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Welcome back to our
StarTeaching newsletter,
Features for Teachers, packed full of tips, techniques,
and ideas for educators of all students in all levels.
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In This
Week's Issue (Click the Quick Links below):
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Remember
to bookmark this page and to visit our website for more great
articles, tips, and techniques!
http://www.starteaching.com Also,
feel free to email this newsletter to a friend or colleague!
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FEATURE
WRITER OPENINGS:
Would you be interested in
becoming a Featured Writer for the StarTeaching website?
Our Newsletter
is now posting a opening for a Social Studies / History Writer
interested in a monthly column focusing on Historical Events and
Education.
Email your resume and letter of
interest to: editor@starteaching.com |
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Gym
Goes Online
By
Stacy Andell
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Article courtesy of
EdArticle.com: www.edarticle.com
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The traditional view of gym class is changing all over the United
States. While most of us remember the endless games of kick ball
and calisthenics, students at all grade levels are having a very
different experience in elementary schools, middle schools and
high schools across the country. The traditional gym class is
shifting from team sports and group oriented activities to more
independent and individual activities to keep kids active all year
round.
Reasons Behind the Change
Two factors most influence the change in the traditional gym
class. On the one hand, the increasingly competitive standardized
testing is taking class time away from physical education. Many
schools recognize that the way to bolster test scores is to devote
more time to core subjects, like math and reading, and often gym
class is the place with the most room to cut from busy school
schedules. This trend is taking place in schools in all areas,
including urban and suburban schools.
The second issue behind the shift from traditional gym class is
the focus on the obesity rates of children in the United States.
Educators agree that traditional formats, particularly combined
with large class sizes, don't give students the amount of exercise
that they need to lead healthy lives. The average group oriented
gym class usually only engages a child for a few minutes out of
the average hour long gym class. Think about how much time a
student stands around waiting for their turn in a game of kickball
and you'll see how much time the student actually participates in
physical activity during a traditional gym class.
Independent Physical Activity
Unlike the team sports that have traditionally dominated
physical education, today's gym classes take advantage of the
greater variety of individual activities that make the most use
out of student exercise time. Activities like yoga, martial arts,
bike riding, and jogging have come to the forefront in modern
physical education where the new focus is on tailoring gym class
to meet the needs of the students who take it and, hopefully, help
them to develop lifelong habits of regular exercise.
While many students get embarrassed by their lack of
coordination in team sports, there is a much greater variety of
activities that students can participate in, taking the attention
off of performing in a group and onto establishing strong personal
exercise and fitness goals. By encouraging independent physical
activities, physical education programs encourage more students to
take responsibility for their personal fitness and feel better
about themselves when they exercise.
Taking it Online
Many schools are taking the gym student completely out of the
gym by making it an independent study class. In this way, students
get credit for doing physical activities outside of school, such
as taking a martial arts class or jogging a certain amount of time
each day before school. Such programs take the pressure off of the
student's class schedule, allowing them to focus more on academic
areas in school and enjoying physical activity outside of school.
Student and physical education teachers track progress and work
together to set goals without using valuable academic time in
school. Schools across the country have set up online monitoring
programs where students can measure their individual activities
while keeping everyone healthy and happy.
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Stacy Andell is a staff writer for
Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on
all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has
a nose for research and writes stimulating news and
views on school issues. For more on schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com.
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A Great Offer
to Our StarTeaching Readers
From Kim's Signing Solutions! |
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Star
Teaching Readers Get a Special Discount on a set of
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1st 50 Sight Words in Sign
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Use
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must use the link above to receive your discount!
Fully
endorsed by Frank Holes Jr., editor of Starteaching |
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Feature
Writer
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Using Photography To Inspire
Writing
By Hank Kellner
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Hank
Kellner is a retired teacher of English who
has served as a department chair at the high school level and an
adjunct associate professor of English at the community college
level.
He is the former publisher of Moneygram,
a marketing newsletter for photographer. He is also the
creator of many photographs and articles that have appeared in
publications nationwide, the author of extensive reading
comprehension materials for a publisher of educational
materials, and a former contributor to Darkroom Photography
magazine. His self-syndicated series, Twelve Unknown
Heroes of the American Revolution appeared in more than
fifty newspapers and magazines nationwide.
Kellner's most recent publication, Write What
You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing, is marked by Prufrock
Press. His blog appears regularly at hank-englisheducation.blogspot.com.
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| The purpose of Hank's most
recent work, Reflections, is to inspire student
writing through the use of poetry and photography.
Most of the poems and photos have been submitted by students,
teachers, and others nationwide, though some are directly from
Hank. Although Reflections has not yet been
published, all of its contents are copyrighted. Teachers
are free, however, to download selected contents for use in
their classrooms.
Each selection will include a poem, a photograph, a direct
quotation, and four trigger words.
We at StarTeaching kindly thank Hank for his permission to
use the materials. |
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Paper
By
Gabrielle
Lehmann
One day she met a charming man
Whose heart was made of paper
Beneath a latticed wooden cage
And skin as thin as vapor
With fingers wrapped in threads of red
And gold, no metal bands instead
Now taking hers in his he said
“My dear you scant could fathom
How laurels sit atop the head
Of one who's never had them.”
“But follow me, my dear,” said
he
“I will bestow you treasure
And it will be, quite certainly,
Beyond all hope of measure”
The darling dear allowed him near
For through his pane of cellophane
So certain was she his veneer
And self could only be the same
An aeon came and ages went
And though her love presented
A lavish wealth of great extent
His spouse was not contented
Beneath the strings his fingers
bled
The plaster held no polish
No man beneath the ruby red
Which wind could not demolish
He held no secret in his breast
His ribcage rattled hollow
A heartless jest that proved at best
A liquor hard to swallow.
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Photo 30 by Hank Kellner
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“Love is blind, marriage is the eye-opener.”
- Pauline Thomason
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VENEER
SECRET
RED DISAPPOINTMENT |
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Haiku
By Cynthia Lee Katona
Pandas in London.
Polar bears sweating in Rome
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What were they thinking? The beer is too warm.
The sphinx surprisingly small.
Might as well stay home.
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| Photo 29, 29A by Cynthia
Katona |
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Copyright
2009 Hank Kellner
These poem/photo combinations are from
Hank Kellner's upcoming publication, Reflections: A Collection of Poetry, Photos, and
More.
__________________________________________________________________________
Hank
Kellner is the author of
Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing. Published by Cottonwood Press ( I-800-864-4297)
and distributed by Independent
Publishers Group, Write What You See includes a supplementary CD with photos. 8 ½ x11,
120 pages, perfect binding, ISBN 978-1-877-673-83-2, LCCN
2008938630. $24.95. Available at bookstores, from the publisher,
and on the Internet at www.amazon.com and
other websites.
Ask
your school or local librarian to order it.Visit the author’s
blog at http://hank-englisheducation.com.
The author will contribute a portion of the royalties earned
from the sale of this book to The Wounded Warriors Project.
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iPod Touch |
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Order your own iPod Touch Today with the links below:
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NowAvailable! |
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Mastering Basic
Skills software:
$29.99 |
| There
are six modules designed to test the basic ability of an
individual in terms of Memory & Concentration. Needless to
say this is the most important basic skill for not just to
survive but also to thrive in this competitive environment.
Each of the six modules tests the six variants of Memory &
Concentration in an individual, namely: |
1. |
Picture
recognition |
| 2. |
Paired Associate
Learning |
| 3. |
Immediate Recall |
| 4. |
Serial processing |
| 5. |
Parallel
processing |
| 6. |
Recognition and
Recall |
| Each
of these modules runs at three different levels, from easy to
difficult.
At each level, the individual's performance is depicted as
Scores Obtained.
A feedback has been built into the software for all these 18
levels depending on the marks one scores during the
test.
Each individual can assess his/her performance any time by
clicking on "history", which gives complete details
of date and time of taking the tests, marks scored each time
and even time taken to do the test. This builds the confidence
level and encourages more participation to eventually
culminate in improvement and enhancement of memory and
concentration.
Essentially, this software is a SELF AWARENESS tool that
surely motivates the individual to realize one's capability
and seek or be receptive for improvement. Also, if repeatedly
done over a period of time works as Training tool to enhance
their capability. |
This
software package is specifically designed to help young
children to learn basic skills that will help them in
school. Continued follow-up will give these young
learners success as they mature.
Three versions of the software exist:
Individual Software on either CD or Online, Family
Version Software, and an Institutional Software package.
StarTeaching wholeheartedly supports
and endorses this software. It will make a difference
with your child or student. |
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Click
HERE to order your own copy today:
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Feature
Writer |
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Preparing For Your Student-Teaching
Experience (part 1)
By
Dr. Peter Manute
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Your student
teaching experience is a very important step in your teaching
career. In fact, your entire outlook on teaching and
learning can be affected by your success during this period of
your life. This series of articles will help give you
excellent 'insider information' on what they didn't teach you in
your college classes.
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There are many questions you'll want to pose to
yourself far in advance of your student teaching experience. It is
important to think carefully about them, as they will help to guide the
actions and decisions you make. What kind of teacher do you want to
become? Are there other teachers who have been a positive influence on
you? Who have been your role models? Are there teachers you've had whose
style you want to emulate? Are there teachers you know you don't want to
be like? What has worked for some teachers that you want to implement in
your own practice?
Who do you see yourself as? What style will you create
for your own teaching? How will you balance the subject matter with the
care for kids? How do you want the students to see you? How do you want
your students to remember you five, ten, or twenty years later on? Will
they remember you as a positive influence on them? Could you potentially
change their lives?
Create a plan to become your dream. Do it now. Talk
with teachers you admire and respect: those you want to model yourself
after. Discuss the techniques and ideas that work for them, and use or
adapt what you feel is useful. You can also check out the FREE teacher
"Who I Want To Be" inventory available on our website. It
gives ideas, provides guidance, and helps to create a plan for starting
out on your teaching career.
Click
here to see the "Who I Want To Be" teacher plan on our
website.
Meeting your mentor teacher as early as possible is
very important. The two of you must form a bond, a cohesive unit in the
classroom. Your co-op teacher will become the most important contact for
this point in your career. They provide you not only with support,
guidance, and structure, but also critique. Your co-op teacher's
evaluation and recommendation is vital to your resume and to
interviewing.
Planning will become very important to every aspect of
your life, from school to your personal life. One huge difference is
planning for class. Not anymore are you just setting up an activity or a
day's lesson plan. Now you must think in terms of the long haul. It
becomes a campaign where you must have an overall picture of what you'll
cover with your students.
Also within this overall framework, you must have
weekly and then daily plans. You'll also have to reflect daily and
adjust and (re-adjust) your plans depending upon how each lesson or
activity goes (or doesn't go!) The daily grind is often interrupted by
school-wide activities, fire drills, and those 'teachable moments' that
happen on the spur of the moment. You'll need to be flexible and able to
adapt on a daily (or even hourly) basis. But that's a part of teaching!
Another concern many new teachers and student teachers
have is becoming involved in extra-curricular activities. There are
several ways to look at this. First, it is a good idea to become
involved in extra-curriculars at your school. These are good resume'
builders, and your involvement shows potential employers you are a team
player and willing to go the extra mile for your school and job. Extra
curriculars also set you up in a new and different relationship with
those students. They are able to see you in a different role too, and
many times you're able to create in-roads with students whom you might
not otherwise make a connection. Of course, taking part in extra-curriculars
means more time and efforts put in, especially when you're already
pulled in all directions. However, it is in your best interest to find
an activity you can join, even if just as an assistant.
You will also need to carefully plan your personal
time while student teaching. In addition to the increased teaching and
planning load, your time will be further divided by your college, which
undoubtedly has course work or projects for you to accomplish. There are
always hoops to jump through. If you have a family, you'll be pulled in
even more directions as you find the new balance between home and work
Watch for more in the next issue!
| Grand Valley offers a Masters in Educational Leadership in Boyne City and Cadillac. If you would like to find out more about our program feel free to contact me
at: jjudge2935@charter.net
or call me at 231-258-2935.
Many of the topics we will present will be for teachers seeking and administration position and for recently appointed administration. I will also receive comments from those who have just completed their first year as administrators. Since the program in Northern began eleven years ago we have placed over 60 GVSU graduates in administration positions. |
Student
Teachers' Lounge:
For The Things They Don't Teach You In College |
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Building
PowerPoint Presentations
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PowerPoint
is a fantastic program that can make your classroom
presentations come alive. It is at a basic level an interactive
slide show. For advanced users, it can include timed
transitions, video clips, and audio elements. A digital
projector and a computer can enliven your presentations and make
note taking easier. The use of technology also captures and
keeps the students (or your audience's) attention.
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PowerPoint (or a comparable software product) allows information to
be displayed in a fun, interactive manner. It ties text, graphics, and
animation seamlessly in an easy to use format. You have total control,
from choosing text sizes, fonts, and colors, to creating graphics of all
shapes and colors, and even to adding pictures, clip art, sounds, and
animations. You also determine the page layout by simply moving any item
wherever you want on the slide.
You begin with a blank slide on which you will arrange your data,
whether it be text or graphical elements.
Having used PowerPoint for many years, I have some suggestions for
you.
| 1. |
Use at least size 16 font, and
think seriously about size 20 or 24 font. This is so youw
words and letters are large enough to see from everywhere in
your room. |
| 2. |
Be careful with color schemes. A
creative slide may actually be hard to see when projected. Use
light colored (white/yellow) text and graphics on a dark
background, and use dark text and graphics on a light
background. Avoid red/blue combinations, and others like these
that tend to blend into each other. Always test your
presentation before giving it so you can ensure it will be
seen properly. |
| 3. |
Don't bother using sound unless
you have a good set of speakers. The audio will use up
valuable memory and is useless unless you have speakers. And
many times the novelty wears off and your audience will tire
of the repetitive sounds. |
| 4. |
When your students are using
graphics and photos, check that the sizes are appropriate.
Expanding (enlarging) a photo can reduce its resolution,
making it grainy and hard to see clearly. |
| 5. |
Animations and slide transitions
are neat and fun, but don't overdo them. Choose one slide
transition to use throughout the presentation so your audience
knows the next slide is here. The same goes with animations:
keep them simple and appropriate. You want to impress the
audience with your information, not the 'gadgets' you use to
soup up the PowerPoint. |
The program also includes several templates where you can just click
and insert the text or graphics you want. The best way of gaining
proficiency is to play with the program. That's right, pretend you're a
kid and try everything out. There's no way you can break it. Check out
all of the menus and buttons. If you do become confused, find a third
grader who can help you out (at that age, many kids are already
proficient and still love to show you how to do it). There are many
tricks, shortcuts, options, and neat ideas you can try. You'll find ones
you like and that fit your personality or your presentation.
Most of the 'equivalent' programs for various platforms
(Mac/Windows/Linux) are close enough for you or your students to be
proficient on any machine. At our school, we regularly switch between
Macs and Linux computers, and our students have quickly mastered both
the basics and more advanced techniques. Remember, you as the teacher
don't need to know exactly every detail of the program. You can rely on
(or challenge) your students to find the little intricacies of the
program. The big thing is for you to have your students use the program,
and you'll learn alongside the kids.
PowerPoint is very easy to use. With just a little bit of computer
familiarity, you can be creating professional and creative presentations
Interested in FREE writing activities you can print out and use
immediately in your classroom? Simply click the following link to our
writing page: http://www.starteaching.com/writing.htm
Be sure to check out our website for the FREE teacher Who-I-Want-To- Be
plan and other great Freebies for new teachers. Simply click the
following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
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TECH/21st
Century CORNER
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Evaluating
the Use of Technology in Classrooms
Shared by Mark Benn
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Mark
Benn is a Technology Integration Coach for VARtek Services, Inc. Having just completed almost 25 years as an educator for Inland Lakes Public Schools, and having received a Masters of Science in Educational Media Design and Technology from Full Sail University in 2010, he now works in a position that supports teachers of K-12 classrooms in the southwest Ohio region that are interested in integrating technology into their learning environments. VARtek Services mission is to be the best provider of managed technology solutions for enhanced learning in the K–12 marketplace. Our website is:
www.vartek.com
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Today,
I'm sharing a thought-provoking article on evaluating the use of
technology in the classroom. Is technology just being used for its
own sake, or does it really enhance the learning by providing new
instruction? Check out the link below:
Evaluating
Technology Use in the Classroom
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Mark Benn received his Masters of Science in Educational Media Design and Technology from Full Sail University in 2010.
Mark Benn earned his B.S. from Western
Michigan University and his Elementary Certification from
Northern Michigan University. He is a 25 year teaching
veteran of 5th and 6th grade students at Inland Lakes Middle
School in Indian River, MI.
Prior to teaching, Mark spent 11 years as Department Manager for
Sears, Roebuck and Co. dealing with emerging technologies.
He has been married to his wife Bonnietta for 32 years with one
daughter and two sons.
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StarTeaching Featured Writer
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Mark Benn is a leading expert in using technology
in the classroom.
You can feel free to contact him on email
at mbenn@inlandlakes.org
or at his blogsite: http://www.furtrader.blogspot.com/
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Guest
Writer
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Does Your Kid Have a Great Teacher? Here's
How You Know
By Christina Riggan
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Christina Riggan,
a twenty-five year veteran of public schools, and a former
teacher in a primary (K-5) school in Austin, Texas, has worked
with a variety of grade levels from Kindergarten to adults. Her
certifications include Kindergarten, Reading, ESOL, Language
Arts, and she holds a Principal's Certificate and a Master's
Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She is currently a
full-time writer, her chosen area of focus in writing books
(fiction and nonfiction) and articles that might help parents,
teachers, and students. She is married to David, her husband of
thirty-eight years, has two happily married sons, and four
wonderful grandchildren.
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After meeting with your child's teacher spend some some time thinking
about these ideas listed below to help you decide if you have a great
teacher for your child. And even though most people make up their minds
about whether they like others or not in a few seconds, give your
child's teacher a fair shot and meet with her several times to learn
enough about her to make a decision. These may help serve as a
guideline for you.
1. Does she care about your child in every way? A great teacher is a
trained observer of children and looks out for signs of poor learning,
social adjustment problems, poor vision, poor hearing, learning
problems, and whether he/she is happy or not. These are documented and
based on many observations and are not a subjective and momentary
judgment.
2. Does she listen to your concerns and your child's concerns? Does she
ask clarifying questions about your child's dreams, goals, desires? Does
she make plans and set goals with this information?
3. Does she exhibit good values, is she moral and honest, and considered
respectable? He/she may have different values than yours but they would
not be considered a harmful influence or morally bankrupt.
4. Does she respect your family and demonstrate that by being courteous
and considerate? Examples of this would be: Answering your questions
with courtesy, respecting your family situation- whatever that may be,
returning phone calls or emails promptly, setting up conferences when
requested or needed.
5. Great teachers respect the importance of good grades and test scores
but also value the learning and growth that may have occurred that
grades sometimes cannot measure. She is able to demonstrate this
growth through understandable and acceptable measures. Examples might be
learning journals, performance tasks, benchmark tasks, essays,
experiments, reports etc.
6. She communicates clearly, fairly and as frequently as is humanly
possible and as much as that family may wish. Examples of this may
be: Newsletters, letters, phone calls, announcements of events. Others
might include letting you know your child is failing in time for him/her
to recover his/her grade before the end of the reporting period.
Or if your child has been sick for a week, he/she is not required to
complete every worksheet he/she has missed but only the most important
ones for learning.
7. She is equitable or fair with all students. Examples might include
giving everyone a chance to redo a problem on the math exam because
everyone failed that problem. She doesn't punish the whole class for the
infractions of a few.
8. She values the immense possibilities from learning through taking
risks, errors, and mistakes and sees learning as a journey. She
encourages a low-risk environment in the classroom. Kids are encouraged
to take risks and are not chastised for mistakes.
9. She is knowledgeable about and values cultural, racial, and religious
differences, and teaches diversity in the classroom. This means it is an
integrated part of her curriculum all year, not just for a holiday.
10. She is academically competent and thoroughly trained in all areas.
She may have a certification of training for a special form of learning
and that's okay. But she should be certified in the main area of her
teaching. If she is teaching all the math for fifth grade, let's make
sure she has a degree in math or the requisite educational hours (this
could be 18 hours at the collegiate level).
I hope you have found this information helpful. Remember to give your
child's teacher a chance and interact enough before making any
judgments- just like you would like her to do for you!
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Instructional
Methods for Teaching Reading
(part 2)
Courtesy of
K12Academics.com
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A variety of different methods of teaching reading have been
advocated in English-speaking countries. In the United States, the
debate is often more political than objective. Parties often divide into
two camps which refuse to accept each others terminology or frame of
reference. Despite this both camps often incorporate aspects of the
other's methods. Both camps accuse the other of causing failure to learn
to read and write.A variety of different methods of teaching reading have been
advocated in English-speaking countries. In the United States, the
debate is often more political than objective. Parties often divide into
two camps which refuse to accept each others terminology or frame of
reference. Despite this both camps often incorporate aspects of the
other's methods. Both camps accuse the other of causing failure to learn
to read and write.
"Whole Word", "Sight Word", or
"Look (and) Say"
The "Sight Word" method is not synonymous with
"Whole Language" approach, but is often considered
to be part of it.
The "Sight Word" method also appears prominently
in avowedly "Phonic" teaching such as the National
Curriculum for England & Wales, where words that do not
fit the rules of phonics are placed on a list of sight words
for rote memorization.
Some advocates claim that it is the same method used to
acquire literacy in languages such as Chinese, assumed by the
advocates to be based on ideograms. The Chinese writing system
is however a complex logographic system with many
morphosyllabic elements particularly in phonetic markers for
frequently used characters. Chinese characters.
Students learning English using this method memorize the
appearance of words, or learn to recognize words by looking at
the first and last letter from rigidly selected vocabularies
in progressive texts (such as The Cat in the Hat). Often this
method is taught by slides or cards with a picture next to a
word, teaching children to associate the whole word with its
meaning. Often preliminary results show children taught with
this method have higher reading levels than children learning
phonics, because they learn to automatically recognise a small
selection of words. However later tests demonstrate that
literacy development becomes stunted when hit with longer and
more complex words later. However, they can learn the 5,000
most common words in roughly three years which is sufficient
for basic literacy. This is disputed. Following almost a
decade of hands-on research by Dr. Diane McGuinness’ and
three associates and a study of the last 25 years of reported
research on teaching methods, she reports (three times for her
emphasis):
“The average number of words in
daily conversations on the streets of any town in the world
today is about 50,000. . . . But when people are asked to
memorize what word goes with which abstract visual symbol
scribbled on clay, or papyrus, or paper, the upper limit is
around 1,500 to 2,000, not enough for any language. Not even
close. . . . There is a natural limit on human memory for
memorizing codes with too many confusing symbols. This limit,
from the evidence so far, is around 2,000 symbols. . . . What
turns out to be “natural” is that ordinary people
(including children) can only remember about 1,500 to 2,000
abstract visual symbols.”
Dr. Rudolf Flesch reported in his 1981 book Why Johnny
Still Can’t Read:
“And how does look-and-say [now
called whole word] work? It works on the principle that
children learn to read by reading. It starts with little
“stories” containing the most-often-used words in English
and gradually builds up a ‘sight vocabulary.’ The children
learn to read by seeing those words over and over again. By
the end of first grade they can recognize 349 words, by the
end of second grade 1,094, by the end of third grade 1,216,
and by the end of fourth grade 1,554. (I got those numbers
from the Scott, Foresman series, but all look-and-say series
teach about the same number of words.) . . . Now consider the
look-and-say trained reader. The word rectitude is of course
not among the 1,500 or 3,000 words he learns to recognize
during his first three or four school years.”
Although the number of words taught by the whole word
method may be different today, Dr. McGuinness’ studies shows
that unless the students learn phonics (on their own or from
help outside the classroom) in addition to their whole word
training, they cannot learn more than about 2,000 words by
sight alone. In any case, if the students know only 3,000 to
5,000 common words, they read so poorly that they do not like
to read, seldom do so, and—-in most cases—-cannot hold an
above-poverty-level wage job. The classic implementation of
this approach was the McGill reading curriculum used to teach
most baby boomers to read in the U.S.
The sight-word (whole language) method was invented by Rev.
Thomas H. Gallaudet, the director of the American Asylum at
Hartford in the 1830s. It was designed for the education of
the Deaf by juxtaposing a word, with a picture. In 1830,
Gallaudet provided a description of his method to the American
Annals of Education which included teaching children to
recognize a total of 50 sight words written on cards and by
1837 the method was adopted by the Boston Primary School
Committee. Horace Mann the then Secretary of the Board of
Education of Massachusetts, USA favored the method and it soon
became the dominant method state wide. By 1844 the defects of
the new method became so apparent to Boston schoolmasters that
they issued an attack against it urging a return to an
intensive, systematic phonics. Again Dr. Samuel Orton, a
neuropathologist in Iowa in 1929 sought the cause of
children's reading problems and concluded that their problems
were being caused by the new sight method of teaching reading.
(His results were published in the February 1929 issue of the
Journal of Educational Psychology, “The Sight Reading Method
of Teaching Reading as a Source of Reading Disability.”)
See more in our next issue!
|
MythMichigan
Books
Novels by Frank Holes, Jr. |
|
Dogman’s
Back!
The legends of the Michigan Dogman come alive in six haunting
tales by folklore author, Frank Holes, Jr.
Based upon both mythology and alleged real stories of the
beast, this collection is sure to fire the imagination!
Spanning the decades and the geography of the
Great Lakes
State
, Frank weaves:
A mysterious police report of an unsolvable death in
Manistee
County
A
terrifying encounter in the U.P.’s remote
Dickinson
County
A BLOG,
begun as one man’s therapy, becomes a chronicle of sightings
from around
Michigan
A secret
governmental agent investigates the grisly aftermath of Sigma
A pioneer
family meets more than they expected on the trail north
A
campfire tale of ancient betrayal handed down through the Omeena
Tribe
Welcome
to Dogman Country! |
NOW
AVAILABLE!
Click
Here For The
Tales From Dogman Country Website
|
Now Available!
Year
of the Dogman Website
|
Now Available!
Haunting
of Sigma Website |
Now Available!
Nagual: Dawn of the
Dogmen Website |
| |
|
|
Now Available!
 |
Now Available!
 |
|
|
The Longquist Adventures, written for
elementary students, is excellent for teaching mythology and
classic stories to young children.
http://www.longquist.com
|
|
|
Teachers:
We now have special offers on Classroom Sets of our Novel.
Click here for more information:
ORDER
A CLASS SET
|
New
Teachers' Niche:
A Place for Teachers New To The Craft |
|
|
Creative
Writing Inspired by Foods
|
|
A great way to start your students off on
creative writing is to use inspiration from foods they are
familiar with. Two foods we use are pizza and ice cream sundaes.
All of our students are intimately familiar with these two kid
foods, and it is easy to discuss and write about them. Generally
we partner these writings with our teaching of adjectives and
other descriptive words and phrases. These two assignments are
for students to practice using (and overusing and even abusing)
adjectives.
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We first discuss the role of adjectives and their job in writing.
Adjectives add much of the description and details for the people,
places, and objects your students are writing about. These help to
describe shapes and sizes, colors and textures, tones and amounts, among
many other details. Especially when students begin creative writing, you
should encourage them to try new techniques and to overuse their
descriptions. From my experience, believe me, its much easier to 'tone
down' the students writing later on than it is to try and pull more out
of them.
The first assignment the students complete is the pizza description. We
start by discussing how pizzas are made. We talk about crusts, sauces,
cheeses, and different meat or vegetable toppings. We try to get the
kids thinking about their favorite toppings, and we list these triggers
on the board as students write them down. Then next to each ingredient
we will list five or more adjectives for details. We'd like to get
students with a list of 50 or more triggers to work with when they start
writing. We will also discuss methods of cooking, so our discussion is
educationally good for the kids too. We will organize our brainstorming
these triggers in the order we build the pizza, from crust to the final
topping.
Once the brainstorming and organizing is complete, the students start
writing the description. We make it competitive, seeing which students
can provide the best (and possibly the most outrageous) descriptions of
each ingredient, and the pizza as a whole. These are read aloud in
class, much to the delight of the kids. We will proofread and peer-edit
the writings, and then either type or print them carefully in ink before
hanging them in he hallway outside our lunchroom. As a related art
project, students create slices of pizza out of construction paper, with
toppings to match their written descriptions. We hang these along with
the writings, giving students something fun to read while in the lunch
line.
The second writing we do a few days later builds on the same concepts as
the first, only we now write about ice cream sundaes. We like this
second because after doing the leg work in teaching the pizza
description, students are much more ready to creatively write on their
own. And the sundae description lends to more details and description,
since there are more choices students can make concerning ice cream
flavors, sauces, and a myriad of toppings. We will up the triggers to 75
total, thus stretching the kids a bit more.
Again, start at the bottom and build upwards. We first talk about ice
cream flavors and describe each in great detail. Kids are allowed any
types or flavor combinations for the ice cream. Then we discuss sauces
and toppings. Hot fudge, caramel, butterscotch, and fruit sauces or
preserves are added. Lastly, describe the details of the various
toppings, whether they are the old classics or exotic and unusual ones.
Possibilities are endless. After organizing these ingredients, students
write out the description.
Now if you want to take the writing to the next step, have students
create a story that uses their food description. Give it a day or so to
rest, then bring back out the kids' descriptions to revise and edit. We
have had students write about space aliens trying these foods for the
first time. We've had these foods taken back in time and given to
pilgrims, vikings, and pharaohs. I think you could be really creative in
the story ideas, and even let the students create situations.
Interested in FREE writing activities you can print out and use
immediately in your classroom? Simply click the following link to our
writing page: http://www.starteaching.com/writing.htm
Be sure to check out our website for the FREE teacher Who-I-Want-To- Be
plan and other great Freebies for new teachers. Simply click the
following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
|
Be sure to check out our website for more great
information, tips, and techniques for new teachers,
student-teachers, and interns in teacher prep programs. Also be
sure to check out our Who-I-Want-To-Be teacher plan for
preparing yourself to enter the educational profession. Simply
click the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
Want to check
out the articles in our Student-Teaching series? Check out our
special Student-Teaching page through the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/studentteachers.htm
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Click below to check out the NEW Amazon.com Kindle
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instantly downloadable with 3G wireless.
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Kindle weighs only 10 ounces and is 1/3 of an inch
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Order your very own Kindle by clicking the link below:
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Are There Other Teachers in Your
School or District Who Would Love to Receive Our Newsletter?
Be sure to
pass along our website and newsletter!
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|
"F16 and C130"
Themes
on Life
|
A C-130 was flying on a
mission when a cocky F-16 pilot flew up next to him.
The fighter jock told
the C-130 pilot, "watch this !" and promptly went into a barrel roll
followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the
sound barrier.
The F-16 pilot asked
the C-130 pilot what he thought of that. The C-130 pilot said, "That was
impressive, but watch this!"
The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes, and then the C-130 pilot came back
on and said "What did you think of that?" Puzzled, the F-16
pilot asked, "What did you do?"
The C-130
pilot chuckled, "I stood up, stretched my legs, went to the back, relieved
myself, then got a cup of coffee and a sweet roll."
The moral of the
story is....
When you are young and foolish -
speed and flash may seem a good thing !
When you get older and smarter -
comfort and dull is not such a bad thing!
We older folks understand this one.
|
What's New @ StarTeaching?
|
|
Hello readers! Welcome to your
second June issue of Features For Teachers for 2012! This
month, we bring another great poetry/photograph selection from Hank Kellner
from his upcoming
book, Reflections. We also have a follow-up articles
on Reading Instruction and a new series on Preparing for Student
Teaching, as well as a shared article on evaluating technology use from Mark Benn. You'll also find great articles
on writing, gym class online, and building PowerPoints.
As
always, we have free activities (from Mary Ann Graziani and Frank Holes
Jr.) and articles with practical ideas
and techniques to be applied directly into your classroom.
And be sure to check out our article archives on our website:
www.starteaching.com
And be sure to check out our FACEBOOK page for StarTeaching for more reader
interaction and constant, updated streams of educational
information.
Thanks again for your continued support! ~Frank Holes, Jr. |
See more of our Freebies as well as Special
Reports on our website by clicking the quick link below:
http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
Make sure to BOOKMARK our website so you can
keep up with more changes and additions through the year. And feel
free to share our site by EMAILING it to a friend.
http://www.starteaching.com
Email us at editor@starteaching.com
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