Brain-Friendly Teaching: Putting Brain-Friendly Strategies to Work
Marilee Sprenger discusses how to put brain-friendly strategies to work in the classroom and how teachers can avoid their own senior moments.
Brain-Friendly Teaching: From Sensory to Long-Term Memory
"BrainLady" Marilee Sprenger follows a seven-step process for taking information from students’ sensory memory to long-term memory.
Brain-Friendly Teaching: Strategies to Improve Memory
Neuroscience expert Marilee Sprenger shares what teachers need to know about the brain to help students learn and remember.
Start Your Engines
Merging his life-long love of racing and a classroom of fourth graders, teacher Tom Stock created a winning learning combination. Virtual
Workshop: Project-Based and Problem-Based Learning
The difference between project-based and problem-based learning lies largely
in their application: Problem-based learning focuses on the problem and
the process, while project-based learning focuses on the product.
Strategies that
Work: Teaching with Games
In the classroom, games can be used to review learned skills and to teach
new ones. Games help build students’ academic confidence, improve their
problem-solving skills, and strengthen teacher-student and student-student
relationships.
Kickball, Calisthenics,
and Composition?: Writing Fits in with Phys Ed
Writing assignments are starting to turn up in all kinds of courses --
but in physical education classes? For sure! While kids get fit, their
instructors are using writing to help them focus on the goal of overall
fitness. See how students in your school can exercise their bodies and
their writing skills in phys ed!
Puzzles
What can children learn from and enjoy at the same time? Puzzles, that's
what! Learn how you can use the inherent appeal of puzzles to sharpen
students' thinking and problem-solving skills and reinforce concepts in
language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
"You Must Remember
This"…Teaching with Mnemonics
Using mnemonics to help students "file" information more effectively makes
it possible for them to retrieve material more easily. Discover some classic
mnemonics and some teacher-created originals. Included: Tips for creating
your own memory tools.
Eek! Comics in the
Classroom!
Are you looking for a way to motivate reluctant readers, engage urban
youth, develop the comprehension skills of second-language learners, or
teach visual literacy to elementary level students? Have you considered
using comics and graphic novels?
Letterboxing: Clues Lead Kids
on an Educational Adventure
In this pastime turned class-time activity, students solve and follow
clues to find a hidden "treasure" -- containing a stamp, a logbook, and
a few other goodies. Included: Experienced educator/letterboxers share
tips for getting started.
The Prop Box: Setting the
Stage for Meaningful Play
Dramatic play is an essential mode of learning for young children, and
"prop boxes," play materials grouped by theme, make this activity even
more effective. Find out how you can use these educational tools to guide
your students toward meaningful role-playing and creative exploration.
Running for Fun and Fitness
Not much of a fitness fan as a child, Carol Goodrow wanted her students to develop an appreciation for healthful eating and exercise at a young age. Her running club teaches kids that keeping fit and eating right is fun and easy.
Opening the Door: Teaching Students to Use Visualization to Improve Comprehension
Visualizing text is a proven way to improve reading comprehension. It is a technique that can be taught using this simple, step-by-step strategy from literacy consultant Cathy Puett Miller. Included: Tips and resources for developing students' comprehension skills.
Strategies That Work: Interest Fairs
More flexible than a Science Fair or a Social Studies Fair, an "Interest Fair" taps all subjects and students' interests. Whatever their ages, students have their talks ready and are prepared to answer questions on Interest Fair Night.
Hold an Interest Fair: Broadened "Science Fair" Taps All Subjects, Students' Interests
In keeping with their focus on the individual child, one Ohio school opted to shun the "science fair" in favor of a broader alternative -- the "interest fair." This diverse event encourages participants to investigate and share information about their favorite topics.
Strategies That Work: Creating ABC Books
Have you ever had your students write ABC books? Creating ABC books reinforces language skills and develops research skills. The activity also is a unique tool for turning students into teachers, as they share what they learn about a curriculum-related topic.
Strategies That Work: Service Learning
In its truest form, service learning connects deeply to the school curriculum. It offers students unique opportunities to learn responsibility, experience satisfaction, and provide benefit to the community as they acquire new skills.
Cold Mush: Serving Stories from the Iditarod Trail
Jeffrey M. Peterson of Minnesota, this year's Teacher on the Trail, is eager to experience the Iditarod and to share his observations and lessons with students around the world.
Strategies That Work: Making Review Time Fun and Worthwhile
Reviewing for tests can be a dreaded chore for both students and teachers. Education World, however, has gathered resources to help tired educators liven up review time. Students will enjoy these review games, and teachers will see the results in improved test scores.
Strategies That Work: Mini Whiteboards
Individual student whiteboards are the 21st-century version of the chalk slates used by students in colonial times. The whiteboards provide a great way to actively involve students in the learning process -- and a terrific tool for immediate feedback and assessment.
Strategies That Work: Chess
Research reveals that chess improves children's critical thinking and problem solving skills. One indicator of that fact is that chess players demonstrate higher math and reading test scores. In addition, chess develops kids' visual memory, attention span, spatial reasoning and prediction skills.
Teachers Say Word Walls Work!
Word walls are not just a tool for the primary grades. Teachers across the grades are using them throughout the curriculum. They find that word walls work -- if teachers work with them. Included: Teachers from grades pre-K to 8 share their word wall successes.
Strategies That Work: Designer Homework
One teacher discovered a unique way to add interest to homework assignments and get parents involved. Kids say the technique allows them to be creative and teaches them responsibility. Included: Learn about student-create assignments.
Cross-Age Tutoring: A Helping Hand Across the Grades
Guidance counselors Christi Bello and Susie Borgnini each created a program that brings the wisdom of older students to the aid of younger ones -- with benefits for all students. Included: Examples of how cross-age tutoring/mentoring affects students in all grades.
Voice of Experience: Advance Planning -- A Valuable Lesson I Learned From the Loch Ness Monster
Peggy Levins learned a valuable lesson from the Loch Ness Monster. Now, each year, Levins takes time at the start of the year to do some advance planning. Included: Tips for planning ahead that will give you time to teach the curriculum without sacrificing the fun.
Teacher
Feature
Raeann Edwards' gifted students reuse refuse in "Junk Drawer Wars!"
Wire Side Chat: Helping
"Fake Readers" Become Proficient Life-Long Readers
Cris Tovani, author of the best-selling "I Read It, but I Don't
Get It," chats with Education World about her checkered reading
past and about her widely acclaimed work with students and teachers
in the area of reading comprehension strategies.
Twenty-Five Activities
to Keep Kids' Brains Active in the Hot Summer Sun
As students set out on summer adventures, send their parents a
much-needed "life preserver" -- a list of 25 activities to share
and enjoy with their children. These fun activities cover all
subjects and grades; you will find something for everyone.
This is SBNN Broadcasting
Live...from F. H. Tuttle Middle School
Armed with newly acquired research and technical skills, 13 middle
school students from South Burlington, Vermont, produce a weekly
live news show that has become their school's "must-see TV." Video
of an SBBN news broadcast!
Lessons
in Life: Connecting Kids and Soldiers
Many teachers are finding that both they and their students want
to do something to help U.S. troops abroad. Education World
has compiled a list of organizations that link classes with deployed
servicemen and women.
Lessons for War
As the war in Iraq heads into its third week, teachers at every
grade level are struggling for ways to help students deal with
the war and with issues related to the war. To aid you in that
effort, Education World has collected some age-appropriate online
lesson plans.
The Concept-Mapping Classroom
By providing a framework that allows users to focus on topics,
and a structure that permits them to easily convert diagrams to
outlines and back again, Inspiration and Kidspiration simplify
the task of organizing thoughts into effective project plans.
Teaching Kids to Make
Moral Decisions
Colorado attorney Michael Sabbeth teaches an ethics “framework”
to fifth graders -- to arm them with the skills for making moral
decisions.
Dealing with War and Terrorism
in the Classroom
With security alerts now part of American life and the number
of troops in the Middle East growing daily, avoiding the topics
of war and terrorist threats is becoming increasingly difficult
for teachers. Today, Education World offers educators tips on
how to address those issues with their students.
Tales from the Trail:
Iditarod Teacher Readies Lessons, Long Johns
Iditarod "Teacher on the Trail" Cassandra Wilson sees a sled-ful
of lessons in the annual race.
Six Online Projects Anyone
Can Join
Looking for something to jump-start students during the post-holiday
blahs? Education World has found six teacher-created collaborative
projects sure to engage kids and teachers.
Kids Count Clams to Spur
Community Cleanup
Students in one Maine school count clams instead of Cuisenaire
rods and enter data into PDAs instead of notebooks. But they aren’t
just learning how to use technology to count clams, they’re learning
that what they do in school can benefit the entire community.
Could Your School Be a
Money “Wiener?”
The Oscar Mayer School House Jam Talent Search offers schools
the opportunity to win enough money to start or restart their
music programs. All it takes is a song!
Toshiba’s ExploraVision
Launches Student Researchers
The Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision
Awards program is one of the nation's largest K-12 science and
technology competitions. The program allows students to be creative
as they use research and scientific principles to design inventions.
Included: Comments from last year's winners plus registration
info.
Class Meetings: A Democratic
Approach to Classroom Management
Patterned after family meetings in her own home, teacher Donna
Styles established a format for class meetings that enabled her
students to share their thoughts and solve classroom issues on
their own. In Styles's model, students take turns acting as a
discussion leader, while the teacher promotes a respectful atmosphere
and participates as a group member. Encouraged by the students'
positive response to her approach, Styles decided to share her
expertise with other teachers.
That's the Way the Cookie
Tumbles!
In the online collaborative project That's the Way the Cookie
Tumbles, students stack Oreos one at a time until the cookies
come tumbling down. The results of their experimentation, combined
with the project's supplementary interdisciplinary activities,
help students have fun as they learn math, science, geography,
technology, teamwork, and more. The project is open to students
around the world; so far, classes from more than 30 U.S. states,
Canada, Australia, and Uzbekistan have signed up. What about you?
Teaching About Islam,
the Middle East
Teachers fielded many questions from students in the aftermath
of the September 11 attacks, some of them dealing with the history,
culture, and religions of the Middle East. To better prepare themselves
for questions this year, about 60 Connecticut teachers attended
a weeklong seminar in July about the region and how to use the
information in the curriculum.
Truckers, Kids Make Good
Buddies
Truck drivers who travel the country often have no one with whom
to share anecdotes and insights. A program called Trucker Buddy
International offers such drivers an eager audience. The program
pairs truckers and classes, giving students a driver's-eye view
of the world and prolific pen pals.
Students Digging Forensics
Pink threads. Llama dung. A human skull in a shallow grave. Parts
of an X-Files episode? No, just some of the "evidence"
Somers (Connecticut) High School students found on campus and
are analyzing to solve a mysterious "death." The investigation
is the final project for students in a wildly popular forensics
course that draws in other teachers and students and teaches students
to work together and use multiple disciplines.
Literature and Math Converge
in Storyville!
After working with teachers who took part in successful Web-based
projects, technology facilitators Marguerite Miller and Carol
Ann Hennessy of East Islip, New York, joined forces to create
their own online project! Seeking ways to actively engage students,
they designed Storyville Math, an adventure in learning, in which
classes read books, write word problems, illustrate solutions,
and calculate answers to math problems written by their peers!
Teachers Link Juggling to
Improved Academic Skills
Although they admit to a lack of scientific data supporting their
observations, several teachers and administrators recently told
Education World that they've seen students' schoolwork improve
after the kids learned to juggle. Improvements in concentration,
eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills, reading, and behavior
are just some of the benefits of juggling cited by educators.
Put an End to Plagiarism
in Your Classroom
According to a report by Plagiarism.org, "Studies indicate that
approximately 30 percent of all students may be plagiarizing on
every written assignment they complete." Kids plagiarize for a
variety of reasons. Some kids are lazy, some are unmotivated,
some are disorganized, and some just don't understand what plagiarism
really is. Whatever the reasons, a few simple steps can help you
put an end to plagiarism in your classroom. Included is a printable
Student Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism.
Getting Kids to 'Do Something'!
Actor Andrew Shue and Do Something, the organization he co-founded,
have a message for young people: "You have the power to change
the world." With the help of involved teachers and administrators,
Do Something participants are making a difference! Should your
students be "doing something" too?
The USA Quilt Project: High
Tech and Hands-On!
Fifty-one lucky classrooms are receiving extra special mail this
year -- quilt squares designed by students in each of the 50 U.S.
states and the District of Columbia! Find out how students
from all over the country are learning together about geography,
history, technology, language arts and the time-honored craft
of quilt making by learning more about the USA
Quilt Project!
Students
Remember Connecticut Vietnam War Heroes
Through articles, anecdotes, and interviews, middle school students
from Capt. Nathan Hale School in Coventry, Connecticut, are piecing
together biographies of the 612 state residents killed in the
Vietnam War. They want to publish the biographies so others will
get to know the servicemen as well as they have.
Students Rule With 'Design
Your Own Homework'
Teacher Valerie Grimes of Phoenix, Arizona, discovered a unique
way to add interest to homework assignments and get parents involved.
Whether it is cooking, shopping, or going on a trip, once per
month students design their own assignments and report to the
group about their activities. The kids say that this technique
allows them to be creative and teaches them responsibility. Will
it work in your classroom?
I Was There When High School
Research Papers Came Alive!
Want an assignment that has students lining up at six in the morning
-- by choice? Clearwater (Kansas) High School English teacher
Ernie Beachey's 11th graders beat the clock to get first dibs
on the year they will research to create an original work of American
historical fiction. Education World writer Leslie Bulion talks
with Beachey about how the creative research paper project got
started and how it works.
Read -- and Pedal -- Across
America!
Georgia fourth-grade teacher Faye Smith puts a new spin on Read
Across America projects! Her PAUSE program, Pedal Across the United
States Every day, pairs reading and cycling in an interdisciplinary
reading motivator. Education World writer Leslie Bulion talks
with Smith about the many places she and her students will go
as they read and pedal their way across the country.
Kids Discover the Value of
Learning Through Hands-On 'Hammer' Time
When master carpenter Perry Wilson showed his friend's son how
to build a tree house, he discovered that he was really teaching
the child the value of mathematics. The task brought to mind his
own struggles with a learning disability and the failure of his
school to help him realize his potential. As a result, Wilson
quit his job and established If I Had a Hammer, a program that
uses alternative methods, specifically the construction of a small
house, to show kids how to put the material they are learning
in school to work.
New Paperback Spotlights
Students' Best Writing!
The teachers of Greenwood School created Greenthumb Publishing
Company to grow better writers. This year, Greenthumb Publishing
has sprouted "TWIGS" (short for The Writers Inside Greenwood
School), a 150-page compendium of the students' best work.
With the help of School Success Press, Greenwood School families
will soon have a bookstore-quality paperback of student writing
to add to their home bookshelves!
New PE Trend Stresses Fitness
and Fun
As the amount of physical activity children get in and out of
school has declined in recent years, youngsters have become more
overweight and less fit. To help reverse that trend, some fitness
experts say, physical education classes should be revamped so
there is less emphasis on team sports and more on lifelong fitness
activities.
Jumpstart Charges Kids Up
for Learning!
After Aaron Lieberman spent a summer break as a camp counselor,
he returned to his studies at Yale University with a desire to
provide individual attention for at-risk preschool students. With
the help of others, he founded Jumpstart, an organization that
matches college students and youngsters in one-to-one sessions
that help the kids charge up for learning. The Jumpstart mission
is "to engage young people in service to work toward the day every
child in America enters school prepared to succeed." Since its
inception, Jumpstart has served more than 8,000 children.
Getting It Together by Taking
It Apart
Taking small appliances apart can be fun and a learning experience,
as remedial reading and writing teacher Elaine Hardman's class
found out at a Take It Apart Party. Putting it all back together
turned out to be at least as much fun as dismantling it!
Web Site Tracking Everest
Ascent
STEPOnline.com, a Web site that promotes healthful choices for
teens, turns an Everest expedition into a mountain of lessons
about facing personal challenges.
Cities: An Interactive Learning
Experience for Inquiring Minds
When Australian teachers Martin Clery, Michelle Williams, and
Nando Nicoletti pooled their efforts, experience, and class time,
the result was Cities, an online inquiry-based project. The activity
offers students freedom of choice as they exercise their skills
in science, English, mathematics, and more!
Worldwide Internet Math Project
a Shoe-in for Success!
Students across the United States and the world joined fifth-grade
students from Connecticut to count the number of metal eyelets
on their shoes. The collected data is being compared, graphed,
and calculated!
GeoPals: Global Friends Help
Kids Learn About Writing
When Barbara Soto discovered a listserv whose members are active,
community-minded senior citizens, an idea occurred to her. Why
not combine their knowledge and commitment with her students'
need for the influence of mature adults? What started as an e-mail
correspondence project has blossomed into a win-win outreach program
called GeoPals!
Online Projects Draw Kids
to Fitness Through online projects sponsored by Co-nect,
students can design an athlete or compare their activity levels
with those of other students.
Hurry Up and Write! Contest
Deadline Looms Kate Gladstone, co-director of the World
Handwriting Achievement Contest, explains why handwriting is important
even in a technological age and discusses how both you and your
students can improve your handwriting!
Chess Clubs Give Kids New
Skills -- and New Hope! Volunteers are teaching members
of the Young Masters Chess Club in Reno, Nevada, how to play the
game of chess -- and much more! Chess is a tool for teaching other
skills as well, such as concentration and critical thinking. And
it can help build student self-esteem. Indeed, it's a game that
can change kids' lives! Included: Links to great chess Web sites
and other chess resources.
Kids Learn About Differences
from A Walk in Your Shoes A Walk in Your Shoes, a show
on the cable station Noggin, helps kids learn about cultural,
religious, and geographical differences by watching youngsters
from different backgrounds switch places for a few days.
Let's Cooperate!-- Teachers
Share Tips for Cooperative Learning Cooperation starts
at the top! Teachers who use cooperative learning in their classrooms
have developed techniques that make the most of this method--
and they share them. From forming groups to using rubrics, these
ideas will make any lesson of a cooperative nature a little more
fun! Included: Teacher tips, a rubric for grading students' cooperative
efforts, and additional online resources!
Reaching (and Teaching) Kids
Through Entrepreneurial Education
An Education World e-Interview With Steve Mariotti, author of
The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business
How does a teacher reach inner-city kids who see no point in learning
reading and math because traditional schoolwork just seems irrelevant
to their lives? Education World gets a resounding answer to that
question from Steve Mariotti, a former business executive who
turned to teaching. Mariotti has taught inner-city students to
become entrepreneurs and co-authored The Young Entrepreneur's
Guide to Starting and Running a Business.
Students Win Grant -- Butterflies
Just Plain Win!
A student-designed butterfly garden won a $500 grant that benefits
the environment and beautifies the school grounds. The
project ties together a host of education goals and develops students'
skills in problem solving, research, persuasive writing, math,
and Earth science.
Students Learn Respect--
Thanks to Good Manners!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T-- Aretha Franklin sings for it. Rodney Dangerfield
never gets any. Educators who teach good manners find it every
day in student behavior. Could mastering manners make a difference
in your classroom? Included: Web resources for teaching respect
and good manners through stories, poems, songs, games, biographies,
lesson plans, and activities.
Monologues, Poems, and Time
Lines-- Biography Lessons Made Easy!
Four educators opened their files to share lessons that integrate
biographies in classroom activities. Using monologues, poems,
and time lines, these teachers show children that biographies
can be fun as well as informative. Could you use a new method
for teaching biography? These educators may have the ideal idea
for you!
Ten Fun Sites for Kids!
Classrooms that honor fun and creativity are lively places that
students may remember with pleasure. What are some of the best
Web sites for promoting classroom fun? This week, Education World
offers ten well-designed fun sites. Some are fun and educational;
others are strictly for fun.
Crossing the Country Again:
From Railroads to Rail-Trails
On May 13, two groups of exceptional athletes set off from opposite
coasts of the United States, headed for a June 3 meeting in St.
Louis, Missouri. The 100 men, women, and children represent the
diversity of race, religion, age, gender, and ability that is
the face of the United States today. This week, Education World
invites you to join their adventure.
Get a Clue! A Month of Mysteries
for the Classroom
Brighten up November with a month of mystery sites --- with activities
that will challenge your students to see, to organize, to analyze,
and finally, to understand.
State Fair Activities: Fun
and Challenges
Where can you find cows, candy apples, country singers, and Cajun
cooking -- all in one place? You'll see all of those things, and
more, at a typical state fair in 1998. A tradition in many states,
these fairs bring people together to celebrate their heritage
and enjoy the fun things in life.
Why? Why? Why?
Use your students' favorite questions --- Why? Why? Why? --- as
the starting point for an across-the-curriculum activity for all
ages.
Special Dog "Guides" Middle
School Curriculum
Students in Bryan, Texas, are raising a guide dog named Penny.
Teachers at Sam Rayburn Middle School have turned this special
community service project into lessons in geography, art, language,
and more.
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