By Teachers, For Teachers
One of the most important teaching strategies an educator can possess is to be a good listener. Good listeners pay attention and focus on what the speaker is conveying. As teachers, one of the skills that we expect out of our students is for them to listen, but how often have we thought about how well we listen? Listening is a two-way process that both we as teachers and our students must commit to. If we want to effectively communicate with our students, then we have to use teaching strategies to become a “Listening” teacher.
In order to become a better listener, we must first reflect upon our own listening skills. Think about when a student is speaking to you, do you interrupt them, or are you really listening to what they have to say? Do you ever multitask when your students are speaking to you? Do you ever find that your thoughts wander when students are speaking, or do you ever use a non-verbal cue to end a conversation? If you find that you do any of the things mentioned, then you need to learn how to become an active listener.
Active listening is when one person concentrates their focus on the person who is speaking. It’s a way of listening to a person with the goal of understanding what they are trying to say. Most of the time, when we listen to someone speak, our minds wander or we are only half listening. Being an active listener entails paraphrasing what the person said or asking questions to clarify the information that they said.
The reason why it’s important to be a “Listening” teacher is because it helps you connect with your students better. One way to build a good rapport with your students is to listen to them. When a student knows that you are listening to them, they will trust you, and when you have trust you have a connection. It also enables you to understand the student better. When you can understand a student, then you are better able to teach them. Lastly, it encourages students to have a voice. When students know that you are there to listen, then they become an active participation in their own education.
There are a few things that you can do to become a better listener. Here are a few teacher-tested tips you can follow.
To better your listening skills, you can employ a few instructional practices into your daily schedule. Here are a few try in your classroom.
A great way to build a sense of classroom community is to have a morning meeting with your students. Many teachers find this an effective way to learn more about their students. Encourage students to talk about any concerns or issues that they may have. Your job is to be an active listener and engage by asking questions or summarizing what each student has said.
Take the time to listen to students’ concerns in a more intimate way by giving each student some one-on-one time with you. Allow students to speak their thoughts while you actively listen, summarize what the student has said, then ask any questions that can help you better understand them.
Becoming a “Listening” teacher is a great way to build a meaningful relationship with your students. It will not only improve your teaching, but the way that your students learn as well.
Are you an active listener? Please feel free to leave your teaching strategies, thoughts, and comments in the section below, we would love to hear from you.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds Masters of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com, TeachHUB Magazine, and Hey Teach. She was also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com for five years. You can follow her on Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators, or contact her at Janellecox78@yahoo.com.


Using Mathematics is one of the three Cross-Curricular Skills at the heart of the curriculum. It is the skill of applying mathematical concepts, processes and understanding appropriately in different contexts. Ideally, teachers will use relevant, real-life situations that require mathematical thinking.
Children are likely to acquire and consolidate their mathematical knowledge and skills within the Mathematics and Numeracy Area of Learning. Teachers should also give them opportunities to transfer their understanding, as appropriate, to other contexts across the curriculum.
Children can demonstrate their mathematical knowledge, understanding and skills in a variety of ways to communicate, manage information, think critically, solve problems and make decisions.
Across the curriculum, at a level appropriate to their ability, children should be enabled to:
- choose the appropriate materials, equipment and mathematics to use in a particular situation;
- use mathematical knowledge and concepts accurately;
- work systematically and check their work;
- use mathematics to solve problems and make decisions;
- develop methods and strategies, including mental mathematics;
- explore ideas, make and test predictions and think creatively;
- identify and collect information;
- read, interpret, organise and present information in mathematical formats;
- use mathematical understanding and language to ask and answer questions, talk about and discuss ideas and explain ways of working;
- develop financial capability; and
- use ICT to solve problems and/or present their work.
Teachers can measure standards of pupil competency in numeracy through the Cross-Curricular Skill of Using Mathematics. Depending on the pupil’s ability, they will demonstrate their competency through structured activities and activities with some structure.
Teachers can use the Levels of Progression for Using Mathematics as a progression framework for all Areas of Learning. This can help pupils to develop their numeracy skills across the curriculum and acquire the mathematical skills relevant to other Areas of Learning.
See Assessment and Reporting at Key Stages 1 and 2 for more details.


A bachelor’s degree in education takes about four years. With the appropriate licenses and credentials, it enables graduates to teach in kindergarten through secondary levels. A master’s degree takes two additional years and is sufficient for teaching at community colleges. Salaries for teachers with either degree vary by field and gender.
As of 2011, over 3.5 million teachers obtained bachelor’s degrees in education, according to Georgetown University. They received median earnings of $42,000 per year, with the 25th percentile earning a median annual $32,000 and the 75th percentile making a median $55,000 yearly, a difference of $23,000. About 77 percent of the graduates were female, although they earned a lower annual median of $40,000. Male teachers received a median $48,000 per year. About 44 percent of all B.A. holders continued on to receive a graduate degree to receive a 33 percent boost in salaries. This put the median annual earnings of those with master’s degrees at $55,860, with the 25th percentile making $42,560 and the 75th percentile receiving $73,150.
The subject with the most bachelor’s degree holders was elementary education, with 1,169,732 teachers representing 33 percent of all education graduates. They earned a median $40,000 per year, with the 25th percentile making a median $31,000 annually, and the 75th percentile making $50,000 yearly. About 42 percent of elementary education undergrads obtained graduate degrees for a 36 percent boost in salaries. This made the median annual pay reach $54,400, with the 25th percentile at $42,160 and the 75th percentile at $68,000.
Highest B.A. Pay
The highest paying specific subject field was secondary teacher education, with a median yearly $46,000. The 25th percentile earned a median $36,000 per year, and the 75th percentile made a median $60,000 per year. The 49 percent who continued on to master’s degrees received earnings increases of 26 percent. This placed the median for the higher degree at $63,000 per year, with a range of $45,360 to $75,600.
Highest Master’s Pay
The highest paid teachers with master’s degrees were those in the teaching of science and computers. The higher degree granted a 49 percent boost in salaries to the 49 percent of undergraduates who chose to pursue it. Master’s holders made a median $64,070 annually, with the 25th percentile earning $50,660 and the 75th percentile making $86,420. Bachelor’s degrees in the same subject paid a median $43,000 annually, with a range of $34,000 to $58,000.
- Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images


IDEAL’s theater program equips students with the skills to be creative and compassionate leaders in our global community. All students participate in drama games and exercises that build imagination, trust, and self-confidence.
In the Lower School, actors experiment with role-play, pantomime, and improvisation, learning to be innovative risk takers and to face challenges. The Lower School Theater Program culminates with the fifth grade musical for parents and their peers.
The focus for sixth grade is building an ensemble and foundational skills in acting, directing, theater literacy, play making, and design. In the older grades, students will continue to create, perform, develop understanding, and respond to theater with room for more individualized areas of study as well as cross-curricular projects. The Upper School Theater Program introduces students to theater from various contexts, allowing them to discover their own interests and passions.
Theater electives include Theater for Social Change, Playmaking, and Musical Theater. Students will also experience the incredible theater resources that New York City has to offer, including live performances, research facilities, and career opportunities. Eighth grade students collaborate to create an original musical that they write, direct, choreograph, and produce, and all Upper School Students have the option of participating in the Spring Musical.


Common Core State Standards
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
- Reading 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- Craft and Structure 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing
- Text Types and Purposes 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language
- Language 1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- Language 3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listing.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
- Comprehension & Collaboration 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- Comprehension & Collaboration 2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- Presentation of Knowledge 4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
- Theme 1: Culture
- Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
- Theme 3: People, Place, and Environments
- Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society
- Theme 9 : Global Connections
National Standards for Music Education
Core Music Standard: Responding
- Analyze: Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform the response.
- Interpret: Support interpretations of musical works that reflect creators’ and/or performers’ expressive intent.
- Evaluate: Support evaluations of musical works and performances based on analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
Core Music Standard: Connecting
- Connecting 11: Relate musical ideas and works to varied contexts and daily life to deepen understanding.
National Core Arts Standards
- Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
- Anchor Standards 11: Relate artistic ideas and work with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.


In this article, the authors present an approach for how history educators can teach students about the United States Constitution through the use of the SOURCES framework. With the SOURCES framework, students are asked to critically examine the past in a structured way that replicates the methods conducted by historians and other social scientists. Students were given the opportunity to analyze conflicting information from a variety of sources, identify multiple perspectives about how the Constitution should be constructed, explore multiple avenues of causality, and draw conclusions about how and why the Constitution was actually written.
Cowgill, Daniel II and Waring, Scott
"Using SOURCES to Examine the American Constitution and Events Leading to Its Construction,"
The Councilor: A Journal of the Social Studies: Vol. 76
, Article 2.
Available at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/the_councilor/vol76/iss2/2
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons


While music advocates such as Music Australia continue to advocate at a local and national level for more music education in schools, as a parent, teacher or community member you can make a difference in your school through small, achievable steps.
Ideas for Action
1. Read and share research in support of music education
Print the Music to Our Ears report and hand it to your school principal, a parent or teacher in the school community, or a local politician. The report is designed to be easy to read and, equally importantly, easy to skim through for those wanting to pick up some key points.
If you would like the report in an alternative format, please contact Music Australia.
2. Talk to your P & C about music
Use the Parental Engagement Toolkit and the Music to Our Ears report to start a discussion about music in the school.
Read about proven models for parental advocacy and support to get some ideas.
3. Write or talk to your local state and/or federal MP asking them to support music in the school
We need members of parliament to hear the case for music education as often as possible. Speak to your local MP about your passion for music education, invite them to a school concert or encourage your school to sign up to Music: Count Us In, then invite your MP to Celebration Day! They may not be able to start a band at the school, but they do have a role to play.
4. Set one achievable goal for this year that will stimulate action or improve the program
You might want to:
- fundraise for a specific purpose, such as much needed equipment
- form a P & C sub-committee that will work towards starting something new (eg. A music tuition program, annual fundraising activity) in the following year
- organise a special event or tour for the school’s music ensemble/s
- take part in Music: Count Us In and get the local media to come to the school to raise its profile
- find one program that suits your needs that the school can take part in for the first time (there are many: visit our Australian Music Directory for more information)
5. Do some research
If you are a parent, informal parent group or P & C committee and you would like to do more to support music in school, start by asking a few questions. Ask parents, teachers, community members and/or the school Principal.
You could start with a distinction between what happens inside and outside the classroom. Some schools use the term ‘Extra-Curricular’, others ‘Co-Curricular’, some just have ‘A band program’ or ‘A string group’. While there is and ought to be some overlap, these can be very different and require different kinds of support.


Media bias. It’s something that we may discuss in our conversations with family members, friends, and colleagues. Many of us understand that media is constructed by human beings, and therefore, it contains biases and objectives. As adults, we develop our own methods of navigating this terrain and figure out how to function in a world full of media and its biases.
However, what do we do as teachers and parents of young children to help them build foundational skills so that they can navigate our media saturated society? Do we even consider the notion of media literacy as an essential component in children’s learning and development, especially when some children’s cultures are depicted inaccurately, in stereotypical portrayals, or completely omitted?
When reflecting on these questions, it seems that media literacy is an integral part of the puzzle, especially if we want to empower children of all communities and backgrounds. In the book Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching and Learning, Faith Rogow, Ph.D. of Insighters Educational Consulting, conveys strategies we can apply to develop young children’s media literacy in her chapter “Media Literacy in Early Childhood Education: Inquiry-Based Technology Integration”. While her chapter is geared towards educators, several of Dr. Rogow’s best practices can be used by parents and caregivers as well. From her chapter, I want to illustrate two points that she mentions – integrating inquiry and media creation.
One part of developing emergent media literacy in early childhood is creating a culture of inquiry with media. Dr. Rogow (2015) points out,
Media literacy education builds on children’s natural curiosity, encouraging their questions, helping them learn how to find credible answers, and also expanding the types of questions that they routinely ask about media messages. Of course, ultimately inquiry isn’t just about asking questions, it’s about asking relevant questions, which is why, in the last three decades, media literacy educators have developed question sets designed specifically to foster critical thinking about media messages (p. 96).
Media literacy education provides a meaningful entry point for children to become critical consumers of media and creates foundational experiences of conversations about media. This in turn can help children recognize the potential for error and biases in media, which includes misrepresentation of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. Asking questions about media and engaging in dialogue becomes a part of children’s understanding of the world and one strategy for navigating media.
Along with developing inquiry skills with media, Dr. Rogow also points out the significance of media creation. She (2015) states,
Making media also happens to be one of the best ways to help people internalize the notion that all media are ‘constructed’ – the concept from which all media analysis flows. In order for young children to gain an understanding of constructedness, we need to pair the use of technology with decision-making opportunities and conversations (p. 98).
Being able to create media and allow children to share their stories is an empowering experience for them. It gives them the opportunity to understand that media is a form of expression and media creators have a reason for their choices. This provides foundational experiences for children to examine which voices and perspectives are being “heard” and others that are being left out.
In early childhood, both inquiry and creation are integral pieces to support children’s learning and development. Media literacy builds on the foundation of early childhood best practices and makes children equip to navigate our media-filled world.
While finding meaningful ways to support media literacy in early childhood is important, we also need to be mindful of the way media and media biases impact us as educators and parents. We must consistently work on developing our own media literacy, confront our own biases that influence our media choices, and have the courage to have critical dialogues with others so that be we can better educators and parents. When we really think about it media literacy doesn’t seem to be this optional set of skills we can choose to develop. Rather, it is an imperative part of being an active and thoughtful citizen of this society.


About the Program
This comprehensive 4-week curriculum identifies students who need foundational skills to begin Kindergarten, then provides them with the basic understanding, knowledge, and skills needed to transition from preschool or home to kindergarten.
- Assess - Assess PreK students on number, geometry, oral language, literacy, and gross and fine motor skills using developmentally appropriate activities. Materials include an assessment flip book, online assessment teacher tool, and student manipulatives.
- Evaluate - Access online reports of assessment results to determine if students are recommended for the SRA KinderBound program; are borderline students who could benefit from the program; or are ready to go straight to Kindergarten without the SRA KinderBound program.
- Instruct - Teach students using individual action plans for intervention, early prevention, and/or extension which will be carried out over a 4-week program of instruction.


Education is important throughout our lives because that is the way we learn new things and skills. Proper education about a topic helps us to be informed, prepared and aware of facing life situations with confidence and clarity.
Everyone needs to be educated. Educated means to gain respect from the people and society. If you want to lead a happy and comfortable life, then you have to be educated. As a result, education can help people to get freedom. On the other hand, education can protect a person financially. A person can set up standard life and make a decision correctly with the help of education.
Education is very important for children because that is the way they learn about themselves and about the world around them. Education teaches children the basics of Sciences, Maths, Geography, Languages, etc.
Education is an important tool for gaining knowledge about all topics throughout our life. Whenever you want to learn something new, like a new language, education about the topic is the best way to learn it.
Education is a mandatory parameter for successful work and career satisfaction in life. Education teaches you the mandatory skills to develop and manage your career effectively.
Education in arts is a way of understanding the subtle and deeper aspects of arts. A big part of art education is learning the practical skills and understanding of arts.
Education in sports is important if you want to become a sportsman for personal or professional reasons. Education in sports involves sports training, nutrition training, and health and exercise training.
To build a modern society education is important. To protect society people from bad events education is essential for society. On the other hand, an educated society can increase the value of a nation.
Education is important in today’s world because the level of information and expertise required has gone relatively high in all fields. It is not only learning book knowledge but also learns practically. If anyone only reads and writes they will not be called educated. Education is not for improving ourselves but also for improving other people’s life.
Finally, education is the key to success. If a person wants to shine in life, then education is important for his or her life. As a result, only reading and writing cannot make people well educated.


Resources › For Educators Dolch Sight Words for Word Walls Dolch List for Kindergarten to Third Grade Share Flipboard Email Print Susan Chiang/Getty Images For Educators Special Education Reading & Writing Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior Management Lesson Plans Math Strategies Social Skills Inclusion Strategies Individual Education Plans Becoming A Teacher Assessments & Tests Elementary Education Secondary Education Teaching Homeschooling By Sue Watson Education Expert Sue Watson is a developmental support counselor who has worked in public education since 1991, specializing in developmental services, behavioral work, and special education. our editorial process Sue Watson Updated March 19, 2018 The Dolch Word Lists were developed by Edward W. Dolch. He researched English text he found published in the United States and found those words that show up the most in text. Some of those words are decodable, because they follow general phonemic and spelling rules for English. Many, however, are not decodable but instead are irregular, meaning they do not follow the rules of English. Over 50 - 75% of the most commonly used words are found in the Dolch List below. The Dolch Lists are among the most highly respected tools in the field of reading instruction, and are critical for creating meaning in text—using those common verbs, articles, and conjunctions to make words into language. The Dolch lists are also valuable for word walls. Word walls provide a dictionary for emerging writers as well as readers, as they look to find the words they need to write. Dolch created a spiraling list of sight words that builds from grades to grades. You can add words from the lists to your word wall as you expand your students' skills through appropriate pre-primer or primer decodable books, which will have many of the sight words. Then, you can encourage your students to use the word wall words in writing samples. Still, the goal should be to write to communicate, not write to meet some teacher's requirements. Students with reading and language difficulties often dislike writing tasks—make them fun and make them about communicating their meaning and they will flex their writing muscles! How to Use the Dolch Words: Play games with them, cut the cards out and use them as flash cards.Use oral reading activities with the cards. Hold up the word, and use a sentence with a blank prompting the child to state the word. For instance: "I liked that movie so much that I watched it _________ (again)."Use and oral cloze activity, placing three cards, one that fills the cloze. You can have the child point to the correct word. This is especially good for children with reading skills but apraxia. i.e. John went to the park to (swim, and, the.)Shuffle the Dolch cards, turn them over one at a time and use them in a sentence.Have students go back and highlight (and correct, when necessary) the word wall words in their journal entries or free writing. Daily routine use of the words will build reading confidence. For students with learning disabilities, these words can be learned developmentally, beginning with the pre-primer list. There are five lists offering appropriate words for the Pre-Primer, Primer, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, and 3rd Grade reading levels. Word cards for all 44 spelling sounds are available and can be great additions to your spelling program and word walls.


Numerical Skills for Business
Nelson Mandela University
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Area of Study
Business, Mathematics, Statistics
Taught In English
Course Level Recommendations
ISA offers course level recommendations in an effort to facilitate the determination of course levels by credential evaluators.We advice each institution to have their own credentials evaluator make the final decision regrading course levels.
Host University Units12
Recommended U.S. Semester Credits0
Recommended U.S. Quarter Units1
Hours & Credits
To introduce students to a range of numeracy skills and their applications in the world of business.
The student will demonstrate competence in
- recognising, describing and working confidently with numbers and number relations;
- estimating, calculating and verifying calculations both mentally and with the use of calculators;
- recognising, describing and dealing with numerical, graphical, verbal and symbolic representations;
- solving business-related problems and equations by applying knowledge of statistics and probability.
- Basic calculations with whole numbers, fractions and decimal numbers, percentages, rounding off and approximations.
- Changing the subject of formulae.
- Basic calculator skills.
- Substitution into formulae.
- Ratio, proportion, measurement and units of measure.
- Reading off of scales.
- Plotting of linear graphs.
- Introduction to statistics, graphical representation of statistical results and statistical analyses of grouped and ungrouped data.
- Frequency distributions.
- Measures of central location for ungrouped data.
- Measures of central location for grouped data.
- Determine mean of ungrouped data.
- Interpretation of statistical information.


Literacy and Vision Loss
Fully sighted children have access to visual media, visual materials such as print and pictures within in their environment, and they incidentally observe the common activities around them. Learners with vision loss often times are limited in the ability to gain access to these crucial experiences. Children with vision loss need direct, hands on practice with basic concepts, as well as, direct exposure to common everyday life activities so that they form a foundation of essential experiences that provide meaning to reading and writing and prepare them to become competent readers.
Learners with vision loss will need adaptations to access printed information throughout the school curriculum. Literacy and reading skills are foundational skills that will allow the student to access all areas. It is the role of the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) to determine the student's primary reading mode by completing a Learning Media Assessment (as part of the Functional Vision Assessment). Although the student demonstrates strong auditory skills, it is also essential for the student to learn to read print and/or braille.
Students with low vision will typically use printed materials. Some students may be able to read print without any adaptations, but the majority of students with low vision will require large print or magnification devices to comfortably read print for short and sustained reading activities. For students who need large print, magnification devices should be considered as they allow a student to access all printed information independently, so they are not dependent on what has to be enlarged for them.
Braille readers should be exposed to braille books well before they are formally taught to read. Early literacy and pre-braille skills, such as adequate language development, understanding of basic positional concepts, interests in books, demonstration of sufficient tactile skills and fine motor coordination are all essential to be successful as a braille reader. A student's education team will work with the student's TVI to determine the best approach for the student's individual needs.


The idea of constructivism is connected towards the understanding which argues that people are thought to create understanding with the interaction mainly between their encounters as well as in their ideas (Martin, 2009). Within this paper we will investigate elementary education literacy in the constructivism theory. It’s through ones idea and interaction together with his consider your experience that behavior designs reflexes.
What’s elementary literacy in the constructivism theory?
It’s very apparent that the entire process of constant accommodation and assimilation is extremely ideal in the making of new understanding or idea in the elementary perspective. Through assimilation, people who’d acquired elementary literacy can incorporate the idea of constructivism whereby new ideas are associated with individuals existing without altering any the required framework (Guthrie, 2004).
Branford (2000), claims that in comparison it’s also apparent that whenever people encounters do broadly contradict once internal representations, it is more probably that certain might wish to eliminate the constructivism theory inside a manner high can change their awareness profound within their encounters. Based on elementary literacy, constructivism is the procedure perceived to reframe one mind in order to fit new encounters inside the exterior world.
Accommodation could be understood as that mechanism that reframes failure as that activity that really help a person to understand. If we are designed to act upon the expectation in the concept that the planet works in a single way this broadly violates our anticipation which frequently lead to failure (Branford, 2000). Through accommodating this failure within our elementary literacy then, people can reframe in the model around the globe and clearly have the ability to realize that we study from past encounters and failures or mistakes.
From your above discussion, it’s so apparent that there’s an excellent link between elementary education literacy and also the constructive theory. Through elementary education, one has the capacity to incorporate constructivist theory whereby there’s contextualization of numerous activities providing the students with ample experience in order to obtain new ideas.
Branford, J. (2000). How people Learn Brain, Mind, Experience and college. Washington: national academic press.
Guthrie, J. (2004). Growing Reading through Comprehension and Engagement through Concept-Oriented Reading through Instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology. (3), PP 1-21.
Martin, D. (2009). Elementary science techniques: a constructivist approach. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.


Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history and culture. During the 1970s, Chicago founded the first feminist art program in the United States at California State University Fresno (formerly Fresno State College) and acted as a catalyst for Feminist art and art education. Her inclusion in hundreds of publications in various areas of the world showcases her influence in the art community. Additionally, many of her books have been published in other countries, making her work more accessible to international readers. Chicago's work incorporates a variety of artistic skills, such as needlework, counterbalanced with labor-intensive skills such as welding and pyrotechnics. Chicago's most well known work is The Dinner Party, which is permanently installed in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. The Dinner Party celebrates the accomplishments of women throughout history and is widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork. Other notable art projects by Chicago include International Honor Quilt, The Birth Project, Powerplay, and The Holocaust Project.


Walton Academy began out of the desire to bridge the gap between early childhood and elementary education. We recognized the need for a consistent, nurturing, and innovative environment that would move children from birth through fifth grade ensuring a seamless and high-quality educational experience.
Defining Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education is defined as the formal and informal education of children from birth through age eight. Early childhood is an essential period in a child’s life. During these formative years, children build their foundations of well-being, self-confidence, academics, physical health, and overall happiness. Research shows that during these years children have the ability to learn more quickly than at any other time in their life. If a child is successful in school by third grade, research indicates that the same child will most likely be successful throughout all of their academic careers. However, the reverse is also true. If a student is struggling academically by third grade, it is likely that the child will continue to struggle throughout the remainder of their academic careers.
Walton Academy was created with every child in mind. Research shows that high-quality education is critical for children during these early years. Our accelerated academic program, state of the art facilities, and qualified teachers who are committed to excellence empowers every child to attain new heights in their education.
Our model is unparalleled in our community. Children’s World Learning Center currently operates four childcare centers in the Greenville/Pitt County area and is still growing. Children coming through our childcare centers are equipped with the skills needed to make a smooth transition into our kindergarten at Walton Academy. This progression is effortless for all involved because the students and families are already part of our community.
We understand that time with your family is valuable and sometimes can be limited. Therefore, Walton Academy offers transportation between all four CWLC locations to make it as convenient as possible. Parents may drop off and pick up their child at the most accessible CWLC facility.


Video Courtesy of Redwood City School District
We have made great strides to level the technology playing field in education, but unfortunately the digital divide still exists between those who have the tools to research, learn and collaborate online at home, and those who don’t.1 Further, there’s a second level digital divide2 that’s emerging in the classroom. The gap is growing between students who are only exposed to technology for uses such as test prep and reading static online content and students leveraging technology to work out exciting and relevant problems, conduct deep research, connect with peers around the world and access experts.
A great example of how one school in Silicon Valley is supporting powerful use of technology3 in the classroom is in Redwood City School District (RCSD). Thanks to the generous support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Digital Promise and RCSD’s McKinley Institute of Technology (MIT) have been working on a one-to-one Literacy Initiative to support powerful use of technology for learning and address the second level digital divide.
The program began in March 2016 at MIT, a comprehensive middle school with 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Digital Promise and MIT provided instruction and learning opportunities across all curriculum areas to promote powerful language and literacy, and skills of inquiry, collaboration and teamwork. Key components of the one-to-one Literacy Initiative include:
Real change requires supportive professional development. As part of the Literacy Initiative, teachers piloted creation and exploration apps, as well as both Hapara and Google Classroom to refine their workflow processes. Throughout the year, teachers developed and refined strategies to address the needs of ALL of their students, and spark students’ creativity through effective use of technology for learning. Instruction was driven by data-rich, strategic and reflective practices using online formative assessments such as Newsela quizzes, STAR Reading and district-aligned Edulastic assessments.
The Initiative’s focus on community building had a major positive impact on the program’s success. The Literacy initiative touched all aspects of the school community, especially family education.
Preliminary data suggest that the program is already contributing to the literacy development of students.
It takes a village to support our students and the one-to-one Literacy Initiative is a great example of what can be accomplished if new technology programs are supported by school leadership, teachers receive the training they need, and students and parents are involved and engaged from the beginning. If you are interested in learning more, or bringing a similar program to your school or district, contact: Digital Promise Professional Services at firstname.lastname@example.org.
 “Closing the Digital Learning Gap – Digital Promise.” http://digitalpromise.org/2014/04/28/closing-the-digital-learning-gap/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.
 “Second-Level Digital Divide: Differences in People’s … – First Monday.” http://firstmonday.org/article/view/942/864. Accessed 29 Sep. 2017.
 “leveraging technology to solve complex problems, work with big data sets, connect across borders, access experts, collaborate with peers, and engage in compelling projects. These learning scenarios support the development of skills such as critical thinking, inquiry and research, creativity, problem solving, designing and collaboration. They help students develop a sense of agency, the ability to harness technology, and support learning lifelong and lifewide. However, in other scenarios, students are engaged with lower-level uses of technology such as test preparation, reading static online content, and seemingly endless drill and practice exercises.” http://digitalpromise.org/2017/07/26/addressing-the-digital-learning-gap-with-effective-educator-coaching/
 Source: http://caaspp.cde.ca.gov/


It’s time to throw away your rubber-band tissue boxes! Children love music as much as they enjoy making things! Having your students help to build their own instruments is a great way to join these two creative forces and make easy musical instruments to encourage play and creativity!
Check out these great ideas from NAfME members below on how to DIY musical instruments.
- Make tiny finger bells with a washer and some dowels. How-to.
- Theremins are awesome, so why not make your own – and for less than $20! Full guide here.
- Make your own Mbira: aka a really awesome thumb piano. Find out how.
- Make a mini guitar out of a cigar box. Bonus: this one’s electric. Instructions.
- If you’re comfortable using power tools (drills and sanders) you can DIY some seriously cool-looking ukuleles. Learn how.
- Have old floppy disks lying around? Make this cool-sounding percussive instrument, similar to the Japanese kokiriko! (Because what else are you going to do with floppy disks, anyways?) Learn how.
- It might take some time, but here’s how to make a super affordable, bite-sized banjo. Here’s how.
- Fully tunable and quiet enough to not annoy your neighbors, here’s instructions on how to make a homemade percussion pad.
- Check out this step-by-step on how-to make surprisingly effective PVC flutes. You can cut different lengths to make pipes for many different notes, and they’re each capable of hitting two octaves or so.
- Looking for something simpler? How about these homemade shakers and maracas! Instructions.
- You can always try out this Powerpoint with step-by-step instructions on how to make PVC Pan Pipes!
Do you have any other ideas?
Share them with us in the comment section below OR pin them on our NAfME Pinterest page under ‘Classroom Ideas!’
Homemade Musical Instruments: Shakers and Maracas by Let’s Play Music
How to Make PVC Pan Pipes Powerpoint Presentation by Linda Barnhart
Kristen Rencher. February 13, 2015. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)


By Teachers, For Teachers
Many teachers use differentiated instruction strategies as a way to reach all learners and accommodate each student’s learning style. One very helpful tactic to employ differentiated instruction is called tiered assignments—a technique often used within flexible groups.
Much like flexible grouping—or differentiated instruction as a whole, really—tiered assignments do not lock students into ability boxes. Instead, particular student clusters are assigned specific tasks within each group according to their readiness and comprehension—without making them feel completely compartmentalized away from peers at different achievement levels.
There are six main ways to structure tiered assignments: Challenge level, complexity, outcome, process, product, or resources. It is your job—based upon the specific learning tasks you’re focused on—to determine the best approach. Here we will take a brief look at these techniques.
Tiering can be based on challenge level where student groups will tackle different assignments altogether. Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide to help them develop tasks of structure, or questions at various levels. For example:
When you tier assignments by complexity, you are addressing the needs of students who are at different levels using the same assignment. The trick here is to vary the focus of the assignment based upon whether each group is ready for more advanced work or simply trying to wrap their head around the concept for the first time. You can direct your students to create a poster on a specific issue—recycling and environmental care, for instance—but one group will focus on a singular perspective, while the other will consider several points of view and present an argument for or against each angle.
Tiering assignments by differentiated outcome is vaguely similar to complexity—all of your students will use the same materials, but depending on their readiness levels, will actually have a different outcome. It may sound strange at first, but this strategy is quite beneficial to help advanced students work on more progressive applications of their learning.
This differentiated instruction strategy is exactly what it sounds like—student groups will use different processes to achieve similar outcomes based upon readiness.
Tiered assignments can also be differentiated based on product. Teachers can use the Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences to form groups that will hone particular skills. For example, one group would be bodily/kinesthetic and their task is to create and act out a skit. Another group would be visual/spatial and their task would be to illustrate.
Tiering resources means that you are matching project materials to student groups based on readiness or instructional need. One flexible group may use a magazine while another may use a traditional textbook. As a tip, you should assign resources based on knowledge and readiness, but also consider the group’s reading level and comprehension.
From time to time, students may question why they are working on different assignments, using varied materials, or coming to dissimilar outcomes altogether. This could be a blow to your classroom morale if you’re not tactful in making your tiers invisible.
Make it a point to tell students that each group is using different materials or completing different activities so they can share what they learned with the class. Be neutral when grouping students—use numbers or colors for group names, and be equally enthusiastic while explaining assignments to each cluster.
Also, it’s important to make each tiered assignment equally interesting, engaging, and fair in terms of student expectations. The more flexible groups and materials you use, the more students will accept that this is the norm.
Tiering assignments is a fair way to differentiate learning. It allows teachers to meet the needs of all students while using varying levels of tasks. It’s a concept that can be infused into homework assignments, small groups, or even learning centers. If done properly, it can be a very effective method to differentiate learning because it challenges all students.
How do you differentiate tiered assignments in your classroom? Share with us in the comment section below, we would love to hear your thoughts.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.


Whatever your age, pottery has extensive benefits.
For children, there are even more positive effects of indulging in clay play and creation.
I'm going to bet you don't know all the ways that art creation, especially ceramic creativity, can seriously benefit your kids.
10 Reasons Your Kids Should be Creating with Clay
1. Motor Skill Development
Think of all the pounding, pinching, flattening, tearing, poking, squeezing, bending, coiling...that's a lot of motor skill practice!
2. Tactile Therapy
The tactile nature of clay can be a physical outlet for kids, releasing emotion and reducing stress.
3. Adulthood Innovation
Childhood participation in creation leads to innovation in adulthood.
4. Self Esteem
Clay is easy to move and shape. Using clay can leave kids feeling in charge, which can lead to more confidence communicating their thoughts.
There are rules when it comes to clay, e.g. keep clay thinner, thin tails should attach to the body, score and slip attachments. Kids learn that the little details make a big difference.
6. Improving Sensory Development
Pottery classes gently stimulate, which is perfect for sensory development. Pottery allows kids to absorb information at their own pace.
7. Problem Solving
Building with clay means dealing with pesky gravity and the unique properties of clay, which promotes problem-solving skills.
8. Out of the Box Thinking
It's thought that creative exploration encourages rewiring of the brain. This can later develop into out-of-the-box thinking.
Kids are able to express imagination in whatever form. This expression is linked to self-esteem, but also in strengthening communication skills in a new way.
10. Pride and Accomplishment
Kids get to start with something raw and make it into something solid. An expression of their creation which lasts. Awesome, Proud, Moment (TM).
I make sure to pin articles about pottery benefits to my Pinterest board. Check it out here.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4,
Ready to sign up your kids for a life changing experience?
Contact Caroline Guilboard at email@example.com for more information about my kids pottery lessons in Brockville, Ontario.
Offering pottery classes to adults and kids in Athens, Brockville, and Kingston, ON.


Printed from the MusicK8.com Idea Bank
Experiment Shows Connection Between Music Instruction & Perceptual Speed
Submitted by Artie Almeida, Orlando, Florida
Idea posted 2002-09-04
For my doctoral dissertation, I conducted an experimental study that looked at connections between music instruction and perceptual speed. Perceptual speed is the speed at which a student decodes, or identifies items. It is a foundation skill in both reading and mathematics. Students must be able to quickly decode letters and words to move on to the reading comprehension level, and in math, children must recognize and decode the symbols necessary for calculations.
I took two third grade classes and gave them a perceptual speed, picture-matching pretest. I then gave 8 weeks (24 lessons) of extra music instruction to the experimental group. The lessons used recorder and were focused on reading notation. The control group just got its regular weekly music classes, and was not even aware that the other group was getting something extra.
At the end of the 8 weeks, I gave another perceptual speed test to both groups, and my experimental group did much better than the control group, which had initially scored higher! My little exp. class had been much lower on the pretest, but wound up much higher on the post test. These results are interesting for a number of reasons. Gender, race, musical aptitude, reading achievement, and math achievement did not account for the statistical significance. The only variable (of those in my study) that could have accounted for the increase was the extra music instruction. In actuality, my experimental group started lower in all of the variables, especially reading achievement.
Every single student in the experimental group increased in their post test score. Six children in the control group decreased, and four remained the same. Not only that, but one of the most exciting findings was that the highest increase was achieved by the lowest academically achieving students. This information bodes well for using music in a remedial situation, and making sure that all at-risk students have a solid music education experience.
Well, we all know that music should not exist to enhance other subjects, and no child takes our music classes to get better in reading or math. However, if what we are doing impacts other areas in a positive way, I want administrators and teachers in other subjects to be aware of that. I want them to consider my subject as "academic" as much as theirs.
I also think it is important to stress that this study focused on music NOTATION instruction. Decoding a new symbol system is one of the highest cognitive functions, and it makes sense that the skills gained during this process help other decoding functions. It's important for children to sing, listen, move to music, etc. - but it is also crucial that we get to the reading.
This study really excited me, and I was very glad that I got to conduct the research with my own students at my own school. There were also many other benefits. The children were so motivated when they got that shot of confidence in being able to do something challenging. They hated to see the study end, and I did too.
Copyright ©1997-2020 Plank Road Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved


I’ve collected some ideas here for creative activities that help build kids’ brains while they’re playing.
Songs to Sing
Learn about the benefits of music for kids’ development, find lyrics and tunes to lots of favorite songs that toddlers and preschoolers love, or songs about science, learn about books that sing, and use these resources to find lots of other great songs to sing and reasons to sing them! Here is a Circle Time Lesson Plan for a school year’s worth of toddler classes or story times.
Books to Read
Check out my list of favorite books to read to your kids, and recommended parenting books for you. Plus check out games and activities that build your child’s literacy skills, and other ways to inspire a young reader. (On my other blog, Inventors of Tomorrow, I recommend books about science for kids age 3 – 6.)
Cheap Dates with Kids
If you’ve got cabin fever and are feeling stuck at home with your little one, I have a whole series of ideas for cheap, easy activities kids love. Most of these can be done anywhere in the U.S. and most articles also contain ideas for specific places to go in the Seattle area.
Crafts & Art Activities
Check out the Bellevue College Parent Education Pinterest page.
Also, check out my “Fun with Toddlers” series. They are organized around a series of themes (Fall, Winter, Spring, Ducks, Transportation. etc.) and include songs to sing, books to read, crafts to do, field trips to take, and so on.
For STEM-inspired kid-friendly activities, check out my Inventors of Tomorrow blog.


By Teachers, For Teachers
The field trip is a staple of elementary education, and it’s easy to see why. From the educator’s standpoint, taking the students out of the classroom for a day allows them to fully engage with a subject and learn visually in a museum, cultural, or wildlife setting.
It provides the opportunity to implement goals and lesson plans that deviate from the norm. It also forces students to share, communicate, and work in groups in a way they normally wouldn’t in a classroom setting.
From the student’s perspective, the field trip is a great way to get out of the classroom and break from the boring routine. Even a history museum can be exciting in the field trip context, and inquisitive students will always appreciate the opportunity to go somewhere new and see something different. Teachers can consequently use such an outing as an incentive to learn.
But field trips can be expensive for a school district and stressful for the teacher who has to keep track of 30 kids in a large museum. They also can be limiting. Unless your school is located in a major metropolitan area, there are probably only so many zoos, science centers, and wildlife preserves that you can visit.
Fortunately, the power of technology can address these issues by bring the field trip to your classroom.
There are countless websites that provide pictures of famous places and recreations of famous scenes or events. These sites include those that exhibit pictures from the Sistine Chapel, exhibits from Colonial Williamsburg, and videos from the Holocaust museum. But none of these are truly virtual field trips because:
(1. the important information is presented, not explored and
(2. students view the exercise more as a classroom activity.
For these reasons many administrators have viewed virtual field trips as counter to the goals of a physical one.
Yet Google has rectified this issue by making virtual tours of art museums worldwide. Just as one can “walk” down their street using Google Street View, so too can they stroll around and explore famous museums with the click of a mouse. The Google Art Project includes such places as the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Tate Britain in London, and many more.
Clicking on a museum will provide a viewer with 360 degree views of most rooms – and artwork – in the collection. Students can move around, explore the building, and zoom in on each individual piece of art. While zoomed in, information to the right of the screen provides commentary on that piece of work. A floor plan is even provided for navigation.
So how should an instructor devise a lesson plan based on these virtual field trips? Essentially, it can be treated just as a normal field trip would – by splitting students into groups, asking them to look at various genres of painting, and requesting observational notes or comparisons of some sort. Then give students a substantial block of time to explore and to see what they can take away.
As with any class outing, there is a lot that can be gained from the experience. Can a virtual field trip be as good as a real one? In all likelihood, no. However, it can certainly provide many of the same educational benefits and it can save a considerable amount of time, effort, and money in the process.
Do you go on virtual field trips in your classroom? Share with us in the comments section!


By Anita M. Schimizzi, Ph.D.
The New York Times recently published an article about Junior Kumon, a Japanese developed tutoring program brought to the U.S. The author sets the scene with a three year-old that is practicing writing double-digit numbers for which she gets a sticker when completed correctly. Most students attend the program a couple of times a week for up to an hour each time and they have nightly homework to be completed with their parents. It is easy for me to respect the program’s goal: cultivate globally competitive students who can then become globally competitive professionals. Here is where I started having difficulty: the Junior Kumon program enrolls students from two to five years of age and primarily utilizes a drill and kill methodology designed to provide early reading and math enrichment. The primary problem that I saw was that the author could find no evidence that this method actually leads to these little people growing into big people with greater chances for professional success. In fact, the research overall seems to be lacking. For example, the US Department of Education explored several studies of Kumon Math and could not draw any conclusions on the effectiveness of the program due to both a limited number of studies and research flaws. The Kumon approach also makes me wonder about the potential impact that these methods may have on the development of other important skills, such as creativity and reasoning.
The author reported information from the fields of psychology and child development. The consensus? True, Junior Kumon can help children learn math facts and literacy skills. The rest of the feedback from the experts suggests that the Kumon approach misses the beauty of early childhood learning. Okay, so those are my words, but there really wasn’t support for the program’s approach while there was a lot of support for good old experiential learning. You know, the kind that happens when junior is stacking blocks, making a castle in the sand, sorting objects by color, or working with a friend on building a fort out of the sofa cushions. The creativity, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills that go into these types of early experiences pave the way for future academic and social development, which lies at the heart of why play has been so valued for so long. A 2008 article by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) reviewed research on play and found that social interaction during play enhanced vocabulary and social skills, exposure to print in play fostered early literacy, and the use of materials such as blocks helped with spatial relationships and logical thinking.
Programs like Junior Kumon remind me of the predicament that public schools have faced since the onslaught of standardized tests designed to leave no child behind. Teaching to the test at the expense of rich learning experiences, reduced participation in the arts and other subjects deemed to be not academic enough, and less time spent outside going bonkers in the fresh air are some of the side effects of this shift in public education. Good intentions? Yes! The best we can do for our children to help them flourish into smart, critical thinkers capable of working on teams to generate ideas that propel our world to a better place? Not so sure…but probably not.
Source: Zernike, K (2011, May 13). Fast-tracking to Kindergarten? The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/fashion/with-kumon-fast-tracking-to-kindergarten.html#


Reading aloud is the foundation for literacy development. Long after a child has learnt to read for themselves, the value of hearing stories being read aloud does not diminish. It is the single most important activity for reading success (Bredekamp, Copple & Neuman, 2000).
As teachers, we couldn't agree more. But what do children feel about being read to?
In the Australian Journal of Teacher Education (v 43, 2018), Susan Ledger and Margaret K. Merga, Murdoch University, published the findings from the 2016 Western Australian Study in Reading Aloud (WASRA), Reading Aloud: Children's Attitudes towards being Read to at Home and at School.
The findings revealed children having positive attitudes towards being read to both at home and at school. Wonderful news for all of us who read to our students and continue to do so because they love it so.
Ledger and Murga also explored students' attitudes towards frequency of home and school read aloud. 27% of children claimed they were not read to at home. Of those children who were read to: 17.7% were read to every day. 25.8% read to often, 56.5% read to sometimes.
Students attitudes towards frequency of being read to at School
Young Cohort (YC) Yrs 1-3
Older Cohort (OC) Yrs 4-6
Reading Aloud: Children's Attitudes towards being Read to at Home and at School Ledger and Merga, 2018
When there doesn't seem to be any time left in an already busy school day, is there any time left to dedicate to reading aloud and is it important enough to find the time?
Consider how Reading Aloud:
- Is associated with a range of literacy skills and cognitive benefits
- Develops the attitude and desire to read, which determines whether children choose to read
- Demonstrates the relationship between the printed word and meaning
- Invites the listener into a conversation with the author
- Makes more complex ideas more accessible to children
- Exposes children to vocabulary and language patterns that are not part of everyday speech
- Enables less able readers to engage in the same rich and engaging books that fluent readers read on their own
- Entices less able readers to become better readers
- Develops comprehension, vocabulary, fluency
Reading aloud reveals the rewards of reading and develops the listener's interest in books and desire to be a reader (Mooney, 1990).
What will you read aloud to your students today?
Ledger, S., & Merga, M. K. (2018). Reading Aloud: Children's Attitudes toward being Read to at Home and at School. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3).


The Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project (PAWLP) is a regional site of the National Writing Project (NWP), whose goal is to improve writing and learning in the nation’s schools. Each year, PAWLP and Writing Projects across the nation invite experienced, talented educators to study literacy development and the teaching of writing in a relaxed, collegial atmosphere. Institutes support teachers as readers, writers, and as researchers of their own literacy practices. Institute participants have ample opportunity to read and write and to reflect on their experiences as readers and writers. The Institute functions at various times as a seminar, workshop, and laboratory. A reflective inquiry stance allows participants to define, refine, and revise their thinking. Below, 2015 PAWLP Institute Fellow Jason Fritz shares excerpts from his Institute multigenre inquiry project: “Students’ Perceptions of Writing” Fiction Piece: Obituary of the Teacher-As-Examiner Role.
“Even with the changes that have taken place over time, however, the large majority of the writing students do is still to the teacher-as-examiner” (Applebee & Langer 2011).
Obituary of the Teacher-As-Examiner, 37
Teacher-As-Examiner died suddenly on Thursday, July 16, 2015 at the Front of the Classroom due to complications following an intensive three-week PAWLP Summer Institute where he continuously took an inquiry stance. He was 37. Read more


Geothermal Energy Facts Video for Kids
Geothermal Energy Facts
The word geothermal has been derived from Greek words where Geo means earth and Thermos means heat. Geothermal energy is made inside the earth. It is a clean and affordable source of alternative energy. It does not run out. It can be renewed time to time. This energy is continuously produced under the earth’s surface.
Facts you didn’t know: –
- Geothermal energy is produced under the earth’s surface from the heat generated by rocks.
- This energy is being used in UK since Roman times.
- Geothermal energy makes a minimal impact on our environment.
- Geothermal resources can be used in other applications such as space and district heating, spa, aquaculture etc.
- Areas with active volcanoes and earthquakes are the most suitable places to extract geothermal energy.
- There are three types of geothermal plant to extract energy from under the earth.
- Geothermal is one of the greatest sources of energy available on the planet.
- Across the USA, today there are more than 40 geothermal plants.
- Geothermal energy uses 3 basic types of geothermal power plants like: – Dry Steam, Flash Steam and Binary power plant.
- It has very low emissions of greenhouse gases to about 3% of the carbon dioxide emissions of a fossil power station.
- About 18% of total electricity of Iceland is being produced by geothermal energy.
- This energy does not depend on the Sun like other renewable sources of energy.
- Geothermal heat pumps are used to take the energy out of the earth’s surface.
- Geothermal energy is created in over 25 countries.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Fun Facts about Geothermal Energy for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 18 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/geothermal-energy-facts-video-for-kids-2/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Fun Facts about Geothermal Energy for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/geothermal-energy-facts-video-for-kids-2/
Sponsored Links :


Are early childhood educators undervalued?
With the federal election around the corner, child care has become a major ballot issue. While every party has its own idea of how best to offset the costs of raising children, no one is looking at how we perceive and value those who provide the education and care.
Concordia researcher Sandra Chang-Kredl wants that to change. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, she writes that "invariably, the focus of the debate is on the children's needs, the parents' needs and society's needs. The educator is rarely mentioned."
Her study calls for a rethinking—and revaluing—of the work being done by child-care educators in order to generate social change.
"There's a perception in society that the work of early childhood educators is low-skilled labour that doesn't require serious education or commensurate pay in Canada," says Chang-Kredl, an assistant professor in Concordia's Department of Education, and a former early childhood educator herself,
"I think there are two issues," says Chang-Kredl. "First, our society doesn't really value the work of teachers in general—look at the situation with public school teachers in Quebec. This devaluation gets amplified in early childhood education. There is this flawed perception of education as transmission: 'if you can read, you can teach English; if you can tie your shoes, you can teach preschool'. But there's much more to teaching than subject knowledge."
The other issue is gender: 98 per cent of early childhood educators are women. We confuse the work of educators with the work of mothers, Chang-Kredl says.
"However, parenting is considered an honourable pursuit and debates around child-care focus on supporting parents. Yet, we're comfortable believing that the women who care for children outside the home shouldn't expect status or adequate compensation." Why is this?
It's hard to make sense of directly, explains Chang-Kredl. "Some social beliefs can only be accessed indirectly, such as through popular narratives."
She points to the children's film Coraline as an example. Ten-year-old Coraline has a mother and, it turns out, an Other Mother. Her mother is overworked and dull; her Other Mother is nurturing and enchanting.
"We're okay with this," she says."But as soon as Other Mother expects something in return, that expectation becomes a nightmare and she is transformed into a monster. The narrative relies on the audience wanting Other Mother destroyed in order to return to the way things are 'supposed to be'."
According to Chang-Kredl, "it's good story telling, but it reinforces a condition that works against the women who care for children. They're expected to do this out of love, selflessly, with no regard for themselves."
We need to construct a new identity for the child-care educator, she insists. That's already starting at Concordia, where a BA in Early Childhood and Elementary Education focuses on a professional career working with the youngest children.
"It's programs like these that need to become the norm for early childhood educators. Improved educational standards could mean improved pay as well as improved social standing for the thousands of people—mostly women—working in early childhood education in Canada."
But for this to become the standard, Chang-Kredl contends that we need to also be aware of our participation in undervaluing women in caring positions.


Just like any teacher, your passion is helping your students to learn and prepare for their future. Part of that responsibility is teaching students how to become life-long learners. Using metacognitive strategies in your classroom can help to bring out the inner teacher in your students.
Many people have the impression online art education is limited to digital forms of art-making, such as using computer programs to create digital drawings. However, online art education encompasses so much more. In fact, art encompasses more than just the act of making art – it includes the whole artistic process.
Each artist has their own artistic process beginning with the initial artistic idea and ending with the presentation of the final masterpiece. Online art courses need to account for this complete process. Here are just a few ways that the stages of the artistic process can be taught online.


Your called teachers will do their best according to their God-given abilities to educate your children. However, education does not take place only in the classroom. To successfully educate the children, work must continue in the home. Homework extends learning opportunities by allowing students to practice what they’ve learned, prepare for new information, or elaborate on information that has been introduced.
Since reading is such an essential part of elementary education, all students at St. Matthew’s will have this as part of their homework each week. For younger students (K-4), this will entail 100 minutes per week of at-home reading (child reads alone, or parent reads to child), and for older students (5-8) outside reading requirements are tied to the Accelerated Reader program.
Generally, students will be allowed 2 days plus one day for every day absent to make up their homework. For example, if the student is absent 3 days, he/she will be given 5 days to make up the work (2 + 3).
- The amount of homework assigned to students gradually increases from grade to grade. Although there may be exceptions, the minutes your child should spend on homework should equal approximately 10 times his or her grade level (a 2nd grader would spend 20 minutes, a 3rd grader 30 minutes, and so on).
- Help set up a consistent, organized place for homework to be done.
- Help your child establish either a consistent schedule for completing homework or help him create a schedule each Sunday night that reflects that particular week’s activities.
- Encourage, motivate, and prompt your child, but do not sit with him and do the homework for him. The purpose of the homework is for your child to practice and use what he has learned. If your child is consistently not able to do the homework by himself, please contact your child’s teacher.
- If your child is practicing a skill, ask him to tell you which steps are easy for him, which are difficult, or how he is going to improve. If your child is doing a project, ask him what knowledge he is applying in the project. If your child is consistently unable to talk about the knowledge he is practicing or using, please contact your child’s teacher.
- When bedtime comes, please stop your child, even if he is not done, and contact your child’s teacher to discuss the next steps.


Educators and trainers are powerful agents of change in helping to remake the education sector to address sustainability and enhance the role of education and learning in sustainable development projects and initiatives. Teachers can be a tremendous force brought to the task, as teachers worldwide number around 70 million, and the corps of trainers and informal educators is virtually countless. But for educators and trainers to help usher in the transition to a sustainable society, they themselves must first become confident in practicing ESD (UNESCO, 2014). They must be empowered to facilitate confidently and effectively students, trainees and other learners to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to contribute to sustainable development. They themselves need to acquire knowledge about, commitment to, and motivation for sustainable development.
As the world prepares to mark the World Teachers Day ( WTD) on October 5th, it is important to stress the importance empowering teachers to be agents of sustainable development. World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This Recommendation sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. The World Teachers Day aims to focus on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world and to provide an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching (UNESCO, 2019).
With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education, and the dedicated target (SDG 4.c) recognizing teachers as key to the achievement of the Education 2030 agenda, WTD has become the occasion to mark progress and reflect on ways to counter the remaining challenges for the promotion of the teaching profession. World Teachers’ Day is co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and Education International.
This year, the World Teachers’ Day will celebrate teachers with the theme, “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession.” The day provides the occasion to celebrate the teaching profession worldwide, to take stock of achievements, and to address some of the issues central for attracting and keeping the brightest minds and young talents in the profession.
Eco-schools Kenya has teacher training as one of its core strategies to enhance sustainability in schools and communities. As one of the steps of the Eco-schools process, over 15,000 teachers have gone through an extensive training course since 2003 to act as Eco-Schools ambassadors. The teachers encourage other schools to effectively address local environmental problems through action based learning following the principles of Eco-Schools.
In close cooperation with teachers and key governmental institutions the Eco-Schools project has developed wide range of environmental education materials for teachers and learners that comply with Kenyan curriculum requirements to treat environment as a cross curricula issue. The new Kenyan Competency-based Curriculum being rolled out by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development places great emphasis on environmental education as a pertinent and emerging issue. Eco-schools Kenya has developed environmental theme-packs for primary and secondary schools and made available to schools. The theme-packs cover the following issues; water, waste, energy, health, biodiversity and agriculture. Other resource materials developed include: Eco-Schools Handbook Starter Pack (information manual on the Eco-schools programme in Kenya), Teachers’ Environmental Education Guides for primary and Secondary schools, Training Module on Environmental Education and Eco-Schools Documentary video. A Faith-based ESD Toolkit has also been developed to enhance the faith-based value system and positive behaviour in the school and community to promote sustainable development using the eco-school strategy. It also demonstrates how faith-based values can be integrated into Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the primary school curriculum. Similarly, a teacher’s guidebook has been developed to help transform schools into models of sustainability for communities by instilling in learners a greening culture through mentoring and engaging them in hands-on green entrepreneurship initiatives for sustainability. The guide aims at enhancing the ability of teachers to mainstream green growth in the curriculum. All these materials have acted as tools and resources through which schools use to address sustainability challenges facing them. The materials have been widely acknowledged by relevant authorities in the Kenyan educational sector.
UNESCO. (2014). Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development. Paris, France: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2019, September 27). World Teachers’ Day. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from UNESCO: https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldteachersday


Indigenous Storybooks is a Canadian website for children, families, community members, and educators. Inspired by the open-licensed stories from Little Cree Books, this project aims to make the text, images, and audio of stories available in Indigenous languages as well as English, French, and the most widely spoken immigrant and refugee languages of Canada. A story that is read in English or French at school can be read in ancestral languages by parents and children at home. In this way, Indigenous Storybooks provides access to stories in ancestral languages as well as English and French. Similarly, the audio versions of the stories can help beginning readers and language learners make the important connection between speech and text. A video introducing the Indigenous Storybooks project can be viewed here.
All of the stories on the Indigenous Storybooks website currently come from the Little Cree Books project in Alberta, Canada – a groundbreaking digital initiative promoting literacy in the Cree language. The stories are openly licensed, which allows the Indigenous Storybooks team to repurpose and translate them into other languages together with a modern, responsive web design for reading the stories. We are very grateful to Little Cree Books for making these stories freely available under an open license.
There are several other websites that offer Indigenous stories. A collection of resources, including other sources of Indigenous stories, can be found on our Resources page.
Sara Florence Davidson is a Haida educator and Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education Department at the University of the Fraser Valley where she teaches courses in literacy and Indigenous Education. She is also the project lead for Indigenous Storybooks. Her research interests include: Indigenous education, including the use of traditional Indigenous stories to support literacy development; K-12 literacy education; culturally responsive teaching and research practices; and narrative writing and research. Website: saraflorence.ca
Bonny Norton, FRSC, is a Professor and Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC. She is the research advisor for Indigenous Storybooks. Her research focuses on identity and language learning, critical literacy, and international development. Website: faculty.educ.ubc.ca/norton
Liam Doherty is a PhD candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC, under the supervision of Prof. Patricia Duff. He is the technical advisor for Indigenous Storybooks and a strong advocate for open educational resources.
Christine Bridge has a PhD in Literacy Education and is currently a sessional lecturer in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC. Her research interests include place and land-based pedagogies, teacher education, and literacy across the curriculum. Her work with Indigenous Storybooks is focused on developing our Indigenous Story Resources page.
See our Media page for examples of press and other news where the Indigenous Storybooks project has been featured.
A video introducing the Indigenous Storybooks project can be viewed here.
We thank Jo-ann Archibald and Jan Hare for helpful conversations, and warmly invite other Indigenous scholars for comment and collaboration.
|We warmly thank Education without Borders for their collaboration and support.|
Funding is gratefully acknowledged from the Mitacs organization as well as the following UBC sources:
We would like to acknowledge the Yuneŝit'in Government for their financial support for the Tŝilhqot'in language translations.
Our logo was created and generously donated by Haida artist Ben Davidson. Ben drew his inspiration from reading books to his own children. The child’s open embrace is also an open book, and the heart reflects his children’s love of stories.
Though Ben is a Haida artist, Indigenous Storybooks is a resource that includes the stories of many different nations. Therefore, he created a design that speaks to our universal engagement with and appreciation of stories.
Graphic design for the logo was donated by Haida artist Tyson Brown.


By Teachers, For Teachers
As you know, reading is a fundamental skill that we all use every day of our lives. From reading the mail to a food menu, to reading your text messages and email, there is no escaping it, reading is everywhere. This makes the development of proficient reading skills for primary learners even more essential -- not only for their academic success, but for their daily lives as well. Unfortunately, reading can be a skill that many children struggle to master. In order for all of our students to be confident readers, we as teachers can provide our students with a few effective teaching strategies for reading. By implementing these teaching strategies, we are giving our students the tools that can help them succeed. Here are five of the most effective teaching strategies for reading that elementary teachers use with their primary learners.
Graphic organizers are an incredible teaching tool that have been used in the classroom for decades. Even before all of the new, fancy organizers, teachers would ask their students to fold their papers in half, and use the two sides to compare and contrast content. Educators like the fact that graphic organizers enable students to visually see the connections they are reading.
There is no doubt that each student in your classroom absorbs information in a different way. With a classroom full of diverse learners, a graphic organizer can help to address each individual’s needs. While one student may benefit from using a Venn diagram, another may benefit from using a semantic map.
There are a million different graphic organizers to choose, from KWL charts to sequencing events. You can even create your own to suit the needs of the concept or student.
Many teachers can confidently say that they have not come across a student that didn’t like to use technology. Technology has become such an integral part of all of our lives, that it would seem like a disadvantage not to use it as a reading strategy in the classroom. Aside from the obvious choice of utilizing a tablet so students can read and play games within the apps, there are many other pieces of technology that can help students excel at reading. There are websites like PBSkids.org that offer a variety of different reading games with characters the students are familiar with. There is also Suessville.com, which offers students interactive games that bring the Dr. Seuss characters to life. In addition to apps and websites, there are activities that you can use on your Smartboard as well.
The inherent understanding that our students have for technology, and the way that they all excel so quickly about all things technology, makes integrating it as a reading strategy extremely engaging.
As you know, when you get your students to connect what they are learning to something that they already know, there is a better chance that they will understand it better, and remember it longer. To help activate students’ prior knowledge, try asking them a few questions: “What do you know about this topic?” and “How can you relate this to your own life?” These types of questions help students personally connect to the text. Research shows that when children care about something, they become more connected to it, which in turn helps them excel academically. Here are a few more questions to help students connect with their text.
A word wall is much more than just a classroom display, it’s an effective strategy that can help promote literacy for primary learners. Teachers not only use them to help enhance the classroom curriculum, but to provide students with reference and support, to teach essential language skills, and to help students learn site words and patterns. Besides being a direct visual that students can reference throughout the day, teachers use word walls by incorporating various activities. Here are a few favorites.
One of the best reading strategies that you can choose for your students is the ability for students to have a choice in what they read. This is the most effective strategy to get your students to want to read. When you give students a voice and a choice, then they will choose something that is of interest to them. This makes it more likely that they will be motivated and engaged to read the book until the end. Start by asking questions to find out what the students interests and hobbies are. Then, you can direct them to the section of books that you think they will be more suited for.
What teaching strategies for reading to use in your classroom? Do you have a few that are more effective than others? Please share your ideas in the comment section below, we would love to hear your thoughts.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.


A gentle beginning to your child's educational journey.
“We are fully human only while playing, and we play only when we are human in the truest sense of the word.” – Rudolf Steiner
The Kindergarten is a garden for the soul of a child to explore, a peaceful and gentle place filled with natural beauty, sunlight, and laughter. It’s a refuge where a child can enter the golden state of play where genuine learning occurs. It is found not only in a classroom, but in friendship and in nature, in time and weather.
The modern pace begs such a haven for our children. What is truly needed is not the crowded hustle bustle of academic instruction, but a sanctuary that breathes with a child’s rhythm and serves to build their relationship with the world through igniting a love of learning. Kindergarteners at River Song enjoy an intimate, wisdom based curriculum where they learn through art and story, through the rhythms of the seasons and poetry. Whether under a willow tree next to a laughing creek, sledding down hills in the snow, or interacting with our high quality natural toys, they acquire the skills to share a foundational human narrative.
The principle of flow is important: some of our “kinders” may engage the kindergarten experience again the next year as elders, and other friends may move on to 1st grade adventures. You may rest assured that whichever way a child is inspired to go, he or she will do so with strong foundational skills to empower that journey.
Play is the best instructor, so our kinders enter letters, numbers, and other concepts experientially. They hear the sounds of a letter repeated in stories and poems carefully selected to feature that letter. They draw the letter with their feet in the sandbox and fashion it in bread dough. They paint the strokes of the letter in watercolor. Through engaging the senses in natural play the true essence of the letter emerges for the child. Numbers are experienced in a similar way. We may count stones to build an edge for a flower bed and measure the ingredients we need to make our snacks. Shapes and colors are discovered in the natural world and described with love, only to be rediscovered with joyful enthusiasm on our regular nature walks. Science surrounds us in everything we do both inside and outside of the classroom. We serve the learning of the whole child in this way, deepening their engagement with the world.
Our Bluebell kindergarteners meet Monday-Friday, 8:30am-2:00pm. We have a flexible drop off window of 8:00-8:30 as well as after care available from 2:00-5:30pm (additional charge for after care).
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: children are at the school engaging in meaningful and hands-on learning and exploration in the classroom and play yards.
Tuesdays are spent at the willow tree on Spring Creek Trail
Fridays are adventure days! Drop off and pick up will take place at a local natural area where the children are fully immersed in the science of nature. Hiking, exploring, adventure journaling, picnicking, and deepening the connection to the beauty that is around us.
Why River Song Kindergarten?
- Small class size
- Low teacher:student ratio
- Lessons taught through play and experiential learning
- Friday adventure days at local natural areas
- Seasonal field trips
- Healthy, organic snacks
- Real life lessons and projects to enhance whole child development
- Emphasis on social/emotional development
- Each child's need are met on an individual basis
- $250 materials fee, which can be broken up into payments throughout the year.
- $50 registration fee for new families


Art IS Education is an annual, much anticipated county-wide showcase demonstrating the power of youth learning in and through the arts. The Tennessee Arts Commission offers strategies to bring together educators, artists, and community partners to recognize the arts as essential to learning in a variety of instructional settings from the classroom to the community and beyond. Sufficient data exists to overwhelmingly support the belief that study and participation in the fine arts is a key component in improving learning throughout all academic areas. A new version of the Artists In Schools program has been created by the Arts and Cultural Alliance. If the trends hold, this will be a massive and humiliating defeat for the corporate reformers, who have spent more on this election (at least $22 million) than on any education referendum anywhere. In 2009, less than 70 percent of elementary and middle school students had a regular arts class.
All schools and school districts in Alameda County are encouraged to participated in this countywide celebration and contribute to creating a diverse festival of the arts across 18 school districts. Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts (C/SPA) was created in 1996 as an official advisory committee for the Superintendent of the Sarasota County Schools. Two of the approaches to Multicultural Education are Multicultural Education Approach and Social Reconstructionist Approach. This Skills Map from the Partnership of 21st Century Skills (P21) presents just a few of the many ways that children acquire 21st Century Learning Skills through arts study.
Evidence shows that arts education provides students with the skills to think creatively, to innovate, and to become tenacious learners ready to solve complex problems—all skills that employers are increasingly looking for in the 21st century. The Campaign for Harvard Graduate School of Education enables HGSE to fulfill its vision of changing the world through education by expanding opportunity and improving outcomes. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
MYRAN PARKER-BRASS: Learning and working in the arts provide students the opportunity to be creative, to be innovative, to be reflective, to learn how to work as a team. One student laments, I wish I lived in a different area where I’d have the chance to play music.” These are comments made by Oklahoma school children who took part in a comprehensive survey on music education in the state. NAER and NCLC partnered to bring Arts & Wellness Day to 400 Newark high school students, through empowering arts and leadership workshops. NEWTOWN >> From 4-year-olds in Lancaster to high schoolers in Marple Newtown, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera returned to his classroom roots Monday as part of the Schools That Teach” tour. Choice-based art education is a nationally recognized grassroots approach to art education.
AIE students want to learn to analyze issues of access and quality in all kinds of schools and community settings and how to design and manage arts programs in these settings. Under Parker-Brass, Boston increased its arts spending by more than 50 percent, from $17 million to $26 million, and added millions more in outside grant funding, allowing the district to double the number of full-time art teachers. Grants can only be made to community radio licensees which are broadcasting under a community radio license (and not an RSL, for example). By analyzing and addressing issues of equity and social justice, we believe artists and arts educators can make unique contributions to education and social change.


We started our exploration of “Canada: Then” by looking at how early European settlers transitioned from their country to the frontier, and considered the challenges they would have faced.
To help our students imagine this, we read literature told from the perspective of a young Canadian pioneer child, other nonfiction texts, participated in drama activities, and cooked pioneer food, i.e., traditional European peasant food.
We researched information about the settlements, clothing they would have worn, food they would have eaten and what their daily life would have been like.
All of this was then compared to our current life.
We applied our numeracy skills in context to think about weight of supplies they would have needed and how many kilograms of food they would have needed to survive.
As part of our culminating project, we presented an area of interest to the class.
The latter part of our “Canada: Then” theme focused on the past discriminatory government policies and actions, specifically the residential schools, Japanese internment camps, use of minority groups for physical labour and the expansion of the CPR, and the Chinese Head Tax.
As a whole group, we read the novel “Fatty Legs”, true story of an Inuit girl’s experience in a residential school.
We then went on to read several picture books about residential school, as well as Chinese railway workers, and Japanese internment camps.
We used diary entries, one from a Chinese railway worker in the Canadian west, and a Japanese-Canadian girl from East Vancouver whose family was sent to an internment camp to help us create a short graphic novel depicting the discrimination they would have faced.
This group project required us to collaborate, summarize a story, synthesize our understanding of the problems past immigrants would have faced, take on the perspective of these people through drama, and be able to present our understanding.