Philosophy - Core Elements
Meet the Director
Classes & Recreation
Parent & Me Classes
School's Out Days
Children as Constructivist Learners
• The school’s curriculum emerges from child development combined with the children’s interest.
Children construct their own learning as opposed to teachers dictating facts.
• Children engage in Project Based Learning, which enables them to integrate knowledge and skills in
meaningful ways, incorporating math, literacy, science, social studies and physical education.
• A project is an in-depth investigation of a worthwhile topic. The teachers’ focus is to guide the children
to ask questions and, therefore, the children become more interested in what they are learning.
• The cognitive, social, emotional, language, literacy and physical skills are developed through the
learning experiences that the children participate in each day.
Families as Engaged Partners
• Family engagement is essential to building a quality school community. We actively incorporate parents’
perspectives into how we think about teaching and learning.
• Families have opportunities to joyfully celebrate Jewish life with their children.
• Communication about each child’s development is on-going, relevant and supportive.
• Families are involved in adult learning to support their own and each other’s parenting and Jewish journeys.
• Children and families are represented in the classroom environment, creating a sense of belonging.
• Space is flexible and materials open-ended, stimulating exploration and inquiry.
• Children have freedom to interact with the environment and manipulate materials.
• Aspects of the natural world are present in the classroom, engaging the senses.
• Attention is given to indoor and outdoor classrooms and common spaces to create community,
build connections and allow opportunities for Jewish living
Directors as Visionaries
• Inspired by Jewish values, directors work with the parents, teachers and lay leaders to create an
environment that cultivates a diverse and vibrant community.
• Create professional learning opportunities for the faculty. Arrange consistent and adequate time
for the teachers to learn, grow and reflect with their colleagues, families, students and community.
• Ensure that the goals of the early childhood center are aligned with the mission and goals of the JCC.
Integrate the JCC staff and lay leaders with the early childhood center.
• Cultivate professional and lay leadership to promote a sustainable early childhood learning center.
Meet the Director, Veronica Maravankin
• Early Childhood Educators are considered by the JCC and view themselves as Professionals.
• Engage in deep meaningful learning experiences, collaboration and mentoring with all members of the community.
• Fluent in the standards of excellence set by the state and accrediting agencies and have a passion to
go beyond these definitions.
Catch (Coordinated Approach to Child Health)
• Based on a foundation of Jewish values, Discover CATCH Early Childhood nurtures a love of
physical activity in children and encourages them to develop life-long healthy eating habits.
• The physical education component incorporates activities that develop flexibility, strength,
muscular and cardiovascular endurance.
• Featured activities and games develop fundamental motor skills and rhythm.
• A “no elimination” philosophy assures all children are moving at all times while having fun.
Teachers as Professionals
• Teachers have an authentic relationship with Israel allowing the children to create a strong bond with the
“Israel of the imagination.”
• Different aspects of Israel are experienced on a daily basis to seamlessly create powerful images and
representations in the minds and hearts of our children.
• Israeli music, dance, customs, foods and language come alive at the school.


The following account of what it is like to be a
Teacher of the Blind and Visually Impaired
outlines the qualifications for the job as well as its advantages and disadvantages. While the majority of the teachers in this field are sighted, there are a number who are visually impaired as well. Apart from having the necessary skills for the job, a blind or visually impaired TVI serves as a powerful role model for students and their parents.
Type of Company: I work for 2 different school systems on the South Shore of Massachusetts under a vendor contract.
Higher Education: BA Boston College, Elementary Education; MEd Boston College, Education of the Visually Impaired
Education coursework: Orientation and Mobility of the Blind, UMass Boston
Previous Experience: After college I worked as a teacher and supervisor in a large early childhood center with infants through kindergarten. For the past 15 years I have worked as a teacher of the visually impaired in public school systems and for educational collaboratives. I am currently an independent contractor for schools.
Job Tasks: My job involves the following responsibilities:
- 1. Provide direct instruction to blind and visually impaired students in Braille, daily living skills, technology, use of vision, career, social skills and advocacy.
- 2. Transcribe all classroom print materials into braille using a brailler or computer software.
- 3. Collaborate with regular education classroom teachers on how to adapt the curriculum and make lessons accessible for my students.
- 4. Evaluate the visual ability of students for a functional vision evaluation.
- 5. Conduct a Learning Media Assessment to decide if braille and or print are the proper learning media.
- 6. Work with families to train, assist and collaborate on how to work with and help their child at home and school.
- 7. Write IEPs (education plans) and progress reports for the school system.
- 8. Professional Development: take classes in my field, teach some conferences, take on student teachers new to the field.
- 9. Apply for grants for my students for technology.
- 10. Provide in-services for new teachers and staff and administrators who will be working with a child who is blind.
- 11. Each year, order and obtain braille and talking books through state, regional and national organizations for my students to use in classrooms.
- 12. Teach aides who work with my students how to create tactile graphics of math and science diagrams and maps, and how to use software to create braille documents.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job:
I have the opportunity to teach children who are blind skills that will last a lifetime. By teaching the braille and technology, students have a greater chance of a level playing field with their peers. I am able to give families hope that their child will have a strong and bright future. I love working directly with the children, especially the little ones! I love teaching braille and technology. I enjoy the variety of my job..meeting many new people, students, going to different schools and the flexible schedule.
The parts of my job that I don't enjoy are report writing, when staff or a school are resistant to having a blind child attend, when a family is in grief or angry about the disability (challenging to handle).
Job Tips: This is a wonderful field with a shortage of teachers. People who would like to work in this field should have strong interpersonal skills, and believe that blind people can do most anything if equipped with the proper life and job skills. While there can be challenges in terms of the isolation as a sole provider in a school system, there are wonderful organizations and schools for the blind, or larger school systems that offer the support a new teacher needs.
Top of Page


What Educators Learn from Teacher Talk™ (the term teacher means any Early Years worker)
The Teacher Talk Training Series is designed to actively engage participants through discussions, small group activities, analysis of video examples and completion of practical Action Plans that participants take back to their classrooms. Teachers receive workbooks for each session that allow them to personalise the content and think about how they will meet the needs of the individual children in their classroom.
Teacher Talk is divided into three full-day training sessions:
►Teacher Talk™ Training A: Encouraging Language Development in Early Childhood settings
This training addresses how educators can use everyday conversations, play and daily routines to promote the communication and social development of all children, including those with language delays and those who are second language learners.
Participants learn how to:
- Identify children’s conversational styles and the role teachers play in interactions
- Implement six steps to following the child’s lead: Observe, Wait and Listen, Be Face to Face, Imitate, Interpret, Comment, and Join in and Play
- Help children become better conversation partners by using appropriate questions, comments and turn-taking cues
- Use five important steps to ensure that no child is left out of the interaction during group activities
►Teacher Talk™ Training B: Let Language Lead the Way to Literacy
This training discusses the important links between oral language development and literacy, and provides teachers with practical strategies for paving the way for children to read and write.
Participants learn how to encourage and support literacy development by:
- Helping children develop a positive attitude toward the use of print
- Choosing books that match children’s interests and stages of development
- Using book reading as a time for interaction and conversation
- Making print a natural and meaningful part of every day
►Teacher Talk™ Training C: Fostering Peer Interaction in Early Childhood Settings
This training addresses how educators can provide a physical and social environment that encourages peer interaction and creates many opportunities or successful interactions with other children.
Participants learn how to encourage and support peer interaction by:
- Making the most effective use of space in the classroom
- Encouraging a variety of groupings for interaction
- Providing appropriate materials and activities
- Creating reasons for interaction and providing specific coaching
Note: The Teacher Talk Training Series may be offered flexibly. Training A may be offered on its own, or in combination with Training B and/or C, and the trainings do not have to be held on consecutive days. Training A, however, must be completed by the participant before he or she attends either B or C.
We will be running these courses in Northampton and Staffordshire next term (dates to be confirmed). If you'd like us to run these in your area, please let me know email@example.com


Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she was educated in the New York City Public Schools. She attended St. John's University, Brooklyn campus, where she received a B.S. in Elementary Education in 1965. Upon graduation, she attended New York University's Graduate Program in Madrid, Spain, and received her MA in Spanish and Hispanic Literature in 1966.
A junior high school teacher of English, Spanish, and ESL in Ocean Hill/Brownsville, Brooklyn, in 1968 she took a job at P.S. 25 in the Bronx, the first fully bilingual school in the Northeast. Her first position in higher education was as an Instructor in the Department of Puerto Rican Studies in Brooklyn College, where she taught in a bilingual education teacher preparation program co-sponsored with the School of Education.
Moving to Massachusetts with her family in 1975, she completed her doctoral studies in 1979 with specializations in curriculum studies, bilingual education, and multicultural education.
"I want to speak with you today about bilingualism and multiculturalism in order to develop powerful learning communities."
|2. Quality Education
"Quality education for linguistic minority students is about access and equity. Some people say it's a palliative, it's about feeling good.."
|3. Multiculturalism 1
"Too often when people think of multiculturalism they think about celebrations, they think about boosting self-esteem."
|4. Multiculturalism 2
"Multiculturalism is not just for "urban," "minority," "at-risk," and "disadvantaged" students."
|5. Teaching as Solidarity
"Promoting bilingualism and multiculturalism, what does it mean? I'm going to give you some examples."
|6. Teaching as Advocacy
"I teach because I believe young people have rights, including the right to their identities and their languages." (A. Lima)
|7. Teaching as Socio-Cultural Mediation
"I'm a White middle-class woman who grew up in a White middle class neighborhood who went to a White middle-class college." (M. Ginley)
"What are some of the lessons learned from teachers and from research that we have done over the years?"


Usually, an organization’s ethics are only as good as its leaders’. To create an organizational culture that promotes ethical conduct and personal responsibility, leaders need to serve as role models for others.
As part of its commitment to the people and communities associations serve, ASAE has developed standards of ethical conduct based on six core principles for its members to adhere and aspire to. Among the principles are these two:
- Foster an ethical culture through one’s work.
- Take responsibility for one’s conduct.
Many people naturally think of ethics first as guiding individual behavior, and of course it does. But ethics applies to organizations as well, and in order to foster an ethical culture—one in which individuals take responsibility for their own behavior—it’s important to understand what organizational ethics is.
Organizational ethics refers to the responsibility of an organization to conduct its business in an honest, respectable, and appropriate manner. An organization’s ethical climate is important because it can improve employee morale, enrich organizational commitment, and foster an involved and retained workforce.
If staff members see a leader being less than truthful and honest in business dealings, then they may believe that they can conduct themselves in the same way.
Organizational ethics are primarily driven not by policies and procedures but by the actions of its leaders. Good leaders model the ethics they’d like to see reflected throughout the organization. If staff members see a leader being less than truthful and honest in business dealings, then they may believe that they can conduct themselves in the same way.
What can leaders do to produce a positive ethical culture in an organization and encourage staff to be responsible for their conduct? A 2010 article published in The CPA Journal—“How to Instill a Strong Ethical Culture” [subscription required] by Shele Bannon, Kelly Ford, and Linda Meltzer—offers some advice inspired by the National Business Ethics Survey, conducted every two years since 1994 to measure how employees feel about ethics within their organizations.
The authors make several recommendations:
- An organization’s board of directors and management must comply with the organization’s rules. Creating clear boundaries for risks and ethical business standards provides a framework for employees to make the right decisions.
- Character evaluation should be a part of hiring, retention, and promotion practices. Employees need to understand what the organization values from the start, and this should be embedded into the performance evaluation and reward system.
- Leaders should convey, through their actions, that the organization’s reputation and long-term success are more important than short-term gains.
- Leaders should regularly examine complaints by employees and other stakeholders to determine whether the organization’s operations are in alignment with its values.
- Leaders can establish trust through transparency and accountability. They should provide open access to information about strategies and performance, keep their promises and commitments, be open about decision making, accept responsibility for wrongdoing, and reward behavior that supports transparency and truthfulness.
In short, they must lead by example, provide a safe mechanism for reporting violations, and reward integrity.
Training can also help instill an ethical culture, Bannon and her coauthors note. It should begin during employee orientation to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to ethical conduct. Later, surveying employees provides insight into how the ethical culture is perceived. Finally, training programs should be monitored and updated frequently to incorporate changes in society’s values. Training can also help staff members understand the importance of accepting responsibility for their conduct.
In this segment of the ASAE ethics video series, Robert Uttenweiler of the ASAE Ethics Committee and Michael Butera, executive director of the National Association for Music Education, discuss the impact leaders make on the ethical culture of their organization:
Now I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below or in the ASAE Collaborate community (member login required). What is your organization doing to foster and sustain an ethical culture? What does it mean for the leaders and staff of your organization to take responsibility for their conduct? Please join the conversation.


In this uppercase T worksheet, students practice printing the uppercase letter T ten times. Students trace the uppercase alphabet letter T fifty times on the lines provided.
3 Views 0 Downloads
It's no secret that children can be very opinionated, but rather than fight against this natural tendency, embrace it with this primary grade writing project. After a shared reading of a children's book about persuasion, young learners...
1st - 3rd English Language Arts CCSS: Designed
Cursive Capitals Formation Chart
Make sure your pupils get all their curly-cues just right with a step-by-step reference page of uppercase cursive letters. The page breaks down each capital letter into one to four steps. See the materials tab for a matching reference...
2nd - 5th English Language Arts
New Review Phonological Awareness: A Sound Beginning
Looking for ways to spice up your phonics instruction? Choose from a variety of phonological activities to complement a reading lesson. The guide goes through the basic components of good phonics instruction focusing on sound types,...
K - 2nd English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable
Letter T Mini Book/Flash Cards
In this letter T worksheet, students assemble a mini book or flash cards with the uppercase and lowercase letter T. Students trace both letters four times each, write the letters in a box provided and then write the word toad two times...
1st - 3rd Visual & Performing Arts


Cracking the reading code takes practice and repetition. Decoding words, or sounding them out, is the ability to apply existing knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce printed words.
Many children develop the ability to decode words over time with regular reading practice. But children may also benefit from explicit instruction. Phonics instruction is an essential component of learning to read, and involves teaching your child how to decode words by correlating sounds with letters. Here are five helpful ways you can help your child sound out words:
1. Explain the “how” of decoding words. When your child comes across a word they are unfamiliar with, show them how they can sound out the word themselves by breaking it up into smaller parts (e.g. /c/…/a/…/t/). Help your child identify the phonemes – the single units of sound that distinguish one word from another – in words (e.g. /b/…/ur/…/n/). There are 44 phonemes in the English language. Phonemes charts can be found online.
The English language also contains many irregular spelling rules which can make sounding out particular words confusing. For example the letter combination /ch/ in the words ‘chef’, ‘choir’ and ‘cheese’ have three different pronunciations. Take time to help your child learn the pronunciation of every new word along with its meaning, in order to help them identify ‘irregular’ words by sight.
2. Teach blending. Blending is a crucial step in becoming a fluent reader. Put simply, blending is the ability to smoothly combine individual sounds together in words. For example, an early reader may read out each individual sound in the word ‘fast’ like /f/…/a/…/s/…/t/, while smooth blending would be sounding the word out as /faasst/. Read some activities on how to teach your child blending here.
3. Write it down. When helping your child sound out words, consider the following:
- Say it slowly – stretch out words so that it’s easier to hear the sounds. Vowel sounds are usually the easiest to stretch out.
- Hold the sound – Starting with the first sound, hold it and stop.
- Find the letter – Help your child identify the letter whose sound matches the sound they have identified.
- Write it down – Write that letter down straight away, without waiting until the entire word has been sounded out. Help your child write a letter or letter combination for each sound as soon as the sound is identified.
Writing each sound as you go will help your child remember early sounds in a word by the time they figure our later sounds.
3. Play with rimes and onsets. A rime refers to the string of letters that follow an onset, which is the first phonological unit of any word. You can play with rimes and onsets by cutting out pieces of cards and writing a phoneme on each one, for example, b c f p r s m and h. Write the word at on a separate piece of paper. Ask your child to look at the rime at and decide if they have a phoneme that would correctly complete the word (e.g. b + at = bat).
4. Read aloud. When children hear words read aloud, they begin seeing how printed words are closely connected to spoken words. Reading aloud with your child helps them associate individual sounds with printed letters and letter combinations. Set aside regular reading time with your child and allow them to hear you read aloud slowly while watching your finger identify each sound. Programs like Reading Eggs include read aloud options with e-books for early readers, highlighting individual sounds as they are being read out.
Reading Eggs is the multi-award winning online reading program that teaches children to read using phonics. Suitable for children ages 3-13, Reading Eggs includes hundreds of guided reading lessons and over 2000 e-books for children of all reading levels. Start your free two week trial today.


Jottings from Juliet
Students choose a character from Romeo and Juliet, and create a diary that exemplifies the character's persona.
3 Views 5 Downloads
Reading Strategies and Literary Elements
Introduce your freshmen to reading comprehension strategies and key literary elements with a year's worth of lessons and exercises. Each lesson focuses on a specific literary device and includes a definition of the term, a passage that...
9th - 10th English Language Arts
A Teacher's Guide to William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Should Hamlet avenge his father's death? Is the ghost telling the truth or is it trying to trick Hamlet? Is Hamlet's inconsistent behavior a ploy or is he really insane? Something really is rotten in Denmark, and with the help of the...
11th - 12th English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable
Translate the first speaking and listening standard for yourself and your ninth and tenth graders! Learners can focus on communicating in small groups with the two activities presented here. Both activities center around group creation...
9th - 10th English Language Arts CCSS: Designed
On the Scene: Analyzing Scenes in Film and Literature
Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.
6th - 12th Visual & Performing Arts
Crossing the Line Online: Sexual Harassment and Violence in the Age of Social Media - NYTimes.com
Sexual harassment and sexual violence are by no means new issues. What has changed is the role of social media in these issues. This powerful and troubling lesson uses a specific rape case to launch research into a discussion of the...
9th - 12th English Language Arts CCSS: Designed
That's Moor Like It!
How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...
6th - 12th English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable


Course blog for American University PERF-570, Fall 2014
As arts managers, it’s important to look at the diversity of the audience attending cultural events. The classical music world is notorious for attracting an older generation. So how do we bring in younger audiences? Well studies have shown that most of the people attending these types of concerts are educated in that particular artistic field.
Many research has shown the benefit of arts education not only for the benefit of future classical music, but on brain and academic development as well. This article takes an interesting approach on music education, studying the brain function of disadvantaged children when exposed to music lessons. I definitely would like to see more research on this topic, as this article does not provide that much. However, I think it would be an interesting topic to explore.


Click on the logo for information on internet safety
Childnet International is a UK based charity working in partnership with others around
the world to help make the internet a great and safe place for children and young people.
Since January 2011 Childnet has formed part of the UK’s Safer Internet Centre, and was
an original member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS).
Childnet focuses on education, awareness, and policy, for a range of audiences – children and young people, parents and carers, those working with children, and those providing the internet services that they use. Our education work in schools aims to enable children of all ages to use interactive technologies safely and responsibly. For more information and advice, please visit www.childnet.com
Why not visit Childnet on the kidsmart site and download your free copy of the Digiduck's Big Decision booklet
Laughter is the best medicine but if your laughing without a reason you need to think about medicine
Q: Why did the teacher wear sunglasses?
A: Because his class was so bright!
Q: Why were the teacher's eyes crossed?
A: She couldn't control her pupils!
Q: Teacher: Didn't I tell you to stand at the end of the line?
A: Student: I tried but there was someone already there!
Q: How is an English teacher like a judge?
A: They both give out sentences.
Q: Teacher: You missed school yesterday, didn't you?
A: Student: Not really.
Q: Why did the teacher go to the beach?
A: To test the water.
Q: Teacher: If I had 6 oranges in one hand and 7 apples in the other, what would I have?
A: Student: Big hands!
Q: Teacher: If you got £20 from 5 people, what you get?
A: Student: A new bike.
Q: Teacher: I hope I didn't see you looking at John's exam?
A: Student: I hope you didn't either.
Q: Teacher: What is the shortest month?
A: Student: May, it only has three letters.
Q: Teacher: Answer my question at once. What is 7 plus 2?
A: Student: At once!
Q: Why did closing her eyes remind the teacher of her classroom?
A: Because there were no pupils to see.
Q: Why did the teacher turn the lights on?
A: Because her class was so dim.
Q: What do you do if a teacher rolls her eyes at you?
A: Pick them up and roll them back
Q: What did the ghost teacher say to the class?
A: Look at the board and I will go through it again.
Q: Why did the teacher write on the window?
A: Because she wanted the lesson to be very clear!
Helping teachers and parents save time finding excellent online educational resources.
Oxford Owl is an award winning free website packed with expert advice, top tips,eBooks and activities to help you support your child's reading and maths at home.
Primary Games Arena is the largest collection of primary school curriculum games in the universe.
This is new website for Woodlands Junior homework help. Hundreds of pages of easy to read information and facts on many homework topics.
255 free educational interactive teaching resources and activities for primary/elementary schools.
84 free to use fun kids games/activities for kids aged 4 - 11.
165 plus links to free interactive teaching activities, educational games, image and software resources.
© 2013 St Paulinus Catholic Primary School, Temple Road,
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF13 3QE
Tel: 01924 325330, Fax: 01924 325331, Email: firstname.lastname@example.org Web: http://www.stpaulinuscps.org.uk
Designed and Maintained by: Richard Clayton email@example.com
St. Paulinus Catholic Primary School ICT Technical Support


George Washington was born on February 11, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father Augustine died when he was just 11 years old. As a result, he was raised by his mother, Mary, on their Wakefield plantation. George received the equivalent of an elementary education. However, he was an avid reader his entire life. In 1749, George took a job working as an assistant surveyor. He learned quickly, and the following year staked out a claim for 1,450 acres. Following the death of his father, his older brother Lawrence inherited Mt. Vernon. At the same time George inherited an additional 4,000 acres. George idolized his older brother who had become his mentor. Sadly, Lawrence would soon become ill from tuberculosis and die. At that time, George leased Mt. Vernon from his sister-in-law, and then she also died, and he became the owner. Under George's ownership, Mt. Vernon would eventually covered 13 square miles.
George Washington was an intimidating sight. He was 6 foot 2 inches, with wide shoulders, long legs and arms, with a sculpted face. His horsemanship skills were legendary. In 1753, George led a military mission into Ohio. He was there to warn the French that they needed to leave, but they didn't want to go. The next year George returned. Only this time he led 159 British soldiers into Ohio. From the very moment they entered the Ohio Valley they were fighting the French. However, Washington lost when he made a crucial mistake. He constructed a fort in a flood prone area, calling it Fort Necessity. Unfortunately, when the French attacked, it rained and the fort flooded, forcing Washington to surrender.
George served in the Virginia legislature's House of Burgess for 15 years. Then in 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, the wealthiest widow in Virginia. Next he served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, soon afterward became commander in chief of the Continental Army. At the time the army was in chaos. George immediately got rid of many of the officers before finally achieving discipline. Between the summer of 1776 until the summer of 1778, George Washington fought 7 battles and was victorious in 2.
In 1787, he was selected as a delegate for the Constitutional Convention. Then just two years later, George would be elected President of the United States. At the time, the Washington's owned 168 slaves. During his entire time as president he never questioned the act of slavery. From the very moment George Washington became president political disputes erupted with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton introduced a complex financial plan that few understood. He proposed that the national government assume the states war debt. He also proposed that the debt be funded, which meant that the states were going to have to pay a federal tax. The southern states didn't like Hamilton's proposal because most of the war had been fought in the north and the debt was largely owed by the northern states. This passed when congress agreed to move the capital south to its present location. Hamilton also introduced legislation establishing a national bank, which Washington approved.
When war again broke out between France and Great Britain, in 1793, President Washington declared neutrality. He knew that the new nation couldn't endure more war. At the time, America was on very fragile soil both financially and militarily. Washington would pass away just 2 years after the end of his second term, on December 14, 1799, at his home at Mt. Vernon.


Social constructionism in the middle school chorus: a collaborative approach
Debrot, Ruth Ann
MetadataShow full item record
Middle school programs occupy a unique place in choral music education. This study builds upon and makes a unique contribution to the body of literature in choral music education by introducing critical participatory action research into the social ecology (Shotter, 1993) of the middle school choral classroom during the “regular” school day with a non-select choral ensemble. I employed critical participatory action research methodology—a collaborative approach to understanding specific problems in education—because it is a systematic research process conducted for the purpose of generating knowledge that is valid and vital for the well being of learners, communities of learners, and for promoting social change (Carr & Kemmis, 1986; Herr & Anderson, 2005; Kemmis and McTaggart, 1987; Mills, 2010). The purpose of this critical participatory action research study was to create a collaborative model of practice in order to make sixth grade choral music education more relevant and meaningful for learners. In order to accomplish this, I created a constructionist learning environment, applying domains of relevance set forth by Gergen (2001), and examined how this model of practice impacted the pedagogical practices of 19 sixth grade chorus students and their chorus teacher over the period of one semester. All participants collected evidence in the form of video recordings, interviews, journals and portfolios. All evidence was considered in light of the changes that occurred—individually and collectively—in pedagogical and organizational practices and in regard to the original research questions. This report illuminates ways that constructionist principles might be used to create a collaborative model of middle school choral music education and the pedagogical and social practices that emerge when beginning sixth grade students and their chorus teacher share responsibility for teaching and learning.


The importance of literacy and numeracy skills is paramount in most societies, their acquisition essential for communication and employment. This study set out to determine whether teachers using multiple choice assessment tasks could enhance student learning in literacy and numeracy. A software program that gave the teachers access to the results in terms of preset strands was provided to one group of teachers and the other group used the traditional techniques of looking over the students’ test papers. It focuses on the testing of students using standardised PAT (Progressive Achievement Test) comprehension and mathematics tests with the intervention of a software tool (AutoMarque) which is intended to expedite analysis of the results. While much research has been carried out on literacy and numeracy testing, relatively little attention has been paid to the significance of speedy feedback and analysis of results which can lead to improved pedagogy. Constructive teacher feedback following assessment tasks assists students’ learning and provides them with the skills they need to improve performance in subsequent assessments. This study highlighted the difficulties that time-poor teachers have in implementing new technologies despite their commitment to assessment for learning.
|Keywords:||Literacy, Numeracy, Diagnostic Testing, Assessment Elementary School|
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (Education), University of Technology Sydney, Lindfield, NSW, Australia
Senior Lecturer in Education, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (Education), University of Technology, Sydney, Lindfield, NSW, Australia
There are currently no reviews of this product.Write a Review


A tornado might have carried Dorothy on a great adventure to the land of Oz, but in real life, you don’t want to get anywhere near one. Tornadoes happen when warm air from the Gulf of Mexico mixes with cold air from Canada, creating unstable conditions. Warm air mixing with cold air can cause vertical columns of rotating air, accompanied by thunderstorms.
Tornadoes are fascinating, but incredibly dangerous. They can move more than 300 miles per hour and destroy everything in their path. They can blow cars hundreds of yards and move straw with such force that it sticks on tree trunks.
Fun Facts about Tornadoes for Kids
- A funnel cloud is a cone-shaped cloud that doesn’t reach the ground. A tornado happens when the funnel cloud touches to the ground.
- Most tornadoes last only a few minutes. The most severe ones can last more than one hour.
- Tornadoes happen most often in the Great Plains states, which include Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas.
- Tornadoes usually happen in the spring and summer. Sometimes they bring hail with them.
- There are over 1,000 tornadoes in the U.S. every year.
- Adventure: fun, thrilling experience
- Unstable: unpredictable, potentially dangerous
- Vertical: up and down instead of side to side
- Fascinating: interesting
Learn More All About Tornadoes
Check out this amazing video all about tornadoes:
A news clip of a tornado hitting Texas in 2013.
Tornado QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Question 1: How do I know if a Tornado is coming?
Answer 1: Turn on a radio or watch your television in a thunderstorm. If you hear the words “tornado watch,” you know a Tornado could happen. If you hear the words “tornado warning,” a tornado has been spotted. Take cover right away.
Question 2: Where should I go in a Tornado?
Answer 2: Indoors, head to a basement or a room on the first floor without windows. A closet or bathroom is a good place. Hide under a table if you can. Outdoors, get down in a ditch or other low area. Don’t try to outrun a tornado.
Question 3: Is a Tornado the same as a Twister?
Answer 3: Yes a Tornado and a Twister are the same thing, just different wording. Although some people refer to the term twister as a small tornado. Meteorologists tend only to use Tornado.
Question 4: What country experiences the most Tornadoes?
Answer 4: Unfortunately the United States suffers most Tornadoes. Nowhere in the US can be sure to avoid a tornado but states like Texas, Oklahoma and Florida bare the brunt of them.
Question 5: How is a Tornado measured?
Answer 5: A Tornado is measured based on the wind intensity. The F Scale (Fujita Scale) is the categorized terminology used for measuring Tornadoes. The range goes from F0 to F5. If you hear about F5 Tornadoes you can rest assure that there will be plenty of destruction.
Question 6: How long does a Tornado last?
Answer 6: This can vary, a Tornado typically lasts no longer than 10 minutes but that’s not to say they don’t continue much longer. In fact a Tornado can last up to hour or more but thankfully this is rare.
Question 7: What is the wind speed of a Tornado?
Answer 7: Tornadoes can have wind speeds from 110 mph to 300 mph. An F5 Tornado has the more powerful devastating winds.
Question 8: When are Tornadoes most likely to occur?
Answer 8: Although a Tornado can occur anytime of the year the northern states are more at risk during the summer months while southern states are more at risk from March to May. As mentioned above these are only peak times, a Tornado can strike anytime of the year.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Tornado Facts For Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Jul 2017. Web. 24 Jul 2017. < http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-tornadoes/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2017). Tornado Facts For Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-tornadoes/
Sponsored Links :


MITCHELL-BARRETT, RHONDA (2010) An analysis of the Storyline method in primary school; its theoretical underpinnings and its impact on pupils’ intrinsic motivation. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.
This study explores the relationship between the Scottish Storyline teaching method and pupils’ levels of motivation when engaged in a Storyline topic. It also examines the theoretical underpinnings for Storyline drawn from constructivism, progressive education, drama methodology and intrinsic motivation.
Storyline as a pedagogy emerged in Scotland during the late 1960s, as a means to support primary school teachers in teaching a topic based curriculum. Storyline as a teaching methodology has been widely adopted across Europe and America and in these countries, the method continues to grow in popularity. In order to meet the demands of the Scottish ‘Curriculum for Excellence’, there was recently a Storyline revival in Scotland. Yet in England, Storyline remains little known or virtually unheard of. However, with changing curriculum demands, teachers are searching for a pedagogy to teach topic based, cross curricular learning themes and as this paper will demonstrate, the Storyline method presents one such approach.
For the purposes of this study, pupils’ levels of intrinsic motivation were attained using an intrinsic motivation itemised questionnaire and the views and opinions of a sample group of pupils were gained through semi-structured interviews. This blend of data provides an insight into the scoring of pupils’ motivational levels and also their thoughts and experiences of the Storyline method. This research was then viewed within the wider context of the primary school curriculum, making links to recent developments in education policy making, and considering Storyline as a methodology to meet the needs of an unknown future curriculum.
|Item Type:||Thesis (Doctoral)|
|Award:||Doctor of Education|
|Keywords:||Storyline, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, constructivism, progressive education, drama methodology|
|Faculty and Department:||Faculty of Social Sciences and Health > Education, School of|
|Copyright:||Copyright of this thesis is held by the author|
|Deposited On:||07 Dec 2010 15:17|


To Have and to Hold…a Pencil
The Kumon Program has recently added a new level that can help children become more enthusiastic about learning. Through the use of Kumon’s new Level Z, students learn how to hold and use a pencil and develop their pencil skills.
In an ever-growing digital world, are skills like handwriting becoming obsolete? Recent studies suggest that the answer is “no.” In a 2012 study, The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children, psychologists used functional MRIs to gauge the amount of brain activity triggered when children were shown letters and instructed to type the letter on a computer, trace it, or write it freehand on a blank piece of paper. Only the children who had drawn the letter freehand displayed increased neural activity when shown the letter again, implying comprehension and retention of the information.
Handwriting is an important part of completing the Kumon worksheets. For students to begin learning their letters and numbers and writing them correctly, proper pencil grip and a certain level of pencil skills are needed. Level Z can help students develop pencil skills through the practice of scribbling and drawing lines, curves, and angles in a fun, colorful, and engaging way. In combination with other activities that advance motor skill development, Level Z will prepare students to write their letters and numbers for the first time with excitement and confidence.


This course aims to develop your musical creativity and help you acquire the skills needed to become a versatile and practical musician.
It stimulates your innate love of music, explores and identifies what music is, what it does, what it means, and provides a structured approach to your career progression as a performer, composer, technologist, teacher or academic.
You will engage with practical music-making opportunities such as composition and song-writing workshops, recording and production, as well as concert performances.
The course focuses on making, understanding, shaping and experiencing music, and the study of composition in a wide range of styles. You will have the opportunity to perform in different ensembles and as a solo performer. You will develop your communication skills through writing essays, delivering presentations and through the use of electronic media.
The latest music technologies will help you to discover your creativity and enable you to express and communicate it widely. In addition, research and analysis modules will enable you to understand musical structures and contribute to academic discussion and debate. All of these skills will be brought together within the professional development modules which will help you to identify and follow your desired career path.
The BMus Music has a strong focus on practical performance-based work and you will create and recreate music in equal measure, enhancing your natural musical skills and ability. We are very proud of our excellent, well-established team of visiting musicians, who contribute to the programme. As a provider of music education, we are aware of the challenges you face as a learner in the 21st century so this course has been structured in a way that is contemporary, providing flexible study patterns to suit you. You will gain a fascinating insight into the world of music, broadening your horizons for lifelong learning whilst developing a creative and entrepreneurial flair ready to respond to the technological and artistic innovations of the industry.
Members of staff of the Music Department are all actively involved in research, performance and composition at a regional, national and international level, and their expertise and enthusiasm will assist you in becoming a professional musician. They will encourage you to explore new fields of music and stimulate your interest and love for the subject.
The University of Wolverhampton continues to develop state of the art facilities to greatly enhance your learning experience. The Performance Hub, opened in 2011, has a diverse range of fully equipped music teaching, performance and practice rooms (accommodating single person to large band / ensemble), two high-end professional recording studios, and two bespoke technology suites boasting sixty Apple iMacs running industry standard software including Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Max, Pure Data and SuperCollider.
Our two recording studios offer the perfect blend of digital and analogue technologies giving students the opportunity to combine classic analogue recording technique with the flexibility and reliability digital technology provides. As well as a dedicated live room each for recording, for increased flexibility and choice of room acoustic, any of the music rehearsal rooms surrounding each studio can also be patched into the studio's control room.
A music degree opens the door to a wide range of careers, many of which will be personally fulfilling by following your interests and talents. Alternatively, music graduates have the option of continuing their studies at postgraduate level. Teaching careers are natural choices for many students who choose to work in primary or secondary education, colleges, or universities. You could also pursue a career in performance as a soloist, member of a professional orchestra or band, session musician or even in the promotion of live events. Other possible careers could be in television, film and radio by creating, arranging or producing the songs, jingles and music for advertisements.
As a graduate of this course you will be able to:
Those meeting the entry requirements will be shortlisted for an audition.
The audition is an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their skill as a performer on their primary instrument. Candidates should select a piece (or two short extracts) that communicates musicality and expression rather than pure technical demands. In addition, candidates will also be asked to demonstrate an understanding of music notation.
Students must have studied a minimum of two years post GCSE level. However, it is expected that some applicants will be mature students with work experience, who wish to further their career development. These applicants will be processed through standard procedures, which may involve an interview as part of the process. Please see http://wlv.ac.uk/mature for further information.
Those who do not meet the entry requirements may be offered an alternative course.
|Part time #||£2,835|
The University also offers a range of Bursaries and Scholarships in addition to other financial support packages
These fees are applicable for new entrants in 2017/8. If you have any queries regarding the fees listed please contact 01902 323135
These fees are for the current academic year only. Any subsequent years may be subject to an annual increase, usually in line with inflation.
# Undergraduate part-time fees for 50% rate of study


A session entitled “Arts, Music, and the Brain: How the Arts Influence Us from Youth to Maturity” drew a standing room only crowd in a late afternoon session on Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego.
Four speakers came at the topic from slightly different angles. The common denominator: In addition to anecdotal evidence and common sense, improved imaging and sound wave technology has helped neuroscientists demonstrate that arts and music boost cognitive function across social economic class, age, gender, and ethnicity.
First up was Ping Ho, M.A., M.P.H., founder and director of UCLArts and Healing, an organization aimed at transforming lives through creative expression and self-discovery. She believes that arts and music are an extension of self, as well as a window to the soul. To demonstrate stress release, she asked the audience to pick up a piece of plain white paper left on each seat and use it to express stress. Massive crumpling and tearing ensued. She then asked the audience to tap rhythmically on their thighs to facilitate the feeling of a drum circle. “These are key therapeutic elements,” she said. “They are process over product and the language of non judgement. These exercises remove the fear of making mistakes and allow for positive risk taking.”
Nina Kraus, Ph.D., professor of communication sciences, neurobiology and physiology, otolaryngology at Northwestern University, demonstrated social and emotional engagement in infants by showing a video of two babies eating peas. Once a song is played, they respond by swaying back and forth, with big grins across their faces. “Sound is invisible, yet one of the most powerful forces in our lives,” she said.
Kraus discussed studies in Chicago and Los Angeles where her team went into poor urban schools and looked at how students from different backgrounds responded to music education. Over a two-year period, the team found that students who responded better maintained their reading scores. “Measuring the impact of sound is expensive and complicated,” she said, “but we are working to make a more affordable device to measure and help teachers with social change.”
Daniel J. Levitin, a professor of psychology and behavioral neuroscience at McGill University and author of This Is Your Brain on Music, showed a slide that portrayed the infiltration of sound waves into almost every section of the brain. He cited study after study that demonstrated the benefits of music in brain development, social engagement, learning, and aging. He also provided strong anecdotal evidence, offering a story about the rural, poor, central California community in which he was raised. He believes that because the school district had such a strong music program, a high number of people benefitted from their early involvement with music by going on to accomplished careers in music and other fields.
Kenneth Elpus, Ph.D., assistant professor of music education at the University of Maryland—and the only non-neuroscience person on the panel—gave an impressive slide show presentation on music education and public policy. After a career as a high school music teacher in an upscale New Jersey school district, was inspired to pursue his doctorate degree after a new school superintendent decided that the district should not be subsidizing music education.
Elpus explained that as students progress from the primary grades into middle school and then high school, music and arts education tends to decrease. With all the proven cognitive and social benefits that the arts have to offer, he said, this trend is very disturbing and—based on all the evidence put forth by the speakers before him—needs to be reversed.


Phonics and Word Study for the Teacher of Reading Programmed for Self-Instruction, by Fox, Barbara J.
Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780132838092 | 0132838095
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 2/4/2013
Phonics and Word Study for the Teacher of Readingis a self-paced, self-instruction program designed to help teachers independently develop a comprehensive background in phonics, syllable and accent patterns, onset-rime, the morphemes that contribute to word meaning, and phonological and phonemic awareness. The unique structure of the book is set up to ensure learning success through a careful sequence of material that guides readers through the material, coupled with a number of pedagogical aids that check reader understanding at various stages in the learning process. Throughout the book, readers see how to connect the information they're studying with grade-specific learning expectations described in the Foundational Skills strand of the Common Core State Standards.


Ever since India got independence in 1947, education has always been our top priority. Whether it is the ‘Savitribai Phule Yojana’ for girl child education or the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’- the right to education act seems like a relief and similarly a ray of hope which promises to bring education at one’s doorstep.
What is the act about? (the exact portions from the written act)
• Every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education.
• The government schools will have to provide free education to all the children and the schools will be managed by school management committees (SMC)
• The RTI promises to that it is compulsory for private schools to include at least 25% of students from the lower sections. The National Commission for Elementary Education has to be a body to monitor all aspects of elementary education including quality.
How ever idealistic it may sound, the government has done nothing apart form sanctioning huge amounts of money for the implementation of this act. Apart from that there have always been loopholes in the cited measures in the written act. This questions the credibility of the execution of the act.
The act mentions free and compulsory education for children till they are 14.But it fails to include children below and beyond the age. It is noted that rural children after they get some education do not have a source to earn and are thus caught in the vicious circle of child labor.
Also the teachers in municipal schools are nothing but a disappointment. According to government provisions there has to be a teacher for each class, but the reality is quite different. In the smaller taluka schools, just 2 teachers are in charge of at least 5 classes. The RTI clearly states that there has to be no compromise with respect to the teachers without whom this act remains void of implementation. For those, teachers are expected to be punctual, are responsible for completing the decided curriculum and should stick to the guidelines by the education ministry. But no training has yet been giving to them.
So when they say free education do they mean quality education?
Also the act states uniform education to all over the country. But statistical data on the education difficulty levels states that the curriculum in some developed cities like Bangalore. Delhi and Chennai is higher to that of cities like Chhattisgarh, Bihar or Assam. A uniform syllabus will mean that they have to lower their level. The act needs expert suggestions from all the three boards namely the CBSE ICSE and the SSC boards in order to take uniform steps thus enabling overall transformation in the system.
The food and milk to all primary school kids although lures us ,almost 5 in 10 kids have reported the food given to them is of much inferior quality than promised and that the milk they get is most of the times sour and pungent.
In a country like ours what is required is an overall makeover in the system and education to all should be quality education to all .Only then we can at least dream of being in par with the western education. Till then the act still remains a mere document!
Image Source: [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x7MOl4ufvqY/TWVOqW1e17I/AAAAAAAAA4w/-Wj8VawThJc/s1600/RTE.jpg]


Language and Literacy Development
Involves children’s abilities to convey their ideas, thoughts, and feelings through speaking and writing, and their ability to demonstrate early reading skills.
Focuses on the development of skills necessary for learning, such as self-regulation, attention, and persistence.
Social and Emotional Development
Supports your child’s ability to express and regulate feelings and develop relations with others.
Physical Development and Wellness
Gives your child opportunities to build large- and small-muscle skills, strength, stamina, and knowledge needed to live a healthy lifestyle.
Supports the mental processes needed to think, make sense of the world, and understand knowledge across different subjects, including mathematics, science, and social studies.
Helps your child creatively explore the arts, movement, drama, and music.


By: Joseph Rutkowski
The older I get, the more I am convinced that music is the most important subject kids should learn in school as performers and consumers. Why is it that Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, the Beatles are as relevant (actually more so) today as (than) they were in their day? Any child who is not exposed to performing and listening to the music created by these and all the other geniuses will be so sadly shortchanged!
What makes the subject of music so powerful and so vital is the dual significance it holds:
- The musician spends vast amount of time alone preparing her/his skills
- The musician depends on other persons (musicians and/or listeners) to complete the musical experience, which is a communal event
I feel fortunate to have been born into a musical family, attend public schools that valued music education, receive a conservatory education and spend 8 years after college in a performance career before settling down into a full time teaching position. During the 12 years before I began teaching, I was able to learn from great musicians, many who are no longer living: Eric Simon, William Kroll, Carl Bamberger, Leonard Bernstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maurice Andre, Marcel Moyse, David Glazer, Winifred Cecil, Harold Wright, Carol Glenn, David Weber, Claus Adam, Samuel Baron.
When I was a student at the Mannes College, the German violinist William Kroll told us how when he was our age (a teenager), he played with musicians who had played with Johannes Brahms himself when they were teenagers. I think about this when I work on music by Brahms with my current students.
And I am very fortunate to have spent the past 32 years teaching in two different high schools where the administration highly values music education: Stuyvesant High School in NYC and the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School.
But what I feel most blessed by is the fact that I still perform with other professional musicians, with my students, with my own children (now adults pursuing careers outside of music), and–most incredibly–with former students, who now are thriving as concert or jazz musicians! When my current students attend these performances, they see their teacher practicing what he preaches. They also see a good many of my former students in the audience. Those are the students who are probably not continuing to practice and play their instruments, but do attend live concerts to see their former classmates whom they recall sitting next to in their teenage years.
I begin my day practicing my clarinet for the half hour before the students arrive. They find it amusing to see this old guy still practicing.
When they ask me why I still practice, I quote the great cellist Pablo Casals at the age of 96: “I believe that I am beginning to make progress…”
In the five classes I teach, we start with a warm up routine that includes long tones, scales, articulation/bowing exercises, ear-training, singing, sight reading, conducting, self- and peer-evaluation and dropping the needle (tuning into the classical radio station to guess the period of history of the piece that is being broadcast). Then we delve into rehearsing whatever great piece we are preparing for concert performance or simply our own study (we spend the first 9 weeks of school studying, rehearsing and reading through each of Beethoven’s symphonies).
After school, I invite all of my 155 students to play through the music we rehearse that day. 30-50 students voluntarily attend on the average day.
On Fridays, we usually have close to 100. Some students attend after school sessions several times each week. These are the most dedicated students who are the role models. These are the ones who attend concerts in NYC, including my own. These are the students who I know will keep the music alive.
I hope that all my students continue to practice and play their instruments with others, but if most of them wind up going to live concerts, they will be helping to keep Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, the Beatles are as relevant as they are today.
About the author:
Joseph Rutkowski has taught band and orchestra classes at the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School on Long Island since 1991 and was the orchestra director at Stuyvesant High School in NYC for the eight years prior. He continues to perform as a concert clarinetist in orchestras and chamber ensembles, as well as a jazz pianist with his sons and former students. Joseph is a two-time Presidential Scholar Teacher, a Distinguished Teacher of the Harvard Club of Long Island, and a two-time GRAMMY Music Educator AwardTM Quarterfinalist.
Kristen Rencher Nuss, Marketing Manager. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)


Back in the day, when I taught AP Art History, I would talk to my students about sacred geometry, the mathematical underpinnings of our world. Man’s art has connected to this universal law since the beginning of his art and architecture creations. Through keen observation, man recognized the relationships, the patterns and the power of essential shapes and proportions.
The Circle lies at the heart of this universal code and is rich with meaning and purpose.
The Circle is the most common and universal signs, found in all cultures. It is the symbol of the sun in its limitless or boundless aspect. It has no beginning or end, and no divisions, making it the perfect symbol of completeness, eternity, and the soul:
The circle is also the symbol of boundary and enclosure, of completion, and returning cycles. The circle symbolism most familiar to us is that of the wedding ring which encircles the finger associated in ancient times with the heart. The wedding ring symbolizes not just a pledge of eternal love, but the enclosure of the heart- a pledge of fidelity. (From the symboldictionary.net)
I was introduced to a beautiful collaborative activity at our art education in service workshop before we began the school year. Our Visual Arts Coordinator provided us with big panels of cardboard, paint and brushes, and we worked together to create our own circle painting. Instead of sitting at tables, clumped up with our art teams, we mingled together and painted with abandon. Instead of being talked at, we created together. It was active and fun. This collaborative art activity has sprung out of an organization that is using this simple but powerful activity to bring people together – Circlepainting.org.
Our district art team got to work that day and painted our own circle painting with glee.
After school got underway, our Visual Arts Coordinator organized our annual staff exhibit that is hung at three of the administration facilities in our district. She had one circle painting framed and hung at each of the exhibits to display the beauty of art teachers playing together.
The circle painting was a powerful influence! I had seen it grow from a big, blank piece of cardboard into a beautiful, dynamic work of art. It had been easy, quick and so much fun! When our school announced that we were going to have a Club Fair on our campus to promote all of the clubs offered to the student body, the circle painting was in the forefront of my mind for our table display. Let’s make our own circle painting! Off we went, aprons on, paint and brushes out, ready, set and GO!
In just one hour, our art club produced their own spectacular circle painting! The students LOVED it! As they left, each one expressed how much fun they had. A sign was also made and when we set up our table, we had the most dynamic, beautiful table of all of them!
I was incredibly proud of the students, and they were so proud of themselves! As they manned the table, you could see them beam in front of their creation. It was such a powerful way to start off the year! If you haven’t done this with your students, find a day when you need to infuse some energy back into your program. Get that paint out and make a circle painting! We all know how much fun it is, but your students may not have experienced an art activity that can bring the whole group together. Art – it brings people together.


Question: What types of finger exercises or warm ups do you recommend for very small piano students?
Did you know that many children enter kindergarten having never held a pencil correctly or used pair of scissors? A great deal of time in the first year of school is spent developing fine motor skills. If you have a 5 year old piano student, your demands on their fine motor skills are even greater than in a school setting. And while some students have more advanced finger dexterity, others struggle. Regardless of their abilities, young piano students benefit greatly from exercises designed to zero in on fine motor skill development.
Building strength and dexterity in young piano students can be a really enjoyable part of their lesson! Finger warm-ups are a good way to begin the lesson as they can be done while you chat about their day at school and ease them into the piano lesson frame of mind.
Check out our Top 5 Piano Finger Warm Ups below and have some fun developing your piano students’ fine motor control.
1. Icky Sticky Thumb
Spread imaginary glue on your piano student’s thumb. Your student’s job is to then rub off the “glue” using the pad of each of their other fingers in turn starting with the 2 finger. Have your student use a circular motion when rubbing the thumb. I say “icky sticky thumb” while they rub 3 circles in time with the rhythm of the words. Do hands separately until they are good at it and then hands together.
2. Stretchy Spider
Have your student place their hand on a table top with their wrist resting on the surface and their fingers nicely curved. This is the “spider”. He needs to stretch each of his legs. Have your student reach one finger at a time starting with their thumb and reaching in an upward motion while keeping their other fingertips touching the table top and without allowing their knuckles to collapse. You can hold something for the spider legs to reach up to touch, giving them something to aim for.
Once your student has mastered this, this you can give the spider specific exercises for his legs. Write out finger numbers in random order and have the spider’s legs lift accordingly (ie. 1-3-5-2-4).
3. Silly Poems
Use silly poems like the one below to give your students cues as to what to do with their fingers. These also strengthen memory skills if you have your student recite the poem along with you and they help to connect your young piano students with a sense of pulse as they listen to rhythm of the words.
4. Don’t Wake Mr. Pointer!
With their hand in C position, have your piano student press down all 5 keys at once. One at a time each finger lifts to tap their key 3 times while the rest of the fingers remain depressed. Mr. Pointer (their 2 finger) is sleeping so he doesn’t tap! The other fingers need to tap softly so as to not wake him up.
5. Gimme a Pop!
Have your student lay their hand palm up on a flat surface. Their fingers have become sunbathers… and they’re hot! The thumb has nice cool soda pop for each finger. One by one they lift up to meet the thumb who is delivering their refreshments. The fingers meet over their open palm and touch briefly finger pad to finger pad before returning to a flat hand position. The other “sunbathers” are allowed to lift up slightly if necessary. My piano kids love it when I make sound effects each time the fingers touch the thumb like “Glug glug glug… ahhh!” (as though one was enjoying a nice cold drink).
Piano Finger Warm-Ups Are Important
By helping your piano students to focus in on individual finger movements you are not only strengthening their finger muscles and coordination, but also the brain-to-finger connection. They’ll not only be much more adept pianists… but they’ll be the ones in their class at school who hold their pencil correctly and have beautiful printing too! (Score one more for piano teachers! :))
We specialize in little fingers! So much so that we’ve written an entire preschool piano method for preschool-aged children. WunderKeys Piano for Preschoolers is a one-on-one piano program designed to make the first piano lesson experience both enjoyable and valuable. Piano teachers around the world are using this one of a kind program to build their studio. Are you?? Check out www.wunderkeys.com for more information.


Developing Writing Intensive School Environments
New York City Writing Project
(Funders: National Writing Project, Institute for Literacy Studies)
This study examines the degree to which the NYCWP’s involvement with teachers and administrators in two schools contributed to the emergence of a writing-intensive school environment. A mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis was employed in these noncomparative case studies. The case studies illustrate how differences in school culture and structure shaped the NYCWP’s ways of working, which in turn led to different levels of success in developing opportunities for students to engage in learning through varied and meaningful forms of writing throughout the school day.
Findings suggest that a consistent focus on literacy development across content areas (curricular cohesiveness) cannot be achieved in the absence of a mature professional community. Furthermore, a mature professional community will continue to benefit from professional development aimed at sustaining and enhancing an environment with a high degree of writing intensity, which ultimately affects both teacher practice and student learning outcomes.
- Carhill, A. & Campos, A. with N. Mintz & M. Wolfe (2011). The development of writing-intensive school environments over time. Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project.
- Peach, R. & Campos, A. (2010, May). Improving literacy across the curriculum: Developing a writing-intensive school. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting, Denver, CO.


|Leoš Janácek (1854-1928)|
Leoš Janácek (1854-1928) is regarded as the greatest Czech composer of the early twentieth century. In his early works, which included the opera Sárka (1888), and numerous vocal and instrumental works, Janácek followed a traditional, Romantic idiom, typical of late nineteenth century music. Having completed Sárka, however, Janácek immersed himself in the folk music of his native Moravia, gradually developing an original compositional style. Eschewing regular metrical phrasing, Janácek developed a declamatory method of setting the voice that follows the natural rhythmic patterns of the Czech language. Characteristically, Janácek allowed these patterns to inform the music itself. In addition, Janácek's harmonies, forms and orchestration are highly idiosyncratic. His music favors repetitive patterns, often set in stark contrast to longer, more lyrical, lines, or large blocks of sound. Dramatic effects are attained with minimal thematic or contrapuntal elaboration. The result is music of great rhythmic drive, sharp contrasts, and an intricate, montage-like texture. Exemplifying Janácek's radical stylistic transformation is his tragic opera Jenufa (1904), based on a story of jealousy, murder, and innocence.
At first unknown outside of Moravia, where he was recognized primarily as a teacher, conductor, and champion of folk music, Janácek first gained national and international fame with the Prague production of Jenufa in 1916. The success of Jenufa in Prague tremendously energized the composer, who, in his sixties, experienced an astonishing creative surge, composing several masterpieces. Janácek's euphoric state of mind could be attributed to two factors. First of all, after the foundation, in 1918, of the Czechoslovak state, Janácek became a national celebrity. The second, and perhaps more important, factor, was Janácek's affection for Kamila Stösslová, a considerably younger married woman. While his ardor was not reciprocated, Janácek's passion for Kamila undoubtedly simulated his creativity. Janácek's modern fame rests on his four last operas, Kát'a Kabanová (1921), The Cunning Little Vixen (1924), The Makropulos Affair (1926) and the posthumously premiered From the House of the Dead (1930).
What makes these works outstanding is Janácek's profound dramatic sense, which allows his operas, in spite of their brevity, to effectively communicate a complex plot. The dramatic effect is heightened by the composer's ability to adapt his music to the tonal and rhythmic characteristics of the Czech language. The last four operas in particular are perfectly paced for the right dramatic impact. In addition, Janácek drew on the inner resources of music and speech to convey complex feelings and emotional states to his listeners.
Janácek's extraordinary power in translating profound psychological insights into music truly comes to the fore in The Makropoulos Affair, based on a work by Karel Capek, a story about a woman with the gift of eternal youth. In 1926, Janácek, whose early interest in Moravian folk music developed into an effort to grasp Slavic musical traditions in their totality, composed his Glagolitic Mass, a work aiming to express the profound spiritual bonds underlying the seemingly disparate cultural traditions of the Slavic nations (the term "glagolitic" refers to one of the early alphabets of Old Slavic). During his final creative period, Janácek also composed a small number of exceptional chamber works, including the two string quartets and the Sinfonietta. In addition to his work as a composer, Janácek actively contributed to his country's musical life as a teacher, critic, and organizer. Founder of the Brno Organ School (later to become the Brno Conservatory), director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, teacher at the State Conservatory of Prague, and initiator of many musical festivals, Janácek greatly enriched Eastern European music education and culture.


§ 4.23. High school education.
(a) Instruction in the high school program must focus on the development of abilities needed to succeed in work and advanced education through planned instruction.
(b) Curriculum and instruction in the high school must be standards-based and provide all students opportunities to develop the skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem-solving and information literacy.
(c) Planned instruction aligned with academic standards in the following areas shall be provided to every student in the high school program. Planned instruction may be provided as a separate course or as an instructional unit within a course or other interdisciplinary instructional activity:
(1) Language arts, integrating reading, writing, listening, speaking, literature and grammar.
(2) Mathematics, including problem-solving, mathematical reasoning, algebra, geometry and concepts of calculus.
(3) Science and technology, including participation in hands-on experiments and at least one laboratory science chosen from life sciences, earth and space sciences, chemical sciences, physical sciences and agricultural sciences.
(4) Social studies (civics and government, economics, geography and history, including the history and cultures of the United States, the Commonwealth and the world).
(5) Environment and ecology, including scientific, social, political and economic aspects of ecology.
(6) The arts, including art, music, dance, theatre and humanities.
(7) Use of applications of microcomputers and software, including word processing, database, spreadsheets and telecommunications; and information skills, including access to traditional and electronic information sources, computer use and research.
(8) Health, safety and physical education, including instruction in concepts and skills which affect personal, family and community health and safety, nutrition, physical fitness, movement concepts, motor skill development, safety in physical activity settings, and the prevention of alcohol, chemical and tobacco abuse.
(9) Family and consumer science, including principles of consumer behavior and basic knowledge of child health, child care and early literacy skill development.
(d) The following planned instruction shall be made available to every student in the high school program:
(1) Vocational-technical education under § § 4.3 and 4.314.35.
(2) Business education, including courses to assist students in developing business and information technology skills.
(3) World languages under § 4.25 (relating to languages).
(4) Technology education, incorporating technological problem-solving and the impacts of technology on individuals and society.
(e) College-level advanced placement courses may be offered as planned instruction in the high school curriculum.
(f) This section does not preclude the teaching of other planned instruction designed to achieve a school districts, including a charter schools, academic standards.
(g) School districts, including a charter school, shall determine the most appropriate way to operate their high school programs to achieve the purposes under subsection (a) and any additional academic standards as determined by the school entity.
The provisions of this § 4.23 amended under sections 121, 2603-B and 2604-B of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. § § 1-121, 26-2603-B and 26-2604B).
The provisions of this § 4.23 amended February 15, 2008, effective February 16, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 872; amended February 28, 2014, effective March 1, 2014, 44 Pa.B. 1131. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (346981) to (364982).
This section cited in 22 Pa. Code § 4.27 (relating to physical education and athletics).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.


Harriet Island Shelter
Artist Name: Craig David
Date Created: 2001
Location: Harriet Island Gateway
History: The city created this entrance through the levee system protecting the West Side of Saint Paul to encourage pedestrians from the neighborhood to frequent the park. Using 14.5 million dollars, the city renovated Harriet Island Park. This was part of a project redirecting the city’s attention to the Mississippi River, the reason for the establishment of Saint Paul. The stone carvings depict the history of the immigrants of the West Side neighborhood.
David graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976, with a Bachelor of Science in Art Education and received from the University of Oregon his Master of Fine Arts in Painting. He presently creates collaborative environmental site works, drawing on the culture of the people for whom he creates the piece. He lives in the West Side of Saint Paul.


- Browse By Subject
- Sign Up
- Contact Us
NEW! Words Their Way: Word Study in Action Developmental Model. Following the 5 stages of spelling development, this classroom-ready package features all materials needed to assist teachers to instruct in phonics, vocabulary, and spelling.
Words Their Way is a foundational program that helps students develop those foundational skills targeted in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Specifically, Words Their Way supports the CCSS’s Reading Foundational Skills and Language Standards in Grades K–5. The depth and breadth of word knowledge developed through the Words Their Way approach to word study also supports the Common Core’s emphasis on students’ reading more complex literary and informational texts.
Words Their Way: Word Study in Action Developmental Model aligns students’ spelling development into the following five research-based stages. This developmental model recognizes the synchronous nature of reading, writing, and spelling, and has identified common characteristics of readers, writers, and spellers along the literacy continuum.
The following presentation will give you a sense of what stage your students will be placed at in the Developmental Model.
Palabras A Su Paso is a developmental model of Spanish Literacy from the authors of the Words Their Way series.
This K-5 program builds and expands on phonics, vocabulary, and spelling skills, giving students a solid foundation to master the Spanish language. It offers a hands-on approach to word study that parallels the Words Their Way: Word Study in Action program but is based on Spanish orthographic principles.


Description - Language, Literacy, and Power in Schooling by Teresa L. McCarty
Language, Literacy, and Power in Schooling brings critical ethnographic perspectives to bear on language, literacy, and power in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts, showing how literacy and schooling are negotiated by children and adults and how schooling becomes a key site of struggle over whose knowledge, discourses, and literacy practices "count." Part I examines tensions between the local and the general in literacy development and use; Part II considers face-to-face interactions surrounding literacy practices in ethnically diverse classrooms; and Part III widens the ethnographic lens to position literacy practices in the context of globalization and contemporary education policies. Each section includes a substantive introduction by the editor and a synthetic commentary by a leading literacy researcher. Above all, this is a book oriented toward social action. Unpacking the complexity of literacy practices and experiences in diverse settings, the authors seek not only to build new knowledge, but to inform and transform the pedagogies and policies that limit human potentials.
The chapters in this volume have much to teach us about the roots of inequality and the possibilities for positive change. Together, they highlight the urgent need for critical literacy researchers to engage politically, confronting education policies that deny the rich multiplicity of human literacies, thereby carving ever-deeper cleavages between those with and without access to literacies of power. The dual focus on language and literacy with critical-ethnographic accounts of identity and schooling speaks to a growing constituency of scholars and practitioners concerned with the role of literacy and discourse in alternatively affirming or negating knowledge, power, and identity, both within and outside of schools.
Buy Language, Literacy, and Power in Schooling by Teresa L. McCarty from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, Boomerang Books.
(229mm x 152mm x 29mm)
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Inc
Country of Publication:
Other Editions - Language, Literacy, and Power in Schooling by Teresa L. McCarty
Book Reviews - Language, Literacy, and Power in Schooling by Teresa L. McCarty


Special Issues of Studies in Art Education on Histories and Historical Research in Visual Arts Education
May 3, 2017
Two special issues in 2017: 58(1) and 58(2)
on Histories and Historical Research in Visual Arts Education
“An interpreted past enables us to make sense of the present, helps mold identity, and enriches understandings of the field.”
—Studies Senior Editor Mary Ann Stankiewicz
Coming 30 years on the heels of the last historically themed issue of Studies in Art Education, and in step with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of NAEA, these special issues ask why historical research is significant to art education.
Authors in both volumes mark maturity in historical research by moving beyond simple descriptions of events to bring theoretical frameworks to bear in their interpretations and re-interpretations. In Volume 58(1), authors advocate for art education informed by the field of Childhood Studies; study education, administration, and class struggle at the Museum of Modern Art beginning in the 40s; examine and identify professional networks in the first decade of Studies in Art Education; and argue that history “is not told like a string of rosary beads, but grasped as a whole, like a constellation.”
Volume 58(2) continues the narrative begun in 58(1), with conversations that include an African American artist hired to teach drawing in segregated schools in Washington, DC; another African American artist who gained her reputation as a trouble-maker by criticizing White patrons of Black art; and the almost forgotten artist wife of a national spokesperson for art education. In the Commentary, a well-known psychologist looks back on what has changed since his first ideas about the developmental course of children’s drawings.
In this issue, Senior Editor Stankiewicz again notes that “Historical research raises questions that encourage us to reflect on present and future, as well as the past. When brought into crucial, complicated conversations, historical narratives—like contemporary artworks—can help readers empathize with the pain of others, consider varied points of view across diverse communities, and decide to become agents of change who challenge social inequities through their work in art education.”
For more information about Studies in Art Education, please see: https://www.arteducators.org/research/studies-in-art-education
Digital abstracts and full articles at: http://www.tandfonline.com/usae
Editorial: Revealing and Creating Shapes of the Field, by Mary Ann Stankiewicz http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393541.2016.1258915
Education, Administration, and Class Struggle at the Museum of Modern Art, 1937-1969, by Jean A. Graves http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393541.2016.1258529
Augusta Savage: Augusta Savage: Sacrifice, Social Responsibility, and Early African American Art Education, by Sharif Bey http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393541.2017.1292383


Hill of Crosses Worksheet – FREE Kids Science Word Search Games
Hill of Crosses Worksheet – Download this entertaining FREE Kids Science Word Search Games.
The FREE kids worksheet about the Hill of Crosses is composed of a find-the-hidden words game combined with a find the missing words game for kids.
This fun yet educational printable science worksheet all about the Hill of Crosses is truly FREE for you to download and print completely free and you can use this activity sheet as often as you need for homeschooling or in school!
Our word search game on the Hill of Crosses is such a fun way to gain your kid’s interest and attention while taking part in a science enrichment class, homeschooling, distant learning lessons, regular school science classes or while the child is doing early learning activities.
Our FREE Hill of Crosses word game for kids is enjoyable for Grade school kids who are in Grade 1 to 5. Additionally, younger kids in Kindergarten and Preschoolers will also easily learn from this Hill of Crosses word search worksheet.
Kids can have fun learning fun facts all about the Hill of Crosses through this worksheet while playing the kids word search activity.
Your children will enjoy to learn fun facts all about the Hill of Crosses while playing the word search puzzle.
Kids in Grammar school from first Grade to fifth Grade can enjoy our Hill of Crosses worksheet as a reading comprehension worksheet.
Children shall learn well due to the fact that children will probably need to re-read several times the Hill of Crosses fun facts to discover all the missing words. This free worksheet for kids will not only improve kids science knowledge, but also enhances the ability to remember what they read and also improves their reading comprehension skills.
Kids in Kindergarten and Preschool who don’t know how to read can benefit from this free fun facts Hill of Crosses worksheet as an exciting listening comprehension game.
Teachers or Educators can read to the kids the Hill of Crosses fun facts. Next, they ask the kids to answer what they reckon were the missing words. Additionally, your child will learn to identify words and find them in the Hill of Crosses science worksheet for kids.
Parents doing early learning activities with their kids can use this Hill of Crosses worksheet to awaken their kids in interest in science.
Teachers and private tutors are free to use our FREE Hill of Crosses worksheet to add to the traditional science classes at school and interest children in learning all about the Hill of Crosses. Most beneficial is to make use of our free fun science for kids worksheet on the Hill of Crosses in conjunction with the free interactive online quiz with score on the Hill of Crosses.
Our Easy science for Kids offers lots more FREE printable fun earth science worksheets for kids and FREE science word games. Download and use our fun science word puzzles to make learning science fun for your children!
What do you know about the Hill of Crosses? How many crosses are on the Hill of Crosses? Why do people keep putting crosses on the hill? Can any person put up crosses on the Hill of Crosses? The Hill of Crosses is a display of which Lithuanian belief?
Learn more fun facts about the Hill of Crosses by downloading our free fun facts about the Hill of Crosses worksheet for children!
FREE All About Hill of Crosses Worksheet
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Hill of Crosses Worksheet - FREE Kids Science Word Search Games ." Easy Science for Kids, Jul 2017. Web. 24 Jul 2017. < http://easyscienceforkids.com/hill-of-crosses-worksheet-free-kids-science-word-search-games/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2017). Hill of Crosses Worksheet - FREE Kids Science Word Search Games. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from http://easyscienceforkids.com/hill-of-crosses-worksheet-free-kids-science-word-search-games/
Sponsored Links :


Recording school kids – why, how, where and what to use
With the changes to technology in recent years, recording has become incredibly accessible and there are many great ways you can use it in music education. I talk about the “why, how, where and what to use” of recording in the classroom: the types of things you might record, the basic equipment you’ll need and a few tips for making it successful.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode
- Article: How to record students in a noisy classroom
- USB microphones – I have a Blue Snowball but there are many others! Try brands like Rode, Audio Technica, Samson and others
- USB adaptor for iPad (allows you to plug in a USB mic, MIDI keyboard, camera etc)
- Shure SM58 microphone
- Interface for plugging your mic into your iPad: I have the iRig Pre by IK Multimedia. They have lots of other useful interfaces for musicians
How to listen to this episode
You can listen to this podcast episode in a couple of different ways:
- Listen right here by clicking on the play button on the player at the top of this page (pause by clicking in the same place)
- Listen on your device (a smartphone, iPad or other tablet) by subscribing through iTunes or Stitcher. It’s totally FREE! This is my favourite way to listen because I can do other things at the same time (drive somewhere, run, workout, cook, clean…!)
Midnight Music Community: special rate for MTT podcast listeners
The Midnight Music Community (MMC) is an online space for music teachers interested in learning more about music technology. There are online courses, lesson plans and lots of other resources for Chromebooks, iPads, Macs and PCs. Professional development certificates are available for all training undertaken by MMC members and I am in the Community everyday, personally answering questions and offering advice to members.
Did you enjoy today’s episode? Here’s how YOU can help
If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it with your friends and colleagues. It really helps to get the word out about the show.
I would also be so happy if you would consider taking a couple of minutes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes. Reviews are extremely helpful when it comes to show’s ranking and I read every single one of them personally!
Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live.


Delaware, the Diamond State: Thomas Jefferson gave this nickname to Delaware, according to legend, because he described Delaware as a "jewel" among states, due to its strategic location on the eastern seaboard. Farm to school is truly a diamond. If you look at farm to school programs as one facet of the diamond, you see the many health benefits they provide to children facing epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases. Through another facet, you see the educational contributions of farm to school programs shine through, as they put an important face on food, teaching children about nutrition, agriculture and the environment. Turn the diamond to another facet, you find economic opportunities for family farmers and food security in areas that might not otherwise have access to fresh fruits, vegetables and other farm products. Just polish the diamond a little more and you see the bright facet of school gardens that make the diamond sparkle. There are so many facets of farm to school, which is why these programs are so important to the country, and the most precious jewels, our children.
Farm to school efforts in Delaware are supported by a variety of nonprofit, for-profit and government organizations, including the state’s agriculture and education departments. The first farm to school program in Delaware began in 2007 in the Woodbridge School District as an initiative of the Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association of Delaware and Nemours Health and Prevention Services. Since then, every public school district in Delaware has participated in farm to school programming, through statewide celebrations of locally grown produce, such as Strawberry Week and Watermelon Wednesdays. Every public school district's food service is run by its own nutrition supervisor. These supervisors have been willing and able to help lead the Delaware Farm to School Program by offering more seasonal fruits and vegetables at their schools as part of the National School Lunch Program and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Seasonal variety includes: peaches, watermelons, apples, strawberries, string beans, lima beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sweet potatoes, asparagus, butternut squash, acorn squash, apple cider, pumpkins, micro greens, herbs and spices.
Farm tours for child nutrition supervisors and the Dept. of Education are conducted to increase awareness of the farm to school possibilities and familiarize school food professionals with the state’s farming community, and vice versa. Additionally, Delaware’s Department of Agriculture supports an annual buyer/grower meeting to bring farmers, grocery stores, wholesalers and others together to build relationships. In 2013, Colonial School District was selected by Partnership for a Healthy America to compete in a national school food cook off at their annual conference in Washington, DC. With help from Iron Chef Jose Garces, Colonial won over the much larger Houston Unified District and chef Ann Burrell (view the competition here).
The Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association of Delaware has been instrumental in to the success of farm to school in Delaware. The organization holds farm to school workshops at its annual meeting, encouraging producers to get involved both in local communities and across the state. Along with the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, the two groups have led food safety initiatives that benefit farmers and consumers alike.
Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids (HFHK) is the school vegetable gardening expert resource in Delaware, and the state’s only recipient of the inaugural USDA Food and Nutrition Service Farm to School Grant. HFHK’s pilot program started in 2005 at Springer Middle School. HFHK currently serves over 20 Delaware public schools with programs that run during the school day and throughout the school year and support state content standards for science education. HFHK’s K-5 Education Cultivation Program engages everyone in an entire school in growing and eating vegetables every spring and fall. With farm to school grant partners, HFHK recently enhanced their basic program with additional nutrition education, cooking demonstrations and farmer visits to schools. They have also begun to create a Delaware School Vegetable Garden Network. Their long-term goal is to provide garden-based education to all interested Delaware schools. Laurel School District also was awarded a grant to grow their farm to school programming, proving that Delaware’s farm to school programs truly are jewels to be polished and admired.