Instructor (1990) articles from November 2001

Instructor (1990) archives from November 2001

American Heroes. (Editor's Note).(September 11, 2001)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
November 1, 2001... AWASH WITH THE REST OF THE NATION in the World Trade Center anguish, we began to receive e-mail from teachers around the country who described how their students were responding and how they themselves were struggling to understand their...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2001... YOUR COMMENTS, IDEAS, AND THOUGHTS. Plagiarism I would like to draw your attention to a copyright violation in the April 2001 issue. The poem "Crayons," which is on the Poetry Contest Poster, is very similar to a poem by Helen Moore....

Glass Art Creations. (What's The Buzz?).(cafeteria at Hickory Ridge Middle School)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Few people would imagine a school cafeteria as an artexhibit hall, but the cafeteria at Hickory Ridge Middle School in Memphis, Tennessee, is precisely where dozens of colorful modern glass art panels hang for all to admire. The glass panels...

strong Assignments Can Equal Good Writing. (What's The Buzz?).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... How a teacher assigns work may very well determine how well a student writes a given assignment, according to a recent study by a professor at California State University at Hayward. Professor Barbara Storms, and a team made up of...

StarFestival Giveaway. (What's The Buzz?).(win a multimedia tour of Japan's culture)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... The StarFestival company is giving away three sets of the "StarFestival...a return to Japan" multimedia kit. This CD-ROM package takes students on a tour of Japan's culture, geography, and history. The tour follows the story of a Japanese boy...

Half a Proverb. (What's The Buzz?).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Half a Proverb A first-grade teacher collected well-known proverbs, gave each in her class the first half of a proverb, and asked each student to come up with the remainder. Here are some responses: You can't teach an old dog new...

Computer Winner. (What's The Buzz?).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Instructor is happy to announce the winner of our computer sweepstakes drawing from the National Education Computing Conference (NECC). Marlene Boney, a 30 year teaching veteran, of Knox County Schools, in Knoxville, Tennessee, won a computer...

Colorful Contest. (What's The Buzz?).(sponsored by Sakura)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Get your students' artistic juices flowing for the 2002 "Cray-Pas Wonderful, Colorful World Contest," sponsored by Sakura. The contest is open to all K-8 students in the U.S. and Canada. Students can draw anything they want; however, all...

Super Science Contest. (What's The Buzz?).(using HOBO data loggers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... The Web site iScienceProject.com is sponsoring a contest for K-12 teachers and students to conduct classroom experiments or science projects using HOBO data loggers. The matchbox-size data loggers plug into and operate from a computer. They can...

September 11, 2001: Helping children cope with our national tragedy.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... As I write, it is less than 36 hours after the horrifying events of September 11, 2001. Many things may change before you have received this issue of the magazine, but your concerns about how to address children's reactions may not. I would...

The Web Files. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Margie Palatini; illustrated by Richard Egielski. Hyperion, 2001; 32 pages; $16.99 (K-5). Ducktective Web and his partner, Bill, are hot on the trail of a hen's pilfered, about-to-be-pickled purple peppers in this deadpan barnyard...

Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears. (booktalk: primary).(Brief Article)(Review)(Children's Review)
November 1, 2001... By Daniel Pinkwater; illustrated by Jill Pinkwater. Houghton Mifflin, 2001; 32 pages; $15 (PreK-3). Every winter, the little town of Yellowtooth in the frozen north celebrates the New Year with a Blueberry Muffin festival. And every time,...

The Great Pig Search. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Eileen Christelow. Clarion Books, 2001; 32 pages; $15 (PreK-1). In the sequel to the whimsical The Great Pig Escape (1994), Vermont farmers Bert and Ethel receive a mysterious postcard from Florida bearing only the word: "OINK!" Obsessed...

The Missing Mitten Mystery. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Steven Kellogg. Dial, 2000; 40 pages; $15.99 (Grades PreK-l). Annie has just lost her fifth mitten of the winter. Accompanied by her faithful dog, Oscar, she retraces her steps searching each place she has played in the snow that day. En...

Inspector Hopper. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Written and illustrated by Doug Cushman. HarperCollins, 2000; 64 pages; $14.95 (PreK-3). In three sprightly dialogue-filled chapters, an astute grasshopper detective and his faithful but always hungry assistant, McBugg, solve two mysteries...

Young Cam Jansen and the Library Mystery. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By David A. Adler; illustrated by Susanna Natti. Viking, 2001; 30 pages; $13.99 (K-3). As a companion series to Nate the Great, introduce your mystery fans to the amazing Cam Jansen, whose "camera-like" memory helps her see clues others...

Nate the Great and the Big Sniff. (booktalk: primary).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat; illustrated by Martha Weston. Delacorte, 2001; 48 pages; $13.95 (K--4). In his 24th case, pancake-loving detective Nate the Great must unravel his biggest mystery ever: His faithful dog and...

The Case of the Gasping Garbage. (booktalk: intermediate).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Michele Torrey; illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. Dutton, 2001; 112 pages; $14.99 (Cr. 2-6). Science teachers take note: meet Doyle and Fossey, science detectives, in their lively first collaboration. Fifth grader Drake Doyle,...

The Secrets of Ms. Snickle's Class. (booktalk: intermediate).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Laurie Miller Hornik; illustrated by Debbie Tilly. Clarion, 2001; 135 pages; $15 (Gr 2-5). Ms. Snickle has only one important rule in her unusual classroom: No telling secrets. Each student has one: Oliver sometimes wets the bed, Eva used to...

One Riddle, One Answer. (booktalk: intermediate).(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Linda S. Wingerter. Scholastic, 2001; 32 pages; $15.95 (Gr. 2-6). A Persian sultan's youngest daughter, Aziza, loves numbers and riddles. Faced with choosing a suitable husband, Aziza presents a riddle...

More True Lies: 18 Tales for you to Judge. (booktalk: intermediate).
November 1, 2001... By George Shannon, illustrated by John O'Brien. Greenwillow, 2001; 64 pages; $14.95 (Gr. 2-6). In the companion book to True Lies (HarperCollins,1997) and Stories to Solve (Morrow, 1987), storyteller Shannon has collected 18 brief...

Bug Muldoon: The Garden of Fear. (booktalk: intermediate).
November 1, 2001... By Paul Shipton; illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. Viking, 2001; 138 pages; $15.99 (Gr. 3-7). The best, cheapest, and only private eye in the whole Garden, sleuth Bug Muldoon, a wisecracking Sam Spade kind of guy, takes on the case of...

Qwerty Stevens Back in Time: The Edison Mystery. (booktalk: intermediate).
November 1, 2001... By Dan Gutman. Simon & Schuster, 2001; 201 pages; $16 (Or. 3-6). Nicknamed "Qwerty" after the six letters on the top left side of a keyboard, the computer-loving protagonist digs up in his West Orange, New Jersey backyard a mysterious box...

The Demon in the Teahouse. (booktalk: intermediate).
November 1, 2001... By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. Philomel, 2001; 208 pages; $17.99 (Gr. 5-8). Adopted by Judge Ooka, fourteen-year-old merchant's son, Seikei, is learning to be a samurai in eighteenth-century Japan. Ooka, the shogun's official, is known for...

Time Travel with Primary Sources: Using authentic documents and artifacts will make history and literature burst with life for your students.(sample lesson for Thanksgiving)
November 1, 2001... One of the most exciting ways for kids to connect with the past is with primary sources. Letters, diaries, household tools, and maps function as time machines, carrying students back to long-ago eras. When these voices, images, and artifacts of...

Think-Alouds Boost Reading Comprehension: Help kids develop inferencing skills by using this powerful strategy.
November 1, 2001... Whether you're teaching kids how to ride a bike, bake a cake or read a book, "think-alouds" are a magnificent tool for sharing your expertise. Think-alouds make invisible mental processes visible to children. While reading, teachers model their...

The Gettysburg Address. (NOVEMBER IN HISTORY).
November 1, 2001... November 19, 1863--On this day, President Abraham Lincoln gave a very short speech that is now one of the most famous in the English language. In it, Lincoln expressed his sadness over the lives lost on the Civil War battlefields, and his...

Franklin Founds Free Library! (November in history).
November 1, 2001... November 8, 1731--in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin--statesman, printer, and inventor--opened the first subscription library. Members contributed dues with which the library bought books for all members to borrow. At the time,...

Telescope Patented. (NOVEMBER IN HISTORY).
November 1, 2001... November 11, 1851--Alvan Clark of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his son George received the patent on their first telescope, made out of a broken dinner bell. They later went on to make gigantic telescopes for astronomers and observatories that...

Dog in Space. (November in history).
November 1, 2001... November 3, 1957--The first animal sent into space, a dog named Laika, rode to orbit on the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik II. "Laika" means "barker" in Russian. The American press nicknamed him "Muttnik."

Lewis and Clark Reach the Pacific. (November in history).
November 1, 2001... November 18, 1805--Lewis and Clark, with their expedition of 31 men, finally reached the Pacific Ocean after over a year of exploration through the uncharted West.

Mayflower Baby. (November in history).
November 1, 2001... November 20, 1620-- On this day, the passengers on the Mayflower (anchored just off the coast of America) welcomed Peregrine White, the first child born to English parents in New England. Another child, born during the Mayflower's long sea...

Motorized Vehicle Carries Passengers. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 23,1801--On this day, Englishman Richard Trevithick invented the first working passenger car. The automobile, nicknamed "Capt. Dick's Puffer," carried eight passengers up a hill on its first outing. Capt. Dick's Puffer did not use...

Rosa Parks Arrested. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 2,1955--It was on this day that Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Many people, upset by her arrest, refused to ride the Montgomery buses. The bus boycott is considered the start of...

A Christmas Carol. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 17,1865--Charles Dickens's famous story A Christmas Carol was first published on this day. In it, mean old Mr. Scrooge learns the importance of giving from a trio of creepy Christmas ghosts.

Ellis Island Opens. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 31,1892--Ellis Island in New York Harbor opens to receive immigrants into the U.S. From this date until 1954, over 12 million immigrants passed through these gates before going on to New York and all across the United States.

Boston Tea Party. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 16,1773--Angry and frustrated over King George III's new tax on tea, American patriots disguised themselves as Indians and boarded three British ships, dumping 343 crates of British tea into the Boston harbor. In just a few years, the...

New Bill of Rights. (December in history).
November 1, 2001... December 15,1791--On this day, the Bill of Rights (the first 10 Constitutional Amendments) was ratified. These laws, including the freedoms of speech and of religion, have protected the rights of Americans for over 200 years.

Wright Brothers Fly. (DECEMBER IN HISTORY).
November 1, 2001... December 17,1903-- Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully piloted the first man-powered airplane flight, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Less than one minute long, the flight launched a new era in travel.

Masterpiece of the Month: Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Meet the Artist Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede, born in 1943 in the Ekiti region of Nigeria, is a painter, a printmaker, and a sculptor, as well as a poet and storyteller. In the Yoruba-speaking culture in which he first studied, artists are highly...

Poetry Workshop: My Grandma's stories.(San Salvadoran poet Jorge Arguenta)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... If you're lucky, you grew up knowing at least one gifted storyteller-an uncle who told tall tales over Sunday dinner, or perhaps a neighbor who told ghost stories over the fence. Whether fiction or fact, the magic is in making the story come to...

Teach With Toys: Discover the thrill of motion with toys that spin, fly, and wind up.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Windup Toys: Speed Walkers Investigate speed with a classroom windup-toy race. Divide the class into race teams and ask each group to bring in a windup toy for the race. Each team should choose a name and create a race plan. Together, make...

Writing Gifts: Celebrate the season and hone writing skills with these festive, kid-made creations!(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... 1. Create-a-Greeting Card Center Wish favorite classroom friends a happy holiday season with personal greetings from your students. Set up a card writing center equipped with various kinds of paper, colored pencils, other decorating tools, and...

Mayflower Math: Voyage into history and math with our shipshape Thanksgiving theme unit, with a two-page Mayflower reproducible.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... On September 6, 1620, 102 passengers boarded a 90-foot boat and traveled 3,500 nautical miles over 66 days to find a new home. Help students make important connections as they learn about the fascinating Mayflower voyage. Before You Begin...

Creating Web Units: Use the power of the Internet to add more spark to your curriculum units.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... For years teachers have been organizing their curricula into chunks or sections called "units"--a collection of lessons, activities, books, filmstrips, manipulatives, bulletin boards, and other resources that support a specific topic. Enter the...

Discovery School Lesson Plans. (Websitings).(Native American history internet sites for teaching aids)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/ For ready-to-use lessons on Native American history, go to Discovery School. Click on Lesson Plans: K-5, and under U.S. History/Government click Create Your Own Native American Board Game. This...

American Indians and the Natural World. (Websitings).(internet sites for teaching aids)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmnh/exhibits/north-south-east-west/index.htm l This spectacular site features four Native American nations: Hopi, Tlingit, Lakota, and Iroquois. Subsites are organized by elements that are distinct to each Native...

Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery. (Websitings).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... www.pbs.org/lewisandclark This PBS site is an extension of their documentary about Lewis and Clark. Click on The Native Americans to read some of Lewis and Clark's accounts of their expedition--from tensions with the Blackfoot and the...

Native American Women. (Websitings).(internet resources of late 19th century photographs depicting life of Native American women)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... http://gowest.coalliance.org/exhib/gallery4/leadin.htm A great resource for primary sources, the site is an electronic gallery of photographs from the late 19th century, depicting the daily life of the Native American woman. Hosted by the...

Native American Craft Unit. (Websitings).(teaching aids)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... www.teachersfirst.com/summer/nativecrafts.htm Celebrate Native American culture by making easy crafts from this Web site. Each project includes a list of materials, illustrations, techniques, and step-by-step instructions for activities...

Telling My Story: Thanksgiving isn't the only time to learn about American Indians. (EndOf The Day).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... I am Muskogee Creek Indian and an associate professor of multicultural education at a university in rural western Pennsylvania. Around Thanksgiving time, I often get calls from local principals and teachers, who want me to speak about my...

Linking Learning to the Brain. (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... By combining the latest brain research with practical teaching strategies, The Brain Store (TM) has developed the resources & tools that provide a plan for success. Discover how to gain attention, increase motivation, reduce discipline...

Manipulatives for Math Education. (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... NASCO is pleased to present our 2001 Math catalog that features over 350 new products, including hands-on manipulatives and real-life problem-solving projects. NASCO is committed to offering quality products at competitive prices. Call...

Boost English Skills with Latin!. (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Lively, innovative programs teach Latin roots of English. Six programs for grades 4-6 described In packet. Little or no prior Latin is needed by the teacher. Easy Latin readings feature Roman life or mythology. Students achieve higher scores on...

Be the Best math Coacher. (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Get help from NCTM's materials, especially the Navigations series, which shows how to implement the Principles and Standards in your classroom. Our free catalog offers more than 200 educational materials, all on how to improve the teaching of...

How can Listening Lead to Independent Reading? (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Recorded Books [TM] increase reading skills dramatically, raise reading scores by multiple grade levels, and motivate struggling readers to keep on reading! With over 4,000 unabridged audiobooks for the "listen and read" approach, Recorded...

Free - Unique Award Holder. (Instructor showcase).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Be the teacher they remember. The ultimate resource for teachers and presenters. Trainer's Warehouse offers over 300 unusual presentation tools. In our FREE catalog you'll find: * Cafeteria Noise Controller * Classroom "Traffic" Signs...