Instructor (1990) articles from April 2002

Instructor (1990) archives from April 2002

The power of poetry.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... ALL THROUGH THE WINTRY MONTHS of December and January, the poems poured in. Our Instructor mailbox overflowed with envelopes in every possible shape and size. We opened hundreds, even thousands(!) of rhymes, haikus, and acrostics, from first...

Respect for subs. (Ask Mary).(substitute teachers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Q Why do classroom teachers sometimes treat substitute teachers without very much respect? We really feel like second-class citizens, but we perform a valuable service for teachers and for children. A You are correct that substitute...

Writing self-esteem. (Ask Mary).(getting children to write independently and confidently)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Q My students always seek my approval whenever they write. How can I instill some confidence in them and get them to work independently? A In our quest to instill confidence and self-esteem, we often overly praise children and their work....

Test prep. (Ask Mary).(teaching children to make continue use of provided text in practices for standardized tests)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Q On standardized test practice, my fourth-grade students try to retain everything they read in a text passage, rather than going back to the passage to find and verify information. What can I do to get them to look back? A While we do...

Spelling correction. (Ask Mary).(teaching children to check for spelling errors)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Q When I ask my third graders to look at a misspelling, they immediately spot that it "doesn't look right" and are able to correct it. How can I help them to get it right the first time and improve their spelling grades? A It is...

Fujifilm PhotoPals. (What's the Buzz?).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... This year marks the tenth anniversary of Fujifilm PhotoPals, a free educational program developed by Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. and Scholastic Inc. Through the program, students in grades 3-6 are matched up with kids in the same grade from...

The real survival test. (What's the Buzz?).(teaching)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A version of the following was circulated among teachers via e-mail recently. Have you heard about the next planned Survivor show? Six businesspeople will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for six weeks, each in charge of a class of...

Children's stories from Afghanistan. (What's the Buzz?).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In the wake of the September 11th attacks, there has been an explosion of interest in educational information on Afghanistan. Now, many ancient Afghan children's stories, collected by author Idries Shah, are available through Hoopoe Books, a...

Free materials from the U.N. (What's the Buzz?).(advertisement)
April 1, 2002... To help teachers build understanding and compassion for the plight of refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is giving away free K-8 teaching materials. To receive posters, maps, magazines, videos, lesson plans, and...

Random Acts of Kindness. (What's the Buzz?).(www.actsofkindness.org)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting kind actions, would like to help you and your students make the world a better place. For free support, visit www.actsofkindness.org or call 1-800-660-2811....

Reach for the Stars Award. (Grants & Awards).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), along with the Fund for Advancement of Social Studies Education (FASSE), is offering their annual Christa McAuliffe "Reach for the Stars" Award. The award of $1,000 is intended to assist...

Jordan fundamentals grant. (Grants & Awards).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand (a division of Nike, Inc.) are offering $2,500 grants to grade 6-12 teachers who go above and beyond traditional lesson planning to inspire and motivate their economically-disadvantaged students. The teachers...

Start fresh. (Help!).(dealing with difficult child)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Problem: All year long I have let Daniel's negative attitude and unpredictable behavior get the best of me. And I'm sure my frustration has affected the other children, who are down on him anyway. Deep inside I know he's not a bad kid, and I'm...

Olivia Saves the Circus. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Ian Falconer. Atheneum, 2001; 32 pages; $16 (PreK--2). "Today is Olivia's turn to tell the class about her vacation. Olivia always blossoms in front of an audience." Little piglet Olivia's tale of her circus adventure taming lions,...

Marvin One Too Many. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Katherine Paterson; illustrated by Jane Clark Brown. HarperCollins, 2001; 48 pages; $14.95 (PreK--2). Everyone in Marvin's first-grade class seems to be able to read except him. His teacher, Ms. Brown, wants parents to read with their...

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Michael Emberley. Little, Brown, 2001; 32 pages; $15.95 (K--2). Fourteen utterly beguiling short, rhymed poem stories, which celebrate reading in easy dialogues for two voices, will encourage children...

The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse and Nothing Worse. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Dean Koontz; illustrated by Phil Parks. HarperCollins, 2001; 160 pages; $17.95 (Gr. 2-6). Known for his scary young adult and adult novels, Dean Koontz gentles down here with a collection of 83 whimsical and sometimes irreverent poems...

No More Nasty. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Amy MacDonald; illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Farrar, 2001; 172 pages; $16 (Gr. 3-5). When Simon's favorite relative, his eccentric 74-year-old Great Aunt Matilda Maxwell, becomes the new substitute teacher in his unruly fifth-grade...

A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Paul B. Janeczko; illustrated by Chris Raschka. Candlewick, 2001; 35 pages; $15.99 (Gr. 3-8). Anthologist and poet Paul Janeczko has compiled a very cool set of 30 concrete (or shape) poems, with a wild and jazzy collection of collage...

Love That Dog. (Poetry & Language).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Sharon Creech. HarperCollins, 2001; 103 pages; $14.89 (Gr. 4-8). In his first poem, Jack writes: "I don't want to / because boys / don't write poetry. / Girls do." In a series of spare, free-verse journal entries, Jack reluctantly...

Yoko's Paper Cranes. (Art).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Rosemary Wells. Hyperion, 2001; 32 pages; $15.99 (PreK-1). Having no money to buy her Obaasan (grandmother) a birthday present, Yoko, a little gray cat, makes her three beautiful origami paper cranes, which her Ojiisan (grandfather)...

Gugu's House. (Art).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Catherine Stock. Clarion, 2001; 32 pages; $14 (Gr. K-4). Kukamba is eager to visit her grandmother, Gugu, in her rambling house in the Zimbabwean countryside. Along the extensive compound walls, Gugu has painted and sculpted a glorious,...

Patches Lost and Found. (Art).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Steven Kroll; illustrated by Barry Goff. Winslow, 2001; 32 pages; $16.95 (K-A). Jenny loves to draw. Her teacher, Mr. Griswold, announces an assignment to work on a story, due Monday. "Can I draw a picture instead?" Jenny asks. "Not...

A Single Shard. (Art).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Linda Sue Park. Clarion, 2001; 152 pages; $15 (Gr. 4-8). The orphaned boy Tree-ear, named after the mushroom that grows on fallen tree trunks, is about twelve years old. Since he was very small, Tree-ear has been cared for by Crane-man,...

Leonardo's Horse. (Art).(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... By Jean Fritz; illustrated by Hudson Talbott. Putnam, 2001; 48 pages; $16.99 (Gr. 4-8). Growing up at the height of the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century Leonardo da Vinci made his mark as an artist, engineer, architect,...

Q&A with Marilyn Burns.(teaching mathematics)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... This past January, Instructor magazine invited our online readers to send in questions to math expert Marilyn Burns. Hundreds of teachers from all over the country took the opportunity to voice their concerns about teaching math, and Marilyn...

Math think-alouds: Build essential daily math skills through verbal problem solving.
April 1, 2002... Close your eyes. Think about the steps you go through to group students for an activity. How do you determine the number of groups and the number of students in each group? What mental math skills do you use to figure it our? Verbalizing your...

Pick, list & choose: An easy-to-teach strategy for planning expository writing.
April 1, 2002... Melissa, a fifth grader, struggles over the details in her report on the rainforest. What should she include, or leave out? And how can she organize what she has learned so that it makes sense? The main purpose of expository writing is to...

Instant and easy organizing tips.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Instructor visited the Dutch Neck School, in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. We discovered terrific organizational ideas--ones that help teachers support learning, save valuable time, and cut down on clutter and confusion. Now you can put these...

April activities.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... From Our Readers... Poetic License Celebrate poetry month by encouraging creativity! After studying some poems, engage students in a conversation about how poets play with rhyme, punctuation, and language to communicate their meaning....

Every writer is a winner: Instructor's third annual poetry contest inspires students across the country to delve deep into poetry.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The results of Instructor's third annual Poetry Contest are in. Once again we were floored by the range, the imagination, and the charm of the more than 6,000 poems that flooded into our New York office. It was an exciting time! Our volunteer...

Piet Mondrian. (Masterpiece of the Month).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Meet the Aritist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) first planned a career as a teacher, but after finishing his training, he decided to become an artist. Mondrian's early paintings were mostly traditional landscapes, with windmills and meadows....

Amazing ants: Use our innovative ants them unit to explore the complex world of these hardworking insects with your students.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ant Anatomy Reproducible Start your ant unit with some simple research on ant body parts. Give each student a copy of the ant Reproducible on page 50, and ask the class to work together to identify the body parts of the ant. Some good...

Math with maps & globes: Round out students' math skills with these 'round the world ideas.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Polar Race The blocks created by the parallels and meridians on a world map make perfect gameboard "squares" for this game. To prepare, photocopy a world map and mark the meridians, parallels, and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles with...

Math Riddles. (Greg Tang's Tips on Having Fun in Math Class).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... How do we foster a love for learning? When we teach children to read we share colorful picture books filled with exciting stories. In science, we do lively and engaging hands-on experiments, using fun props such as soda bottles and bouncing...

Special edition: Using newspapers in the classroom.
April 1, 2002... Extra! Extra! Learn all about it! Make headlines with these newsworthy cross-curricular ideas! Daily Diagrams What's the news of the day? Where's it happening? Who's reporting it? Review the elements of a newspaper article with...

Space Day 2002--Adventure to Mars! (News & Trends).(classrooms join Cyber Webcast to learn about Mars and NASA)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Join classrooms across the country to learn about Mars and the NASA space program during the May 2, 2002 Space Day Cyber Webcast. Space Day is an award-winning global celebration dedicated to the extraordinary achievements, benefits, and...

More Internet, less TV. (News & Trends).(UCLA study on internet users)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Internet is changing America's television habits. According to a study by the UCLA Center for Communication, Internet users spend 4.5 fewer hours a week watching television than non-users. Most users report they still spend about the same...

Wanted: Middle-school wizards. (News & Trends).
April 1, 2002... Middle schools are invited to enter an online contest designed to bring out the Harry Potter in their students. Contestos Extravagandium is a "spell" bee challenging students to research word meanings to make their own fun and educational...

New online math skills tutorial. (News & Trends).(LarsonMath.com)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Looking for a way to help middle-school students get the extra math practice they need? LarsonMath.com is a subscription online program that offers step-by-step examples, mini-quizzes, and easy-to-understand assessment on 171 middle-school math...

Learning computer ethics. (News & Trends).(need to start teaching young about evils of software piracy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... As children gain access to computers earlier and earlier, experts in Internet piracy say that any effort to tackle illicit trade in video games, software, music, and movies should be directed at a younger crowd. America's rush to the online...

Stuart Little: His adventures in Numberland (Grades PreK-2). (K-2 Top Picks).
April 1, 2002... SuperMentor.com, Inc., Windows, $29.95, www.supermentor.com In this program, children use the mouse to fly Stuart Little around Numberland, a whimsical 3D environment full of clever math puzzles. The games provide playful experimentation...

Reading Blaster ages 4-6 (Grades K-1). (K-2 Top Picks).
April 1, 2002... Knowledge Adventure, Win/Mac, $25, www.knowledgeadventure.com Rock-solid content, engaging format, and thoughtful design combine to make this one of the best Kindergarten programs we've seen. Children join the Blaster Pals in search of...

My first amazing world explorer 2.0 (Grades K-4). (K-2 Top Picks).
April 1, 2002... DK Multimedia, Win/Mac, $29.95, www.dk.com You can sneak in a lot of geography practice by letting your students play this world-tour program. As kids search for an elusive, traveling character, they explore 40 scrolling maps, 600...

I Spy treasure hunt (Grades K-6). (K-2 Top Picks).
April 1, 2002... Scholastic, Inc., Win/Mac, $29.95, www.scholastic.com The kids won't stop playing this newest edition in the I Spy CDROM series, which sprinkles Jean Marzallo's I Spy puzzles throughout the picturesque location of a quaint seaside town. To...

Vocabulary Puzzles 1 (Grade 1). (K-2 Top Picks).
April 1, 2002... School Zone Interactive, Win/Mac, $19.99, www.schoolzone.com First graders will find terrific exposure to hundreds of words and reading skills in 30 straightforward and fun vocabulary puzzles. They'll complete page after page of puzzles...

MathStart[TM]: Lemonade for Sale (Grades 2-3). (K-2 Top Picks).(Software Review)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
April 1, 2002... Sunburst Communications, Inc., Win/Mac, $89.95, www.sunburst.com This clever math software features an animated story, two directed activities, a graph-building tool, and teacher management and assessment tools. The heart of the program is...

EPA environmental education center. (Earth Day).(www.epa.gov/teachers/)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... www.epa.gov/teachers/ Teachers who may feel a little timid about their environmental education knowledge must visit this site. By clicking on "Background Information," you will find resources on subjects such as Air, Ecosystems, and Waste...

EcoKids online. (Earth Day).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... http://ecokids.earthday.ca/pub/ This animated, interactive site provides information about the environment, science and nature, wildlife, and energy. Children can visit "Eco-Info" to find out the latest environmental facts. There are...

Rainforest at night @ national geographic. (Earth Day).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/rainforest/index_flash.html With exquisite illustrations and realistic forest noises, this site almost makes you feel as if you are actually in the rainforest. While bats fly by and frogs hide in the...

Treeture Web site trail. (Earth Day).(Treeture program teaches facts about forest life)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... www.treetures.com The Treeture program uses 36 adorable characters to teach children important facts about forest life. The Treetures "are a community of tiny tree friends that represent the spirit of the tree." Each Treeture has a...

Earth Day Grocery Project. (Earth Day).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... www.earthdaybags.org/ Looking for an easy Earth Day activity that can make a big statement? The Earth Day Grocery Project is just for you! This project spreads awareness about the environment through messages on paper grocery bags. To get...

Activities: Discover the underwater world of the "rainforests of the sea" with these great tech activities. (Coral Reefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Virtual Reef A great place to start your reef studies is by looking at one of the most famous reefs of all time: the Great Barrier Reef. Since a class trip to the northeastern tip of Australia may not fit into your schedule, National...

Into the Amazon. (Cyberhunt Reproducible).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Head down the Amazon and learn cool rainforest facts. Start at www.scholastic.com/instructor You can write your answers in the spaces below or on a separate sheet of paper. 1. The vast Amazon river has basis is one of the world's great...

Yes, you can! (End of the Day).(confidence)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Don't you love it when someone says to you, "I can't do that!" and you say, "Of course you can!" with all the confidence in the world, and they prove you right by doing splendidly whatever it was? The Language Arts students I work with are fond...

April in history. (Instructor Reproducible).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... On April 3, 1860, The Pony Express began when the first rider took his mailbag and headed west from Missouri toward California. The 1,800-mile trek took the riders ten days. About how many miles did they travel per day? Historians believe...