4228.0 - Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011-12 Quality Declaration
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/10/2013
|Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product|
Young women have lower numeracy skills than young men, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Young women lag behind young men on numeracy skills, but perform well on literacy
However, ABS Director Myles Burleigh said that when it comes to literacy skills, young women were doing just as well as young men.
"The survey measured participants skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments and assigns them to a number of different levels.
"The higher the level, the better your skills, so Level 2 represents higher skill levels than Level 1, and so on. Level 3 or above for literacy and numeracy represents relatively advanced skills.
"For numeracy, 45 per cent of young men aged 15 to 19 ranked at Level 3 or above, compared with 39 per cent of young women.
"However, for literacy, 56 per cent of young women and 53 per cent of young men ranked at Level 3 or above."
Mr Burleigh said that the survey also found that Australians with a non-school qualification are much more likely to have high levels of literacy and numeracy than those without a qualification.
"Amongst people with a non-school qualification, 62 per cent were assessed as having literacy skills at Level 3 or above, compared with 44 per cent of those without a qualification.
"For numeracy, 52 per cent of those with a non-school qualification were ranked at Level 3 or above, compared with 34 per cent of those without a qualification."
The survey was undertaken as part of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which was conducted in 24 countries around the world, co-ordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Further information can be found in Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (cat. no. 4228.0), available for free download from the ABS website www.abs.gov.au.
For international comparisons, see the OECD website www.oecd.org .
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
These documents will be presented in a new window.


A meta-analysis, published in Review of Educational Research, examines how shared book reading affects the English language and literacy skills of young children learning English as an additional language (EAL)
Shared book reading involves an adult reading with one or more children, and is considered to be an effective practice for language and literacy development. It may also involve interactive practices such as dialogic reading techniques to engage children or reinforce specific ideas or words from the text.
For this meta-analysis, Lisa Fitton and colleagues identified 54 studies of shared reading interventions conducted in the US that met their inclusion criteria. The total number of participants across the studies was 3,989, with an average age of six.
Results revealed an overall positive effect of shared reading on EAL outcomes (effect size = +0.28). Childrenâs developmental status moderated this effect, with larger effect sizes found in studies including only typically developing children (+0.48) than in studies including only participants with developmental disorders (+0.17).
Source: Shared book reading interventions with English learners: a meta-analysis (October 2018), Review of Educational Research, volume: 88 issue: 5


Imagine living in a place where the temperature never rose above 50 degrees. You wouldnât need flip flops or shorts and your mom would probably never buy popsicles. Youâd spend your days wearing sweaters and boots. In the tundra zone of the polar climates, winters are long and dark. When summer arrives, though, plants grow quickly and animals, such as moose, birds and fish, arrive to feed on the plants. Summer doesnât get very warm and it doesnât last long, so animals make the most of the time they have.
Head further north (or south) and you arrive at the ice cap climates. Not much lives here, because the temperature hovers at a balmy 0 degrees year-round. The ice is so thick that it reflects the Sunâs light. Even in the summer, the ice doesnât melt. Youâd think that this area would be very snowy, but parts of the ice cap rarely get snow or rain. In fact, Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth, with an ice cap a mile thick. The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on the whole of Earth.
Fun Facts About Polar Climates for Kids
- Few people live in the tundra zone, although they sometimes migrate during the summer to hunt.
- Researchers and polar bears and penguins are among the only beings who venture to the ice caps.
- Antarctica has the lowest temperature ever recorded: â89.2 Â°C (â128.6 Â°F) at Vostok Station.
Polar Climates Vocabulary
- Tundra: Cold windy areas with few trees. Low-lying plants and wildflowers grow here
- Hover: stays, remains
- Balmy: mild and warm
- Reflect: mirrors back
All About Polar Climates Video for Kids
Hereâs a great video for kids on Polar Climates:
Polar Climates Q&A
Question: What kinds of animals live in the tundra?
Answer: The tundra supports an amazing diversity of life, from wolverines to snow geese, marmots, insects and white fox.
Question: Are the tundra regions in danger?
Answer: As the Earth warms, the tundra areas are also warming. A thin layer of ice, known as permafrost is thawing. This warming is causing new types of plant life to grow there, potentially creating problems for the animals and plants that currently live there.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Polar Climate Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Dec 2018. Web. 17 Dec 2018. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-polar-climates/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2018). Polar Climate Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-polar-climates/
We've recently added
Sponsored Links :


Feel free to browse the links on this site for more information about our products,
elementary music education for parents, and also join our mailing list and get your
music education resources for FREE download.
Send us request to be added to our Mailing List here and we will add you to our database
of mailing list records.
There are plenty of adults who want to sing all day long but they have one big problem
â they have an inferiority complex and cannot do it in front of others due to the
lack of music ear. And these are the people that look for music lessons online in
order to somehow compensate for the unfulfilled childhood dream.
The absence of ear for music is a very serious problem that is very common. By knowing
the roots of it you can always help improve the situation and help your children
deal with it in the future.
The majority of parents think that the musical ear is hereditary and no music lessons
online or real will help. By reading the following paragraphs, you will see that
this common belief is not true.
Can you answer a question: Why do children born in Germany all speak German, and,
children born in Italy â Italian? In Russia â Russian? In India â Hindi? In America
â English? And so on... The answer is obvious: All people or the majority of them
surrounding the child spoke in the corresponding language. The child heard his future
language in the motherâs womb!
And letâs imagine for a moment that the newly born does not hear human language at
all or hears it a few times a week for 10-15 minutes... Do you think he has chances
to start talking?
You can find information on children who after a birth were surrounded not by people
but animals and nature. If you have never read about such cases, you might find it
useful to learn what has happened to these children in future and the way their brain,
speech and hearing developed. They had practically nothing to do with humans!
So, the truth is that the ear for music is not hereditary. It is acquired just like
many other human abilities and skills that are stimulated by the proper environment.
Instead of music lessons online, you should learn things about music from a professional.
Ask the person who sings off tune whether he hears songs on the radio (TV, CD, etc.).
Of course he will give you the positive answer unless he is deaf by birth. And now
ask whether he hears himself singing a favourite song in a wrong key. And again he
will answer that he does!
So what happens to the inept singer, and is it possible to correct him or at least
correct the situation? The thing is that people who do not have musical ear have
a breakdown in a very important sensory system â coordination between hearing and
voice. It occurs because they did not hear much music in their childhood. It is these
people that look for music lessons online. But what kind of music, you may ask, should
they have heard in childhood? Any kind of music!
Is it so simple? Yes, as they say everything brilliant is always simple!
Most likely, parents of those who had breakdown in coordination between hearing and
voice breakdown also had no ear for music, and sang off key in presence of children.
They played music spontaneously, sometimes on TV, radio, or in the car. So how can
the child have the ear for music and develop it through music lessons online if he
almost never heard music?


Reading Eggspress Comprehension for Grades 2 to 6
Students learn a range of comprehension strategies that enable them to access increasingly difficult and challenging literature and nonfiction texts.
Studies have shown that teaching reading comprehension strategies gives students the tools they need to become proficient independent readers. These reading strategies help students understand the increasingly complex and challenging texts they encounter in texts across the curriculum.
Research demonstrates that when primary grade students receive optimal comprehension instruction, their performances on measures of literal, inferential, and metacognitive comprehension increase, as do their vocabulary; decoding, problem-solving, and cooperative learning skills; and self-esteem (Ness, 2011).
The Reading Eggspress Comprehension program is a comprehensive strategic reading program. It contains 220 lessons from grade 1 to upper grade 6 that use a balance of fiction and nonfiction texts. The lessons are organized in a systematic and progressive format with a sequence of 5-lesson maps. The program focuses on literal, inferential and critical reading comprehension questions for skill building and metacognitive understanding. The questions address key areas in comprehension - main idea and details; compare and contrast; making connections; sequencing events; cause and effect; understanding character; drawing conclusions; predicting; summarising; fact and opinion; point of view; and word study. Each skill is repeated many times to build each studentâs ability to transfer these skills and for them to become an integral part of their repertoire of their reading comprehension skills. The program also promotes the beneficial learning outcomes that occur from sustained reading of whole texts, with students reading 8 complete books as part of each gradeâs module. Progressive assessment occurs at the completion of every 5 lessons using independently leveled passages.
- Sequential lessons use a balance of carefully leveled literature and nonfiction texts. The lessons gradually increase in both the complexity of the texts that students read and the depth of comprehension required.
- Assessment tasks use independently leveled passages and appear in a similar format to Common Core online tests. Two-part assessment questions require students to find evidence in the text to support their answers.
- Supports students of all abilities through carefully leveled lessons that begin at a grade 1 level.
- Comprehensive student and class reports show student progress over time.
Comprehension Program Components
- 220 lessons across grades 1 â 6, with 40 lessons per grade (20 in Grade 1).
- 44 complete books and 44 Assessment tests
Comprehension lessons for Grades 1 to 6
MAP 1 Literature Fiction Lessons 1- 5. Reading Levels 8 â 10, Lexiles: 200L â 270L
FICTION MAP 1 FOCUS BOOK: That bear is back Level 10, 250L
|Lesson||Text||Level||Comprehension strategy focus|
|1||Worm Surfing||9, 230L||Think marks and Word study|
|2||The Gwibber||9, 240L||The Main idea|
|3||Crocodile in the kitchen||9, 240L||Literal questions|
|4||Runaway Circus||10, 260L||Sequencing events|
|5||Larkin St Emergency||10, 270L||Visualise and Main idea|
Fiction Assessment: Max Visits a Farm Level 7, 180L
Lessons by grade PDFs
Scientific Research Base
Download the Reading Eggspress Comprehension Program Scientific Research Base PDF.


Lead guitar is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a. The Difference Between Rhythm and Lead Guitar Feel free to check in on the blog any time, we'll be sharing several music education posts a. Beginner Lead Guitar Lessons. To become an amazing lead guitarist, you must understand what key a song is. Don't be scared! We understand that music.
Free guitar Sheet Music, free lessons, guitar downloads and resources. The terms lead guitar and rhythm guitar are mildly confusing, especially to the music have two guitarists, where usually one would specialize in "lead" and the. All these songs are truly great even regardless of the lead guitar that is improvising . A solid knowledge in music theory is the foundation of good lead guitar.
The terms rhythm and lead guitar describe the roles of musicians in a band. They are not separate types of guitars, and you can play both on.


Dr. Anita Prest and the UVic Student Music Education Association (UVSMEA) organized a three-part learning series on indigenizing K-12 music, based on the redesigned K-9 and 10-12 (draft) music curriculum documents. The series, funded by the Faculty of Education's Community & Scholarship Fund, was captured and shared here by UVSMEA students. See below to hear from Dr. Lorna Williams (Emerita Professor of Indigenous Education, University of Victoria), Butch Dick (Songhees artist and educator), and Alia Yeates (music teacher, Coquitlam School District).
In the following video, Dr. Lorna Williams explains the context in which the Earth Songs course was created, shares Lilwat principles of learning, as well as some student responses to the drumming workshops:
The next video is a conversation with Songhees Elder, artist and educator, Butch Dick. Butch addresses how to build relationships with Indigenous leaders in our communities, and how to bring First Nations art and perspectives into our classrooms.
Alia Yeates, the final speaker in Indigenizing Music Education series. She teaches in the Coquitlam School District, and participated in the UVIC Aboriginal Education Summer Institute. Alia shares her personal experience of sharing Indigenous world views with her students.


Picture book idea in mind, where do you start? How do you tell your tale? Many writers assume they start in rhymeâ¦.
Butâ¦to rhyme or not to rhyme is a not a simple question. You must first know what it takes to write in rhyme before you begin.
Sure, itâs fun to keep rhyming and see where the words take you, but thatâs follow the leader, which leads to stories that are awkward, forced, difficult to read and even more difficult to understand.
Editors are typically not fans of rhyme, and frankly, (sometimes) I canât blame them, especially when I go back and read the first drafts of some of my rhyming stores. I cringe! So rhymers, potential rhymers, study before you rhyme.
Itâs true, many editors will flat out say they do not like rhyme, but donât let that frighten you away. Rhyme is fun, useful and part of childhood. We, as writers, should rhyme only when we can do it beautifully and brilliantly â when we can do it justice. There are numerous benefits to reading rhyming stories to children and thus reason for writers to write in rhyme.
âRhymers will be readers: itâs that simple.â â Mem Fox
The Common Core Standards specify rhyming as a competency under English Language Arts Standards Â» Reading: Foundational Skills Â» Kindergarten
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2a Recognize and produce rhyming words
According to Scholastic:
âBy emphasizing rhyming poems and games with your infant or toddler, youâre also helping his emerging literacy. The instinct to rhyme comes somewhat naturally. Researchers have overheard and reported that even young toddlers practice their own made-up rhymes, such as âOogie, woogie, poogieâ over and over. Infants and toddlers tack on the â-eeâ sound as a diminutive to many words. Toddlers call out âdoggie,â âkitty,â âhorsey,â as they point and label the animals they see in a picture book.
Toddlers giggle at funny rhymes even when these involve nonsense words, as in many of the Dr. Seuss books. Becoming aware of rhyming sounds boosts brain activity and early literacy ability. Adding singsong rhyming words to requests for your child to listen or to stop an activity is a great way to get her attention. Rhymes and rhythms add zest and humor as well as increasing your childâs cooperation.â
And as published in Earlychildhood NEWS:
âOral language and phonological sensitivity (sound discrimination) are not the only skills that are developed when children are exposed to songs, chants, and rhyme. They can also develop listening and thinking skills. Oral language (vocabulary), phonological sensitivity and comprehension (thinking skills) are the building blocks of literacy. With conscious effort, songs, chants and rhymes become a perfect springboard for developing all three of these critical skill areas.â
And finally, according to Read to Me International:
âRhyme is an easy introduction to literacy! Research shows that even young toddlers practice their own made-up rhymes such as âoogie, woogie, poogieâ over and over. Itâs an easy, pleasant starting point for learning word and language structure.
Rhyme builds vocabulary! It introduces words not necessarily found in daily conversation, and creates simple ways to remember them. Itâs also an easy way to learn the sounds of letters and words.
Rhyming words develop strong pathways in the brain. According to Alice Sterling Honig, PhD, âBecoming aware of rhyming sounds boosts brain activity and a childâs early literacy ability.â Conversely, children who enter kindergarten unable to recognize rhymes have a harder time with early literacy experiences.â
So, if you feel the need to rhyme â put the time in and study it.
Rhyming is an art, not just a start.


Dual Language Showcase Site
The group is committed to forging a stronger home-school connection. We believe that reading in any language, develops reading ability. We want to engage parents in reading with their children at home and to encourage discussion and the sharing of their experiences and realities. As a result, the group decided to create dual-language book bags, comprising of dual language books and multilingual audio tapes, for use at school and at home. Non-English speaking parents could enjoy reading the stories to their children in their own language and elaborating on the ideas, values, skills, and concepts introduced in this "expanded" home literacy program. Student/parent/community volunteers would record the multilingual stories on audio cassettes.
Through the use of audio cassettes, ESL students and parents would be exposed to basic English vocabulary, grammatical structures, and conventions of texts.
Promoting literacy development in the ESL student's first language will facilitate the acquisition of literacy in English. Accessing prior knowledge through the use of their first language provides the framework for new learning.
- Fostering active collaboration between caregivers and teachers would create an inviting atmosphere in the school (e.g., parents can read aloud or tell stories to groups of children in their native language or in English, share information about their countries of origin and their cultures, or translate newsletters, etc.)
- Freeing students to express themselves more fully through the use of their first language in oral and written communication, alleviates the initial feelings of confusion and frustration, and the sense of alienation
- Inspiring parents to embrace their roles, and their opportunities and responsibilities with regard to their children's intellectual, social, and emotional development
- Supporting parents in their efforts to develop their children's communicative skills in their first language maintains the lines of communication between generations
- Enhancing the status of multilingual children and giving them ample opportunities to demonstrate their skills (e.g., as authors and interpreters) and to share their cultures, countries of origin and personal experiences as newcomers to Canada and Thornwood Public School.Broadening children's horizons by increasing their awareness and appreciation of other languages, cultures, and each other
- Providing opportunities for ESL parents to develop their own literacy skills in the English language through listening to dual-language audio cassettes, translating books, helping out in the school, etc.
- Developing computer literacy skills in the use of multilingual word processors.


This week, we have been learning all about capacity. We followed instructions to make dangerous dino potions. We mixed dinosaur blood, blue T-rex slime and green Stegosaurus spit. It was disgusting! We used non-standard units and standard units to measure the amounts.
Year 1 & 2 have had lots of fun making yummy pancakes. We used our numeracy skills to weigh and measure the ingredients we needed and followed the instructions to make the perfect pancake. We even learned the names of the ingredients in Welsh! Once we had made our pancakes, we had a pancake flipping competition and counted how many times we could flip the pancake in 30 seconds. We laughed a lot!


A COMPREHENSIVE BUNDLED COMMON CORE ALIGNED ASSESSMENT BANK for INTERMEDIATE GRADES ELA - Reading Grades 4-5 and Mathematics Grades 4-5
This product is a bundled set of my CCSS Aligned Reading Assessment Banks Grade levels 4-5 and Mathematics Assessment Bank for Grades 4-5. Due to customer request, I am offering this bundled set at a reduced price as compared to purchasing all four assessment banks separately.
This Assessment Bank Bundle was designed to save Intermediate general education and special education teachers time in developing assessments to use in assessing student performance in and learning of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The standards in the Assessment Banks are deconstructed into two or more objectives for teaching and learning. The Assessment Bank contains at least one assessment aligned to each of the CCSS (most standards have two or more aligned assessments â depending on the number and type of objectives) - OVER 100 ASSESSMENTS for each subject at each level! The assessments are authentic and curriculum-based and were designed to provide you with relevant student performance data. These assessments were originally designed to be used in conjunction with my Common Core Standards Aligned IEP Goal and Objective Bank, but can be used by any teacher responsible for teaching and assessing the Common Core State Standards.
This bundled assessment bank covers the English Language Arts CCSS in the area of Reading at the Grades 4 and 5 levels. This set also includes the Mathematics Assessment Bank for Grades 4 and 5. Both levels of the Reading Assessment Bank are organized into three sections: Literature, Informational, and Foundational Skills, which correspond to the three reading areas of the Common Core Reading Standards. While a few reading assessments administered at the Grades 4 and 5 levels are conducted in one-on-one assessment situations with the teacher or other adult providing oral directions (sight word recognition, fluency assessments, oral reading assessments), many assessments given at this level are group-administered assessments. In addition, at the intermediate levels there is an increase in the use of written responses as part of reading assessments. These practices are reflected in the 4-5 levels of the Reading Assessment Banks contained in this bundle.
The Math Assessment Banks in this Bundle covers the CCSS in the area of Mathematics at the 4 and 5 grade levels. The Math Assessment Banks are organized into five sections: Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Numbers and Operations in Base Ten, Numbers and Operations â Fractions, Measurement and Data, and Geometry, which correspond to the five subdomains of the Common Core Mathematics Content Standards or these grade levels. Most, if not all, of the mathematics assessments in these banks can be administered in a group setting. Specific teacher directions are provided for each assessment in the Assessment Bank.
Most of the assessments have an accompanying Assessment Record for teachers to use to document student performance and progress in mastering the standard or objective over trials and over time. Teachers choosing to use these Assessment Records simply transfer the assessment data from the actual teacher or student assessment form to the Assessment Record Form. These Assessment Record forms would be ideal to use to monitor student performance over time and to report student progress to parents during parent conferences or to team members during Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings.
Also included at the end of the Assessment Banks are CCSS Class Performance Records, one for each of the three sections of the Reading Bank, Literature, Informational and Foundational Skills and one or each section of the Mathematics Banks. These Class Performance Records can be used to determine the overall performance toward the Common Core Standards for an entire class. Teachers using these forms can easily and quickly see the overall level of performance for all students in one class related to individual standards to assist in planning and making overall instructional decisions.
If you are an intermediate teacher responsible for teaching and assessing the Common Core Standards in the areas of Reading and Mathematics at the 4th and 5th grade levels, then this Assessment Bundle is one resource you do NOT want to be without.
If you are a Special Education Teacher responsible for providing specially designed instruction to intermediate level students aligned to the Common Core, then this Assessment Bank is for you. ASSESSMENTS ALIGN DIRECTLY WITH THE GOALS/OBJECTIVES IN MY COMMON CORE ALIGNED IEP GOAL AND OBJECTIVE BANK â Intermediate Level Reading and Mathematics.
If you have any questions regarding this CCSS Aligned Bundled Assessment Bank, please contact me.


Teachers, students, and amateur artists will all benefit from the advice of this esteemed educator and fine artist whose book, as described by a colleague, is "a cause cÃ©lÃ¨bre
for art education, not only because it meets the urgent professional need, but also because it combines artistic, aesthetic, and instructional considerations in a way which is significantly different from any other text."
Encouraging teachers and students to use his suggestions in ways they feel most appropriate, the author (an expert guide and teacher) offers sound advice on methods and techniques for artists at all levels. Using the lessons and methods he employed over the years as an instructor, Kaupelis focuses on solving the problems common to many illustrators, among them successfully developing perspective, contour and modeled drawing, and drawing from memory and projected images. A splendid blend of instruction, analysis, and insights, this volumeâone of the most widely read art instruction textsâdeserves a place on the shelves of instructors and serious students of art.
Reprint of the Watson Guptill Publications, New York, 1966 edition.
|Availability||Usually ships in 24 to 48 hours|
|Dimensions||8 1/4 x 11|


Hereâs How It Works
The information received through all of our senses, including touch, movement, muscles and vision, must be properly interpreted and processed by the brain in order for neurological development to proceed in a normal matter. When the brain does not receive the sensory information correctly, or shuts out completely, the childâs ability to develop gross and fine motor skills, to be successful academically, and to develop social skills are compromised.
These children exhibit a combination of behaviors that frequently indicate that their neurological foundation is not sufficient for them to be successful in the fulfillment of their various roles as a child, sibling, peer and student-yet they may âlookâ normal.
Developmental Pathways for Kids provides therapy services to develop or enhance the processing of sensory information so that a stronger neurological foundation is available to the child for the development or refinement of gross and fine motor skills, cognition and academic learning, and social interactions.
We believe that every child has potential.
Our goal is to give the children that we treat the chance to fulfill their greatest potential.
What is Sensory Integration?
âLike building blocks, a childâs performance depends on a well-developed nervous system at each level.â (A. Jean Ayres, PhD)
Sensory Integration refers to the function of the human brain that processes and uses the sensory information from within the body and from the external environment.
All the sensory inputs work together to give us a reliable picture of the world and how it relates to us. The senses also integrate to provide a complete understanding of who you are, where you are, and what your body is doing. Because your brain uses sensory information such as sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes, and movement in an organized way, you assign meaning to your sensory experiences, and you know how to respond and behave accordingly.
There are two major functioning issues that sensory integration addresses: Motor Skills Development (Praxis) and Self Regulation (Sensory Modulation).
Motor Skill Development:
This refers to the ability of the brain to organize oneâs movement by utilizing various sensory inputs efficiently to guide and produce movement outputs. When the central nervous system (the brain) is unable to process, use or organize sensory information efficiently, a child will experience challenges in developing body awareness, coordinating the two sides of their body or executing a sequence of movements. As a result, they might demonstrate some of the following symptoms: clumsiness, impulsiveness, disorganization, difficulty learning new motor skills (e.g. tying shoe laces), or challenges in learning to print and write.
This refers the ability of the brain to regulate physical reactions (e.g. heart rate, breathing, temperature, digestive system, alertness, metabolism, etc.) followed by sensory stimulations, so that the body can stay in homeostasis, and the person is able to stay calm, and alert for optimal performance.
When the central nervous system (the brain) over or under reacts to certain sensory inputs, the body will have a series of physical reactions which often affects a childâs behavior and performance. For example, a child may demonstrate difficulty sitting still or paying attention to tasks at hand due to hyperactivity (movement seeking behaviors) as a result of under-responsiveness to the vestibular stimulations (sensations that sense body position against gravity). On the other hand, a child may also demonstrate avoiding behaviors due to being overly sensitive to touch, and refuse to put on certain clothes or have negative reactions toward an unexpected touch from friends.
For most kids, sensory integration skills develop naturally. As children learn about new sensations, they become more confident about their skills, refine their ability to respond to sensory experiences, and are thus able to accomplish more and more. For some children, sensory integration does not develop smoothly because they cannot rely on their senses to give them an accurate picture of the world; they do not know how to behave in response, and they may have trouble learning and behaving appropriately.
âBy addressing underlying sensory processing issues, we help children build the foundation for a bright future and enable them to reach their full potential.â


Minority Babies in Oregon Face Higher Risks Than White Peers, Report Finds
A new report out of Multnomah County, Ore., which includes Portland, has found that minority babies born in the county face higher risks of poor health than white babies do.
Experts have long known that children born to low-income women, many of whom are women of color, face bigger risks both in utero and during their first year of life. Low birth weight, premature birth, a parent smoking in the home, and multiple hours a day of watching TV, among other early-life complications chronicled in the report, can lead to developmental issues that affect learning later on.
Multnomah County's Maternal and Child Health Data Book offers a detailed look at one county, using data that are often difficult or impossible to collect on a national scale. The findings suggest that racism, not just income levels, could be affecting the care expectant mothers receive and the health outcomes of their children.
"Along with racial and ethnic minorities, women and children with lower income and education levels were also more likely to experience early-life health disparities, but their babies were still markedly healthier at birth than babies born to African-American mothers," summarized reporter Kelly House in her Oregonian story on the report.
Right now, children of color are not receiving the best possible early-childhood support, according to several measures. For example, hearing spoken language face to face with an adult has been found to be a key factor in early literacy development. The Multnomah report found that Latino and black children were more likely to watch TV and less likely to be read to than their white peers.
Compounding any cultural issues that may contribute to that difference, Hispanic and black children nationally continue to be more likely to live in poverty than white children, accordng to the latest census data.
Hispanic children have also been historically less likely to be enrolled in preschool, though that may be changing. And black children face a higher likelihood of suspension, even in preschool, than white children. While black children make up only 18 percent of the preschool population, they receive 48 percent of the suspensions, according to the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights.
At the same time, those populations are growing at an ever-faster rate than the white population. The 2014-15 school year is the first in which fewer than half of public school students are non-Hispanic whites. That makes the necessity of improving health and wellness outcomes for women of color and their children all the more critical, experts say.


ERIC Number: EJ1017465
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 50
Playing Games: Do Game Consoles Have a Positive Impact on Girls' Learning Outcomes and Motivation?
Kitching, Lucy; Wheeler, Steve
European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, v16 n2 p111-122 2013
Games based learning is currently a hotly debated topic in education and is a fertile field of study (Holmes, 2011; Abrams, 2009). Many schools are exploring ways in which games can be embedded into the curriculum, to enhance learning through deeper engagement and higher levels of motivation (Miller & Robertson, 2010). This paper explores the use of game consoles to support learning for young students (ages 8-11) and evaluates their recent success in primary education. Over time game consoles and video games have been portrayed as a male oriented technology. This research investigated the current use of game consoles in learning and how it might positively affect a child's learning and motivation, but focused solely on female students' experiences. In the study we investigated the research question: "Do game consoles have a positive impact on girls' learning and motivation?" A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to girls in Key Stage 2 (n = 49) across three schools that have already incorporated game consoles into their curriculum. The study found that game consoles and video games can have a positive impact on girls' learning and motivation and are key themes that have been raised by teachers. However, due to several limitations in this research some issues were not fully addressed, and we identify some future areas for research.
Descriptors: Females, Video Games, Learning Strategies, Questionnaires, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Teaching Methods, Learning Theories, Student Motivation, Gender Differences, Student Attitudes, Mixed Methods Research
European Distance and E-Learning Network. Available from: EDEN Secretariat, c/o Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry Jozsef u 1, H-1111, Hungary. Tel: +36-1-463-1628; Fax: +36-1-463-1858; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org; Web site: http://www.eurodl.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom


Mary Violet Leontyne Price, born in 1927, is an American soprano, winner of 18 Grammy awards (including a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989), and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Perhaps most importantly, she is a trail-blazer who helped pave the way for other black women in the arts.
Her talent was evident early on, and she wanted to have a career like that of Marian Anderson. She enrolled in the music education program at the all-black Wilberforce College in Wilberforce, Ohio and made such an impression there that the famous singer, actor, and intellectual Paul Robeson put on a benefit concert for her so she could enroll at the Juilliard School in New York City. Based on her appearances at Julliard, she was invited to Broadway.
In 1952 she debuted as Bess in a revival of Gershwinâs âPorgy and Bessâ, and toured with the production all over the world for the next two years. This video shows only stills from the show, but features the very first recording of her voice, on September 21, 1952, in a beautiful duet with co-star William Warfield, who later became her husband. (In his memoir, My Music and My Life, Warfield wrote that their careers drove them apart. They were legally separated in 1967, and divorced in 1973. They had no children.)
In 1961, Ms. Price debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Leonora in Verdiâs Il Trovatore. This performance resulted in a 42-minute ovation, one of the longest in the Metâs history. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Freedom Award, and the following year, she won the Italian Award of Merit. In 2007, she was named one of the â20 All-time Best Supranosâ in BBC Music magazineâs poll.
During her active years before retirement, she served as a role model for an entire generation of African-American youth. But she eschewed the designation of African-American, preferring to call herself an American. She said, moreover:
âIf you are going to think black, think positive about it. Donât think down on it, or think it is something in your way. And this way, when you really do want to stretch out, and express how beautiful black is, everybody will hear you.â
This book for children features the highlights of Priceâs career. It is the illustrations by RaÃºl ColÃ³n however that add music to the pages. Once described as having a voice that soared âfrom a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high Câ (Time Magazine), ColÃ³n actually shows these qualities by his uses of color and design.
An authorâs note gives additional background about Price. But if you really want to know what she was all about in her prime, I recommend this video, showing the very the very end of Leontyne Priceâs last performance at The Met (as Aida), as she tries to maintain her role and her composure in spite of the crazy outpouring of love from the audience. (I cry every time I watch it!):
Evaluation: ColÃ³nâs stunning pictures make this book into a wonderful introduction for kids of a courageous trail-blazer and very talented lady.
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2014


National Nursery rhyme week
Using songs, rhymes and picture books is a great way to help your child develop their language and communication skills. Itâs never too early or too late to start signing and rhyming with your child.
Songs and rhymes have a hugely positive impact on a childâs language and literacy development. Children love rhyme, rhythm and repetition. These three things found in songs and rhymes can naturally help to boost a childâs language and literacy skills.
We do daily singing of Nursery Rhymes, but during National Nursery Rhyme week, we learnt one each day and learnt the Makaton signs to go with it. Makaton is a language programme using signs and symbols to help people to communicate. It is designed to support spoken language and the signs and symbols are used with speech, in spoken word order.
Monday 19th November â âFive Currant Bunsâ
Tuesday 20th November â âHumpty Dumptyâ
Wednesday 21st November â âA Sailor Went to Seaâ
Thursday 22nd November â âIâm a Little Teapotâ
Friday 23rd November â âRound and Round the Gardenâ
For more information about the benefits of singing nursery rhymes, see the link below.
Our Nursery provision-September 2018
Before the summer holidays, our staff had some training, delivered by Morris and Simmons. It was a very exciting time. As our numbers have increased year on year, we took the opportunity to make some exciting changes to our provision. We decided to move our 2 year olds and 3 year olds to improve consistency for parents, and re-model and make some changes to the environment. I am sure you will all agree it looks fabulous, and now just needs all of your children to come and enjoy it!


Practitioners' strategies for enhancing early childhood music education in Taiwan
MetadataShow full item record
The purpose of this study was to describe practices of pre-school educators and to investigate the extent to which they enhance music instruction among five-to-six-year-old children. This was accomplished through an examination of three early childhood educators investigating what strategies are used for providing music instruction to pre-school children, the attitudes of teachers and parents in regard to this, the most effective approach for providing music instruction, and the assessments used to measure student progress in achieving musical skills. Primary participants included three early childhood teachers, and secondary participants included nine parents. Qualitative methods were used, including formal interviews with the three chosen teachers. They were each interviewed one time individually. Parents were given open-ended questionnaires designed by the researcher. Observations of teacher interactions with students were conducted in 14 separate sessions over a period of three weeks, where the researcher sat in during general and music class in the same classroom; the field notes cataloged observations of musical activities. The collected documents included teaching materials developed by the music and classroom teachers, such as lesson plans and a teaching activity handbook. The Taiwanese pre-school music curriculum included singing, music and movement, listening, and playing musical instruments. Data indicated that children can only audiate to one instrumental sound or one melodic line at a time. The teacher provided feedback was found to be effective in enhancing student musical learning. Teachers served as musical models in singing, music and movement, and in playing instruments to assist children's musical learning. Bruner's theory of enactive and iconic modes of representation played an important role in singing, music and movement, as well as listening in the class. The model movements or gestures were presented by the teachers and imitated by the children. Teachers and parents had positive attitudes toward early childhood music education. When music classes were provided, the music teacher could enhance both the classroom teacher and children's musical skills. Effective approaches were storytelling and using body movements. Participants reported several different opinions regarding teachers' assessment of students including having teachers follow the national curriculum standard, assess her students through their classroom response, and observe her students at a graduation concert. In general, the practitioners' strategies for enhancing pre-school music education were positive and related to previous research findings on music instruction and educational theories.


Taking âmoss graffitiâ to itâs logically industrial application, several art education students at the University of Maribor in Slovenia challenged themselves to design a 3D printer and concluded with this machine whose results are pretty intriguing.
Designed around a modified CNC machine, the printer dispenses a mixture of soil, seeds, and water. The mixture holds its form quite well, and over time grass will grow from the print. You can see in the video below the unit dispenses around a cupâs worth of mixture to print the words âprint green,â the name of the project in English (translated from âtiskaj zelenoâ in Slovenian).
The device is also capable of printing along the z-axis, for creating bowls and other shapes from mud, while incorporating a top-layer of the grass seed mixture for results like this:


The Complete Reading Series The CRS
Brenda Fitzgerald, Ed.S
The Complete Reading Series ( CRS ) is a 70 hour comprehensive reading series designed to empower teachers to understand and master the content and instructional practices necessary to teach reading, writing and spelling to all students.
The CRS is composed of six comprehensive courses based on research by the National Reading Panel, The Florida Center for Reading Research and the National Institute for Literacy. The CRS is designed for the Pre-k to 12th grade classroom teacher, the EIP teacher, the special education teacher, tutors and parents. The course objective is to teach participants how to teach reading and spelling. The CRS equips participants with the knowledge, the strategies and the assessment tools to teach students to read, write and spell.
Early Literacy Development is the first in the series and should be completed before taking the rest of the courses. Participants take this course to understand how the reading process begins and to identify a student that may have gaps in early literacy development. This course introduces the five areas of reading and provides multisensory activities for oral language development, print awareness, phonological awareness and an introduction to the alphabetic principle. One (1) CEU
Focus on Phonics is designed to teach word structure, rules and syllabication. Focus on Phonics will provide participants with the knowledge and strategies to effectively teach sound-symbol relationship, the rules that govern our language and the explicit, systematic way to instruct. One (1) CEUs
Words for the Wise is designed to help teachers develop an appropriate plan for teaching Latin and Greek vocabulary roots. Participants will leave this class with core knowledge ceus new skills for teaching vocabulary and a repertoire of strategies. Half (0.5) CEU
Comprehension: Helping Students Remember What They Read addresses seven reading comprehension strategies that should be implemented in every classroom. Ideas and activities to support each strategy will be discussed at length. Instruction will also include information on the proper assessments for identification of students with reading comprehension problems. Writing is also addressed in this class. One (1) CEU
Learning Disabilities that Interfere with Reading is designed to familiarize participants with disabilities that interfere with the reading and writing process. Topics to be discussed: visual and auditory processing disorders, dyslexia and dysgraphia, dyspraxia and more. One (1) CEU
Understanding Dyslexia is designed to educate participants in the origin, characteristics, remediation and accommodations for the neurobiological disability known as Dyslexia. This is the most common reading disability found in the classroom. A must have course. One (1) CEU
For more information on The CRS:
Contact Brenda Fitzgerald at 770 794-8525


What do you need to know to teach computing in primary schools? How do you teach it?
This book offers practical guidance on how to teach the computing curriculum in primary schools, coupled with the subject knowledge needed to teach it.
This Seventh Edition is a guide to teaching the computing content of the new Primary National Curriculum. It includes many more case studies and practical examples to help you see what good practice in teaching computing looks like. It also explores the use of ICT in the primary classroom for teaching all curriculum subjects and for supporting learning in every day teaching. New chapters have been added on physical computing and coding and the importance of web literacy, bringing the text up-to-date.
Computing is both a subject and a powerful teaching and learning tool throughout the school curriculum and beyond into many areas of children's learning lives. This book highlights the importance of supporting children to become discerning and creative users of digital technologies as opposed to passive consumers.
Buy Primary Computing and Digital Technologies: Knowledge, Understanding and Practice by Keith Turvey from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, Boomerang Books.
Book DetailsISBN: 9781473961562
Â» Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Primary Computing and Digital Technologies: Knowledge, Understanding and Practice book by Keith Turvey and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!)
Keith Turvey is Principal Lecturer in Education at the Education Research Centre in the School of Education, University of Brighton. He teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and plays a leading role in the MA Education course. As a primary school teacher of 15 years he led successfully a range of subjects, including music, ICT and mathematics, and took on a number of senior management roles both in the UK and abroad. Since joining the University of Brighton in 2003, he has researched and published widely in the fields of digital technologies, pedagogy and teacher education. He completed a PhD in 2011 focusing on teachers' professional learning and digital technologies. Keith has provided research, CPD and consultancy on digital technologies in education, and on primary computing for a number of national and international agencies including local authorities, schools, the European Commission and UNESCO. John Potter is Reader in Media in Education at University College London Institute of Education (UCL IOE). He works in the UCL Knowledge Lab and was a founder member of the Digital Arts Research in Education collaborative (DARE). His research and publications are in the fields of: media education, new literacies, creative activity and learner agency; digital video production by young learners; the use of social software and online networks for publication and learning; the changing nature of teaching and learning in response to the pervasive use in wider culture of media technologies in formal and informal settings. Before becoming an education researcher and academic John worked as a primary school teacher in East London and, later, a local authority advisory teacher for ICT. He currently teaches on the MA in Digital Media Culture and Education and supervises doctoral students in the fields of learning, media and technology at the UCL IOE. Jeremy Burton is Senior Lecturer in Computing Education in the School of Education, University of Brighton. He leads the computing subject group and teaches on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. While working as a primary school teacher and ICT co-ordinator, Jeremy developed a passion for digital media education. A self-taught web designer and developer, he coded his school's first website in 1998 and has since worked freelance for private clients. His experience in this area, and in digital media production more broadly, has informed his teaching of ICT/computing to student teachers. Jeremy is a co-founder of NumeracyReady (a web-based tuition package that prepares candidates for the Numeracy Skills Test) and Staffrm (an online professional network for teachers). Jonathan Allen is Strategic Lead for Teacher Education at the UCL Institute of Education. He was previously Director for Initial Teacher Education, involved across Primary, Secondary and Post-compulsory programmes, as well as in e-learning projects. Before joining the IOE Jonathan held posts responsible for Primary ICT in teacher education at University of Reading and Oxford Brookes University. Jane Sharp is a Learning Development Tutor at Bishop Grosseteste University, working with students at all levels to develop the academic practices, skills and attributes needed for effective study at university. Her current research centres on the academic writing experiences of students studying education at university. Jane was formerly Senior Lecturer in Primary Education and ICT at the University of Winchester and a researcher at the University of Exeter involved in innovative and largescale computing projects in schools.
Â© 2003-2018. All Rights Reserved. Eclipse Commerce Pty Ltd - ACN: 122 110 687 - ABN: 49 122 110 687


Choral and/or instrumental ensemble programs are a significant component of school music education and commonly involve the music teacher in various musical roles in addition to those of co-ordinator and/or administrator. This Unit of Study is creative and practical in nature and provides students with both a general understanding of the fundamental components of school choral and instrumental work and a more detailed understanding of how to establish, maintain and sustain successful school choral and instrumental music programs. Key pedagogical issues are considered and relevant skills are practised, including creating scores and leading and conducting rehearsals.
Three 2-hr workshops per week for 6 weeks
Submission of an arrangement/composition in short score of two pieces of music, for choral and for mixed instrumental ensemble; submission of original composition or arrangement in detailed full score using notation software; planning and conducting of rehearsal session; submission of written rehearsal plan and written self-evaluation based on video of session (100%).
NB: Department permission required for enrolment by students not enrolled in BMus (Music Ed)


Accelerated Maths is a supplementary approach to mathematics teaching that uses computers to assess pupils' levels of performance, and then generates assignments appropriate to their needs. Pupils scan completed assignments into the computer, which gives teachers regular reports that they can use to develop targeted interventions. The Accelerated Maths curriculum focuses on foundational skills, especially computations, and is intended for use along with other maths programmes. Any evidence in support of the programme is based on a trained version.
Renaissance Learning also offer a comprehensive reform model for both primary and secondary which includes interventions in reading and writing as well as professional development opportunities, organisation and management solutions, technical assistance, strategies for parental involvement, and a plan for annual evaluation.
A programme of remote and on-site training accompanies the implementation of Accelerated Maths, additional professional development packages available on request.
A cloud-based programme, hosted on network sites. Students and teachers log onto the programme to take practices and assignments or to access reports. Assignments can be taken either on computers, laptops and tablets or with pencil and paper. Practices can also be taken at home using Renaissance Home Connect.
The Best Evidence Encyclopaedia (2009) rated Accelerated Maths as having limited evidence of effectiveness for primary maths and no evidence of effectiveness for secondary maths.
The What Works Clearinghouse (2008) found Accelerated Maths to have mixed effects on primary maths achievement and no discernible effects on secondary maths achievement.
The studies found an overall effect size of +0.08 in primary maths and +0.05 in secondary maths.
The Best Evidence Encyclopaedia included five qualifying studies for primary maths, studies are only included if they use a testing method other than STAR Math which is closely aligned with the objectives and format of Accelerated Maths.
Three studies of Accelerated Maths met the What Works Clearinghouse standards for inclusion. One of the studies found substantively important positive effects on primary maths, while the other two studies showed indeterminate effects.


Bournot-Trites, M., Belliveau, G., Spiliotopoulos, V., & SÃ©ror, J. (2007). The role of drama on cultural sensitivity, motivation and literacy in a second language context. Journal for Learning Through the Arts, 3(1).
This study examines the relationship between learning through drama and student cultural sensitivity, motivation, and literacy skills in a French immersion classroom. Two middle school French immersion classes participated in a unit on the deportation of Arcadians from Eastern Canada. A class of fifth and sixth graders received drama-based instruction while a class of sixth and seventh graders received traditionally-delivered content (the âlibrary groupâ). Qualitative data in the form of observation, teachersâ journals, and interviews along with pre- and post-tests using Garnerâs (1985) measure of motivation suggest that the use of drama fostered student motivation, cultural awareness, and literacy development.
The drama group outperformed the library group in the areas of integrative orientation (a measure of motivation), interest in a foreign language, desire to learn French, enjoyment of the unit, and in several categories of writing including overall quality, genre, and cultural content. There was no difference between the two groups in regard to motivational intensity, attitudes toward French Canadians, attitudes toward French European people, attitudes toward learning French, parental encouragement, and French class anxiety. There was no variance between the two groups on the writing skills measures of accuracy, cohesion, emotions, and context. Research observations revealed that students in the library group focused on and worried about tests more than those in the drama group. There was more peer-to-peer interaction in the drama group.
Teachers of both groups expressed an awareness of their teaching role; however, the drama teacher reported feeling that the students shared responsibility, while the library teacher noted a preoccupation with the right answer. The drama group had a more student-oriented approach versus the teacher-centered instruction that occurred in the library group.
Significance of the Findings:
This study suggests that drama-integration enhances literacy skills by enabling students to connect to curricular content through their own process of creating meaning and fosters emotional intelligence by giving students opportunities to reflect critically on cultural perspectives and understandings.
This mixed methods study included a pre- and post-test of student motivation, observation of class sessions, analysis of teachersâ journals, and teacher interviews. The researchers conducted the study in two intact French immersion (80% of all instruction was taught in French) middle school classrooms, using the drama group as the treatment group and the library group as the control group. Both groups of students took a motivation pre-test and post-test based on Garnerâs (1985) work, which gauged intrinsic motivation and instrumental motivation through multiple questions that addressed the following: attitudes towards French people; desire to learn, learning, and anxiety about learning French; foreign language; feelings about the Acadian unit; and parental encouragement. Some of these constructs were addressed during post-test only. The researchers ran statistical tests (Analysis of Covariance and t-tests) to compare the motivation pre- and post-tests across the two groups of students. The researchers also administered writing (composition) pre- and post-tests in which they asked students to write a letter as if they were someone else. They assessed the resulting stories on seven criteria (two readers scored each story). Analysis of Covariance was conducted to measure the difference between the two tests. In addition, the researchers analyzed teachersâ journals, interviews, and field notes to evaluate observations of student and teacher behavior and attitudes in each class.
Limitations of the Research:
Findings of this study may be applicable only to the French language immersion context. Also, results should be interpreted with caution, as intact classrooms were used for the treatment and control groups, and these classrooms contained students at slightly different ages.
Questions to Guide New Research:
Replication of the results of this pilot study would lend additional credibility. Studies in different language contexts would show if the findings in this study extend to other contexts.


- Mathematics: Students will be completing the first three chapters of our math program, College Preperatory Mathematics (CPM). Chapter 1 is mainly a review of important 5th grade concepts, along with a preview of some of the big topics we will be covering this year. It is designed this way so that students can get used to working in groups and using the new curriculum. Chapter 2 starts with an introduction to data collection. It then goes on the cover the basics of area, and uses this understanding to teach multiplication through the area model. Chapter 3 starts with portions, looking at how fractions, decimals, and percents are connected. The second part of the chapter has students exploring the number line and how it can be used to work with negative numbers. It also connects the number line to coordinate grids.
Sixth grade is the time in mathematics where we take foundational skills learned in years past and apply them to higher level concepts. This is especially apparent in their work with expressions and equations, where we introduce variables and start having students manipulate real-life algebraic equations.This is an exciting time for mathematics in sixth grade here in SLCUSD. We are in our first year using a new math program called College Preparatory Mathematics. Please see this website created by the district for more information about our math instruction and to learn how you can help your child succeed: Middle School Math for Students and Families
- Reading: The first few weeks of school we work on our reading independence. Students monitor and evaluate their reading progress, and discover how studying characters can help us get a deeper understanding of a book. In mid-September we will start a unit that dives deeper into studying characters, focusing on their actions, inner thinking, and dialogue.We will also have minilessons focused on studying word use, author's craft, summary, and theme. Students will also form literature circle groups and select a book to read together. They take on a different role each week, either preparing discussion questions, listing key words, finding important sections, connecting the book to other books, or summarizing, and then share their work at a weekly meeting.
- Writing: Students are working with Mrs. Greenelsh on a Narrative Unit. They are learning how to write on a small moment in great detail, elaborating on important parts and using craft moves to improve the depth of their writing.
- Science: We will be starting a Project Based Learning unit in October called Healthy Habits. Students will be learing about cells and body systems, and the effects of the flu virus on these systems. Mr. Morgan and Mrs. Greenelsh will be teaming up to co-teach this unit.
- Social Studies: Students are working on a Project Based Learning unit on Mesopotamia throughout September. Mr. Morgan and Mrs. Greenelsh will be teaming up to co-teach this unit as well!


Can visual art be taught through radio? The producers of WHAâs âLetâs Drawâ program thought so. Through pioneering on-air lessons, "Let's Draw" brought art education to schoolchildren throughout Wisconsin from 1936 to 1970. This exhibit combines a look at the historic "Letâs Draw" program with the work of six contemporary Wisconsin artists who have very diverse approaches to drawing: Emily Belknap (Cedarburg), Tony Conrad (Appleton), Nina Ghanbarzadeh (New Berlin), Lee Mothes (Kaukauna), Zach Mory (Milwaukee), and Katie Ries (Manitowoc). Their work ranges from tightly drawn realist landscape imagery (Mothes and Belknap) and loose "field note" sketches (Ries) to finely textured, large-scale abstraction (Conrad and Mory) and fluid images built up with calligraphic script (Ghanbarzadeh).
Presented by the James Watrous Gallery in partnership with Wisconsin Public Radio, Letâs Draw includes archival photographs, transcripts, teachersâ guides, drawings, and an interactive station where visitors can listen and follow along with an original Let's Draw lesson. Several of the artists in the exhibition will script and record an audio art lesson of their own with the help of Wisconsin Public Radio producer Erika Janik. These lessons are available to hear in the gallery and below:
Letâs Draw is sponsored in part by Dane Arts, with additional funds from the the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation; The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times; the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation; and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. The James Watrous Gallery also receives ongoing support from the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and from donors and members of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
Our Let's Draw Exhibition Partner
Our Let's Draw Exhibition Sponsor


Year 1 and 2 students are engaged in inquiry-based learning that allows them to make strong connections with their environment and builds on the strong foundations built in their early years. To continue to foster a sense of exploration and discovery and harness a childâs natural curiosity, we provide a creative and nature-based learning environment that stimulates a spirit of adventure. Strong literacy and numeracy skills are developed using the latest research and appropriate teaching.
Our students enjoy an ideal learning environment that features break-out spaces and discovery hubs, as well as boundless outdoor natural play areas that include the Swan River and foreshore and green, spacious grounds.
Children are encouraged to explore, inquire and make connections across all curriculum areas. The Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework is supported by a dynamic and broad program that perfectly complements and reinforces the curriculum and each area of inquiry.
We aim to inspire a spirit of citizenship in our young learners and help them to develop mindfulness and empathy.


Apps & Lessons. National Gallery of Australia Australian Council of Art and Design University Schools Association of Independent Schools NSW International Society Technology in Education (ISTE), USA iPadpalooza, USA 21st Century Learning International National Arts Education Association (NAEA), USA TAFE Queensland The Kellett School, Hong Kong Queensland Art Teachers Association Queensland University of Technology Apple Consultants Network Lutheran Education Australia Brisbane Catholic Education State Library Queensland EduTECH Teacher Training Australia Lady Gowrie Childhood Education Queensland Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane Griffith University.
50 Ways To Integrate Art Into Any Lesson. Life_cycle_of_the_butterfly_2.pdf. 8911ch08.pdf. Express 8.08 - Learn from the Experts: Arts-Integration Lesson Plans That Work. Learn from the Experts Arts-Integration Lesson Plans That Work Willona M.
Sloan Are you interested in developing lessons and activities that integrate artistic disciplines across subject areas? Integrating dance, painting, and music into math, science, and history can provide your students with new ways of seeing and learning, improve their critical-thinking skills, and offer them a chance to create authentic responses to what they are learning. Sounds great, right? Edutopia offers a collection of lesson plans designed by educators at the Wiley H. You can also tap into the professional development resources and tips provided by Pat Klos, an arts-integration specialist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland.
Artful Thinking, a program developed by Harvard Project Zero and the Traverse City public school system in Michigan, provides a list of activities and lessons designed to teach students how to develop thinking dispositions that support thoughtful learning. Also, don't miss. Lesson Planning. Lesson Planning Includes thematic lesson plans, activities, materials, themes and artists.
NAEA Instructional Resources Gallery: A special collection of lesson/unit plans curated by NAEA professionals and available only to NAEA members! Division Directors will provide leadership to redesigning the Instructional Resources Gallery (IRG) in alignment with the next generation of visual arts standards (to be released summer 2014); this affords an exceptional opportunity to rethink how the IRG can best support professional learning communities focused on the development of curriculum/instructional content and assessments.
Stay tuned as Division Directors bring energy and insight to this primary development initiative and call upon you to contribute to the knowledge and content.VIEW the Instructional Resources GalleryLEARN HOW to submit your lesson/unit plan for inclusion in the Instructional Resources Gallery NAEA Museum Education Resources. Lesson Plans - Think 360 Arts for Learning. Integrating the Arts: Multimedia Resources for Art Education, and lesson plans. These resources use the visual arts to teach concepts of social studies, science, language arts and math curricula.
Designed for middle school students but adaptable for elementary and high school, all content including the printable lessons and flash interactives align with the Maryland State Curriculum. Ideal for visual arts teachers who want to integrate the arts into other disciplines or for non-arts teachers who want to venture into the world of art. Activities can be assigned as homework or in-class assignments. Note: These resources require both Adobe Flash and Reader. Integrating the Arts: Islam Explore Islamic art through the lenses of mathematics, language arts, science and social studies. Mummies, Manuscripts and Madonnas Discover ancient, medieval and Renaissance art through dozens of language arts, science, social studies and math activities. Integrating the Arts: China. KinderArt - Cross Curricular Lesson Plans That Integrate The Arts Across A Variety Of Content Areas and Subjects. CROSS CURRICULUMNote: Grade levels are given as a guideline only.
Lessons are always adaptable. Finding ways to incorporate art into the everyday classroom is essential. It's been proven that early exposure to visual art, music, or drama promotes activity in the brain. What better way to create excitement in the math, science or history classroom? Art helps children understand other subjects much more clearly... from math and science, to language arts and geography. Choose from the subjects below to find many lesson plans and activity ideas for your school or home classroom. ART SMART Lessons about art and advertising, color mixing, becoming a curator and more. GEOGRAPHY Map making, paper mache planets and more. HISTORY Learning about the past. 4CCAC ADVOCACY Presentation Slides. Bibliography-Resources.pdf.


Sea Turtle Facts for Kids Video
Sea Turtle Facts
Sea turtles are the coolest surfers in the sea. They are one of the oldest creatures on earth as their oldest known fossil date back around 150 million years. They are reptiles that breathe air. They return to the same nesting ground where they were born to lay eggs. There are total 7 species of sea turtles and 6 of them are endangered. They live primarily in the ocean. They are cold-blooded. Both sea and land turtles are classified in the order Testudines. They can migrate extreme distances. They can be found in all oceans of the world except in the polar area.
Fast Facts: â
- Turtles lay eggs in the holes in the sand. They cover these holes with additional layer of sand so they cannot be recognized easily.
- Sea turtles do not have teeth because their mouths are adapted to each type of food they normally eat.
- They cannot hide their head and legs inside the shell.
- Temperature of the nest can determine the gender of the baby turtle.
- They have excellent eyesight and sense of smell.
- Leatherback sea turtles can travel more than 10,000 miles per year.
- They can hold their breath for a very long time.
- They are solitary nesters.
- Eggs of sea turtles look somewhat like ping pong balls.
- A female turtle can lay up to 150 eggs every two to three years.
- Average life span of a sea turtle is 70-80 years.
- They can hear vibrations.
- The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle and heaviest reptile in the entire world.
- The Kempâs Ridley turtle is the smallest sea turtle.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Fun Sea Turtle Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Dec 2018. Web. 10 Dec 2018. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/sea-turtle-facts-for-kids-video/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2018). Fun Sea Turtle Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/sea-turtle-facts-for-kids-video/
We've recently added
- Syria Worksheet and Quiz
- Samoa Worksheet and Quiz
- Neil Armstrong Worksheet and Quiz
- Mount Everest Worksheet and Quiz
- Henry Hudson Worksheet and Quiz
- Guatemala Worksheet and Quiz
- Cleopatra Worksheet and Quiz
- Carl Linnaeus Worksheet and Quiz
- Canada Worksheet and Quiz
- Turtle Worksheet and Quiz
Sponsored Links :


ERIC Number: EJ783190
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Feb
Reference Count: 0
Why Teach Art?
Stephens, Pamela Geiger
SchoolArts: The Art Education Magazine for Teachers, v107 n6 p35 Feb 2008
Throughout the author's career as an art educator in public schools and at the university level, a perplexing question has recurred: "Why teach art?" This query never fails to surprise her, for in her estimation the arts are at the very core of all art educators need to know and what they should be teaching. As art teachers--regardless of where or who they teach--they should consider that the content of art has the power to impact in positive ways the physical development, cognition, and behaviors of their students. In this article, the author presents and discusses some examples of this power.
Descriptors: Art Education, Art Teachers, Child Development, Public Education, Art Appreciation, Physical Development, Cognitive Development, Child Behavior
Davis Publications. 50 Portland Street, Worcester, MA 01608. Tel: 800-533-2847; Tel: 508-754-7201; Fax: 508-753-3834; Web site: http://www.davis-art.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A


Wednesday, October 07, 2015 . Posted by Trish
There is exciting news for teachers looking for ways to reliably and meaningfully track pupilsâ development in reading and writing. As a consequence of a meeting of teachers, advisors and education academics organised by UKLA, a joint association working group was set up to produce a progression tool, produced by the profession for the profession.
The group consisted of expert representatives from the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA), The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE), the National Association for Advisors in English (NAAE) and the English and Media Centre. The scales were produced alongside groups of teachers who piloted the scales in their classrooms and fed back their ideas about their use.
The scales have been influenced by and build upon earlier work undertaken by Myra Barrs and her colleagues. The purpose of the new scales is to help teachers to understand what progression looks like in reading and writing. They illustrate how schools can provide an environment that supports childrenâs development as readers and writers and suggest some next steps that teachers can plan in order to take children into the next phase of their development.
The group are very clear that these are progression and not summative assessment scales. They are designed to support and develop teacher subject knowledge in literacy development, not to set out a linear sequence of targets that children need to reach in order to move to the next phase.
The group hope that the scales support teacher subject knowledge in the development of reading and writing, providing a tool that will help strengthen teacher understanding. The scales will enable schools to recognise and document children's very different learning styles within a common framework and to plan for varying needs of individual children. The scales will be available for schools for a token charge only.
There will be a launch of the scales at CLPE in London on 8th February 2016.
...joining UKLA is a unique opportunity... to read about exciting and thought provoking developments in the field of literacy â
Read more >


Hope you all are doing well! It has been great a first month back with all of your little ones!
To recap on the past month, we began our year by settling the students into the Montessori environment by implementing normalization practices. Normalization, in the Montessori method, is the natural process that children work towards as they learn to focus and concentrate their energy for sustained periods of time, while also finding satisfaction in their work.
In the first few weeks, we introduced them to daily routines, lessons in grace and courtesy, getting acquainted with & building friendships with other students, and to the Montessori materials, in a general way. They were also introduced to lessons in practical life, sensorial material, math, language, arts & crafts, and geography.
During the lessons in practical life, the children were exposed to exercises that helped them practice coordination of movement, build a sense of independence and take on basic societal tasks. In example, they practiced rolling & unrolling mats, spooning (coordinating movement of objects using various spoons), pouring liquids & solids, sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, and self-care (i.e. washing hands) â among various other tasks.
During lessons in sensorial material, the children were exposed to exercises which served to stimulate the five senses, refine the perceived information, and make classifications in his or her environment.
One example of sensorial materials practice was a lesson called âGeometric Cabinetâ. In this lesson, the children paired different geometric figures with their matching frames. This activity helped the children distinguish various object forms and served to build foundational skills in geometry and writing.
Currently, they are also learning about the Earth, itâs elements and the seven continents.
When learning about the seven continents, we incorporated songs to help them remember â as some of you may have heard at home!
All of the children have been wonderfully learning & making progress in the aforementioned areas at their own individual pace. I will keep you all posted more as the year continues.We hope to have a great year!
Thanks, Ms. Kumudini


Whatâs the best way to teach children to read? According to the National Reading Panel, âteaching children to manipulate phonemes in words was highly effective under a variety of teaching conditions with a variety of learners across a range of grade and age levels and that teaching phonemic awareness to children significantly improves their reading more than instruction that lacks any attention to Phonemic Awareness.â  This is a statement made by the National Reading Panel (NRP) in their report titled âTEACHING CHILDREN TO READ: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction.â
Phonemic Awareness instruction was selected for review by the NRP in their report because studies have identified phonemic awareness and letter knowledge as two of the best predictors of how well children will learn to read in their first 2 years of entering school. There is strong Scientific evidence to suggest that phonemic awareness instructions are important in helping children develop reading skills.
One study discussed the presence of phonemic awareness in Austrian children aged 6 to 7 that were unable to read when first entering school. This study found that many children had not one correct response in their test of a simple vowel substitution task. However, a few children who exhibited high phonemic awareness scored close to perfect on this same task. The study further stated that âthere was a specific predictive relationship between initial phonemic awareness differences and success in learning to read and to spell.â Even more importantly, the study indicated that it was phonemic awareness abilities, and not IQ, that predicted the accuracy of reading and spelling at the end of grade one. Children with high phonemic awareness at the beginning of grade one had high reading and spelling achievements at the end of grade one, compared to some children with low phonemic awareness who had difficulties learning to read and spell.
In the National Reading Panel report, they also determined that the beneficial effects of phonemic awareness on reading last well beyond the period of training. While phonemic awareness instructions are proven to significantly help children learn reading, it is not a complete reading program. What it does, is provide children with a foundational knowledge base of the alphabet language. The NRP analysis also showed that phonics instructions produces significant benefits for students from kindergarten through grade 6, and is also helpful for children with learning to read difficulties.
Children who are taught with phonics and phonemic awareness instructions are consistently able to decode, read, and spell, and even demonstrated significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Even older children who receive these similar teachings improved their ability to decode and spell. The NRP made a key statement saying that âconventional wisdom has suggested that kindergarten students might not be ready for phonics instruction, this assumption was not supported by the data. The effects of systematic early phonics instruction were significant and substantial in kindergarten and the 1st grade, indicating that systematic phonics programs should be implemented at those age and grade levels.â
However, I would like to further expand on that by saying that children as young as two years old can learn to read through phonics and phonemic awareness instructions. If a young child can speak, then they should be able to learn to read, even if they are as young as two years old. In fact, I have proven this with my own children. We started teaching our daughter at 2 years and 8months, and she was very capable at reading by the time she was just 2 years and 11 months old.
1. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
2. Cognition. 1991 Sep;40(3):219-49.
The relationship of phonemic awareness to reading acquisition: more consequence than precondition but still important.
Wimmer H, Landerl K, Linortner R, Hummer P.
University of Salzburg, Austria.


Special Education (SE)
SE 2080 Children and Youth with Disabilities (3 Credits)
Provides a foundation for understanding social, family, and educational contexts affecting the lives of children and youth with disabilities. Students explore historical and social factors that have shaped policies and understand the provisions of state and federal legislation relevant to children and youth with disabilities. Students explore: collaboration, disability types, referral process, and frameworks for support. Falls and Springs.
Prerequisite(s): restricted to Youth Development and Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, or Music Education majors.
SE 3070 Classroom Applications in Inclusive Education (3 Credits)
Broadens students' understanding and knowledge of the nature and needs of children with disabilities in traditional educational settings. Emphasis is on providing specific instructional strategies, diagnostic and academic interventions, effective programming and remediation for students with exceptionalities. Students work extensively with Individual Education Plans, 504 plans, behavior plans, as well as a variety of assessment instruments. Includes the use of direct instruction, curriculum-based assessment and systemic observations. Students are required to do a field placement with their Integrated Curriculum and Assessment classes. Falls and Springs.
Prerequisite(s): SE 2080.
SE 3090 Introduction to Special Education: Middle and Secondary (3 Credits)
Provides teachers and other social service professionals with the understanding and skill to work effectively with children with disabilities in integrated settings. Emphasis is placed upon the disabilities most prevalent in society, such as learning disabilities, behavior and emotional disorders and cognitive impairments. Other forms of disabilities to be discussed include sensory, neurological and musculoskeletal. Competencies to be presented and discussed are consistent with International Council for Exceptional Children standards and include: historical, philosophical and legal foundations of special education, characteristics of individuals with disabilities, communication and collaborative efforts among professionals, understanding professionalism and ethical practices in special education. An observation component is integral to this course. This course is designed for K-12 Teacher Certification and Middle School majors only. The course is not intended for majors in the Early Childhood Studies or Elementary Education and Childhood Studies Departments. Falls and Springs.


Solo Instrumental and Vocal Lessons
Applies to in-home piano, voice, violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, and guitar lessons.
30-minute lessons: $50
45-minute lessons: $68
60-minute lessons: $90
90-minute lessons: $135
In-home 30 minutes: $50 (Online 30 minutes: $45)
In-home 45 minutes: $68 (Online 45 minutes: $62)
In-home 60 minutes: $90 (Online 60 minutes: $81)
Musicianship LessonsâDiscovering How Music Works
Group online lessons: $35 per session (30 minutes, maximum of 8 students per group)
While fundamental basics of music theory will be covered during ordinary instrumental or vocal lessons, reinforcing core concepts significantly speeds up the learning process. Group musicianship lessons offer a fun and accessible way of improving the studentsâ grasp of music notation, rhythm, functional harmony, and many other aspects of music theory, as well as exposure to solfÃ¨ge, which is arguably one of the key components of a good music education.
The fundamental areas that we focus on during musicianship lessons can be broken down into five categories:
- Reading (identifying notes, intervals, chords, etc.)
- Writing (composing, simple analysis)
- Singing (solfege, sight-reading, sight-singing)
- Listening (simple dictation / aural analysis)
- Improvising (based on specific topics/techniques)
If combining musicianship lessons with instrument/vocal lessons, we will apply a 25% discount.
Discounts and Offers
A 10% discount will be applied if paying for the entire school year in advance.
We value your recommendation, which is why we will credit your account with $100 for a successful referral (the referred student signs up for at least 3 months of lessons).
Trial lessons are priced as regular lessons.


Boys Trail Girls in Reading Across States
A new study on gender differences in academic achievement, offering what it calls âgood news for girls and bad news for boys,â finds that, overall, male students in every state where data were available lag behind females in reading, based on an analysis of recent state test results. At the same time, in mathematics, a subject in which girls have historically trailed, the percentages of both genders scoring âproficientâ or higher were roughly the same, with boys edging out girls slightly in some states and girls posting somewhat stronger scores in others.
In certain states, such as Arkansas, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Vermont, the gender gap for reading proficiency was 10 percentage points or higher, based on 2008 test data.
âThe most pressing issue related to gender gaps is the lagging performance of boys in reading,â says the report, released today by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy group.
In a conference call with reporters, Jack Jennings, the groupâs president and chief executive officer, noted that whether looking at student outcomes at the elementary, middle, or high school level, male rates of proficiency were lower than for females across all states studied in 2008. (Forty-five states had data available for all three levels.)
âThere is a consistent achievement gap,â he said. âSomething is going on in our schools holding back boys.â
The report does offer some encouragement for boys in reading, suggesting that as a group, they are making some gains over time, and that the gender gap has narrowed in many states.
For instance, in 38 out of 44 states, the percentages of 4th grade boys scoring proficient or higher climbed between 2002 and 2008. Also, in 24 out of 44 states, the gender gap for 4th graders in the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher narrowed over that time period, though it widened in another 14 states.
When looking at the data another way, however, based on changes in the average of test scores, the gaps between boys and girls in reading âwidened across all three grade levels [elementary, middle, and high school] as often as they narrowed.â
âClear and Startlingâ Differences
The new report from the Center on Education Policy is part of a series of studies the organization has been conducting that examine trends on state tests since 2002, when the federal No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
The center notes that one reason for the reportâs focus on the rate of students deemed âproficientâ is that the designation is the key indicator used to determine whether districts and schools have made adequate yearly progress under the federal law. However, as the report emphasizes, each state uses its own tests to gauge proficiency and also sets its own cutoff score for what it judges proficient.
The report says that research has long noted historical differences in the achievement of boys and girls in reading and math, though considerable recent research suggests there is no longer a gender gap in math achievement.
With its state-by-state analysis, the report is able to identify those states that appear to struggle the most with gender gaps in reading. In Arkansas, the gap was 13 percentage points at the elementary level and 14 percentage points at both middle and high school in 2008. On state tests in Hawaii that year, boys came in 14 percentage points behind at the elementary level, 13 in middle school, and 16 in high school.
In the conference call, Mr. Jennings noted that even Massachusetts, a state known for its strong academic standards and performance, has a sizable gender gap, at 13 percentage points for elementary students in 2008.
Some other states, however, such as Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, and Virginia, had much smaller reading gaps at all levels. In Virginia, for example, the gender gap for boys was 3 percentage points at the elementary and middle levels and just 1 percentage point in high school.
In most cases, the gender gap in state math achievement did not exceed 5 percentage points, the 2008 data show.
Susan B. Neuman, an education professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in literacy development, called the new study âan extraordinarily important document.â
Ms. Neuman, a former U.S. assistant education secretary under President Bush who was invited to participate in the conference call but was not involved in the study, emphasized the findings with regard to boysâ achievement, noting that it is a relatively recent trend.
âWeâve been talking about closing the achievement gap in so many different ways, ... but we have not focused on the gender gap, which is very clear and startling in this report.â
She added, âI think we have to re-evaluate our curricula, re-evaluate how we are managing our classrooms.â
Vol. 29, Issue 27


As a requirement for my student teaching experience, I had to create a unit plan for my emphasis, secondary choral music. Since there are no real "units" in high school choir (as repertoire is the curriculum), I decided to choose one of the pieces I was teaching and create a three lesson "unit" on the items I focused on while teaching it. This unit focuses on Randall Thompson's "Choose Something Like A Star" from Frostiana. Though there are only three lessons here, one lesson would most likely be spread out over several school periods due to time restraints. Additionally, I taught this piece to Master Singers, an advanced, auditioned choir consisting of grades ten through twelve. Due to their advanced musicianship skills, they were able to sightread this piece in my very first lesson, something that may need to be adapted for less advanced choirs; at times I had to stop to teach individual parts, but I did not include such activities in my lesson plans as their occurrence is somewhat implied. Despite the ease of learning for the notes and rhythms in this piece, the challenge lies not in the musical elements but in the relation of music to Frost's poetry.
As I reflect, I realize that teaching this piece was immensely rewarding for both my students and for me as a teacher and conductor. This piece holds a very special place in my heart, and now my deep understanding and relationship with "Choose Something..." and Frostiana has been instilled in my students. Though the role of the text in this piece is rather advanced, the comprehension of the poem provided an appropriate and gratifying challenge to my students that proved to be worthwhile.
Below is my unit
plan for this piece, complete with National Standards for Music
Education, as well as Pennsylvania Standards for the Arts and
Humanities. Beneath my lesson plan is a recording of this piece as
performed at the Master Singers spring concert on April 30th, 2014 in
State College Area High School North Auditorium.
Instructor: Alison Geesey
Unit: Randall Thompsonâs âChoose Something Like A Starâ
Class/Group/Grade Level: State High Master Singers (Advanced Choir, Grades 10-12)
Teacher Techniques and Strategies:
Assessment Tools and Standards
National Standards For Music Education Achieved:
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Pennsylvania Arts and Humanities Standards Achieved:
Music selections: Randall Thompsonâs âChoose Something Like A Starâ
Other materials: Laptop to play recording, mp3 recording (teacherâs own), speakers to play recording