The goal of MAC’s Arts Education Program is to promote education in and through the arts as an essential component of the learning experience for all Mississippi students. This further extends beyond the classroom and into communities as arts education provides the foundation for continuing access to high quality and lifelong arts learning and engagement opportunities. The arts are essential, and the Mississippi Arts Commission supports the benefits of the positive culture that the arts bring to everyday life.
Poetry Out Loud
Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is administered in partnership with the States Arts Agencies. The program helps high school students master public speaking skills, build self confidence and learn about their literary heritage.
Link Up, a Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute music education program now in its ninth season, pairs orchestras with students in grades three through five to explore orchestral repertoire through a hands-on music curriculum.
Blues Trail Curriculum
The Mississippi Blues Trail Curriculum project brings the blues to the classroom, where today’s youth can learn more about this original art form as well as of the experiences of the men and women behind the music.
Footprints in the Dust: The Natchez Trace
Drawn from original resource materials developed by Althea Jerome, Kathryn Lewis, and Linda Whittington, the
following arts-integrated lessons included in this curriculum focus on the geographical, historical, social, and economic
development of the Natchez Trace.
Mississippi History through the Arts: A Bicentennial Curriculum
A curriculum 200 years in the making, Mississippi History through the Arts: A Bicentennial Curriculum connects our past to our future and is appropriate for students from elementary to high school.
Moving Toward the Art Of Good Health
Moving Toward the Art of Good Health incorporates ballroom dancing into the student’s daily curriculum to ensure the health and well-being of Mississippi’s students.


Fun Mars Quiz – FREE Interactive Science Kids Quiz Questions with Answers
Enjoy this Easy Science for Kids Mars Quiz – you’ll get your quiz score after completing this FREE online interactive quiz on Mars. You need to answer all the questions to be able to get your score. You can do this fun quiz about Mars again, till you get the perfect score and become a quiz champion!
Tip: To get it right the first time, read the page with fun facts about the planet Mars.
About the Mars Quiz & FREE Science Quizzes
Our easy science quizzes are a free quiz resource for teachers and educators of kids in elementary school, grammar school and preschool. This fun Mars quiz helps your kids learn fun facts about Mars while enjoying this FREE interactive science quiz for kids.
If your kid is being home-schooled, or is in an after-school enrichment program, then this is a fun activity, with reading comprehension benefits for first to fifth grade kids. Kids will enjoy competing against their classmates and friends, to see who gets the best score, doing this fun quiz game on Mars.
As a reading comprehension training for your kids, you can set a timer to encourage kids to do the reading comprehension activity faster, or you can simply limit the number of times your kids can read about the quiz topic, before they do the actual science kids quiz.
Younger kids who cannot yet read or write, such as Pre-K kids, Kindergarten kids or Preschool kids, will benefit from doing this and our other fun interactive online quizzes, as a listening comprehension activity; you read out to them about the topic and then read the quiz question and answers. You will select the Mars quiz answer they think is correct, and at the end you get the quiz score. Your child can try unlimited times doing the Mars quiz, till gets the perfect score faster, as he or she learn to listen more carefully and develop a better memory and attention span!
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Fun Mars Quiz – FREE Interactive Science Kids Quiz Questions with Answers - ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 29 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/fun-mars-quiz-free-interactive-science-kids-quiz-questions-with-answers/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Fun Mars Quiz – FREE Interactive Science Kids Quiz Questions with Answers -. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/fun-mars-quiz-free-interactive-science-kids-quiz-questions-with-answers/
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Discussion in 'Elementary Education' started by 1stGradeRocks, Aug 28, 2015.
Aug 28, 2015
What are you best tips/procedures for getting students to pack up quickly and quietly?
I have no magic wand for this... but packing up goes way more smoothly than arrival. I read aloud when it's time to clean up, and it helps keep conversations from starting.
Sep 4, 2015
I turn out the lights at the same time every day, 2:00, and teach the students that when lights are off their voices should be off..I'll also put on a computer game and let the quietest, stillest students have a go.
For me, because pack up is right after Daily 5, I have my students meet on the carpet after putting away their center. I read a story while I dismiss students to their mailboxes and to get their backpacks. It works well for me, but I'm in a super unique classroom situation.
I usually pack my students up after lunch/recess. We come back from lunch at 1:30. I have the children sit at their desks and tell them that they can read a book or complete simple fun (coloring/word search) worksheet.
While doing a quite activity, I call one group at a time to pack up. They check their mailboxes and go to the closet to get their backpack and bring it to their desk.
I also put a timer on and say we only have about 10-15 minutes for everyone to pack-up.
Sep 8, 2015
Depending on how the student seats are grouped (in rows, small grouped clusters or other seating) I usually also put out the lights, get them to put their heads down on their desks and call them a group at a time to get their things. I specify that they are to get everything from their cubby/closet area, including backpacks and coats. then bring everything back to their desk and at that location they are to place everything in their backpacks. If I have any items that need to go home with them (instructions about signing up for things, memos from the office, which I have already sorted into groups) I then hand that material out, in order to be SURE that they place it in their backpacks. Then I separate them into groups depending on whether they ride a bus, walk, are picked up by someone in a car etc. Usually one group leaves the room at a time. And, since I am always a sub, I make SURE they know to give me a high-five when we go out to be dismissed, when they see their "person" they leave with, as I do NOT know all their people and really dread giving a child to someone who is unauthorized for pickup!
Most of the regular teachers do not do it the way I do, and sometimes the students are a little surprised, but when I explain I do it this way because I don't know their "adult person" they are OK with it.
One thing I wish I could "fix" is the times when a little kid is waiting, waiting for their "person" and that person is late (some all the time!). Those poor little kids really get frightened and stressed when no one shows up to get them when all their classmates are leaving!
Separate names with a comma.


Lesson Intentions: This kit will provide your child/student hand-on activities to understand the following concepts involving pronoun studies:
Introduction to using first, second, and third person pronouns.
Understanding which pronouns fall under the possessive, nominative, and objective cases.
Understanding what the following types of pronouns are: indefinite, interrogative, reflexive, numeral, demonstrative, relative, and reciprocal.
Understanding pronoun antecedents.
Kit Includes: Illustrated lesson plan with six different activities (19 pages including worksheets and answer sheet), laminated labels to create pronoun cases table, 6 laminated dry erase work sheets, 1 laminated pronoun reference sheet, 2 dry erase pens, a journal, and a pencil sharpener.
Creator: Lesson Plan and follow up work prepared by: Caroline Moulsdale, Owner and Lead Educational Consultant of ABC Crate, LLC, with Credentials in Early Childhood Education (Preschool and Kindergarten) from CMTE/NY, 2001; Elementary Education I (grades 1stto 3rd) and II (grades 4thto 6th) from Delaware Institute for Montessori Education, 2015; BS from The University of Delaware; Lead Teacher in Montessori Education for 18 years, and Parent Education Director for 8 years.


From the creators of Scary Science, another fascinatingly fun book of experiments - this time with a focus on winter!
Science is fun all year round - and here's a book to prove it! This winter, kids, their parents and their teachers will be inspired to try these simple experiments inside, inspired by the freezing weather outside.
Kids can learn to make their own ice cream, create an indoor avalanche and pick up an ice cube with just a piece of string. Also included are fun facts about icebergs, frost, "orange" snow and lots more cool winter science!
Shar Levine has written over 55 books and activity kits, most of which encourage hands-on science for kids. She is a frequent speaker at writer's festivals, as well as at schools, libraries, and teacher/librarian conferences. Shar and her co-author of more than 15 years, Leslie Johnstone, previously collaborated on Scary Science: 25 Creepy Experiments for Scholastic Canada.
Leslie Johnstone is the Department Head of Science at a high school in Vancouver, British Columbia. Leslie and her co-author Shar Levine received the Eve Savoury Award for Science Communication from the BC Innovation Council for their book Backyard Science. The both live in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Patricia Storms is an illustrator who has created editorial cartoons, comic strips and magazine cover for Chirp and KNOW magazines. She has enhanced many a picture book with her lively illustrations, including The 13 Ghosts of Halloween for Scholastic Canada. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.


Uranus – The Seventh Planet From Sun
You know that our Earth rotates on an axis that sits upright. The North Pole is at the top of the planet and the South Pole is at the bottom. Uranus, though, has been tipped on its side, probably by a collision with another planet. Its poles lie almost in the middle, rather than the top and bottom.
Fun Facts about Uranus for Kids
- Because it’s tipped, Uranus has seasons that last 20 years. Can you imagine 20 years of summer? That wouldn’t be bad, but how about 20 years of winter?
- The temperature is almost always the same, whether its winter or summer because the planet is so far from the sun.
- Uranus has 11 rings, made of dust, ice and bits of rock.
- Uranus has 27 known moons. They are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare.
- Rotate: turn
- Upright: standing straight up
- Collision: crash
Learn More All About Uranus, the Seventh Planet from Sun
Watch this awesome video all about Uranus:
A video documentary of the facts about Uranus.
Uranus Questions & Answers
Question 1: What is the temperature on Uranus?
Answer 1: Uranus is so far from the Sun that it never gets very warm. The gas atmosphere also reflects back most of the sunlight that does reach the planet. Uranus is -357 degrees.
Question 2 How much would I weigh on Uranus?
Answer 2: If you weigh 60 pounds on Earth, you’d weigh 41 pounds on Uranus.
Question 3: Has Uranus got many many moons?
Answer 3: Yes Uranus has 27 moons
Question 4: How far away is Uranus from the Earth?
Answer 4: Not too far at all, only joking, Uranus is a whopping 2.57 billion km from the Earth or in miles that is 1.6 billion.
Question 5: What is the length of day in Uranus?
Answer 5: While the earth as we know is 24 hours, Uranus is 17.24 hours.
Question 6: Is Uranus larger than Earth?
Answer 6: Uranus is about 4 times larger than the Earth.
Question 7: Who discovered Uranus?
Answer 7: William Herschel discovered Uranus back on March 13th 1781. William was a British astronomer
Question 8: How long is a year on Uranus?
Answer 8: It takes Uranus a lot longer to rotate around the sun than it does Earth. Our year as we know is 365 days but Uranus takes 84 of our Earth years to complete its revolution around the sun.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Uranus Fun Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Feb 2020. Web. 16 Feb 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-uranus/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Uranus Fun Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-uranus/
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Who are Stephenson and Watt, the names above the main door in the Education Building?
Stephenson is George Stephenson, a designer of early locomotives, and Watt is James Watt, whose inventions greatly improved the steam engine — neither of whom actually have any affiliation with the UW. Their names, and several others around the façade, are evidence of the building’s beginnings as the College of Engineering, housed there from 1900 until 1951. By 1910, this first “Engineering Hall” was already clearly too small for the college it housed. To make more room, the UW began to create the engineering campus to the southwest of Bascom Hill. It took decades to make the engineering campus a reality. Its first building, Mechanical Engineering, opened in 1933. It took another 18 years to remove the last of the engineers from Bascom Hill. The art education program then moved into the former Engineering Hall, taking up residence in what had been the old machine shop. Eventually the whole School of Education made the building its home.
Other names that appear on the façade include
- (Sir Henry) Bessemer, whose Bessmer Process improved steel making
- (Edwin) Reynolds, who developed the Corliss-Reynolds triple expansion pumping system (used in water works)
- (Zenobe) Gramme, inventor of the Gramme machine (which generates electricity)
- (John) Ericsson, who designed the ship USS Monitor
- (William Thomson) Kelvin, whose temperature scale goes all the way to absolute zero and measures in centigrade degrees
- (William) Rankine, whose Rankine temperature scale also goes to absolute zero, but measures in Fahrenheit degrees
- (Carl Wilhelm) Siemens, whose regenerative furnace improved steam engines
- (Joseph) Henry, first director of the Smithsonian Institution
- (George) Corliss, who developed the Corliss steam engine
- (Thomas) Telford, who designed a series of canals across England


Community Matters: Education Support
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Despite Orange County’s top-rated school districts and schools, many students and their families experience obstacles in accessing quality education opportunities offered in the county. Challenges include socioeconomic disadvantages, access to adequate nutrition, disabilities and learning impediments, gender and ethnicity biases, language barriers, immigration status, and homelessness and foster-living situations.
According to the Orange County Department of Education, Orange County is home to 27 school districts, more than 600 schools and 20,000 educators serving more than 500,000 students.
Irvine Unified School District educates a diverse student population numbering more than 36,000 (transitional, K-12), in 24 elementary schools, one early childhood learning center, four K-8 schools, six middle schools, five comprehensive high schools, and one alternative high school.?
The following are some of the organizations providing education support in Orange County. Connect with them directly for opportunities to become involved in alleviating obstacles to quality education for thousands of children in the county:
- Assistance League of Irvine
- Developments in Literacy USA
- Irvine Public Schools Foundation
- Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire
- Mary’s Path
- Olive Crest
- Orange County United Way
- Tilly’s Life Center
- SLDC Speech and Language Development Center
The Greater Irvine Chamber supports student success through several of its initiatives and programs, including:
- Career Edge, a soft-skills program for students enrolled at Orange County colleges and universities.
- Career Discovery Week, a job exploration event for Orange County high school students.
- Financial Forum, teaching the basics of financial literacy and an introduction of the stock exchange to Irvine middle school students.
- Ethics Forum, teaching Irvine high school students the methods and practical aspects of critical thinking and ethical behavior.
- A partnership with UCI Samueli School of Engineering supporting their recently launched internship program, which includes student participation in the Chamber’s Career Edge program as a requirement of internship.
These programs and other work is done through the Chamber’s Business and Workforce Development Committee, which includes several task forces focused on specific programs.
For more information about the work of the Greater Irvine Chamber’s Workforce Development Committee and how to become involved, contact Pepper Russell.
Category: Education News


Enjoy this Easy Science for Kids Planets of the Solar System Quiz – you’ll get your quiz score after completing this FREE online interactive quiz on the Planets of the Solar System. You need to answer all the questions to be able to get your score. You can do this fun Planets of the Solar System quiz again, till you get the perfect score and become a quiz champion!
Tip: To get it right the first time, read the page with fun facts about the Planets of the Solar System.
Our FREE Online Planets of the Solar System Quiz
Our kids quiz questions are a free online quiz resource for teachers and educators of kids in elementary school, grammar school and preschool. This fun Planets of the Solar System quiz helps your kids learn fun facts about the different Planets of the Solar System while enjoying this FREE fun kids science quiz.
If your child is home-schooled by you, or is in a science enrichment class, then this is a fun science activity, with reading comprehension benefits for grade one to grade five kids. Kids will enjoy competing against their classmates and friends, to see who scores the best, doing this fun science quiz for kids on the Planets of the Solar System.
As a reading comprehension training for your kids, you can set a timer to encourage kids to do the reading comprehension faster and better, or limit the number of times the kids can read about the quiz topic, before they do the actual interactive quiz questions and answers game.
Younger kids who cannot yet read or write, such as Pre-K kids, Kindergarten kids or Preschool kids, will benefit from doing this and our other fun interactive online quizzes, as a listening comprehension activity; you read out to them about the topic and then read the quiz question and answers. You will select the Planets of the Solar System quiz answer they think is correct, and at the end you get the quiz score. Your child can try again and again doing the Planets of the Solar System quiz, till he or she gets the perfect score faster, as your kids learn to listen more carefully and develop a better memory and attention span!
Enjoyed doing this free online quiz about the Planets of the Solar System? Check out all our other fun Free Online Science Quizzes at EasyScienceForKids.com. Get lengthy info on the Planets of the Solar System here.


Learning Music, the Way it is Meant to be Learned
The whole music conservatory experience is certainly intensive and immersive, and thatâ€™s pretty much what you get when you join one.
18:07 07 February 2019
If you have a keen interest in music and are willing to put in the time and energy to practice playing a instrument for the long haul, learning music might sound like a good proposition.
However, it isn’t as easy as you think.
Not Easy as it Seems
Numerous resources for music lessons are available, including a huge number of options online, but the idea of sifting through the internet to find a well-qualified tutor to get music lessons in itself is pretty intimidating. For example, a simple YouTube search for “music lessons” brings up hundreds of thousands of video results. But one needs to be wary of what and who they’re learning from. Some online resources are really useful for beginners and intermediate students alike, whereas some are simply not up to scratch and teach bad techniques that can set someone back on their journey to learn good music.
Learning from the Best
Ask any successful musician and you’ll know that pursuing serious training in the right environment under the guidance of dedicated teachers is extremely valuable. Being able to interact with the teacher is crucial to the success of the student trying to master a musical instrument. And therefore joining a music conservatory and learning from skilled musicians who are really passionate about teaching music is a rewarding opportunity, if you are ready to fully commit.
It’s Not Just About Skills But also About the Experience
Think about it. How exciting is it to hone your skills in a place where you are meant to dive deep and explore new styles,? How exciting is it to learn in a place where you’ll be able to play pieces for others to hear? It’s special to learn the art from master musicians and to be surrounded by music all the time.
Whether you’re keen to pick up an instrument for the first time, or you’ve been at it for several years now, there will surely be something new to look forward to and learn from a music conservatory.
Teaching Music with an Impressive Track Record
Want to get good on a musical instrument? How about taking lessons from a reputed music school like the Ontario Conservatory of music (OCOM) ? With over 80 years of experience delivering quality musical education, OCOM is committed to creating a platform for music learners, to be able to access quality music education and the other opportunities it opens up, no matter their background, level or age. Students are encouraged to explore different genres as they start out and are given room to think about what music attracts them so they develop a clear perspective on what they want to study, and choose a path of their own. This is of tremendous help especially for those who are not quite sure exactly where their interest lies.
If you’re interested in advancing your guitar skills, visit ocom.ca to find out more about what they have on offer. They provide dedicated programs for aspiring students of all ages and abilities, which includes bass, electric and acoustic. Their experienced faculty team consists of professional musicians with great credentials who love interacting with and instructing guitar enthusiasts on everything that is there to learn about guitar-- from pop to contemporary, and rock to jazz.


By Teachers, For Teachers
School attendance is essential if you want to be successful in school. You cannot learn the information that you are expected to learn if you are not there. Research indicates that students who attend school regularly not only improve their chances of being more academically successful, but also retain the course content more effectively.
Improving school attendance can prove to be difficult. Schools often have very little control in this area because the responsibility usually falls on the students and their parents or guardian. But, there are a few teaching strategies that teachers can use to increase the chances for higher school attendance. Here are a few.
Teachers will agree that most of the time the students that need to be in school are ones that are not. This poor attendance can create a significant learning gap, which can be hard for students to get back on track even if they do their makeup work. Once students decide to go back to school, they are left frustrated because they have to do their regular assignments on top of their makeup work. This ends up causing the student’s grades to drop, which puts them on the path to being a high school dropout. Here are a few practical techniques to increase the attendance in your classroom.
There will be times when a child is sick and cannot attend school. It’s when the child misses an obscene amount of school when it becomes an issue. Most parents just don’t realize how important school attendance is. They do not realize that missing a few days a month can significantly impact their grades. They also fail to realize that they are sending them the message that school isn’t a priority. For these parents, they may have not been taught the importance as child, so it’s important that school invest the time to educate parents on the value of attendance so they are aware.
Regular attendance should play a critical role in the mission statement of each school. Each school must provide a strict attendance policy where students and parents know that there will be severe consequences if they miss school. These policies can help deter students from skipping school and help lead them in the right direction towards a brighter future.
At the start of the school year have each student that enters your classroom sigh a contract. This contract should define your expectation on grading as well as attendance. This will show students that attendance is mandatory in your classroom and help set the tone for regular attendance for the whole school year.
Make learning fun! A lot of them time the students that regularly miss classes are the ones that say they dislike school because it “boring” and “not fun.” Make it fun and interesting by providing students with lessons that are modern and have real-world examples, ones that they can relate to. Encourage student feedback so you know what interests them and how to keep them coming to your classroom. Find ways to turn boring information like learning about the Great Depression into fun ways, like learning about it by singing it in a rap song. Do whatever works for your students. By making it fun and interesting you will see your attendance will rise.
School attendance matters, that’s a fact. Schools need to implement preventive programs and policies that ensure students are attending each and every day. These policies, when effective can be a lifesaver for the students who normally miss a lot of school. Schools need to form a partnership with parents where together they can develop a plan that will improve school attendance so that all students will have a chance a bright future.
What are some things you do to get students to come to your classroom? Do you have any special tips or tricks that you use? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below, we would love to hear your ideas.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.


A young child’s mind is a sponge.
We’re all well aware of that age-old analogy. While it’s an accessible comment often thrown around in casual conversation, the academics back it up.
There’s no time like early childhood for picking up new skills, acquiring knowledge, and learning lessons that can be carried all the way through life. Think for just a moment of all the things young children are exposed to for the first time. All the new stimuli that are processed. All the worldly schemas established. And so effortlessly. It’s pretty impressive.
While it sounds cognitively strenuous to you and me, children’s growth and development should largely be inspired by play, fun, and instinctive exploration. Ask the experts. Screens might have become every parent’s favourite nanny, but…
it’s important for children to connect with the world through nature, the arts, history and importantly, music.
You knew that was coming, right?
Music education carries the power to unlock a child’s full potential.
Despite how it seems, that isn’t a quote from a school-based fantasy novella. Rather, it’s a matter-of-fact reflection on the hugely positive influences #musiced can have. Let’s be honest, learning to play an instrument is often considered as an integral element of a well-rounded childhood. Music education has long been lauded for its ability to unlock and utilise parts of the brain associated with art and design, spatial awareness, and even mathematics.
In 2014, boffins at Northwestern University found endless benefits to music lessons in mainstream education. As children hear and process sounds, they develop cognitive skills that are transferable to Key Stage 1 and 2 literacy learning. In turn, children also achieved improved academic results.
Not only can learning to play and read music encourage children to excel in other areas of their academic life, it can also increase confidence levels.
Regular music practice teaches dedication, perseverance and teamwork, skills that help children capably transition into the world beyond school, through university, and beyond.
While the benefits for all are perfectly clear, there remains a shameful class gap in how and when children receive music education, and to what extent.
Although some of the most raw and successful compositions of the last century have been penned proudly by working-class musicians, that isn’t reflective of their access to music tuition. It’s quite common for parents to cite the extortionate costs of learning to play instruments as the main barrier between their children and music. Private tuition, after-school lessons, sheet music and instruments all equate to be prohibitively expensive for parents who are struggling to make ends meet.
And their children are the ones who suffer.
Not only are they denied the chance to learn a new skill that may provide them with years of joy and fulfilment, they could also be missing out on scholarship opportunities and other important educational advantages.
Shall we sing it together from the top…
Access to free music education for is important everyone in the UK
And beyond. But one thing at a time.
All children should be given equal opportunities to enjoy and learn musical instruments and read music, too! Supporting free music ed for all is a cause that we can definitely get behind.


Myth 1: A change in teacher-student ratio will increase quality education
Right to Education Act (RTE) aims for an ideal pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1 for primary level and 35:1 for upper-primary level. But, the current ratio of 49:1 for primary level and 59:1 for upper-primary level statistically shames us and remains a severe problem in Uttar Pradesh schools. The ratio in Chandigarh reaches to a whooping 80:1.
Interestingly, studies show no correlation between teacher-student ratio and quality education. Also, teaching is not regarded as a preferred career option. So, a simple way of generate interest in teaching is to raise the income of teachers to create meaningful economic opportunities.
To improve learning inputs for qualitative education, here are a few cost-efficient strategies:
Increasing teacher’s incentives:
This remains a government versus teacher propaganda. Consider a system that equates a teacher’s pay to his or her student’s attendance. The method remains fair to both the parties as teachers individually attempt to address each pupil and understand their ability. There isn’t a necessary track-down over individual teaching skills as it remains evident in pupil’s attendance.
Teaching according to a child’s ability:
Grouping students according to their ability and not by class or age have experimentally proven that a student’s learning improves impressively. This implementation needs patience, understanding and tolerance.
Volunteering for educational programs:
Volunteering during non-teaching hours for educational initiatives like field trips, research on curriculum been taught and summer camps are pure sources of effective increase in quality education. Recognition over participation and volunteerism is in abundance within local societies.
Myth 2: Physical structure increases quality education
Recent statistics provided by the Voice of People, an organisation working on RTE which conducted a survey on 255 schools covering 18 districts, shows that:
- only 9 per cent of the upper primary schools have proper furniture
- merely 8 per cent schools have a separate room for library
- more than 50 per cent of the schools have no proper usable toilets. 9 per cent have no toilet facilities.
- 38 per cent of schools have no boundary fencing while 9 per cent of them have damaged boundary walls.
Many other shocking statistical data denotes poor physical infrastructure of the common patshaala in India. But an improvement in such physical structure too has shown no correlation to the betterment of education output. Here is one strategic method with regard to improvement in physical structure which surely increases not only quality education but is also an efficient way to manage physical infrastructure.
The minimum required classroom area is about 300 square feet but in case of smaller classrooms which still exist in India, here is a technical formula:
PTR (Pupil Tutor Ratio) = (Area of the classroom in square feet-60/8)
This also highlights the futile emphasis on decreasing the PTR, and proves a relative relation between the size of a classroom and PTR. Such an initiative has been adapted by the Gujarat RTE and has done wonders. Technical methods such as these which attack the crucial core of the problem and not the external physical significance are cost-efficient as well as very simple to implement.
Myth 3: How about implementing some more initiatives?
The Midday Meal Scheme is currently implemented in almost 85.6 per cent schools but the scheme remains one of the most corrupt malpractices in India. A simple solution is that the quality of food under the MDM scheme must be checked on the spot and a detailed report regarding the lack of content must be submitted at the earliest.
The MDM scheme is an impressive initiative to widen the educational structure and surely has significant benefits in acting as a ‘supplementary nutrition’ for children. However, another problem within this scheme is that, most of the school activities exist before lunch time. So, MDM may not really feature itself to be ‘nutrition’ for learning students.
- Provide beneficial nutrition in the morning before students engage in their school activities for the day.
IIT Madras on monitoring this scheme has provided a notable quote, “one fruit and one glass of milk for every child every day.”
Implementations of initiatives aren’t necessary, but improvising the existing ones using low-cost and effective methodology will provide a better path towards quality education. Being one of the largest providers for elementary education, RTE fails to deliver quality education. Once the improvements are made, we can move ahead and implement extra-curriculum, ‘going beyond the usual textbook’ debate, vocational training and guidance.
Education is the stem that reaches every part of the nation’s output, be it societal changes or economic growth. As the saying goes, Padega India, tabhi toh badega India!


Modern Curriculum Press offers elementary math, phonics and spelling instruction. Features of the 2005 edition of Modern Curriculum Press Math include:
- Four-step problem solving strategy
- Guided and independent practice
- Real world application
- Word and story problems that “require students to draw upon and integrate multiple skills and strategies to find a solution.”
- Clean uncluttered design and simple text-with graphics in black and white.
- Emphasis on the practice of estimation, mental math, and calculator activities.
- Teacher’s Manual provides assistance in identifying and remedying common errors.
- Problems to promote algebraic thinking to help prepare students for algebra
- Chapter Tests
Spelling Workout uses a sports theme to give students the tools they need for success. Capitalizing on the close tie between spelling and phonics, the program leads students from simple sound-letter relationships to more complex spelling patterns. The Teacher’s Edition provides detailed lesson plans for either a 3-day or 5-day plan.
Modern Curriculum Press Plaid Phonics K-3 incorporates the most current research-based instruction for phonemic awareness and phonics in today’s classrooms. Its proven scope and sequence, along with the abundance of practice, review, and application of skills, ensures comprehensive coverage and supports best practices in phonics instruction.
Before investing in any homeschooling resources, please read
"How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum."
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“Ready to take on the world”: Experiences and understandings of independence after attending residential immersive life skills programs for youth with physical disabilities
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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: Life skills programs aim to equip youth with physical disabilities with the foundational skills required for adulthood. This study explored the perceived impact of residential immersive life skills (RILS) programs on the lives of participants. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with alumni of three RILS programs. Data were thematically analyzed using a phenomenological approach. RESULTS: Themes identified from fourteen interviews were: (1) enhancing higher-order skills; (2) new notions of independence; and (3) identity change, empowerment, and advocacy. Opportunities to learn and practise a variety of skills in a structured, facilitative environment led to increased competence and motivation to engage in independent activities. Engaging with peers undergoing similar experiences also helped some youth integrate disability into their identity. CONCLUSIONS: Providing youth with physical disabilities opportunities to engage with others sharing similar experiences and challenges is essential. The study contributes toward the development of evidence-based best practices for life skills programs.
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Mount Rainier is an active volcano located in the southeast of Seattle, Washington. It last erupted in 1894. It is a part of the Cascade Range and also the highest mountain in Washington with a height of 13,211 feet. This range is a long stretch of volcanic mountains around 800 miles.
The mountain is believed to be 500,000 years old. This volcano had various names including Tacoma, Talol, Tahoma, Tacobeh, and Pooskaus all given by Native American tribes. It was named Mount Rainier by George Vancouver in honor of his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.
Quick Facts: –
- Mount Rainier is considered to be ranked 21st in the list of the world’s most prominent mountains.
- This mountain has 26 major glaciers and also has 35 square miles of permanent snowfields and glaciers.
- It is also home to a hidden crater lake that is 15 feet deep and more than 130 feet long.
- According to geologists, the mountain was once 16,000 feet tall but due to various factors including mud flows, glaciations etc. its elevation decreased over time.
- Fay Fuller was the first female to reach the summit in 1890. It takes 2 to 3 days to climb the summit.
- Mount Rainier National Park was established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States.
- This national park covers an area of 956 square kilometers or 95,600 hectares.
- More than 2 million people visit the national park every year making it the 5th most popular.
- After reaching the summit, you may experience winds whipping at 60 mph and temperatures of 10°F.
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Welcome to Literacy! My goal is to provide families with an array of wonderful resources to support and expand literacy development. I hope you find these suggestions and resources to be valuable as you watch your children grow as readers, writers, thinkers, listeners and speakers. Ultimately, I hope that all children will realize that reading brings pleasure and knowledge. Topics on this site include parent and teacher resources, book titles, and apps for children.
- Reading and writing
- Listening and viewing
- Speaking and presenting
- Thinking critically, creating and innovating
Literacy Resources for Teachers and Parents :
( Annotated from The Family Literacy Project )
- KS1 Bitesize: Literacy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/ . The following link leads parents to fun worksheets that can be printed out for children to develop literacy skills (from river rhyming words to alien punctuation).
- Literacy Center Education Network: http://www.literacycenter.net/. The following link offers online activities for children to do at home to develop literacy skills.
- PBS Parents: Reading and Language: http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/. This website includes milestones and tips to include reading and language in the home.
- “Read” Illustrations to Improve Literacy Skills: http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/read-illustrations-to-improve-literacy-skills/. This article includes information on how to explore illustrations with children to help them build literacy skills.
- Reading Activities: http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-activities/. This website provides reading activities to do during a normal everyday routine that can foster literacy development.
- Puppy Readers: http://puppyreaders.com/ . This site offers animated books online that parents can sing along with their children as Perry the Puppy runs under the words.
- Reading and Language: http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/ . This website contains information on how children develop literacy skills and how parents can help them become readers and writers every day.
- Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers: http://www.readingrockets.org/ . The following link includes information from how to teach reading, to fantastic children’s books and authors.
- Mobile Apps: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/mobile-apps/?popular#top-tabs. If the classroom has access to tablets, the following link has a large amount of mobile apps that could be used to help literacy development. It also has attached lesson plans that use the suggested app.
Developing reading skills at home.
www.storylineonline.net This site features famous people reading children's books outloud
Parents’ Guides to Student Success: http://www.pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2910. This website includes links to parent guides in both English and Spanish.


February 9, 2015
Nice kids are mean. It’s true. I’ve seen it year after year, even with 8-year-olds. They are not mean all the time, of course, which is why they think it is OK to be mean. Or perhaps they do not realize how mean their actions really are. But the bottom line is that nice kids say and do things that make other kids feel bad – way too often. I have been perplexed by this phenomenon since I began my elementary teaching career more than 13 years ago. I have always had such nice, bright students. In fact, I have yet to have a kid in my class that I would consider mean, especially not all the time. So, why do my nice, bright third-graders treat each other so poorly sometimes? I address this question in the children’s picture book “Diary of a Real Bully.”
The lessons in this book are inspired by a decade of classroom experience. Most of the bullying I faced as a student occurred in middle school, so I was shocked to see it happen with my third-graders. The most surprising part, however, was when I realized which students were doing the bullying. Some of my sweetest, smartest and most seemingly innocent kids are often the ones who do the most harm. I see the same trends and patterns with every class. One thing these kids all have in common is that they do not see themselves as bullies. When kids think of bullying, they imagine the exaggerated characters they see on TV and in movies. But the bully stereotypes of the big, dumb, mean guy or the self-absorbed, airheaded, mean girl do not exist in real life. No one is a bully all the time, but this misconception makes it hard to understand what real bullying looks like. Because kids do not identify themselves with their perception of bullies, they refuse to accept their actions as bully behavior.
It is important for children to understand that TV-type bullies rarely exist, and in reality, we all act like bullies sometimes. The more we recognize and name these behaviors as bullying, the less likely we are to repeat them. Instead of labeling kids as bullies, we need to identify their actions as bullying. With this slight change in language, children are more willing to accept their behavior and take responsibility for it. They begin to realize when their words are hurtful. They become more mindful of the things they say and how they say them. They are more prepared to apologize and change because they understand that their actions do not determine their identity. Kids do not want to be bullies; they are usually just blind to the negative impact their behaviors have on others. It is our job as adults to help them see it. Bullying is when you make someone feel bad, no matter how small or insignificant it seems.
Breaking the bully stereotype is just the beginning. The next step is empowering kids with the skills they need to communicate effectively. Kids need to say stop when someone is bothering them. They need to share how they feel and why they do not like the behavior. They need to ask for an apology. While it seems simple, I have watched students struggle with these steps every year until they have been taught, modeled, practiced and applied to their real-life problems. Communication is the most powerful tool in every situation.
Melody Arabo has been a third grade teacher at Keith Elementary in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District since 2002. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Teaching and Curriculum, both from Michigan State University. She has been married for more than 12 years and has three children - an 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old twin boys. In 2008, she was named Keith Elementary Teacher of the Year and was first runner-up for Walled Lake's District Teacher of the Year in 2009. She was named Michigan Teacher of the Year on May 15, 2014, by the state.


C asean Consonant: Treasuring the Southeast Asian Traditional Music
Many wonderful compliments were paid to the performance of the ASEAN Anthem, “The ASEAN Way,” at the opening ceremony of the 34th ASEAN Summit. This beautiful performance, enjoyed by the leaders of ASEAN member states and distinguished guests, was given by the ten young musicians of C asean Consonant.
C asean Consonant is a traditional music ensemble composed of ten members from each of the ten ASEAN nations. The founding of the ensemble was an initiative by Ajarn Anant Narkkong, a Thai ethnomusicologist acclaimed for his passion for Southeast Asian musical culture. Playing the role of music director, Ajarn Narkkong has led C asean Consonant together with advisors from other Southeast Asian countries.
What makes C asean Consonant special is that it is a collaborative project providing a platform where young musicians gather to share, exchange and preserve the traditional music of the Southeast Asian region. Communicating through the language of music, the young artists share their understanding of ASEAN identity while promoting the values of their indigenous cultural heritage, which plays a significant role in conserving cultural diversity. Intangible cultural heritage preservation through collaborative projects of this kind is expected to become the model for nurturing a potential cultural industry; in this way, cultural expression will be generated from intangible cultural heritage resources, including the traditional music of the region.
The ensemble comprises a diversity of Southeast Asian musical instruments: kulintang (ensemble consisting of a row of horizontal gongs) and rabana (one-sided drum) from Brunei; tro sao (high-pitched fiddle), tro ou (low-pitched fiddle), and skor (a goblet-shaped drum) from Cambodia; kendang sunda (two-headed drums), saluang (flute), and kacapi (a zither-like instrument) from Indonesia; khaen (bamboo mouth organ) from Laos; gambus (lute-like plucked instrument) and sape (boat-shaped lute) from Malaysia; saung kauk (harp) from Myanmar; multiple bamboo instruments from the mountainous Cordillera area of the Philippines; bansuri (Indian side-blown bamboo flute) from Singapore; ranat ek (xylophone) and khlui (end-blown bamboo flute) from Thailand; đàn bầu (monochord zither) and đàn t’rưng (bamboo xylophone) from Vietnam. Among these, the khaen instrument of the ethnic Lao was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2017.
The collaborative project has been brought to life as a series of concerts since its foundation, including the debut concert in 2015, Road Show in Malaysia and Singapore in 2016, plus appearances at events such as the ASEAN–EU Anniversary Concert, the 50th Anniversary Celebration of ASEAN, ASEAN–China Music Week 2017, Shanghai Spring International Music Festival 2017, Bangkok Art Biennale 2018, and the 34th ASEAN Summit. The performances primarily depict the spirit of the ASEAN Community through traditional music, creating a strong bond between the ASEAN countries. Videos of C asean Consonant’s performances can be enjoyed on the C asean YouTube channel.
The inauguration of the new ASEAN Secretariat building, which will take place August 8 at the ASEAN Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, will see C asean Consonant showcase ten newly arranged songs in addition to the ASEAN Anthem. C asean Consonant plans to start a music education project for kids. “It is a laboratory work for our ten young musicians to develop their team project regarding the ASEAN music education package that will be put into action this year,” said Ajarn Anant Narkkong, C asean Consonant’s music director.


The University of Kent defines non-verbal reasoning (NVR) as ‘the ability to understand and analyse visual information and solve problems using visual reasoning’. It also states that the development of this particular skill ‘enables students to analyse and solve complex problems without relying upon, or being limited by, language skills’.
Such tests allow examination providers to assess children’s visual acuity, speed of perception, and ability to recognise and manipulate objects. This particular type of test is fairer than simply testing children’s literacy and numeracy skills, since it bypasses language acquisition and mathematical ability, which are easier to acquire through extensive exposure and practice. As a means of testing, NVR provides a more level playing field for children sitting eleven plus examinations as a child’s social background, facility with language, or ethnicity will not necessarily affect their ability in exercising this particular skillset.
Many children who are sitting eleven plus examinations that have a high English content could be disadvantaged if they are from ethnic backgrounds that do not have English as a first language, are from a poor social background or are simply not very gifted in the subject. To some extent this also applies to maths, when question content often requires a high level of competence in English in order to understand the problem, let alone solve it.
Non-verbal reasoning tests form part of the testing process used by CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) and GL (Granada Learning) Assessment. Both of these examination providers have recognised that this is an important way of assessing children’s ability.
However, although NVR is not necessarily a skill that can be taught in a conventional sense, children are able to hone and improve their skills in this area, through practice and familiarisation. Some children have more natural ability in this subject area, but all children will benefit from working at their NVR skills. Strong NVR skills help children see how patterns form, and assist in developing their conceptual and imaginative ability. In NVR questions children are constantly faced with novel material and, to solve the problem, cannot draw on more conventional knowledge they have previously learnt. Acquiring these kinds of visual reasoning skills is especially useful for geometry in maths, aspects of science, and computing. Many employers also use NVR testing as part of their recruitment process.
Even if NVR does not appear in the eleven plus examination or which your child is preparing, it may still be worth investing some time in practising NVR tests. This is because acquiring superior NVR skills may indirectly improve children’s literacy and numeracy skills. There are numerous NVR tests available online and these are always useful for practice and familiarisation purposes. However, if your child is sitting a standard NVR test in their eleven plus examination, it is best to prepare them by handling paper-based tests to ensure they have had sufficient practice in this style of testing.
Working through the AE Publications’ series of non-verbal reasoning workbooks and the testbook is an excellent way to prepare your child for these examinations.


The word dulcimer means "sweet sound." There’s no better way to describe this American folk instrument.
David Cross first discovered the Appalachian dulcimer when he was a school teacher in search of a musical instrument that would be easy for his students to learn to play. The fretted stringed instrument lies in your lap, so beginners can see where to put their fingers.
There are only three strings, with two drone strings that always stay the same. Cross demonstrated and said, "I play the melody on just one string. I can take my one little finger and slide it up and down the string. The drones don’t have to be fingered at all."
Cross started to build simple dulcimers to use with his students. Then, he thought, why not let kids make their own? "Music teachers will tell you," he said, "[it] is a great source of interest for fifth grade boys who might otherwise be getting disenchanted with general music."
In 1980, Cross founded Backyard Music. The company is now the nation’s major provider of cardboard sound box dulcimer kits to the music education market. That’s right. In an effort to keep them as affordable as possible, the instrument’s sound box is made of cardboard.
Dulcimer kits come with most everything you need to make your own. Cross said, "You get a piece of wood, and you get three tuning gears. You get some strings. You get a pick. You get a noter, which is a stick you can use to slide along the strings if you want to play in the old back porch style." There are also directions on how to assemble the instruments and a booklet for beginners called "Meet the Friendly Dulcimer."
Cross has since moved on, and works now with a large consulting firm. Backyard Music remains his sideline business. He partners with wood carvers in Nicaragua, who provide the mahogany fret boards. A subcontractor in Willimantic ships the kits to schools, camps, and elder hostels across the U.S.
A basic dulcimer kit sells for $50.00, but there are special prices for schools and groups. The company sells about 2,000 kits a year, and has sold more than 30,000 since Backyard Music began.
At the Middle School of Plainville, teacher Laurel Schwartz used the dulcimers in a music class for 12- and 13-year-olds. "I want my students to be able to compose, arrange music, improvise -- all the really hard skills in music," she said. "The dulcimer’s so easy to play that they can start doing those activities, the hard, higher-order thinking skill activities, by class three."
The students were learning how to play along with a pop tune they all know by the group Imagine Dragons. Marlee, 12, said she likes to try out her own original musical ideas on the dulcimer. "She lets us kind of do our own thing," she said. "You don’t have to just do what's on the paper, but you get to improvise with it."
Schwartz said that’s only possible for beginners, because dulcimer technique is so easy to master. "If I was on a guitar or piano," she said, "it takes far longer for me to get the children to that same level of playing competency."
Sarah Heath, who teaches music at the Foote School in New Haven, said the dulcimer is a great way to introduce students to traditional American folk music, and to the joy of making music together. "You haven’t heard lots of people play it," she said. "You don’t start out with a mindset that you can’t do it. People playing music together, sitting on a porch -- I’m trying to bring that back into our lives."
The dulcimers really last. Cross said, "I’ve had teachers say, 'I’ve had this classroom set for 25 years. It's about time to replace the cardboard.' You just rip the fret board off, and you get a wet sponge, and you soften up the glue, and scrape it off with a kitchen knife, and glue it down on a new sound box."
Backyard Music dulcimer kits have been so successful that the company has expanded and now also offers make-your-own harps and make-your-own banjos.


Most parents and alumni who read School material, and this blog, will know that the theme of personalization has been a steady, increasingly visible blip on the School’s radar. Since we first started using the word about five years ago, it has also been increasingly visible in most comment on important currents in education.
In the School’s prior strategic plan (in other words, before the current plan of 2012) we started exploring the possibilities, framing the conversation around this reality: brain research has taught us much more than we knew before about how students learn, and pedagogy has responded to that research, while at the same time technology is now clearly becoming educationally useful. Therefore, more and more learning is going to be focused on students’ strengths and passions, more and more it will be experiential, and more and more it will be an unfolding of the conversation among student, teacher and parent – with the student asked to lead the way.
To say that learning will be more focused on strengths and passions, does that mean students will just do what they like, and avoid what they find dull and uninteresting? Not quite. Certain competencies will be necessary, and certain communal experiences will provide the learning that only communal experiences can provide: a sense of belonging, a sense of community, the virtues of teamwork and collaboration, the lessons of competition.
In early grades, students hardly know what their strengths and passions are; therefore opportunity and breadth – shaped by a healthy dose of choice, and the habit of self-direction – will be the reality of elementary education. This environment will gradually give way to a program in the Senior years whose horizon is higher learning after SMUS. You are going to hear the word “pathway” increasingly, as each student navigates by his or her own stars.
To say that learning will be experiential, does that mean it will all take place outside the classroom? It’s easy to see that the challenge of the outdoors is the cradle of experiential education, but in reality there are many examples of experiential education in spheres more intellectual – mathematics, music, history, literature – going back for centuries. We have known for some time that students learn more by doing than by reading the theory of doing, in a textbook.
A larger, more useful characterization of experiential education is a constant effort to make an explicit intersection between learning and the world beyond school, so that eventually the boundaries between the two are blurred.
Some might ask how one can make these deliberate connections in all divisions – elementary, Middle School and high school: this morning I saw a Junior School class doing something exciting (and puzzling to me) on the field in front of School House. They were noisy, active, and engaged.
It won’t escape everyone’s comprehension too much longer that the Reggio Emilia-inspired Junior School program, the project-based shape of Middle School, and the explicit experiential practices of the Senior School curriculum are in fact an experiential continuum – different facets of the same coherent gem that is the SMUS education.
In May, we will be gathering our personalization team together with a number of other staff to put our description of personalization into digestible, communicable and workable form. These reflections are just stepping stones to that day.


What Is Phonics?
Phonics is the study of the relationship between sounds and letters. It is an essential component of reading and writing practice and instruction in the primary grades. Phonics knowledgel eads to word knowledge. Along with plenty of experience reading, students begin to read words fluently with little effort.
Phonics teaching helps students to learn the written correspondences between letters, patterns of letters, and sounds. It should be noted that phonics is one part of a comprehensive literacy program that must also include practice in comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, writing, and thinking.
When Are Students Ready to Learn Phonics?
There are several things to consider before involving children in a formal phonics program. Language development is the first thing and children need an ability to recognise and produce speech sounds, and use language appropriately. Phonics works alonsdide with all these language systems.
Phonological awareness is a particularly important language skill to acquire before phonics instruction begins. Phonological awareness includes the ability to separate spoken language into syllables and individual phonemes, the distinctive sounds for the language the student is learning to read. Phonological awareness is learned through singing, tapping syllables, rhyming, and dividing words into individual sounds.
When children are ready to, and with support from home and school, they develop concepts of print that can be huge, such as learning the purposes of writing and illustrations; understanding what an author is; and identifying text features including the front and back of a book, uppercase and lowercase letters, reading top to bottom, reading left to write, return sweep at the end of a line, and the meaning of punctuation.
After students have heard stories read to them repeatedly, they try to point to the words as they say out loud their favorite memorised parts. Students develop a concept of word in text when they point accurately to the words as they recite the text. Concept of word in text develops in parallel with students’ phonics knowledge of letter–sound correspondences (e.g., learning that the letter b makes the b sound by repeatedly seeing b words in a text)
What is Letters and Sounds?


Today in Digital Technologies we discovered how to use the application iMovies on the iPad to its full potential within the classroom. Our use of iMovies within the session was linked closely with online safety for children and the dangers that can be found on social media for example. We were given the task of creating our own short movie or trailer that conveyed a very strong message for children about what it’s like about the dangers of going online. Promoting both digital skills and also enhancing online knowledge for the children is a very good idea and works well within the classroom environment.
Our idea was to create a princess with an evil step sister. throughout our short movie, the princess received a friend request from an unknown person however when she asked her sister she encouraged her to accept it. This unknown prince messaged the princess to ask her to the ball which she proceeded to attend. However when she arrived at the address there was nobody but an old man there is take her away. The message we tried to send to the children was that you never know who it is behind these profiles, and everyone is not who they always claim to be online.
The term digital literacy was described by Weiss (2017) as “the set of competencies required for full participation in society”. This is a very bold statement to be made, however it does highlight clearly the importance of a high level of digital knowledge within the 21st century as everything around us becomes more reliable with the use of technology.
Digital technology helps enhance various skills such as critical thinking skills, awareness of e-safety, collaboration skills, ability to research and select information, and also creativity. In 2015 the Scottish Government argued that “Digital technologies appear to be appropriate means to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills, especially in primary settings”. This shows the importance of digital knowledge within the development of a child’s learning over a period of time and how it can enhance understanding of different areas within the curriculum.
Digital technology can be used for a variety of settings within the classroom and across various curricular areas. The knowledge and skills based upon digital technology and e-safety can be applied to areas such as health and wellbeing, numeracy and literacy. This is the case as children can improve problem solving skills within the numeracy aspect of the CfE and they are also developing active learning with help from their peers around them. Health and wellbeing can also be covered through the use of technology as it uses a variety of different approaches including active, cooperative and peer learning, and also the effective use of technology within the classroom environment. Finally, literacy can be improved as children have opportunities to communicate and collaborate with peers and also explore a wide variety of different medias such as websites, blogs, games etc.
Overall, I believe the use of iMovie within the classroom is a very useful resource that teachers should make full potential use of as it allows children to improve on a variety of different skills including group work and working together. In this case we adapted the use of iMovies to an e-safety aspect, however this task can be manipulated to fit around any activity that the children are exploring within the class.
Weiss, D. (2017) Time to Know blog [Online]
https://www.timetoknow.com/blog/essential-digital-literacy-skills-for-the-21st-century-worker/ [Accessed: 14.2.18]
The Scottish Government (2015) Literature Review on the Impact of Digital Technology on Learning and Teaching. [Online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/24843/1/00489224.pdf [Accessed: 14.2.18]


August 20, 2017
Whether you’ve been waiting a year, a month, or a week, the time has nearly come. Tomorrow, August 21, 2017, many people in the United States will be in the direct path of a total solar eclipse, and many more people outside of this path of totality will be able to experience the phenomenon in some way or another.
Humans may act a bit funny during the eclipse. Some will leave work or school to stand outside and gaze toward the heavens with special glasses on to protect their eyes. Others will have driven many miles to be in the perfect position to set up a once-in-a-lifetime photograph. Many non-human animals will be affected by tomorrow’s solar event too. How do you think they will react, if at all?
A solar eclipse occurs when the earth, moon, and sun align in such a way that the moon is between the earth and the sun, blocking most or all of the sun from view. Here’s a brief video that provides a helpful visual of this alignment:
When the moon moves between the earth and the sun, it will block some of its light. How much light gets blocked and how long the sky will darken will depend on where on Earth you are. Since animals (including humans) take many of their cues from the sky, a solar eclipse is an excellent time to observe animal behavior.
Not much is known about animal behavior and total solar eclipses, in part because the chances to collect data are relatively few and far between. However, the scientific community has collected some interesting observations over the years. In a 1935 journal article entitled “Observations on the Behavior of Animals during the Total Solar Eclipse of August 31, 1932“, researchers revealed that a search of astronomical records revealed occasional references to “unusual behavior of bird and animal life that has been attributed to the effect on them of the total eclipse.”
Past reports have included birds ceasing to sing (or even falling to the ground) during an eclipse, orb-weaving spiders taking down their webs, farm animals returning to wherever it is they rest at night, and wild animals returning to their dens—all apparently fooled by the temporary darkness and drop in daytime temperatures.
During an annular solar eclipse in May 1984, a group of chimpanzees at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center provided some of the most interesting observations yet. As the sky began to darken and the temperature began to decrease, several chimpanzees moved to the top of a climbing structure and watched events unfold. A juvenile chimpanzee even pointed to the darkened sun as if to say: What’s happening?
The 2017 total solar eclipse provides a unique opportunity for smartphone-toting folks across North America to add their own observations of wildlife before, during, and after the event. Organizations like the California Academy of Sciences are encouraging people to become citizen scientists tomorrow by downloading the iNaturalist app and contributing to the community’s body of observations of animal behavior during solar eclipses.
Many zoos will also be participating by hosting solar eclipse viewing events and asking visitors to observe animals and document what they see. NASA has also released a list of event locations, including zoos, here. (If you do plan to participate in an event, don’t forget to build a protective viewing device or buy special eclipse-viewing glasses!)
Do you have plans to check out the solar eclipse with young scientists tomorrow? In addition to learning about astronomy, perhaps this would be a great opportunity to observe and record animal behavior, especially if you’re in the path of totality. Kids can be citizen scientists too!
Bethanie Hestermann is a freelance writer and co-author of Zoology for Kids and Marine Science for Kids.


Grit is an essential skill for children. So important, in fact, that we’ve covered this topic not once, but twice. There is a wealth of information out there on how to cultivate grit in our students but what if the child melts down at the first sign of opposition? Unfortunately, what works for a typical child in building grit isn’t as effective when kids have a low tolerance for frustration. For example, one strategy we discussed in our previous blog talks about giving good feedback to kids to help encourage the progress they’re making. However, when children meltdown before any progress can be made, there isn’t anything to give feedback on.
No one knows for sure why some kids tolerate frustration better than others but we must develop some understanding of frustration so that we can better understand where students are coming from. Frustration is an emotion that everyone feels, but for some kids, it comes quickly and is overwhelming. Kids usually feel frustrated when their expectations are not met. They might expect to quickly master a concept or have an expectation that they receive something and when that expectation isn’t met or isn’t met quickly, frustration is the result. Children can learn to tolerate frustration more effectively and these kids can learn to develop grit. The following strategies are tailored to the needs of children who struggle to tolerate frustration.
- Change Your Mindset: Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., and author of The Explosive Child, has extensively studied children who poorly tolerate frustration (and their subsequent explosions.) In his book, he discusses the ways that we view ‘explosive children’ or those that meltdown the moment things don’t go the way they want them to. These kids often get labeled as brats at worst and immature at best. We tend to view their behavior as willful defiance rather than a delay in skill. This change in mindset, along with believing that “children do well if they can” helps us see kids behavior in a new light. When you see a child’s tantrum as a result of a lack of skills it is far less aggravating than if you believe they are being difficult on purpose. It also gives us a direction to go in: teaching those skills!
- Choose the Right Time to Teach: Teaching skills is possible, but not in the middle of an emotional meltdown. When children are in the middle of an emotional response, tantrum, etc. they aren’t capable of such reasoning. The teaching of skills is better done at a time when the child is calm and happy.
- Teach Realistic Expectations: Some children believe that everything should come easily to them. When they encounter something hard, they give up. Give them examples of times when others have struggled and overcome. Point out that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.
- Be Intentional About Teaching Frustration Tolerance: Start small and keep the stakes low starting out. For example, games with no winner or loser can help children learn to be wrong without the higher stakes of losing or winning.
- Address Black and White Thinking: All children tend to think in extremes. Good and bad, right and wrong, black and white. This is especially true for children who struggle to tolerate frustration. Roleplay, read stories and discuss situations with children that are not black and white. Help them to see gray areas.
- Take the Punch Out of Emotions: The first step in helping kids learn to master their emotions is to build their emotional vocabulary. Help them learn to name them and to talk about them. Emotions feel overpowering and people, especially children, often feel compelled to react immediately to their emotions. Teach kids that their emotions are just feelings and that their actions are separate from their feelings.
- Teach Kids to Ask for Help: When they start to feel overwhelmed or frustrated, teach kids to ask for help. Be sure they understand that asking for help is ok. Build a relationship with students so they feel comfortable coming to you for help.
It might take some time and persistence for children to incorporate their new skills, but once they do our other tips on cultivating grit can help them to begin to persist through the hard stuff.
If you are interested in teaching your child (or students) the importance of hard work and soft skills check out our curriculum Making the Effort.
By: Amy Curletto
Amy has been teaching for 12 years in grades K-2. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and also has endorsements in reading and ESL. Besides education, her other passion is writing and she has always dreamed of being a writer. She lives in Utah with her husband, her 3 daughters, and her miniature schnauzer. She enjoys reading, knitting, and camping.


ERIC Number: EJ733978
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jan
Reference Count: 8
Stretching and Young Children: Should We or Shouldn't We?
Mally, Kristi K.
Teaching Elementary Physical Education, v17 n1 p37-39 Jan 2006
The purpose of this article is to continue the discussion of "should we or shouldn't we?" Specifically, this article addresses whether or not young children need to spend time participating in static stretching activities during physical education class. Is it a worthwhile use of already limited time to ask young children to stretch? Do they need to touch their toes, stretch their triceps, or perform the hurdle stretch as they count in unison to ten? What evidence supports this age-old practice? This author concludes that when stretching is done as a means to enhance movements that are important to and valued by young children, it enhances the quality of the physical education program. Dynamic, functional, and playful stretching has great potential to increase the value young children place on physical activity. The increase in subjective task value in turn elevates the chances that students will regularly elect to be physical active even when not in the gymnasium.
Human Kinetics, Inc., 1607 N. Market St., Champaign, IL 61820. Tel: 800-474-4457, ext. 2990 (Toll Free); Fax: 217-351-1549; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org; Web site: http://www.humankinetics.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Authoring Institution: N/A


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2020 CAS - Music Standards Introduction
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“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” ~ Victor Hugo
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” ~ Plato
By implementing a structured and standards-based music education, students continue the generational conversation and become fluent in the language of music as a manner of artistic, intellectual, and cultural expression. The acts of performing, creating, and responding to music provide a means for development and growth in the ability to express the otherwise inexpressible and to facilitate growth in many areas of academic development.
Learning to read and notate music opens for students the limitless body of musical styles, forms, and repertoire, and allows them to see what they hear and hear what they see. The interconnections in music bring together the understanding of contemporary and historical cultures as well as self-knowledge. Participation in music provides students with unique experiences and skills essential for success in the 21st-century workforce.
Music produces creativity, innovation, and cornerstone life skills that will be the key to opening doors for a more diverse and competitive workforce. In learning music, students use critical thinking, self-assessment, reasoning, problem solving, and collaboration, and make connections in new and imaginative ways as they progress through their musical education. All of these skills prepare our students for higher education and the 21st-century workforce. These standards outline the knowledge and skills needed by all Colorado citizens to participate productively in an increasingly creative economy and innovative society.
- Apply knowledge and skills through a variety of means to demonstrate musical concepts.
- Perform with appropriate technique and expressive elements to communicate ideas and emotions.
- Demonstrate practice and refinement processes to develop independent musicianship.
- Compose, improvise, and arrange sounds and musical ideas to communicate purposeful intent.
- Read, write, and analyze the elements of music through a variety of means to demonstrate musical literacy.
- Aurally identify and differentiate musical elements to interpret and respond to music.
- Evaluate and respond to music using criteria to make informed musical decisions.
- Connect musical ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to understand relationships and influences.
The Colorado Academic Standards in music are the topical organization of the concepts and skills all Colorado students should know and be able to do throughout their preschool through twelfth-grade experience.
- Expression of Music
The expression of music is the process of practice, refinement, and performance of acquired musical knowledge and skills to communicate a range of thoughts and emotions.
- Creation of Music
The creation of music is the demonstration of learned skills in the composition, improvisation, and arranging of music.
- Theory of Music
The theory of music is the understanding of the distinctive language, conventions, mechanics, and structure of organized sound. Investigation of music theory allows for a more complete understanding of all aspects of the musical process.
- Aesthetic Valuation of Music
The aesthetic valuation of music focuses on the knowledge and perspectives needed to make informed evaluations and critiques of music. It also addresses the historical, cultural, and societal contexts which are often the beauty, heart, and soul of music.


The curriculum still has to be subjected to serious evaluation and pilot testing in order to test its effectiveness and viability. Since its implementation, which started with the Pre-School program just this school yearmany still doubt its benefit for the Filipino youth and the Filipino people as a whole.
Education needs constant revisiting so that changes can be introduced to enable it to respond to the needs of the learners, the industry that will absorb its graduates, and the society that will welcome them to its fold.
They were educated to get the basics of life because they were going to be pushed into the outside world at a very young age of 12 and above or even below. Such an option can be done through the education service contracting, where students enroll in private high schools but the government provides the funds.
Our thoughts, values and understandings are developed and expressed through language. Following wide protests over the proposal, thedepartment released its official position defending K Ang programang ito ay naglalayong mapataas ang kalidad ng edukasyon ng bansa.
Another problem concerning the implementation of the K curriculum is the cost.The Department of Education , also noticed some problems in the present curriculum because it was observed that there was overcrowding of subjects thus leading to no mastery amongst students and that there is no specialization because most subjects focus on academics area but does not develop manual skills. Thinking, learning, and language are interrelated. Napakalaki ng problema ng bansa pagdating sa edukasyon. Ability to take care of personal and family health. The way schools helps to allow its students to feel apart is by making all students wear a uniform enabling everyone to have something in common and to feel apart of a community. The primary school curriculum is made up of 5 learning experience groupings as follows: 1. It is a timely move of our government to come up with such a reform. The Pnoy Administration believes that adding more years to basic education in the Philippines could help solve the problems of unemployment, keep with global standards, and help Pilipino students to have more time to choose the career that best suits their skills. At the locus of the enhanced curriculum is a special leaning towards liberal education that fosters analytical and critical decision-making, formation of sound judgment, and an informed citizenship. Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with only ten years of basic education.


What is the role of narrative in bi- and multi-lingual early childhood learning in a culturally and linguistically syncretistic setting such as the Andamans?
- examine the crucial role that narrative plays in early childhood learning.
- investigate early childhood bi- and multilingualism within the anthropology of childhood and bi- and multilingualism effect on pre-schoolers' learning.
- compare pre-schoolers' use of two or more languages across different learning contexts, such as in peer, sibling, parent-child, and extended family contexts.
- conduct a cross-cultural comparison of pre-school learners in the Andamans.
- strengthen childhood, and especially early childhood studies, as important domains of anthropological inquiry.


Fun Mollusks Quiz – FREE Online Interactive Science Quiz
Enjoy this Easy Science for Kids Mollusks Quiz – you’ll get your quiz score after completing this FREE online interactive quiz on Mollusks. You need to answer all the questions to be able to get your score. You can do this fun Mollusks quiz again, till you get the perfect score and become a quiz champion!
Tip: To get it right the first time, read the page with fun facts about the Mollusks.
About the Mollusks Quiz & our FREE Science Quizzes
Our fun easy science quizzes are a free online general knowledge quiz resource for teachers and educators of kids in elementary school, grammar school and preschool. This fun Mollusks quiz helps your kids learn fun facts about Mollusks while enjoying this FREE online interactive science quiz.
If your child is being home-schooled, or is interested in learning about the world we live in, then this is a fun science activity, with reading comprehension benefits for grade one to grade five kids. Kids will enjoy competing against their classmates and friends, to see who scores the best, doing this fun interactive science quiz for kids on Mollusks.
As a reading comprehension training for kids, you can set a timer to encourage kids to do the reading comprehension activity better, while paying better attention to text they read, or you can simply limit the number of times the kids can read about the Mollusks quiz topic, before they do the actual fun science kids quizzes we offer.
Younger kids who cannot yet read or write, such as Pre-K kids, Kindergarten kids or Preschool kids, will benefit from doing this free science quiz for kids and our other fun online quizzes, as a listening comprehension activity; you read out to them about the topic and then read the Mollusks quiz question and answers. You will select the Mollusk quiz answer they think is correct, and at the end you get the quiz score. Your child can try this quiz about Mollusks many times, till he or she gets the perfect score faster, as he or she learns to listen more carefully and develop a better memory and attention span!
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John Dalton was a British scientist who made many important discoveries in different fields. He had a special interest in meteorology and the atmosphere. He is well known for his research and contributions to Atomic Theory.
According to his theory, the Atom is the simplest unit and everything is made from atoms. They cannot be made or destroyed and can only be joined in special ratios. When they are moved around chemical reactions take place. John also conducted many groundbreaking researches in color-blindness that is known as Daltonism.
Quick Facts: –
- John Dalton was born on September 6, 1766 in Eaglesfield, England, United Kingdom.
- He was a Quaker as both of his parents were Quakers. Quakers were Christians but they were considered dissenters by the established Church of England.
- This was also the reason why he was not allowed to attend or hold a university position. He taught instead at a school his brother founded for Quaker students.
- He started teaching there at the age of 12 years. When he was 19, he became the principal and continued this role till he was 26 years old.
- In 1793, Meteorological Observations and Essays became Dalton’s first ever published work.
- In 1995, it was discovered that Dalton had a very rare form of color-blindness and he was able to see just one color, yellow.
- His work on barometric pressure led to his publication of a series of papers called Experimental Essays.
- Dalton was also given the nickname ‘the Father of Meteorology’ by English scientist John Frederic Daniell.
- Dalton published the first table of relative atomic weights of atoms of the elements. It contained 6 elements.
- In 1803, he introduced Dalton’s Law that stated ‘The total pressure of combined gases is equal to the partial pressures of each of those gases separately.
- Dalton passed away on July 27, 1844. He was 77 years old at that time.
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Piano Lessons Designed for the Student's Learning Style
Kindermusik Educator for Young Children
Redmond - Bellevue - Kirkland - Woodinville
My primary goal as a piano teacher and Kindermusik educator is to facilitate a joyful connection with music that enriches all areas of your child's development. Music education is about more than learning to play an instrument or sing. Piano lessons and Kindermusik classes are about music education and language, expression, math, relationships, reasoning and the list goes on!
But, ultimately music education should bring joy, and when it does, the other benefits come about naturally.
Whole Child Development
Multiple Domains of Learning
Teaching across multiple learning domains: cognitive, musical, social, emotional, and physical, we strengthen the foundation for a variety of skills and enrich the growth of the whole person. For example, a piano lesson teaches note reading, while also increasing literacy skills and fine motor control at the same time. A music class develops a toddler's musicality, but also creates bonds with friends and caregivers. These benefits are not accidental, but the goal of whole child learning.
Creative & Unique Piano Lessons
Play, Sing, Drum, Create
Using a variety of methods and materials, we find the best approach for teaching your child to play the piano. We focus on foundational piano skills, musical expression, theory and technique, combined with singing and drumming to reinforce melody and rhythm patterns. I keenly observe how your child processes information and design the lesson to accommodate your child's primary mode of learning whether it be visual, auditory, kinetic or a combination.
IS MY CHILD READY FOR PIANO LESSONS?
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A KINDERMUISK CLASS?
Developmental Readiness Is Key for Piano Lessons
Fine motor control -- can isolate the fingers individually on a keyboard, playing one key at a time with each finger
Pre-reading skills -- starting to decode words and can track a sentence with their eyes and fingers
Can sustain attention to an age appropriate academic subject, such as coloring for 20 minutes
Has some interest in the piano! Piano isn't the only instrument to begin lessons on. A child should have a genuine desire for the instrument they study. Piano, though, is one of the best!
Beginning Skills Neccessary for Piano Lessons
Discover the Joy of a Kindermusik Class
Excellent foundation for early learning, brain development, and private music lessons by combing joy, music and community!
Sing, dance, play and imagine in every class!
Classes for babies to age 10 with the adults who love them, or independently for ages 3 and up.
Designed for the window of growth from birth to age 9, which research shows is when a child should be introduced to music instruction to create a musical sensibility and have the most impact on all developmental domains. (Cuttietta, Dr. Robert, "Raising Musical Kids", 2019).
Kindermusik: Whole Child Development
Learn More About the Benefits of Music Education for Children
The Profound Impacts
Music Education and Piano Lessons
"Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory."
Strait, D.L. and N. Kraus, Biological impact of auditory expertise across the life-span: musicians as a model of auditory learning. Hearing Research, 2013
"When we sing or create music, we use all the parts of the brain: left, right, front, and back. All these parts collaborate. That is very unique! Music is complex; that is, it uses so many aspects of a person's being."
Hanne Deneire, composer. Quoted in "Appreciating Music as a Foundational Aspect of Creativity" by Joanne Foster. Feb. 3, 2018


Finding Art Santa Clarita | Castaic USD
The Castaic Union School District is an Arts Integration school district. We believe that exposing students to the Arts is a vital part of educating the whole child. Art improves the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness, as well as math and literacy (through theater and dance). Art helps children tap into their emotions and teaches them how to express them in healthy and positive ways. In addition, Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world; we believe this is critical when preparing our students to be leaders, to do well in the workplace, and to be better citizens.


Educators, schools and government bodies around the westernised world today are focussed on ensuring they keep pace with the rapidly developing space of 21st century education.
Students of today have access to a vast array of resources, technologies and choices which were not readily available a decade ago, and some of which did not even exist 15 years ago. Facebook, for example, was founded in 2004 – that is only 11 years ago. However, this is a daily, sometimes hourly, aspect of many students’ lives today and most have no memory of life without it and other similar ways of connecting globally.
This video produced by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) was shared with me by a peer. It helps to highlight the rapid growth in the future learning space as well as the impact and advantages these changes have for our students.
Considering that this video represents the momentum of much of the modern world’s educational focus today, where does that leave our Syrian refugee students? Many have had interrupted access to schooling throughout the last 4 years of conflict, but many have also ceased their education entirely. According to UNICEF, 68% of refugee children are not able to access schooling due to social, legal or economic barriers. With over 4.08 million refugees who have already fled Syria as of September 2015 it is estimated that half are children under the age of 18 years. Using UNICEF’s figures, that equates to approximately 1,387,000 refugee children under the age of 18 years who are not able to access education.
The gap that is apparent between the educational experiences of youth around the world today is certain to continue to widen unless the educational welfare of the Syrian refugees is addressed promptly.
Mercy Corps interviewed 150 Syrian refugee youths and asked for their words and pictures of what it was like growing up as a refugee. Their personal stories are emotional and moving, but importantly they demonstrate that they are all after a common goal – to be empowered and gain “recognition and respect for their skills and to contribute to their communities” (Streng, 2015).
Mercy Corps has recommended three main areas of focus in order to improve educational outcomes for the Syrian refugee youth.
- Reduce barriers to formal education and provide alternative learning models
- Develop job and leadership skills that improve future employability
- Provide activities that reduce isolation and improve adolescents emotional health and connection to their communities
Education is so much more than providing paper and pencils to learn literacy and numeracy skills. Yes, these skills are important, but so too are the abilities for refugee students to pursue future educational pathways, to develop a genuine connection to their community and for the ongoing psychosocial wellbeing of each child in order for them to contribute in meaningful and purposeful ways in the future. After all, these children are also 21st century learners.
I don’t think this is too much to ask, especially when you consider the educational luxuries that are available for other 21st century learners elsewhere around the world.


Written by: Dr. Paulette Harris, contributing writer and Director of Georgia Regents University’s Literacy Center.
Brain research findings indicate that early reading to your child promotes early literacy development. Of course, you want your child to develop a lifelong love of reading, and it is best to start early by reading to your young child from birth.
Picture books are great for the first books that you share with your child. Books with bright, colorful pictures are perfect for early sharing. In addition, black and white photos are even better for attracting very young readers to the page. However, feel free to change the words in the story to match the age of your young child. Keep in mind when selecting stories that certain stories are excellent for lulling the young child to sleep (e.g.,Goodnight Moon).
Your goal is for your young child to grow up loving books. Reading with your child is one of the best ways to raise readers. It is important to continue to read aloud to your child long after the child has learned to read. It is also critical that your child has books that he owns and can read and reread as he becomes a proficient reader.
The thrust of the Greater Augusta Partnership for Literacy is to provide families with young children books that truly belong to the child. From the time the first book arrives in your mailbox to the last time the child has that book read to themselves or is able to read the book on their own is when remarkable growth occurs.
As stated at the beginning of this article, brain research findings substantiate that the child who is read to becomes the lifelong reader. Let’s read to our children so that they will always read!