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Education World's
Learning Machine


Explore the coolest teaching resources on the Web.

From the Math Machine
Cookie Dough is a fun Web site for teaching place value and the spelling of number words. (Grades K-5)

From the Science Machine
Use KODAK: Close to Perfection to explore the topics of biology, insects, nature, and photography. (Grades K-12)

From the Reading Machine
The Grammar Gorillas reinforces parts of speech. (Grades 2-8)

Happy Autumn! Here in the northeast, we're prone to lament the shortness of our summers and the length of our winters. But we always celebrate the beauty of our autumns.
Whatever the length of your individual seasons, be sure to check out our Awesome Autumn theme page, with piles of fall lessons and activities.
Also new this week are articles by Math Cat creator Wendi Petti ("Connecting to Math in Real Life"), part one of a ten-part DOE series on teaching children with ADHD ("Identifying Children With ADHD"), and part four of "Speak Up or Burn Out: Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence," in which David Maxfield shares a few successful approaches to crucial conversations.
Enjoy them all -- and have a great week!



Restore the Joy
Engaging in crucial conversations can help restore the meaning and joy that attracted teachers to education in the first place.


Grammar Slammer
The goal of Erin Farley's Grammar Slammer is to allow students to master grammar at their own pace.

Wire Side Chat
The Book Whisperer
A chat with Donalyn Miller about her almost mystical success in getting kids to read. Her strategies include allowing children to choose their own books, and providing reading role models and time to read.

Strategy of the Week
Teaching Manners
Character education is a hot topic, but education in manners often receives scant attention. Teachers who "teach" manners say, however, that they notice a real difference in students' attitudes and academics.




Ken Shore: The Classroom Problem Solver
Homework
Homework is a frequent source of tension among teachers, students, and parents. The challenge is to encourage students to take homework seriously.



Ms. Powell's Tips for Organizing Your Classroom
Create a Conference-Form Folder
Rather than keep conference forms filed for individual children, place the whole class's conference forms in one folder.

Classroom Management Article of the Week
Token Economies Yield Promising Results
When classroom management is a struggle, the answer might be as simple as the old neighborhood "Five and Dime." See how systems based on "token economies" can work with even the toughest classes.


From Our Classroom Tips Library
Classroom Management: Creative Open House Activities
Behavior Management: Homework, Attendance, Tardiness
Motivating Kids: The Homework Wave
Book Report Makeover: Concentration
Homework Tips: Freedom of Choice
Best Idea: Prop Boxes
Testing Tips: Parent Partners




Fred Jones's Tools for Teaching
Teaching to the Physical Modality
"Say, See, Do Teaching" reduces many of the learning and behavior problems that teachers face every day, by attacking structural problems that underlie the "bop 'til you drop" approach.


Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Managing the Quagmire of Disillusion
One of the best pieces of advice I got before entering the classroom for the first time was given by my favorite high school science teacher who said...


Eric Baylin's Songs to Brighten a Teacher's Day
Oh, Lunch Duty
This song was inspired by my opportunity to perform weekly lunch duty. I can manage my classroom well enough, but amid the lunchtime fries and frenetic conversations, I hold little sway.


Leah Davies: The Teacher Counselor
Ten Ways to Involve Fathers in Their Children's Education
Parent involvement in schools has traditionally been carried out by mothers. Yet when fathers take an active role in education, schools report an increase in student achievement.

Meet other members of Education World's Professional Development columnist team.



THE MATH CORNER

Wendy Petti's Math Cats
Connections to Math in Real Life
Discover collections of real-world math activities, online data sources, collaborative math and science projects, and more.

Featured Math Article
Interest Grows in
Checkbook Math

Personal finance lessons are becoming popular, and teachers say the lessons can help with basic skills and behavior.

Go Figure!
How many squares can students create using the dots in this puzzle?


Your Place or Mine?
Identifying place value from 10,000 to .00001

Math Mnemonics
Greater than or less than?

THE SCIENCE LAB
My Teacher Caused an Earthquake
An introduction to the topic of seismic waves produced by earthquakes.


Cause and Effect Writing
Challenges Students

Teachers who emphasize cause-and-effect writing say it helps students learn to think critically and write cogently.

The Classroom Secretary
Mellanay Auman's student secretaries keep classes running smoothly.


Ten Prompts for Student Writing
Ten prompts for engaging writing assignments.(Grades 3-8)
Headline News
Create simple stories using words cut from newspaper headlines. (Grades 3-12)

Writing Bugs
It's My Business
If you could open a business of your own
Not Music to My Ears
I like all kinds of music except...


Cathy Puett Miller
Engaged Reading
Centering reading around student interests, motivation, and self-concept is how we give every student a reason to read.


Reader's Theater
The Red Dragon
A Red Dragon tells all the animals he will fly them to another world, but the trip ends in disaster.

Reading Feature
Students Meet Their Favorite Authors -- on the Internet
From the bright cheer of picture-book-writer Eric Carle's home page to the direct approach of Aaron Shepard's, authors' pages teem with biographical information, bibliographies, information about specific books, and even, in many cases, activities geared to fun and learning.


Best Books for Teaching About...
Explorers
Rain Forests





More from Our Professional Development Channel

This ten-part series from the Department of Education explores the components of a successful strategy for educating children with ADHD.

Part 1
Identifying Children With ADHD

Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are the core symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. When a child exhibits behaviors associated with ADHD, consequences might include difficulties with academics and with forming relationships with his or her peers.