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Volume 11, Issue 33
August 19, 2009

School "Rules"!
Starting the school year on the right foot includes establishing classroom rules that will last the whole year through. Many teachers involve students in establishing their classroom rules. (Surprisingly, student-created rules are often much the same as -- or even tougher than -- rules a teacher might create.) Included: Ten activities involve students in creating classroom rules.

Back to School
More fun ideas for getting the year off to a good start.

More Icebreaker Activities
Education World has been collecting great icebreaker activities since 1997. Click this link to find 100+ teacher-contributed icebreaker activities for getting to know your students.

Be sure to check out our Back-to-School Archive for more activities and tips for the first days of school.

Hurricane Watch!
To your students, September probably means new friends, new books, and new and exciting adventures. But to meteorologists, September signifies an adventure of another kind. It's the peak month of the Atlantic hurricane season. Education World provides activities designed to help students understand this powerful force of nature.

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.
Puzzle Race - - Build cooperative-group skills. (Grades K-8)
World War I Art - The artists behind the paintings. (9-12)
Drafting the Declaration - Compare Jefferson’s draft, final versions. (6-12)
"Who Are You?" - This game highlights student traits. (K-5)
Cutting Costs With Coupons - Add up the savings. (3-8)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml

From time to time, we like to survey our audience -- your experience, your interests, your favorite Ed World resources. This anonymous survey of 12 quick multiple-choice questions will take you no more than a few minutes to complete. Just click the banner or click here to go to the survey page. Thanks 1,000,000 for your time and your thoughts!

Education World's Work Sheet Library includes hundred of free printables for use across the grades and across the curriculum. You will find a sampling of our printables below. Be sure to visit our Work Sheet Library for a complete selection. Every-Day Edits Primary Edits Edit info about animals from A to Z. Ele-Middle Edits New editing activities month by month. Writing Bug Story Starter Write about a goal you have for the year ahead. Free Work Sheets From TLS Books High-Flying Numbers Write the value of the underlined digit in each number. Hunt the Fact Monster Primary Hunt September hunt #1 Ele-Middle Hunt Hunt #1 Build a Fab Vocab Vocab-u-lous! Activity Words that begin with A. Geography A to Z Places That Begin With the Letter A Can you name all seven places? Math Cross Puzzle Solve a Puzzle A puzzle a week, all school year long. Make Your Own Work Sheet Work Sheets for Autumn Create an activity for any subject. More Printables Work Sheets from Highlights for Children Hidden pictures, rebus stories, more. Mystery State Use the clues to find the state. Backpack-tivities Involve parents in homework fun. Work Sheet Library See our entire library of free printables.

News for Kids
News for Kids
Check out our weekly news stories -- "ripped from the headlines" -- for classroom use.

Learning Game of the Week
Review any subject, skill with this version of "Family Feud."

Friday Fun
Create a holiday to celebrate in holiday-less August.

Vicki Cobb’s Show-Biz Science
Find the most powerful magnet in your classroom.

From Our
Early Childhood
Activity Bank

Make a Bulletin Board Friendship Quilt
We Fit Together
A Citizenship Flag
Patriotic Pretzels

Tech Lesson of the Week
Prehistoric Pen Pals
Students research dinosaurs, then assume the personality of a specific dinosaur species in this lesson for grades 3-5. Each student/dinosaur writes a "getting to know you" letter to another student/dinosaur in class.

Wendy Petti's Math Cats
What Is Math?
It might seem obvious, but responses to that question can be surprisingly diverse.

Math Games With Joanne and Jane
Place Value War: Practice identifying two-digit numbers, comparing, and place value. (Grades 2 - 6)

Go Figure: Count the Monkeys
In this puzzle, students find the "vanishing" monkey.

Make Puzzles Part of Your Game Plan
Puzzles and riddles have an inherent appeal to children, and through play, children can develop new concepts and reinforce skills. Many sites offer puzzles, riddles, and other games to stimulate fun and learning. Check out a few!

Math Mnemonics
Order of Operations

In a Million Words or Fewer
A simple activity offers a powerful tool for learning about your students and connecting with their parents. Read why teachers say that if you're not doing the "Million Words" activity, you're missing out on something special.

The Captions Project
Kátia Pereira's students express their thoughts in captions.

Be on the Lookout
Create "Wanted" posters for destructive bugs. (Grades 3-8)

Getting-to-Know-You List Poem
Students write "Getting-to-Know-You" list poems. (Grades 6-8)

Cathy Puett Miller:
Getting Parents Involved
Involving parents in their children's literacy development is more important now than ever.

Reader's Theater
Ace Spelling, Spelling Ace
When a fifth grader has an unusual event with alphabet soup, he becomes a "spelling ace." But is his "spelling spell" a blessing or a curse?

Reading Feature
Shared Reading: Listening Leads to Fluency and Understanding
Many middle- and high-school teachers use shared-reading -- an approach that engages students and makes them better readers. Reading expert Dr. Janet Allen and two teachers offer tips for a successful start to shared reading.

Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans
Teacher Lesson #1
Thoughtful lesson explores the Bill of Rights.
Teacher Lesson #2
Send students on a "poetry shopping spree."
Teacher Lesson #3
Practical math lesson explores cost per unit.
Teacher Lesson #4
Interview an adult, write a narrative in his/her voice.

More Early Childhood Teaching Resources
Transportation
Back to School

Bulletin Boards That Teach
You Fit Right In! -- It takes every student to complete this back-to-school bulletin board puzzle.

5-Minute Fillers
Volume 18

Just for This Month! See our August Month of Fun, August Word Search, and August Coloring Calendar.

A Teacher's Back-to-School Supply List
Each year, teachers send home a list of supplies students will need. Until now, little thought has been given to the supplies teachers might find useful. Howard Seeman corrects the oversight.

Dimes for Charity
Linda Biondi's Dimes for Charity program demonstrates what can happen when children believe in the power of doing the "right thing."

Education World's Back-to-School Checklist for Teachers
Pages (and pages and pages!) of resources to help you write welcome letters, set up your classroom, plan icebreakers and lessons, create name tags and worksheets, and much, much more.

Strategy of the Week
Classroom Management
Effective classroom management creates an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. It is the most important -- and the most difficult -- skill a teacher must master.

Ken Shore: The Classroom Problem Solver
A Cafeteria Code of Conduct
The lunchroom can present more challenging management problems than the classroom: students often believe that classroom rules don't apply there. Find fourteen tips for improving student behavior in the cafeteria.

Classroom Management Article of the Week
Create a Climate for Learning
According to Fred Jones, "The most widespread management technique at home and in the classroom is nag, nag, nag. It's also probably the least effective." How can you avoid making that technique your own?

Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Forming Good Habits
It takes 27 days -- and lots of practice -- to form a habit. Start off the year right by making your expectations clear to students and practicing correct behaviors daily.

Ruth Sidney Charney: The Responsive Classroom
Hopes and Dreams: A Strategy to Begin the Year
The process of developing hopes and dreams each year is a process of reviving hope -- and hope is one of our most critical community resources. How do we teach or learn without it?"

Leah Davies: The Teacher Counselor
Twenty-Five Ways to Gain Students' Attention
Teachers use many approaches to gain students' undivided attention and create an atmosphere conducive to learning. These 25 simple approaches are sure to help you gain attention in a calm, quiet way.

Wire Side Chat
Cultivating, Running a Great Parent Volunteer Program
Planning and organization are key to successful parent volunteer programs, according to author and former teacher Rhonda Jones. Teachers should designate parent “jobs” early in the year then make it easy for parents to offer their help. Included: Advice for setting up an effective parent volunteer program.

Volunteer Questionnaire
Get parents involved by inviting them to help out in the classroom.

Math Flies ‘Off the Shelf’
Parents in Virginia learn to capitalize on "teachable math moments" at home in the kitchen with hands-on items like cereal and soup labels. The experience of using common household goods “off the shelf” to explore math has had unexpected outcomes.

Sites to See
The Alphabet
Resources include teacher-tested classroom activities, games, and printables; fun ways for kids to practice early literacy skills; and sites to help teachers integrate alphabet practice into the curriculum.

Alma Rowe's
Gadget of the Week

Mixbook adds a new twist to online slide shows by enabling you to create a virtual book using your own digital photos.

Newsletters ’R Us
Copy and paste this free content into your teacher or school newsletters.
The ABCs of Student Success B is for Bedtime
Newsletter Clipart Library Back to School
Fun Facts Volume #2
Parent Newsletter Template Back to School
Math @ Home Pennies in the Pot
Parent Pointers Communicating With the School Year-Round

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 important are textbooks to your core subject instruction?

Last Week’s Survey Results
Which statement below best describes how lunches in your school have changed in recent years?  

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."

The Bully Free Classroom
Subtitled "Over 100 Tips and Strategies for Teachers K-8," this useful volume provides well over 100 bite-sized ideas that are quick to read and common-sensical. Bullying, of course, is a terrible phenomenon in schools and famously hard to deal with effectively. So, a relatively brief (166 pages) resource that offers a wide variety of ideas and approaches is probably one of the most valuable items you can have on hand as a teacher in the modern classroom.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Rainbows, Head Lice, and Pea-Green Tile: Poems in the Voice of the Classroom Teacher
These poems deal with the humorous experiences of being an elementary school teacher, and also touch on some of the more human, poignant moments the teaching life brings. One poem, "The Threshold," dramatizes the moment a new teacher is about to step into the classroom to meet a new class of kindergarten students. "...I hesitate/For beyond this door/The future awaits me/ ...I feel a little silly/I can't stand here all day long/After all, they're just children/What could possibly go wrong?"
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:

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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.
Techtorials Tutorials take the terror out of tech.

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LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING
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Wanted: PTA Speakers

As a traffic safety consultant, I often gave talks to organizations on accident prevention. One night after I spoke to a PTA group, the program chairperson thanked me profusely and gave me a check for fifty dollars.

"Giving these presentations is part of my job," I said. "Could I donate the money to one of your causes?"

"That would be wonderful," the chairperson gushed. "We have just the program that could use it. We're trying to raise money so we can afford better speakers."

Looping Has Its Disadvantages

Sara, a first-grader, was a student in Mrs. McNeil’s class. The active little girl needed constant prodding to get her work done. Unfortunately, Sara’s work habits had not improved much when she moved on with Mrs. McNeil to second grade. But, still, Mrs. McNeil kept after Sara.

One day when Sara had given an extra small effort, Mrs. McNeil told her, "Sara, if you don't get that page done before recess, you won't be able to go out and play."

Sara started to write, but then she paused, looked up, and asked Mrs. McNeil, "Do you teach third grade too?"

Geography Whiz

Jason: My teacher was mad at me because I didn't know where the Rockies were.
Mother: Well next time, remember where you put things!

Little Johnny Strikes Again

Teacher: Where did knights learn to kill dragons?
Little Johnny: At knight school!

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