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Volume 10, Issue 42
October 15, 2008
 Pick a Pumpkin Activity
Pumpkins are the ultimate October icons -- the fruit of the month, if you will. (Yes! Pumpkins are a fruit.) This month, celebrate pumpkins with these across-the-curriculum activities. Included: Art, science, language, and math activities.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson323.shtml
Be sure to see more Halloween activities here.
 Current Events in the Classroom
Studies have long pointed to the benefits of "current events" programs in shaping a nation of lifelong newsreaders. "Using the news" -- whether in the form of the daily newspaper, TV news reports, or classroom discussions of important events -- can go a long way toward developing an informed citizenry too. So why isn't "Current Events" a part of every classroom curriculum? Included: Activities to help bring current events alive.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/current_events.shtml
 Lesson Plan of the Day
Click the link above to see dozens of recent Lesson Plans of the Day, including the five lessons below that were posted last week.
Track the Polls - Leading up to Election Day. (Grades 6-12)
Create a BIG Book - A fun activity for a favorite book. (K-2)
Cutting Costs - Clip newspaper coupons, add up savings. (3-8)
Character Counts Week - Celebrate October 19-25. (PreK-12)
Take a Stand - A fun approach to a classroom discussion. (3-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml
 Election 2008
The primaries and the political conventions are behind us now. The election campaign and the vote lie ahead. The lessons in this Education World resource are aimed at helping teachers capitalize on this once-every-four-years "teachable moment." Included: Dozens of lesson ideas for teaching about the 2008 elections.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/election.shtml
Learning Game of the Week
Puzzle game promotes thinking skills and cooperation.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame018.shtml
 News for Kids
Kids in New Jersey learned science and history by building a pumpkin-tossing catapult.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/newsforyou/newsforyou102.shtml
Friday Fun
"Wax museum biographies,” a great Halloween alternative.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday007.shtml
Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks Math Games With Joanne and Jane
This week: "Squeeze Play” teaches place value.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/boxcars/boxcars005.shtml
 Vicki Cobb’s Show-Biz Science
See if ants can tell a diet drink from the real thing.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/showbiz_science/showbiz_science032.shtml
From the Math Machine
The Crazy Pattern Machine is a fun Web site for teaching about math patterns. (Grades K-3)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/mathmachine/mathmachine022.shtml
*Early Childhood Center*
Rhyme Time
This week's poem for Early Childhood educators: The Wonderful Pumpkin
Early Childhood Teaching Themes
Halloween Fun
Pumpkin Power
http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/
From the Reading Machine
 Alton-Ra: The Lost Statue
In this game, kids solve word puzzles that involve identifying and correcting spelling errors, finding homonyms, adding prefixes and suffixes, and building sentences. (Grades 3-6)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/readingmachine/readingmachine001.shtml
Reader's Theater
Hen-Picked
Little Red Hen has a thriving pastry business and needs an apprentice. Who should it be?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/ReadersTheater/ReadersTheater009.shtml
From the Writing Center
Kickball, Calisthenics, and Composition? How Writing Fits in With Phys Ed
See how students in your school can exercise their bodies and their writing skills in phys ed.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev118.shtml
Write Your Own Life
Sue Flaherty's students contemplate the future.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature002.shtml
Writing Lessons
Killing Overused Words
Create a “Dead Word Wall" to “kill" words overused in student writing. (Grades K-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/02/lp249-02.shtml
Write a Caption
Write captions for amusing photos. (Grades 4-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/01-1/lp224_02.shtml
Writing Bugs
A Halloween to Remember
As I ran scared, my Halloween candy flew in every direction…
Success and Failure
Is failure a better teacher than success?
Writing Bug
Write a Halloween who-when-where story.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug099.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug071.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug099.shtml
Tech Lesson of the Week
Scriptwriting With a Wiki
Students use a wiki -- a Web site that allows users to add and edit content collectively -- to write a one-act play.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techlp/techlp054.shtml
Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans
Teacher-Submitted Lesson #1 Students write text for wordless picture books.
Teacher-Submitted Lesson #2 Experience bias, stereotyping with this grade 6-12 lesson.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/index.shtml
Bulletin Boards That Teach
Search ’n Spell
Can students find this week’s spelling words in this bulletin-board word search puzzle?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bullboard/bullboard032.shtml
5-Minute Fillers
Volume #17
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/fillers.shtml
Fact Monster Hunts
Primary Hunt October Hunt #3
Ele-Middle Hunt Hunt #7
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/factmonster.shtml
Every-Day Edits
Primary Edits Animals A to Z: Gecko
Ele-Middle Edits Picasso, Statue of Liberty, Nevada…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml
Vocab-ulous!
Words that begin with I
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/vocabulous/vocabulous021.shtml
Work Sheet of the Week
"Identifying Voice in Writing” -- a printable activity.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/TCM/lang_arts_3_5.shtml
Best Books for Teaching About…
Each week, Education World presents our Editors’ Choices for the best books for teaching about popular classroom themes. Check out our choices and add your own recommendations to the Readers’ Voices section of this week’s themed booklists:
Best Books for Teaching About...
Writing - Stories and More
The Alphabet
http://www.educationworld.com/a_bestbooks/archives/students.shtml
FROM OUR PRINTABLES LIBRARY
Backpack-tivities
These @ home learning activities are great family fun -- and learning. (Grades K-4)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/homework.shtml
Math Cross Puzzles
Just like crosswords, but with math. (Grades 4-9)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/numbercross.shtml
Geography A to Z
Learn about world geography one letter at a time. (Grades 4-8)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/geography_az.shtml
Just for This Month!
See our October Month of Fun, October Word Search, and October Coloring Calendar. PLUS: Create-your-own holiday work sheet templates.
Professor Joe Martin: The Educator Motivator
Go for Your Teaching Goals
Persuade yourself to buy what you’re selling by overexposing yourself to your own commercial. And what are you trying to sell yourself? Your teaching goals.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/martin/martin012.shtml
Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
Incentives Teach Lessons
If you want students to cooperate class after class, day after day, you must answer for them the question, "Why should I?"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones014.shtml
Dr. Ken Shore: Classroom Problem Solver
Lunchroom Behavior
Does cafeteria duty spoil your appetite? Make it more palatable with these fourteen tips for improving students' lunchroom behavior.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/shore/shore024.shtml
Ruth Sidney Charney: The Responsive Classroom
Hopes and Dreams
The process of developing hopes and dreams is a process of reviving hope -- and hope is one of our most critical community resources. How do we teach or learn without it?"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/charney/charney001.shtml
Doug Johnson's Tech Proof
The Importance of an Aggregator
It is only slowly that I am using GoogleReader to stay current on information sources -- to have the news find me instead of me having to find the news.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson031.shtml
Alma Row's Gadget of the Week
Dragnifier
Instantly magnify any portion of your computer screen with Dragnifier.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/gadget/gadget009.shtml
Lorrie Jackson's Techtorial
Working With Wikis
Learn how to edit, format, and revise your first Wiki.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial098.shtml
GoodSearch: Fundraising Through Internet Searching
With the array of fundraisers that occur at some schools just to bring in necessary funds, administrators may be surprised to learn of one program that requires little effort and capitalizes on something that everyone in the school community is probably already doing -- searching the Internet. GoodSearch, a search engine powered by Yahoo!, donates half of its revenue to participating charities and schools. Included: See the simple steps to get started with GoodSearch.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin539.shtml
Wire Side Chat
The Importance Of Nurturing Resiliency in Children
Societal pressures on families and children make resiliency an important characteristic for children to have. Once thought to be an inborn trait, resiliency can be developed and cultivated with help from educators.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat233.shtml
 Strategy of the Week
Student-Led Conferences
Student-led conferences help students take responsibility for their own learning, reflect on what they have learned, and set goals for themselves.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy011.shtml
Featured Article
Can We Talk? What Parents and Teachers Want Each Other to Know
Education World answers the question, "What do you want your child's teacher -- or your student's parent -- to know?"
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev103.shtml
Teacher Feature
Game Show Presenter
 Amelia Villanueva turns content reviews into challenging games with Game Show Presenter.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature075.shtml
Tips Library
Classroom Management: Record Keeping Made Easy
Behavior Management: Rewards, Tattling, Attendance
Motivating Kids: Keep It Interactive
Book Report Makeover: Life Sized Portraits
Homework Tips: Homework Tickets
Best Idea: Self-Designed Homework
Testing Tips: Wake Up!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/management_tips/management_tips010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/behaviortips/behaviortips010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/motivation/motivation010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bookreport/bookreport010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/homeworktips/homeworktips010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bestidea/bestidea010.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/testing/testing010.shtml
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http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#profdev
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This week, Education World reviewed three Web sites of interest to educators.
National Geographic: Prehistoric Time Line
Another amazing site from National Geographic for all grades.
http://educationworld.com/awards/2008/r1008-10.shtml
Universal Leonardo
Question: Is the Internet big enough to truly represent Leonardo da Vinci?
http://educationworld.com/awards/2008/r1008-08.shtml
Mostly Medieval: Exploring the Middle Ages
The 21st century Web explores the 11th century everything!
http://educationworld.com/awards/2008/r1008-06.shtml
Each week, we ask readers to cast their votes in The Weekly Survey. Cast your vote in this week's question of interest to all educators.
This Week's Survey Question
How often do you talk in class about the upcoming presidential election?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey187.shtml
Last Week's Survey Results
How much time each week is a nurse on duty in your school building?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey186.shtml
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 Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."
Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement
For a book from one of the major education associations -- the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) -- this is a relatively compact book of under 200 pages that offers nine categories of instructional strategies, along with the research and statistics to back up their efficacy. Among the nine are Summarizing and Note Taking; Homework and Practice; Nonlinguistic Representation; and Cooperative Learning. The emphasis in the book is on elementary instruction. Written by Robert Marzano and others.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.
Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
This is one of the modern classics in education, first published to much bru-ha-ha in 1987. The author, E.D. Hirsch, argues that education is suffering because we lack a strong common "bank" of cultural knowledge -- i.e., what every American should know. He even goes so far as to include a list, a huge list of 5,000 essential items of knowledge. Seen at the time as a conservative, even reactionary text, Hirsch argues that it is precisely those less advantaged students who would benefit from schools focusing more on getting these basic 5,000 items into every kid's head.
 Click to learn more or to purchase this book.
Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.
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The Best of LEARNING GAMES
If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun!
These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill!
Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more:
- Math Facts Race (Math, grades K-8)
- You Can Count on Spelling (Math and Language Arts, grades K-12)
- Find It... Fast! (All Subjects, grades K-12)
- Concentration Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12)
- The Dictionary Game (Language Arts, grades 3-8)
- Play Ball: A Major League Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12)
- Friendly Feud (All Subjects, grades K-12)
- Plus 35 more games!
The Best of LEARNING GAMES is part of the Teacher Treasure Series, an NEA Professional Library Publication.
http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/control/productdetails?item_id=0696800
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Education World now incorporates www.SchoolNotes.com ~ "everybody on the same page!" The leading school-to-home communications platform, with FREE pages for teachers and automatic notification of parents and students when new homework is posted!
For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards.
Click here for more information.
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MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST!
 Reader’s Theater More than two dozen scripts, perfect for the classroom.
Best Books for Teaching About… Booklists for 30 popular teaching themes.
Sign Up for Our Newsletters Ten free newsletters full of practical ideas.
Special Education Center Tools for the special education community.
TGIF Kick back and start your weekend off on a light note.
Education World Techtorials Our tutorials take the terror out of technology.
The Template Library A wide variety of templates to meet educators' needs.
Wire Side Chats Each week, Education World chats with an expert in the field.
Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here. Hundreds of printables!
Meet Our Columnists Meet our team of columnists from many corners of the "education world."
Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers teaching ideas for popular EC themes.
Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here for great reading.
Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms.
News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included.
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