Politicians are always talking about growing the middle class. But what policies can actually accomplish that goal? See what is happening to the middle class around the world.The system has to think for the shrinking of the middle class and the widening gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.What may be the reason behind?Skills have not kept pace with job requirements, leaving workers unemployed or underemployed.
Too many people remain without jobs, and too many employers across key industries cannot find workers with the right skills at the right time.Emily Stover DeRocco has outlined five solutions for this challenge but first, we need to understand how the nature of work is changing.
Why work is changing
The nature of work has changed substantially; the infusion of technology in every sector is redefining jobs and occupations. The composition of the workforce and the desires of the workforce have all changed in critical ways.In short, the job market has not yet adjusted to these changes.
- Workers are unsure what knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in today’s jobs;
- Workers must constantly acquire new and often higher-order skills to keep up with the pace of change;
- Workers must master an evolving set of competencies;
- Employers are reluctant to invest in employee training because of declining employee tenure and the fear of employee flight; and
- Job titles and experience levels are inconsistent from company to company, and from industry to industry.
Five strategic solutions could help meet these challenges.These strategies will help individuals understand the skills they need to get and keep good jobs, allow educators to understand how best to equip students and transitioning workers, and provide employers with the workforce they need.
1) Understand and respond to labor market demands
This requires using data from employers with requisite skills.Then, we can help employers start hiring for those skills and abilities. We can develop educational and training opportunities that are aligned with the knowledge and skills in demand. And we can help workers understand their marketable skills and the shortest routes to acquire the right skills.
2) Improve foundational and STEM( science, technology, engineering, and math) skills
Finding workers with what business executives call “common employability skills” is a challenge for employers across all parts of the economy. These foundational skills include an academic grounding in reading and math; individual abilities such as dependability, initiative, work ethic and integrity; workplace skills such as planning and decision-making; and people skills such as teamwork and respect.
No longer can we assume prospective employees will have learned these foundational skills from parents, faith institutions, or community service. We have to begin teaching and assessing them before new employees can learn technical and higher-level skills. Many middle-class jobs also require a necessary foundation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
3) Workers need valid, portable credentials
By 2020, majority jobs will require some postsecondary education and training.
There are a growing recognition and investment in the importance of standards-based, nationally-portable, industry-recognized credentials that have real value in the labor market. These credentials often are designed to industry standards and are primarily attained in the community and technical colleges. And they are awarded only after a third-party assesses whether a student has learned them. The recruitment, screening, and hiring practices of employers also need to recognize competencies rather than traditional degrees and “seat time” in classrooms. And we need to align postsecondary learning outcomes to these industry credentials.
4) Restore Career & Technical Education pathways to employment
We need to restore this important pathway to employment for the middle class. That means recognizing the Career & Technical Education system is responsive to the job market. At the same time, we need to provide opportunities for all students and transitioning workers through this system.
5) Connect the worlds of work and learning
Moving out of a pure “knowledge economy” that rewards workers based on knowledge or degrees to a “performance economy” that rewards using knowledge to improve performance. This shift requires a stronger connection between the worlds of work and learning.These pathways offer more “on” and “off” ramps to education and work. And they provide students and workers with experiences in the workplace as part of their learning. They “earn” while they learn, which is critical for workers who are redirecting their careers to benefit from the global economy.
Our workplaces increasingly are hotbeds of innovation, entrepreneurship, and opportunities. And we are seeing an unprecedented explosion of learning options and pathways. The challenge is to embrace those strengths and find the political will to leave behind inefficient and ineffective systems. At the same time, we need to expand these strategic solutions.
Then, we can offer economic opportunity and paths to the middle class for all.


Create Virtual Instruments
MIDIgrid can be used as a musical instrument, which can be designed and used to suit almost any musical style and structure. A Grid consists of 1-200 boxes or cells, each of which can contain a note, or chord, in your instrument's range.
Play Your Instruments
In Performance mode you can play the instrument/s by means of the mouse, trackball or joystick.
The sounds can be played through your computer's soundcard or through an external MIDI instrument.
Up to 16 different General MIDI sounds can be played simultaneously.
Chords and notes can be played once or sustained, sequences can be played once, repeated and looped.
Change the Display
The grid size and display can be changed to suit the style of the music and the needs of the composer and performer.
In Edit mode, create your own content for the cells. Unlike notation software, it focuses attention on the sounds and structures of music and offers unparalleled opportunities for users of all ages to explore the building blocks of composition.
In Edit mode, lay out your resources on screen in the way you find most intuitive. You will then be able to focus on making music, free of the distraction of fumbling for the right fingerings, etc..
For busy teachers, and others who do not have the time to do this, The Full Pitcher Music Resources has created grids to facilitate many different kinds of improvisation. A number of sample grids are included on the CD.
Improvising with MIDIgrid & GridPlay
Record Multi-track MIDI
Recording an on-screen performance is simplicity itself! There is no need for the person making the recording to know anything about the 'behind the scenes' MIDI settings.
If your computer setup has MIDI IN, you can also record live performances on a MIDI keyboard or other instrument/s connected to it.
Slightly more advanced users can tweak the MIDI program settings before recording:
More Advanced Sequence Editing/Recording
Behind its very simple, intuitive interface, MIDIgrid for WIndows has advanced sequence editing features for those who wish to explore deeper.
Create Your Own Interactive Resources
In Edit mode, teachers can create their own resources for pupils to use.
The software comes with a number of grid files covering different musical styles and structures. They also illustrate the many ways that the layout and contents of the cells can be defined.
The grids can be used to support music education as well as creative activities. These form a useful starting point and can be quickly adapted to your own requirements.
In addition, further packs of grids and teaching notes to support the UK National Curriculum can be obtained from The Full Pitcher Music Resources.
Machine Requirements: Windows '98, or higher
4 Mb free disk space
Internal sound-system for MIDI playback, or a MIDI interface connected to an external synthesizer
Some of the facilities of MIDIgrid use a MIDI keyboard to provide MIDI input. A soundcard with a MIDI interface will be required to use these facilities.
MIDIgrid in the UK Curriculum
Widening Access with MIDIgrid
"Midigrid for Windows" and "GridPlay" resources packs are published by
The Full Pitcher Music Resources (UK Curriculum Online Registered Products)
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Steven Graham, Karen R. Harris, and Lynn Larsen This paper presents six principles designed to prevent writing difficulties as well as to build writing skills:
After conducting longitudinal research plus numerous studies on genetics, interventions, and brain function, we now have a great deal of independent, scientific, replicated, published research on dyslexia.
This section shares the research results released by the National Institutes of Health from to the present, as well as from dyslexia researchers in several others countries.
How many children are learning disabled? Clearly define each specific type of learning disability. What causes each learning disability? How can we identify each learning disability? How long does each disability last? Map its developmental course. What is the best way to teach these children?
Can we prevent any of these learning disabilities?
NIH investigated dyslexia first because it is the most prevalent learning disability. NIH Results Released in These research results have been independently replicated and are now considered to be irrefutable.
Dyslexia affects at least 1 out of every 5 children in the United States. Dyslexia represents the most common and prevalent of all known learning disabilities. Dyslexia is the most researched of all learning disabilities.
Dyslexia affects as many boys as girls. Some forms of dyslexia are highly heritable. Dyslexia is the leading cause of reading failure and school dropouts in our nation.
Reading failure is the most commonly shared characteristic of juvenile justice offenders. Dyslexia has been shown to be clearly related to neurophysiological differences in brain function. Early intervention is essential for this population. Dyslexia is primarily due to linguistic deficits. We now know dyslexia is due to a difficulty processing language.
It is not due to visual problems, and people with dyslexia do not see words or letters backwards. Reading failure caused by dyslexia is highly preventable through direct, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness.
Children do not outgrow reading failure or dyslexia. Children do not mature out of their reading difficulties. Slow, labored, and inaccurate reading of real and nonsense words in isolation are key warning signs. Even among children and adults who score within normal ranges on reading achievement tests, many report that reading is so laborious and unproductive that they rarely read either for learning or for pleasure.
Such instruction is shown to accelerate reading acquisition in general, even as it reduces the incidence of reading failure. Disabled readers must be provided highly structured programs that explicitly teach application of phonologic rules to print.
Longitudinal data studies that follow children over time indicate that explicit systematic phonics instruction results in more favorable outcomes for disabled readers than does a context-emphasis whole-language approach.
The researchers had no idea which children would develop reading difficulties and which ones would not. There were many theories at that time as to what caused reading difficulties, and which tests best predicted reading failure. The researchers tested these children 3 times a year for 14 years using a variety of tests that would either support or disprove the competing theories.
But the researchers did NOT provide any type of training or intervention.Simple Definition. Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native language—despite at least average intelligence.
BibMe Free Bibliography & Citation Maker - MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard. Link to College of Arts and Letters Programs Anthropology. Undergraduate Courses/link to graduate courses Cultural Difference in a Globalized Society (ANT . About us. John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent, family-owned academic publisher headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
More. ADVANCED WRITING. IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE A Corpus-Based Study of Processes and Products Horvath Jozsef Lingua Franca Csoport ADVANCED WRITING IN ENGLISH. Introduction. Learning is a lifelong process, regardless of our age, we all learn from different life circumstances.
However, according to psychotherapist Carl Roger (), "The only learning which significantly influences behaviour is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning" (p).


At Music Together®, we aim to make the world a better place by making it more musical.
To do this, we bring the highest quality music and movement experiences to children everywhere.
What is Music Together?
Music Together is an early childhood music and movement program for children from birth through age eight—and the grownups who love them! First offered in 1987, our music classes help little ones develop their innate musicality—and much, much more.
Our early childhood music curriculum has decades of research behind it, in both music education and child development. We know what we’re talking about, and we’re good at what we do! And because we recognize that children learn through play, we make everything we do in class engaging and fun.
We also know that young children learn best from the powerful role models in their lives. That’s where you grownups come in: our family music classes show parents, teachers, and caregivers how to help their children become confident music-makers just by having fun making music themselves!
Most people think being musical is a question of talent—you either have it or you don’t. While that may sound reasonable, it’s completely untrue! All children can learn to dance and sing just as naturally as they learn to walk and talk. With this in mind, we formulated four basic principles that guide everything we do.
The Four Principles of Music Together
1. All children are born musical.
2. All children can achieve basic music competence—that is, they can learn to sing in tune and dance accurately to a beat.
3. It’s crucial that parents and caregivers participate in class and model music-making for their children in class and at home, regardless of their own musical ability.
4. The environment that best fosters young children’s musical growth is playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate.
The great thing about our music is that adults love it as much as children do! All Music Together songs were designed to inspire families to listen, sing, and make music together both at home and on the road. And the songs have been pitched in the perfect range so that even very young children can sing along.
Our award-winning music spans nine different collections. The songs are a mix of original and traditional tunes from a variety of genres and styles—folk, blues, rock, jazz, classical, and world music—so there’s something for everyone.
The first Music Together® classes were offered to the public in 1987. The program was founded by Kenneth K. Guilmartin and Lili Levinowitz, Ph.D., in Princeton, New Jersey. Their objective was to offer non-formal music experiences for the very young in order to support early childhood music development. They had observed that passive music listening was not enough for children: they needed opportunities for live and playful music making in order learn to sing in tune and move in rhythm to a beat. They wove together leading-edge research from the fields of early childhood and music education to develop the unique, musically-rich curriculum that would become known as Music Together.
Ken and Lili remain actively involved in guiding research, development, training and teaching of the Music Together program. Over the last 30 years, Music Together has successfully added programing (in multiple languages!) for babies, preschools, bigger kids, and the elderly.
Today the Music Together program is offered in more than 3000 communities and 40 countries worldwide!


Changing Lives, Changing Outcomes
The first eight years of life are critical to the development of a child’s brain. Babies are born with a brain approximately one-fourth the size of an adult’s. In the first three years of life a child’s brain grows to approximately 80 percent of adult size. By age five, the brain is 90 percent developed. Educational and socioeconomic factors have been proven to affect this development.
An Essential Time of Growth
This early stage of development is essential to social and intellectual growth. From the first hours after birth through the first years of school, children are curious about the world and eager to learn. During this period children form strong relationships with adults, and caregivers have a unique opportunity to contribute to their early intellectual development.
“What I appreciate most about the Ackerleys is that they’re so down to earth. They’ve opened many doors for us, they’ve been incredibly generous, but they’ve also shown up with their time and their laughter. They feel like friends as well as funders. We couldn’t do Islandwood without them.”
BEN KLASKY PRESIDENT & CEO / ISLANDWOOD
Opening a World of Opportunity
The Ackerley Foundation focuses its time and support on organizations involved in skills support, literacy development, mentoring relationships, and programs that connect school and home in order to produce specific and measurable results in early learning community to contribute to their early intellectual development.


It’s true: participating in an outdoor ed program is not risk-free. With a few simple precautions in place, however, spending time in nature can be made infinitely more safe, not to mention tremendously beneficial.
Safety Concern #1: Wild Animals
The antidote: Get to know the local fauna and find out exactly what the risks are. In most cases, wild animals are terrified of humans and will naturally keep their distance. However, they might occasionally wander into your home base (this is their home, after all), so it’s good to know what to do if that happens. Protocol varies by animal, so consult your area’s park service to find out best practices. For example, with some animals it’s recommended to make lots of noise and throw things in their direction to scare them off, but with other animals it’s best to be perfectly still and quiet. Once you have mastered the rules, teach them to your students and practice with fun games or drills.
Safety Concern #2: Poisonous Plants
The antidote: Again, education is the key here. Teach yourself how to identify poisonous or otherwise harmful plants (poison oak and poison ivy are some of the most common and pervasive), and then teach your students. Rhymes such as “leaves of three, let them be” can be helpful for young children. Also teach students to never pick or eat a plant without first asking an adult. When in doubt, do not touch a plant.
Safety Concern #3: Risk of Injury
The antidote: Help parents understand the mantra No risk, no reward. The benefits of playing in nature –especially the kind of play that is inherently risky like climbing trees– are stupendous. Spending time in natural playscapes has a “positive effect on children’s social development, motor skill development, attention, and activity level,” according to Ashley Parsons at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Risky play also provides kids authentic practice with the crucial skills of risk assessment and management. You can read more about the benefits of risky play here, here, and here.
Safety Concern #4: Stranger Danger
The antidote: Maintain an appropriate adult:child ratio at all times. Exact number will vary by age and school, but I suggest a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio. Provide clear physical boundaries and safety guidelines for students from the get-go. Create a Safety Zone and then walk the perimeter of it with all your students. Teach them that they must always be able to see an adult, and an adult must always be able to see them. Remind students to never talk to or go with an adult they don’t know.


Finding a job in this day and age can pose quite a challenge, even for those with a great deal of education on their resumes. Fortunately, jobs for high school students have not been effected by the current economic crunch with many choices available all over for young adults.
There are several reasons why a teenager may need to seek employment of some kind such as financially, to gain relevant work experience or just to oblige their parents and show some effort.
Most of these job openings for teens are part time and pay just around the minimum wage requirements in their local areas. While the individual is still considered a minor and a full time student by law, they should never be working a full time job or anything over twenty hours per week to avoid interfering with their academics.
Jobs for high school students are typically in the retail industries, childcare, landscaping or summer duties such as being a lifeguard. While working at the local shopping mall may be ideal for most teens to work alongside their peers, many leave out several other employment opportunities that could potentially pave the way for their futures.
Working in libraries may sound like a complete bore, but the information a high school student can obtain from working in such an institution can be permanent. The same theory applies to working in a local museum, doctor's office and hospital. Teens can learn not only valuable work experience, but essential life skills by contributing to such industries.
Every high school student should have a discussion with their parents regarding what type of employment they wish to seek and hoe it will effect their school career and athletics when they do begin working. It's a balancing act that even adults struggle to maintain on a weekly basis, and teens should start off working a few hours per week and increase them as they feel comfortable with their new schedule.
Once the teen has become aware of what will be expected of them, they will need to obtain a work permit that will be approved by their family doctor to ensure they are physically capable of working. It is then signed by the school administration and the parents for the child to take with them their first week of employment.
It is always a great idea to encourage your children to engage in work activities that will benefit their potential career path in the future. If your child desires to attend college as an elementary education major, then encourage them to get a part time job babysitting in your area. This type of work can show them a sneak preview of what lies in their future to base that college major decision on.
These are all great tips on jobs for high school students, but the most important thing is that they do not bite off more than they can chew. Take the working slow at first and build up from there to get accustomed to juggling working, school and their friends without setting them up for failure.


Music Learning Theory in Collegiate Music Education
Collegiate music education is responsible for educating teachers of music in public and private institutions. We are ultimately responsible, therefore, for the education of consumers of music in many facets of society. Because of the importance of that task, it is crucial that we continue to explore innovative ways to teach and learn music. Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory is receiving increased attention as a realistic and common-sense model for teaching music at the collegiate level (see Edwin Gordon, Learning Sequences in Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns [Chicago: G.I.A. Publications, Inc., 19891). Gordon's model of music learning is based on years of experimental and practical research in how children learn music. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Gordon's research is the concept of audiation.
When originally coined by Gordon, audiation was defined as "the ability to hear music for which the sound is not physically present." It was not unlike more commonly used terms such as"inner hearing," "silent singing," or "mental hearing." Gordon's most recent research has expanded the definition of audiation to comprise seven types and six stages. Audiation is perhaps best understood when compared to imitation. An individual who imitates a language pronounces the words correctly without giving meaning to the words. That is true when someone reads or speaks in a foreign language but does not comprehend the meaning of the words. An individual who imitates music is also unable to give meaning to music. For example, a person who imitates rhythm will often experience difficulty maintaining a consistent tempo. An individual who imitates melodies will often sing with faulty intonation. In extreme cases, the individual who only engages in imitation may not even recognize the same piece when someone else performs it. Imitation is not unimportant; it is audiation, however, that forms the basis for all musical behavior. Audiation includes comprehension, and it occurs when an individual gives meaning to music through reading, writing, creating, improvising, listening, and performing. Audiation is to music what thinking is to language.
Gordon's Music Learning Theory is based on the principle of "sound before sight." He is obviously not the first to espouse such a common-sense approach. Because of years of experimental and practical research, however, his theory provides a more organized and sequential process than those of previous music-learning theorists. Gordon's model includes a skill-learning sequence and a content-learning sequence that interact with each other in the learning process. Skill-learning sequence consists of discrimination and inference learning; content-learning sequence comprises various tonalities and meters. At the discrimination level, for example, the teacher teaches students to make discriminations between major and minor tonalities and duple and triple meters. The students build a vocabulary of tonal and rhythm patterns at the discrimination level that enable them to engage in independent music behavior at the inference level of learning. Among other behaviors, students are able to hear the sound of notation in their heads before they perform it with their voices or on their instruments. As a result of learning to audiate they will also be ready to understand and appreciate all of music during and beyond their formal education.
Gordon's Music Learning Theory has applications to vocal, general, and instrumental music. It is a significant step toward meeting intrinsic objectives for the music education at the collegiate level and eventually in the public schools.
Richard F. Grunow is Professor of Music Education at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. A leading innovator in beginning instrumental music instruction, Dr. Grunow is an active lecturer and clinician, having presented extensively throughout the United States, and in Canada, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Japan, and the French West Indies. His research and teaching focus on applications of Music Learning Theory to instrumental music instruction, instrumental and choral score reading, measurement and evaluation, and music literacy.


Teaching English as a second language is a challenge, but the ELL Collection can help increase your ELLs' proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and writing. The ELL Collection combines Raz-Plus with targeted resources that help ELLs hone the language skills they need for success inside and outside the classroom. Here are 6 things you need to know before you get started.
1. Targeted ELL Resources
The ELL Collection provides a wealth of targeted ELL resources created for guiding ELLs in practicing key speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. These resources include:
- Leveled Reader Packs that structure vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing supports with engaging texts and multi-day lesson plans.
- Content Picture Packs that help students learn essential vocabulary with colorful, detailed illustrations and guided lesson plans.
- Vocabulary Books that develop students’ Tier 2 and 3 academic and social language skills.
- Assessments that track students’ language learning progress and provide in-depth information about students’ development in speaking, reading, listening, and writing.
- Language Skill Packs that offer content-based materials to support student progress in math, foundational skills, science, language arts, social studies, and social and instructional language.
- Vocabulary Power Packs that provide digitally accessible activities where students practice content-based vocabulary with clear definitions, engaging images, and discussion questions that encourage making real world connections.
2. Social Learning Opportunities
With Raz-Plus’ variety of instructional materials, the ELL Collection lets you take advantage of dynamic reading activities that reinforce social language learning. Raz-Plus Project Based Learning Packs, Close Reading Packs, and Comprehension Skill Packs are ideal for getting students to collaborate as they read critically and discuss possible solutions to a reading-related problem. Because these packs include readings for all ability levels, your ELLs can hone their social English language skills while learning from their peers.
3. World Language Translations
When ELLs can read fluently and confidently in their native language, they can more easily understand and acquire English. With over 900 Spanish books and over 400 French books, Raz-Plus provides many opportunities for ELLs to gain content knowledge in their native language while practicing foundational English language skills such as developing phonological awareness and decoding letter-sound connections.
4. Leveled Books for All ELLs
Every ELL learns at a different level and pace, and the ELL Collection provides leveled materials that are appropriate for practicing foundational, intermediate, and advanced literacy skills. Raz-Plus offers over 1,000 printable, projectable, and digital books in high-interest topics for every ability level and interest. From Graphic, Comic and Humor books to suspenseful Serial Books with recurring colorful characters, your ELL students will be sure to find a book they enjoy at their ability level.
5. Curricular Correlations
The ELL Collection correlates to WIDA, TESOL, and ELPA1 standards. The ELL Collection’s resources are designed with these language proficiency standards in mind so you can be sure that every lesson addresses critical language learning needs.
6. Assessment and Monitoring
With digital options for assigning activities, you can make sure students are practicing critical language skills. The Raz-Plus assignments feature allows you to assign digital resources to the whole class, small groups, or individual students. After you have assigned resources, you can monitor student progress in your and view student reports according to skill level and evaluate how individual students and the whole class have progressed in a particular skill.


Music and maths - is there a learning connection?
We know the brain adapts and physically changes when it's exposed to new experiences and this remarkable plasticity is the the basis for learning.
Brain mapping using MRI images provide us with glimpse into which part of the brain is active during particular tasks.
Some research papers have used brain mapping to suggest that learning music develops the same cognitive spatial-temporal part of the brain as mathematics - so there's a possible maths benefit in learning music.
Let's put the neuroscience to one side. As a parent of two children who are learning a musical instrument I notice quite a few obvious connections:
- Many aspects of maths - such as times tables and series - are based on repeating patterns. So too is music
- Rhythm is a form of counting
- Reading music requires counting - for example to know when to come back in
The Value of Practice
In music it’s pretty well accepted that to be good you have to practice a lot. However in mathematics education “practice” appears to have slipped down the agenda.
This is a shame because children need a lot of time and practice to master the basic numeracy skills that underpin their future understanding and confidence in maths.
The goal in learning both maths and music is to become fluent - to build an instinctive sense of the notes or numbers that feel right. When you've achieved this it stays with you for life and it’s very rewarding.
I can’t prove it but my hunch is that learning a musical instrument complements a child’s learning in maths and other subjects.
We don't know for sure whether there's a brain development benefit but the self discipline, concentration and persistence children gain through learning a musical instrument goes a long way to equipping them for the academic and professional challenges that lie ahead.
The same is true for all extra-curricular learning be it languages, drama, sports or indeed maths.
About Komodo - Komodo is a fun and effective way to to boost primary maths skills. Designed for 5 to 11 year olds to use in the home, Komodo uses a little and often approach to learning maths (15 minutes, three to five times per week) that fits into the busy routine. Komodo users develop fluency and confidence in maths - without keeping them at the screen for long.


Galena Park Elementary's Music
Below is my curriculum summary by the time students reach the 5th grade.
Children as performers.
For a music education to be complete, it must begin with singing and experiencing the production of sound on a daily basis. In fifth grade, students will improve part singing skills and extend their vocal range by using canons and two and three part song arrangements of various cultural origins. Students will also learn songs in preparation of 6th grade concepts. They will add double circle games, basic square dancing and conducting complicated meters to their movement skills. They will demonstrate melodic and rhythmic concepts on recorders as well as other classroom instruments. Students will accompany a song with rhythmic ostinato using dotted eighth and sixteenth note combinations, as well as an eighth note followed by a dotted quarter note. Students will accompany songs using compound meter and melodic ostinati using ti and si. These skills not only have a sociological impact on their world, but they also benefit the children as they find their place socially in their own environment.
Children as stewards of their cultural heritages.
Children experience a repertoire of music that includes folk music, art music, patriotic music and recently composed music. They will explore music from cultures such as the Southern Appalachians, African American, British Isles and Eastern Europe. This exposure deepens children's understanding of the various styles of music, giving them tools to compare musical styles as well the cultures they come from. Fifth grade students will be able to connect music to the subject areas of reading, writing, language and math.
Children as critical thinkers.
As critical thinkers, children use the scientific method to analyze music. Music teaches children to become problem solvers and self-motivated, lifelong learners. In fifth grade, the students will analyze rhythmic and melodic elements. Rhythmic elements include dotted eighth and sixteenth note combinations, eighth note followed by dotted quarter note, various subdivisions of compound meter including triplets. Melodic elements include High ti, major, minor and modal scales. They learn to sight read and write simple minor, major, or modal melody exercise on the staff and various key signatures; as well as composing a rhythmic accompaniment or an ostinato to accompany it. Students will write known songs using rhythmic and staff notation where Do=F, G, C, and D and apply absolute letters names to simple major, minor, and modal melodic exercises on the staff in selected key areas. Students will analyze the form of typical classical forms such as binary, ternary, sonata, and rondo form. Students will be able to recognize simple harmonic functions in both major and minor scale, and name intervals such as major third and minor third.
Children as creative human beings.
When children learn how to express themselves through improvisation and form, melodic and rhythmic composition, they learn more about who they are and what they are capable of accomplishing. They will compose and improvise rhythmic canons and two part melodic pieces, as well as compose endings for given melodies and rhythmic patterns. Students will be able to sing simple major melody in minor tonality.
Children as informed listeners.
Children in the 21st-century are surrounded by music from a variety of mixed media sources on a daily basis. The fifth grade musical concepts will be reinforced through an expanded listening repertoire including local artists, classical compositions, popular styles, and peer performances. Along with the melodic and rhythmic concepts, they will recognize musical features including pentatonic scale, triple meter, and simple compound meter. Recognize forms in classroom song repertoire, folk song, masterworks, including compound binary, compound ternary, rondo, and sonata allegro. Students develop an awareness of dynamics, tempo and timbre through masterworks of various historical periods.
"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression." ~ Haim Ginott
"Our age of mechanization leads along a road ending with man himself as a machine; only the spirit of singing can save us from this fate." ~ Zoltan Kodály


You can use the online activities to allow kids to freely explore letters and numbers. These activities are relevant for all young kids learning to read, but could be especially helpful for kids who are a bit slower learning English. If you have kids whose home language is included in the Literacy Center's offerings (Spanish, French, German), you could let them develop pre-literacy skills in that language, which they can then scaffold and compare to the English version. Alternatively, you could use the different languages to introduce some basic foreign language vocabulary. Printable practice sheets are helpful for homework or in-class activities that allow kids to practice writing letters, numbers, and words.Continue reading Show less
Literacy Center Education Network is a website that offers a collection of very simple online and print literacy activities. The target audience: kids learning English as a second language or dual-language learners, though the content is relevant for any kid learning to read. Online activities (called Play and Learn) cover letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, shapes, colors, words, writing, and keyboard. The printable section (Print and Practice) has printable worksheets that follow the same categories. Both the online and printable activities are available in English, Spanish, French, and German.
Literacy Center Education Network purposefully doesn't offer any bells and whistles in its activities; it maintains that kids' attention should be focused on learning letters and they shouldn't be distracted by superfluous stimuli. There is much merit to this argument, though Literacy Center may take it too far. Games clearly and faithfully address simple learning goals and offer real opportunities for kids from a variety of backgrounds (including ELL and language-delayed kids) to interact with letters, numbers, and a bit more. Printable sheets offer a nice tie to bring learning offline.
But games are almost too simple and allow only for limited exploration. Though some kids may find that the excitement of exploring letters and numbers is enough to keep them engaged, all kids would likely benefit from a gentle boost of fun that could be entirely integrated into the learning experience so as not to distract from the task at hand. Even audio instructions could help, as what kids are supposed to do in some games is pretty vague. It could also help if kids were automatically advanced to a more complex task as they complete each level, rather than having to click themselves through levels that often seem arbitrarily ordered.
Key Standards Supported
Print many upper- and lowercase letters.
Reading Foundational Skills
Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.


Pre-K through 12th grade schools within the United States have become much more diverse in recent years. Schools are now commonly not only diverse because of diverse students born in the United States, but also have many immigrant students. A growing number of these immigrant students are resettled children who have refugee status. In schools, these recent immigrants are called newcomers. This book is a culmination of research and anecdotal experiences regarding the refugee issue as it pertains to these students in American schools and schools elsewhere in the world. Scholars, policy makers, educators, those who work in the refugee field, artists, musicians, and others have come together to provide this resource of fifteen chapters that address three areas regarding the refugee student. This information is designed to help educators and volunteers who work with newcomer students and includes a) what it means to be a refugee, b) how the newcomer student may be affected by trauma, and c) best practices for the classroom. Additionally, fifteen spotlight sections highlight valuable resources, ideas, or organizations that may assist schools and educators who work with newcomer students. This book goes alongside a documentary film called Refuge in the Heartland, which the editor co-directed and is available on YouTube, and was produced by the Kansas State University College of Education. The authors and contributors of this book have direct experience in working with refugees, newcomer students, traumatized individuals, or in teacher preparation programs. The work of former students of 40 universities is represented in this text, as well as many other non-profit organizations. The artwork was done by students at Valley Center Middle School in Valley Center, Kansas and by their teacher, Marie Taylor, a graduate of the KSU College of Education Art Education Program. This book is dedicated to the children who leave a refugee camp halfway across the world on a hot summer day dressed in shorts, a T-shirt, and flip flips, and whose airplane lands on a ten-degree day in a snowy, cold place that is unlike anything they have ever experienced.
Read with Issuu page-turning software by clicking 'full-screen' on the reader above, or by visiting https://issuu.com/kstatelibraries/docs/journey-to-refuge
New Prairie Press
Education, Newcomer, Refugee, Resettled, Asylum, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, UNHCR, Refugee Camp, Trauma, Brain, Art, English as Second Language (ESOL), Methods, Strategies, Pedagogy, Therapy, Globalization, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Preparation
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching | Art Education | Art Practice | Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Child Psychology | Education | Educational Methods | Educational Psychology | Educational Sociology | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Elementary Education | Elementary Education and Teaching | Family, Life Course, and Society | First and Second Language Acquisition | Higher Education and Teaching | Human Factors Psychology | Inequality and Stratification | Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching | Migration Studies | Other Arts and Humanities | Other International and Area Studies | Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures | Other Teacher Education and Professional Development | Place and Environment | Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy | Secondary Education | Secondary Education and Teaching | Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education | Sociology | Trauma
Harlow, Trina D., "Journey to Refuge: Understanding Refugees, Exploring Trauma, and Best Practices for Newcomers and Schools" (2019). NPP eBooks. 26.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons, Art Education Commons, Art Practice Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Human Factors Psychology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons, Trauma Commons


Daphne Oram is one of the central figures in the development of British experimental electronic music.
Daphne Oram chose a practical career over an academic one after she declined a place at the Royal College of Music to become a music balancer at the BBC. She was co-founder and the first director of the world-renowned BBC Radiophonic workshop. She left in 1959 and carried on her own research into sound in relative secrecy.
Her work, collected papers and other items passed into the care of her friend the artist Hugh Davies after her death in 2003. It was subsequently bequeathed to the Sonic Arts Network (one of Sound and Music’s founding organisations). It is now available to researchers, musicians and others at Goldsmiths College in London. This archive also includes fascinating documents relating to her approaches and studies of electronic music.
Oram most famously developed Oramics, one of the earliest forms of electronic sound synthesis and one that is audio-visual in nature. The composer draws onto a synchronised set of ten 35mm film strips which overlay a series of photo-electric cells, generating electrical charges to control amplitude, timbre, frequency, and duration.
Key works include Pulse Persephone (1965), Bird of Parallax (1972), Rockets in Ursa Major (1962), Broceliande (1969-70), and the soundtrack to the feature film The Innocents (1961).
Besides being a musical innovator, she was the first woman to direct an electronic music studio, the first woman to set up a personal electronic music studio and the first woman to design and construct an electronic musical instrument.
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What is musical play? Is it bashing on an upturned drum in the playground or banging pots and pans on the kitchen floor? Well, it can be both.
A different term to use might be musical exploration, the idea that young children get the opportunity to explore sounds. Most playground designs or outdoor spaces take into account all of our senses, including our hearing, and there are “instruments” that can be banged, crashed and whacked.
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But, the field of neuromusical research has been quite focused, for good research design reasons, on more formal and structured music learning. This is because it removes a big variable of the music learning pedagogy itself, play or exploration are far harder, but not impossible, to standardise. However, in this study they propose that informal music learning could have an important impact on the development of sound encoding skills in young children.
“The current study indicates that the maturation of sound encoding indexed by the MMN may be more protracted than once thought and provides first longitudinal evidence that even quite informal musical group activities facilitate the development of neural sound discrimination during early childhood.”
What is interesting to us is that, to an outsider, many Orff and Kodaly activities look like play or exploration, but they are also highly structured and directed. Could it be that, through decades of trial and error, music education pedagogues have figured out the step between music exploration and music learning through activities that look like play?


Plan for six weeks of learning covering all six areas of learning and development of the EYFS through the topic of numbers. The Planning for Learning series is a series of topic books written around the Early Years Foundation Stage designed to make planning easy. This book takes you through six weeks of activities on the theme of numbers. Each activity is linked to a specific Early Learning Goal, and the book contains a skills overview so that practitioners can keep track of which areas of learning and development they are promoting. This book also includes a photocopiable page to give to parents with ideas for them to get involved with their children's topic, as well as ideas for bringing the six weeks of learning together. The weekly themes in this book include: finding numbers outdoors, musical numbers, cooking with numbers, arty numbers, shopping with numbers, and we love numbers. This book is a great way to bring numbers and early problem solving and numeracy skills into all areas of the curriculum so children learn about them in a fun and unpressured way.


In classrooms across Oklahoma and the nation, students are taught to read using a theory that has been discredited by decades of research by brain scientists.
This “three-cueing system,” first proposed in 1967, is pervasive in reading instruction and curriculum. Students are instructed to use strategies that include memorizing words, using pictures on the page to decipher a word and skipping words they don’t know.
Teaching these strategies actually makes it harder for kids to learn to read, studies show. Yet many educators and parents don’t realize there’s anything wrong with it, according to a documentary project from American Public Media’s APM Reports.
Debates over how reading should be taught have raged for decades. The three-cueing theory formed the basis for “whole language,” which took hold in the 1980s even though countless studies have favored explicit phonics instruction for all kids. Another approach used is “balanced literacy,” described as a mix of phonics instruction and whole language, but it still relies on three-cueing.
Oklahoma fourth graders scored below the national average in reading on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card. Oklahoma’s scores actually slipped in 2017 compared to 2015.
With APM’s documentary drawing new attention to the issue among parents and educators, Oklahoma Watch spoke with Melissa Ahlgrim, reading sufficiency director for the state Department of Education about reading instruction in Oklahoma. Her responses are edited for clarity and brevity.
How should schools teach students to read?
When I went to school and was trained early in my teaching career, I was trained on balanced literacy and the three-cueing system. It’s where you teach strategies to attack words and you surround kids with books and you just kind of make it more organic – which made sense to me in some ways. But as I got further into it and became a little bit more experienced as a teacher, I started noticing there are kids who aren’t getting this and I don’t have the tools to help them. When I was able to move into a district leadership position and the position I’m in now, I was learning more and more. We know through cognitive scientists how the brain learns how to read. We need to have that systemic and explicit instruction on phonological awareness and phonics.
Are Oklahoma schools using the three-cueing system?
Yes, they are using three-cueing all over the place. While we have standards districts use, we do not require a certain type of curriculum or curricular method. We are trying to push out the phonics, we strongly encourage it, but it’s not something we can require. That’s a local control issue.
Are you seeing a shift in schools now that there is more awareness?
I’m seeing more conversations. We’re not necessarily seeing an active shift yet. I’m hearing more questions from district leaders and principals and teachers. What they’re really struggling with — and it’s a fair struggle — is they’ve invested time and resources and money into these programs that they are now finding out may not be as effective. And they’re trying to figure out how to salvage that and what to replace it with.
What is the department doing to effect changes?
We’re trying to make sure teachers are really well-informed. For emergency certified teachers, they are currently undergoing a beginning LETRS (language and literacy skills) session in order to maintain emergency certification just so they can have effective practices in their toolbox about how to help kids learn to read. And we’re always available to any district to have us come out and have a conversation with them.
Q: Does there need to be a mandate or legislation?
Where our focus has really been is on having an awareness of the research that’s out there and why this is important and the resources available. Trying to change a system is like trying to stop an ocean liner. You just do not do it immediately.
Also, this is not just an Oklahoma thing. This is a national and even an international thing. Do we teach kids how to love books or do we teach them how to decode books? Really, it’s not two different goals – it’s the same goal. It’s really hard to love books if you can’t read them. And we want them to be able to read, but we want them to get those foundational skills down first.
Reach reporter Jennifer Palmer at email@example.com.


Presented every year by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, the Awards recognise achievement within the composition, efficiency, training and presentation of Australian art music. Musical messages discerned via information idea aren’t referential, yet Moles chose to explain the measurable parts within the sonic repertoire as symbols: every definable temporal stage represents a ‘symbol’ analogous to a phoneme in language.” In accordance with Moles, music should, as an artwork, obey rules; the role of aesthetics is to enumerate universally valid rules, not to perpetuate the arbitrary or merely traditional.
(Much hypothesis, nevertheless, was clearly directed towards that extra-restricted which means with which we are acquainted.) Music was nearly a department of arithmetic for the thinker Pythagoras (c. 550 bce), who was the primary musical numerologist and who laid the foundations for acoustics In acoustics, the Greeks discovered the correspondence between the pitch of a observe and the length of a string.
Among those that search and propound theories of musical meaning, essentially the most persistent disagreement is between the referentialists (or heteronomists), who maintain that music can and does seek advice from meanings exterior itself, and the nonreferentialists (who’re sometimes called formalists or absolutists), who maintain that the artwork is autonomous and means itself.” The Austrian critic Eduard Hanslick , in his The Stunning in Music (initially in German, 1854), was a strong proponent of music as an artwork of intrinsic principles and ideas, yet even Hanslick, ardent formalist though he was, struggled with the issue of emotion in music.
Solely the expressionists, amongst these talked about here, have been dedicated primarily to music, though Adorno, particularly, thought of music and musicians at all times in interplay with their environments The aesthetic idea of play is virtually absent, besides amongst such humanists as Maslow With Sartre , no much less a humanist, the tone was one among accountability.
A study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy on the College of Kansas, revealed that students in elementary colleges with superior music education schemes scored round 22 p.c increased in English and 20 percent larger in math scores on standardized exams, in comparison with schools with low-quality music programs, no matter socioeconomic disparities among the many schools or college districts.


This course is recommended for students in Grades Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. To prepare for careers in agriculture, food, and natural resources, students must attain academic skills and knowledge in agriculture.
The Importance of Art in Child Development By Grace Hwang Lynch In recent years, school curricula in the United States have shifted heavily toward common core subjects of reading and math, but what about the arts?
Although some may regard art education as a luxury, simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development. Learning to create and appreciate visual aesthetics may be more important than ever to the development of the next generation of children as they grow up.
Developmental Benefits of Art Motor Skills: Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children.
According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors.
Many preschool programs emphasize the use of scissors because it develops the dexterity children will need for writing. For very young children, making art—or just talking about it—provides opportunities to learn words for colors, shapes and actions. According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life.
Drawing, sculpting with clay and threading beads on a string all develop visual-spatial skills, which are more important than ever. Even toddlers know how to operate a smart phone or tablet, which means that even before they can read, kids are taking in visual information.
This information consists of cues that we get from pictures or three-dimensional objects from digital media, books and television.
Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it. When kids are encouraged to express themselves and take risks in creating art, they develop a sense of innovation that will be important in their adult lives.
As we live in an increasingly diverse society, the images of different groups in the media may also present mixed messages. Studies show that there is a correlation between art and other achievement.
A report by Americans for the Arts states that young people who participate regularly in the arts three hours a day on three days each week through one full year are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate.
She blogs about Asian fusion family and food at HapaMama.When the Brainzooming blog started, its focus was to be on strategy, creativity, and innovation. In fact, the first five Brainzooming posts in framed our views on strategic thinking and its importance as widely distributed function within organizations.
Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum () defines critical thinking as "examining, questioning, evaluating, and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about issues and practices" and critical action as "action based on critical thinking" (page 56).. By adopting this definition of critical thinking and applying their learning in education contexts, students can.
“Too many facts, too little conceptualizing, too much memorizing, and too little thinking.” ~ Paul Hurd, the Organizer in Developing Blueprints for Institutional Change Introduction The question at issue in this paper is: What is the current state of critical thinking in higher education?
Critical Thinking is something that is valued both in the university setting and in the professional situations you will find yourselves in after you graduate, and is part of lifelong learning.
Critical Thinking is important in life.
It helps you to think creatively – ‘outside the box’. It keeps you from becoming narrow. Matt Copeland is an Associate for Instructional Innovation and Support with MetaMetrics, Inc., an educational research firm based in Durham, North Carolina, and .
Critical thinking is an utmost important part of creativity and we often need critical thinking to help us in evaluating and improving our creativity skills. Besides, critical thinking teaches us how to differentiate emotion and reason.


Head Start Leadership and Governance Training
Effective governance is an essential part of any successful Head Start or Early Head Start program. This self-paced, interactive training module offers activities and real-world scenarios. Management staff, governing body/Tribal Council, and Policy Council members can use this tool to refine their governance knowledge and leadership skills.
The training is organized around five learning modules.
- Head Start's Vision, Values, and Mission explores Head Start’s shared ideals against the backdrop of its rich history. See how Head Start has grown in 50+ years and how it remains true to our guiding principles.
- Head Start Law and Regulations models how to access and implement the legislative policies and regulatory requirements that guide program decision-making in Head Start.
- Your Team describes the rights and responsibilities of the three entities that govern Head Start programs—the governing body/Tribal Council, Policy Council, and management staff. Discover how to integrate their efforts.
- Your Tools introduces Head Start's dynamic program planning process. Learn how the Management Systems Wheel supports the strategic planning of responsive services.
- Be a Leader unpacks three foundational skills leaders need to regularly practice: communication, decision-making, and consensus building. Explore real-world scenarios that delve into how to implement respectful decorum and procedures.
On the first pass through this resource, you should work in a linear manner. After completing the course, access the modules as desired. They are an effective tool for leadership and governance training. Use the Tips for Using Head Start Leadership and Governance: Values, Regulations, and Skills handout below to promote discussion and collaboration.
Select the link to download the text version.
Last Updated: February 6, 2020


Education & Community Engagement
Students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of community.
— Nature Neuroscience
Serving a culture that embraces and encourages arts and creativity, the Colour of Music Festival’s education mission is to:
• Deliver lifelong learning experiences to people of all ages with emphasis on works
composed by black composers and classical artists of African ancestry
• Enrich lives and stimulate creative minds in a variety of programs and formats
• Create unique moments of relevance in people’s lives
Programs that generate passion for orchestral music by black composers are at the core of the Colour of Music Festival. The Orchestra services Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties and cities across America where the festival is presented annually.
Education concert themes included:
• Charleston’s Symphonic Contributions to the World
• Historical Measures: A 300-year Musical Timeline of Black Composers
• Rhythm Around the World
• Celebrate Multiculturalism in American Orchestras
• Notable Numbers: Patterns, Rhythms, and Form in Music
• Eventful Music: Symphonic Stories of Black Orchestral History
We can also take these concerts on the road! School districts and/or individual schools who are interested in hosting an Education Concert should contact Julia-Ellen Davis, Education Engagement Coordinator, JuliaEllen@colourofmusic.org for pricing and booking information.
Allegro Charter School • Charleston Development Academy • Chicora School of Communications • James Simons Elementary • Mary Ford Elementary • Sanders Clyde Creative Arts School • Cross Elementary School • St. Stephen Middle School
The mission of Make Music Count is to increase elementary and secondary students’ mathematical skill development through piano playing and reducing their math anxiety. By incorporating music into each lesson, students become engaged through music while simultaneously learning mathematical concepts. Each lesson is based on learning musical notes in a song. Each note is derived through a mathematical equation that varies from addition and subtraction to algebraic equations. Therefore, solving math equations leads directly to playing the piano, and a more positive attitude towards math.
How Children Benefit from Music Education in Schools
Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.
— Arete Music Academy. “Statistical benefits of music in education.”
Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs.
— The National Association for Music Education. “Music Makes the Grade.”


How to Teach Music in an Effective Manner to Early Learners and Other Beginners
Image from cosmopolitan.com
When teaching music to beginners, there is a need to adopt a method that makes the process simple easy and interesting. Here are a few options:
The Kodaly Approach
This method adopts the belief that music education is at its best when it commences early in the life of the learner. This is steeped in the idea that musical literacy is possible for everyone and in this wise, singing is encouraged as the basic foundation for development.
The vital approach is to introduce music to beginners, including children, at a level they can understand. This will include routines like singing, playing of percussion instruments, chanting, dance, movement, drama and stimulation of the learner’s intuition.
There are different materials used to teach musical concepts that vary according to the age of the learner. But for the basics, it would entail listening, singing and understanding. Based on this, reading, writing, and creation of music will follow.
A certified Kodaly instructor can provide the needed guidance to enable students to develop skills in the area of listening, ear training, sight-singing, composition, singing, dancing, and analysis, reading and writing of music.
The Suzuki Approach
This works by using a model called the mother-tongue approach, parental involvement and influence are deployed in the teaching of music to children and beginners. Guardians and parents are allowed to be part of the classes, in order to be able to nurture the kids at home.
This method was originally used to impart violin mastery, but it is also now used for flute, guitar and piano training. It was developed in Japan but got to the US in the 60’s.
This approach helps the students to learn such core traits like poise, discipline, proper posture, confidence, technical mastery, requisite intonation and phrasing as well as the art of music.
The Dalcroze Approach
Educators deploy this approach to teach students incorporating the connection between music, movement, body and the mind. It was developed by the stellar talent-Emile Jaques-Dalcroze.
By listening to music and giving expression to it through body movement, students are able to use this approach to perfect the art of music. Emile Jacques was a music educator and theorist who worked in conjunction with Mathis Lussy, Anton Bruckner, and Gabriel Faure.
The Orff Approach
Teaching beginners the art of music can be tiring but when presented on the platform of play and rhythm, kids can learn at a level of understanding that suits them.
The Orff approach engages the mind of learners and their body, by utilizing a mix of acting, dancing, singing and percussion instruments like the metallophones and xylophones. This makes the learners pick up interest easily and become accustomed to what is expected of them.
What works out best for the new music learner depends on a number of factors. It is important to use the approach that suits the learner's circumstances in order to get the best outcome


Accelerating Newborn Through Toddler Learning Development Hardback
by Kris Jamsa
Every eight seconds within the United States, a new baby is born; that is 10,380 babies per day and nearly 4 million babies per year.
At no other time in a childs life will his or her parents be more engaged and desirous to foster development than during the transition years from newborn to toddler.
Additionally, during these critical early-childhood years, a childs brain develops at its fastest rate.
Unfortunately, despite their motivation and best intentions, most parents do not know how to best support and enhance their childs learning development.
Governor of Maryland Robert Ehrlich best described the importance of early childhood learning by saying: Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five.
If we dont begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start kindergarten".
This is a resource designed to help parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers actively participate in accelerating a childs learning development.
The book consists of hundreds of age- and developmental-aligned learning stages, activities, and milestones, as well as steps the reader can perform to introduce or reinforce these components.
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 450 pages
- Publisher: Nova Science Publishers Inc
- Publication Date: 01/08/2017
- Category: Psychological theory & schools of thought
- ISBN: 9781536121698


The key objective of SSA and the subsequent RTE act is Universalization of Elementary Education
(UEE) viz. Access, Enrolment & Retention of all children. The RTE Act has given a new thrust to the
education of Children with Special Needs (CWSN), as without their inclusion in regular school objective
of universalization of education will not achieved Therefore Inclusive Education is one of the important
component under SSA. The State has taken initiative specially focus on Child Centre coverage plan of
CWSN to reach services every door step through multi option model.
While implementing the intervention, activities has been taken like, Identification of CWSN, Medical
Assessment and Rehabilitation Support Services, Educational Support Services etc. and strives for
ensuring Quality education to CWSN in inclusive setup with non-disabled peer group, to make them
Identification of CWSN:
Primary stage identification of CWSN done with the help of experts from rehabilitation field.
Medical assessment Camp:
The Medical assessment camps are organized through NRHM, PHC camps, Block, civil hospitals,
Medical Colleges, medical trusts and educational rehabilitation institutions of Maharashtra. The
expert team assesses and recommends various support services to the identify CWSN according to
disabilities in the camp. The educational, vocational and other rehabilitation options are also being
decided at the camp.
Those CWSN having problem in Muscles, Joint deformities & contractures Tongue tie & cleft Palate,
Squint were referred for surgery from block level camp. As per line of treatment 34000 corrective
surgeries have been done.
Transition from Home base to regular school:
During educational assessment & field visit state were identified the needs of the children with
special need to occupy in regular school with the help of care giver. As soon as semi resource room
develop for activities of daily leaving & development of sensory motor & communication at CRC
Capacity Building through Multi Category Training:
There has been a substantial expansion of variety of activities for bringing the children in
Elementary Education & transit forms home to school & school to class. As well as there were
remains a lot challenges of providing quality education. The challenge has different dimensions like
effective onsite support, evaluation process and availability of existing infrastructure, right kind of
learning materials how to be used for students, in stipulated time.
Inclusive Education of the Disable at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) under RMSA
The Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) was launched during
2009-10 and replaces the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC). The
aim of this scheme is to enable all students with disabilities to pursue four years of secondary
education in an inclusive and enabling environment, after completing eight years of elementary
The scheme covers all children studying in classes IX to XII in Government, local body and
Government-aided schools, with one or more disabilities as defined under the Persons with Disabilities
Act (1995) and the National Trust Act (1999). The type of disabilities range from blindness, low vision,
leprosy cured, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, mental retardation, mental illness, autism
and cerebral leprosy, speech impairment, learning disabilities etc. Girls with disabilities are provided
with special attention to help them gain access to secondary education, information and guidance for
their developing potential. Moreover, the scheme envisages to set up model inclusive schools in every
Aims & Objectives
The Centrally Sponsored IEDSS Scheme aims to:
Enable all students with disabilities completing eight years of elementary schooling an opportunity
to complete four years of secondary schooling (classes IX to XII) in an inclusive and enabling
Provide educational opportunities and facilities to students with disabilities in the general education
system at the secondary level (classes IX to XII).
Support the training of general school teachers to meet the needs of children with disabilities at the
The objectives of the scheme will be to ensure that:
Every child with disability will be identified at the secondary level and his educational need
Every student in need of aids and appliances, assistive devices, will be provided the same
All architectural barriers in schools are removed so that students with disability have access to
classrooms, laboratories, libraries and toilets in the school.
Each student with disability will be supplied learning material as per his/ her requirement
All general school teachers at the secondary level will be provided basic training to teach students
with disabilities within a period of three to five years.
Students with disabilities will have access to support services like the appointment of special
educators, establishment of resource rooms in every block.
Model schools are set up in every state to develop good replicable practices in inclusive education.


The alphabet sounds and objects kit includes beginning sound activities for all beginning sounds. This kit includes the following items: a comprehensive and easy to understand illustrated lesson plan with words to say during your lesson or presentation of the material to your child or student, 26 lower case (wood burned or 3D tactile) alphabet letters; “Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!” storybook, and 18 language follow up (master copy, you are welcome to copy for your use) worksheets that complement the various lessons. Sounds are sorted into 6 bags and lessons to match beginning sounds of objects to letters. The lessons and follow up activity worksheets come in a folder for easy storage. The materials come in fabric bags and a labeled box that is easy to store on a work shelf for your child or student. At an additional price, you can purchase a flash drive with a copy of the lesson plan and follow up worksheets. I am available via email at firstname.lastname@example.org for any questions. Please read the lesson plan when it arrives before presenting materials to your child/student so you are prepared.
This educational kit was made with love by a certified Montessori teacher of 18 years. I am certified in Early Childhood Education (preschool and Kindergarten), Elementary Education I (grades 1st to 3rd), and Elementary Education II (grades 4th to 6th). I have worked as a lead teacher in all the above grades, Montessori teacher trainer, dance director, and Parent Education director. I hope you enjoy this kit as much as I enjoyed making it. I created the ABC Crate LLC so that I could share the joys of Montessori lessons and philosophies with all who seek wonderful lessons for their little ones. I have many more kits to come ranging from preschool to middle school. Feel free to drop a note about which lessons you would like sooner. ABC Crates are great for Home School programs, parents seeking support material for the home, and for teachers to use in their classroom.


If you’ve ever had food poisoning, you know that it’s miserable. Food poisoning is caused by eating food that contains bacteria. This bacteria can make you really sick. But did you know that some foods contain poisons, rather than bacteria? Yikes!
- The seeds/pits of cherries, apples, apricots and peaches contain a type of cyanide. Crushed seeds are especially dangerous.
- Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, a compound that can cause kidney stones and serious illness. Stick with eating red stalks only.
- Nutmeg in even small amounts can cause convulsions, seizures, and hallucinations. More than a sprinkling and you could be in trouble!
- Eating glycoalkaloids found in the leaves, stems, and sprouts of potatoes can lead to diarrhea, headaches, confusion, comas, or even death. Avoid eating green potatoes too.
- Did you know that there are two types of almonds? Sweet almonds are fine to eat, but bitter almonds contain cyanide. Even eating 7 to 10 almonds can make you seriously ill.
- Grayanotoxin in raw honey has been known to cause sweating, weakness, dizziness, and vomiting. Children under age two shouldn’t eat honey at all.
- Tomato leaves and stems contain a poison that can cause stomach trouble.
- High levels of mercury in tuna can potentially cause brain damage. Best to limit tuna consumption to no more than once a week.
- Cashews are covered with uroshiol, the same compound that causes itchiness after touching poison ivy. Cashews in the grocery store are steamed to remove this compound.
- E coli and salmonella are two of the most common types of bacteria in food. E coli can be found in produce that’s been fertilized with manure and raw meat. Salmonella is sometimes found in raw eggs. Both types of bacteria can cause serious illness.
- Additives such as food dyes, preservatives, and bleaches can also make you sick. These ingredients can be found in everything from sports drinks to soda to mac and cheese. Read the ingredients, cook from scratch, and buy organic whenever possible.
Questions and Answers
Question: How can I prevent food-related illnesses?
Answer: The best strategy is good sanitation and food prep. Refrigerate perishable foods as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Put away the leftovers within an hour of serving foods. Wash your hands before preparing foods and be sure to wash raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Never eat food that has an off-smell or appearance.
Cite This Page
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MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Toxic Food Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 28 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/toxic-food/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Toxic Food Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/toxic-food/
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Phonemic Awareness Item number CTP2332. Regularly stocked item. Usually ships within 24 to 48 hours.
Published by Creative Teaching Press
Paperback 128 pages
grades Pre to 2
ages 3 to 8
list price $16.99 our price $12.23 savings $4.76 (28%)
This must-have resource for primary teachers includes essential readiness skills for phonics instruction and dozens of fun activities that help children listen to language and play with sounds. Activity cards can be cut out and laminated to create a handy reference file of fun ideas. A wide selection of reproducibles such as picture cards, word cards and manipulatives included.


Starting kindy can be an anxious time for both children and parents, but there are plenty of things that you can do to ease the transition and set your child up for a happy time.
Remember, parents are powerful influencers. You are a source of inspiration and a source of great comfort and by taking some proactive steps to help your child prepare for the start of the kindergarten year, you can help them to get the most out of this rite of passage.
Going to kindy should be a happy time for a child. It’s a time of exploration and discovery, growth and learning and there is much that a parent can do to set them up emotionally as well as physically for a positive experience.
Here are some practical ways to help your child prepare for the start of the kindy year:
Focus on developing gross and fine motor skills. Do fun, simple things at home like bouncing and catching balls, climbing trees, jumping over obstacles, laying the table for a meal, building with small blocks, making pictures with dry pasta and doing arty, crafty activities with tactile materials.
Encourage their independence. Give them responsibility for simple daily tasks and let your child dress himself or herself even if the end result isn’t colour co-ordinated or fashionable!
Provide a range of materials for drawing, ‘writing’, creating artworks and building things.
Read, read and read. Reading and fostering a love of books is probably the most important activity you can do with your child to get them school-ready and it will help set them up for a lifelong love of learning. Visit your local library and start conversations with your child about their book choices.
Encourage their curiosity and genuinely listen to what they’re saying.
Practise problem-solving skills. Help your child manage their emotions by positive reinforcement and encouragement and help them understand that there are consequences to their behaviour - both good and bad.
Develop their numeracy skills by playing counting games and maths concepts in your day-to-day household activities. Simple classification games (size, shape, colour and quantity) are also good.
Establish clear expectations at home and help them to follow instructions. ‘Please could you pick up your toy and put it in the cupboard’.
There’s no substitute for good manners and constantly reinforcing the need to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ will set them up for the kindy environment and for later life.
Never miss an opportunity to help them with the concept of sharing and taking turns. The kindy classroom can be a baptism of fire for children who have had limited social interactions with other small children because they’re less likely to be able to handle frustration and be considerate of others. Starting daycare at an early age can be a significant advantage.
Other things that parents can do are:
- Establish a routine well before the school year starts that sets the scene for the transition to kindy.
- Familiarise yourself with the school’s routine so that there are no unexpected surprises that may unsettle your child.
- Organise a get-together with any other child or children in your neighbourhood who will be attending the same kindy before the start of the school year. Seeing some familiar faces will help them integrate more easily.
- Be aware of your own emotions and don’t let on to your child that you are anything but excited about the new school year. They’re surprisingly intuitive and will pick up on any negative feelings or anxieties.
Kindergarten should be an exciting time for both child and parent and it’s certainly true that the more effort you put into preparing your child for this milestone, the more likely that everyone will settle quickly and get the most out of it.
If your child has already been at an early learning centre, they’ll have a head start when kindy kicks off because they’ll be familiar with the surroundings, the set-up and the daily routine. Many parents choose to put their toddler - and often their babies - into daycare not because their circumstances require it, but because there are clear benefits to starting early.
Nido Early School is one of the most sought-after providers of premium childcare and kindergarten programmes across Australia and our network of centres have a reputation for caring excellence. We firmly believe in the view that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and that parents play just as important a role in a child’s education as a school does.
To see our philosophy in action or to discuss options for childcare, get in touch with Nido Early School through our website, www.nidoearlyschool.com.au.


About the Program
Our Plano ISD supports a Kodaly-inspired music curriculum from elementary through high school. Zoltan Kodaly was a Hungarian composer and music educator who developed his method based on these principles:
- Children should be exposed to only the highest quality of music.
- Children should learn songs of their native language, their heritage and roots, as well as the folk songs and rhymes that are passed down from previous generations.
- Musical literacy, the ability to read, write, and think music, is the right of every human being.
- Music education should begin at a very young age.
- Music learning begins with the child’s natural instrument, the voice.


Phonological Awareness & Phonics
In this two-part online course, attendees will engage in activities that will enable them to break the challenging alphabetic code for students. The first part focuses on Phonological Awareness (PHA) and the recommended instructional skill sequence for struggling learners. You will learn how and why PHA is a prerequisite for phonics instruction and understand its key role in reading instruction for struggling learners. The second portion focuses on Phonics and will provide you with foundational knowledge and teaching strategies to help your students become proficient at decoding unfamiliar words. The course will build your knowledge in three fundamental areas of reading instruction that are essential for struggling readers: letter recognition and the alphabetic principle, sound and letter correspondence, and decoding skills.
Intended Audience: All Teachers, Reading Specialists, Speech/Language Pathologists


How to make your own emoji agamograph step-by-step instructions. Middle School .. Would be good for primary Tie in with Kandinsky? Renee Jackson. Making an agamograph is surely a fun project, so let's enjoy the season by coloring and How to make your own emoji agamograph step-by-step instructions. Need an easy craft for young kids. Learn to make a relief sculpture out of paper created by an Israeli artist name Yaacov Agam. All you need is.
Try making your own agamograph using our printable template. It does require some extra steps in the making process but is easier to. Printable Template Four Seasons Agamograph Paper Craft for Kids Step By Step Instructions on how to Make Four Seasons Agamograph. Want to create more fun agamographs? Andreja Vucajnk've got a brand new free butterfly life cycle agamograph template to share with your kids and students.
Agamographs; Blackout Poetry; Book Cuffs; Book Tastings; Braided Yarn People; Character Silhouette Bookmarks; Dots + Boxes; Duct Tape Bow Ties Download these agamograph instructions and use with the template to. ASSEMBLING YOUR TUNNEL BOOK Instructions for assembly will be demonstrated in class. --OR create an agamograph. Picture. Step-by-step instructions on how to create the agamographs, with photographs to make 6 stationery templates that students can attach below the agamograph. Agamographs also encourage fine motor skills, following directions, and spatial reasoning. Agamographs are the perfect brain break activity for the end of the. This Pug in a Tie Hug a bookmark is also perfect for Father's Day. fun Chinese New Year craft with these great Dragons – full instructions on how to assemble.
Sep 6, Explore Ratna Jayanti's board "Agamograph" on Pinterest. | See more ideas about Art activities, Art education lessons and Colouring in. AGAM, Yaacov, (Israeli, ): ''Hommage a Picasso'', Agamograph ( Lithographic Image Viewed Through a Lenticular Lens), sight size 11 3/4'' x 11 3/ 4''. 02/ Deep Dive into Manual Mode/Exposure Refresher before FILM! Intro Video .. How do I format my print settings for my Agamograph project? Printing. Buy online, view images and see past prices for Yaacov Agam Serigraph Agamograph. Invaluable is the world's largest marketplace for art, antiques, and.
Agamograph from famed Israeli artist Yaacov Agam. Set in a wooden frame with celluloid white cover, some of which has come off. In otherwise. Why not print our Father's Day Agamograph Template and have the kids make a pretty Grab the free tie template to make this shirt card for Father's Day!. Using the Disney movie, Lilo and Stitch, students will create an Agamograph Instruction and Its Sequencing: “How does our project tie in to difference?”.


What we want our curriculum to achieve and why
Our intent and ambition for our curriculum is that it is designed to meet, at a minimum, the requirements of the National Curriculum. It will enable learners to progress well in all year groups and attain at least Age Related Expectations by the end of KS2 in all subjects.
We recognise the importance of tailoring our curriculum to the needs of our learners and families in our school community:
- Vocabulary broadening and enrichment
- A wide range of experiences, including intentionally planned opportunities to learn actively inside and outside
- To reflect upon their progress and have ownership of their learning
- Greater involvement from their parent/carers
We aim to offer our children a broad and balanced curriculum which ignites curiosity, creativity and a love of learning to last a lifetime. Through our core Christian Values, we aim to develop independent learners who can persevere when faced with challenge. Working with the Edison Learning Connected Curriculum, we are developing a holistic curriculum with personal and social development at its heart where children’s voices are paramount. This progressively builds and deepens knowledge, understanding and skills across the curriculum in which reading, writing and mathematics is embedded.
Children are given opportunities to learn collaboratively with their peers during conceptual learning, whereas foundational skills are often taught and embedded through regular, independent practice. Whilst some subjects are taught thematically, encouraging learners to make connections across subjects, some areas of study are more appropriately taught discretely.
Our Christian Ethos, planning, organisation of curriculum content, collaboration, distribution of subject leadership enables us to address the unique challenges we as a small school encounter.


DaCapo Primary Music
As some of you know, we have an exciting project bubbling away - a learning resource for primary schools which uses the classroom's interactive whiteboards to improve the delivery of schools’ music curriculum. This clever software tool will help primary teachers with little musical expertise to teach music to an ambitiously high level.
The idea draws on DaCapo’s established Schools’ Programme and will support teachers to better teach music.
What’s the need?
Most nursery and primary music teaching in the UK is carried out by non-specialists, many of whom struggle with music theory. This has a profound effect on the musical literacy of a generation of children.
Even where there are qualified music teachers, they often find it difficult to source a progressive programme of learning. The National Curriculum doesn’t provide a detailed music curriculum and other commercially available music training solutions do not aspire to the same high levels of musical achievement as DaCapo.
Demand for music teaching in the Primary school sector from teachers, parents and pupils is significantly greater than the capacity (and available budgets) that schools can provide. Furthermore, the latest National Curriculum guidance requires schools to provide pupils with a musical education, but with no associated provision of funding.
In many schools, the budget for music teaching is very small, often not enough to afford an in-house or visiting teacher. All this means many children are not receiving the quality music education they deserve.
DaCapo have developed a way to change this and the result will be DaCapo Primary Music.
Interactive whiteboards in schools provide the ideal platform for delivering the DaCapo teaching method more widely. The technology allows big-screen, whole- class teaching, using rich media and with acceptable audio quality.
Using the award-winning DaCapo lesson plans and resources (winner of Rhinegold Award 2014), the software programme will work like an app on an iPad. The board introduces whole class activities that include Singing, Movement, Reading and Instrumental work. Everything is taught through songs, introduced by the whiteboard ‘voice’.