Blog Archives

Teacher Collaboration: Mathematics

6/30/2014

Dearest Teacher,

Are you checking in to steal some ideas for you 2014/5 classroom? Shouldn't you be enjoying your summer weeks doing something worthwhile - like traveling, dining, and living the lavish lifestyle you deserve?

No? At the risk of being labeled a workaholic, you mean you're actually spending your free summer months doing research and development? Well, in that case, here's a couple of pages you can use for your math instruction:

Menus for Math

Grocery Shopping

These pages, with their menus and grocery advertisements, lend themselves to exercises in the use of operations and problem solving. Students can also be asked to make their own problems and quiz each other.

But seriously, wouldn't you be more comfortable sitting beside the pool?

For more teaching ideas, find our Teacher Collaboration page.

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Art Appreciation: Tomb

6/29/2014

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Now is your chance to prove it.

Look closely at the picture below. Carefully consider everything you see.

Think about what might have happened before and after this scene.

Now write the scene as the best story you can.
Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing. At the end, you will share your writing.
Can you repaint the picture with your words?

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Music Appreciation: Invisible

6/28/2014

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Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously as a group.

Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency -
the speed, accuracy, and inflection of oral reading.

Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song?

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A Visit to the Oklahoma City National Memorial

6/27/2014

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In my fourth grade classroom, every April, I present my experience of April 19, 1995. To enhance the presentation, I regularly order the Hope Trunk from the memorial's education department, and I have communicated regularly with the education director there, even dreaming of taking a group of students to the memorial some time if the opportunity and funding should arise.

When I was in Oklahoma City, this week, I visited the memorial and was able to finally meet the director face to face, not missing the opportunity to mention my book about the event and the days that followed, but also asking about the changes being made at the museum. Those enhancements are both extensive and expensive, but they will undoubtedly keep the place relevant and alive in the memories of many, and meaningful to those who are too young to remember it first hand.

The museum, which is reasonably-priced and well worth every cent of the admission fee, now has exhibits outlining more of the investigation that led to the arrests, trials, and convictions of Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, et al. One now has the opportunity to see real pieces of the moving truck that contained the 4,000-pound bomb, including one of the axles. I was taken aback to see McVeigh's gun - a glock - that he had on his person at the time of his arrest (initially a routine traffic stop in northern Oklahoma). I was intrigued to see the power drill, owned by Terry Nichols, and proven to have been used (by the patterns on the hole made by a specific drill bit) to break into a padlock. Other additions to the museum will include a hotel sign from a facility used by McVeigh while executing his mission, and his actual getaway vehicle.

The education director invited my wife and me to visit the exhibits, and she comped us two tickets so we could see the changes in progress for ourselves. As always and without a doubt, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is world class!

Without too much in review, I taught a group of second graders, at the time, just four miles from the terrorist bombing site at the Murrah Federal Building. We felt it. We heard it. We spent weeks talking about it. Since that time, I have written a book, entitled Crumbling Spirit, to share those same experiences, only the story is told through the diary entries of a 10-year-old girl named Julia.

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Art Appreciation: Office

6/26/2014

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Albert Einstein’s office photographed on the day of his death

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Music Appreciation: The Fox

6/25/2014

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Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously as a group.

Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency - the speed, accuracy, and inflection of oral reading.

Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song?

2 Comments

Teacher Collaboration: Writing

6/24/2014

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Dearest Teacher,

With all due respect, I hereby find you guilty of abusing your summer vacation by trolling the interweb for lesson, decoration, and conduct ideas. Shame on you! You know you need the break, and yet here you are, visiting our classroom website in hopes of expanding your tool belt.

In that case, have it your way. I like to use a lot of multimedia sources for teaching reading and writing, so in the last couple of days, I've put together some new pages on our site. On our Writing page, you can now find the following:

Creating Characters

Setting the Scene

Plot Production

How's that for alliteration? I plan to use the photos on these pages for guided writing lessons (People call these "mini-lessons", but I happen to believe if it can be reduced to a mini-lesson, it's probably not worth teaching at all. Semantics, shmenantics!). By using old movie stills, vintage photos, and my own pictures, I've tried to keep the lessons diverse and separate in order to stress the different part of writing a story.

To inspire students for less focused writing, you might also be interested in the also alliterative Art Appreciation and Mood Music pages. In Art Appreciation, some of the pictures there lend themselves to free verse poetry, rather than prose, but I tend to let students make the choice. In Mood Music, we work on the feel and the mood of a scene, as inspired by the instrumentals I've selected.

Now get back to your break...and that's an order.

For a more complete list of ideas, find our Teacher Collaboration page.

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Art Appreciation: Ronald

6/23/2014

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Music Appreciation: Live Like a Warrior

6/22/2014

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Art Appreciation: Tolstoy

6/21/2014

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Leo Tolstoy telling a story to his grandchildren in 1909

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2014/5 Mark Twain Award Nominees

6/20/2014

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Twelve books have been nominated by Missouri school librarians for the 2015 Mark Twain award.
Find the candidates below, most of which has been linked to its author's page.

Students who read at least four of the books from this list are qualified to vote for the award, next year.

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Music Appreciation: Run

6/19/2014

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Positivity: Meaningful Quotes (Intentions)

6/18/2014

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"We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."
(General Omar N. Bradley)

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Music Appreciation: One Day

6/17/2014

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Mood Music: The Mountain

6/16/2014

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Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot. Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around. This time, the music comes first. Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination. As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written. Then, write the scene. Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing. At the end, you will share your writing. Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

Close your eyes.

Listen to the music.

Create a visual story in your mind.

Write your story as you listen a second time.

Tweak your scene.

Share your scene with the class.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

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