Instructor (1990) articles from November 2003

Instructor (1990) archives from November 2003

Dinos deliver.(Editor's Note)(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... HECTOR WASN'T INTERESTED IN reading. He'd sniff around the book displays, poking at one book, playing with the pages of another, but never actually delving in. Never, that is, until the Monday I stumbled into class carrying a two-foot high...

Volvo for life awards.(Contests)
November 1, 2003... Send in your nomination for a heroic person who makes a difference in your community. Deadline: January 16, 2004 How it works: Volvo is accepting nominations for heroes--ordinary people of any age who go above and beyond the call of...

Judy Moody contest.(Contests)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... To celebrate the publication of Judy Moody Predicts the Future and The Judy Moody Mood Journal by Megan McDonald, Candlewick Press is sponsoring a contest for teachers. Deadline: December 31, 2003 How it works: Candlewick Press is...

"Jackie's Nine" essay contest for students.(Contests)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Major League Baseball is sponsoring an inspirational essay contest. Students must write about a barrier that they have faced in their own lives, and how they used one or more of baseball great Jackie Robinson's "Nine Values" to conquer it. ...

Your Life, Your World, Your Choices kit.(Giveaways)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Free to teachers: The EPA is offering free copies of the resource kit Your Life, Your World, Your Choices to teach teens about the environmental impact of products that they use every day. The kit includes a CD-ROM, a teacher guide, and...

Mr. Jelly Belly's factory tour video.(Giveaways)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Free to teachers: This video gives young viewers a chance to take a "field trip" into a manufacturing plant and witness the steps which go into producing a familiar product: jelly beans. A teacher's guide accompanies the video, along with...

Arthur teacher's guides.(Giveaways)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Free to teachers: PBS provides free lesson plans and teacher guides to accompany the popular animated show Arthur, based on Marc Brown's award-winning books. Each lesson focuses on a media literacy theme and related topics, such as purchasing...

Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowships.(Grants)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowships are designed to provide professional development opportunities for female public school teachers and to promote educational equity. Deadline: January 10, 2004 Who can apply: Female public school...

Intel model school program.(Grants)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Through this program, Intel provides equipment to U.S. schools that desire to advance their use of technology. Schools must then demonstrate how the quality of the education experience for both teachers and students was improved through the...

Scholastic Little Leveled Readers.(Just for Our Readers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Scholastic is giving away a complete set of their Little Leveled Readers series (grades 1-3) to one lucky Instructor reader. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU CAN WIN: A step-by-step, book-by-book reading development program. Each of the four...

Blazing Galactic Trails.(News & Trends)(Space Day)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Space Day[SM] blasts off in 2004 with another series of exciting, inquiry-based projects that will help teachers spark students' interest and knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math concepts while providing fun, hands-on...

Bulletin Board Contest winner.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Congratulations to our 2003 winner of the "Share-Your-Best Bulletin Boards Contest," sponsored by Instructor and Ellison. Maria Jose De la Torre, a fifth-grade teacher at Collinswood Elementary in Pineville, North Carolina, took home the grand...

Notable quote.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... "The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask which he finds hard to answer."-Alice Wellington Rollins

Bullying and depression.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Bullying should not be dismissed as a harmless rite of passage, according to a report that found bullies and their victims often develop problems later in life. The study by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national advocacy group, documents how...

A six-point plan.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Sometimes your efforts to communicate with parents fail, despite the best intentions of both parties. If you should encounter difficulties, you may want to try this six-point plan, developed by Gwynn Mettetal, a professor of educational...

"One of my second graders never stops talking. Her chatter affects our classroom environment and her relationships with her peers. How can I help her?".(Can You Help?)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2003... Observe the Student Closely. It's important to understand the motivation behind problematic behavior. I would make a conscious effort to listen to her chatter. Is she speaking about the task at hand? Is her conversation an attempt to engage...

Search tools: that do the trick; With practice, you can become an expert at finding and using the best resources for the job.(Electronic Learning)
November 1, 2003... Wonderful resources are available on the Web. Here are tips on how to access them most effectively. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Searching for Information There are two basic types of search tools on the Web--subject directories, such...

Reading first.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Instructor[R] welcomes teachers to our special issue dedicated to Reading First, the national initiative established to help every child in America to become a successful reader. As part of 2001's No Child Left Behind Act, Reading First is...

Fluency is fundamental: fluency is a bridge between two other major components of reading--decoding and comprehension. Here's how a number of innovative teachers guide their students to cross it.(Cover Story)
November 1, 2003... Through the end of second grade, Jodi, a bright student with plenty of friends and an avid interest in sports, had a clear favorite among all her school subjects: reading. Able to decode words reasonably well and comprehend what she read, Jodi...

Beyond once upon a time: informational text read alouds help boost comprehension--the key is talking about the text.
November 1, 2003... Why do we sneeze? How does a shark swim? How do blimps stay in the air? Young children have so many questions about the world around them, and reading informational books is one of the best ways for them to find answers. While many young...

Round-the-clock vocabulary: quick and easy ways to infuse your entire day with vocabulary instruction.
November 1, 2003... Are you carefully selecting key vocabulary and preteaching word meanings and pronunciation right before your students read a story? That's great--keep it up! But don't stop there. Teaching vocabulary when you teach reading is a given, but...

From our readers.(November/December Activities)
November 1, 2003... Quickie Classroom Management Ideas Thanks to Susan Pease, S. Hadley, MA; Bev Thompson, Rolling Meadows, IL; Bobbi Greene, Mt. Juliet, TN; and Janet M. Acerra, New Port Richey, FL, for these fine tips. Index of Progress Index cards...

The Mona Lisa.(Masterpiece Poster & Lesson)
November 1, 2003... With November/December's Instructor Masterpiece poster, introduce your students to perhaps the best-known painting in the world: Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Meet the Artist Born in...

Song of the sky loom.(Poetry Poster & Workshop)
November 1, 2003... Long before the Pilgrims arrived, Native Americans crafted beautiful songs and poems that celebrated their homeland--North America. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's a fitting time to give thanks for the gift of their remarkable...

Colonial customs: experience Colonial life by exploring the customs of the 17th century.(Activities)
November 1, 2003... Play Dress Up 17th-century dress was drastically different from the clothing of today. Have students explore Colonial styles online at www.scarborough.k12.me.us/wis/teachers/dtewhey/webquest/colonial Invite them to discuss the differences...

Multicultural math games.(Activities)
November 1, 2003... All around the world, children play games that involve math. In the course of engaging in these fun activities, kids calculate, measure, and solve problems. They hone their abilities in geometry and in pattern recognition. Most of all, they...

Grammar with Grimm's fairy tales: spellbind students with these enchanting activities that turn grammar lessons into fun fairy-tale adventures.
November 1, 2003... Getting Started Set up a reading display filled with the stories used in this unit, as well as other favorite Grimm's tales. Explain to children that these stories have been told in many different ways. Invite them to compare versions of the...

100 Years of flight! Celebrate the Wright Brothers' legacy with this high-flying collection of activities, books, and Web sites.(Activities)
November 1, 2003... On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers ushered in the age of aviation. The first successful powered flight covered 120 feet--less than the length of the aisle on a 747--but it influenced the course of history. Show your class how two...

Achoo! Germs lurk everywhere, but we have powerful white blood cells to fight them. Take an amazing trip through the body to see how!
November 1, 2003... Getting Started On every doorknob, in every bathroom sink, and around every corner lurks a multitude of enemies: infection-causing germs. Introduce your study of these invaders with a fun and mysterious classroom demonstration. A few minutes...

Here come the Vikings.(Interactive Cyberhunt)
November 1, 2003... Did you know that the age of the Vikings, those infamous warriors and explorers of old, lasted 300 years, from 700 to 1100 AD? Sail off across the Web to learn about these colorful characters and their exciting adventures! Begin online at...

Reading first.(Websitings)(Bibliography)
November 1, 2003... Super sites packed with ideas, activities, and easy-to-use lessons to help boost reading skills. For more sites, visit www.scholasticinstructor.com [GRAPHIC OMITTED] FOUR BLOCKS LITERACY CENTER www.teachers.net/4blocks ...

Writing with style.(Book Talk)(Bibliography)
November 1, 2003... This collection of books can help your students strengthen their writing skills by serving as inspirational models for every literary style. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] ACHOO! BANG! CRASH!: THE NOISY ALPHABET (Gr. 1-3) By Ross MacDonald....

A man in a women's world: my husband is one of that rare breed--male elementary school teachers. And among a host of admiring female teachers, he's really starting to fit in.(End of the Day)
November 1, 2003... An entire genre has been built around the premise that men + children = hilarity. Witness Three Men and a Baby, Kindergarten Cop, and Daddy Day Care. Men just don't know what to do! It isn't in their genes! Men are all big and clumsy and little...