Instructor (1990) articles from March 2000

Instructor (1990) archives from March 2000

Expect the Best From Girls.(educator Julie Wood recommends expecting the best from girls, in order to get the best)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... I was nine years old, lower lip trembling, fighting back tears as I stood at the blackboard. The rest of the class went on with their lessons while, for all to see, I tried to solve a long-division problem for what seemed hours. It wasn't the...

NEED A SUB? CALL A TEMP.(temporary employees may be available as substitute teachers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The next time you call in sick, your school may call in a "temp" instead of a traditional substitute teacher. Michigan-based staffing firm Kelly Services knows that with the growing teacher shortage, subs are becoming harder and harder to...

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.(some parents, educators, and religious leaders are concerned about the emphasis on witchcraft in the popular Harry Potter books)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Most teachers and parents are jumping for joy over the reading frenzy J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books have stirred up among schoolchildren. But something has emerged to put a damper on the celebration: witchcraft. Or so some parents and...

Ms. Read to the Rescue.
March 1, 2000... Advice from a seasoned educator to help you, and your students, in the classroom Dear Ms. Read, I'm my wit's end trying to get my fourth graders to proof-read effectively. I constantly remind them and have even taught them the editing...

WHAT WOMEN HAVE WROUGHT.(Women's Hall of Fame essay and poster contest)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... March means Women's History Month, designated by Congress in 1987 for the study and celebration of women's achievements. To observe this month, students may enjoy entering the 2000 Poster and Essay Contests sponsored by the National Women's...

WOMEN'S HISTORY UNITS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... For teachers searching for classroom materials on women, the National Women's History Project Catalog of Resources is a veritable cornucopia. The most comprehensive of its many teaching units is a starter kit for all grade levels ($44.95). It...

MUSIC CONNECTIONS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... There's not one song about green vegetables on the CD World Playground. A Musical Adventure for Kids. Scholastic's Parent & Child magazine named this collection of 12 tunes, for children from grades K through 6, one of the best recordings of...

Kick Butts Day 2000.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... On April 5, students across the country will again celebrate Kick Butts Day, the biggest non-government initiative ever to raise awareness about and demonstrate opposition to tobacco use and the forces that promote it. Now in its fifth year,...

Classical Winners.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Seven new titles have been added to the excellent Weston Woods collection of classic children's literature video adaptations. These consistently compelling, beautifully animated titles have been recognized with more than 70 prestigious awards...

Custom Library.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Designing your classroom library just got easier. Tell Scholastic exactly what kinds of books you are seeking, and the company will send you a customized list of corresponding paperback titles. To receive the tailored lists, order forms, and...

"Sinkholes".(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Students observe what happens when ice-cold water mingles with warm water Just as the air in the atmosphere shifts and changes, warms and cools, so does the water that fills oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. In spring, frozen lakes begin...

Playing With Sounds.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Successful reading and spelling begin with phonemic awareness Young children who have difficulty learning to read and spell may be hampered by poor phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that words are made of discrete...

Measure for Treasure.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... X marks the spot on drawn-to-scale classroom maps Treasure seekers have always known that the best way to find a cache of gold doubloons is to use a map--preferably one designed by an authentic pirate. But these days, good treasure maps are...

Leaders All.
March 1, 2000... A literary showcase to celebrate Women's History Month STONE GIRL, BONE GIRL: The Story of Mary Anning By Laurence Anholt, illustrated by Sheila Moxley; 28 pages; Orchard, 1999; $15.95. Grades 1-5. If you're looking for fascinating...

THE GIRLS HAVE IT!(math, science, and technology education for girls)
March 1, 2000... Today! girls can become anything they want--engineers, computer programmers, astronauts. But do they know this? Once upon a time Tanya, a fourth grader at an inner-city school in Atlanta, was a budding scientist, computer expert, and math...

A Bad Principal Taught Me a Good Lesson.
March 1, 2000... Mana Solavn [*] She stood at the front of the room, hands on hips, and faced us all as if we were prisoners. "Keep in mind that I'm the boss," she said. "You will do as you are told, and if you don't, I'll make your lives miserable!" ...

A Teaching GEM.(Opal McAlister )
March 1, 2000... Fifty-two years an educator, Opal McAlister reflects on her life's work--and passion Opal McAlister may be nearing her 95th birthday, but she isn't even close to slowing down. A brisk walker and tireless storyteller, she exercises daily,...

The Charter Challenge.
March 1, 2000... Autonomy is the name of the game at charter schools. With it comes the freedom to fail or succeed Dee Thomas will never forget the sunny day in August 1995 when a group of her charter-school students, grades 7-12, visited a nature...

Veggie Power.(cross-curricular vegetable unit)
March 1, 2000... Vegetable gardens inspire visions of warm sunshine and cool soft earth, the essence of spring itself. If spring fever has already struck in your classroom, our lively vegetable unit may be just the remedy you need. Just as vegetables are a...

Picture "Painting".(teaching haiku)
March 1, 2000... The form of poetry we know as haiku has its roots in Japan centuries ago. Young poets gathered at parties to write a long collaborative poem known as a renga. The poet with the best reputation would start the poem. Other poets, in turn, each...

FOCUS ON Biography.(teaching biography)
March 1, 2000... Biographies are a sure-fire way to inspire kids to reach their goals. As a person's life story, a biography can tell a tale of personal achievement, triumphs over challenge, or a lifelong journey. Point out to your class that biographies are...

Piece by Peace.(promoting peaceful behavior in first graders)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Individual Development and Identity Rights and Responsibilities To promote positive, peaceful behavior among my first graders, I create a large puzzle that hides a secret message. The puzzle pieces are made by taking large...

Name Can Hurt Me.(teaching children to respect other's feelings)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Individual Development and Identity * Participating in a Literacy Community When school begins, one issue I address with my first graders is concern about others' feelings. This "wrinkled paper activity" reminds us of the...

Game of States.(game used to study US history)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARD People, Places, and Environments * Historical Research As part of our sixth-grade curriculum, we study United States history. To motivate my students and meet my curriculum objectives, the State Game project was born! ...

Catapulting Into the Middle Ages.(sixth-grade unit on catapults)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Models to Explore Technology * Accurate Measurement * Write to Explain Events As a culminating activity to our study of the Middle Ages, my sixth graders created replicas of catapults. (I felt this would be safer than a...

Follow That Dog!(teaching unit on Iditarod dog race)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS People, Places, and Environments * Time, Continuity, and Change * Technology's Effect on Human Life * Technology for Gathering Information and Communicating Knowledge The first Saturday in March marks the start of Alaska's...

Pocketful of Pluses.(math game)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Concept of whole Number Operations * Numbers and Number Relationships I play a game with my second and third graders that requires little preparation but offers lots of practice with number combinations. All that I need are...

Mathopoly.(math game)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARD Whole Number Computation * Mathematical Concepts in Real-Life Situations To reinforce the concept of counting and exchanging money with my fourth graders, I created "Mathopoly," a game similar to Monopoly except that...

Round-Robin Story Problems.(math activity )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Mathematical Connections * Whole Number Computation * Mathematics as Problem Solving Listen and Respond to Oral Communication Round-robin storytelling works well as a math activity with elementary-school students. Provide...

Genre Wheel.(reading activity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Reading a Wide Range of Literature My genre wheel encourages fifth graders to read from different genres during free reading time. I divide and label an oak-tag wheel about a foot in diameter into eight sections: poetry,...

Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt.(reading activity)
March 1, 2000... STANDARD Reading and Understanding a Wide Range of Material To liven up vocabulary practice, I challenge my second graders to a scavenger hunt. Students work in pairs to search through magazines and newspapers for words or pictures...

Noteworthy Bookmarks.(reading activity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARD A Wide Range of Strategies to Comprehend, Interpret, Evaluate, and Appreciate Texts When I assign nightly readings to my seventh- and eighth-grade students, I send home bookmarks (see reproducible, page 73) that help them...

Illustrations of Life.(art activity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Evaluate Subjects in Visual Art Individual Development and Identity To familiarize my fourth and fifth graders with the work of Norman Rockwell, we study his Saturday Evening Post covers and discuss how art can reflect...

Graffito Wall.(science activity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... STANDARDS Science as Inquiry * Science and Technology I've discovered a way to use the bulletin boards in my seventh-grade classroom to help students review their science units. At the beginning of the year, I cover one bulletin board...

For every grade level, across the curriculum software that sparks learning excitement.(Evaluation)
March 1, 2000... In language arts, math, social studies, and science--here are our choices of some of the most exciting new or recently upgraded software to support your curriculum, along with a couple that will just plain support you as you teach. Most of...

Hardware without headaches for the 21st century. Consider these stars for your classroom roster.
March 1, 2000... From basic word processors to laptop and desktop computers, along with several high-impact extras, on these pages you'11 find Instructor's picks for some of the best tech bets for today's classroom. Prices and purchasing information appear on...

The Art of Poetry.
March 1, 2000... A standard-based, tech-supported learning activity KID PIX As school technology facilitator, I recently worked with a second-grade teacher to create an activity for her ocean-animals unit using Kid Pix Deluxe 1.0 (Broderbund). First,...

Bill Gates On Education and the Web.
March 1, 2000... Enter "Generation I" And the responsibility to provide access for all to the most incredible learning tool ever created We are living in a truly fascinating time of change and promise. Within just a few years, rapid advancements in...

Virtual Reality Board.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... NSTA Standards: Unifying Concepts and Processes--Form and Function; Science and Technology--Abilities of Technological Design For my second-grade classroom, I've created what I call a "Virtual Reality Bulletin Board"--a bulletin board...

Newsletter Lets Kids Shine.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... NCTE Standard: Use of Technology to Gather and Synthesize In formation I've developed a weekly newsletter activity that my fourth graders love. At the beginning of the year, I put all my students' names in a hat. Each Monday, I draw the name of...

Creating Greeting Cards.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... NCTE Standard: Adjustment of Written Language to Communicate Effectively I've come up with an activity that allows my fifth-graders to design their own personalized greeting cards. I begin by demonstrating SuperPrint 2.0 (Scholastic),...

Flights of Fancy.
March 1, 2000... How a box full of books became a time machine The time machine! Really, an old refrigerator box covered in foil, with a flashing police-car light at the top and knobs screwed and glue-gunned on. Inside, a pillow for sitting and, for...

Win a Dear America Library!
March 1, 2000... Girls of America come alive across generations and through the thrilling moments of our nation's history in this issue's information-packed Dear America giveaway! In honor of Women's History Month, Instructor will award one classroom, though a...