainly benefit from the personal enrichment and enjoyment of appreciating it.
These are vitally important abilities and understandings in this 21st century. Of course, some may be developed through other educational means. But they probably cannot be developed so readily in students so early in their studies through other disciplines.
A demonstration of these propositions is presented in the achievements of TED Prize winner Jose Antonio Abreu, founder of "El Sistema," a youth orchestra education system that has transformed hundreds of thousands of kids' lives in Venezuela. Just watch and listen for a few moments and you'll be inspired by the virtuosity of poor and middle class kids there in this arts program, in a recent TED broadcast:
As Sr. Abreu states in his TED Prize address: "In its essence, the orchestra and choir are much more than artistic structures; they are examples of schools and of social life, because to sing and to play together means to intimately coexist toward perfection and excellence, following a strict discipline of organization and coordination in order to seek the harmonic interdependence of voices and instruments. That's how they build a spirit of solidarity and fraternity among them, develop their self-esteem, and foster ethical and aesthetical values related to the music in all its sense. This is why music is immensely important in the awakening of sensibility, the forging of values, and in the training of youngsters to teach other kids." His further observations on the effect of his "El Sistema" music education program "in the personal/social circle, in the family circle, and in the community" are well worth contemplating as we seek to reform education in our own country.
Learning to come together with our differences: Isn't that an educational objective we should insist that everyone achieves? Let's be sure to start with all our kids - and also to remediate ourselves.