WITH the recent news that computer games will out-sell music and video this year for the first time in the UK, innovative teaching resources are also pushing textbooks aside in schools across Wales.
Interactive resources are now a force to be reckoned with in our classrooms in helping our children develop core literacy and numeracy skills for the 21st century.
With the introduction of the new Foundation Phase in primary schools the emphasis is on learning by doing. Wales is currently ahead of England in terms of its provision for our youngest learners. Gone are the days of packing everything into exercise books – the new way is about learning through play.
Young children are given more opportunities to gain first-hand experiences through play and active involvement. This in turn gives them time to develop their speaking and listening skills and to become confident in their reading and writing abilities at a pace that is suitable for them. One thing I’m certain of is that we will see much less emphasis on writing and exams and much more importance on developing engaging and interesting activities to stimulate children and make them want to learn.
We at Awen, a multimedia publisher which is part of the Barcud Derwen Group, have been specialising in the creation of fun educational interactive programs since 1996. In the past few years we have seen an incredible demand from schools, nurseries and parents for our resources. Customers are looking for products designed to assist the educational development of children both in the classroom and at home, while keeping things entertaining for the learners.
While textbooks still have a future, digital resources are valuable tools for schools especially coupled with technology such as interactive whiteboards.
For example, learning interactively enables children to hear words being pronounced which is especially useful for children learning Welsh as a second language.
We work closely with educational advisers and teachers to ensure the products are pedagogically sound and compatible with the National Curriculum.
We believe in producing nearly all of our products in both Welsh and English from the start. Computer technology allows us to easily modify content and we have an understanding of the issues which arise from localisation and language differences. This gives us a strong platform from which we can translate our products into many languages.
In fact, bilingualism really suits this form of technology. We have recently translated our Sali Mali series into Irish and are in the process of developing the award-winning Word World series trilingually, in Welsh, English and Polish.
The number of awards our titles have received over the years are a testament to their quality and the benefits they bring to their users.
Receiving industry recognition such as this confirms our educational software as some of the best in its field.
It also gives us the confidence to innovate further and hopefully go some way to push the boundaries of teaching technologies around the world at the same time.
Aled Richards is head of production at Awen


For the first time, on June 23, 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement that promotes reading aloud to children daily, beginning in infancy. In light of this, we created a new program for children aged birth to pre-Kindergarten. Our goal is to help you, the parent, read 1,000 books to your child before they begin school.
The policy statement recommends that pediatric providers promote early literacy development by:
(1) Advocating the benefits of reading aloud with young children;
(2) Counseling all parents about shared-reading activities;
(3) Providing developmentally appropriate books during their visits for all young children;
(4) Using different options to support and promote these efforts; and
(5) Partnering with other child advocates that support and promote these key early shared-reading experiences.
When low-income based children have reached 3 years old, they are at a 30 million word deficit–oral and text–compared to children who are not low-income based. This statistic has profound implications for the future of our country.
Research shows that the most reliable predictor of school success is being read to at home during early childhood. The brain develops more rapidly during the first three years of a child’s life than at any other time during the lifespan. Reading to children from an early age can help close the vocabulary gap and prepare children to enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed. Most important, sharing books with children promotes a lifelong love of books and reading.
The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program encourages parents and caregivers to provide positive, nurturing early experiences by reading aloud to their children regularly.
Yes, it does count as 5 books when you're forced to read Chu's Day 5 times in a row.
- 50 books: Sticker
- 100 books: Picture taken and displayed on digital signage
- 250 books: Bookmark
- 500 books: Free Book
- 750 books: Library Tote Bag
- 1000 books: T-shirt, Certificate, and Picture taken and displayed in a book plate in his/her favorite book!
Ready to get started? Download our convenient reading logs (or use our iPhone App or Android App) and our recommended reading list!
Reading Log Sheets
Commemorate Your Child’s Journey
(Take a picture with your child holding and share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) #1000BooksB4K
- I Read 100 Books
- I Read 200 Books
- I Read 300 Books
- I Read 400 Books
- I Read 500 Books
- I Read 600 Books
- I Read 700 Books
- I Read 800 Books
- I Read 900 Books
- I Read 1,000 Books
- Certificate of Completion (fillable and downloadable .pdf)
- iPhone App available on iTunes
- Android App available on Google Play
- iPhone and Android App Instructions (downloadable .pdf)


Making Music in Montessori
Everything Teachers Need to Harness Their Inner Musician and Bring Music to Life in Their Classrooms
Infused with a warm, affable tone, Making Music in Montessori is the Guide’s guide to music education, providing Montessori teachers all at once a snappy, practical handbook, music theory mentor, pedagogical manual, and resource anthology. The book’s goal: To give teachers confidence in music, so that when their children walk away from a lesson all fired up to compose their own music, their teacher will know how to guide them. Before Making Music in Montessori, teachers may have only dreamed of a classroom buzzing with children working, learning, and growing with music alongside all of the other subject areas in the Montessori curriculum. Now, it’s a reality. If children’s minds are a fertile field, then Making Music in Montessori will stir Montessori teachers of all musical backgrounds to don their overalls, roll up their sleeves, sow the musical seeds, and watch them blossom under their children’s flaming imagination.


Part of the series Excel Early Skills - English.
Excel Early Skills workbooks are written for children aged 3-6 in preschool and the first year of primary school. Excel Early Skills - English workbooks provide practice of early literacy skills. By using these books your child will feel confident in a wide range of English skills, and will get a head start on primary school learning.
Books In This Series
- English Book 1 - Visual Skills
- English Book 2 - Learning About Sequencing
- English Book 3 - Beginning Consonant Sounds
- English Book 4 - Ending Consonant Sounds
- English Book 5 - Vowel Sounds
- English Book 6 - Beginning, Ending and Vowel Sounds
- English Book 7 - Learning The Alphabet
- English Book 8 - Reading With Sounds 1
- English Book 9 - Reading With Sounds 2
- English Book 10 - Reading For Comprehension
English Book 1 - Visual Skills
Before children can learn to read, they need to develop certain visual skills.
In Excel Early Skills - English Book 1 Visual Skills, your child will learn about:
- Listening carefully and following instructions following a sequence of events
- Recognising objects that are the same
- Recognising objects that are different
The activities in this book are divided into double pages. Each double page allows your child to practise one particular skill many times so that the skill is reinforced. Every page includes an extra extension activity to further enrich your child’s learning.
View Sample Pages
Click on the images to view sample pages
Also Available in the Excel Early Skills Series
Excel Early Skills - Maths
Excel Early Skills workbooks are written for children aged 3-6 in preschool and the first year of primary school. The Maths workbooks offer many activities to improve early numeracy skills.
|Product Type||Student Books,|
|Year Level||Early Years, Foundation, Year 1,|
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Message from the Head Mistress on Early Years
The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence
Welcome to the Early Years section of Lodha World School
As a Lodha Nursery School in Thane and Lodha Kindergarten in Thane we are particular in providing opportunities for a child to freely explore nature. Each child is motivated and well guided to face the challenges of a formal schooling system.
We ensure strong moral, social, emotional and physical development, which helps us transform the children from innocent toddlers to confident, inquisitive, self-motivated learners and ideal citizens who can face the world with confidence.
Seven guiding principles have been established to serve as a benchmark for delivering education. We emphasize on these seven guiding principles, in addition to multiple intelligences like linguistic, musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and logical- mathematical skills. Inculcating love for learning is the motto of Early Years education at Lodha World School.
At Lodha World School Thane, the hallmark of our approach towards Early Years education for our toddlers is to provide education that befits the personality of children we have with us today, not to enforce upon them our childhood principles or expect them to pursue our dreams.
We believe in following differentiated instructions where the teachers modify their instruction tomeet varying readiness levels, learning preferences and interests.
We look at developing the following four aspects in children during the initial years:
1. The Literacy Development Program
The Lodha School being an English medium school in thane will help The learners will be able to listen for information and respond appropriately. They will be able to read signs and words from their immediate environments. They will be able to pick up and write simple words and basic sentences in English. Eventually we will see all our children communicating effectively and confidently in English.
2. The Number Sense Development Program
Learners will be able to express orally their understanding of number concepts and arithmetic symbols. They will recognize and describe patterns, relationships and shapes. Eventually they will be able to solve simple problems related to everyday context.
3. Environmental Awareness and Development Program
Learners will be become aware of the importance of their own basic health and nutrition. They will learn to act positively towards the natural environment and will also start interacting positively in the social environment.
4. Life Skills development Program
Learners will demonstrate personal and interpersonal skills through active participation in creative activities like dance, music and theatre. They will be able to appreciate and express themselves through various art forms and expressions. Children will participate in a variety of physical activities like football, zumba and free play, which will promote movement and motor development. Eventually they will build a basic understanding of their own beliefs, become tolerant of others’, and share common positive values.
To ensure the above competencies are achieved we have transformed our teaching and learning methodologyto include the following:
- Learning by doing through a more hands on and activity based teaching approach
- Creating a student-centric learning environment in the classroom
- Make the students responsible for their own learning by providing them with choices in their daily classroom activities
- Building a high degree of interaction, participation and contribution in collaborative settings
- Implementing varied strategies classrooms to allow students to investigate and explore to exactly know the ‘why, what and how’ of what they are doing.
This basically means that teachers proactively plan the varied approaches to what the students need to learn, how they will learn it and how they will express what they have learnt in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he/she can, as efficiently as possible.


Classical guitar is one of the members of the guitar family with 6 nylon strings and used in classical music. It is a wooden acoustic guitar, which has a different sound other than steal strings, such as acoustic or electric guitars. The classical guitar does not need any sound system for the regular performance, and it is a very portable instrument.
The classical guitar has different sizes for different ages of the students. Emphasis is on playing from a very young age, typically starting formal instruction from as young as 5 years old.
Guitar has developed over many years, and shaped in size. It comes from the baroque Lute; it has changed in size and shape, and also number of strings. It became to the baroque guitar and romantic guitar and then it gradually transformed to the Spanish guitar that now we use today. The classical guitar has a variety of music genres that it can be used for.
In general, it is mainly use for baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary period classical music. Though not typical, it also can be used to play pop, rock, jazz and country music.
Guitar can play a big role of ensemble music. It can be played as duo, trio, and quartet or in a chamber music with other instruments or even a concerto with a full orchestra.
William Pu Music Academy offers 30 minute, 45 minute and an hour guitar lessons for students who are as young as 5 years old to adult.
Fall in Guitar Ensamble, Seoul, Korea
INTERESTED IN LESSONS?
William Pu Music Academy, North Georgia’s Premier Music Academy, raises the bar of music education, with excellent commitment and mission to help students to achieve their higher creative potential.


This item is estimated to be available in January 1900. Please contact customer service at 800-858-7339 to pre-order.
Bring the joy of reading to the classroom with complex, diverse stories from a wide range of appealing fiction genres. Support early fluent readers on their journey to independent reading and encourage them to read actively and independently. Introduce second grade students to increasingly complex vocabulary, sentence structures, plots, characters, and literary devices to grow reading skills gradually and appropriately. Advancing readers will engage in meaningful discussions and think critically as they analyze the common themes that link multiple books together.
Fiction Readers: Early Fluent Plus Kit builds a foundation for a lifelong love of reading. Highlights include:
Build literacy skills by engaging students with high-interest, appropriately leveled original and adapted fiction. Books feature increasingly complex vocabulary, sentence structures, plots, characters, literary devices, and illustrations to grow reading skills gradually and appropriately.
Seamlessly integrate Fiction Readers into instruction while meeting standards with streamlined prep, research-based strategies, best practices for reading instruction, content connections, and more. The full-color Implementation Guide features:
Digital resources are available via digital download and include:
Family Tips Booklet:
Strengthen the home-school connection and provide family members with the tools to promote literacy development at home. This booklet features activities and games to practice word work, reading fluency, and comprehension. At-home language and literacy extension activities are also included. Digital copies of the booklet in English and Spanish can be printed and replicated for students to take home.
Audiobooks - Students can listen to the audiobook while reading the physical book or the eBook to serve as a model of fluent reading.
eBooks - Digital copies of the readers can be viewed on any device and can be used with or
without the audiobook. These digital books can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat or any web browser.
Read-Along eBooks - Combine professional audio recordings with digital copies of the books. As
the audio plays, the text is highlighted word by word, making it easy for all students to follow along.
Students can click or tap on any challenging word to hear it read again.
Audio of books serve as a model of fluent reading. Students can listen to the audio of the book while reading the physical book or the eBook.


Our Maths Statement of Intent
For each child to become fluent in the fundamentals of maths, be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems.
Maths at Shears Green Infant School
Numbers and maths are everywhere. We use them in our daily lives usually without even realising quite how often! Maths is involved in almost all aspects of everyday life, and therefore at Shears Green Infants, we believe it is essential that we equip our children with the numerical skills they will need. In the children’s maths learning they will explore problem solving, numbers and how they work together using different operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), shapes, data handling, measuring, time and much more!
The children are given opportunities for hands on learning wherever possible and we include ‘real life’ maths in our curriculum learning journeys.
At Shears Green Infant School we use a range of models and images (see below), alongside manipulatives to provide practical experiences for children at this early stage of calculation.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. We give all children the opportunity to talk and communicate in a widening range of situations and to practise and extend their range of vocabulary and numeracy skills. They have the opportunity to explore, enjoy, learn about, and use mathematics in a range of situations. Mathematics is assessed using the criteria from the Early Learning Goals. Mathematics is taught both as a discrete subject and within the whole Early Years Curriculum to give children opportunities to use their Numeracy skills in real life situations.
Years 1 & 2
The 2014 Maths curriculum has a larger focus on number. It is set out into the following sections for Years 1 & 2:
Number – including Number and Place Value, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division and Fractions.
Geometry – including Position and Direction.
There is also a greater focus on reasoning. The National Curriculum states:
"Teachers should develop pupils’ numeracy and mathematical reasoning in all subjects so that they understand and appreciate the importance of mathematics. Pupils should be taught to apply arithmetic fluently to problems, understand and use measures, make estimates and sense check their work. Pupils should apply their geometric and algebraic understanding, and relate their understanding of probability to the notions of risk and uncertainty. They should also understand the cycle of collecting, presenting and analysing data. They should be taught to apply their mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems into a series of simpler steps."
Where possible and relevant teachers will make cross curricular links between numeracy and other subject areas through the year group topic of the term to ensure relevant links between subjects are maximised to promote our cross curricular approach and links to real life. For example, Handling Data in Numeracy could be linked to a Science topic that involves collecting data.
“That’s not the way I was taught!”
The children learn different ways to add, subtract, multiply and divide which are appropriate to their understanding of numbers. We understand that the methods we now teach are different to the way many of you will have learnt at school. The following pages show some strategies at a glance but we hold a maths workshop in the Autumn Term for parents later in the school year for anyone who would like to know more.
Please also follow the links to ‘Parent Guides’ which will give you advice and activities for supporting your child with maths at home. Many of the activities suggested make maths ‘real’ for the children.
Whole school theme days and weeks
At times during the year there will be Whole school theme week or days linked to numeracy and other areas of the curriculum. These weeks are used to excite and engage pupils and develop further a cross curricular approach where skills can be adopted across a range of subject areas.
Please click on the link below to access our Maths Workshop PowerPoint
Please click on the link below to access our Revised Calculation Policy
MODELS and IMAGES


Establishing cultural change in schools is not an easy task – it needs to be managed efficiently, seen to be beneficial, and considered a necessity by those most affected by it.
While many argue that a principle role of schools is to prepare students to deal with a digitally-driven world, for students to perform at their peak we need to redefine what ‘information literacy’ involves. Sure, the value of teaching digital literacy skills is a given, but to develop a more grounded culture of information literacy in schools, we also need to consider two other vital elements. Firstly, the essential role visual and emotional literacies play in the learning process for young people. Secondly, we have to extend the learning journey to include the entire school community; that is students, teachers and parents.
When you consider the amount of visual information presented in the digital world, it makes sense to spend time investigating and analysing the way images shape how and what we learn. In fact, digital literacy may be more aligned with the production and consumption of images that the reading of prose. As the literacy skills required for visual analysis are similar to the comprehension and analysis of written texts, the value of teaching effective visual literacy becomes more evident.
No one is immune to stress and, essentially, stress can fall into three categories: foreseeable and avoidable (being punished for bad behaviour), unforeseeable and unavoidable (the sudden death of a pet or relative), and foreseeable but unavoidable (sitting exams or going to the dentist). A student suffering from anxiety or whose head is not ‘in the right space’ will not learn effectively and may need extra attention to survive the rigours of the education system.
Information literacy programs must now extend beyond the confines of digital literacy and include a solid focus on the development and understanding of visual and wellbeing literacy. If it does not, we are not preparing our students for the educational journey that awaits them.
So, how do you develop this new culture of information literacy in a school? The answer lies in becoming more ‘user-centred’ and connecting directly with the three main elements of the client base: students, staff and parents. By delivering information literacy upskilling to each of these groups, the entire school community will become more informed, aware and directly involved in the learning culture within the school.
Furthermore, parents who are directly involved in the learning process develop a clearer understanding of what the school is trying to achieve and how, as parents, they can support their child’s learning.
An effective way to involve parents is to design a tailored program that covers the essentials of visual literacy, wellbeing literacy and digital literacy. One such program is The Southport School’s Study Skills Orientation Program for Parents. The program includes four modules and focuses on upskilling parents to provide support and advice for their child at home. It reflects a ‘pincer movement’ where the enemy is approached on both flanks rather than head-on. When parents feel more confident to deal with the educational demands and requirements their child is facing, they can support at home while teachers continue to support in the classroom. Information literacy support becomes available at both home and school.
Module One of the Parent Program explores recent brain research findings, how humans (especially young ones) actually learn, and what the brain needs to perform at its peak. Module Two focuses on reading and writing and includes some upskilling in visual literacy development via analysis of picture book images, political cartoons, and charts and diagrams.
Module Three focuses almost exclusively on developing digital literacy skills and introduces parents to the extensive range of online resources provided by the school. This session, more than any other, it a real eye-opener for most parents many of whom have been completely unaware of the range of instantly accessible, authoritative educational resources available via the library webpage. Module Four focuses on time management and coping with the stresses of school life. Here, the school’s extensive range of wellbeing and study skills resources are explored, and strategies relating to scheduling and planning are presented.
In a perfect world, cultural change would happen smoothly and to everyone’s relief. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world. Change takes time and effort and, if warranted, it is worth the journey. Obviously, not all parents come on board with the Parent Program, but at least they know it exists and is there for their reference.
If we can extend the realm of information literacy to embrace new areas of concern, and share the educational journey beyond classroom walls and into our students’ homes, then we stand a better chance of preparing our young charges for their life-long learning journey.
Guest blog: Andrew J Stark, Head of Libraries and Information Services, The Southport School, Queensland, Australia
Shared by kind permission of JCSResouces. The original can be read here https://jcsonlineresources.org/blog/developing-a-culture-of-information-literacy/


I spotted this Autumn kids craft that my friend had set up for her two boys and she’s kindly let me nab it so I can share with you (thanks Lucy)! This is a great kids papercraft where you can use up small ends of wrapping paper and practise using scissors which are great for fine motor skill development.
What You Need
- Large piece of coloured card for the background
- Patterned wrapping paper
- Tissue paper
How to Make it
- Start by drawing the outline of a tree on dark wrapping paper, cut it out and stick it on your card.
- Next draw the shapes of leaves on the back of the wrapping paper.
- Cut out the leaves.
- Stick the leaves on the tree.
- Scrunch up some tissue paper (orange, yellows and red are great for the Autumn theme) and glue these to the bottom of the tree to look like fallen leaves.


National Literacy and Numeracy Week is an opportunity for providers, educators and families to celebrate learning with their students and children. ACECQA spoke with two educators to see how they promote a culture of problem solving, understanding and learning in their educational programs and the opportunities for teaching these skills to young children in a way that is fun and engaging.
Shirleyanne Creighton from South Grafton Multipurpose Out of School Hours Care in NSW finds that asking children what activities they want to do most is a great method of incorporating literacy and numeracy into the program.
“We build a list of high-demand activities and then as a team work together to determine how we can underpin those activities with literacy and numeracy elements,” Shirleyanne said.
“Simple ideas, like using a baking class that introduces children to metrics and measurements or initiating a pen pal partnership that links with another OSHC,
are exciting ways for children to engage with numbers and text.
“Literacy and numeracy skills are the cornerstones of education and should form the basis of most activities we set out for our students.
“Educators and providers need to let children lead the way. By weaving literacy
and numeracy into their favourite activities, we can make the most of their natural intrigue and teach these skill sets creatively.
“The whole process can be seamless. Our children are learning and they don’t even notice,” Shirleyanne said.
In South Australia, Lee Munn and her team at Lobethal Kindergarten have also come up with interesting ways of teaching literacy and numeracy through experience.
“Every term, one week is selected as the ‘Outdoor Kindy Week’ where all sessions are conducted in the outdoor learning environment,” Lee said.
“Activities that are focused on thinking, planning and constructing functional items from simple materials such as pipes or bamboo help children to understand angles, weights and measurements.
“Imagination and story appreciation is also encouraged by using the ground as
a canvas, allowing students to compose and illustrate their ideas,” Lee said.
Lobethal Kindergarten also publishes a daily blog, which allows parents and families to read about the centre’s activities and enables them to comment and contribute to the curriculum.
“We encourage children to connect with nature by getting them outdoors and challenging them to take risks and move outside their comfort zones,” Lee said.
“A child’s imagination and curiosity can actually teach us all a thing or two – we are constantly in awe of children’s abilities to extend their thinking and learning. They amaze us with their competencies, skills and desire to explore and discover.”
Visit www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au/ for details of the week’s activities, useful resources and innovative ideas to celebrate learning.


Turner School implements the Australian Curriculum for all children. We aim to develop, happy, competent, articulate, creative and thinking students who are confident and active participants in society. We emphasise the acquisition of effective literacy skills, numeracy skills and the development of a variety of learning processes. Opportunities to create, reflect, seek solutions to problems, engage in meaningful social interactions, demonstrate a sense of individual responsibility and display an enjoyment of life is valued and pursued through our learning and teaching programs at Turner. To make learning the content of the Australian Curriculum connected for our children, we plan our curriculum using an inquiry approach that integrates a number of learning areas.
The Australian Curriculum focuses on learning area content and achievement standards that describe what students will learn and teachers will teach. In each curriculum, the content descriptions specify what all young people should be taught, and the achievement standards set out the depth of understanding and sophistication of skill expected of students at points in their schooling.
Students with additional learning needs at Turner all have an Individual Learning Plan (ILP), which is developed in consultation with parents, therapists and other appropriate people to establish the learning goals for the child each year. Class teachers adapt the Australian Curriculum to suit the learning needs of individual students. In classes where students are working towards the Foundation level of the Australian Curriculum, teachers use the Victorian Curriculum pre-Foundation Levels A-D developed by the Department of Education and Training Victoria.
In addition to learning planned according to the ILP and the Australian and AusVELS Curriculums, children with a disability at Turner School also participate in:
- A gross motor program that incorporates learning to ride a bicycle and (where applicable) a hydrotherapy program
- A living skills program that incorporates learning about:
- Healthy and safe kitchen skills
- Gardening skills
- Personal care skills


Maraming Salamat to those who have placed orders. Please connect with @LittleYellowJeepney for the latest updates for future Bulilit Kits.
Bulilit means “small child” in Tagalog. The word, “bulilit” contains the word “lil,"the short form of little, for which these kits are geared to. The last syllable, "lit" is a common abbreviation for literature orliteracy, which are main components of this program.
Bulilit Kit was made in collaboration with Fil-Am Learners with the goal of promoting Tagalog exploration through literacy and play!
The arts are a perfect partner for early childhood learning because it encourages the development of language and exploration. While creative play allows young children to develop their own creative expression and imagination.


Inspiring, practical, anchored in real classrooms…
“It is no secret that telling a good story is an effective way to excite students and entice them into a new area of study. But how do we find just the right story? How do we make that curriculum connection? Help has arrived for teachers who want to use story to excite and inform their students about social studies units! Stenson and Norfolk give us 29 answers!”
--Margaret Read MacDonald, author, storyteller and folklorist
“These road maps will guide our children and grandchildren to remember the stories we told and to reflect on when, where and why we told them. We need this kind of reflection and scholarship. All too often, we forget to honor the origin.”
--Emily Hooper Lansana, storyteller and Community Partnerships Manager, for the Arts and Public Life Initiative and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts University of Chicago
“An award winning master teacher and an award winning teaching artist have teamed up to bring hungry teachers a feast of brilliant ideas for teaching Social Studies using storytelling. It is an honor to be a contributor to this thought provoking and useful volume.”
--Elizabeth Ellis, storyteller
"Inspiring, practical, anchored in real classrooms, and infused with the rich diversity of the oral storytelling tradition-that's Social Studies for the Storytelling Classroom. Whether you are new to storytelling or a passionate storyteller already, this will be your go-to resource for teaching social studies through storytelling."
--Dr. Margaret H. Lippert, Storytelling Mentor, Lesley University, co-author of Why Leopard Has Spots: Dan Stories from Liberia.
“Gifted educators and storytellers from across the United States offer accessible but inspirational ways to make storytelling a portal to faceted insights about culture, history, geography, and identity. This handbook, organized around the National Council for the Social Studies standards, offers lesson and program ideas adaptable to any classroom or library setting.
-- Janice M. Del Negro, PhD, GSLIS Dominican University
“I would say that in working with adults in teacher education I have learned that a good story is worth a thousand pages of reading. They remember the story as a mnemonic for the principle. For children, we know that the structure of stories is a powerful link to comprehension.”
--Dr. Camille Blachowicz, National-Louis University
Jane B. Stenson and Sherry Norfolk, whose previous collaboration includes Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom, have a combined fifty-one years of classroom teaching experience and are both performing storytellers of considerable repute. Stenson lives in North Chicago, Illinois where she teaches at the baker Demonstration School. Norfolk lives in Atlanta, Georgia, though she is frequently on tour nationally and internationally.


The impressive photography of the Abdul-Hamid II Collection contains 1,819 photographs from the Ottoman Empire. Dated from approximately 1880 to 1893, the images depict scenes within the borders of modern Turkey, as well as Ottoman holdings in Greater Syria, Greece, and modern Iraq. Teachers and students of the history of children and youth will be particularly taken by the vast array of education-themed photographs, which reveal a strong emphasis placed on schooling by the Ottoman Empire at the time.
The photos in this collection were originally presented to the Library of Congress by Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in 1894. Most of the photos promote the Empire's modernization, with institutions such as schools, hospitals, military barracks, medical and law schools, and fire departments featuring prominently. A keyword search on "school" returns 546 images.
One of the most interesting elements of the collection are the many images of school children from the 19th century, particularly in Istanbul and surrounding areas of modern-day Turkey. There are also several images depicting school lessons, with an emphasis on cultural trends, such as physical fitness, art education, and schooling for the handicapped. See, for example, this "Group photograph of the students and the teachers of the school for the deaf."
Scholars and educators will be impressed by the many portraits of school children available in the collection. Using the website’s search function, keywords such as "girl," "boy," and "education" reveal tens of portraits of children in their school uniforms.
One of the more common portrait styles for children is to pair kids together. [Students, orphan school, Darüssafaka] These photos are fascinating primary documents that reveal important social indicators, including schoolboy and schoolgirl fashions (both in terms of uniforms and dress clothing), aesthetic notions about presenting children in portraiture, and elements of class and ethnicity in school populations of the Ottoman Empire.
Another essential element of this collection for those who study children’s history in the Ottoman Empire is the emphasis on modern educational facilities and contemporary methods of education. There are several photos highlighting the modern architecture of educational institutions, as well as images that reveal the scope of children’s education in the Ottoman Empire. Not only are private institutions represented, but mosque schools, orphanages, and schools for the deaf and blind are depicted, along with portraits of children attending these facilities. [Students, school for the blind] Schools for art and various trades are also depicted, and these images reveal fascinating gender assumptions, as it is girls who are attending art schools, whereas boys are taking part in trade school education.
An interesting assignment would be to have students search through the images and compare and contrast elements of the portrait photography. For instance, students could compare and contrast clothing styles, students’ ages and genders, and the types of schools depicted. Then, they could extrapolate upon various elements of Ottoman life in the late 19th century, including topics such as the increasing European influence on the Empire, the role of physical fitness and militarization in education, and the increasing diversity of educational options in the Ottoman polity.
The images are well displayed on dedicated pages, and are available as thumbnails, web-ready JPEG files, and uncompressed archival TIFF files. Full archival citation information is displayed, as well as clear information about how to purchase copies of some images.
The primary drawback of this website is its organization. From the search page users can preview all images, browse Library of Congress subject and format headings or names of creators or conduct broad searches or searches on specific fields. An exterior search engine (similar to Google) reveals a broad subject index, but there is no link from the main page to direct visitors there. This page will lead viewers to a comprehensive index, but without this knowledge, those looking for specific images or topics must rely on the Library of Congress search engine featured on the home page. Because of this flaw, viewers may find what they are looking for but miss related topics.
Despite this flaw, this collection is a rich resource. The photographs provice an excellent sense of the way that Abdul-Hamid II wanted Americans to view his empire. Moreover, the many images of educational facilities, as well as the myriad portraits of school children, illustrate a fascinating connection between education and modernity in the Ottoman Empire and its image projection abroad, one in which teachers and students should find much to explore.


This joke was supposed to be funny:
A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and shouts "Five beers, please!"
But disregarding the funniness, it made me actually think about the real system or systems that they did use. The evidence I found so far is from quite old sources and inconclusive, only pointing at reconstructions at what they might have used. Roman numerals are even said to have originated from hand-gestures for counting, according to one hypothesis.
Alfred Hooper has an alternative hypothesis for the origin of the Roman numeral system, for small numbers. Hooper contends that the digits are related to hand gestures for counting. For example, the numbers I, II, III, IIII correspond to the number of fingers held up for another to see. V, then represents that hand upright with fingers together and thumb apart. Numbers 6–10, are represented with two hands as follows (left hand, right hand) 6=(V,I), 7=(V,II), 8=(V,III), 9=(V,IIII), 10=(V,V) and X results from either crossing of the thumbs, or holding both hands up in a cross.
Another possibility is that each I represents a finger and V represents the thumb of one hand. This way the numbers between 1–10 can be counted on one hand using the order: I=P, II=PR, III=PRM, IV=IT, V=T, VI=TP, VII=TPR, VIII=TPRM, IX=IN, X=N (P=pinky, R=ring, M=middle, I=index, T=thumb N=no fingers/other hand). This pattern can also be continued using the other hand with the fingers representing X and the thumb L. (WP)
But that does not seem to match this description:
Finger numerals were used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Europeans of the Middle Ages, and later the Asiatics. Still today you can see children learning to count on our own finger numerical system. The old system is as follows: ()
This seems to be generally correct depiction, however I do not see how well this could have worked on the one hand. and on the other:
The evidence seems to be against the assumption that the ancient Greeks and Romans had a system of representing higher numbers by placing the hands with palm or back exposed against various parts of the body as described by Bede. […] At this point we shall leave Bede for the reasons stated at the beginning of this section and consider some earlier evidence which shows that despite the general continuity of tradition, a change had taken place in the way 10 and 30 were represented.
(J. Hilton Turner: "Roman Elementary Mathematics: The Operations", The Classical Journal, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Nov. 1951), 63‑74 and 106‑108.)
Which seems to imply that apart from a seemingly arbitrary system in large parts to start with an even as randomly appearing change happened?
A couple of ancient sources that touch the subject:
Plautus, Miles Gloriosus, 204‑206; Pliny, Hist. Nat. 34, 33 (cf. Macrobius, Saturnalia 1, 9, 10); Suidas s.v. Ἰᾶνος; Cicero, Ad Att. 5, 21, 12‑13; Quintilian, Instit. Orat. 1, 10, 35.
But it is not without good reason that some of the greatest men have devoted special attention to this science. Geometry has two divisions; one is concerned with numbers, the other with figures. Now knowledge of the former is a necessity not merely to the orator, but to any one who has had even an elementary education. Such knowledge is frequently required in actual cases, in which a speaker is regarded as deficient in education, I will not say if he hesitates in making a calculation, but even if he contradicts the calculation which he states in words by making an uncertain or inappropriate gesture with his fingers.
How did the Romans use hand gestures to signal numerical values, did that system change over time, and is any of those steps conducive to the theory that written representation evolved from these finger signals?
While the connection between calculations, means thereof and written number representation is interesting as well indeed: The main focus here is specifically concentrating on counting, use of fingers and visual communication (body language, like it's used today). If simple counting with fingers should be an aid in (learners'?) arithmetics that should be most interesting as well.


While the Yale Center for British Art remains closed for renovations, its achievements in educational innovation are gaining national attention.
For its upcoming “Museum Advocacy Day” next Tuesday and Wednesday, the American Alliance of Museums has chosen to honor the work of the YCBA education department staff by highlighting the center’s newest documentary, which profiles the center’s creative learning program, “Visual Literacy.” Titled “Visual Literacy: Rethinking the Role of Art in Education,” the film explores the role of visual arts in developing students’ thinking, communication and writing skills. YCBA Associate Curator of Education Cyra Levenson, who created the program 10 years ago, attributed the program’s effectiveness to its flexibility, noting that it does not have a rigid curriculum.
“It’s successful because it’s more of a methodology than a program,” Levenson said.
The program involves displaying visual arts images to students and asking them to compose responses to writing prompts by sketching their ideas as images and translating them into words. Levenson explained that the concept behind the program is the notion that students who have difficulty conveying their ideas through writing can better understand such tasks through interpreting and creating images. As children do not need to be taught how to understand visual images or how to draw, Levenson added, visual literacy relies on skills that are inherent.
Levenson also emphasized the concept of “sketching to write.” She explained that sketching an image in a response to a prompt allows students to organize their ideas into something that resembles a written outline. Once students have their ideas on paper, she noted, it becomes easier to write out the ideas in words.
The program also allows students to tap into sensory experiences, such as sight and sound. Ava Heitmann-Levenson, a student at New Haven’s Cold Spring School who took a class that participated in Visual Literacy two years ago, noted that employing different senses in the learning process helps one better understand and express ideas.
Yale psychology professor and Berkeley College Master Marvin Chun echoed this sentiment, adding that for elementary school students, the visual system tends to be more fully developed than other brain systems, which making the visual literacy teaching style useful.
The YCBA originally designed the program in conjunction with local Connecticut schoolteachers. Development of the program included asking teachers for recommendations, conducting research on the visual learning process and measuring student reactions to the program.
The YCBA’s Summer Institute, which attracts between 40 and 60 teachers every year, has introduced a number of instructors to the idea of visual literacy and its use in the classroom. According to Levenson, the program has likely reached more than 1,000 local students, who range from elementary school to high school.
James Shivers, an English teacher at Hall High School in West Hartford, said his students’ writing abilities drastically improved after he employed the visual literacy technique. He added that their critical understanding of written texts showed particular signs of advancement.
Despite the success of the program, Shivers noted, several challenges still exist. Not all students are visual learners and some struggle to draw pictures, he explained. Shivers added that the program requires “a fair amount of understanding from teachers” and is therefore difficult to replicate. Chun added that not many museums have teaching staff to conduct visual literacy education.
“Visual Literacy: Rethinking the Role of Art in Education” will be screened at the National Art Education Association’s Spring Conference next month.


On today’s date in 1969, Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer died in Montréal at the age of 84.
One of the founders of the Group of Seven, Lismer had a significant impact on the arts, including art education, in Canada. Throughout more than 50 years of painting, he developed a powerful expressionist style characterized by simplicity in raw colours, heavy impasto, coarse brushwork and compressed forms.
His teaching experience included stints as vice-principal of the Ontario College of Art (1919-27) and director of education at the Art Gallery of Toronto (1927-38) and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1941-67).
A collection of Lismer’s drawings were discovered in 2017 by an assistant archivist working at Dalhousie University’s archives. The archivist found 24 folders of pen-and-ink images totalling about 30 individual drawings, according to a report by CBC News, which added the works were commissioned for Dalhousie’s centenary in 1919.
“I haven’t stumbled upon anything this interesting, certainly,” archives assistant Jennifer Lambert told CBC News. “It’s not often that we just stumble across things because a lot of collection is processed.”
Upon his death in 1969, Lismer was buried alongside other members of the Group of Seven on the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
1970 LISMER STAMP
In 1970, Canada’s Post Office Department (now Canada Post) featured Lismer’s Isle of Spruce painting on a six-cent stamp (Scott #518).
Printed by Ashton-Potter, the stamp marked the 50th anniversary of the Group of Seven’s founding with a five-colour lithography of Lismer’s painting. The stamp measures 36 millimetres by 30 millimetres and was issued in panes of 50.
The Unitrade Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps reports one pane with diagonally shifted horizontal perforations resulted in “a couple of stamps” with nearly missing inscriptions and a wide white margin at the bottom.
The catalogue also lists one variety – the “fire in bush” variety (SC #518i) – which is valued at $5 (Never Hinged to Very Fine) compared to 30 cents for the regular stamp in the same condition.
An official first-day cover describes the Canadian art group as having “defied the painting style of the time, the opinions of the critics, and the comforts of civilization to go out into the wilderness and paint the country ‘as it is’ … big, raw and sometimes stark, but majestically beautiful.”


Children are naturally creative on their own accord. But if their creativity isn’t fostered, they begin to lose it as they grow into adults. Pablo Picasso famously said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
One of the best ways to encourage a lifelong love of the arts is to enroll your kids in art classes.
There is an ever-growing variety of art classes available for kids of all ages. If you’re thinking about enrolling your child in one, you’ll be surprised that these types of classes offer much more than an outlet for imagination and play. Here’s how kids art classes help prepare your child for success in life.
1. Art helps improve fine and gross motor skills.
One of the most basic benefits of art classes, particularly for toddlers, is the improvement of fine and gross motor skills. Because there are so many different types of art – from painting to sculpture to drawing – a variety of tools and techniques are required. For many small children, the struggle is real when it comes to using and developing their tiny muscles to hold and use objects correctly. Art classes teach children how to properly hold a paintbrush, pencils or markers and build hand muscles while playing with clay. Older students will benefit by learning proper painting or drawing techniques, and even build muscle when learning to create more physically-demanding forms of art like sculptures.
2. Creating means learning to make decisions.
During the creative process — whether it’s through visual art, writing, or other activities — we often go through a stream-of-consciousness period at the beginning of a project, then go back and strategically make decisions, revising our ideas until we are satisfied with the finished product. When young children create, they go through that same period of stream-of-consciousness and are often satisfied with the end result. As they get older, however, and their personalities develop, their ideas start to become more complicated. And so they revise, making decisions to try to match the ideas in their heads. Through this, they begin to learn the consequences of their decisions, and how those decisions affect the creative process. Art is equal parts innovation and problem-solving. Through continual art education, kids are instructed to be more strategic in their decision making, which they eventually carry over to the adult world of work, relationships and home life.
3. Art teaches children to be more aware of themselves and others.
Part of the creative process in kids art classes is learning about different artists and the variety of methods those artists use to create their art. This means your child will learn about different artistic styles originating from around the world. But art classes also help your child understand different perspectives, and what the artist was thinking when they created their piece. It helps kids appreciate the different modes of expression others may have, to form and value opinions, to appreciate the beauty around them and how others interpret it. Art feeds open-mindedness and diversity in thought and culture, helping your child to thrive in a diverse and culturally-rich world.
4. Creating art teaches focus and perseverance.
Making art is a process. As your child gets older, their creative visions will become more complicated, requiring more time, attention and technique to fulfill their artistic quest. They will no doubt get frustrated and want to quit at times. Art classes help develop your child’s craft and manage their expectations. They will learn that the creative process is something that’s developed over time, and that honing one's skills and techniques doesn’t happen overnight! Your child will learn to see their ideas through to the end, which is an important lesson they will carry with themselves for the rest of their life.
5. Art helps children express their emotions in a positive way.
Perhaps more so than anything else, art helps children express emotion in a meaningful and honest way. According to a 2015 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, art activities help kids regulate their emotions so they learn how to control themselves when they are overwhelmed by anger and frustration. Kids gain a sense of confidence as they take the emotions they are feeling, acknowledge and process them into something visual.
There are plenty more benefits that you and your child will receive from art classes but we just covered the basics. If you want to enroll your child in a virtual art class, be sure to use Sawyer to find the ones that will fit your schedule best — check out tons of great options here.


Did you know that handwriting isn't taught in some classrooms? In my opinion, some teachers have thought, mistakenly, that students need to learn how to use a computer keyboard rather than teaching them how to write.
More and more classrooms are now adding handwriting back into their Language Arts curriculum. For students to become better readers, they need to become better at writing, so says the booklet titled Handwriting Research. Susan Cahill says that "Handwriting is closely linked to academic achievement, especially composition and literacy skills." She goes on to say that handwriting instruction is related to improved reading.
Like reading, handwriting is also related to cognitive development, reading acquisition, and overall academic success. And while many teachers aren't skilled in teaching handwriting, educational materials and resources are offered online. New information is available that includes proper posture, left-handedness, and other skills needed to lead effective instruction. Why Writing? (Zaner-Bloser) explains more about the background and process, including resources to help teachers and parents. Or should I say parents who have recently become teachers?
One suggestion for an assignment for parents who are wondering how they can help their child with writing is to keep a log or journal during their virus-driven time at home. They can write down their thoughts, activities, feelings, friendships, and observations. Date each entry and help them, if necessary, develop their ideas and get them down on paper, especially if they are young. It might not be a bad idea for parents to also keep a diary.
In our digital age, it's easy to see why handwriting has become optional. But our test scores in reading show that some things are missing in our reading instruction. Could writing be a missing essential skill for literacy development?


• U.S. Department of Agriculture for Kids – Science Links and Resources
Includes: Science for Kids, Farmer’s Market, Preventing Foodborne Illness, Agriculture for Kids, Your Science Fair Project, Gardening, History of Agriculture, Nature Watch, Backyard Conservation, and much more.
• National 4-H Headquarters
4-H is a non-formal educational program and an organization for youth managed by the Families, 4-H and Nutrition unit of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• American Society for Horticultural Science
The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) was established in 1903 for the promotion of the science of horticulture. With 5000 members from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, ASHS serves as the world’s largest and most-respected professional society for individuals who practice horticultural science. The web site holds information about the society’s staff, membership, events and programs, and publications.


Grade 2 Informational/Expository & Opinion Writing Guide (printed) - Canada
Available in Canada.
Deconstructing Text, Writing Essays, Reports, Response to TextThis guide includes all foundational informational/expository and opinion writing skills, strategies, lesson plans, reproducible/projectable student pages, sample texts and exemplars necessary for effective expository, opinion, and response to text writing. A strong reading-writing connection is established throughout, and offers multiple opportunities for deconstructing, analyzing and annotating texts in order to prepare students to write in response to them. Specific lessons break response to text, research simulation and literary analysis tasks into manageable skills necessary for comprehensive, thorough responses. All foundational informational/expository writing skills are applied to not only essays and reports, but become the backbone for the more challenging response to text tasks. Also includes research skills, note-taking, and how to cite textual evidence without plagiarizing.
Student pages are available in both English and Spanish for print and projection, and accessible through a digital link provided in the guide. (Teacher Lesson Plan pages are in English only.
If I already have the Comprehensive Expository Writing Guide, do I need the Deconstructing Text, Writing Essays, Reports, Response to Text?
While we’ve kept all of the foundational skills necessary for all aspects of expository and informative writing, we’ve added many new lessons that apply these skills to response to text, literary analysis and research simulation tasks. In addition, we’ve broken down writing in response to text into a series of manageable skills that students can practice discretely, master, and apply effectively to authentic responsive writing assignments. Also, these new grade-level specific guides make planning and pacing instruction that much easier. Applying expository writing skills to the kinds of responsive writing challenges on the latest national and state assessments makes this resource exceedingly valuable. Anyone interested in meeting 21st century writing standards will want to have this new resource.


Are your children entering school with the social and cognitive skills and competencies needed for school success? Are schools in your area equipped and ready to provide optimal learning environments for your children? Is your family able and ready to prepare your children for a smooth transition into school?
You may be thinking why and how does school readiness make a difference, especially when each child will learn what they need at their own pace once they start school? That depends on what you understand school readiness to mean…gone are the days when the maturity level of the child (that would allow for quiet, focused work) is the main indicator of school preparedness. The United Nations define it as a child who is “…physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally secure, socially competent and able to learn”.
According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), school readiness is a time of transition that requires the interface between individuals, families and systems. The benefits of school readiness have been linked with improved social and behavioural competencies in adulthood as well as positive academic outcomes in primary and secondary school. Therefore the benefits of school readiness are described at three developmental time points: when the transition to primary school is considered complete, typically around 8 years of age; in secondary school and during adulthood. For this reason, school readiness is gaining currency as a viable strategy to close the learning gap and improve equity in achieving lifelong learning and full developmental potential among young children.
Parents are instrumental in the preparation of their child and in their own preparation that will enablethem to help their child make the smooth transition into school life. What can parents do? Parental and caregiver attitudes and involvement in their children’s early learning, development and transition to school cannot be over emphasized. Parents’ education goals for their children and the learning environment provided in the home – as indicated by parents’ engagement with their children (in learning activities such as singing, reading books, telling stories and playing games), is considered to be one of the characteristics of ready families. With a personal strategy, parents can give their children the best life chances – from the word go!
Current thinking about school readiness focuses on a couple of years prior to primary school entry, although families prepare their children for school right from birth. The care provided for development through antenatal visits, breastfeeding, early stimulation behaviours for new-borns and infants are primary indicators of parenting practices that promote the learning and development of their children. An effective strategy takes account of many factors, however the interaction between parents and the child’s school nearing the time of transition - is critical: families must learn to work with the school system.
In addition, assistance from others such as extended family, nurseries, child-minders, nannies and supplementary schools can take the pressure off parents: of having to do everything themselves (especially if they have full time jobs and so on). These others can provide support over time, in developing competencies in 4 main areas of a child’s readiness for school. A range of basic behaviours and abilities determine the likelihood of success in school, and include sustained attention, emotional regulation, following directions, and social relationships.
Other competencies considered important are attitudes towards learning, such as task persistence, creativity, initiative, curiosity and problem solving. Maths skills include early understanding of mathematical concepts, measurement logic and pre-numeracy skills, while language and Englishliteracy take oral language and emerging literacy into account. Physical competencies include fine and gross motor development such as sitting still for an appropriate period of time.
Summary of UNICEF report on school readiness:
According to scientists, the first ten years of our lives is the window of opportunity. It is therefore crucial that everything done at this time is geared towards nurturing a healthy and positive development in your child. As a
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Reading is more than an academic skill available to learn for ALL children in the UK. It is a life skill! Imagine life without the ability to read. Imagine how poor and limiting life might be when reading is less
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With Halloween just around the corner, There is no better way to get into the Halloween spirit but to do some fun Halloweeny crafts with the kids. We have put together some of the best Ideas for you and your kids
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Playing music may involve different cognitive domains, but previous studies of musicians and patients with brain lesions have reported inconsistent associations between music performances and other cognitive functions. Fine musical performance may be associated with high executive and control functions. 21 skilled musicians and 21 age- and education-matched healthy controls with no specific musical competence were compared on attentive, executive, linguistic, perceptual, praxic, memory, and theory of mind functions, using standardized neuropsychological tests. No differences between the musicians and controls, music composers and performers, or between soloists or orchestral players were observed. In musicians, there was no correlation between the test scores and amount of music education. Findings based on these musician groups, carefully evaluated, suggest further exploration of associations of distinct components of music comprehension and expression with different cognitive functions and behavioral aspects.


How can the report card be used to drive improvement, even if your child is meeting or exceeding expectations?
It’s report card time!
Which means it’s the perfect time for reflection and planning. At this time of the year, parents should be able to look back and list the things that were learned in each subject, as well as what areas could use some improvement or enrichment. In fact, your children should be the ones to tell you. As a parent, you know your child the best.
Go ahead and make one. We’ll wait.
Are you finished? Great! Let’s get started.
Understanding the report card
Are you pleased with this list? Do you think there could have been more items in the “learned” column?
If you’re having trouble interpreting this list, an effective strategy for determining the overall achievement of your child is to colour-code the report card.
- Use one colour for areas where your child has met the expectations
- Use one colour for areas that exceeded expectations
- Use one colour for areas of concern.
If you are having an interview with your child’s teacher, bring the Report Card with you and be familiar with it. Prioritize what you want to discuss and stay focused. Ask direct questions. Based on your analysis of the report card, these are questions you should be asking:
For students not meeting expectations: What can you do at home to support what is being done at school?
- What strategies has the teacher used to help improve achievement?
- Do changes need to be made to the level of the curriculum?
- Is it a problem related to Learning Skills (Not being prepared? Not being attentive?)
- Is your child sitting in the correct place to optimize listening and attention?
- In what ways does your child demonstrate learning?
- Does your child require extra time to complete tasks? Do they receive it?
For students meeting expectations: What can you do at home to support what is being done at school?
- How will the teacher “stretch” their thinking?
- Can your child demonstrate achievement in multiple ways? (i.e. “How else can you explain that? What is another strategy that you can use?”)
- Is your child reading a variety of genres? Is the teacher monitoring independent reading and encouraging variety?
- How is your child responding to literature? Are they able to answer questions that require inferencing and evaluative skills
- Are they able to use a variety of math problem-solving strategies?
For students exceeding expectations: What can you do at home to support what is being done at school?
- Are they being encouraged to “think outside the box?”
- Are they able to provide responses using a variety of methods (i.e. pencil/paper, oral presentation, computer generated, group and individual)
- Are they developing critical thinking skills? Can they ask (and answer) questions that require reflection and opinion
- Can they transfer knowledge to the real world?
If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
If your child has an IEP, it must be reviewed now. Here are some things to consider:
- Firstly, is it working?
- Is your child meeting or progressing toward meeting expectations?
- Is it a modified program or is your child receiving accommodations?
- If the program is modified, do the expectations need to be revised?
It’s never too early for your child to learn how to advocate for themselves. Your childshould know what they’re good at, and the areas they struggle with. (They will know that without you telling them). Remind them that they are part of a “team” and each member (teachers, parents, students) has a responsibility.
If appropriate, your child should always be part of the meetings that involve IEP’s. They are the ones to provide the most valuable insight into what is working and what is not.
Study the Report Card and understand it. Use the information to make a plan; choosing specific strategies that will provide the greatest opportunity for your child to be successful. Don’t let time pass and get to June and then say, “What did my child learn this year?” That should be an ongoing question, one that has specific answers.
Until our next lesson…


Phonemic Awareness Group – Tuesdays 5:15-6:15
When learning to read, some children have difficulty remembering what sound goes with what letter, even with repeated practice.This group is for children in Grades 1 and 2 who are struggling readers. In the lessons, we will emphasize the link between reading and speech, which is often missing from phonics instruction. (For example, we will teach that the sounds /p/ and /b/ are made by putting your lips together.) We will cover all the English consonant and vowel sounds with the aim of helping the students become better decoders. Through fun activities and rhymes, we will solidify the the connection between hearing a sound, saying a sound, and recognizing it in print.


Piano is one of the most ambitious instruments in terms of range and capabilities. Regardless of their main instrument, professionally trained singers and instrumentalists have always studied piano as a second music discipline. Famous contemporary musicians, such as the cellist, pianist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall, English classical musician and composer Benjamin Britten, legendary musicians Paul McCartney and Elton John are a few of the thousands of best examples of musician multi-instrumentalists.
Playing the piano allows one to perceive the world around us in harmony and balance, to meditate and find our inner self, to enjoy creating new music and to share sounds with the audience, colleagues and to socialise by participating in musical activities. The process of playing the piano requires concentration and develops aural skills and memory. According to Canadian researchers, musicians who have been engaged in piano playing for seven years have developed more advanced skills in all aspects of movement coordination.
We highly recommend piano lessons to children and adults, regardless of age. The Musica Nova Academy has developed several learning piano programmes for children and adults, including all levels from basic foundation (beginners), intermediate and advanced, with preparation for Music Grade and Performance Diplomas. Advanced students are also welcome to polish their mastership skills and technique and to build up their repertoire under the guidance of experienced piano teachers and renowned musicians.
Based on an assumption of Hungarian composer and educator Z. Kodaly that music education should begin nine months before the birth of the child, the Musica Nova Academy developed a unique approach ‘Music Wonderland’ on teaching younger beginners the piano. The programme works successfully both in groups and individually. Piano lessons are very important for a child. In the process of playing piano your child will develop orientation simultaneously in several processes. Psychologists proved that music helps children to achieve much higher results in academic study. It is not a coincidence that Microsoft firm prefers to employ new workers who have musical background.
Apart from classical traditional learning for the pinaotheMusica Nova Academy offers an innovative approach to learning jazz piano. The programme corresponds with all levels of the ABRSM Grade exams and provides music lessons on jazz technique, improvisation and introduction to the different styles and performers. Lessons are conducted by experienced teachers and established in the world of jazz concert performers.


Find information on common questions and issues.
Check on the status of your correspondences with members of the QUBES team.
Aging and Circular RNAs
13 Apr 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
By Pedro Miura
University of Nevada, Reno
A science FIT seminar presented to incoming freshmen at UNR
25 Jul 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
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This video explores what artificial intelligence is and features people who work on different aspects of intelligence. How do we make machines that think like humans? How can we tell when we’ve...
In this video, we talk to astronomers and astrophysicists that use data collected by telescopes to learn about our universe. We discuss how different types of light can tell us different things and...
24 Jul 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
This video describes the basic science of climate change. How do we know about climate in the past? What are humans interfering with? How can we make predictions about what will happen in the future?
Declare and intialize arrays in Java
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Geoscience Methods and Resources for K-5 Pre-Education Majors
28 May 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
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College of Coastal Georgia
: Exploring Geoscience Methods was an excellent capstone experience for Elementary Education Majors. The class I used this module with was 24 students of various backgrounds and academic...
10 Apr 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
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Brief introduction to how gene set enrichment analysis works.
How to create "funny symbols" (aka math / statistical notation) in Microsoft Word / Office
YouTube video on using statistical notation in Microsoft Word.
Java array and random number generator, hints
Java, UTC, Fall 2017
Java array demo, loop over assignment and print
CPSC1100, UTC, Fall 2017
Java BankAccount demo, using Blue J, v2
CPSC1100 UTC, Spring 2017. Exercises are modified from Big JAVA.
Java for-loop, investment problem, with debug flag usage demo
BigJava Chapter 6, UTC CPSC1100 Fall 2017. Debug flag usage is shown.
Java String array demo, switch two elements in an array
CPSC1100, UTC Fall 2017
Java String substring usage, initials
CPSC1100 Fall 2017, UTC. Big Java Chapter 4.
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How to perform Leading Edge Analysis in Gene Set Enrichment Analysis by Broad Institute
An overview of some of the databases within NCBI and how to get FASTA sequences.
Using photoshop and illustrator from tif file to make a figure
29 Oct 2018 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s):
By Divid Diez1, Chris Barr1, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel2
1. OpenIntro 2. Duke University
OpenIntro was started with one goal in mind: create a free and open-source introductory textbook.


Reading teachers like to teach. For most of us, that means that we need to have
to share with our students: some concept, some skill, some
To teach content, teachers must be able to define what the content
. Teachers also need to be able to determine
the content is to be taught, practiced, and ultimately mastered. The latter requirement necessitates some form of assessment.
However, teachers do recognize that reading involves things that we can’t teach: in other words, the
of reading. Thinking comes to mind; so does the reader’s self-monitoring of text; and the reader’s connection to personal prior knowledge.
But what about reading comprehension? Is it content or process? Can we teach it, practice it, and master it? Is reading comprehension the
Those who hope that comprehension is the result look to fill developing readers with the concepts needed to be learned, such as phonological (phonemic) awareness; the alphabetic principle; reading from left to right; understanding punctuation; and spacing. Teachers also introduce, practice, and assess student mastery of the requisite reading skills, including phonics, syllabication, analogizing, and recognizing whole words by sight. These concepts and skills have a solid research base and a positive correlation with proficient reading comprehension.
Furthermore, these concepts or skills can be clearly defined, taught as discrete components, and assessed to determine mastery.
The same cannot be said for reading comprehension strategies, such as activation of prior knowledge, cause and effect, compare and contrast, fact and opinion, author’s purpose, classify and categorize, drawing conclusions, figurative language, elements of plot, story structure, theme, context clues, point of view, inference categories, text structure, and characterization.
Note that the list does not include summarizing the main idea, making connections, rethinking, interpreting, and predicting. These seem more akin to reader response actions than strategies,
None of the specific reading comprehension strategies has demonstrated statistically significant effects on reading comprehension on its own as a discrete skill. Although plenty of lessons, activities, bookmarks, and worksheets provide some means of
how to learn
practice, none of these strategies can be taught to mastery, nor accurately assessed.
So, if individual reading comprehension strategies fail to meet the criteria for research-based concepts and skills to improve reading comprehension, should we teach any of them and require our students to practice them?
Yes, but minimally—as process, not content. We need to teach these strategies as being what good readers do as they read. The
provides an effective means of modeling each reading comprehension strategy. Some practice, such as a
, makes sense to reinforce what the strategy entails. A brief writing activity, requiring students to apply the strategy, could also be helpful. But minimal instructional time is key.
Daniel Willingham, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Virginia,
reading comprehension strategies are better thought of as
, rather than as
. They work because they make plain to readers that it’s a good idea to monitor whether they understand as they read.
In other words, teaching a reading comprehension strategy, such as cause and effect, is not a transferable reading skill, which once learned and practiced can be applied to another reading passage by a developing reader. However, when teachers model paying attention to the author’s use of cause and effect in a story or article and have students practice key cause and effect transition words in their own context clue sentences, it’s the analysis of the text and the author’s writing that’s valuable, not the strategy in and of itself.
by Gail Lovette and Daniel Willingham found three quantitative reviews of reading comprehension strategies instruction in typically developing children and five reviews of studies of at-risk children or those with reading disabilities. All eight reviews reported that reading comprehension strategies instruction boosted reading comprehension, but none reported that practice of such instruction yielded further benefit. The outcome of 10 sessions was the same as the outcome of 50.
So, should we teach reading comprehension strategies? Yes, but as part of the reading process, not as isolated skills with extensive practice. Reading comprehension strategies have their place in beginning reading, content reading, and reading intervention classes, but not as substitutes for reading concepts and skills.
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Watch Over 4000 Free Video Art LessonsGet Inspired! Over 12,000 hours of Art Instruction! All Media, All Skill Levels.. Let’s Create More Art!
Warm Hands Cool Background: Art Projects for Kids With Lindsey Volin
Art is not just for professionals, as Ms. Volin demonstrates in this free art lesson made just for kids that teaches how to draw concentric circles and differentiate between warm and cool colors! Incorporating art with necessary math skills, Ms. Volin will use a compass and pencil to show you how to trace the outline of your hand onto the concentric circles, and then use colored pencils to fill it all in. Your kids will love doing this project at home!
Lindsey graduated from Meredith College with a BA in Studio Art. She recently earned her certification in art education K-12 from Meredith. She loves teaching and is currently developing a DVD based art education program for homeschool students. Lindsey enjoys spending time with her family, watching bad true-crime tv and rockin' it to the karaoke mic.


4 in every 10 children not in pre-primary school
Unicef report highlights Pacific island governments’ lack of investment in early childhood education
About four in every 10 children in the Pacific islands are not enrolled in pre-primary school, contributing to the more than 175 million children – around half of pre-primary-age children globally – not enrolled in pre-primary education, UNICEF warned in a new report released in April.
Failure to participate in pre-primary programs puts children at a disadvantage from the start. Access to pre-primary education varies in the Pacific island countries, where some countries are making good progress to increase enrolment, including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia.
“Pre-primary schooling is our children’s educational foundation – every stage of education that follows relies on its success,” said UNICEF Pacific representative, Sheldon Yett. “In the Pacific islands progress has been made and more children than ever before are enrolled in pre-primary education. But the most vulnerable are still denied this opportunity. This increases their risk of repeating grades or dropping out of school altogether and relegates them to the shadows of their more fortunate peers.”
A World Ready to Learn: Prioritizing quality early childhood education – UNICEF’s first ever global report on pre-primary education – reveals that children enrolled in at least one year of pre-primary education are more likely to develop the critical skills they need to succeed in school, less likely to repeat grades or drop out of school, and therefore more able to contribute to peaceful and prosperous societies and economies when they reach adulthood.
Children in pre-primary education are more than twice as likely to be on track in mastering early literacy and numeracy skills than children missing out on early learning. In the Pacific island countries, reports indicate children who attend pre-primary programs also have higher achievement results in literacy and numeracy later in primary school.
Access to pre-primary education varies in the Pacific island countries, where some countries are making good progress to increase enrolment, including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia.
The report notes that household wealth, mothers’ education level and geographical location are among the key determinants for pre-primary attendance. However, poverty is the single largest determining factor.
Across 64 countries, the poorest children are seven times less likely than children from the wealthiest families to attend early childhood education programs. For some countries, the rich-poor divide is even more apparent.
In 2017 an average of 6.6 percent of domestic education budgets globally are dedicated to pre-primary education, with nearly 40 per cent of countries with data allocating less than 2 percent of their education budgets to this sub-sector. According to the 2017 Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Education report, many countries in the Pacific islands set aside less than 5 per cent of total education expenditure for pre-primary education, which is well below the international benchmark of 10 per cent expenditure on pre-primary education.
This lack of worldwide investment in pre-primary education negatively impacts quality of services, including a significant lack of trained pre-primary teachers. Together, low- and lower middle-income countries are home to more than 60 per cent of the world’s pre-primary-age children, but scarcely 32 per cent of all pre-primary teachers. In fact, only 422,000 pre-primary teachers currently teach in low income countries. With expanding populations, assuming an ideal pupil-teacher ratio of 20 to 1, the world will need 9.3 million new pre-primary teachers to meet the universal target for pre-primary education by 2030.
“If today’s governments want their workforce to be competitive in tomorrow’s economy, they need to start with early education,” Yett said. “If we are to give our children the best shot in life to succeed in a globalized economy, leaders must prioritize, and properly resource, pre-primary education.”
UNICEF is supporting 14 countries in the Pacific islands to increase access to pre-primary education. Good progress has already been made in a number of countries, including Fiji, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Federated States of Micronesia.
UNICEF is urging governments to make at least one year of quality pre-primary education universal and a routine part of every child’s education, especially the most vulnerable and excluded children. To make this a reality, UNICEF urges governments to commit at least 10 percent of their national education budgets to scale up early childhood education and invest in teachers, quality standards and equitable expansion. (Unicef)


14 - On the skills of the future - a conversation with Diana Rivera and Joshua Zachariah
A conversation with 2 of the authors of a new research report on how labour market could evolve by 2030.
Context and drivers behind the “Ahead by a Decade” research
Occupations that are forecast to change
Which skills are foundational for the workforce of the future
over a third of employed people in Canada are in occupations that are projected to change.
15% of people employed in Canada are in occupations that are, that are projected to decline
The occupations that are projected to increase require a certain amount of technical expertise and a certain amount of creativity and the ability to help others - which is not that common
Foundational skills are those that have a positive influence on an occupation’s probability of growth
The five foundational skills are: fluency of ideas, memorization, instructing, persuasion, and service orientation
The first two are cognitive abilities, the next three are social skills, and all prove highly relevant across occupations
The two cognitive skills represent two sides of a long-standing debate in education: should we be teaching our kids creativity and thinking outside of the box? Or should we be focusing on information recall? The model pointed out that you don't need to pick one or the other that you need
On memorization: if you're a knowledge worker, you spend a lot of time absorbing information and you don't realize it could be a skill, i.e. some people are better at it than others, and this is something that can be developed
Men are more likely to be in a declining occupations than women and slightly more likely to be growing occupations than women -
Among Canada's immigrants, first-generation immigrants are more likely to be in an occupation projected to grow, but also more likely to be unemployed.


Using Curiosity and Play to Create a Lifelong Love of Learning
Welcome to the Early Learning Center (ELC)! For us, “welcome” is more than a word we greet you with each day; it’s the feeling you and your child experience every time you enter our unique learning space and join our inclusive, multicultural and multilingual community of students, families and teachers.
At the ELC, an integral part of the Primary School
, we believe that language is a key component in understanding and navigating different cultures — and that, as research suggests, the younger children are when they are exposed to a new language, the more capable they are of acquiring that language (and/or reinforcing their current one).
How Children Learn at the ELC
We offer a full immersion preschool program for children ages 3-4 where students are learning in one of our four languages: French, German, Mandarin and Spanish.
Using our play-based and inquiry-based IB Primary Years (PYP)
curriculum, our teachers, all of whom are native speakers of the target language as well as English-proficient, are strategic facilitators who collaborate with and empower our young students to question and problem solve, to take action and reflect.
Laying the Foundation for Success at AIS and Beyond
When our children move on to our 5K program in the Primary School
, they are already lifelong learners and have the foundational skills and language competence they need to succeed in the next chapter of their learning journey.
- 2 teachers in each classroom
- All teachers are native speakers of the target language
- 100% immersion instruction in French, German, Chinese and Spanish
- ELC School Hours:
7:40 - 8:20 Flexible Entry
8:20 - 2:30 School Day
2:30 - 6:30 Enrichment Classes and After School


What ways of being musical are valued by the students with whom we work, the communities in which we work, and the larger society we inhabit? How might these values manifest in music learning spaces? What roles might technology and media play in empowering music learners and facilitators to engaged in culturally valued musicking. How might technology, media, and progressive education practices empower music learners and facilitators to co-construct new forms of musicking?
In this participant-led session, we will discuss these and more. We will consider multiple and varied possible pathways ahead for music learning in contemporary music learning spaces by asking “what if.” With a focus on re-envisioning and reframing music education, we will explore possibilities and develop plans to turn our ideas into praxis. Come to share your ideas; come to explore new horizons of music education; and come to collaboratively plan ways ahead for music ed.
Rathgeber, J. (2015, July). #whatifmusiced: Considering possibilities, crafting praxis. Two-Hour interactive session presented at the Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology (IMPACT) Conference, New York University, New York, NY.


By 2053, the Black median household wealth is projected to fall to $0. We are on a mission to STOP THE TREND through education. Although Black male teachers have a profound impact on student learning, only 2% of teachers identify as such. Our goal is to empower Black men to obtain and retain careers in teaching, so that they can change the trajectory for the next generation of Black youth.
We introduce Black men to education by providing opportunities to explore teaching as a career. They learn about their own identities, research education equity issues, and work directly with students via mentoring. Our programs facilitate experiences that help young Black men realize that they can teach, want to teach, and need to teach.
We are not a teacher recruitment program. We are a teacher discovery program. Participants are college students who leverage our programs to determine their why. They frequently reflect on the intersection between their personal identities, their experiences as students, and the impact that they now have in our programs. This combination of experience and reflection empowers our fellows to obtain and retain careers in education.
Black households can attain financial freedom. Income tends to rise with educational attainment and Black male teachers yield better academic outcomes for all students, particularly boys of color.
Our purpose is to increase the number of Black men who enter the pipeline to become teachers.
We lead with empathy, act with integrity, experience growth through struggle, and learn through reflection.
Our values of empathy, integrity, growth, and reflection guide our work.
We empower Black men to have the tools and passion to ensure that Black boys can navigate their personal and academic life with the support, care, and love that they deserve.
Black male college students from across the nation virtually mentor middle school boys of color. Mentors are provided with our social-emotional learning curriculum and ongoing coaching to co-facilitate weekly activities activities with a group of young men. Our curriculum includes racial identity exploration and literacy development. These authentic experiences are designed to introduce Black males to the teaching profession by making a direct impact on students who look like them.
Black male college students commit their senior year to gaining more experience in education. Fellows enroll in June and spend the summer learning and researching topics related to education equity, social-emotional learning, and identity-awareness. During the school year, fellows participate in our I AM KING virtual mentoring program. Throughout the year, Fellows connect their experiences and research to their impact, then matriculate into our partner teacher residency programs.
Text “HeisMe” to 243-725
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