Renaissance music is music written in Europe during the Renaissance. Consensus among music historians – with notable dissent – has been to start the era around 1400, with the end of the medieval era, and to close it around 1600, with the beginning of the Baroque period, therefore commencing the musical Renaissance about a hundred years after the beginning of the Renaissance as understood in other disciplines. As in the other arts, the music of the period was significantly influenced by the developments which define the Early Modern period: the rise of humanistic thought; the recovery of the literary and artistic heritage of ancient Greece and Rome; increased innovation and discovery; the growth of commercial enterprise; the rise of a bourgeois class; and the Protestant Reformation. From this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school.
The development of printing made distribution of music possible on a wide scale. Demand for music as entertainment and as an activity for educated amateurs increased with the emergence of a bourgeois class. Dissemination of chansons, motets, and masses throughout Europe coincided with the unification of polyphonic practice into the fluid style which culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century in the work of composers such as Palestrina, Lassus, and William Byrd. Relative political stability and prosperity in the Low Countries, along with a flourishing system of music education in the area's many churches and cathedrals, allowed the training of hundreds of singers and composers. These musicians were highly sought throughout Europe, particularly in Italy, where churches and aristocratic courts hired them as composers and teachers. By the end of the 16th century, Italy had absorbed the northern influences, with Venice, Rome, and other cities being centers of musical activity, reversing the situation from a hundred years earlier. Opera arose at this time in Florence as a deliberate attempt to resurrect the music of ancient Greece.
The business terms push and pull originated in logistics and supply chain management, but are also widely used in marketing. Wal-Mart is an example of a company that uses the push vs. pull strategy. A push–pull system in business describes the movement of a product or information between two subjects. On markets the consumers usually "pull" the goods or information they demand for their needs, while the offerers or suppliers "push" them toward the consumers. In logistics chains or supply chains the stages are operating normally both in push- and pull-manner. Push production is based on forecast demand and pull production is based on actual or consumed demand. The interface between these stages is called the push–pull boundary or decoupling point.
A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments".
There are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument. Slides, valves, crooks, or keys are used to change vibratory length of tubing, thus changing the available harmonic series, while the player's embouchure, lip tension and air flow serve to select the specific harmonic produced from the available series.


Teachers, Museums Partner for Better Students
Mizzou researcher finds new way to capture students' attention toward art
Feb. 3, 2009
Story Contact: Jeffrey Beeson, (573) 882-9144, BeesonJ@missouri.edu
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With many school districts working to balance their budgets in tough economic times, school art programs can often be hit the hardest. This leaves teachers struggling for new ideas when supplies may be lacking. In a new publication, Kathy Unrath, assistant professor of art education at the University of Missouri, has found that partnerships between schools and museums create a new appreciation for art and opportunities for students and teachers.
“Partnering schools with museums allows students to experience the world of art beyond textbooks and expand the walls of their classrooms. In return, museums are laying the foundation for future visitors and patrons,” said Unrath, who teaches in the Department of Learning, Teaching and Curriculum in the MU College of Education. “The world we live in today has become so visual, that it is important to help students decode and understand their worlds. Having access to museums at an early age sets the tone for further exploration of one’s visual world by developing skills to interpret visual language.”
In her study, Unrath worked with schools and local museums to allow children to step outside their classrooms and view museums’ treasures. In addition, her art education students bring the art into the classroom in the form of children’s museums. The pre-service art education students use knowledge acquired from their museum study to make decisions about the design and construction for their own portable museums.
“Art education is more than creative production; art education allow students to view, respond and produce art that is intrinsically connected to the core curriculum in other subjects,” Unrath said. “We found that students need innovative ways to view, think about and discuss art. We want to prepare students to be successful citizens through enriched arts-focused curriculum.”
Unrath found the experience helps create an understanding of art that permits students to go beyond their immediate visual and emotional perception and encourages them to consider a work of art from multiple perspectives. Working with future art educators, Unrath challenges her new teachers to encourage students to look for meaning as well as the historical and cultural significance and the formal qualities of form, shape and color in each piece of art.
“As our world changes and becomes more global, it is time for our art classrooms to change," Unrath said. “With smaller budgets and students being raised in a world of digital media, we can recapture the attention of students while at the same time using free local resources like art museums and galleries."
Unrath is the 2009 recipient of the National Art Education Association Western Region Higher Education Art Educator of the Year award. Her study, “Bringing Children to Art, Bringing Art to Children,” was published in the January 2009 issue of Art Education: The Journal of the National Art Education Association.


programs acquire field experience in both public and parochial school settings. Student teaching occurs during the senior year.
Nebraska is exploring different methods to assess the strength of its teacher education programs and was awarded a Title II grant by the U.S. Department of Education to support this endeavor. The grant will be used to pilot the use of teacher tests as a possible accountability measure of teacher education programs. The state will pay the testing costs for students who will be student teaching in elementary, middle, and high schools during the 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 academic years. All students will take the Principles of Teaching and Learning test, an Educational Testing Service product. Students seeking an endorsement in elementary education will also be required to take the ETS’s Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. There is no plan to incorporate the use of these tests as additional requirements for an initial teaching license. The state intends to explore the use of student’s scores on these tests as one measure of the strength of its teacher education programs.
The state of California is currently experiencing a significant shortage of teachers, with a predicted need for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 teachers in the next decade. The demand for new teachers is fueled by changes in state policy regarding class size reduction, a high number of teachers seeking retirement, and significant growth in the student population. The state anticipates that 1 million more students will be attending California schools by 2005 than did in 1998–1999. The greatest need for teachers is, and will be in the near future, in elementary education, special education, language acquisition and development, mathematics, and science. Urban and rural areas are experiencing the most significant teacher shortages. To address the demand for new teachers, a variety of teacher preparation programs have been developed in the state to provide multiple opportunities for individuals to seek teacher licensure and accelerate the time line for certification.
There are three general pathways to gaining preliminary teacher licensure in California: traditional teacher preparation programs, district internship programs, and university internship programs. California has also established a preinternship program that assists emergency teachers in meeting prerequisites for entry into one of the three formal teacher preparation programs. Each program is highlighted below.


Literacy development is the key component in the learning of all
school subjects and preparation for productive individual and community
Struggling readers experience great difficulty in reading and
comprehending everyday work documents, textbooks, websites, and other media. Dr. JoAnne Caldwell and Dr. Molly Shiffler designed an
intervention model reflecting the complex nature of literacy acquisition titled
CLIFFTOPS, an acronym for the plan's primary components:
layers, and (metacognitive)
Although highly adaptable to individual student needs, lesson
formats grounded in the CLIFFTOPS model and including the well-researched
components of successful literacy intervention were developed.
The current intervention formats use basics from this template
but, depending on the results of clinical quality literacy assessment, provide
more specific instruction in phonemic segmenting and blending (Hatcher,
Hulme, & Ellis, 1994), flexible metacognitive processing (Cartwright,
2008), fluency (Kuhn & Stahl, 2000; Wolf, Miller, & Donnelly, 2000),
and writing research (Baker, Gersten, & Graham, 2003).
This model is unique because not only is it research based, but
the individualized instruction that each student receives is determined by
student need, growth, and interests.
Learning to Read
When students are learning to read, we stress the building
blocks of successful lifetime literacy: rich language, sound play, rhyming,
word study skills including phonics, fluency, vocabulary comprehension, and
At these stages of reading, we choose fiction and
nonfiction materials based on the student’s interests.
Lessons include research-based comprehension
strategies, word study, and spelling activities to ensure reading progress.
Reading to Learn
We help maturing readers understand how to gain information
from all forms of electronic and paper print.
We teach thinking strategies, word analysis, and study skills
students need to read for information, study more effectively, learn content,
and read for pleasure.
Students learn to recognize how textbooks are organized, take
notes, identify unfamiliar words, analyze new information, and derive word
meanings, learn content, and read for pleasure.


There is no doubt about it: many college classes require a substantial amount of reading. When you stack up all the chapters and pages you have to read in a given week, it can seem daunting.
The trick, of course, is to figure out how to get through your reading as fast as possible while still retaining the information you’ll need.
One of the most important things students need to realize in their reading is that not every word is important. When you sit down to read a chapter for your class, your eyes should immediately start scanning for the main ideas.
According to “6 Reading Myths” from the Academic Skills Center at Dartmouth University, it’s important to quickly sift through the words in your reading to find the main ideas. “Watch for key words such as ‘causes’ ‘results’ and ‘effects,’” the document recommends.
It’s also important to pay attention to how your reading is structured. “Look carefully at the headings and other organizational clues,” the document explains. “These tip you off to the main points that the author wants you to learn.”
Greg Mills, a music education senior points out that comprehending the reading is only one part of the process.
“Not only do these courses require you to read, but you have to simultaneously analyze what you read and make critical observations based on your findings. These three steps end up creating more of a time commitment,” Mills said.
To help critically analyze your reading much faster, always read with a pen in hand.
This way, as you start to see connections or make observations in the text, you can write down your ideas right away.
Then, when you inevitably have to take a test on the reading or use the information to write a paper, you’ll already have your ideas written down as a reminder.
Reading with a highlighter only allows you to highlight main points. Reading with a pen allows you jot notes to yourself about why you thought it was important.
It may be frustrating to feel as though so many hours in your week are spent reading, but research suggests that it’s to your benefit.
According to a recent study by the Social Science Research Council, college students whose classes required 40 or more pages of reading a week made greater gains in learning than students who read less.
All those chapters may seem like a pain now, but if you learn to get through them quickly, they won’t take as much of your time and you can learn more in your classes to use in your life after college.
Reach the columnist at Emily.Muller@asu.edu


Do you ever skip choice time because you were behind schedule?
Do you have kids who don't have the prerequisite skills to play the games at your grade level?
Do you need to differentiate instruction for second-language learners?
Teachers at my school, a school with 1100 low-income students and a high percentage of second-language learners, answered yes to all of these questions.
Because we have a timeline and want to address all the state standards for mathematics, we need to go through all the books at every grade level. This leaves teachers feeling an enormous time crunch. During grade-level planning, teachers often say, "I'm a day (or two) behind - I'll skip choice time this week."
At the same time, we were aware that kids often needed choice time to develop their computation skills, but we hated to give up a whole math lesson for it. As a math coach, I often see students who do not yet have the mathematical knowledge that they need to play the grade level games. Last year, we began sharing across grade-levels to help our students develop these computation skills. But we knew we would still need to do even more.
Our school has a high percentage of second language learners who come to us with a variety of educational experiences. Often, because of language issues, grade level materials are not always accessible to them but we knew that these students needed to develop mathematical ideas and strategies to enhance their learning.
What could we do?
In 1748 Ben Franklin advised a young tradesman to "Remember, that time is money." Like money, the most important thing is NOT how much time you have but how you spend it. We decided to incorporate something we called Math Menu in each classroom on a daily basis for about fifteen or twenty minutes. This version of math choice time is somewhat different. It does not mean that we will play the games in the current book every day for the duration of the unit. Rather, our teachers are making informed decisions about what is on the Math Menu, based on their ongoing assessments of student learning.
Let me give you several examples. In second grade, we have students who still have difficulty with counting. These students may be doing Inventory Bags from the Kindergarten curriculum. In third grade and fourth grade, there are small groups of students playing Turn Over Ten and Tens Go Fish because we believe that if students are not solid on their combinations of ten, they will need to practice until each can do them automatically. In fifth grade, there are some students who are playing Plus, Minus, Stay the Same because they need practice adding ten to a number that does not end in a 0 or 5. In sixth grade, there are students who are not yet solid with multiplication. They are playing multiplication bingo and array games.
This is not just a remedial process. Students who are advanced in a particular area can work on a game at a higher level. In kindergarten, we know that the counting jar can hold larger quantities for students who are comfortable with six. We can add the concept of 'one more' and 'one less' to their work. In first grade, students can move onto larger numbers and can play games that come later in the year if our assessments show that they are able. Fourth graders, who are adept at adding numbers, can start playing Close to Zero with two digit numbers and then move on to three digit numbers. The examples are endless.
Three things need to be established to make Math Menu work. First, teachers need to have specific awareness of their students' mathematical strengths and weaknesses. Second, teachers need to collaborate with teachers at other grade levels and share materials and ideas. Lastly, and perhaps the most difficult, teachers need to carve a fifteen-minute slice of an already busy day and give kids an opportunity to work in their zone of proximal development. Since this is where the fastest mathematical growth occurs. On our campus, Math Menu is just beginning, but we have high hopes that it will help our students become much more comfortable with numbers and mathematical ideas.
Marge Scanlon, Math Coach,
Cartwright Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ
Marge Scanlon has been an in elementary education for over 30 years, teaching pre-k through sixth grade and special education students. She has worked for the past three years as a full-time mathematics coach. Marge has been a frequent contributor to the discussion section of this site and this is her second Spotlight article. Her previous contribution: Cutting Stress with Weekly Grade-Level Planning.


Bridging the Theory-Practice Divide in Contemporary Art Museum Education
Mayer, Melinda M., Art Education
Today's art museum educators face a challenge that is unprecedented in the field. Where not too long ago little was known regarding how people learn in the museum, now multiple theories have emerged (FaIk & Dierking 1992,2000; Hein 1998; Roberts, 1997; Yenawine, 1988). New theories breed new practices. The dilemma for art museum educators is to select the theory and craft the practice that will promote meaningful learning experiences for visitors, who can be anyone from children to Senior Citizens.
This predicament of aligning theory and practice points to the maturation of the field of art museum education, which was criticized in the 1980s for its lack of grounding in educational theory (Eisner & Dobbs, 1986). Now, the contemporary art museum educator has access to various theories of learning as well as emerging teaching strategies. Although K-12 art educators experienced shifts in notions of learning during the last decades of the 20th century, the focus in this article is art museum education.
The challenge for K-12 art educators and art museum educators is different due to the more structured character of school learning and the narrower range of ages. On what basis, therefore, should art museum educators decide the theoretical foundation of their teaching? Once having made that choice, what are the difficulties involved in translating that theory into good practice? Before taking up these questions, some context regarding teaching in the art museum is needed.
Prior to developing knowledge regarding how people learn in museums, art museum educators focused their attention more on what and how they should teach than on the learning processes of museum visitors. The content of art museum teaching seemed obvious-the collection. Providing educational programs that elucidated and illuminated the works of art in the collections was the basis of teaching (Excellence and Equity, 1992). Art museum educators were expected to pass along the art historical information provided to them by the museum's researchers, the curators. The discipline of art history, therefore, played a determining role in the content of educational experiences in the art museum. To figure out how to teach, art museum educators looked to sources beyond art history.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, art museum educators increasingly explored such fields as communication theory and educational psychology in order to create effective, interactive teaching techniques. Whether developing questioning strategies designed to stimulate higher order thinking skills or differentiating gallery teaching for the multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983) of art, museum visitors, these educators strove to teach not only about their collections, but also in ways that made the experience of the museum personally meaningful to visitors. Museum education programs provided background information on the artist and work, introduced cultural contexts, defined useful vocabulary, cultivated the looking skills of visitors, facilitated interpretation, and enabled visitors to make connections between their lives and the artworks (Yenawine, 1988). While art museum educators focused their practice on what to teach and how to teach, researchers attempted to identify how people learn in museums.1 As was the case in art education at large, throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s the results of research appeared in the burgeoning literature of museum education. Here, then, is an overview of current theories and strategies of museum learning.
A theory of learning that is gaining influence among museum educators is constructivism. Writers and researchers in many areas of education draw upon the work of such educational psychologists as John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky in formulating constructivism. The most thorough presentation of a constructivist theory for museums is George Hein's Learning in the Museum (1998). …
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Bridging the Theory-Practice Divide in Contemporary Art Museum Education. Contributors: Mayer, Melinda M. - Author. Magazine title: Art Education. Volume: 58. Issue: 2 Publication date: March 2005. Page number: 13+. © National Art Education Association Mar 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.


Developing Engaged Readers in School and Home Communities
Publication date: December 2012
Digital Book format: PDF (Adobe DRM)
You save: $3.96 (7%)
This book comprises a synthesis of current directions in reading research, theory, and practice unified by what has been referred to as the engagement perspective of reading. This perspective guides the research agenda of the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), a consortium of the University of Georgia, University of Maryland, and affiliated scholars. A major goal of the book is to introduce reading researchers to the engagement perspective as defined by the NRRC and to illustrate its potential to integrate the cognitive, social, and motivational dimensions of reading and reading instruction. Engaged readers are viewed as motivated, strategic, knowledgeable, and socially interactive. They read widely for a variety of purposes and capitalize on situations having potential to extend literacy.
The book is organized into four sections representing key components of the NRRC research agenda and the engagement perspective. This perspective emphasizes contexts that influence engaged reading. Accordingly, the first section of the volume focuses on the social and cultural contexts of literacy development, with chapters devoted to examining home influences, home-school connections, and the special challenges facing ethnic minorities. The engagement perspective also implies greater attention to the role of motivational and affective dimensions in reading development than traditional views of reading. Therefore, the second section examines motivational theory and its implications for reading engagement, with special attention to characteristics of classroom contexts that promote motivation in reading. The engagement perspective embraces innovative instructional contexts that address the cognitive, social, and motivational aspects of reading. Thus, the third section includes chapters on current directions in promoting children's learning from text, on the value of an integrated curriculum in promoting reading engagement, and on the challenges of assessing students' development as engaged readers. Finally, the broader conception of reading implied by the engagement perspective requires an expanded array of research approaches, sensitive to the complex and interacting contexts in which children develop literacy. The concluding section focuses on these important contemporary issues in literacy research and educational research, with chapters examining the variety of alternative modes of inquiry gaining prominence in literacy research, teacher inquiry, and ethical issues of collaboration between university and teacher researchers.
Intended for university-based researchers, graduate students, and classroom teachers, this volume brings together researchers who think about students and their literacy development in school and home communities in distinctly different ways. The cooperative and collaborative inquiry presented contributes to a richer understanding of the many factors influencing engaged reading.


Education in Montenegro
|Ministry of Education|
|Minister for Education||Slavoljub Stijepović|
|National education budget (2012)|
|Budget||9,94% of government budget|
Before 1868, there were only a few elementary schools in Montenegro. But between 1868 and 1875, 72 new schools opened serving approximately 3000 students. Elementary education became mandatory and was provided free. In 1869, a teachers' seminary school and the Girls' Institute were opened in Cetinje. The Girls' Institute was a specialized school for teachers of the elementary schools. In 1875, an agricultural school was opened in the newly developed town of Danilovgrad, but the school closed two years later due to the war with Turkey. Subsequently, a similar school opened in Podgorica in 1893. Increasingly, younger, educated Montenegrins took key positions in the growing government administration. In 1880, the first 'lower classical gymnasium' (grades 5-8) was opened. In 1902, it developed into a 'higher classical gymnasium' (grades 9-12). In 1899, Montenegro had 75 public and 26 private schools.
The educational system is uniformed. The school curriculum includes the history and culture of all ethnic groups. The language of instruction is Montenegrin (Serbian Bosniak, Croatian), and so is Albanian in some elementary and secondary schools where there is significant presence of Albanians. All students up to Secondary schools are enrolled in public schools, which are financed from the republic's budget. In December 2008, Montenegrin Education Minister Sreten Škuletić said that in 2009, all school text books will be printed in the Montenegrin language as part of an educational reform. This will also include Dictionaries and grammar books.
Elementary education in Montenegro is free and compulsory for all the children between the age of 6 and 14, when children attend the nine-year school (eight-year program is no longer in use).
Secondary schools are divided in three types, and children attend one depending on their choice and their elementary school grades:
- Gymnasium (Gimnazija), lasts for four years and offer general and broad education. It is considered a preparatory school for college, and hence the most prestigious.
- Professional schools (Stručna škola) last for three or four years and specialize students in certain fields, while still offering relatively broad education.
- Vocational schools (Zanatska škola) last for three years, without an option of continuing education and specialize in narrow vocations.
Tertiary level institutions are divided into Higher education (Više obrazovanje) and High education (Visoko obrazovanje) level faculties.
- Colleges (Fakultet) and art academies (akademija umjetnosti) last between 4 and 6 years (one year is two semesters long) and award diplomas equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree.
Higher schools (Viša škola) lasts between two and four years.
- Diploma o Završenoj Srednjoj Školi (High school diploma)
- Diploma (Diploma Višeg Obrazovanja)
- Diploma Visokog Obrazovanja (Bachelor's degree)
- Magistar Nauka (Master's degree)
- Doktor Nauka (Doctorate)
- University of Montenegro Website
- University "Mediterranean" - official web presentation
- UDG University Website
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Education in Montenegro.|


Starting with a small network storage device, Darts installed a series of open-source programs that, in concert, would broadcast a public Wi-Fi network. In essence, Darts developed his own portable, temporary Internet, accessible only by those within range of his wireless signal. The night after he first used it in class, the professor noticed that students had left multiple files on the server—music and movies they were swapping. He realized such a tool could change the way people connect online, whether at the corner coffee shop or in the shadow of an oppressive regime. Darts requisitioned his 5-year-old daughter’s lunch box—a black tin with a Jolly Roger on the lid—and put the contraption inside. The PirateBox was born.
Darts took the box to coffee shops, turned it on, and surveyed the room. Strangers on laptops nearby could see the network as an open wireless signal and, happy to find what appeared to be a free source of Internet access, would log on to the PirateBox screen, where they could anonymously upload or download files. Darts added a chat feature, allowing anyone on the network to communicate—also anonymously—and watched as users struck up conversations and shared files.
“Artistically, I’m interested in using networks in public spaces,” says Darts, an assistant professor of art education at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. A website he developed, Creative Tools 4 Critical Times, catalogs dozens of “culture jamming” and DIY (do it yourself) art projects designed to provoke a public response. Sitting in his office in the Barney Building, after politely shooing away a janitor who attempted to dispose of what was, in fact, one of his sculptures, Darts explains how he turned the PirateBox from a private tool into a communal endeavor.
To begin with, he used open-source software, which kept his costs down, but also because it meant he could share his creation online. Last January, Darts posted detailed instructions on how to build a PirateBox on his website, under a Free Art License, which allows others to share the plans but prevents anyone from patenting a device based on his original outline. Crucially, and in keeping with his philosophy of openness, Darts designed the PirateBox to be completely anonymous. Unlike the Internet, where users can be tracked by the digital trails they leave in the form of server logs and IP addresses, the PirateBox keeps no record of who is logging on or what they are doing. In time, Boing Boing, the popular geek blog, discovered the project and sent a flood of traffic his way. And just like that, the PirateBox concept went viral.
“I’m fascinated by the culture of pirate radio stations of 1960s San Francisco, the idea of reclaiming a part of the spectrum that had been fenced off by regulation and commercialization,” Darts says. Pirate radio stations—his creation’s namesake—operated without a broadcasting license and represented a creatively rich stage in the evolution of the medium, he notes. The development of the Internet has followed a similar path. While its early days were unregulated, the dawn of the Web 2.0 period has been about commercialization and control.
That control was clearly on display this year in the Arab Spring. As the spark of revolution leaped from Tunisia to Egypt and beyond, Facebook and Twitter got credit for enabling protesters to organize mass gatherings. But then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak quickly showed the limits of such tools when he flipped the master switch and shut down his country’s Internet access altogether. The U.S. government now sponsors “Internet in a suitcase” programs to spread devices like the PirateBox in countries such as Syria and Iran, where they can be used to organize opposition movements.
The PirateBox project now has a life of its own, which was one of the artistic goals Darts set out to achieve, he says. Soon after the Boing Boing post, he started getting e-mails and comments from around the world. He created an online forum where developers could post questions and share their own versions of the box. One built a version that could run on a laptop alone; another on an Android phone, making it even more portable. “As an artist, I’m very supportive of copyleft, but man, I’ve lost control,” Darts says, with a laugh, noting that one guy wanted to build and sell his own PirateBoxes. “It’s cool that he asked me.”
Unlike the Internet, where users can be tracked by the digital trails they leave in the form of server logs and IP addresses, the PirateBox keeps no record of who is logging on or what they are doing.


This book distills the information from the k-8 literacy text Literacy for the 21st Century, focusing specifically on literacy learners from pre-kindergarten through grade 4. What are the specific needs of these students? How can you predict early literacy difficulties and how best can you scaffold your instruction to prevent reading difficulties in the future? How are the PK student’s needs different from the older, primary grades student?
Chapter opening vignettes-Contextualize chapter concepts in an authentic classroom, complete with photos, dialog, and samples of student work to model excellent classroom teaching and prepare readers for the classrooms in their future.
Spotlights-In-depth look at a single student, peppered through chapters. Helps to detail literacy development and teacher decision making, one student at a time.
Guideline features-Offer specific guidelines for implementing chapter concepts in the PK-4 classroom.
Minilessons --offer ready to use skill and strategy instruction presented specifically for use in PreK-4 reading and writing classrooms. Find how the minilessons correlate to state and national standards on the text’s Companion Website.
The Compendium of Instructional Procedures --a robust resource of instructional methods designed to get teacher candidates up and running quickly in their first literacy classroom. The easily accessible Compendium at the back of the book offers clearly articulated instructional methods, an invaluable resource and quick reference.
Assessment Tools --highlight the complete chapter on assessment and provide future teacher candidates with the means to evaluate their students’ progress in early literacy. They'll also find ideas for alternative assessment
Table of Contents
Part I: How Do Children Learn to Read and Write?
1. Becoming an Effective Teacher of Reading
2. Examining Children's Literacy Development
3. Assessing Children's Literacy Development
Part II: What are the Components of Literacy Instruction?
4. Breaking the Alphabetic Code
5. Learning to Spell
6. Developing Fluent Readers and Writers
7. Expanding Children's Knowledge of Words
8. Guiding Children's Comprehension: Reader Factors
9. Guiding Children’s Comprehension: Text Factors
Part III: How do Teachers Organize Literacy Instruction?
10. Scaffolding Children's Reading Development
11. Scaffolding Children's Writing Development
12. Integrating Reading and Writing into Thematic Units
Part IV: Compendium of Instructional Approaches
Format: Alternate Binding
This title is currently unavailable on myPearsonStore.
We recommend Literacy in the Early Grades: A Successful Start for PreK-4 Readers and Writers, 3rd Edition as a replacement.


Better Students Ask More Questions.
What is the definition of cognitive task?
1 Answer | add yours
High School Teacher
Best answer as selected by question asker.
Cognition--from which "cognitive task" derives, is the scientific term that essentially means "the process of thought." Cognitive tasks therefore, are the actions which help define cognitive thought process.
Usually the term "cognitive task" is used in the context of "cognitive task analysis." This is the process of analyzing or testing what level of thought process a person has reached or is using to solve a specific problem. You might look at a toddler, for example, who touches a hot iron and gets burned. If this toddler learns not to touch the hot iron again, and actually avoids it, he has demonstrated the cognitive task of understanding the iron will hurt him and not to touch it.
In elementary education, for example, it is common to measure cognitive tasks in subjects like mathematics. Addition and subtraction are learned and understood through a series of cognitive tasks which build on one another. A 1st grader might be able to handle physically counting 3 objects, adding one to the pile, and counting 4 as the result. Gradually, the physical object will also be represented by number symbols, and the understanding will shift from the physical addition of one object to the pile, to the mental understanding that 3+1=4. Each step in the process of learning 3+1=4 is a series of cognitive tasks.
Many cognitive tasks are linked directly to short and long term memory. Others are developed physically (as though a process of motion). Humans learn and build understanding though hearing, speaking, and doing. One theory utilized in elementary education (and even higher) is the idea that blending these three learning styles/techniques as much as possible allows students to experience and attempt multiple cognitive tasks, providing the most opportunity to establish understanding.
Posted by clairewait on February 23, 2011 at 12:33 AM (Answer #1)
Related QuestionsSee all »
Join to answer this question
Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.


- About Us
Books available for preschoolers
Preschoolers with a need to read will be able to borrow a backpack of books.
With a $2,500 grant from the Hamber Foundation to help establish a pre-school reading readiness program, and a lot of local support, Cowichan Valley School District has put together Books on the Go.
The program will put reading resources in 100 backpacks parents of children ages two to four can borrow to help give their children a step up the literacy ladder.
We have recently received a mapping profile of the community that show us a lot of our little children coming into the school system arent at a level of readiness that we would hope for, director of elementary education Candace Spilsbury said.
Each backpack will be stuffed with learning resources such as books, games and instructional tips relating to one of 50 themes such as trains or farm animals.
For more information call 748-0321.


A plurality of U.S. voters, 46 percent, believes that the nation is behind other countries when it comes to providing programs for children to get ahead, according to a recent poll conducted jointly by the Center for the Next Generation and the Center for American Progress.
The partnership also released a report comparing U.S. student achievement with global competition, finding that China and India are among countries investing more into their educational systems.
Part of the report analyzed test scores of 15-year-olds from the Program for International Student Assessment, which placed the U.S. 14th out of 34 for reading and 25th in math literacy.
Filtering the results for reading test scores of students in the richest school districts, the U.S. would score first in the world. Among white students, the U.S. would be third.
“We obviously have a huge problem when it comes to racial and economic disparity issues with regards to the very basic reading skills in the country,” said Ann O’Leary of the Center for the Next Generation, a California-based non-partisan education organization, and a co-author of the report.
The good news, she noted, is that schools in some states are succeeding at educating their students, pointing to Massachusetts and New Jersey.
“We do know how to do this, and we should look at states that are effectively doing it and recognize that there are lessons,” she said.
These issues highlight the importance of a renewed national commitment to education reform, especially as global competition increases.
As China and India more than doubled their world economic inputs between 1980 and 2011, the U.S. share fell from 25 percent to 19 percent, according to the report. The authors argue that the key to strengthening the U.S. economy is to create a strong workforce, which starts with education.
The report suggests an improved U.S. workforce requires setting new ambitious--but realistic--national goals that would
- Better prepare students to meet educational standards
- Invest more in early childhood learning and encourage parental involvement
- Improve teacher quality
Part of the issue is surviving the “in-fighting” that resulted from No Child Left Behind and a lack of federal investment and commitment, O’Leary said.
"I think it’s incredibly important that we not lose sight of what No Child Left Behind was trying to do, that it was trying to ensure that every student in our country can be proficient in reading and math," she said, later adding, "We still have a very long way to go."


BIO 411: Ornithology
Catalog Description: BIO 411 - ORNITHOLOGY
(S) Behavior, environmental relationships, classification and identification of birds, especially those of Central New York. Early morning field trips. Prerequisite: BIO 111 or 202. Lecture/Lab Hours: Two lectures, one three-hour laboratory. Fulfills: LASR; PRES. (3 cr. hr.)
Frequency code S = offered in spring
Additional frequency code descriptions can be found in the Terminology Guide .
Additional Information: Ornithology generally enrolls 12-16 students per semester and is taught by a passionate naturalist, Dr. Broyles. Most students are junior or senior biology majors, but we have had the occassional students who major in Economics, Psychology, Health, Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Elementary Education who complete the course as an elective or in fulfillment of a minor in Biological Sciences. Student grades are assigned on a number of different exams, quizzes, presentations, and projects.
Lecture: This course is frequently taught in Bowers Hall 319. Topics are focused on biological aspects that define birds. These include the origin and evolutionary history of birds, anatomy, morphology, physiology, ecology, communication and systematics. Lectures integrate student centered presentations and discussions on contemporary avian literature.
Lab: Early spring field trips are difficult in Cortland snow. Lab time is focused on examining anatomical and morphological adaptations of birds in the classroom. Pigeon dissections and skin collection analyses are supplemented with segments from the Attenborough series “The Life of Birds.”
Field Trips: The field trips are the highlights of the course. We enjoy the outdoors, the sites and sounds of nature, and the comradery of individuals with similar interests and pursuits. Students are expected to attend all additional field trips. The more memorable excursions include: (1) Derby Hill to observe migrations of hawks, eagles, and falcons; (2) Montezuma N.W.R. to observe migratory waterfowl, bald eagles, northern harriers, and osprey; (3) Hoxie Gorge Woodcock Hunt and complimentary dinner chez Broyles; and (4) Cape May New Jersey to observe the first wave of migrant song and shorebirds (don’t forget dinner at the Ugly Mug!).
|Wood Thrush Spectrograph|
Digital Sound Library: Students make parabolic microphones to collect natural avian sounds from the field. Avians sounds are captured on cassette tapes, digitized on computers and examined using spectrographs created by sound analysis software.


logging in or signing up Name That Musical Instrument! beatleschick07 Download Post to : URL : Related Presentations : Share Add to Flag Embed Email Send to Blogs and Networks Add to Channel Uploaded from authorPOINT lite Insert YouTube videos in PowerPont slides with aS Desktop Copy embed code: Embed: Flash iPad Dynamic Copy Does not support media & animations Automatically changes to Flash or non-Flash embed WordPress Embed Customize Embed URL: Copy Thumbnail: Copy The presentation is successfully added In Your Favorites. Views: 577 Category: Education License: All Rights Reserved Like it (0) Dislike it (0) Added: December 07, 2009 This Presentation is Public Favorites: 0 Presentation Description No description available. Comments Posting comment... Premium member Presentation Transcript Name That Musical Instrument! : Name That Musical Instrument! End Show What do you want to learn about? : What do you want to learn about? Flute Clarinet Saxophone Trumpet Trombone Tuba Violin Piano End Show Videos Resources Author The Flute : The Flute The flute is a WOODWIND instrument. It is the only woodwind that does not use a reed! Click here to hear what the flute sounds like! End Show The Clarinet : The Clarinet The clarinet is a WOODWIND instrument. It is made of either wood or plastic, giving it a black appearance. Click here to hear what the clarinet sounds like! End Show The Saxophone : The Saxophone The saxophone is a WOODWIND instrument. Don’t get it confused with a brass instrument just because it is metal! Click here to hear what the saxophone sounds like! End Show The Trumpet : The Trumpet The trumpet is a BRASS instrument. It has a mouthpiece and three valves. Click here to hear what the trumpet sounds like! End Show The Trombone : The Trombone The trombone is a BRASS instrument. It is special because it has a slide instead of valves. Click here to hear what the trombone sounds like! End Show The Tuba : The Tuba The tuba is a BRASS instrument. It is the biggest and lowest of all instruments in the band. Click here to hear what the tuba sounds like! End Show The Violin : The Violin The violin is a STRING instrument. Violins are used only in orchestras. Click here to hear what the violin sounds like! End Show The Piano : The Piano The piano is a STRING instrument. You can’t tell it is a string instrument until you look under the cover and see all the strings! Click here to hear what the piano sounds like! End Show Videos : Videos Pipe Dreams Aqua Harp Drumset and Organ End Show Resources : Resources Youtube.com ANIMUSIC Microsoft Clipart & Media Gallery End Show Author : Author My name is Brittany Carney and I am a music education major at Grand Valley State University. I attended Orchard View high school and currently live in Muskegon, MI. Some of my hobbies include playing piano, flute, guitar, reading, and composing. E-MAIL ME End Show You do not have the permission to view this presentation. In order to view it, please contact the author of the presentation.


By Cameron Pipkin
When designing a Common Core Standards lesson plan for Fifth Grade reading, it’s important to go back to the foundational skills laid out in the Core. However, the foundational skills for reading in the Common Core, even for elementary kids, can look pretty daunting. For example, early to mid elementary “Common Core Reading: Foundational Skills” require that students perform a number of complex tasks:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Never fear! The following Common Core Standards lesson plan fifth grade reading fulfills these standards. It takes what otherwise seems complex, and breaks it into a simple, manageable series of tasks. Click here for the lesson.
Just as a disclaimer, this work comes from a group called Kidspiration. They provide digital lesson plans for teachers. Their services, of course, aren’t free. However, the lesson plan that I’ve posted is pretty straightforward, and shouldn’t require much more than a pen and paper, or some fooling around on a Word document to reproduce, if you don’t feel inclined to sign up for a trial.
Essentially, this simple, effective Common Core Standards lesson plan fifth grade reading prompts students to generate questions utilizing the kind of proven visual teaching techniques that are effective with many different kinds of learners. It’s also a model that can be repurposed and reused with many texts, over the course of many grades. This particular Common Core Standards lesson plan is for fifth grade reading, but really, this strategy could be used with kids as young as seven or eight.
Take a look at it and let me know what you think.


Kinds of Minds
To surmount learning differences, teachers, parents, and students
alike must be taught how to recognize, understand, and manage
both strengths and weaknesses brain functions.
Play for All Children
Suggestions for helping children with disabilities enjoy this
important early childhood learning area.
a Bridge to Special Students
story of how her fourth graders developed understanding and, ultimately,
friendship with the Special-Ed kids in their school.
the Reader in Every Child by Michael F. Opitz
The case for flexible grouping when teaching reading
Kid Can! by Julie Wood
Technology offers a range of options to help you meet special
needs in your classroom.
Hard Can This Be?
In the author's workshops, participants wind up frustrated, angry,
and in tears and finally understand what having a learning
Can Twirl the Rope
Inclusion involving a behaviorally or academically challenged
child can be a source of frustration. But one child, shows classmates
that the benefits of inclusion can be priceless.
Ways to Reach Your LEP Students
Teachers share their strategies for teaching second-language learners
in the regular classroom
children who lag in reading can make progress if they have a combination
of help in the classroom and one-on-one tutoring.
Find it hard to believe that a school district could raise the
reading scores of struggling students by as much as two grade
levels each year? Orange County, Florida, has and the stunning
An advocate of Reading Recovery talks about the highly structured
program and the hope it brings to every child who struggles
with the word, every teacher who yearns for his success.
communication with parents and caregivers helps you understand
and handle a child's special needs.


The Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health published research on the gross motor skill development of children with achondroplasia. A population based study was done on children with achondroplasia ages 12 months to 48 months in Australia and New Zealand from 2000 through 2009.
The results indicated that children with achondroplasia exhibit delays in gross motor skill acquisition although within group differences in height, weight and head circumference (or relationships between these factors) do not appear to influence gross motor skill development before 5 years of age. The only exception was supine to sit transitioning, which appears likely to occur earlier if the child is taller and heavier at 12 months, and later if the child has significant head-to-body disproportion.
Reference: Penelope Jane Ireland, Robert S Ware, Samantha Donaghey, James McGill, Andreas Zankl, Verity Pacey, Jenny Ault, Ravi Savarirayan, David Sillence, Elizabeth Thompson, Sharron Townshend and Leanne M Johnston The effect of height, weight and head circumference on gross motor development in achondroplasia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. Article first published online: 22 JAN 2013 | DOI: 10.1111/jpc.12078


Looked at your child’s handwriting lately (or your own) and thought it could use some improvement? Then did you wonder: Does it even matter in this age of digital correspondence?
Turns out, it may. Far more than just a tool for communication, the act of writing by hand appears to be an important building block for learning. In today’s WSJ story, we talk about new research showing how handwriting helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression and may even aid fine motor skill development.
Even adults can benefit from the practice when studying new graphically different languages – such as Chinese — or symbols in sciences such as chemistry. Some physicians say it could help keep our minds sharp as we age.
Ironically, it may be modern technology that gives a boost to handwriting’s resurgence. For anyone whose kids balk at or have trouble with traditional handwriting instruction, the arrival of new educational games for the iPhone, iPod, iPad and other touch screen devices may come as a welcome teaching aid.
We checked out a few in the iTunes app store with names such as abc PocketPhonics, ABC Tracer and iWriteWords. Cheering pencils and encouraging animals give positive feedback for good performance. Parents who’ve downloaded them say their kids think learning to write on these devices is a game. There are also adult apps, such as the $3.99 WritePad, which convert your own handwriting to text. Some adults are setting out to fix their own handwriting through traditional means.
Have you noticed a decline in your penmanship or are you concerned about your child’s writing? How much time does your kid spend handwriting each week versus typing on a keyboard or handheld device? Do you think handwriting matters in the digital age?


- Published on 19 October 2013
- Written by Kumar Snehansu
- Hits: 2249
Excerpt from an interview with an anonymous elementary teacher:
“So, recently the school administration went all out with technology revolution, bringing digital pads, BYOD for students, projectors etc. for the kids. We were definitely having mixed feelings. Most of us didn’t know exactly, how to get the best out of these tools.”
This is a common problem for many teachers all around the world. So, here is a list of such online resources. Each of these links have their own niche and depending upon the need of the instructor and the class response, these can give great results.
Puppet Pals, an app for tablets, lets students experiment/play with pictures, cartoons, audio, and videos. Until now only the basic format is free. It is one of the most widely used apps used by parents and teachers.
A free app (good for K-12) that lets the teacher put together interactive displays and allows students to submit feedback, offering a real-time way to assess their performance.
Sesame Street has a variety of activities that help students work on basic skills like counting, forming sentences, recognizing different shapes, objects, etc. It stands out in its proper organization and quality.
This is a great activity based resource. Students can help enhance their creativity with the beautiful use of colours, edit available templates and share them.
This website is a free resource for young students to practice letters and sounds. Its phonics-based approach is perfect for very new users like kindergarten, first grade or second grade.
A tested app created by PBS KIDS designed to help kids expand their vocabulary.
“According to a 2010 PBS KIDS-sponsored study of 90 children between the ages of three and seven who played with it for about two and a half hours over two weeks, the app was able to enrich vocabulary by as much as 31 percent.”
This website enhances English vocabulary and grammar at varying levels of difficulty. For each correct answer, the website will donate one grain of rice. Thus keep track of how much rice your students have contributed and hence their performance.
The pronunciation says it all. It has a variety of early elementary phonics worksheets and online phonics games.
Mathematics and Analytical Reasoning
Another app with a lot of buzz. According to a 2011 study by GameDesk, commissioned by Motion Math, “this game for the iPad improved the understanding of fractions in 120 children by an average of 15 percent.”
Free games for learning how to use money, tell time, count and read. Also, one can find brain puzzlers, mazes, memory games, Sudoku, etc.
Math-play is the online platform for competitions and real-time assessments globally. The respective math games are organized by grade level, content and game type. There is good collection of resources on basic mathematics, integers, fractions and more.
Aside from a great user-interface, the greatest benefit of this website are the splendid explainer videos for the trickier math concepts.
Contains numerous educational activities, games, animated lessons, printable worksheets, interactive storybooks and more. The key feature of this website are the storybooks.
Basically concentrated on Elementary students, who can practice their math, science and language proficiency with games and interactive activities.
This is the customized search engine especially for kids.
It is exactly what it sounds like—YouTube for teachers. The design of the website is getting a little outdated, but otherwise there are many educational videos to choose from and one can also make a channel specifically for a class or subject, etc.
What better way can be than to watch preview videos for some of Animal Planet’s renowned programming on the Earth’s natural resources, wildlife and more, for understanding the concepts of biodiversity and wildlife.
There are numerous other apps, websites and links for the help of teachers and elementary students. The above list can be actually enhanced many-folds. Although each and every website has its own benefits and customization, there are obviously some glitches and critics. But, as the education sector is evolving, one can hope for many better and customized options in the near future.
You may also refer few of our articles on elementary education published earlier this year.
If you enjoyed reading the article, you can register HERE to receive weekly email alerts. Follow us


The name Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of clothing and hair style.
In 1809, six students at the Vienna Academy formed an artistic cooperative in Vienna called the Brotherhood of St. Luke or Lukasbund, following a common name for medieval guilds of painters. In 1810 four of them, Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Franz Pforr, Ludwig Vogel and Johann Konrad Hottinger moved to Rome, where they occupied the abandoned monastery of San Isidoro. They were joined by Philipp Veit, Peter von Cornelius, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow and a loose grouping of other German artists. They met up with Austrian romantic landscape artist Joseph Anton Koch (1768â€“1839) who became an unofficial tutor to the group. In 1827 they were joined by Joseph von FÃ¼hrich (1800â€“1876) (illustration above right).
The principal motivation of the Nazarenes was a reaction against Neoclassicism and the routine art education of the academy system. They hoped to return to art which embodied spiritual values, and sought inspiration in artists of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, rejecting what they saw as the superficial virtuosity of later art.
In Rome the group lived a semi-monastic existence, as a way of re-creating the nature of the medieval artist's workshop. Religious subjects dominated their output, and two major commissions allowed them to attempt a revival of the medieval art of fresco painting. Two fresco series were completed in Rome for the Casa Bartholdy (1816â€“17) (moved to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin) and the Casino Massimo (1817â€“29), and gained international attention for the work of the 'Nazarener'. However, by 1830 all except Overbeck had returned to Germany and the group had disbanded. Many Nazareners became influential teachers in German art academies.
The programme of the Nazarenesâ€”the adoption of honest expression in art and the inspiration of artists before Raphaelâ€”was to exert considerable influence in Germany, and in England upon the Pre-Raphaelite movement. In their abandonment of the academy and their rejection of much official and salon art, the Nazarenes can be seen as partaking in the same anti-scholastic impulse that would lead to the avant-garde in the later nineteenth century.
- Mitchell Benjamin Frank. Romantic Painting Redefined: Nazarene Tradition and the Narratives of Romanticism. Ashgate Publishing, 2001; ISBN 0-7546-0477-2
- Cordula Grewe. "Painting the Sacred in the Age of German Romanticism." Aldershot: Ashgate Books, 2009.
- Lionel Gossman. â€œMaking of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeckâ€™s â€˜Italia und Germania.â€™â€ American Philosophical Society, 2007. ISBN 0-87169-975-3.
- Lionel Gossman. "Unwilling Moderns: The Nazarene Painters of the Nineteenth Century" in Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide - Volume 2, Issue 3, Autumn 2003.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nazarene movement.|


Fiji Struck by Cyclone
By: Gowri Mohanakrishnan
March 16, 2010 : Fiji declared a state of emergency in the northern and eastern parts of the country after they were struck by a tropical cyclone, Cyclone Tomas. The eastern Lau group of islands was the worst affected. The country's second largest island, Vanua Levu, also sustained severe damage.
Over 17,000 people left their homes and fled to evacuation shelters as the storm raged. There were reports of deaths in some places but the numbers were not known. In northern Fiji houses and crops were damaged by winds. Some buildings were washed away by floods. In some areas, there were sea surges and the sea waters rose as high as 7metres (23feet). These caused floods which did not subside for 36 hours.
Schools all over the country closed down. Public services were suspended, and a nation-wide curfew was imposed. Communications to some islands including Cikobia and Qelelevu failed. For Fijians, it was the worst cyclone in living memory.
Fiji's National Disaster Council organised troops to take food, water and other necessities to the worst-hit areas. Australia and New Zealand have been sending aid by air. Australia's foreign ministry pledged a sum of one million dollars in aid with an assurance of more after the damage had been assessed.
Cyclone Tomas has been described as a category four storm. The severity of hurricanes is measured by the Saffir-Simpson scale, which measures a storm by the damage it causes. Like all hurricanes and tropical storms, Cyclone Tomas began to weaken as it moved away.
Most hurricanes or cyclones are given a name from an existing list of storm names. This is done at the forecast centre where the cyclone is first detected, provided it is a storm of some intensity.
Related Links - If you want to know more about Fiji or Cyclones:
Fiji: Where is it? Click here to see it on the map
Fiji: Country profile
What is a cyclone?
Fiji: Latest news about Cyclone in Fiji
Fiji: Images from Fiji
Fiji: More about Fiji
Fiji Struck by Cyclone [World News for Kids]
By: Gowri Mohanakrishnan
Online Mind Games Tic Tac Toe News for Children Antonyms Kids' Magazine Word Play Poems for children Mind Games Discover Earth Ganesh Coloring Pages Tongue Twister Science Magazine Word Search Game Children's Craft Activities Reference Quotations Stories Folktales Learning Math Fiction for Kids Art for Kids Educational Games Coloring Books Quiz Flash Cards Did You Know? Famous People Computer Quiz Coloring Pages Math for kids Children's Books Environment Kids' Activities 5WH Science for Kids Games for Little Kids Riddles Word Match Children's Crossword Jokes for kids Science Quiz


The current study examines whether associations exist between household chaos and children’s early reading skills, after controlling for a comprehensive battery of home literacy environment characteristics. Our sample included 455 kindergarten and first-grade children who are enrolled in the Western Reserve Reading Project. We go on to test whether these associations are moderated by maternal reading ability. Results suggest that the degree of household order is significantly and positively associated with the expressive vocabulary, Woodcock Reading Mastery, and phonological awareness skills of children whose mothers are above-average readers. By contrast, the number of books a child owns or brings home and how often a child amuses self alone with books are significantly associated with the expressive vocabulary, Woodcock Reading Mastery, and phonological awareness skills of children whose mothers are average-ability readers. These results suggest the potential for new approaches to encouraging literacy development in the home beyond those that depend solely on parental literacy.
Johnson, Anna D.; Martin, Anne; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; and Petrill, Stephen A.
"Order in the House!
Associations among Household Chaos,
the Home Literacy Environment, Maternal Reading Ability,
and Children’s Early Reading,"
4, Article 3.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol54/iss4/3


Better Students Ask More Questions.
In Ancient history, what was their military strength, allies, culture achievements and...
1 Answer | add yours
On Warfare in Antiquity:
History of the Art of War, Volume I Warfare in Antiquity by Hans Delbruck.
Ancient and Medieval Warfare by Oliver Lyman Spaulding and Hoffman Nickerson.
Delbruck is well regarded and will give you more information than most students ever get. Both the above are old, so you should also examine a recent work: The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece by Victor Davis Hanson.
Davidson, Thomas. 1894. The Education of the Greek People and Its Influence on Civilization. I like this book. It is about the evolution of civilization since ancient Greece. The philosophy of Socrates and the philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, when combined, gave a plan for living that works. In only 229 pages, this book can be only the broadest-brush outline treatment of such a broad subject, but it is very good.
Educational Curriculum of the Ancients as Described in the First circa 50 Pages of: Campbell, Andrew A. 2008. The Latin-Centered Curriculum: A Home Educator’s Guide to a Traditional Classical Education, 2nd ed. Non Nobis Press.
I. General education
I.A. Elementary education
I.A.1. The three Rs.
I.A.2.a. Language mechanics and parts of speech
I.A.2.b. The great historical and imaginative literary works of the culture, especially the epic poets
I.A.2.c. Memorize poetry commemorating the deeds of the culture’s heroes.
I.A.2.e. Lyric poetry
I.A.3. The mathematical arts
I.A.3.a. Arithmetic (including business math)
I.A.3.c. Astronomy (including weather signs)
I.A.3.d.i. The scientific study of harmonics and music theory
I.A.3.d.ii. Vocal, instrumental, and moral instruction
I.B. Rhetorical education
I.B.1. A graded series of written exercises (e.g., paraphrase, simile, example, quotation)
I.B.2. Lectures by rhetoric teachers
I.B.3. History texts (not history as a discipline but as examples of rhetoric)
I.C. Physical training in preparation for military service
II. Higher education
Posted by geosc on October 13, 2010 at 10:38 AM (Answer #1)
Join to answer this question
Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.


When children who struggle with learning are the topic of conversation, the spotlight is most often turned to reading. And with good reason. Trouble with reading is by far the most prevalent characteristic of specific learning disabilities (LD). That said, math is not far behind, and it is not unusual for individuals with LD to have trouble in both of these areas of learning and performance.
Just like reading skills are critical for succeeding in school and in life, there has been increased recognition during the past few years of the importance of acquiring basic math skills that set the stage for more advanced math learning required for higher education and employment.
There is no question that the failure to develop competencies in math during the school years can seriously handicap both daily living and vocational prospects for young people and adults alike. In today’s world, mathematical knowledge, math reasoning and math problem-solving skills are no less important than reading ability.
Dyscalculia is the general term used to describe a specific learning disability in mathematics. Individuals with dyscalculia have significant problems with numbers: learning about them and understanding how they work. Like other types of LD, the term dyscalculia does not capture the specific kinds of struggle experienced in such areas as math calculations, telling time, left/right orientation, understanding rules in games and much more.
What We Know: Early Math Skills Predict Future Academic Achievement
There is wide-spread misunderstanding of the importance of math in everyday life and a lack of appreciation of how important math learning is for young children. Researchers have begun to look at kindergarten math skills as effective predictors of future academic achievement. Children's early math knowledge is said to be important because it fosters future abilities not only in math but also in reading. In one study, pre-math skills at kindergarten entry are said to predict math achievement as much as reading achievement by grade three.
Early math skills are often not only often strong predictors of later math achievement; they can be predictive of later reading achievement as well as the acquisition of early reading skills. These and other patterns were similar for boys and girls and for children from both upper-middle class and poor families.
What We Know: A Lack of Knowledge About Learning Disabilities in Math
Many teachers (and parents), by their own admission, lack a conceptual understanding of math and are therefore not well prepared to teach math effectively or convey an appreciation of math to their students. Many even admit to disliking or being anxious about math, a perception easily conveyed to students.
In contrast to dyslexia, researchers have not yet identified the primary cognitive deficits that underlie math learning disabilities (i.e., dyscalculia). Difficulties in math appear not to be linked to a specific disability, but rather, may be the result of weaknesses in other related cognitive skill areas such as language, attention, memory and skills related to perceiving and imagining space.
What We Know: The Importance of Monitoring Progress
There is good evidence that early prediction or identification of math difficulties, coupled with well-targeted research-based interventions, can diminish or prevent struggle with math learning for many children.
Children with a learning disability in math are likely to show persistent difficulties with learning over time, making it all the more important to gather reliable data about student progress beginning as early as possible in the child’s school career.
However, math learning does not follow a predictable, step-by-step course and this can make the tracking of progress more challenging. Interestingly, seemingly more advanced skills and concepts are possible to learn before mastering more basic numerical operations.
For more information about math learning:
- The National Mathematics Advisory Panel (NMAP), commissioned by the US Department of Education, has examined and summarized the scientific evidence related to the teaching and learning of mathematics, with a specific focus on preparation for and success in learning algebra. They’ve issued two reports containing policy recommendations on how to improve mathematics achievement for all students.
- Components of Effective Math Instruction points to key abilities involved in learning math that need to be addressed in instruction, with the importance of different abilities shifting across the elementary and secondary grades.


The New Mexico Teaching and Certification Resource
How to Become a Teacher in New Mexico
Prospective candidates for becoming a teacher have multiple paths to New Mexico teacher certification. An early childhood certificate would allow a candidate to educate children from birth through grade 3, and an elementary certificate would allow a prospective teacher to teach any grade from kindergarten through eighth. Middle level certification covers students in grades 5 through 9, and secondary certification covers grades 7 through 12. Other certificate areas are the Pre K-12 specialty (such as art or music) and special education. New Mexico also offers a variety of endorsements that may be added on to an initial certificate, such as gifted, information technology coordinator, and library/media.
- I want to be a teacher in New Mexico, but don’t have a degree: Earn an Education Degree
- I want to be a teacher and have a degree, but not in education: Learn about New Mexico’s Alternative Certification Process and Programs
- I have a teaching degree and am interested in more education: Learn about Master’s Degree Education Programs or Doctorate Education Programs and Information.
- Global Training and Development - EdS
- E-Learning - EdS
- General Education - Doctor of Education
- Curriculum and Teaching - EdS
- And more...
New Mexico Teacher Education Requirements
The most direct way to fulfill the education requirements for becoming a teacher is to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, and have completed an approved teacher education program. Common teacher education programs include early childhood education, elementary education, middle grades education, and secondary education (with a content area focus).
In January 2012, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported New Mexico’s unemployment rate at 7.3%, slightly below the national average of 8.5%. The Occupational Supply and Demand System projects 1,480 annual job openings in library and education related fields in New Mexico through 2018. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 22,825 public school and 2,170 private school teachers were employed in New Mexico in fall 2008 and 2007 respectively. The average beginning teaching salary in New Mexico is $36,003 and the average overall teaching salary is $46,888, the 10th lowest average among US states according to the National Educational Association. The NEA also notes high demand for math, science, physical education and special education teachers throughout the state. The National Education Association – New Mexico, a large advocate organization for educators at public institutions in New Mexico, suggests subject specialization particularly for teachers looking for employment in urban areas. For more information on certification please contact local teaching and education schools.
New Mexico Teacher Testing Requirements
The NMTA (New Mexico Teacher Assessments) are required of all new applicants for a teaching license. The NMTA is comprised of the New Mexico Assessment of Teacher Basic Skills and the New Mexico Assessment of Teacher Competency (Elementary, Secondary or Early Childhood). Individuals applying for initial New Mexico teaching certification or adding certain endorsements must also take the Content Knowledge Assessment(s) in the certification/endorsement area.
New Mexico Teacher Salary and Jobs
|Type||Number Employed||Average Annual Salary|
|Elementary School Teachers||9,910||$51,990|
|Middle School Teachers||4,210||$51,450|
|Secondary School Teachers||6,100||$52,370|
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2011.
Frequently Asked Questions about Becoming a Teacher in New Mexico
Question: What are the requirements to become a high school teacher in New Mexico?
Answer: To become a high school teacher in New Mexico requires that you hold a license from the state. The requirements for the license include a bachelor’s degree with education courses and student teaching. You must also have at least 24 credit hours in the subject you hope to teach and you must pass the New Mexico educator tests for basic skills, secondary teacher competency, and content knowledge.
Page edited by Charles Sipe.


Information Literacy Standards
Professional Association Sites Defining IL:
The information literate student:
- Determines the nature and extent of the information needed
- Accesses the needed information effectively and efficiently
- Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base
- Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
- Understands the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.
Information Literacy development across the Butler Curriculum
Butler University Libraries supports information literacy at various points throughout a student's undergraduate/graduate experience. Here are the key curriculum points that we try to reach:
- First-year seminar - students receive an introduction to information literacy concepts and skills through classroom library instruction session(s). Research is a concentration area for the first-year seminar class as denoted in the following documents:
- Discpline-specific instruction - Librarian liaisons work with their colleges/departments to target key mid-undergraduate classes (such as a research methods class) where discipline-specific information literacy can be incorporated. A reinforcement or fine-tuning discipline-specific information literacy session should ideally occur with a senior-level, capstone-type course.
Assignments incorporating Information Literacy
Why reinvent the wheel? Browse these information literacy handouts and sites for assignments that incorporate information literacy.
Butler-specific IL Assignments
First-Year Seminar Research Exercise - An example worksheet that accompanied a FYS library instruction session. This exercise is just one way to incorporate active learning into a library instruction session.
Butler's Plagiarism Tutorial - Access this link to view the tutorial. For instructions concerning how to incorporate the tutorial and accompanying assessment into Blackboard, go to: Plagiarism Tutorial Directions.
Contact your Butler Librarian College/Department Liaison for Information Literacy Instruction
Butler University librarians serve as library liaisons to the University's colleges and/or departments. Liaisons work with a college or department to:
- provide classroom library instruction
- oversee collection development for the discipline
- provide library services support.
Contact your liaison to schedule library instruction for your classes, request materials, and to ask about library services:
Thinking of the Research Paper in a New Light
2011-12 FYS IL Assessment
There are two information literacy/library instruction assessments that are part of the Butler First-Year Seminar program. They are:


Adopt a Health Promotion Framework
The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948 and defines health as a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease. The health promotion orientation grew out of the discoveries that show many factors such as social norms, cultural values and beliefs, perceived stress, quality of support, and environments play essential roles in the quality of a person’s health.
Health promotion as an organized field can be traced to 1974 when the Canadian government identified health promotion as a key strategy aimed at informing, influencing, and assisting both individuals and organizations so that they will accept more responsibility and be more active in matters affecting mental and physical health. In 1986, the WHO held the first International Conference on Health Promotion, where the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion action plan was created. The focus of this plan was to promote the creation of health-centered settings that enable people to have increased control over their health and its improvement.
With the overall aims of embedding within an organization an understanding and commitment to holistic health and the motivation to develop its health-promoting potential, the settings-based approach to health promotion has led to several international movements, including Health Promoting Cities, Hospitals, Schools, and Universities.
Why Health-Promoting Schools of Music?—Faculty within schools of music, particularly those with expertise in music performance, music education, pedagogy, and conducting, represent the primary channels for changing how music is taught and played in order to reduce performance injuries. Music faculty, more than any other group, embody the critical determinants for establishing social and cultural values and beliefs that are so important for influencing students. Music school faculty need to become substantially involved in the prevention of injuries. Interdisciplinary and collaborative strategies with groups and individuals outside of music need to be initiated. However, reliance on these outside professionals without the essential involvement of music faculty will ultimately fail.


Transgendered people deserve our acceptance
A TRANSGENDERED person is someone who either believes that he or she is a member of the opposite sex or underwent surgery to change his or her sexual appearance. Though this might not be something that people would consider normal, transgenders are still people. Discrimination, or otherwise refusing to acknowledge the fact that transgendered people are still humans like the rest of us, should be unacceptable in today's society. Laws should be created to protect and recognize transgendered people as equal to those already classified as male or female because discrimination toward those who show diversity should not be tolerated in our society.
According to Ruth Hubbard, author of "Rethinking Women's Biology," "one isn't born a woman (or man), one becomes one." This might be true, but I feel that no matter what gender a person is, everyone should be considered equal under the law. I believe a person is born gay or lesbian. People who do not know them should not judge them. They cannot help being who they are, and therefore should not be punished for it.
WE'VE HAD two general classifications of gender since the beginning of mankind, but there are always gray areas. Lesbians, gays and transgendered people are examples of those gray areas. Even with these classifications, there are many people who do not fit the exact mold of males and females. In "Which Outlaws?" Kate Bornstein describes the biological definition of males and females in a way that scientists view them. She says a woman is a person who has an XX chromosome, is able to bear children and produces estrogen. A male is described as someone who has an XY chromosome, is able to father children and produces testosterone. Bornstein asks, however, about the women who are not able to carry a child, the men who cannot produce the sperm required to procreate or the people who are born with an extra chromosome. They might be socially accepted as either a man or a woman, but scientifically they do not fit into the mold of either male or female.
I AM NOT saying that we should consider these people outcast in any way, but we should think about the people we consider inferior. If we are able to accept these people, ones who do not fit the exact description of society's genders, why is it so hard to accept transgendered people? Diversity and difference do not make a person any less human. We should recognize these people as our equals and accept who they are -- man, woman, gay, lesbian or transgendered -- because it is the only way we can get rid of prejudice.
In American society, we want transgendered people to remain silent and afraid to speak out because we do not want to deal with them. People tend to judge those whom they are unfamiliar with because they do not want to take the time to understand someone who is different.
It is sad to say and even worse to see, but Americans are not as civilized and accepting as we would like to think. Creating laws saying that the transgendered are equally protected under Hawaii law is the first step toward the acceptance and openmindedness they deserve. There will, of course, be those who do not want to accept transgenders as their equals because they are unfamiliar with them.
I BELIEVE the issue of equal protection and recognition under law will be a problem that transgendered people will have to face for a long time. Change is gradual. Generations go by and new ideas and thoughts are formed. If we did not accept change, society would fall apart. Accepting transgenders is just one of the transitions that society will have to face eventually. I believe that in the distant future there will be more than two gender classifications. That change, however, must wait until people are willing to recognize and respect transgenders as humans.
Daralyn Yakabe is a freshman at the University of Hawaii, studying elementary education.
Join the Student Union
Student Union is a forum for Hawaii's teenagers to tell the community what's on their minds and in their hearts. It appears every Thursday. We welcome opinions of no more than 700 words on any topic. Please include your name, address and phone number. E-mail to email@example.com, fax to 529-4750 or mail to Student Union, Editorial Page, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813. For more information, contact Jeff Finney at 529-4735 or firstname.lastname@example.org


With the importance and power of technology shining through every major initiative in the past five years, early technology education is becoming more of a need in schools all over the world. From natural disasters to political campaigns, technology is at the forefront.
One non-profit called CodeNow has decided to take on bridging the gap between technology and underrepresented youth.
The organization explains itself this way:
CodeNow works with underrepresented youth to develop the next pioneers in technology by teaching foundational skills in computer science and programming to narrow the digital divide. Creating a fluency in this language spurs innovation and opens doors for our youth, while creating a pipeline of talent for American companies.
Tech for everyone
Since the movie “The Social Network” was released, people everywhere have gotten the tech sparkle in their eye, be it for an app they’d love to make or by changing the world. The power of technology, especially the backend skills required to make great ideas a reality, is in the hands of few. There are major companies in Silicon Valley hiring top talent as we speak, and there will be many jobs available for the youth of America if they have the right skill set.
White House approved
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet Ryan Seashore of CodeNow and I was immediately impressed with the work he and the organization are doing. Ryan got me thinking about ways that we could engage non-profits around the country and the ways we could share their incredible stories. I am happy to announce a new weekly blog series highlighting non-profits dedicated to improving their communities. It felt appropriate to have CodeNow inaugurate the series.
Here’s a video about the CodeNow program:
I had the chance to interview CodeNow Co-Founder Ryan Seashore about why this movement is important for the advancement of technology.
TNW: What is it about technology that gets you excited the most?
Ryan Seashore: What’s exciting to me about technology is that it gives people the ability to create, which is power. Programmers are modern-day artists constantly shaping the world we live in. The boundaries are as endless as their imagination.
TNW: Tell us why it’s important that the youth of America gets involved with technology early on
Ryan Seashore: Coding is the language of the future. If we want our youth to be competitive globally we need to teach them be tinkerers and look under the hood of technology.
TNW: What’s the story behind CodeNow and why did you start it?
Ryan Seashore: I’m a social entrepreneur with a diverse background in Film, Technology and Politics. I became involved in the Obama Camapaign overseeing youth outreach in SF and was forever changed. I moved to DC to work for the administration on an interim basis. After this amazing experience I decided to join the non-profit sector. I worked for an organization doing great work but they were stuck in the confines of being a “Non-Profit”.
Last year I came up with the concept for CodeNow. I expected to see dozens of organizations in the space. I was shocked to find only a few organizations teaching youth to code and no one focusing on undeserved youth in a scalable way. Out of frustration I started CodeNow in February of 2011. Though we are a non-profit we function more like a start-up. We take a “lean” approach to our work and are in constant beta. It’s been an amazing experience.
TNW: Please share some success stories since you started the project
Ryan Seashore: An early validation of our success is that after our pilot program in August I had 4 students friends email me about attending our next training. With high school students there is no higher praise. We’re still early on. We have three more trainings by the end of the year. We expect to learn a lot in the next few months.
The children are our future
Early education is essential to drive the next advancements in technology. It might not be a social network that changes the world, it could be a cure for cancer or another major disease and technology could be a contributing powerhouse behind it. It could be a 12-year-old girl in Iowa who has the thoughts and imagination to accomplish such a feat. Without an organization like CodeNow, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to focus on bringing that imagination to reality.


National Parental Involvement Day seems kind of like Mother’s Day. I mean, we should show Mom we love her everyday, right? But, I’m not complaining that we’ve set aside a day to recognize the importance - of both.
It is no secret that parental involvement plays a large role in the academic success of our children. According to the vast amount of research out there, in the early years, parental involvement has a significant impact on children’s cognitive development and literacy and number skills. Furthermore, parental involvement in a child’s schooling for a child between the ages of 7 and 16 is a more powerful force than family background, size of family and level of parental education.
Some school districts are recognizing how important the role of the parent is, and are even including parental involvement in their metrics to measure school effectiveness. For example, New York City schools will soon be rated based on how well they work with parents. This was announced a few weeks ago as NYC schools embark upon an overhaul of how they engage with families.
As a former teacher, I can tell you first hand that parental involvement is not only important – but it is essential to student success. It’s more than showing up for conferences and plays and helping with homework. It’s more about demonstrating to our children that learning is not confined to the classroom. It’s about supporting the learning that happens in the classroom in real and relevant ways. Most teachers will agree with that statement. I believe that the vast majority of parents truly want to help their kids. However ,there are a many real reasons why some aren’t as connected to the school as they should be (i.e., time, language barriers, job constraints, etc.). Overcoming the obstacles is a two-way street. Parents need to reach out to teachers, and teachers need to make sure that parents have the resources they need to be involved. Just as “one size does not fit all” with our students, the same applies to parents. With National Parental Involvement Day on the horizon (November 17), maybe it is a good time for all of us to find one thing that we can do to improve parental involvement within our educational organization. Maybe, if everyone does one thing to make a difference, we will. What do we have to lose…. well, except the academic success of our kids?
If parental involvement is a priority at your school or organization, tell us how you’re addressing it. We’d love to hear from you.
Schoodoodle.com carries a wide selection of resources designed to help parents support the learning process at home. Browse our Parental Involvementresources, as well as resources for home school kids, early childhood learning materials, and learning games for kids.


from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or constituting the basic, essential, or fundamental part: an elementary need for love and nurturing.
- adj. Of, relating to, or involving the fundamental or simplest aspects of a subject: an elementary problem in statistics.
- adj. Of or relating to an elementary school or elementary education: the elementary grades; elementary teachers.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
- adj. Relating to an elementary school.
- adj. Relating to a subatomic particle.
- adj. Sublunary; not celestial; belonging to the sublunary sphere, to which the four classical elements (earth, air, fire and water) were confined; composed of or pertaining to these four elements.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Having only one principle or constituent part; consisting of a single element; simple; uncompounded.
- adj. Pertaining to, or treating of, the elements, rudiments, or first principles of anything; initial; rudimental; introductory.
- adj. Pertaining to one of the four elements, air, water, earth, fire.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to or of the nature of an element or elements; primary; simple; uncompounded; incomplex: as, an elementary substance.
- Initial; rudimental; containing, teaching, or discussing first principles, rules, or rudiments: as, an elementary treatise or disquisition; elementary education; elementary schools.
- Treating of elements; collecting, digesting, or explaining principles: as, an elementary writer.
- Of the nature of an infinitesimal element or part.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adj. of or being the essential or basic part
- adj. easy and not involved or complicated
- adj. of or pertaining to or characteristic of elementary school or elementary education
Sorry, no etymologies found.


Online non-DSBK Resources
An integral part of the DSBK program is to foster curiosity in our Universe. Since our volunteers cannot always be around to answer questions, here is a sample of our favorite online resources for K-4 education:
- Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Stunning daily images of the Universe
- NASA Kids Club -- Fun activities for Kids generated by NASA
- The Galileoscope -- Inexpensive replicas of the first telescope built in 1609
- NASA for K-4 Education -- Activities at the K-4 Level
- NASA For Kids Only: Earth Science -- Activities for Kids highlighting our fascinating planet
- NASA For Kids: The Solar System -- Activities for Kids spanning our solar system
- Kids Astronomy -- Astronomy games
- Star Child -- Become a young astronomer and explore our Universe
- IYA2009: Cosmic Diary -- Journal entries that explore the exciting lives of Astronomers across the world
- IYA2009:100 Hours of Astronomy -- An IYA 2009 event that brought observers together from around the world.
- 365 Days of Astronomy -- A daily 10-minute podcast about astronomy from people all over the world. Look for numerous contributions from UVa and Charlottesville astronomers. Listen to a special DSBK episode on June 7, 2010!
- Space and Science for Kids -- Sent to us by the 4th graders at Monument Charter School!
- Online Education - The Planets and Space Science