Instructor (1990) articles from October 2002

Instructor (1990) archives from October 2002

Books of possibility. (Editor's Note).(helping students discover joys of reading)
October 1, 2002... ONE AFTERNOON WHEN I WAS ABOUT 9 OR 10 years old, I was waiting in the public library for my mother. An amateur archaeologist, she was doing research for a university course, and had left me alone for a few minutes. Where I sat appeared to be a...

Red Ribbon Week. (News & Trends).(students to make pledge and symbolic gesture signifying committment to stay away from drugs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... This year, as students make a verbal pledge to stay away from drugs as part of Red Ribbon Week, they will make a symbolic gesture as well by planting red, white, and blue flowers. "Plant the Promise" is the theme for this year's annual drive to...

Voters, mark your ballots! (News & Trends).(National Student/Parent Mock Election)
October 1, 2002... Get those ballots ready: The National Student/Parent Mock Election is set for November 1. The mock election will be held worldwide--wherever Americans are based. More than 40 million students and parents have participated since the project...

Magazine month. (News & Trends).(Association of Educational Publishers and Demco Inc. kicking off Children's Magazine Month)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Magazines are a part of the daily lives of most kids, teaching them about science, math, current events, art, pop culture, and much more. And they can make learning fun. Today, there are nearly 300 magazines written for children from toddlers...

Teacher tax breaks. (News & Trends).($250 deduction may double)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... A proposal before Congress may double the amount of out-of-pocket spending teachers can claim as tax deductible. Right now, teachers can claim a $250 deduction as part of an economic stimulus package. That amount would double to $500 if...

Geography scores edge up slightly. (News & Trends).(Nation's Report Card: Geography 2001 reveals fourth grade scores)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Fourth graders know slightly more about geography than they did eight years ago, according to a report by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The report, titled "The Nation's Report Card: Geography 2001," notes that...

Letters.
October 1, 2002... Your Voices Trouble on the Block I can't believe that you included the poster The Block in your August issue. You obviously meant it for children to see, especially since it has a poem on the back. Did you not notice in the upper...

Honoring Student Excellence. (Contests Giveaways & Grants).(VTech Electronics and the National PTA announce VTech XLence Awards)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... VTech Electronics and the National PTA are sponsoring the first-ever "VTech XLence Awards," to recognize hard-working students ages 5 to 11 who excel in and out of school by maintaining good grades, participating in extracurricular activities,...

Oracle Technology Grants. (Contests Giveaways & Grants).(Oracle Help Us Help Foundation grants to aid public schools with over 50% low-income student populaton)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... The Oracle Help Us Help Foundation is offering grants of Internet appliances and laser printers to outfit five, six, or 10 classrooms (five appliances and one printer per classroom) in K-12 public and public charter schools where 50 percent or...

Getting boys to read it's the context! It's not the text type so much as the situation that determines why and how boys engage with reading.
October 1, 2002... Joe is a boy who entered my sixth grade class with a rap sheet as long as Randy Johnson's All-Star pitching arm. "He won't read." "Troublemaker." "He's ADHD; probably LD." Though Joe resisted and even refused to do much of the work in my...

Making the grade: veteran teachers share top strategies for acing your report-card writing.(how teachers can make the report card process a positive experience for students, parents, and themselves)
October 1, 2002... Nine years have passed since Kim Wilkes had to write her first report cards, and the memory makes her feel almost as anxious now as she felt then. Wilkes was teaching middle school in Winter Park, Florida. It was the end of the first quarter....

Algebra in the elementary grades? Absolutely!(lesson ideas)
October 1, 2002... While most of us first encountered algebra and the world of x's and y's when we reached high school, developing algebraic thinking is a top priority in today's elementary math curriculum. Algebra is now second in importance after number and...

October activities: from our readers.(creative ideas to make learning fun)
October 1, 2002... Mathball Game As a second-grade teacher, I often see students getting frustrated and giving up on math. For a welcome change from math drills at their desks, I invite my class to play a game of Mathball. This activity has led to an...

Reunited. (The October Times).(fall of Berlin Wall reunites divided Germany)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... October 3, 1990--On this day, East and West Germany became one country again. The two had been separated after World War II, when the Soviet Union occupied the eastern part of the country and the U.S. occupied the west. East Germany became a...

On the bench. (The October Times).(Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board of Education)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... October 2, 1967--Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on this day. He was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. As a lawyer, he argued more than a dozen civil rights cases that challenged...

Give me your tired, your poor. (The October Times).(Statue of Liberty)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... October 28, 1886--The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor on this day by President Grover Cleveland. It was a gift from France to commemorate its alliance with the Americans during the American Revolution. It arrived in New York...

Columbus lands. (The October Times).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... October 12, 1492--Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic for 10 weeks hoping to reach eastern Asia. Instead, he unknowingly landed on an island in the Bahamas. So began his famed exploration or the "New World." Columbus Day (October...

Crash! Boom! Bam! (The October Times).(Black Tuesday)
October 1, 2002... October 29, 1929--The crash of the stock market made this the worst day in the history of Wall Street. Investors lost millions as stocks became worthless. This began the Great Depression, when many were out of work and very poor. The day is...

Light up the page: create original texts with brilliant illuminations.
October 1, 2002... There were no printing presses in the medieval days; books were produced and copied by hand. Since few could read, manuscripts were illuminated or "lit up" with pictures to tell the story. Coins were hammered into thin sheets of gold leaf and...

Limbourg Brothers: Tres Riches Heures, October. (Masterpiece of the Month).
October 1, 2002... About the Artwork * Duke Jean de Berry of 15th century France was the greatest art lover of the medieval world. He owned an impressive collection of beautiful handmade books, including Tres Riches Heures, a work he commissioned. This...

Imagination stretching. (Poetry Workshop).(ideas for teaching poetry)
October 1, 2002... Tony Mitton's forthcoming Plum (Scholastic, 2003) offers a fresh pick of funny and fantastical verse that encourages readers to really stretch their imaginations. Invite your students to use Mitton's approach in writing their own poetry-they...

State quarters: cross-curricular fun with the new designs.(numismatics can provide framework for fun learning)
October 1, 2002... Spare Change Scavenger Hunt Familiarize your students with the similarities, differences, and historical significance of the state quarter designs by sending them on a scavenger hunt, right in the classroom! Go to...

Not-so-scary storybook October: put a literary twist on the season of bats, ghosts, and pumpkins.(reading response journals)
October 1, 2002... Reading Response Journals Invite students to get the most from seasonal books with reading response journals. Give students each a 9" x 12" piece of construction paper and about a dozen sheets of 6" x 9" lined paper. Show them how to fold...

Still spinning: Charlotte's Web celebrate Charlotte's 50th anniversary.(lessons related to "Charlotte's Web")
October 1, 2002... Many Ways to Say Hello In Chapter V of Charlotte's Web (HarperCollins, 1952), Charlotte addresses Wilbur by saying, "Salutations.' Explain to students that salutations are greetings. In Charlotte's words, "When I say 'salutations,' it's...

Lemony Snicket: terribly terrific ideas to follow the frightful Series of Unfortunate Events. (Meet the Author).(classroom activities)
October 1, 2002... The Awful Truth Lemony Snicket is not what he purports to be. The elusive author claims to have originated in a part of the country which is now under water, to have done his training chiefly in rhetorical analysis, and to be researching...

The hostile hospital. (Read-Aloud Excerpt).(Book eight in Series of Unfortunate Events)(Excerpt)
October 1, 2002... Book the eighth in the Series of Unfortunate Events finds the perspicacious Baudelaire orphans running from the law after being framed by nemesis Count Olaf for a crime they didn't commit. Can they find proof of their innocence before Olaf and...

Starry, starry night: the sky's the limit with this constellations unit.
October 1, 2002... Children are often fascinated by stars. This theme unit will help you to share both the science and the mythology of the constellations with your students. Umbrella Planetarium As the earth rotates on its axis, the stars seem to pass...

Medieval times: explore the unique lifestyle of medieval castle dwellers through these creative activities.
October 1, 2002... During Europe's Middle Ages, castles were built for one primary purpose: protecting people and property. As you begin your unit, ask students to share what they think they know about medieval life, and record their responses on a chart. ...

CyberHunt activities.(Christopher Columbus lesson ideas)
October 1, 2002... Encourage creative exploration in your middle- and upper-graders with these Internet-based activities. Supersized Voyage Map Help students grasp the scale of the legendary first journey of Columbus with a supersized class map. Visit...

Science all around. (Booktalk).(book recommendations and activity ideas for science education)
October 1, 2002... Spice up your science curriculum with children's books that take a look at the natural world and the people who have helped us learn more about it. IN MY WORLD By Lois Ehlert. Harcourt, 2002; 40 pages; $15 (PreK-2). "My world is...