The young architects practices Public Atelier and FUUZE jointly designed the extension of an existing elementary and nursery school in an old Baroqueera rectory
This debate template helps with group coordination, facilitating the organization of presentations and the equitable distribution of responsibilities among team members. It helps prevents one student from monopolizing the debate by assigning various sections to different individuals, ensuring a bala...
The past 10 years, seen in 55 powerful images
The #1 New York Times bestseller by Time's 2019 Person of the Year Greta Thunberg is already one of our planet's greatest advocates. --Barack Obama The groundbreaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who has become the voice of a generation, including her historic address to the United Nations In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day in order to protest the climate crisis. Her actions sparked a global movement, inspiring millions of students to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference brings you Greta in her own words, for the first time. Collecting her speeches that have made history across the globe, from the United Nations to Capitol Hill and mass street protests, her book is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it. Author: Greta Thunberg Publisher: Penguin Books Published: 11/12/2019 Pages: 160 Binding Type: Paperback Weight: 0.24lbs Size: 7.00h x 4.30w x 0.60d ISBN: 9780143133568 Review Citation(s): Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001 About the Author Greta Thunberg was born in 2003. In August 2018 she started a school strike that became a movement called Fridays For Future, which has inspired school strikes for climate action in more than 150 countries involving millions of students. Thunberg has spoken at climate rallies across Europe, and at the United Nations COP24 in Poland and the World Economic Forum in Davos. In September 2019 she spoke in New York City at the UN Climate Action Summit. She has won the prestigious Prix Liberté and been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Thunberg is vegan, and doesn't fly, in order to live a low-carbon life.
Many educators can fall into the trap of waiting for the “perfect” time to start planning for the year ahead. There’s never a bad time to think carefully and creatively about your goals for your students, and how best to implement them. I would suggest that wherever you are in your year, it is the
Explore these 21 things every 21st century teacher should be doing right now in the classroom
Teachers like starting the school year feeling well-prepared and confident. Read about 5 Strategies for a Solid Start to Your School Year
I love the way we created our class agreements this year. First, students participated in a carousel activity where they went around the room to each poster. They had a pile of small post it notes that they used to respond to the questions- A Great Classmate, IS-DOES-SAYS-DOES NOT... A Terrific Teacher, IS-DOES-SAYS-DOES NOT... A Learner, IS-DOES-SAYS-DOES NOT... A Classroom of Learners, IS- LOOKS LIKE- FEELS... Then each group of 4 students looked at all of the responses and came up with their own class agreements. Finally, we put them all together and this is what they came up with. I think they did a great job!
“What are the Best Childrens and Kids Books of 2018?” We aggregated 25 year-end lists and ranked the 323 unique titles by how many times
Tool for Assessment of Suicide Risk Adolescent Modified (TASR-Am) version was developed to assist in the clinical evaluation of young people at imminent risk for suicide. It was created by clinicians with expertise in the area of adolescent suicide assessment and the development and application of various scales and tools in clinical, research and institutional settings. The TASR-Am is not a diagnostic tool since suicide is a behaviour rather than a medical diagnosis. The TASR-Am is also not a predictive tool since there is no tool that can be demonstrated to predict suicide. Rather, the TASR-Am is a semi-structured instrument that the clinician can follow to ensure that the most common risk factors known to be associated with suicide in young people have been assessed. It is available to download in these languages: English French Arabic
First day of Middle school {Getting to know you activities}, After that, I go through several, get-to-know-you activities. One of ..., Getting to know you, Back to School Activity Pack - 3 Great Getting to Know You, Get to know your students, ... get-to-know-you activities, and other items to help start the school, ... 286 kb jpeg get to know you bingo 586 x 698 11 kb gif getting to know, First Day of School Activities, Just a little something for my kiddos to get to know each other!, Getting to Know You Activities.
Hi Everyone! I am SO EXCITED to finally release photos from my classroom now that it is FINALLY finished! Please note that it took MANY hours to complete and many years to finally get my room to be in a state that I am absolutely in love with. Most of what you see item-wise (computers, […]
Read Interplay of Cultures – the Museum of Finnish Architecture’s leading autumn exhibition – celebrates the 25th anniversary of education in
It’s getting close to that time of year again (for many of us around the world anyway) – a fresh start, another chance, a do-over… aka a new school year. For some of us it’s…
I have had a lot of great responses asking about notebooking, cycle 1. I am so very very excited about this year! And to answer the big qu...
Our Vision at Summit Academy: Acceleration through Innovation and Collaboration
Everyone is part of History, and every place has a story as old as the earth. My Place depicts the history of one particular piece of land in Sydney from 1788 to 1988 through the stories of the various children who have lived there. It aims to teach the reader about the history of Australia, […]
Coffee Canon is a fun and energetic singing round with strong harmonies - download it for your singing group free here!
The Georgia Department of Education English Language Arts division has its very own Twitter account and has been hosting a weekly series this academic school year of “Twitter takeovers”…
Glad I finally got it on one page for K-5. #physed
I have had a lot of great responses asking about notebooking, cycle 1. I am so very very excited about this year! And to answer the big qu...
About Love and Other Consolation Prizes From the bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet comes a powerful novel, inspired by a true story, about a boy whose life is transformed at Seattle’s epic 1909 World’s Fair. “An evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale For twelve-year-old Ernest Young, a charity student at a boarding school, the chance to go to the World’s Fair feels like a gift. But only once he’s there, amid the exotic exhibits, fireworks, and Ferris wheels, does he discover that he is the one who is actually the prize. The half-Chinese orphan is astounded to learn he will be raffled off—a healthy boy “to a good home.” The winning ticket belongs to the flamboyant madam of a high-class brothel, famous for educating her girls. There, Ernest becomes the new houseboy and befriends Maisie, the madam’s precocious daughter, and a bold scullery maid named Fahn. Their friendship and affection form the first real family Ernest has ever known—and against all odds, this new sporting life gives him the sense of home he’s always desired. But as the grande dame succumbs to an occupational hazard and their world of finery begins to crumble, all three must grapple with hope, ambition, and first love. Fifty years later, in the shadow of Seattle’s second World’s Fair, Ernest struggles to help his ailing wife reconcile who she once was with who she wanted to be, while trying to keep family secrets hidden from their grown-up daughters. Against a rich backdrop of post-Victorian vice, suffrage, and celebration, Love and Other Consolations is an enchanting tale about innocence and devotion—in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Praise for Love and Other Consolation Prizes “Exciting . . . [Jamie] Ford captures the thrill of first kisses and the shock of revealing long-hidden affairs.” — Kirkus Reviews “Strong . . . A laudable effort that shines light on little known histories.”— Library Journal “Poignant . . . Vibrantly rendered.” — Booklist “Combining rich narrative and literary qualities, the book achieves a multi-faceted emotional resonance. It is by turns heart-rending, tragic, disturbing, sanguine, warm, and life-affirming. Perceptive themes that run throughout culminate at the end. A true story from the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition inspired this very absorbing and moving novel. Highly recommended.” — Historical Novel Society (Editors’ choice) “Ford is a master at shining light into dark, forgotten corners of history and revealing the most unexpected and relatable human threads. . . . A beautiful and enthralling story of resilience and the many permutations of love.” —Jessica Shattuck, author of The Women in the Castle “All the charm and heartbreak of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet . . . Based on a true story, Love and Other Consolation Prizes will warm your soul.” —Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls
Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom
In the district where I teach 5th grade reading, we use the Lucy Calkins Reading Workshop approach. The Reading Workshop has several units that focus on different teaching points. For the "Following Characters Into Meaning", I have chosen to read Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan and relate it to my Reading Workshop mini-lessons. This specific reading unit, "Following Characters Into Meaning", focuses on understanding character's thoughts, motivations, feelings and how they all relate to the story and other characters. The novel, Esperanza Rising, is a great fit for this particular unit and my 5th grade students because it has great characters, it has a Fountas & Pinnell reading level of V, and it is written at a 5th grade interest level. In my 5th grade classes, it is accessible to the majority of students for reading independently and for searching for text evidence for written responses. To make the novel manageable for mini-lessons, I have broken up the chapters into two or three parts and read one part each day. This allows time for the mini-lesson, discussion, reading responses, and time for students to do their independent reading. An anchor chart suggested by the Lucy Calkins Reading Workshop book "Following Characters Into Meaning" The story line covers some thought-provoking issues such as The Great Depression, poverty, class differences, immigration issues, migrant workers, strikes, and racism. At this age, students may have not heard some of these vocabulary words, but they are old enough to grasp the meaning and are able to have a discussion of what they think and how it pertains to the story and characters. We've had some great discussions about how these issues have affected the characters in the story. The novel also lends itself to naturally teaching about character traits, symbolism, theme, and figurative language- which are some of the reading skills that are introduced to our 5th grade students. Character Maps While reading Esperanza Rising, students created character maps in their Reading Notebooks. Below are some examples. Character maps for Esperanza, Mama, and Papa. Character maps for Hortensia, Alfonso, Miguel, and Abuelita. In addition to students keeping a character map in their Reading Notebook, I create character maps on large chart paper and hang them up around the room for easy reference. I usually begin with the simple question, "What do we know about this character?" After each chapter, we can add new characters that are introduced, or add more things that we find out about a character. Character Traits As we studied the character's in Esperanza Rising, some of the mini-lessons focused on character traits. Students made lists of character traits in their Reader's Notebook. They practiced identifying precise words to describe a character. Students used sticky notes to jot down information about character's that were featured in their own independent reading texts. An important piece of this assignment was providing evidence to support the character trait. I asked students, "Why is the character like that?, How do you know? What evidence from the text can support your character trait?" I told students they need to prove it! An anchor chart that reminded students what to put on their sticky note. The circle with an M is for my last name. I have four sections of students, so I have students put their homeroom teacher's initials in a circle by their name. Reading Summaries Students wrote short reading summaries in their Reading Notebook after we read each chapter. This was mainly so they could keep track of what characters are doing, how they are changing, and the main events of each chapter. It's almost like a vertical time-line of events. I started off by modeling how to write it. We first brainstormed and identified the important events of the chapter, or the section that I read that day. Then, I modeled how to write it using chart paper. I did this just a few times, then gradually released them to do it independently. After we read, we would always discuss the important parts of what was read and discuss ideas for what students could write in their quick summaries. We also took time for students to share their summaries with partners or with the class. Below are a few examples of student summaries. Examples of reading summaries from Esperanza Rising. Symbolism Each chapter in Esperanza Rising has the title of a fruit or vegetable. The tiles of the chapters symbolize something important in Esperanza's (the main character's) life. Below is a chart that students used to keep track of the symbolism behind each chapter. Reading Responses Students wrote reading responses that correlated with open-ended questions about each chapter. I used a Reading Response Checklist so students would remember to write in proper paragraph form. Below are examples of the checklist and some student responses that show their thinking about their reading. We aren't quite finished with the book yet, but I have a few more things planned for students. After we complete the book, students will complete a comprehension test with multiple choice and essay questions. I've also thought about having them re-write the ending. This idea came to me as students were discussing the book and making predictions about what they thought was going to happen, or what they would like to happen. Writing their own ending might give them a chance to explore some of these unique ideas. Esperanza Rising is a favorite chapter book of mine, but there are so many other books with great story lines and characters that I could use for this reading unit. I'm already thinking about what I may read to students next year. I love classic literature, but there's also so much great NEW literature that's emerging on the scene. So...I'm thinking. I'll let you know what I come up with! Happy Reading! -Karen
Reading strategy groups are an excellent way to teach reading in an elementary classroom. This post details how they differ from guided reading groups.
At the beginning of last school year, I was excited to be teaching a new grade at a new school in a new district. I had made a big change, and it was just what I needed. To add to all of the "new", I was starting the year with 30 students. Thirty is definitely on the big size as it is, but we all know that new kids trickle in over the course of most school years...and last year was no different! By the time the school year was over, I was sharing my classroom with 34 awesome 5th graders. We all learned a lot, grew a lot, and had a pretty good time while doing it! It was definitely a learning process for me, and hopefully I can share some of what I learned to make your year better for you! 1. You've Got to Embrace It Here's the thing, your class size is your class size whether you like it or not, so you've got to embrace it. It's going to be crazy. It may get chaotic. It's going to be crowded. But your attitude will be a major determining factor in the kind of year you and your students have. Now, I'm not saying that my teammates and I didn't take time to vent about the added challenge we were facing; we're only human! But throughout the year, I'd joke "I'm mentally preparing for how I'm going to respond when [my principal] comes to tell me that I'm getting my 33rd/34th/35th student." You may have to "fake it till you make it" but having the most positive attitude you can will go a long way. 2. Room Arrangement While I'd wrapped my brain around having a big bunch of kids, I was having a harder time figuring out how all those desks were going to work in my smallish classroom. That might have been the part that was the most stressful for me. Luckily, my students were OK with all the experimenting I did while trying to figure out the best room configuration for us. I want to share with you guys some of things that worked for me. Push groups of desks together. I started the year with 8 teams of 4 since my district is a big believer in Kagan cooperative learning. That meant that there were teams and desks wall-to-wall. Then I decided to push the teams together so desks were in groups of 8-9. This made a HUGE difference. Kids were still in their teams of 4-5, but we gained a LOT of floor space which made it easier to move around. Find a way to give kids space to spread out. One thing I noticed as the year went on was that we were so packed in there that kids didn't have a lot of personal space and I could see levels of grumpiness increasing because of that. I let them work at my small group table, in a quiet spot on the floor, etc. You have to get a little creative, but your students will thank you if they have a place to momentarily "escape". Get rid of your desk. It's surprising how much extra space this will give you. Use your small group table as your "headquarters". Give flexible seating a shot. When I got my 34th student, I knew that I could either fit 34 desks into my classroom or keep my sanity. I couldn't do both. I'd used flexible seating at my old school, but was trying to not rock the boat too much at my new school. I reached out to my principal and told her I'd like to try some flexible seating. I know not everybody is ready to jump into flexible seating, but here are a few things you could try. Sweet talk you custodian like I did and see if any tables are available. They take up a lot less room than desks. Take the legs of a table and have a low table. It doesn't technically give you more space, but the room will feel more open. You can get rid of a handful of desks and provide some floor seating options like pillows, stadium chairs, or rocker seats. These all can get tucked away nicely at the end of the day. Move to community supplies and if you don't have cubbies, etc., provide bins (they can be cheap!) for your kids to keep their personal supplies in. 3. Have your students help! One thing that every teacher deals with is having about a million things at a time running through their head. Having a large class can make that even worse. There are just SO MANY moving pieces. And teachers (including me) often have a hard time delegating responsibilities. At one point, it really hit me - "There are 34 people in this room who are not me. How can they help me more?" I know that I am lucky in that I teach 5th graders who are pretty capable of having different responsibilities in the classroom, but I think that students at any age can do a lot more in the classroom than they may be doing. And I found that having students help with the little things honestly freed up some much needed space in my brain as well as making the classroom run more smoothly. Plus, kids of all ages LOVE having jobs to do! Here are some of the little "tasks" I had students help me out with: Changing the date on the board Being in charge of taking our library cards to/from the library Putting homework in student mailboxes Grabbing my walkie-talkie at recess time Turning on and/or connecting the projector when we were going to use it (I've got kind of a clunky set up) Taking tardy passes down to the office on the way to lunch or recess (without me asking!) 4. Delegate I know we're not all lucky enough to have parent or other volunteers, but if you do, USE THEM! It took me a while to get into the swing of the best ways to use volunteers, but I found that using them to both work with students and help me out with tasks was the best combination. I've always had parents who can't come in to help because of work, but say they could help at home. In the past, I never used them much, but once I realized that I could send laminating home to be cut or booklets to be stapled, those parents became a great resource. Even if students were playing a math game or something like that and were fine working on their own, I'd ask a parent volunteer to take them into the hallway or another common area to work just to free up a little space in the classroom. Let go of the perfectionism and have volunteers hang up bulletin boards or classroom displays. If it's not perfect, I promise you're the only one who will notice. Get in the habit of asking yourself, "Could somebody else do this?" and if the answer is yes, and you have someone that can do it, let them. That frees up more time for you to do the things only you can do like planning and grading. 5. Don't grade it all! It's hard to ignore the fact that you've got a big class when you have a giant stack of papers to grade sitting in front of you. Thirty plus math tests, essays, reading assessments, etc. is a LOT. One of my good friends is also a 5th grade teacher in my district and she only had 19 kids. I spent way to much time lamenting the fact that I had 15 more math tests to grade than she did! Grading those summative assessments is unavoidable, but really think about what else you need to grade. Do you need to take the time to look over 30+ homework assignments, or could you review them with the whole class? Do you need to grade every piece of classwork or can you quickly scan through it to use as a formative assessment? Can you give a short exit ticket at the end of class and not have to review entire pages of math to see if your students got the concept? This is one area where you can really save yourself some time and sanity. 6. Make time for every student One thing I found was that when you have so many kids in your class, it can be really easy to unintentionally let some kids slip through the cracks during the day. So I made a point to be at my door in the morning to greet everyone (while I let the students take on some of those beginning of the day tasks I mentioned above). All of my students have numbers, and those numbers are on popsicle sticks to make sure everyone is getting called on during the day, but I'd also write a few kids' names on sticky notes and stick them on my cart or my projector. That may make me sound like some kind of absent-minded professor, but if you've had a big class you know that it's easier than it should be for kids to "hide" when there are a lot of classmates around. I also did"lunch with the teacher" for small groups at the beginning of the year just for a chance to get to get to know all of my students a little in a smaller setting. Then it was a popular reward/incentive for the rest of the year - I think we all enjoyed spending time together with a little less chaos. Whatever system or structure you use, make sure you are intentional about making every student feel like they are seen and heard - even if you have to leave sticky notes for yourself! :) 7. Routines & Procedures I know that I'm not telling you anything new when I say it's important to have routines and procedures set up to make things run smoothly in your classroom. We all know that. But with 34 students in the room, I found that I had to run the ship a little tighter than usual. Normally turning your homework in when you come in in the morning is a simple process, but have you ever watched 3 dozen kids try to turn their homework in at once? Gets a little crazy. I added a second homework turn in location, and then gave a student the job of collecting both piles. (See Tip #3!) We ended up having to form two lines when lining up after lunch or recess because it's hard to get an orderly line when you have students waaaaaaay back at the end of the line. Each classroom is (obviously) different and those are just examples of two things I put into place last year to help me manage all my students and keep my sanity! I encourage you to think about ways you could put a routine into place where maybe things have been a little free flowing? What's making you the craziest? Can you change a procedure or make a "rule" to help out with that? It'll help you keep control of the chaos and your students will appreciate the structure, too! If there are some behaviors popping up in your students that you'd like to get a handle on before they get too out of control, click here or on the picture below to check out how I use Individual Behavior Goals in my classroom. Do you have a big class this year? Leave a comment to tell us how many students you have and any tips or tricks I haven't mentioned!
Free ceramic handbuilding lessons sheets for teachers and students. Hand drawn weekly course supplement for high school/college classes. Creative Commons.
