MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN KNOWLEDGE ADOPTION
Education at Savremena is supported by the latest technology, carefully selected to make it easier for the children to adopt new knowledge in an interesting and efficient way. In addition to traditional skills and competencies gained through elementary education, Savremenaâs students have the benefit of additional programmes that make them familiar with the following technologies and let them take their first steps in the IT world.
Latest generation iPads and laptops
State-of-the-art laptops and tablets are continually available to Savremenaâs students. The combination of these devices and adequate educational programmes lets them adopt knowledge through exploration and fun.
Sphero Mini robot
This is a multipurpose educational device used at a specially designed range. Working with this robot, your child develops various competences â from STEAM, through language, to logical and creative thinking.
Robots mBot and Ultimate 2.0
Using these robots, children develop engineering and mathematics knowledge. The students assemble the robots in more that 20 ways, and then use simple block coding to program them to execute different commands.
With this set, the students assemble and design a robot with no additional tools. The children then use the already familiar Swift platform to program it to move in various ways.
LEGO Simple Machines Set
Using LEGO blocks designed for education and the adoption of STEM knowledge, your child builds gears, levers, wheels and axles and learns how they work.
Alpha Pro and Sphero SPRK +
These robots constitute STEM tools designed for older children to help them learn coding and further develop their science, technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge.
Ultimate Starter Learning Kit for Raspberry Pi
This set comprises over 50 electronic components and 180 parts and lets the children express their creativity with no software and hardware limitations. Using this tool, your child masters the fundamentals of Linux programming and electronics.
3D pen, printer and scanner
3D pen lets the students draw in three dimensions, directly creating tangible objects. A 3D printer prints objects layer by layer, creating anything thatâs required â from machine parts, through toys, to human organs. 3D scanner gathers information on three-dimensional objects and creates a digital model.
With this type of whiteboard, the teacher can use a number of materials on the surface; to mark, zoom, underline and draw using touch. This makes it easier for children to follow the lessons and save them to their own devices using the sharing option.
With this voice sensitive device, the children ask a number of questions and get answers about natural phenomena, historical events, book contents, etc.
This touch sensitive device has been designed to be used by several persons at the same time, which teaches children about teamwork by knowledge adoption through play.
Samsung Gear VR
Virtual reality headset lets children visualise the concepts encountered in class, which helps them immerse themselves into the teaching process and get the information they need.
An indispensable âmemberâ of our STEAM lab is MiRo-E, an interactive robot pet, designed in order to facilitate knowledge adoption when it comes to programming and the STEAM subjects, as well as to help students develop their problem solving approach and lateral thinking, and set their creativity free.
Enrolment for 2023/24 is underway!Click on this link to apply Â»


Articles about Soroban and Education in UK
Japanese teaching methods heading to the UK as British pupils look to play catch up
By Jonathan Petre 3 November 2012
"Japanese children can perform mathematical calculations far in advance of their British counterparts just by mastering the abacus, new research has found.
School children as young as five are able to add up five numbers, each running into billions or trillions, in just half a minute - and some Japanese teenagers can add so quickly that scientists are at a loss to explain their skill. "
A Sense of Number - using the Soroban in primary mathematics
By Rachel Jackson, Primary Specialist, National STEM Centre
"There were three main reasons why Japan was top of the class at maths.
Firstly many Japanese adults, unlike myself, remembered their times tables. They are commonly taught as a nursery rhyme, the musical recitation making it easier for them to remember.
Secondly in Japanese eleven is ten one; twelve is ten two whereas in English we have to learn to twenty before there is a clear pattern.
The third reason was the extensive use of the abacus or Soroban in the teaching of number."
Source: National STEM Centre
Make Britain Count
The Telegraph's 2012 campaign aims to tackle Britain's growing problem with numeracy skills, where seven million adults cannot grasp basic mathematics. Find out more about the reforms needed and how you can get involved.
little more about you.?
OECD school league tables:
UK ranked 28th for maths
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor 07 Dec 2010
"The UK has been ranked below the international average for mathematics as part of a major league table charting education standards across the developed world.
Today's study by the OECD showed England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had fallen from 24th when the tables were last published to 28th this year.
The UK performed worse in maths than any other subject."
New primary curriculum to bring higher standards in English, maths and science
Published 11 June 2012 by Department for Education
"The drafts include the following:
Higher standards in maths
Pupils will be expected to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions in primary school so they can progress to more advanced topics like algebra when they go to secondary school. These four operations are not in the current primary curriculum. The proposed change is consistent with expectations in the high-performing education jurisdictions of Singapore and Hong Kong.
By age 9, pupils should know their times tables up to 12x12. This is in line with expectations in the high-performing jurisdiction of Massachusetts. Currently pupils only need to know up to 10x10 by the end of primary school.
By age seven, pupils should know ânumber bondsâ up to 20. These are simple addition and subtraction facts that pupils should be able to recognise and use instantly (e.g. 9+9=18 or 16-7=9). "


Nurturing Ubuntu, the African Form of Human Flourishing Through Inclusive Home Based Early Childhood Education
Opiyo, Rose Atieno
MetadataShow full item record
Human flourishing has recently gained more attention in the world as a prerequisite safety net for better human resilience in uncertain times. While most Western authors believe that human flourishing is an individual issue, gained in later life, African communities that are largely communal may not have the same view. Communalism as opposed to individualism as a key pillar in African Ubuntu thinking makes it a possibility that there is a departure in the contextualisation of human flourishing and its pathways. This explores the African conceptualisation of flourishing in the Ubuntu lens and how communities are coming together to cultivate it by implementing home based early childhood learning centres. Desk review was used to learn the contextual meaning of human flourishing and different pathways to it in African community settings. Home based early learning centres operated by parents was seen as a core activity to nurture Ubuntu, as each family and community member becomes useful in provide a service that helps others to flourish at different stages of life. The paper concludes that the use of the home-based early childhood model as a flourishing intervention helps to engage every member of the community for the good of their children, bringing live the Ubuntu saying âI am a person because of other persons.â This study is significant in that it proposes home-based early learning as a more viable pathway way to human flourishing and redirects the focus of flourishing to a younger age group.
- Gold Collection


An exciting pre k activity is that of sequencing. You can learn how to sequence anything from stories to numbers to objects! Sequencing is important for young learners because it provides an introduction to pattern recognition, an important skill for math. For this activity, we used mermaid manipulatives to create various patterns. These were two and three color patterns that they were asked to repeat. Everyone enjoyed seeing just how many mermaids they could fit into their sequences!
Literacy manipulatives are physical objects that aid understanding of concepts or processes by allowing students to physically demonstrate and see the concept or process.
The use of manipulatives provides a way for students to learn concepts in a developmentally-appropriate, hands-on, experiential way.
Literacy manipulatives can be used to promote reading and writing skills, particularly in the early stages of literacy development for young readers.
For this activity, we used manipulatives to spell the word MERMAID.
Students were asked to name each letter in the word, trace it with their fingers, and eventually, place jewels on top!
With most of our blue planet covered by water, itâs little wonder that, centuries ago, the oceans were believed to hide mysterious creatures including sea serpents and mermaids.
Merfolk (mermaids and mermen) are, of course, the marine version of half-human, half-animal legends that have captured human imagination for ages.
One source, the âArabian Nights,â described mermaids as having âmoon faces and hair like a womanâs but their hands and feet were in their bellies and they had tails like fishes.â
We had so much fun learning about mermaids this week!
We talked about King Triton from the movie, The Little Mermaid, sung the song âUnder the Seaâ, and created mermaid tails with bubble wrap!
For this activity, we used a few materials to create our own version of the Disney story, The Little Mermaid.
With seashells, toy mermaids, a wooden house and their thinking minds, students enjoyed creating their very own mermaid lagoon!
Writing is a skill that most people use every single day, whether it be writing a note to a friend or writing a check to a utility company. Even in the age of technology, the written word is still everywhere. But how do you teach a young child the proper way to write? The first step is simpleâ¦ pre-writing. Pre-writing is learning the skills necessary to begin writing.
Pre-writing is an important step because it teaches children the correct way to hold a pencil, how to use a good, firm grip, and emphasizes the use of fine motor skills. Pre-writing also helps children with the development of hand/eye coordination, learn that words go left to right, and that lines of writing go top to bottom on a page. For this activity, we traced the letter M into trays full of glitter. Students were first instructed to trace a pre-made letter, and then were guided to create their own! Although it was much more fun to create mountains out of the glitter, we are very proud of some of the magnificent letters we created!
The first theme of our âFantasy Monthâ started out with the mermaid! This was accepted with much enthusiasm, as we deemed Monday, âMermaid Monday.â
To celebrate, we created mermaid tales out of glass jewels and colored diagrams.
Students selected a variety of jewels, and placed the correct match onto the corresponding section of the mermaid tale.


It is the body of scientific research over the last several decades that proves how the brain learns to become a skilled reader and writer. When we say something is aligned with the science of reading, we mean that it is aligned with the research that has proven to be effective.
What Does the Research Say?
It says some things you probably already know. There are five pillars of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Since humans are not born programmed to read, reading must be learned. Our brains have connections for sight and speech, but we have to build the connections used for reading and writing.
How Is This done?
First, we teach phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the manipulation of individual speech sounds.
Secondly, we focus on phonics once children are comfortable with the spoken sounds. Phonics is the process of connecting letters to sounds. Effective phonics instruction must be explicit and systematic.
What Does That Look Like?
- Skills are directly modeled.
- Students are guided to correct responses.
- Quick and immediate feedback is provided.
- Students practice for mastery.
- Consistent instruction is delivered.
- Teachers guide students to master basic skills before moving to more challenging ones.
The third pillar, fluency, is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. When a student is not a fluent reader, the act of reading is slow and tiring for them, and they may not understand what they try to read. Simply encouraging students to read frequently is an effective way to improve fluency. Teachers and family members should model fluent reading, and students should be encouraged to practice reading aloud with their peers, teachers, and other adults.
Finally, students need a broad vocabulary to become good readers. Vocabulary is the knowledge of word meanings associated with speech and print. A wide-ranging vocabulary of common, everyday as well as language- specific words to academic subjects is necessary for students to communicate their ideas and to understand texts.
Vocabulary can be taught directly or indirectly. For example, a teacher might directly teach a vocabulary word by pointing out an unfamiliar word in a text, giving the students the definition, and discussing its meaning. Vocabulary can be learned indirectly through informal conversations and interactions with a variety of books, videos, and other media. It is important that students have multiple exposures to different vocabulary words in and out of school.
When students have a strong vocabulary and can read fluently, they are able to make sense of what is read. Comprehension is the understanding of a text. Teachers and other adults can model the skills they use to comprehend text by thinking out loud as they read. Some of these comprehension skills might include questioning and answering, summarizing, or the use of graphic organizers to organize thoughts. Comprehension also depends on developing and activating background knowledge that is relevant to the topic. Teachers may incorporate âclose readingâ or a deep examination of the text to give students an opportunity to practice the skills necessary to accurately comprehend the texts they read in school.
All West Virginia schools will be implementing instruction that ensures all these pillars related to the science of reading are taught to students. Because decades of research exists explaining how and why these topics should be taught, our schools can take the guesswork out of how to teach the complicated skill of reading to all students. Scientific, research-based instruction will make it easier for all West Virginia children to learn to read proficiently. It will open doors for students who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to become proficient readers, writers, and overall successful citizens in our society of constant communication.


Mrs. Shelley Amari
Ms. Caitlin Burke
Mrs. Amanda Krumsiek
Mrs. Deborah McMaster
Special Education Inclusion Teacher:
The second grade teachers collaborate to provide our students with hands on learning experiences across the curriculum. We teach the foundational skills of reading and writing through the use of a variety of resources that actively promote learning and connect to the common core standards. Throughout the year the students will learn math concepts such as regrouping, place value, money, measurement, geometry and telling time. As a team we celebrate everyone's uniqueness and encourage all of our students to embrace all of the qualities that make them who they are.
Special Education Information
The Special Education team provides instruction and support for students with disabilities. We collaborate with general education teachers and staff in adapting the curriculum, providing/implementing of modifications, and assessing the overall progress of each student. The Special Education team continues to collaborate and develop positive relationships with general education staff and parents during the school year.


Isatu Bangura tells her fellow learners at the SLAES Literacy Class graduation ceremony how she feels empowered and now wants to continue her education. Photo: JSI/APC Sierra Leone
Isatu Bangura was illiterate when she joined the adult literacy program. She could neither read nor write her name, and she had no basic numeracy skills. She struggled to fill out bank slips and was unable to help her eight-year-old daughter with her assignments.
Isatu lived her whole life in Mabella community, a congested coastal slum settlement in Freetown with densely populated, makeshift housing structures. Residents of this community suffer extreme levels of poverty, illiteracy, and other vulnerabilities, including severe undernourishment and reoccurring health issues.
The nature of the community made it particularly susceptible to the Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016. While almost 4,000 people across Sierra Leone survived Ebola, survivors like Isatu living in Mabella also face serious social and economic issues, in addition to the stigma and discrimination experienced by many survivors.
To help rebuild the lives of Ebola survivors, JSIâs USAID-funded Advancing Partners & Communities project, in collaboration with Partners in Health (PIH) and the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors (SLAES), is offering an adult literacy program for Ebola survivors and their families in Freetown. The program has 179 learners enrolled across Westerns Area Urban, with classes hosted at eight different centers, including one in the Mabella community. The program runs a 3â4 month cycle where learners are taught basic literacy skills including reading, writing, and numeracy.
Since starting the program, Isatu has learned to write her name and sign documents. She can now read and also write simple sentences. By attending classes and gaining new knowledge, Isatu is able to count and support her daughter with basic math assignments and other subject areas.
âI can still remember the first day our teacher asked me to call the class attendance. I was shaking and terrified, wondering if I could do it. But after a lot of corrections, I finally did it. Can you image that I am the one who calls class attendance on daily basis?â said Isatu.
For her, being able to access adult literacy has been a life-changing experience. âWith all the difficulties around meâfamily problems, business engagements to make ends meet, and community provocations etc.âI still managed to overcome everything. Some people even thought that I was wasting my time by trying to learn at my age. I thank God that I was able to do so and today, I see myself as heroine for making this sacrifice.â
More than 175 survivors and their families graduated from the adult literacy class supported by Advancing Partners & Communities. Photo: JSI/APC Sierra Leone
Isatu Bangura is just one of the 179 learners who have benefited from adult literacy classes. The impact of the program extends far beyond the classroom. âSierra Leone has some of the highest illiteracy rates in the world, especially among women,â says Mara Kadra-Nelson, Director of Community-Based Programs for PIH. âWe know that illiteracy is linked to poverty and poor health outcomes, and investments in supporting literacy can positively impact so many aspects of a personâs well-being.â
Isatu agrees, âI can proudly recommend these classes for any adult wishing to learn how to read and write. Teaching us how to read and write, and also how to be self-reliant, is the start of our journey, after surviving Ebola, towards realizing our hopes and demonstrating resilience.â
Through its partnership with PIH, Advancing Partners & Communitiesâ Ebola Transmission Prevention and Survivor Services ProgramâStrengthening Health Services Post-Ebola (SHSPE) project supports an intensive capacity building program with SLAES. The program focuses on key areas of capacity development that enable the organization to be self-sustaining. As one component of this initiative, SLAES leaders learned project management hands-on with guidance from the JSI team. They chose to implement the adult literacy project as a priority for building resiliency within their community.


What this research was about and why it is important
An increasing number of countries have introduced foreign language learning into the primary school curriculum. At the same time, the need for teachers to track learnersâ progress and provide assessment data on that learning has also grown. While assessment can give learners the sense of progress that is important for maintaining motivation, it may also cause them anxiety and take away from the sense of enjoyment that is central to early language learning. This may be especially true for learners of lower levels of attainment. It can be particularly challenging for teachers to assess in a way that meets the needs of the wide range of learners they have in their classes. This study examined how well a computer game provided solutions to these challenges, drawing conclusions about the importance of employing assessment methods that protect rather than diminish motivation for all learners.
What the researchers did
â 3437 learners of English, Spanish, German, Italian and French in England, Spain, German and Italy (ages 6-13) played a computer game that scored their competence in listening, reading and writing (The Language Magician) by asking them to complete language tasks in order to win the freedom of animals imprisoned by an evil magician.
â Learners then completed a questionnaire asking them whether the game was fun to play, whether it told them how well they were doing in language learning, whether the game was easy or difficult and whether they would like to play it again. Open-ended questions asked them to identify the aspect of the game they liked or disliked.
â The researchers analysed learnersâ responses to the questionnaire to explore their perceptions of it. They focused in particular on whether perceptions varied according to how well learners had scored on the game, whether they were male or female, and how old they were.
What the researchers found
â Overall, learners held very positive attitudes to the game.
â The vast majority (94%) agreed that they would like to play the game again; 88% felt that the game told them how well they were doing at language learning.
â Learners liked the gameâs storyline, the challenge of completing the tasks to free the animals, and feeling that they were better at the language than they had previously thought. Finding some tasks hard was the most commonly mentioned aspect that they disliked.
â Quite a number of learners (40%) did not feel the game was easy. However, statistical tests showed that learners found the game enjoyable and worthwhile even if they did not find it easy.
â There was no significant relationship between age at testing and overall positivity towards the game, showing that it appealed to learners from across the age range.
â Girls and boys alike were very positive about the game but girls found it significantly more fun to play and were more willing to play the game again than boys were.
Things to consider
â Digital game-based assessment offers a potential solution to the challenge of assessing young learners, especially for meeting the needs of a range of learners in mixed-attainment classes.
â The positivity such games encourages from learners seems to stem from their elements of fantasy and strong storyline, and the emotional engagement, challenge and sense of competence they promote.
â Future research should explore whether using such forms of assessment has a positive impact on learnersâ motivation for language study in the long-term.
Teaching and testing materials available at www.iris-.database.org
How to cite this summary: Graham, S. (2020). Assessing young language learners: Motivation and sense of progress across the age, gender and proficiency range. RiPL Summary of Courtney, L. and Graham, S. (2019) in Language Teaching for Young Learners.


Kids love Copy, Play and Learn Guitar. Lesson + Tutorial number 26. Designed just for them.
If you and your children are cooped up all day and looking for things to do, why not learn guitar? There's never been a better time to learn and the lessons are absolutely free.
Copy, Play and Learn Guitar is a great resource to start with. The music is age appropriate and the teaching methodology is in line with the way kids naturally learn. By making use of the free videos and teaching resources that are available on this website, learning is even easier and more fun.
Young children learn by imitating the actions of a parent or teacher and the pieces use visually logical and easily memorable finger patterns of only one or two bars in length.
Learning to read music is hard work and a child often gets confused and frustrated by the complex symbols and signs that make up written music. This teaching method allows the child to play and gradually make sense of written music. To play guitar and make music straight away, reading music not required but like an old man getting into a hot bath, it is a process that will happen gradually. In this video, lesson 26 in the series, The student learns how to work out note names using imaginary notes when the notes don't move by step.
A story, woven into the pieces, evolves as the student progresses. As for being a part in an evolving story, we learn that Simon, the main character tells his friends that his sister eats worms. This sets the scene for some sibling rivalry that many children can relate to.
For more information, E book purchase, free backing tracks, teachers resources and more, please visit the website, https://www.copyplayandlearn.com/
Guitar Teaching Program
To achieve the best results and a positive learning experience for young guitar students, a good teaching program is essential. Copy, Play and Learn Guitar is the best available kids guitar book for very young students. It uses modern, child friendly techniques designed for their stage of physical and cognitive development. It addresses the issues and implements strategies to achieve note reading fluency and chord recognition. Using exciting and engaging songs as subject matter, it comes with free backing tracks, teaching resources and teaching points for each piece. There are also free videos available on YouTube. As the child progresses through the book, a story evolves of a boy and his friends and family involving racing cars, pets, smelly socks and more.
About the Author
Music Educator, Composer and Guitarist, Bryce Leader, holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree and an A(Mus)A in Classical Guitar. He has been a classroom music teacher and guitar teacher for over thirty years and performs regularly in classical, jazz, rock and country music contexts.


SCAI offers cultural, arts and music education and experiences tailored to promote a high sense of self awareness and develop emotional intelligence. Our programs follow an educational curriculum that has healing regimens. Arts education is essential in reducing student dropout rates, raising student attendance, developing better team players, fostering a love for learning, improving student dignity, enhancing student creativity, and producing a better prepared citizen for the world. Sufficient data supports the belief that the study of participation in the arts is a key component in improving learning throughout all academic areas.
Steel City Arts Initiative (SCAI) provides quality art and music education within the classroom by partnering with local schools who no longer offer such programming due to lack of funding (or otherwise). Our qualified educators implement a curriculum that adheres to state and national education standards. SCAI is the Limit!
SCAI is always looking for qualified teachers/educators and interns to help lead the charge in providing excellent music and art education.
Who is an educator?
Certified music and art teachers
Those pursuing teaching certification (student-teachers)
Rhyme & Release
The objective of Rhyme and Release is to create a safe space for participants to discover and become who they are. SCAI provides the tools needed to express themselves. This goal is achieved through the methodology we use to deliver our program. One of the major forms of expression are words. Integrated into our curriculum is a robust wordsmith praxis where students naturally build their vocabulary. Rhyme and Release is one of our signature programs offered at S.C.A.I. This program allows all participants to creatively express their emotions through produced music, writing, and exposure to cultural arts.
Research has proven the importance of creating music to young people. Our Rhyme and release program allows the participants to express their feelings, emotions and trauma through rhyme and release it into the world through produced music. An understanding of the inner workings of a music studio is a necessary component of this music production. In order to meet this need, the SCAI has developed a community music and production studio to engage the time and nurture the talents of emerging artists and serve as a safe, creative place for children of the community. Our studio will teach the technical skills of how a music studio works: music production from start to finish and an understanding of the elements of a successful studio. More importantly, anyone will have the ability to create and release that creation to the world. Rhyme and Release is a unique program that focuses on organization of thought, expression, creative writing and poetry that is later produced. Students are encouraged to embrace their creativity, the environment and life experiences and express them.
The SCAI Music education program is at the core of our Saturday program. The participants age range is 8 to 15. Our music curriculum focuses on theory, rhythm and performance. Our program uses the most modern acoustic instruments invented in the 21st century, the steelpan. Our students gain the ability to work with others, thrive in a group and gain confidence. Music allows the students to discover and express who they are in a fun, safe environment.
The goal of the Music Education Program is to spread awareness universally to help construct participants' identities while building versatile qualities that help to convey their emotions. SCAIâs Music Education Program is a core experience for our programming. SCAI participants gain the ability to freely express themselves through learning music and education.
SCAI Kids Rock Band
The community band is an opportunity to highlight the creativity of the community. The objective of this program is to bring unity into the community through musical instruments and live performances. We take pride in teaching students with or without musical experience. SCAI will have a strong focus on steel pans, acoustic instruments that incorporate physical movement, and rhyming to enhance vocabulary to allow cultural expression. Performance projects will coincide with relevant happenings in the studentâs lives and with the music program. Children will be taught to perform steel pans for the community, they will gain structure, discipline, and self empowerment through freedom of expression.
The objective of CaptureX Photography is to help construct participants' identities, while building versatile qualities that help convey their emotions through film. Students will learn the importance of expressing emotions through photography and self awareness. One of the most stimulating advantages of this process is students will work hands-on with professional photographers and cameras.


At Bishop Creighton Academy, we believe music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. Our music education aims to engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and develop their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
In their music lessons pupils use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes. Assemblies also provide an opportunity to practise singing. Pupils are taught to play a variety of instruments musically and encouraged to play together in ensemble groups. We encourage listening to a wide range of music with concentration and understanding. Music lessons are linked to Topic work and music is used in a variety of lessons and activities to create, mood, atmosphere and to help thinking.
We follow the "Charanga" programme to support our teaching of music across the school.
Our curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
- perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
- learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately
- understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations
At Key Stage One
Pupils are taught to:
- use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
- play tuned and untuned instruments musically
- listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
- experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
At Key Stage Two
Pupils are be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
We use Music Express as our main scheme when teaching music.
Pupils are taught to:
- play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
- improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
- use and understand staff and other musical notations
- appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
- develop an understanding of the history of music.
We provide all pupils with the opportunity to take part in musical performances throughout the academic year. We hold the following annual events.
Year 5 Music Hub Rock and Roll Concert
EYFS Christmas Nativity
Year 1/2 Christmas Production
Year 3/4 Christmas Carol Concert
Year 5/6 Christmas Carol Concert
Choir - Performance to Stephenson Court Residential Home
Year 3/4 Production
Year 5/6 Production


DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR THRESHOLD CONCEPTS IN ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS METHODS COURSES
1 online resource (135 pages) : PDF
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Teacher education programs have long sought to increase preservice teachers' competency through coursework that promotes content, pedagogical knowledge, and specialized forms of knowledge that interweave the two. Still, newly licensed teachers are entering K-12 institutions ill-equipped to provide mathematics instruction that is both impactful and meaningful. This problem has persisted consistently throughout elementary education as teacher candidates enter the classroom without the conceptual knowledge to teach mathematics effectively (National Research Council, 2003; Ryan & Williams, 2007; Stacey, et al., 2001). This dissertation aims to understand what standards and frameworks are available for teacher educators to utilize in the planning of their instruction, how teacher education programs in the primary grades are structured, and what elementary professors believe to be key concepts and tasks in the development of teacher candidates. From this information, along with a quantitative study that explicated teacher effectiveness from the various public institutions in this particular state in elementary mathematics, a case study was conducted to understand how one particular professor was developing teacher candidates. Based on this research, a conceptual framework was developed to illustrate what content, pedagogical content knowledge, instructional tasks and best practices this professor utilizes throughout her teaching. This conceptual framework illustrates the idea of developing teacher candidates knowledge of an overarching mathematical concept to allow application of this knowledge to other singular units of mathematical content and pedagogical knowledge. This new approach of developing threshold concepts opens mathematics education to overarching key concepts in elementary teacher education, or what is referred to throughout this dissertation as threshold concepts. These threshold concepts connect singular units of curriculum to a larger, overarching concept, that once internalized, would allow teacher candidates the ability for effective application of these concepts.
Mathematics--Study and teachingEducation, ElementaryTeachers--Training of
Education ProgramsElementary EducationMathematics EducationTeacher EducationThreshold Concepts
Curriculum & Instruction
Pugalee, DavidStephan, Michelle
Butler, BettieReinke, LukeGood, Amy
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2018.
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Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.


Understanding human growth and development and recognizing literacy development in young children are no easy tasks. However, those things and more are required of you in order to pass the Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments Early Childhood Education Test. To teach Early Childhood Education in Arizona, you must pass the AEPA Early Childhood Education Exam, AZ036, as required by the Arizona State Board of Education.
Prepare with our AEPA Early Childhood Education Study Guide and Practice Questions. Print or eBook. Guaranteed to raise your score. Get started today!
A passing score on the AEPA Early Childhood Education Exam is 240, and testers are given two and a half hours to answer 100 multiple-choice questions. Tests are available year-round, so you can sign up at your convenience. Results are sent out 1-4 weeks from the test date to the e-mail provided upon registering for the AEPA Early Childhood Education Test.
The AEPA Early Childhood Education Exam is split up into three sections to test proficiency. The two main sections each count for 38% of the exam. The Communication, Language, and Literacy Development section focuses on understanding communication and language development in young children, how children acquire second languages, creating a print rich learning environment, the foundation of reading development, and promoting young childrenâs writing skills. The Learning in the Content Areas section focuses on your ability as a teacher to facilitate learning in the areas of mathematics, science, social studies, and visual arts.
AEPA Early Childhood Education Flashcards. Proven AEPA Early Childhood Education test flashcards raise your score on the AEPA Early Childhood Education test. Guaranteed.
The last section, Child Development and Learning, counts for 24% of the exam. This section makes sure you know the process of cognitive, physical, motor, social, emotional, and language development of children. It will also test your ability to identify factors that may affect these different areas of development. Finally, you will need to understand how curriculum can be integrated and centered on how children learn.
By learning how to use childrenâs interests and experiences to encourage learning, following methods to motivate children to use oral language to communicate, and encouraging children to use learned skills in everyday life, you will be able to demonstrate proficiency on the AEPA Early Childhood Education Exam. If you are rusty in these areas, donât worry. With a little bit of effort toward the AEPA Early Childhood Education Practice Test, it wonât be long before you are AEPA certified in Early Childhood Education.


Are you concerned about your childâs motor skills? If so, occupational therapy might be able to help. Every child deserves to have the best quality of life, and parents want whatâs best for their kids as well. In fact, Kids Occupational Therapy Adelaide wide can provide benefits in many different areas of life, and this article will discuss five of them. Donât wait another day â your childâs future depends on it!
1) Sensory Play
The things you think are just fun for your child may actually be helping their development. Sensory play is an important part of a childâs development, but children donât need special toys. They can take items like clothing, food, and common household products and use them in ways that develop sensory skills such as awareness of temperature, size identification and coordination. One great way to do sensory play with kids is to incorporate it into their daily activities.
Handwriting is often overlooked, but its impact on learning should not be. Without it, students are less likely to master reading and spelling concepts in elementary school, which is crucial for success at any stage of education. Children will develop proper writing skills with a little help from occupational therapy. This helps them learn how to write their letters in a way that makes sense visually as well as spatially, making it easier for them to read what theyâve written down later on. When children learn how to write properly early on, they have an easier time mastering other aspects of literacy like reading comprehension and spelling.
3) Writing Prompts
Where does your child have fine motor difficulties? Are there certain objects that are particularly challenging for your child to use? Are there any particular tasks that cause stress or frustration in your child? If your child is receiving occupational therapy, what activities and tasks have their therapist been working on with them lately? Why did you decide to take your child to occupational therapy? What do you wish they had done differently when they were a kid so that they wouldnât need occupational therapy as an adult or older children/teenagers/young adult.
4) Technology Awareness and Balance
Nowadays, kids are spending more time on screens than they are outdoors. While no oneâs suggesting you should prevent your child from using technology, itâs crucial that they have a healthy balance in their life. Give them specific time limits for screen time and ensure that all-day activities incorporate physical activity. Encourage your child to engage in sporting activities or other kinds of exercise so they can increase their hand-eye coordination while boosting their creativity and problem-solving skills!
5) Motor Skill Development and Coordination
Getting your child into occupational therapy can help him, or her develop gross motor skills like sitting, standing, walking and even running. With proper occupational therapy training, children with disabilities can learn to move their bodies in a coordinated manner and develop important coordination skills that will benefit them later in life.
Coordination is defined as the ability to make quick decisions and control bodily movements. This is what helps us walk upstairs, kick a ball through a hoop or simply drive our cars without accidentally smashing into another vehicle. When it comes to kids occupational therapy Adelaide-wide, improving body awareness is of utmost importance.


The students make great strides in learning how to read and the foundational skills. These skills include developing print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and increasing reading fluency.
In Kindergarten, the student focuses on the concepts and skills for addition and subtraction with a special emphasis on place value. Students should be able to add and subtract within five (5) and use objects to represent two quantities and compare them.
Kindergarten students sing, play, explore, create, document, and share musical ideas and choices while experiencing and exploring the basic elements of music through movement and play with teacher guidance.
The student will learn that God is the creator of the world. They learn that every person is special. The students will learn that God sent us Jesus, His Son, to be our friend and teacher. They will learn that Mary, our Mother, and Joseph raises Jesus. Kindergartners learn the following prayers: The Sign of the Cross, The Our Father, The Hail Mary, Grace and Mass responses.
The early elementary grades have a common theme, focusing on basic concepts of citizenship, geography, and economics. Students sty symbols and figures in American history. The curriculum in kindergarten focuses on being a good citizen.


Ask any young swimmer about the benefits of their chosen sport, and theyâll likely talk about stamina, strength, and overall physical fitness. But one benefit of swimming thatâs seldom addressed is how it contributes to intellectual development. At Swimming Los Angeles Swim School, youngsters and parents alike learn all about the physical and intellectual benefits of childrenâs swimming lessons. In fact, the earlier kids start, the more intellectually inclined theyâre bound to be as they grow.
Recent research has shown that young swimmers tend to reach developmental milestones earlier than their peers. In general, swimmers reap the most benefits in areas like emotional intelligence, physical development, language skills, and self-confidence. Letâs take a brief look at each of these areas:
- Emotional Intelligence: Because swimming is a social sport, children who start swimming classes early develop the emotional and psychological awareness they need to work well in teams and be supportive of others.
- Physical Development: Aside from physical fitness, swimming also supports fine motor skill development. This is especially true for infant and toddler swimmers, as they are trained to be ready to take action on their instructorâs count of three.
- Language Development: Researchers have also found that kids who start swimming at a young age often have a better grasp of literacy, numeracy, and oral expression.
- Self-Confidence: Many swim lessons focus on achievable goals and this contributes to overall self-confidence. This goal-oriented confidence is easily translatable to other areas like schoolwork and relationships.


Music therapy is a research supported allied health profession that uses music as a therapeutic medium to address cognitive, communication, social, physical, emotional and behavioral needs. In the education setting, music therapy is commonly provided as an IEP related service or as educational enrichment.
To determine whether music therapy should be included as an IEP related service, a SEMTAP (Standardized Education Music Therapy Assessment Process) is conducted to evaluate the studentâs response to music therapy intervention and its necessity to the studentâs educational success.
Music therapy can also be provided to students as educational enrichment for those students who demonstrate significant educational gains through music intervention, but it has not been determined to be vital to their educational success.
For more information or to request a SEMTAP for your student, please contact us at info@centralohiomusictherapy.
Music Therapy for Special Needs Classrooms
Reaching beyond traditional classroom music & music education
Do you find the children in your classroom love music? Do you wish there was a way to âharnessâ this engagement and response to music in a highly effective, efficient and educationally beneficial way? By providing students with music through the expertly skilled hands of a board certified music therapist, students in special needs classrooms can accomplish significantly improved outcomes.
Music therapists in special needs classrooms collaborate with classroom teachers and other education support staff to meet learning goals and objectives through strategically planned, fun and engaging music experiences. Students not only practice educational concepts through music, but also learn social skills, coping skills, behavior modification and self-expression. Whether through playing instruments, singing, moving to music, or writing songs together, students in music therapy are striving through fun in music.
Contact Central Ohio Music Therapy at (888) 313-5552 or email@example.com for pricing and to schedule an example music therapy classroom session.


Science & Nature
Science Experiment Club With Miss Erin
In this ongoing course, students will learn about a new science concept each week and complete a related science experiment. They will participate in group activities and discussions to reinforce the concept of the week.
394 total reviews for this teacher
40 reviews for this class
Completed by 187 learners
Once per week
learners per class
per learner - per class
How does an "Ongoing" course work?
Meets on a weekly schedule, join any week, no need to catch up on previous material
Live video chats, recorded and monitored for safety and quality
Discussions via classroom forum and private messages with the teacher
Automatic payment every Sunday, cancel any time
Great for clubs and for practicing skills
How Outschool Works
ð¥ This class is in high demand! 2 of 3 classes have sold out.
ð¥ This class is in high demand! 2 of 3 classes have sold out.There are no open spots for this class, but you can request another time or scroll down to find more classes like this.
In this ongoing class, students will be introduced to a new science concept or theme each week. Some examples of topics covered are: density, solubility, magnetism, conductivity, etc... They will learn and practice using scientific vocabulary. We will conduct several experiments each week using simple materials that can be found at home. The students will participate in group activities to reinforce the concept of the week (discussions, trivia games, matching, comparing with Venn diagrams,...
Students will learn a new science concept each week, participate in a group activity, and enjoy science experiments.
I am a certified elementary school teacher. I taught science in a live classroom for 5 years and I've been teaching science on Oustchool for 2 years.
I will post the materials in the classroom one week before each class. **If you register after the weekly message is posted, you may not be able to see it in the classroom. I try my best to email the list to new students before their first class, depending on how last minute they register. Materials are usually easy to find household items. I also recommend students bring a notebook or folder with paper so they may record their findings each week! If you are ever missing any of the materials, just let me know! There are always alternatives, or you can simply watch the experiments and still enjoy the class! Week of Feb 5: Density Rainbows Supplies Needed: A tall glass Different "liquids." Here are some examples. You do not need all of these, but I recommend using at least 3 or 4: Honey Maple syrup Corn syrup Dish soap Water Juice Oil Vinegar Rubbing alcohol You may also like to bring food coloring, a spoon, and paper towels.
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Students will be assessed based on their participation.
30 minutes per week in class, and maybe some time outside of class.
Some of the experiments may require help from an adult.
Elementary (Primary) School Teacher
ð¨ð¦Lives in Canada
394 total reviews
328 completed classes
Hello! My name is Miss Erin and I have a degree in early childhood and elementary education from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. I have been a teacher for 12 years. I taught elementary school for 5 years. During that time, I taught...


In alignment with the international education technology standards, in our primary school curriculum, the IT knowledge and skills that we aim to develop in our students are organized under the following themes and are designed to support interdisciplinary work.
- Daily life and technology design
- Computational thinking and coding
- Digital citizenship
- Creative design
The aim of our primary school technology education course is to develop our students as individuals who use technology and information systems properly and effectively, and can create appropriate solutions where needed. Students who complete the program:
- Understand the importance of technology in our daily lives, question how technology develops in accordance with needs and know positive and negative aspects of technology,
- Select appropriate sources and tools of information technologies and organize information for a specific purpose and present information with creative designs
- Behave ethically in online environments in terms of safe use of technology, keep their personal data confidential to ensure their safety, receive support from their surrounding environment when they are concerned about a person or content they encounter with on the internet or while they are using other online technologies
- Make use of digital sources for establishing communication and working collaboratively in learning communities,
- Analyse the functioning of simple programs in digital devices and understand how they are designed as a program.
- Create simple programs and debug any program errors by using different logic structures in order to solve a problem.


Prof. Robert Rose, PhD
Prof. Dr. Virginia De Paula
Prof. Jerry Stehens, PhD
Date of this Version
Kejawa, Iwasan D (2021) Raw and Pure Education in the Society, Independent Publication, CreateSpace Amazon Inc.
What does education mean to individuals in the world today? Education is a way one can attain or improve his or her ability to lead and survive in the society of ours. Without educational training of the mind, it may be impossible to realize the importance of adaptability of living in the environment. Without education, It may also be difficult to embellish the use of both the mental and physical attributes possessed by individual beings.
What really is education? Education is the training of the mind to perform desire functions or to perpetuate the modality of obtaining an end or result. Every daily activities of individual in the society are a form of education because one learns from his actions one way or the others.
The impropriety sanctions imposed by the society on education is to be viewed by educational establishments as the main reasons affecting lack of interest in adult education. It is perceived by the society at large that once one has attained success or obtained all the necessary rudiments of living, then it is less important to further educate the mind. The sanctions or believes that education is only for the incapable or non-successful individual is an incarnation or insults to education, especially adult education.
Society should view education as a way to improve knowledge. We should realize that knowledge comes from learning and learning comes from trying. Even though one has reached the highest peak of his life or career does not mean that one does not have to learn or educate the mind. Since education is perceived by the philosophers such as Plato, Socrates and Darwin to be the usage of the
mind to obtain reality to solve problems, all institutions must be equipped with all the technologies to improve education at all levels.
We should all view education as the path to knowledge, empowerment, prosperity and success. Leaders evolved through education â leaders are made through education. For example, without education, either formal or informal, we may not be able to read, hold a good conversation or write well. Education is a vital commodity to the well being of individual in the society of ours. Education is one's umbrella of wealth, health, empowerment and success so to speak. We should view as an incarnation of empowerment and path to success in our world.
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by Tim Purdum
Creative Sequence is a guide to curriculum and lesson writing based on Orff Schulwerk and the authorâs personal experiences and training. It is tied to the National Music Standards.
Creative Sequence helps teachers engage students in a playful and flexible musical Process, while developing the structure to keep track of multiple musical Elements, Media, and Repertoire from day to day and year to year. Rather than a pre-packaged one-size-fits-all approach, Creative Sequence empowers you to create the best curriculum for your particular school, schedule, and students.
"As a new teacher, I relied heavily on written lesson plans in textbooks and other resources. Since exploring the Orff Schulwerk creative process, my teaching has become much more student-centered, hands on, joyful, and effective. The challenge I have discovered is to organize these creative lessons, ideas, and processes into a clear, sequential curriculum. I wrote Creative Sequence to help others fulfill this important task: to take all of the great ideas from workshops, clinics, textbooks, and personal experience and organize it into a meaningful curriculum. It should be helpful to any new or veteran general music teacher who wants to organize or reflect on their organization. It is also aligned with the NAfME National Music Education Standards and 21st century skills."- Tim Purdum
About the Creative Sequence Series
The Importance of Creativity & Active Engagement
Designing a Creative Sequence
The Four Components of the Creative Sequence
Synthesizing, Organizing, and Writing Lesson Plans
Creative Sequence and the NAfME National Standards
Creative Sequence and 21st Century Skills
Moving Forward with Creative Sequence and Your Classroom
Resources and References


Today Dr. Marie Martin talks about how children attending an outside of SOEL Kindy are propelled backwards from being capable, involved co-learners, to âlittle kidsâ again.
When 4 year olds are in two kindergarten programs they have âa foot in two worldsâ. At SOEL, they are âbig childrenâ, capable and competent. They are required to use their well-developed self-help skills, studio skills and research skills (learned over the three or four years of their SOEL enrolment) as they engage in play-based learning and long term investigations, achieving a depth of thinking that constantly amazes early childhood professionals, researchers and practitioners who visit our centres.
The childrenâs creativity and imaginations are stimulated in our programmes, developed by our artists and harnessed in dramatic, construction, manipulative and exploratory play. Childrenâs problem solving and decision making skills are applied as they make informed choices about the things they do, their production processes and their interactions with other children. Fundamental movement skills are practised, refined and demonstrated in a wide range of activities in gardens, rooms and excursions.
Children reinforce their own learning, skills and development as they mentor younger children, purposefully engaging with them in a measured, kind, collaborative process, praising the younger childâs attempts at as task, celebrating with them when they success and reflecting their own interactions with their educators and mentors.
Language and numeracy skills are learned, reinforced and applied through authentic purposes: creating lists, measuring, researching, recording, reporting and reflecting.
At the local Kindy program, 4 year olds are some of the youngest children in the school. They seem little to others and the older children certainly look like âbig kidsâ to the 4 year old. Their capabilities are seen in the spectrum of the next 7 years; immature and developing.
They are associating with children they may be with (at least those who donât move suburbs, schools or states) for their primary schooling and they may see at a neighbourhood park (if the families take them there) or through âplay datesâ.
Fundamental movement skills (such as running, catching and dodging) are the focus for physical education and fine motor skills (such as cutting and pencil grip) are important in âtable top activitiesâ. âFormalâ lessons emphasise the skills of letter, sound, word, sentence and number recognition and patterning. The role of the family continues to be paramount; children deserve someone who loves them unconditionally.
The values of the family can be learned only through relationships and interactions with family. Skills need places and situations to be practised and applied. Childrenâs learning and thinking needs to be aired and heard. Children who âhave a foot in two worldsâ move from being a âbig kidâ at SOEL to being a âlittle kidâ at school. With support, they can find ways to accommodate the different perceptions and expectations of them and take advantage of the opportunities provided.


At Monks Risborough C of E Primary School, we aim to inspire all children to reach their full academic potential whilst developing an enthusiasm for mathematics. The skills of mathematics are essential to everyday life and vital for financial literacy and most forms of employment.
At this school we aim to provide a high-quality mathematics education which allows children to:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately;
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language;
- be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Maths is taught in line with the National Curriculum following the White Rose Scheme of Learning. We teach Maths for Mastery so that pupils develop a deep and adaptable understanding of the subject. Mastery implies being able to use oneâs knowledge appropriately, flexibly and creatively and to apply it in new and unfamiliar situations.
Through careful planning and preparation, we aim to ensure that children are given opportunities for:
- practical activities and mathematical challenges;
- problem solving;
- individual, group and whole class discussions and activities;
- open and closed tasks;
- a range of methods of calculating e.g. mental, pencil and paper and using a calculator.
From Reception to Year 6, a Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract approach is central in classroom practice; this involves using a range of concrete and visual resources to help develop a deep understanding of key concepts.
Concrete: In this stage, the children are first introduced to an idea or skill by acting it out with real objects.
Pictorial: When a child has sufficiently understood the hands-on experiences, they can progress to relating them to different representations, such as a diagram or picture of the objects.
Abstract: This is the symbolic stage, where the children are able to represent problems using mathematical notations e.g. 10 Ã· 5 = 2.
We recognise the importance of children being fluent in number. This refers to the rapid recall of number facts, for example, knowing your times tables off by heart or knowing, without having to work it out, that 4 and 6 will make 10. The ability to quickly recall number facts is a vital aspect to becoming a fluent mathematician. Learning number facts will enable your child to:
(i) Move on easily to most other things in mathematics including division, fractions, decimals, percentages and algebra.
(ii) Answer questions more quickly and be able to focus on using other maths strategies in more complex problems.
(iii) Increase confidence levels as this part of the question is 'solved' instantly.
(iv) Play a vital role in their everyday life.
Therefore, at Monks, each class gives time for fluency development through dedicated lesson time, our daily Monks Mad Math Minutes and Cracking Times Tables programme in Key Stage Two. Targeted reinforcement programmes ensure all children develop these fundamental numeracy skills.
We encourage our pupils to become independent learners and to take responsibility for their own learning. Children take ownership of their tasks they complete through self-differentiation and are always encouraged to challenge themselves, understanding that we learn from mistakes. In Key Stage Two, it is regular practice for pupils to mark their own work and are expected to identify where and how mistakes have been made. Across the school, all children have regular opportunities to explain their reasoning verbally.
At the point in which children have secured their expectations in certain areas of the Maths Curriculum their thinking is challenged and extended through open ended, higher order questioning and problem solving activities.
The impact of our curriculum is that by the end of each topic, the vast majority of pupils will have sustained mastery of the content, that is, they remember it all and are fluent in it; some pupils have a greater depth of understanding.
Pupils will have:
- Quick recall of facts and procedures;
- The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations;
- The ability to recognise relationships and make connections;
- The ability to apply their maths knowledge to real world contexts.
There will be an increasing enjoyment, engagement, depth of understanding and attainment in Maths.


Grade 4 Strings
30 Minutes, once a week
Major concepts to be studied include:
- Set-up and care of instrument
- Proper posture and left/right hand technique
- Rehearsal and performance procedures and basic expression
- Repertoire will be developed from concepts studied in Vocal Music class, and chosen to enhance cross-curricular connections.
- Rehearsals will culminate in at least two public performances each school year.
Hampton's comprehensive music education program encourages students to explore music through a standards-based curriculum.
While this course does not receive a formal grade, formative assessments are given based on the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities that include performance, historical and cultural contexts, and critical and aesthetic response. Further information can be found at: www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed/lib/stateboard_ed/pdfarts.pdf


1 Day Workshops
IN-PERSON COURSE LOGISTICS
When students have mastered decoding at a point of automaticity and read fluently with prosody but struggle with comprehension, what do we do? This course will provide participants with an opportunity to spend a day organizing their thinking and exploring instructional strategies that may support those readers who appear available to make meaning from text yet face challenges doing so. We will use lectures to drive discussions, case studies to connect to real students, and explore how students can make their thinking visible to communicate their understanding or lack of.
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
This course is appropriate for educators at all levels.
NOTE: This instructor is also teaching a weeklong reading comprehension course; some of the content in this course will be repeated in the 5-day version.
Materials will be provided on-site.
|July 13, 2022
8:30am - 3:00pm
Registration is unavailable at this time.
Over 98% of educators felt that their Outreach Summer Institute seminar provided them with strategies and tools that will help their students.
Adam is a graduate of Harvard University where he earned his masters degree in language and literacy development. He also holds a masters degree in education from Simmons College. Adam is licensed as a Reading Specialist and Moderate Special Needs Educator. He has taught at Landmark School since 1998. Currently, he is the Research Coordinator for Landmark School and a Lead Faculty for Landmark School Outreach where he consults to public and private schools. He has taught a number of graduate level courses on reading comprehension, the correlation between reading and writing development, and the relationship between cognitive potential and academic success. He also sits on the Board of the Massachusetts brand of the International Dyslexia Association.


Museums play a vital role in preserving history and educating the public about people, places, animals, art and artefacts from all around the world. While there are museums in just about every major city across the globe, some are vast institutions that one could spend days wandering through, poring over the depth and diversity of their collections. We look through some of the largest museums in the world, whether by size, collection, or research center, and what each of these incredible institutions has to offer for the millions of visitors who trek there every year.
1. The Louvre Is the Largest Museum by Size
Of all the museums in the world, the Louvre in Paris is hands down the largest on the entire planet, covering more than 650,000 square feet in total. The museum was once a mediaeval fortress, and the home for French Kings, before becoming the vast Parisian Museum in 1793 that we know and love today. The Louvre is home to some of the most important art and artefacts in the history of human civilization, including Leonardo da Vinciâs Mona Lisa, 1519, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Theodore Gericaultâs Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19, and Eugene Delacroixâs iconic masterpiece Liberty Leading the People, 1830, to name just a few. Because of its incredible scale, one could spend literally days wandering through the Louvre, which is why so many people come back again and again to take in more.
2. The Smithsonian Is the Largest Museum and Research Complex
The Smithsonian Museum is the largest complex of museums in the world, with 19 different galleries and museums spread across the United States, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African Art and the National Air and Space Museum. The museum also runs a large zoological park, containing a long A to Z of animals from the tiniest insects to the largest mammals. Alongside these sites, the Smithsonian institute also runs eight different research stations where diverse fields are explored including marine biology, astrophysics, environmental research, and American art.
3. The Metropolitan Museum Has the Largest Floor Area
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While its entire building space is technically smaller than the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum covers the largest floor area of any museum in the world, at an incredible 2 million square feet. Perhaps itâs no surprise then that the museum has the capacity to allow for more than 6 million visitors every year. Opened in 1870, the Metropolitan Museumâs aim was âto bring art and art education to the American people.â Since this time, it has more than fulfilled its role, housing an impressive array of around 50,000 different objects spanning more than 5,000 years of human history. These range from the columns of ancient Greek temples to indigenous African wood carvings, along with Canovaâs Perseus with the Head of Medusa, 1804-6, and John Singer Sargentâs infamous Madame X, 1883-84.
4. The State Hermitage Museum in Russia Has the Largest Collection
While other museums hit the record in terms of scale and floorspace, the State Hermitage Museum in Russia currently houses the largest collection of any single museum in the entire world. They own more than 3 million artefacts that date all the way from the Stone Age to the early 20th century. Once the home of Russian Tsars, this impressive stretch of six buildings running along the river Neva was converted into a court museum in 1764 by Catherine the Great to house her impressive collection of paintings. One of the museumâs star attractions is its Gold Rooms, showcasing priceless gold masterpieces from Eurasia, the Orient and the Black Sea Littoral. They also own masterpieces by Western artists including Rubens, Titian, Goya, Picasso and Van Gogh.


Celebrating International Day of Education
January 24, 2023 is the fifth annual International Day of Education.
This day of observance was established in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate the role that education plays in creating a better world. It has been observed every 24th of January from 2019 onward.
In honor of International Day of Education, letâs take a closer look at the importance of bringing equitable, quality education to all.
How does education benefit communities worldwide?
Education plays an important role in the UNâs mission of building sustainable and resilient societies across the globe. In 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda laid out numerous Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to make quality education available to all.
Education helps individuals gain the knowledge and skills needed to tackle important societal challenges, such as:
- Improving health outcomes
- Eliminating poverty
- Promoting gender equality
- Improving environmental sustainability
- Enhancing international cooperation
On a smaller scale, education enables individuals to create a better life for themselves. It allows them to get jobs, increase their economic security, and stay healthy.
Whatâs the current state of global education?
Education is a human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rightsâa milestone document drafted by the UN in 1948âstates that elementary education should be free and compulsory.
However, millions of children today still do not have access to education.
According to estimates from UNESCO, 244 million children are out of school worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most children and youth not attending school, but there are also significant out-of-school rates in Central and Southern Asia. Many existing disparities in education were made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and children across the world are still feeling the effects of having missed out on so much schooling.
How to observe International Day of Education 2023
As stated on the UNESCO website, the theme for this yearâs International Day of Education is âto invest in people, prioritize education.â
This International Day of Education, take some time to read up on global education facts and statistics. The UNâs page on Sustainable Development Goal 4 â Quality Education is a great place to start. For our teachersâcheck out the UNâs SDG Resources for Educators.
You can also think about ways to prioritize education within your community. Are there local education-focused initiatives you can donate to or spread the word about? Are there opportunities for you to get more involved with your childâs school?
At BASIS Charter Schools, we are committed to raising the standards of student learning to the highest international levels. Our public charter schools are completely free to attend and open to all.
The BASIS Charter Schools network is made up of 37 schools across Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, D.C. To learn more, find a school near you and schedule a tour today.


Chatham's elementary music program is based on the Kodaly philosophy of music education. Singing is central to the Kodaly approach to music education. Students sing in every music lesson from grades 1-3. They sing to experience and learn about elements of music: melody, rhythm, harmony, and form. Songs are chosen from many cultures, as well as different eras of history.
First, Second, and Third Graders receive music instruction for one period per week. Activities include singing, dancing, playing instruments, and the development of basic skills in the rudiments of music theory. Students will continue their work in the basics of musicianship, including: development of appropriate singing voice, reading and writing of melodic and rhythmic notation, study of form, meter, dynamics, and other relevant musical concepts. In addition, students in all grades experience many types of music (American folk music, world music, classical and contemporary styles) through listening, moving and playing. Movement is an integral part of the curriculum, reinforcing many important musical concepts. Critical and creative thinking is valued and encouraged in all grade levels.
The broad objectives of the music program at Southern Boulevard are as follows:
- To awaken aesthetic values in students and develop a lasting appreciation of music
- To provide a rich, varied program where each pupil has an opportunity to develop his/her own musical abilities and talents
- To familiarize students with the language of music notation, symbols, and terminology
- To develop an awareness and appreciation of current music trends and innovations as well as styles and composers of the past
- To become more knowledgeable consumers and performers of music by developing the skills needed to evaluate music literature
Ms. Tracy Roskam - Southern Boulevard School & Washington Avenue School


Becoming a teacher is the dream of many people. Being a teacher is a position that comes with much responsibility and price; after all, a teacher has the future of many lives in his or her hands. Some people enjoy being a teacher for very young students whilst others focus on high school or even college teaching. Whatever the case, a teacher must study hard to become qualified and to keep their skills up to date.
Most teachers take courses in the following topics in order to gain a general understanding of a wide range of topics:
â Psychology & Personal Development
Teachers should begin working with young children as much as they can. This can be through volunteering at a school or undertaking work experience whilst studying.
Teachers should choose to major in elementary education if this option is available at university. This will make you qualified to work in elementary schools which is where most people start. There are also post-graduate programs you can undertake for further experience and qualifications.
Once you become a qualified teacher ensure you join the professional associations of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. Through these associations, a teacher can meet fellow teachers and keep on top of industry news.
Tips for Teachers
Many teachers become general elementary school teachers and whilst there is nothing wrong with that career path, ultimately the best career opportunities will arise when a teacher branches out into other specialties by studying in particular teaching fields. This could include focusing on bilingual education, reading, disability teaching, and other niches. Some specialties are in demand in particular schools so studying your school or area demographic is a good place to start.
If you are going to work in a rural area be prepared for challenges. These schools are generally underfunded but job demands can be high. This means certain employment but possibly less money and bigger outlays.
Once you know how to become a teacher you can begin embarking on this very rewarding career. Your first year of teaching is always the most nerve-wracking but after that, your confidence will grow considerably and you will begin to find your specialty within teaching. Teaching is a dynamic career that can lead you down many paths, and being aware of these paths means that teaching will never present a dull moment in your life.


The controversy about the best method to teach reading has been raging for more than 200 years. Phonics has been around since the 1600s. In the 17th & 18th centuries phonics remained the prevailing method. Children learned the relationship between how letters looked (graphemes) and how they sounded (phonemes). However, in the mid 19th century, Horace Mann, âthe father of public education,â bitterly opposed phonics instruction, claiming that phonics destroyed childrenâs love of reading. That was the beginning of the âreading warsâ that continue today.
How much of todayâs reading instruction is based on science rather than belief? The most prevalent current methods include whole language, balanced literacy, and phonics. Whole language is an approach or attitude toward learning, not a teaching method. It assumes reading is a natural process, like learning to talk, and that is the problem. The human brain is not naturally wired to read. âPeople learn to read by repurposing parts of the brain meant to do other things â visual processing, language comprehension, and speech production.â
A purported compromise between phonics and whole language has been termed âbalanced literacy.â This method balances the explicit language instruction of phonics with independent learning and language exploration.
Unfortunately, âThe continuous strategy of teaching children to predict and read in context often develops the habit of guessing words.â
The most effective and successful method to teach beginning readers is with phonics. Reading is a cognitive skill, and decades of research on that cognitive process âprovide convincing evidence that explicit decoding instruction (e.g., phonological awareness, phonics) should be beneficial to reading success.â Results of brain research support the phonics approach for emergent readers. Dr. Anne Cunningham, literacy expert, and Dr. David Rose, a neuro-psychologist assert, âBeginning readers show more activity in the parieto-temporal, or word analysis, region, while experienced readers become increasingly active in the occipitotemporal, or word recognition, region.â
In April 2000, the National Reading Panel acknowledged the importance of phonics. The Panel concluded that âsystematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness should be an important component of classroom reading instruction for children in preschool and beyond.â In fact, âChildrenâs knowledge and use of grapho-phonic and morphemic rules has a lasting effect on the progress that they make at school. This knowledge has an impact on their reading ability which in turn affects their success in learning about English, mathematics and science.â
However, two decades later, reading instruction lags behind the recommendation because teacher training programs do not include the science of reading. âMost teachers nationwide are not being taught reading science in their teacher preparation programs because many deans and faculty in colleges of education either donât know the science or dismiss it.â Results of national and international exams like NAEP and PISA bear witness to the overall poor reading skills in the US. Recently, the head of New York City public schools has admitted that they have been teaching reading all wrong. Balanced literacy doesnât work! The time has passed for experimenting with American students. Abolish whole language and balanced literacy, and teach the students to read!
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Director of Handle Education with 40+ years experience as teacher and administrator in public secondary education, community college and college. Dedicated to helping parents and teachers to maximize student potential.


When music education professionals are trying to attain a âcustom fitâ learning experience for their pupil or student, ideally they try to assess the inherent goals and ambitions of the pupil and then align their didactical and pedagogical repertoire accordingly. Quite often this results in some kind of goal congruency and agreement among the teacher and the student about what the intermediate or even ultimate goals will be. This is an important and useful aspect when designing a learning experience. However, there are a few possible hurdles to take.
First of all it is important for music education professionals to acknowledge what their personal ambitions are as a teacher or a pedagogue, or even as a performing musician. By no stretch of the imagination can those ambitions come into play when setting out a course with a student, even unwantingly: a professional whose calling it was above everything else to become an educator might want to transfer all the knowledge, skill, motivation and inspiration he or she posseses onto his or her student, regardless of possibly more modest goals of the pupil. Also as a performer, ambitions or unrealised potential could play a role in wanting a student to reach or even exceed the expert level of the teacher, and in doing so realising the teachers (possibly unfulfilled) ambitions vicariously. So, when striving for clarity on set goals, or goal congruency, it is worth pointing out what the teacher could bring subconsciously into the mix and therefore he or she should be weary of this. Interestingly, within ludodidactics there is more to goal setting than just goal congruency.
Within ludodidactics, learning design is always about influencing behaviour and in that respect goal congruency is not a necessity from a design point of view. As explained in the videoâs on the theory and practice of the epistemic framework, the objectives of gameplay can lead to an entirely different perceived goal (e.g. winning the game, being the hero) than the change in (learning) behaviour that the gameplay was designed for in the first place. So, a student could be totally involved in achieving a gameâs objective without the awareness that underlying pedagogical objectives are being achieved as well. This principle can be very helpful, especially in cases where aspects of musical training are less inviting or motivating to the student, such as learning music theory (e.g. building chords) or performing repetitive tasks. As performing or playing music provides instantaneous audible feedback, and thus the gratification of making progress is immediately felt by the student, there are considerably less or no reasons to obfuscate the learning goal in actual musical play with other game objectives; achieving substituted game objectives almost never match the real satisfaction when achieving a minor or major succes when playing music.
In the example of the boomwhacker game, the learning goals of the exercise (i.e. training of listening, melodic analysis, solfÃ¨ge, (musical) co-operation, interplay etc.) are almost irrelevant to the students (players), as those goals have become obfuscated by the objectives of the game, which are: solve the (melodic) puzzle, crack the code and retrieve the prize. In this sense designing highly motivating and inspiring game objectives into a learning experience, can be an extremely powerful tool. Especially in the case where behaviour has to be conditioned and skills solidified by performing repetitive tasks, goal substitution is remarkably effective, as with these tasks it can be more difficult to muster the right motivation to perform them. The same goes for teaching music theory, which many students find less stimulating. Using a more motivating game objective can make a considerable difference in these cases. Viewing the substitution of learning goals with game objectives as dishonest or trickery, would be shortchanging the intelligence of the learning design: the rewards â in the form of developed musical skills â are real, and can still be enjoyed by the pupil outside the setting of the game.
Sidenote: the images leading into this article are taken from the 1984 blockbuster movie, âThe Karate Kidâ, where a boy is trained in martial arts by an old master. The movie provides a telling example of goal substitution when the boy is set to work on simple household chores, which in the end turn out to be basic karate skills. As colourful this example might be, it falls a little short within the context of ludodidactics, as the movieâs protagonist doesnât really seem motivated when having to clean and buff Mr. Miyagiâs car (âwax on, wax off!â), it nevertheless shows the effectiveness of goal substitution in order to change behaviour when repetition (i.e. âgrindingâ or âtreadmillingâ) is needed to progress.


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Topic: what is this?
posted: 9/18/2006 at 5:46:27 AM ET
What does this ^ mean on top of a note ?
posted: 9/18/2006 at 10:43:08 PM ET
Means to play that note a little louder than the other notes around it. It is called an "accent". Usually you tongue slightly harder,also.
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Tomorrow is Halloween! Whether itâs watching a horror movie or jumping out from behind a door, many people find it fun to be scared or scary on this holiday. Itâs also a good time to revisit what parents can do to keep their children from becoming afraid of math. Math anxiety is unnecessarily common in the United States. As a country we have focused intentily on promoting foundational literacy skills, but numeracy skills can also be fostered from an early age. At home, donât just read to your toddler and pre-schooler; âmathâ to them also. Get down on the floor with your kids and some blocks to show them what âmoreâ and âlessâ and different numbers actually mean. Make patterns out of just about anything age-safe such as different color socks or whole fruits and vegetables. When your kids are around 5-6 years old, playing with coins (counting and adding pennies, exchanging coins, etc.) on the floor is another fun activity.
Math outdoors is fun too! Go to the park and arrange rocks or wood chips into rows and columns. Draw shapes in the sandbox. Are there shapes that look the same no matter where you stand? Which shapes look like theyâve flipped or turned? Make shapes out of sticks. Compare the sticks. Which is longer? Which is shorter? Add sticks to go from a triangle to a rectangle to a pentagon and so on. If you keep adding sticks, what does your shape start to look like? (Donât freak out, but you just did a little Calculus.)
Good old-fashioned floor time or outdoor time are excellent ways of cementing learning with positive memories. As your kids get older, make sure they are exposed regularly throughout their childhood and adolecense to adults who explain math well and enjoy it, especially if you donât. And if you have math anxiety yourself, make that your best-kept secret. Math doesnât have to be scary.
Now, what do you get when you take the circumference of a jack-o-lantern divided by its diameter? Answer: A pumpkin Ï. Happy Halloween from IMACS!


Join live or receive a link to the recording and earn a CE certificate
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Supporting STEAM Learning Through Music
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT
Presented by Dr. Lili M. Levinowitz, Director of Research, Music Together Worldwide, and Professor Emeritus, Rowan University
Sponsored by Music Together
Get a CE Certificate for this edWebinar Learn more
Full STEAM ahead! Educators recognize that curricular integration is the most efficient, effective, and authentic way to support childrenâs learning in multiple domains. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) learning is becoming common in education as increasingly more educators are seeing the benefits of integrating arts-based education with learning in other areas. And, currently, there is more interest in beginning STEAM learning in early childhood.
In this edWebinar, understand how music as an âauditory toolâ can support young childrenâs learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematicsâall while developing their innate music capacity. Gain some concrete ideas on ways to use developmentally appropriate music activities to support STEAM learning in enjoyable and holistic ways. This recorded presentation will be of interest to educators working with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners.
About the Presenter
Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Music Education at Rowan University. She is the coauthor of the early childhood music and movement program, Music Together, and Director of Research for Music Together Worldwide. Dr. Levinowitz is considered a national authority on early childhood music and is actively involved in teaching very young children as well as graduate students. Her articles appear frequently in professional journals and popular magazines. She received her M.M. and Ph.D. from Temple University, and her B.M. from Westminster Choir College.
Join the Music in Early Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
At Music Together, we understand the importance of music in early childhoodâfrom birth, in fact. Because the truth is, most people are born with enough music aptitude to play in a symphony orchestra when they are adults, if they choose. But first we must learn how to âspeak musicââto take the musical instrument we all have, ourselves, developing that musical capacity from a very young age. The sounds we make, our movements, our rhythmsâthese are the building blocks of music and of early childhood learning. And thatâs what Music Together is all about.


Pairing Fiction And Nonfiction Texts to Promote Literacy and Language Development of Adolescent English Learners
Based on the relevant research that highlights the impact of pairing fiction and nonfiction texts around a specific theme or a topic for enhanced motivation and reading comprehension for English learners (ELs), this article describes ways to combine texts of various genres to promote ELsâ language and literacy development. A middle school example of a lesson on chocolate exemplifies how pairing a number of fiction and nonfiction texts supports differentiation and multiple opportunities for writing.
Ward, Natalia; Schell, Robin Foster; Brown, Clara Lee; and Thompson, Betty. 2019. Pairing Fiction And Nonfiction Texts to Promote Literacy and Language Development of Adolescent English Learners. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2019.1649631